Kennedy Center Honors

I am watching the Kennedy Center Honors and Dave Brubeck was just honored. The actual ceremony took place on Dec 6, his 89th birthday. During one of the segments, a group of military musicians started playing "Take Five," ending it with a little of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." They then played "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and Brubeck's 4 sons all joined in the fold, having solos and cycling through some other songs as well. The coolest thing for me, was before the next time they played "Rhapsody in Blue," the whole group played "Happy Birthday" with jazz chords. It was great!

Happy Birthday, Dave.
Congratulations to all the Kennedy Center Honorees.

Da Bears

The Vikings are about to be beat by the Bears and over the PA was Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." The title says it all, that is my fanfare, not the Bears. Football players are way over-paid, over-promoted, and under-producing. They are most definitely not the persons for whom that fanfare was written and I want it back.
The fanfare does not belong to those on TV. It does not belong to those in the public eye. It does not belong to canine corrupters, weapon wielders, or Al and Alma's altercators; it belongs to car mechanics, police officers, and soldiers in Afghanistan. The morally bankrupt can keep their mass-produced drivel that the masses call music, I want the fanfare, it is mine.
Stop playing it. It does not belong to you.

Age and Crime

Apparently a husband and wife admitted to spying on the US and reporting to Cuba for 30 years. They've even spent some time with Fidel Castro giving him intel. The husband has been sentenced to life in jail, while his wife will serve no less than 7.5 years. Here's the kicker for me, they are 72 and 71 respectively. The BBC site doesn't say when they stopped spying, but they spent their evening with Mr. Castro in 1995.

They committed treason against their country, but are aging. Does the punishment fit the crime? Should they be stuck in jail for something they did (potentially) a decade ago? Did the wife get a lesser sentence because of her gender? (Sexism can work in one's favor too).

I, of course, don't have any of these answers, but these questions struck me as I was reading. I think that since our punitive system is that, punitive instead of corrective, their age shouldn't matter. If we had a corrective system, then I don't think they should be corrected, because their ability to commit the crime has been greatly diminished.

Whether or not sexism played a part, I'm guessing yes. She could have been the brains behind the whole match, but most are reading this article thinking, "He was an official in the army. Oh, that poor woman getting stuck with that." Either way, I think 7 and a half years in jail are going to irreparably damage her health, and they will most likely be separated. That might be more damage than the actual jail time.

What I'll never know is why someone would actually do this.