I have on several occasions told the story of the time that I sang in the pit chorus in Sanders Theatre when Shirley Jones and her new husband Jack Cassidy showed up in a touring summer stock cast to perform The Beggar’s Opera. Yesterday evening I again watched the old movie The Music Man in which Jones appears with Robert Preston. Curious, I looked her up on Wikipedia and it turns out she is alive and three months younger than I am! So when I signed up sixty-six years ago to earn one dollar per performance in the chorus, as a young 22-year-old graduate student finishing my doctoral dissertation, she was also 22 years old and starring in the show.
I did not meet her, of course. The chorus never
made it onto the stage but we watched rehearsals and the performances from the
orchestra pit. We were all madly in love with her and thought that Jack Cassidy
was the luckiest man alive,
25 comments:
Speaking of Robert Preston, Criterion has this wonderful writeup of Victor/Victoria
Lovely story!
For my part, I was stunned recently to learn that Mikhail Gorbachev is alive!
The two killing rampages which occurred on July 4th, in Highland Park, Ill., and in Philadelphia, demonstrate that the S. Ct.’s rulings on the Second Amendment have been the equivalent of releasing lethal weapons to the inmates in an insane asylum. The blood of the victims are on the hands of Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett.
Marc--You're absolutely right.
The recent Sup Ct decision on NY's concealed carry law is deplorable, but there is no direct connection between that decision and the Highland Park shooting, where the suspected perpetrator used a rifle that, according to recent news reports, he bought legally in Illinois. The SCOTUS case was about carrying handguns in public and whether officials have discretion to decide who has a need to carry in public and who doesn't. Remains to be seen what the full implications will be, but there's no direct connection to the Highland Park shooting, and prob not (w.o knowing the details) to the Philadelphia one either.
True LFC, but a moron that Trump put on the Federal bench has ruled that CA's 21 y.o. requirement to buy an AR type rifle is unconstitutional in one of more stupid opinions I have ever read. If an Australian type law was enacted I'm sure the SC would find it unconstitutional. However MS's point will soon be true.
The blame here goes to the failure to renew the 1990s ban and to that Congress for writing a law that sunsetted and the 1986 congress that failed to include semiautomatic centerfire rifles in the law passed that year.
LFC,
Correct, no direct connection. But an indirect connection, by discouraging states and municipalities from enacting gun control laws, and discouraging Congress to also enact gun control laws, absolutely. They succeeded in giving the NRA ammunition to resist and challenge such enactments. And in the vacuum they have created, these mass killings will continue, the blood of these future victims will be on their hands, and we will all have to live in fear that the next public gathering we attend, we, or someone we love, will die at the hands of a disgruntled, mentally ill person with a grievance against society.
Sounds like the only solution is a new and better Supreme Court.
I have memories, perhaps false memories, of when someone would initiate some blog entry and people would then respond to it. But here and now it seems, RPW is sort of running a cafe where the usual people turn up everyday and talk about their usual concerns.
Could we at least have some memories? Or are you all just implicitly remembering better days? Though perhaps these would be false memories too.
Anonymous 8:08 pm
So why not respond directly to the blog post (or blog entry, if you prefer that phrase) yourself?
Tonight, on the PBS show Finding Your Roots, hosted by Prof. Henry Louis Gates, the genealogies of Prof. Gates’ two guests manifested the complexities of our American history. The two guests wee Ty Burrell, the star of the TV show, Modern Family; and Joe Madison, the radio commentator about civil rights known as The Black Eagle.
Burrell’s genealogy revealed that his great-grandmother was the daughter of a slave, who had been raped by her white slaveowner.
Madison’s genealogy revealed that his great-grandfather had served in the Confederate army; that he bore a mulatto son by a black woman whom he lived next door to after the Civil War; and that the son, Madison’s grandfather, had been a victim of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.
aaall,
I agree. How do we accomplish that?
MS, we start talking about the illegitimacy of this current radical court. We stop playing small ball - Mitch stole two so we add two - lame and looks petty and starts an arms race. Go big or go home. Art. III judicial reform - districts to the Supremes. Term limits. Never vote for a Republican - elect more Dems.
oops
Anonymous,
I only wish that all you propose could succeed. There is as much likelihood of what you propose succeeding as J. Thomas apologizing for his wrong-headed decisions, recusing himself from future cases involving his wife's influence, and divorcing her.
Then we're doomed! Things can change but negotiating with oneself will always lead to one losing. We are on the cusp of some variety of fascism because a few billionaires never gave up.
aaall,
I agree that things are looking pretty dire, but they are salvageable. It will take several decades. There are more Democrats in this country than there are Republicans. And there are more Democrats and moderate Republicans than there are Trump Republicans. We have to concentrate on turning out the vote and nominating moderate Democrats for whom the moderate Republicans will be willing to vote for. Gradually, over several decades, we must insure that a moderate Democrat or moderate Republican is in office when seats on the S. Ct. open up. It is very likely that in the meantime, the conservative S. Ct. will overturn several of the precedents which the Warren Court decided. But we have to play the long game, just as the conservatives did. This is the only way we can save this democracy, although we will lose some S. Ct. decisions in the process. But the most important thing is saving democracy, and correcting the S. Ct. down the road. The dreams of a socially progressive U.S. will have to be put aside. Even a democracy which is not progressive is better than a fascist state. We have to face up to this.
Marc, we don't have decades, we have, at most, two years. If the Dems hold the House and add a few to the Senate as well as state gains we then come to the more then likely SC decision on the North Carolina case that will put the 2024 election in doubt.
As in the mid-19th century the Constitution has hit a wall. A federal republic in which half the constituent members are basically "stans" (e.g. DeSantistan) is not going to last much longer.
BTW, I see that Ryan is leading Vance in Ohio senate race:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/ohio/
Shirley Jones? Never could stand her.
There may be no direct connection between the Independence Day shooting and the Supreme Court decision on the concealed carry law in my state (New York) but as Marc Susselman suggests, a direct connection isn't necessary to know that the expected losses stemming from the decision have already increased. Second Amendment advocacy has ratcheted up for the worse. NYC Mayor Adams gave a speech the graduating police academy cadets in which he warned that in addition to the hostility that the police face, they have to consider that anyone might be carrying a concealed firearm. He also said a few other things which could be interpreted as encouraging cop justice, but I'm not commenting on this. I mention it proleptically in case some sensitive soul decides I need to be chastised for not mentioning it. Or in case someone decides that I deserve criticism for mentioning it. I also want to distinguish statistical likelihood from mathematical expectation--too many commentators focus on the statistical probabilities without recognizing that low probability events can have very large expected costs. Anyway the SCOTUS decision and its consequences do no one living here in the city any good.
F. Lengyel,
"Proleptically" Good word, but I think your sentiment regarding Shirley Jones is a bit harsh.
Harsh? It's the best I can muster.
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