Klarinet Archive - Posting 000036.txt from 2004/12

From: Elgenubi@-----.com
Subj: [kl] re: Off topic.
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 14:17:44 -0500

Forest said,

"Walter,
You are thinking! And taking action.....
It's important to make darn sure your reed works each day! No doubt!
And....of course we have to re-discuss :-) the fact that all of us playing
Buffet clarinets have been brainwashed......but I feel that it's very
important (especially now) to participate in our democracy.
People on the list can easily navigate around the political discussions...or
they can take the time to participate. Last I checked...they have....choice.
When the list is quiet (everyone's clarinet issues solved and everyone owns
their perfect clarinet?) I'm convinced that it's fine to express
opinions/views/etc. on just about anything. Why not? I am interested in more
than just clarinet. I have interest in the people that play clarinet (and
how they think as well). This list is full of interesting people. The fact
that they play clarinet is something that allows us (at least) some common
ground."

This morning my clarinets are all playing perfectly, thus........

I am glad you made this statement, Forest. Whether one supports Bush's
approach to the problem of Terrorism or not, I'm sure most would agree that there
is not enough intelligent discourse concerning important issues in the U. S.
The Presidential campaign as presented in the pop media was pitiful. Yes, we
all need to participate in our democracy more than ever before; these are scary
times; the world is changing, if there is to be hope we don't simply repeat
catastrophic errors of the past, we must think, listen, and talk to each other
more.

Here's a far from Clarinet suggestion of a book about the collision of 1860
American culture with another culture tuned to completely different values.
"Crazy Horse and Custer" by Stephen Ambrose. I don't see any simple answers by
reading history like this, but I like being reminded that terrible conflicts
of cultures are not new. For those not familiar with American History, Crazy
Horse was an American Indian warrior who was active in the Battle at the Little
Bighorn, in which Colonel Custer and and a few hundred federal soldiers were
killed in Montana in 1876. The two men were the same age and both were
honored in their cultures as heroes. They understood each other not at all.

Wayne T.

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