MarZutra, thanks for appreciating what I post. I am glad somebody likes them. In fact, I am glad when people read them at all, whether or not they agree with what I have to say.
I do not know what went on at the Yalta conference or its significance, but I would sure like to be educated about it.
The 1960's was the beginning of the end for America because that was the era that brought in the radical left that we see dominating one of our two major political parties today. In the good old days, while the dhimmicrats did somewhat flirt with socialism, they were nevertheless strong supporters of freedom of speech, equality of opportunity, fighting evil, and spreading democracy all over the world. Remember, it was the Democrat President, Woodrow Wilson, who coined the phrase, "Make the world safe for democracy" which is actually a wonderful thought that has unfortunately and strangely been vilified since then.
Now the dhimmicratic party has become a bastion of blame America for all of the world's problems, hate Israel, pro socialist, judging people by the color of their skin rather than by the content of their character, evil suicidal pacifism, ridiculous glorification of American Indian societies, pro murdering helpless unborn babies (abortion) and people too old to take care of themselves (euthanasia), all cultures are equally valid (multi-culturalism), and so on. Even as a Republican, I lament the fact that the major rival political party, the dhimmicrats, have turned into a bunch of McGovernites.
I myself consider myself to be a neo-conservative. Usually, when people attack the neo-cons, it is a thinly disguised form of antisemitism, since it is largely Jews who really are behind that movement (just as was the case with early Communism). I see the neo-cons as the Jewish version of Republicanism: Among its beliefs, it believes in free market capitalism and lower taxes, opposes affirmative action, and most importantly of all, it has adapted Woodrow Wilson's plan of making the world safe for democracy. neo-conservatism is compassionate conservatism; among its leading gentile spokesman are William Bennett, Cal Thomas, and President Bush himself.
I do not know enough about jazz or big band music to make an educated comment on it, or to properly compare it to the music of the 1960's and 1970's. To tell you the truth, while I have heard that jazz is a genre of music every bit as sophisticated as classical music, I personally do not care for jazz. I have a very left-brained mind, which means I like things to be organized and rational, with a beginning, middle, and ending. But jazz is the opposite of that: it never really begins and never really ends: it is just sort of there, setting a certain kind of mood. As for big band music, such as Benny Goodman or the Gershwin brothers, my mother loved that stuff, but it just seemed so foreign and out-of-date for me. That is most certainly because that is not the era I grew up in.
When I say I like the music of the 1960's and 1970's, I am not at all talking about the lyrics to any of these songs. Most of the time, I can barely understand what they are saying, and even when I do, I still have trouble understanding what is mostly gibberish (with some notable exceptionsm, such as Don McLean's brilliantly touching song about Vincent van Gogh). I am talking about the music in itself, the Sound of its Music.
Let me give you an example. Unfortunately for me, I discovered the late great Israeli singer, Ofra Haza, only years after she tragically died so young. Of course I had heard of her before, but I had associated her with Arabic sounding music, which in turn I associate with a lot of incessant percussion and not much melody, which is just not my taste in music. Also, I had not realized just how important she has been to Israeli culture; I have since learned that she had as strong an impact on modern Israeli culture as the Beatles had had on England and the United States.
Well, thanks to youTube, I have not only re-discovered Ofra Haza, but I am proof positive that a man can fall in love with a beautiful and extraordinary talented women, even if she has already died. That sounds very maudlin, maybe even a bit pathological, except that men really do get transfixed by a woman's charm and beauty, and there she is, right on those adorable videos of hers.
But Ofra Haza is not just a beautifully talented singer. When I hear and watch her singing, part of my transfixtion on her is that I ultimately do not think she is really singing at all, but rather praying, crying out, to G-d. Her voice and words cut through my heart and penetrate my soul. Listening/watching her is far more of a religious/spiritual experience than it is anything cultural or purely musical.
And yet, unfortunately, my Hebrew really is not all that great. Although I do know hundreds of Hebrew words, I am not fluent enough to carry on a meaningful conversation in Hebrew. I only have a vague sense of the exact words of most of what Ofra Haza sings. And yet it does not matter. Like the ram's horn which we just heard blown on our Jewish New Year, the most powerful sounds are ones that transcend words, reaching straight into one's heart.
Topic: Muslim Headdresses are a GOOD thing. (Read 19789 times)