Elvis Lives! Austin Butler's Star is Born!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp2BNHwbwvI

 I was the first kid on my block to see Elvis, attending without hours of the first release at Regal, a few hundred yards from my house.  I give this one five stars.  I don't get why some of the early reviews were intensely negative, although in his career some people loved Elvis and some hated him. 

My family was an anti-Elvis family.  My Dad liked Hank Snow, the former straight-laced touring mate of Elvis who thought that Elvis was immoral.  My Mom was taught by American missionaries in Korea that all music except for European classical music was created by and for barbarians (literally). They were especially taught not to play drums. So she wasn't much of a fan either.   

I didn't recognize Tom Hanks, who deserves an Oscar.  I had never heard of Austin Butler prior to this film, but he too deserves an Oscar, because he makes Elvis come to life, especially on stage. It's easy to impersonate Elvis, but hard to make him real.  Butler was remarkable.   Like the old murder mysteries, Butler did it!  

I predict that this movie will trigger an Elvis revival this summer. Elvis has never really left the building, but our culture is really determined by those of us who are, say, 13 to 23 years old. Music is meant to be danced to by single people. It's in our blood from prehistory. It's how young men and women find each other, and that is exactly what is going to happen again.    

As an adult I have understood that Rock 'n Roll was tightly connected to the music of Africa and that the chord progressions are Scotch-Irish overlaid on the the African Blues Scale. But what I didn't realize was that Elvis was heavily and directly influenced by African American gospel music as a kid. I thought it was a cliche that Elvis was a white kid who sung black, but the movie made clear exactly what was meant. In fact, I didn't know much about Elvis as a child, so that part was totally new for me and very interesting. 

In that way, Elvis truly connects African American and European cultures. It is much more than just sound. It's why the rest of the world is so fascinated by America. Maybe Americans have never fully understood or appreciated our unique role, and many have been terrified by it.  

As a period piece, it was a great movie.  I am more than 20 years younger than Elvis, but we are close enough in age that I think I know what his world should look like and how it should feel, and, at least to me, they pretty much nailed it. 

One story that was not covered was the first concert north of the Mason-Dixon Line, which occurred in the Circle Theater in Cleveland in 1954. It's part of the rationale for locating the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The show was called Hillbilly Jamboree and two of the people in the audience included my future parents, Byron Kennel and Sook Cha Lee.  

The version I heard was that the screaming was definitely for real, but they did not know who this kid was and they were not impressed.  My mother supposedly fell asleep, but my theory is that this was an act of passive aggression to show how mad she was at being taken to a crowd of literal barbarians. 

But later, I realized that this fusion of African and Scotch Irish music was the most awesome sound God could ever give humanity. My parents didn't think so, but it was. This is what made us Americans.

It took me back into the 1960s.  Even though I saw Elvis through a teen's eyes, my kid's brain was recording information back then, and probably working better then than it is now, to be quite candid.  I remember the phenomenon quite clearly, the good and the bad. The movie took me back and gave me an earlier starting point on his life, and of course told the story from the inside, rather than from the perspective of a fan or outsider. 

It would be so interesting to learn how today's teenagers will view this movie.  My kids have not seen it yet. I wonder if they will reignite the craze, or whether they will figure, well, we've seen Elvis impersonators before, so it's not big of a deal.  I have to believe things are going to get All Shook Up before the summer is over.  

Elvis Lives!!  

Is Vladimir Putin Too Big to Fail?

 

Is Vladimir Putin too big too fail?  That is, the United States is so fearful of the potential for what he might do--nuclear retaliation or other weapons of mass destruction, that the US does not wish to provoke him by allowing the Ukraine to defeat him.  

Witness when the Ukrainians blew up a fuel depot in Russian territory, CNN referred to that action as "Biden's worst nightmare."  Apparently Zelenskiy's military is supposed to just sit there and take it, and this is regarded as sound policy, and I find that disturbing. 

If we are not going to allow Putin to be damaged too severely, what about the business of calling him "War Criminal" and demanding that he stand trial?  This assures that there will not be a negotiated end to the war. Why would Putin sign a peace treaty that results in him being tried, found guilty of being a War Criminal and punished accordingly (i.e., certainly being removed from power and being sent to jail)? Do we in the West sincerely believe he is going to passively agree to this? 

If there is nothing good that happens, no relief from sanctions, only a jail term, good luck waiting for Putin to agree.

Also good luck waiting for a military coup in Russia or fair elections. This news flash just in--the electoral process in Russia is not fair and the elections are not real. It is a dictatorship, and dictators generally do not lose elections. Admittedly, Putin is not all powerful and there is some chance that a coup could occur. Russia had a coup in 1917 and one in 1991 which failed. But if the American plan is to wait for Russia to solve its Putin problem by itself it may be a very long time.  

The American plan for handling Putin is a fear-based initiative. We are so fearful of what he might do.  Hence the US approach appears to be to continue the war and maintain the status quo. We apparently feel the need to resist the temptation to support Ukraine too strongly, such that it might offend Comrade Putin.  We will not allow, for example, Poland to send MIG aircraft to the Ukrainians because that would be considered a provocation, although it is okay to send anti-tank missiles and hand-held munitions and the like. Limited engagement seems to be the desire, small successes, but we must also protect Comrade Putin and not get him too upset lest he become even more insane than he is already. 

Okay? So no aircraft for Ukraine, no A-10 tank killers, nothing that might result in the Ukraine actually winning.  

The amount of money that the US has sent in military aid is a pathetically small about: about $2.5 billion dollars at the time of this writing.  That 's about three tenths of one percent of our defense budget for the fight that we believe is the most serious since World War II.  By comparison, Girl Scout cookies generate about $800 million in revenue each year, so the US has contributed about three times as much money as Girl Scout cookie sales.  Maybe President Biden can hold a series of patriotic bake sales to help out our friends in the Ukraine?  It's ridiculous.  The only conclusion is that we are afraid of Comrade Putin and will not allow him to lose and cause him to lose his temper.  

Here in Beavercreek Ohio, my family lives only a few miles from the largest Air Force Base in the world.  We know we are going to be targeted if there is a nuclear exchange with Russia. But there is no risk-free solution. Placating Putin carries as much or greater risk than opposing him. Speaking for myself, I wish our government had some balls and would go for the win in Ukraine.  We have to take a stand. Perpetual Iraq-style war is not the answer. Throw the Russian bastards out of Ukraine. 

At the same time, there should be a path for a negotiated peace. President Biden has needlessly closed this off.  He  has to shut up about putting Putin on trial for War Crimes.  Does anyone believe that Putin will voluntarily appear in court? This can only happen if there is an unconditional surrender or a coup, and this is simply not realistic.  The President's needlessly provocative talk is harmful and has ended the negotiation process rather than promoting it.  Biden has to offer something good that will happen if Russia agrees to pull out, like lifting some of the embargos or sanctions and allowing Putin to keep his job. If nothing positive can be offered under any conditions, there will never be an agreement to end the war, it's as simple as that.

The current US policy is name-calling and promises of imprisonment, thereby ensuring that a negotiated peace is impossible. At the same time, the US is too fearful to allow a Ukrainian military victory, so we wish to protect Comrade Putin and prevent him from failing and getting too upset.  Putin is too big to fail. The American approach of appeasement on the one hand, combined with refusal to permit a negotiated settlement on the other, is totally inadequate.  We shall sit on the sidelines and cheer for Ukraine as their country is destroyed, and call Putin some bad names and feel that we are accomplishing something.  That appears to be our plan, and it is disgusting. 

Americans should not be boycotting local Russian restaurants and businesses

      

First of all, I am all in favor of boycotting Russian oil. Hell yes!  Don't feed the dog that is trying to bite your arm off.  That is common sense. 

What is not common sense is boycotting Russian restaurants and local Russian-American small businesses owned by people who were your friends last month.  They are still your friends. Nevertheless, news reports from around the country say that business is down in Russian restaurants all over the country, and presumably affecting other Russian small businesses as well.  Does this make sense to anyone?

Look, they didn't invade Ukraine.  They came to America to GET AWAY from Russia, because they WANTED to live in America.  They are not advising Comrade Putin on invading Ukraine. 

Come on, man! What do you think your boycott is going to accomplish?  Do you really believe that your local waitress is funneling her tips to Comrade Putin so that he can buy more MIG jet aircraft?  

Good Lord, are we becoming a nation of racists, looking for an excuse to hate people because of where they were born??  This makes no sense. None whatsoever.  People who left Russia to come to America are the most Anti-Putin, Anti-Communist people on earth.  They are the most willing to send their sons and daughters to fight in our Armed Forces and defend our freedoms.  There could not be anybody more American than people who have suffered under authoritarian rule elsewhere and come to America. 

Even in Russia, Putin is much less popular than most of you believe.  He controls the media, jails people he doesn't like, so of course he wins elections with monster majorities and opinion polls always favor him. People are afraid to tell the truth.  That's not the same as liking him.  Every day, the police haul off thousands of protestors and throw them in jail.  That's not the same as supporting the war or unifying the country. It is hard to prove, but my guess is that even in Russia the majority of Russians know Putin is a liar, oppose his war and want him out or dead. 

Hence, even in Russia, not all Russian people are on Putin's side.  In America, the overwhelming majority support America over Putin, of this we can be certain. 

Okay, so let's go to a Russian restaurant, shall we?  

First of all, I'm addicted to Russian rye bread.  Not everyone likes it because it is much harder than the American version, so Americans might think the Russian version is almost stale. But I greatly prefer it. You have to put butter on it, and caviar is a usual option. Or you might try it with cheese or hard sausage.  Also, everybody tries Ukrainian-Russian borscht.  It's beet soup, which doesn't sound tasty, but it is. Very sweet and loaded with vitamin C. A bowl of borscht and you know you're getting something healthy. Olivier salad is kind of like American potato salad but has peas, carrots, boiled eggs, diced meats and so that it is much more perky than potato salad. Awesome.  In Cleveland, where I am from which is practically a Polish colony, pierogi is a standard staple. The Russian version is pirozhki, which is kind of like a cross between a shepherd's pie and a pierogi. It has a more bready texture but like a pierogi can be filled with either meat, vegetable or potatoes. Beef stroganoff is a well-known go-to favorite, Kamchatka crab, if you like seafood.  Most of the meat dishes seem to have meat as one ingredient among many, like a casserole, rather than a huge cut of meat like a steak or prime rib like in America. So although many dishes have meat in them, it is hard to go into an outright meat coma like in America.  Try medovik (honey cake) for desert.  

I might recommend to you Russian restaurant owners, as a practical matter, that the sign in front of the restaurant needs to be changed to Ukrainian-Russian restaurant, and you need to add Chicken Kyiv and a few other choice dishes to the menu (spelled with the Ukrainian transliteration).  Yellow and blue on the menu will help your business also in this emotionally-charged time.  

All Americans ought to consider supporting restaurants and other these businesses, dropping the foolish notion that restaurant owners are collaborating with Putin to invade Ukraine.  

Putin: This is what happens when you believe your own propaganda

 

Comrade Putin probably expected that his military would be greeted as liberators, and that he would be viewed as the Great Unifier of the Slavic peoples.  Oops.  That is what happens when you believe your own propaganda. This has been a terrible miscalculation and the world is suffering the consequences. 

As a former military guy, I wondered why he did not follow the plan of US General Colin Powell versus Iraq in Desert Storm.  That war was for totally bogus purposes (there were no weapons of mass destruction, okay?) but my point in bringing it up is to ask how does a superpower take down a formidable opponent?  First, you bomb the hell out of him for about a month, destroy his capability to resist and THEN send the ground forces in to do battle.  The Americans respected the ability of the Iraqi military to fight back and destroyed it. It is horrifying to say so, but American leadership was not that concerned about preserving the economy of the country or its people.  The main task was to destroy the military and its ability to resist.   

As for Comrade Putin, a few days before the attack, he first lectured the West about our ignorance of the history of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples.  He told us all about how the Russians and Ukrainians are essentially one people and the boundaries and creation of the Ukrainian state are essentially a sham imposed by outsiders.  It seems that he wanted to be friends when this process is over.  Hence, he did not want to cause great destruction.  He wanted to move in, achieve an easy occupation, and achieve a joyful reunion with his lost Ukrainian brothers and sisters and overcome the painfully incompetent leadership of the Communists of the past, replacing it with the brilliant leadership of... himself.  He would be greeted as a liberator, and the great unifier of the Slavic people. 

Okay, all this is fine, and you can tell all the ignorant West all about how it should be.  But you know what?  The Ukrainians ain't buying it either, Volodya.  I don't think the Russian people hold much actual hatred for the Ukrainians (especially prior to the 2014 war of Crimean annexation), but if the Ukrainians didn't hate the Russians before this war, they do now.

It is probably easier to take over Ukraine than to administer it. As long as firearms can be smuggled into the country, no Russian administrator will ever be safe, because any Ukrainian with the ability to operate a firearm, will be a threat to shoot the administrator on sight. 

This is a disaster. Ironically, Putin was probably correct in some of what he said, prior to starting the war.  Long term, Ukrainians and Russians are basically friendly to one another on a personal level, and can understand each other's language and share common history and religion. But on a governmental level, Ukrainians and other nationalities of the former Soviet Union have no affinity for Putin's control.  In fact Russian people may not be all that wild about him, either, but they can't get rid of him since their elections are not real.   

So now we are on nuclear alert to preserve his sense of power. I am a bit concerned about that since I live a few miles away from an Air Force base and I am sure that several bombs have targeted us. Regardless, however, I am sure that the world will oppose Putin by any means necessary.