Street Jazz

Each morning I pick up the paper and read the letters columns, reading the endorsements of my fellow citizens for who they would like to see at the helm of our fair city. And, of course, the newspapers will also get in on the act, with their own endorsements.

Well, here is mine - though it’s not an endorsement of an individual, but of behavior.

I have long held that in the worlds of journalism and politics, if you want love, buy a dog. Unfortunately, this isn’t a philosophy that is held in very high regard by our current mayor, who really, really loves being adored, and when he isn’t, he seems to react with all the churlishness of all-too-many other small-town politicians.

But even worse than that, is the fact that Dan whines way too much for a man of his advanced years. But hey, I’ve known Dan Coody for a long-time (never as a close friend - but always as an observer), and it’s the whining  - the public kvetching, if you will - that has made him into a semi-comical figure over the years.

Oh, I’ve been savaged in the local blogs!

Woe is me, I’ve been driven mad by the media!

Heavens to Betsy, the alternative media don’t respect me the way they should! “After all, we’re all on the same f******g side!”  - Bet you thought I’d forgotten about that little 1991 message on my answering machine, Dan.

To make matters worse, it has filtered down to the staff, whether they whine publicly about how they have been treated in the media or political blogs to refusing to show up at city committee meetings because unpaid citizen volunteers have been “rude” to highly paid “professionals” in City Hall.

In short, Dan Coody has created a culture of whininess in City Hall.

Make of that what you will.

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Fayetteville: the view from outside

A friend from West Fork told me that he just doesn’t see Fayetteville as progressive any longer, despite our recycling, Code Compliance  and our headlong rush into the arms of the new gods Sustainability. He says that in the last few years Fayetteville is less working-class friendly.

It was just real hard to answer that one.

Maybe Mayor Bandana can give him an answer.

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On the Air - Mythology and Film-making

Author Chris Ott joins me for a discussion of how mythological themes have played such a large role in American film-making. Naturally we discuss Joseph Campbell, and the (too-much praised, in my opinion) George Lucas, but we also discuss one of the greatest American films ever, John Ford’s The Searchers.

A lot of folks may remember Ott from his stint as Kabin Thomas’s intellectual sparring partner on the series “Sidekicks,” which ran on C.A.T. several years ago.

Days and times:

Monday - 7pm
Tuesday - noon
Saturday - 6pm

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Quote of the Day

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

rsdrake@nwark.com