Detroit for better or worse, but getting better.

  Last night N and I saw the show at the Detroit Rep and driving home about 10:30 we found the entrance from Davison to I-96 East blocked because of an accident. We turned around and went south on Livernois, turn NW on Grand River, and back to I-96 West. We went through a lot of disheartening and frightening areas.

Over the last decade and a half I've been all over the city. Acted in plays, auditioned, and seen shows at the Planet Ant in Hamtramck, and the Detroit Rep on Woodrow Wilson near Davison. I've performed comedy at Starters a number of time (Plymouth Road two blocks west of Southfield freeway), a couple of other bars. I've performed at the GEM downtown. I performed at a bar near Wyoming and Grand Rapids, where you had to park in a fenced-in parking lot and get frisked for weapons and the show-runner told me not to walk the few blocks away to get a cup of coffee. He said, "drive or you’ll be killed." I worked in a rock video near Rosa Parks and Grand Boulevard amid far flung ruins, a TV show that brought me to the East Side and Masonic Temple. Seen operas etc. at the Detroit Opera House, I worked in voter protection at polling places in Detroit in '04, 08, '12 (twice), and '14. In 2012, at a polling place on W. Chicago just east of Dexter, I was walking out for a cup of coffee when three well-dressed local women on the way to vote looked at me in horror and told my I'd have to drive because (this was at high noon) it wasn't safe to walk. I was part of a group of Ann Arbor white guys that toured downtown places, including great soul food dinner at Café D’Mongo’s Speakeasy, and later at Bert's Place at the Eastern Market (got to hug Martha Reeves which capped off a great evening). I auditioned at Wayne and places in the inner city I can visualize but have forgotten the names, and eaten several dinners at the Cass Cafe on Woodward. I've also been to New York, Chicago, New Orleans, and Dallas. Detroit is far worse than the others I've seen. Yet I keep going there because there are things to do there that I want to do. And I can feel the excitement of a city that has nowhere to go but up, and is actually, if slowly, getting there, even if a huge percentage of its land is vacant or covered with decrepit buildings and marred by violence, too broke to police the town properly, to I hope Detroit’s pockets of vitality expand to fill the city and I hope it happens within my lifetime.

 

·       

SOME OF MY FAVORITE SPORTS ANNOUNCERS

Lynch Travis asked on Facebook asked for favorite sports announcers.

Red Barber and Ernie Harwell. Two southern guys who taught New York kids that a down-home drawl was cool. Laid back manners but eloquent as only southerners can be. Younger fans who heard Ernie also heard Barber who influenced him. When I moved to Ann Arbor in 1960 I was delighted to find that Harwell was already here.

Marty Glickman. On January 1, 1988, living alone on the West Side of Ann Arbor, I went to Kmart, to buy a cheap cabinet to put together during the game. I also, bought a green sweater to root for Michigan State. I got home after the game started, but on the car radio I heard Marty Glickman’s unmistakable voice calling conjured Glickman radio version.  As always, he called the game in unapologetically articulate and correct English, without screaming or filling short voids with annoying chatter.  Late in his career he was NBC’s sportscaster coach and called Ivy League football for PBS. There’s a fine documentary film on his life called, “Glickman.” By the way, State won the Rose Bowl, and only late last year did I finally threw away the sweater which had developed one hole too many.
 

In the eighties, living in semi-retirement in Connecticut, Glickman was asked to do play-by-play of a Knick game to be played in Hartford where the airports were snowed in preventing the arrival of the regular broadcast crew. He sounded like a Brooklyn kid with diction lessons (like Jerry Seinfeld).

 

Al Michaels. Aside from speaking excellent English in a pleasantly smooth voice, Michaels gifts of observation and description served well when, as ABC TV's  lead announcer of the 1989 World Series in San Francisco. Game three started with an earthquake and didn’t continue after a ten-day hiatus. The network called on Michaels to describe the quake and its effects and he did so well enough to win an Emmy for news coverage.
 

Vin Scully You can hear his influence, on the delivery style of Al Michaels’ and Central Michigan’s Dick Enberg.

Michigan Hero of the Game. What does it mean?

I’ve attended almost every home game of the Michigan basketball team this season, and will continue to do so throughout the season as I have for all but one season since 1977-78. This year, the constant show that is a Michigan basketball game, throbbing through every time-out and intermission with entertainment that even Ed Sullivan would have regarded as junk, includes a Michigan alum with some connection or other to our armed services (there must be a lot of them because we’ve been continually at war since 2001 when we bombed, and then invaded, Afghanistan) has been honored as hero of the game.  Possibly some, but surely not all, fit the Merriam-Webster first definition of hero, which is how I’ve always understood it. “a :  a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability, b :  an illustrious warrior, c :  a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities, d :  one who shows great courage.”

 

Most of the honorees have made quotidian contributions to our war efforts. This doesn’t mean that they are not honorable soldiers, sailors, etc. But that they are not really heroes. It is apparent that their connections to the military, however tenuous, are being used by the Crisler Arena entertainment juggernaut to instill unearned feelings of goodness in the crowd, a shabby treatment for a current or former member of the military, not as damaging as our monumental failure to keep faith with returning combat veterans by “honoring” them with such earned benefits as prompt and high-quality medical treatment, reeducation for civilian life, and adequate pay.

 

According to http://www.mgoblue.com/fanzone/hero-of-the-game.html the short spot is sponsored by Applebees. I wonder how much of the fee paid by the sponsor goes to the honoree or other members of our military. I can’t find anywhere the names of honorees although there have been, I believe, ten of them so far.

 

This diatribe was motivated by having read (partly, not yet finished) James Fallows’ article, “The Tragedy of the American Military.” 

 http://www.npr.org/2014/12/29/373835100/james-fallows-on-the-tragedy-of-the-american-military

So tomorrow, at the Illinois game, I’m not going to stand and applaud, unless the honoree truly fits the definitions above. I’ve refused for a few years now to stand, applaud or cheer during the introductions of Michigan players at these games because the house announcer goes through the opponents’ starting lineup as if he were presenting over-ripe limburger cheese, and treats every Michigan player as if he was the Messiah come again.

 If you think I’m an old grouch, you’re probably right, but that doesn’t make me wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DON'T LET THE REPUBLICAN TRICK OR TREAT GAME DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY

First, read this article in the Huff Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/30/texas-voter-id_n_6076536.html

Then read this.

The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to permit the extreme Texas voter ID law to remain in effect pending a final ruling by the Court to take place after the election, has caused a massive denial of the right to vote by the poor and minorities in Texas. This is the inevitable result of a law designed solely to achieve that purpose. These horrors, these insults to democracy, are summarized in the cited article in Huff Post. It is the latest (but certain

None of the many State voter ID laws which were passed on the excuse of avoiding vote fraud (in the face of no evidence whatever that vote fraud is even a small problem) have the faintest whiff of an honest purpose. They are in service of a naked power grab. The events that lead up to this catastrophic wounding of the American democracy began long ago, but we might start with the utterly fraudulent decision by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. That decision, by a party-line vote of 5-4 was one of the shortest on record, and may have been the shortest in any case as important as that one. It cited few precedents, none of which seemed applicable, and created a new definition of “equal protection” that was so spurious that the court said the case was not to be used as precedent in any later case. That is enough to show that the Court knew it was struggling to justify a purely political decision with no legal foundation or excuse.

President Bush appointed two more extreme conservative Republicans who have pushed the Court to the far right on matters effecting politics and power.

History has several examples of despotic governments that gained power by taking over a democratically elected one. The Republican Party controls the courts, partly through appointments by Republican Presidents, and partly by refusing to confirm Obama appointees. It controls one House of Congress by legitimate means and the other by manipulating procedure to prevent the majority from approving appointees and from passing their legislative agenda.

After President Obama took office, Mitch McConnell said his top priority was to make him a one-term President. The oath of office for every Senator is to “support and defend the Constitution.” McConnell’s top priority was, and is, to subvert the constitutional functioning of the government, something he and his fellow Republicans did most diligently, while blocking performance of legislative duties that would promote the successful functioning of the government. For a Senator to declare that the next election, not the success of the nation, is his top priority, is surely a violation of his oath of office and comes perilously close to treason.

In 2009 President Obama took office with a Democrat-controlled Senate and House. He was prevented, at almost every turn, from getting his legislative agenda passed and from getting his appointees approved for judicial and administrative positions. The result is that numerous judgeships and administrative positions remain unfilled. His one major legislative success, the so-called “Obama-Care,” has been the subject of numerous repeal efforts, even as it has become effective and popular.

The irony is that the halting progress of the government caused by recalcitrant Republicans, maneuvering for more power, is now blamed on Obama by the very perpetrators of dysfunction.

What can we do about it? For starters vote on Tuesday and get everyone you know to do it.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Dave Schwensen, a comedy club manager and author of the excellent guide for aspiring comics, "The Comedy Book," posted this on Face Book on the page, “Detroit Comedians and Comedy Fans.”

Have you ever missed a gig? Being a no-show is worse than ignoring the light while on stage and going over your performance time. http://thecomedybook.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/youll-never-work-in-this-town-again/

“Don’t miss a gig if you plan to work for that talent booker again in the future. And if you do, just hope he sees you on the television news explaining how the tornado interrupted your rendezvous w...

As a professional actor and sometime professional comic, I'd like to add my voice to the discussion.

Missing an open mic is okay, although if I have a spot I will, if at all possible, notify the host or show runner as far in advance as possible. But missing a booked gig short of actual impossibility caused by serious illness or injury or the equivalent is very bad form. In forty years of amateur and professional acting and fifteen of (mostly amateur) comedy, I've never missed a performance (except a few open mics - with notice) even for illness or injury. I’ve had to rent cars to get to comedy performances at least twice.

In my late fifties, I performed in “Summer and Smoke” with a 102+ fever, chills, and cold sweats, and was as energetic as ever, until my exit, when I strode to the wings and stumbled to the dressing room. When it came time for curtain call I kept time with the other actors marching downstage.

About thirty years ago I was to open in a dinner theater production of "The Odd Couple" as Oscar Madison on Thursday. On the previous Monday I'd twisted my ankle playing basketball, it swelled up big and quick and I could barely limp. Offstage I used a cane and hobbled. I rehearsed sitting in the couch. Another aggravating factor was a jury trial in Port Huron, about two hours from the show that started on Tuesday. I drove to Port Huron every morning and tried the case to a jury. At 5:00 when Court adjourned for the day, I drove back, arriving at the theater about 7:45, bought a couple of snickers bars and a large coffee, changed into costume, got made up, did all the performances and had a great time.

Before opening night, I’d cut my costume shoe open so I could wrap my ankle with an Ace bandage and I moved as naturally as I could. I bounced around the stage with all necessary energy got all the laughs that Oscar Madison should get. I don’t think anyone in the audience had even a notion about my bad ankle, although it hurt like hell.

The show ran three or four weeks, and the ankle improved a little each day, walking with the cane, the pain slowly receding, but it was months before the swelling went all the way down and I was able to return to basketball.  There really is something to the theater motto, "The show must go on." In theaters with understudies, like the Purple Rose, it's not quite as compelling, but still actors don't like to take the chance for an injury or sick day off. In "Escanaba in Love," after it moved from the Purple Rose to the Gem in Detroit, the actor I was understudying, Will David Young, badly injured his knee on the day of opening night, but went on anyhow, sitting in a chair with his leg in a cast. Finally, he had to take off for surgery and came back only three weeks later, not fully healed, but impelled by his sense of responsibility. That really applies to almost all jobs, professional and otherwise. It’s taking an adult approach to your work.

Missing a performance when not absolutely, positively, necessary is not professional.

By the way, Dave Schwensen’s book is a valuable aide to comics, and it appears to be free.

JERSEY BULLIES: Christie and Incognito?

In a 144 page investigative report to the NFL based on emails, text messages, and over 100 interviews, Richie Incognito was blamed for an atmosphere of intimidation in the Miami Dolphins locker room that used racial and sexual taunts and “joking” threats in “a classic case of bullying, directed against Jonathan Martin, who is both black and gay, and who finally quit the team after contemplating suicide.

The report, however, did not point to the similarities in behavior between Incognito and his fellow New Jersey native, Governor Chris Christie. This writer suggests that the full story of these two men be told in a documentary to be called, “The Bloated Bully Brothers, starring Jake and Elwood Bully.” An observer noted that, beside their similar appearances and body types, the Bully Brothers both wear their names on their clothing, Christie on the front, and Incognito on the back. Incognito’s has a number, and Christie’s has his title.