Soul Food

Last week we took our daughters to New York City for an early Christmas present, tickets to The Naked Brothers concert at the Blender Theatre at the Gramercy. We also wanted to do a quick, drive-by visit of NYU, Fordham and SUNY Purchase for my oldest daughter who will be, hopefully, attending college in 2010. It’s the concert that got me thinking though and no, The Naked Brothers weren’t actually naked. As a matter of fact the tour was called “The Fully Clothed” tour. Plus the kids in the band are like 10 and 14.

So, the concert.

Before this economic meltdown, we Americans just loved buying stuff. Stuff to use, stuff to hold, stuff to consume. We laid down our money and walked away with . . . stuff. Have you ever thought that when you go to a concert, you don’t really walk away holding onto anything? All you have (unless you buy the CD or a t-shirt) is just a memory, some feelings and maybe emotions. For such a consumer oriented, I want to hold onto my stuff society, we sure pay a lot of money for music we listen to in person and then leave without any stuff.

I think that speaks to the power of music. I’ve often marveled at the idea that no new notes or scales have been invented and the basic instrumentation hasn’t really changed and yet we still, for the most part, play music on guitars, pianos, woodwind, string and brass instruments and so forth. Music has been with us for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years and yet there are always new melodies and lyrics with new ways to move people through the artistry of music.

And it’s very personal. People have their likes and dislikes. I’m sure you’ve all been part of a discussion that goes something like “I love all kinds of music except . . . ” and this is where you fill in the blank with country, opera, bluegrass or whatever.

Ultimately, music is like any art form. It can move you, make you think or take you to a place in your heart, mind or soul that is very personal. You can’t physically hold it but where does your mind go if you hear Johnny Mathis singing “The Christmas Song” or John Lennon singing “Imagine?” Have you seen the beginning of the movie Platoon? Doesn’t “Adagio for Strings” just make you weep?

I think it also speaks to us as humans that we hold this art form in such high regard that we spend a lot of money on it and yet can’t hold it like a commodity. And yes, okay, I know you can hold onto it with your iPod as do I. But there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like hearing music you love, live and in person. Way before the computer, video games and the internet, live music is the ultimate interactive experience.

My friend Brenda

In the 80’s I was a producer/director at the local PBS affiliate here in Syracuse. It was a great time to be in public broadcasting because the wide diversity in programming we enjoy today had not yet taken hold so we at WCNY were able to do a lot of different kinds of productions: drama, music, documentary, sports and on and on. From a professional standpoint, it was a blast. From a personal standpoint it was equally as much fun. There were many young and single people working at WCNY then and we all got along pretty well. On Wednesday, after Barack Obama was elected as our president, I was thinking of one of those people, one of my best friends, Brenda.

When I got married in 1990, Brenda was one of my “groomsmen.” There she stood along side my brother and my two brothers-in-law. She loved being the only female and I loved having her there. Brenda lives and works in Florida now and has been there for 15 years or so. Shortly after I got married her husband got a job offer down there they couldn’t refuse. So off they went, Brenda, her husband Jeff and their daughter Jordan.

Let me tell you a little about Brenda. She comes from a good, close and loud family. Her father owned a bar in Rome, NY and they worked hard. Brenda never assumed that anything would be handed to her and she had high expectations for herself and her friends. Since moving down to Florida, she got her PhD and is a member of her local school board. Her husband Jeff is a respected psychologist and a few years ago they adopted another daughter, Paige.

Shortly after she moved to Florida I was on the phone with her and she said something to me I will never forget. She was talking about how different things were down there racially as compared to the north. She said that for the first time in her life she heard the “N” word. Brenda is African-American. In that same conversation she told me that while she was checking out at the grocery store, the clerk, whom she had never seen before, said, “Oh, you’re the lady married to the white guy.” I don’t remember if Brenda had a response to her or not but she was a little creeped out that someone who didn’t know her, knew that she was married to Jeff, a white guy.

I have a feeling I know how Brenda felt when Barack Obama was elected but then again, maybe not. No clerk at Wegman’s knows whom I am married to. I’ve never been subject to racial slurs. To my knowledge, no one has judged me based on how I look. But when Obama was declared the winner I’ll bet Brenda shouted screams of joy to her husband and then spoke with daughter Jordan who is in college at Harvard right now. I’ll bet she praised God too being the good catholic that she is.

And then I’ll bet she got up the next morning and got ready for work but knowing that somehow, that day would be different.

http://www.polk-fl.net/districtinfo/boardmembers/district4.htm