Memorial Day 2008

Thoughts upon Returning to the Ozarks

It has been too long.
Too long since I have been home.
I have forgotten the beauty of topping a rise in the road and seeing a valley of green spread out before me.

Too long since I have been among family.
Grandpa and his spit cup.

Too soon.
Too soon for the poverty. Too soon for the waste of human potential.

This country attracts the best and the worst.

I have mixed feelings.

I should return to the city where I can be anonymous.

A Great Double Header

When I selected the dates for the plays at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre I just picked every third or fourth Saturday night because weekends at the first of the month always seem so busy. First Friday. Second Saturday. Everyone wants to be early.

So, I was disappointed when I realized our tickets to “The Drawer Boy” were over the Memorial Holiday Weekend. That weekend usually involves a weekend trip back home to the Ozarks. However, since we had the tickets we decided to stay in town until Sunday.

Last weekend I saw a mention in The Pitch about the restaurant La Bodega, and the wine and tapas. I have always enjoyed a good glass (or bottle) of wine and I have been curious about tapas since my daughter came back from a summer visit to Spain and was all infatuated with their culture.

We decided to double up on Saturday night for tapas at La Bodega and a play at the KCRep. Both were a resounding success.

At La Bodega we did the potato pancakes to clams and mussels. All washed down with cold sangria. As the early evening sun shown on the colorful tiles of the restaurant we might have been in Barcelona.

We ended the evening with a standing ovation for the actors of “The Drawer Boy”. I have seen a few plays in Kansas City, Chicago, Toronto and New York. This was one of the best.

In the News

Favorite Quote of the Day

“It sounds as though the telecoms believe it when the FBI says the warrant is in the mail, but not when they say the check is in the mail.”

A comment made by Michael German, former FBI agent and national security policy counsel for the ACLU responding to an FBI report that says several of the big telecommunication companies cut off the bureau’s wiretaps of suspected terrorist and criminals when the agency failed to pay its bill on time.


Celebrity Pitchman of the Day

Dr. Robert Jarvik has recently been seen all over network TV promoting Pfizer’s top selling drug Lipitor. It seems a committee of Congress investigating celebrity endorsement of drugs has sent Pfizer a letter asking for some clarification.

Some of the questions? Does Dr. J really take Lipitor as he claims in the commercials? Also it seems the good Dr. may have never actually practiced medicine and doesn’t have a license to do so. Anybody need a good artificial heart? Like new, only used just over a 100 days.