Looking for a Christmas Story

Went to New York City a few weeks ago and the temperatures were in the mid-60s. Hard to think of Christmas with spring like weather, but I wanted to find a Christmas story. My favorite A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was published way back in 1843. You remember, Scrooge gets visited by some ghosts and finds his way from being a cheapskate egomaniac to a new life embodying the Christmas spirit of giving. Could I find a story to rival the Dickens' masterpiece in some corner of Gotham, home of Wall Street bankers and subway strap-hangers?

Guess what? I found a story and it did take place in New York City. Remember Insanity? That two week period in Jan- Feb 2012 when Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American basketball player, sparked the New York Knicks to an amazing run of victories. Lin's name blazed around the world as he didn't fit the expectations of a NBA superstar. He rose from anonymity to super stardom in two weeks-- something never done before or since by anybody in a NBA uniform. Jeremy Lin has continued as an NBA player. He's having a great season with the Charlotte Hornets this year.

I watched the Netflix documentary entitled Linsanity produced by Evan Jackson Leong. The movie entertains with the life story of Jeremy Lin, the middle son of a Chinese-American family living in Palo Alto, California. My pleasant surprise, my Christmas story, happened around a minor character in the film, a fellow Knick player named Landry Fields.

Landry Fields made room in his apartment when Lin arrived in New York. Jeremy Lin, slept on a couch in Landry's place, a couch not quite long enough to contain Lin's 6' 3" frame. Coincidentally it was Landry Fields who the Knicks drafted with the 39th draft choice in Round 2, a spot Lin had high hopes of obtaining. Lin did not get drafted. Landry played at Stanford. Lin wanted to play basketball at Stanford but the coach showed no interest in giving Jeremy Lin a scholarship. Lin played at Harvard and surprised the skeptics. Lin bounced around the pros, showed some potential and found his way to the same team as Landry Fields. The two became teammates and temporary roomies.

Landry Fields impressed me in the margins of the Linsanity film. Most viewers will hardly notice him. I perceived something special in Fields' excitement and enthusiasm for Jeremy's history-making run of basketball stardom. Fields would congratulate Jeremy with chest bumps and genuine joy as Lin's last-second shots fell through the hoop. Landry's enthusiasm defied the competitive world of professional sports. For Landry there was no jealousy, no sign of holding back in the way Landry Fields shared those celebrations with Jeremy Lin.

I checked out Landry Fields on Wikipedia and noticed he has suffered injuries since his Knick days. The NBA is a tough, heartless business. You stay on the roster only if the team benefits. Your career ends when your skills diminish or you no longer serve the team's success. Landry Fields has struggled in recent years. Landry Fields does not show up on a NBA roster this year. But Landry showed the true spirit of giving in his friendship and appreciation of Jeremy Lin's meteoric rise. Landry Fields is my Christmas story

Holiday Thoughts (Weird Science the Winner)

The holidays always put me in a weird state of mind. As a kid I had morose tendencies. I grew up in New York. The weather would get cold. The days would get shorter and darker. The relatives would visit. I liked reading and the New York Times kept me entertained with stories of sports heroes past and present. I always had lots of friends and valued their support, encouragement and laughter. So, what got me so depressed yesterday?

Maybe mortality? Time creeps forward. I get older and family members, some older than me. Friends get sicker, find themselves fighting disease... Where do I fit in within this cosmic organization? I've hit the sixth decade! I always heard time flies faster with each passing decade. It's true. I feel like science and technology has dwarfed our frail human forms and modest psychological tools for absorbing change.

We are overwhelmed with change at the speed of light. Too much information from every direction.  Syria, Paris, YouTube, Twitter, Fitbit, Texas floods, water level rise, Ariana Grande licking donuts. Yes, I'm at least six months behind on the Youtube revelation. Make that six years behind... or maybe 16 years!

Johnny Manziel dropped to third string. Tried to cover up video of his partying in Austin. It's not the crime-- it's the cover-up!

Science dwarfs sports. Weird science! NFL football players too strong for the game. Not enough time for a quarterback to launch a pass. The bionic, science-built defenders race in and devour the passer like so many merciless robots. The announcers drone on. Tony Romo bites the dust. No, make that bites the scientifically created artificial turf.

Weird Science 1- Humanity 0

Are things getting better or worse? I see lots of optimism in my grandchild, so things get better from his youthful perspective. He delights in everything, from books to video games.

Ah, I sound like a cranky old man... trying to make sense of this spinning globe!

McLuhan's Electronic Haiku

McLuhan is...

rhetorical
satirical
surfaces
grammars
interfaces
new and old technologies
provocative
stimulating
and
required reading
to understand
electrical and digital convergences


from "Marshall McLuhan"
by Janine Marchessault
2005
Sage Publications
(inspired by p. 116, paragraph 2)

McLuhan Predicts Cellphone (The New Yorker, May 5, 1965)

Marshall McLuhan’s prominence as the world’s foremost intellectual  cannot easily be conceived from the remove of the present day. A piece from “The Talk of the Town” column, at the front end of the The New Yorker magazine issue, May 5, 1965, entitled “The McLuhan Metaphor,” was  composed at the same time as the  the New York World’s Fair. The author mentions the Westinghouse company’s plan to place a Time Capsule for future generations at the World's Fair and suggests McLuhan himself could better serve as a time capsule. 

My family visited the World’s Fair that year. I recall lavish futuristic exhibits sponsored by Ford and General Motors,  two industrial companies representing a mechanical age. Their exhibits imagined an automotive future with Jetsons-style highways flying in every direction. But McLuhan envisioned something different, an information age—and a massive change in consciousness.

The New Yorker author describes McLuhan’s lecture at Spencer Memorial Church in Brooklyn and quotes several startling prophecies included in his remarks:

“(He) predicted a happy day when everyone will have his own portable computer to cope with the dreary business of digesting information” and

“Dr. McLuhan next suggested the possibility of a new technology that would extend consciousness itself into the environment. ‘A kind of computerized ESP,’ he called it, envisioning ‘consciousness as the corporate content of the environment—and eventually maybe even a small portable computer, about the size of a hearing aid, that would process our private experience through the corporate experience, the way dreams do now.’”

McLuhan’s accurate prediction of computers, cellphone-sized and smaller, merits no further explanation but the second insight--consciousness as the new environment-- cuts to the very essence of the digital era.  The hearing aid device anticipates the iPhone or other mobile device. Individuals study the phone and share experiences as a corporate entity creating a group consciousness and posts are exactly as McLuhan described-- personal, random thoughts offered in a dreamlike manner. McLuhan perceived the new electronic environment as consciousness— and no better, more succinct description of the modern social network has ever been offered.

McLuhan’s notion of new technology working as extensions of the human body achieves new levels of traction in the electronic era, for if clothing extended the skin, and the wheel extended the legs’ ability to achieve movement, “the computer achieved not merely an extension of our eyes, like print, but an extension of our whole nervous system.”  (New Yorker 1965)

70 degrees on Nov 6 in NYC at 10 PM!

"What's it gonna take?" The talking heads said that and marveled at the "unseasonably warm" New York City temperatures. November 6 at 10:00 PM --and it is 70 degrees in New York City.

Historically speaking, 56 degrees is an average high in NYC for November 6.

One of the Weather Channel experts smiled and wondered aloud "What if an 80 degree day came along in the middle of December in New York City. Would that shock people enough?"

Enough to do what-- get scared maybe...?

The weather guy smiled the whole time, but a nervous smile-- reminiscent of a gallows humor response. (Gallows humor--see Wikipedia below)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallows_humor
Gallows humor is humor about very unpleasant, serious, or painful circumstances. Any humor that treats serious matters, such as death, war and crime, in a light, silly or satirical fashion is considered gallows humor.Gallows humor has been described as a witticism in response to a hopeless situation. It arises from stressful, traumatic, or life-threatening situations, often in circumstances such that death is perceived as impending and unavoidable.

The increasing temperatures are too foreboding to consider. We use denial and rationalization. Push the problems out of mind. Crops? Warmer ocean waters? What will happen to us? We take the easy way out. We deny the facts, rationalize them, or better yet, ignore them completely.

More fun to think about Donald Trump hosting Saturday Night Live tomorrow night.

The young people of today never experienced the "old normal." My growing up years in New York had a rhythm to the seasons, a consistent pattern. September meant needing a sweater and a jacket. November and December arrived and a warm coat was needed for winter.

We have upset those rhythms of nature-- and nobody knows the price to be paid.

Instead we smile nervously about the fun of wearing short sleeves on a November night in New York City. We know better. And keep our fingers crossed.

Harold Reynolds-- Baseball Commentator extraordaire

Harold Reynolds has worked this World Series (2015) as part of the Fox Sports team. He has to be the best baseball analyst events. Reynolds played second base for the Seattle Mariners and was a big league ballplayer from 1983-1994. He was born in 1960. At age 54, Reynolds has developed a comfort level with the microphone and a mature understanding of communicating with the baseball audience.

A few examples... New York Mets vs. Kansas City Royals

Game 1: Reynolds notes that Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores was proving to be a difficult out for Chris Young, the behemoth Kansas City relief pitcher. Young stands 6' 10" and looked like a dominant force. Reynolds added Flores "has great eye-hand coordination, the best on the Mets along with Daniel Murphy." He added that Chris Young "does not have the stuff to get Flores out." Sure enough Flores fouled off multiple pitches, eventually got a walk and trotted off to first base.

Game 1: Reynolds also noted the way Curtis Granderson, another Met player, deftly moved out of the way of a fastball headed right at him. "He's seeing the ball extremely well." Granderson's ability to dodge the pitch indicated to Reynolds that the batter had established a strong position in the batter's box, a nice insight to share with the viewers-- not related to any statistical data. The pitcher avoided serving up any good pitches to Granderson.

Game 2: Reynolds contrasted how the Kansas City Royals hitters have deviated from conventional baseball wisdom by going after good pitches in an aggressive manner. He explained further. The Kansas City hitters never stand passively in the batter's box and take pitches. The attempt to tire pitchers out by lifting the pitch count in not the KC style. Instead, they seek to hit the ball and knock the pitcher out of the game by superior ball contact. They certainly have done that effectively in Game 1 and Game 2 of the Series.

Reynold's grasp of what to share about the finer points of the game truly amazes. He avoids the sports cliches but doesn't not get into minutiae or belabor the statistics. Baseball has a notorious love affair with stats-- and now you can follow the pitch count, review the ball's position as it moves through the batters box, watch the spin on the pitch thanks to super slow motion technology and countless other details. Reynolds is like a breath of fresh air. He tells you what is really happening at keep moments of the game.

Moneyball, the baseball book by Michael Lewis, recounts the absolute tyranny that numbers have claimed over the game of baseball. And, of course, most of the number crunchers never could play the game of baseball beyond the Little League level but have been elevated by virtue of their mastery of big data. Reynolds played the game but does not overstate the case for his real life experience. He offers commentary with clarity and modesty. Reynolds allows the fans to absorbs insights without any showboating or ex-jock braggadocio.

Did baseball cause global warming?

Remember back in the days when World Series, the October classic, was actually played in October? For you non-baseball fans, the World Series, a best of 7-games contest, took place in the month of October back when October was an autumn month. Fans were satisfied in those days with a 6 month long regular baseball season. And the weather always seemed to be cool on those October days 'cause that was back when we had an autumn season of the year. You had to wear a sweater or jacket to those early October World Series games of yesteryear-- maybe even a coat. The weather got cooler in mid-September in those days. That was before global warming added an entire extra month of summer to most of the United States. I just got back from Montana on Oct. 12th and it was still balmy up there.

For example, the 1961 World Series pitted the New York Yankees (American League) against the Cincinnati Reds (National League). The series only lasted 5 games. The Yankees won four of five games and the last game was played on October 9th! Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's record that year by hitting 61 home runs.

But now let's check out the weather changes between 1961 and 2015! Temperatures have increased dramatically. Now we can play baseball all the way to November.

From the official weather records for New York City:  "The hottest day of 1961 was July 26, with a high temperature of 87°F."

Here are your temperatures for a single week this summer in New York City for the 6 days from July 26-- July 31, 2015.

July 26: 90 degrees
July 27: 86 degrees
July 28: 95 degrees
July 29: 96 degrees
July 30: 87 degrees
July 31: 89 degrees

New York City temps in the final week of July 2015 exceeded the 87 degree high temperature for New York City for 1961-- on just about every day! That's hot, hot, hot...

Today is Oct. 14, 2015 and we are in the midst of playoffs, the preliminaries to the World Series. But not to worry. Conveniently, thanks to global warming, the temperatures will likely stay warm for the next three weeks. The World Series will be played between Oct. 27-- Nov 4, and fans can watch comfortably anywhere in North America.

Conceivably.... we might see the Kansas City Royals play the New York Mets or Chicago Cubs. Baseball in  those cities on Oct 27? No problem. Maybe you'll need a sweatshirt for the game. You'll be fine. Or maybe not? Major League Baseball seems confident the temps will be plenty warm enough.

The only logical conclusion-- baseball is causing global warming!

Missoula, Montana--15 reasons (or so) to love it

Missoula Notes

Higgins Bridge-- “A river runs through it” and from the Higgins  Ave Bridge you view the amazing panorama.

Dining Out, Etc.

·      Biga Pizza—top-notch pizza, great cheeses, fresh local ingredients

·      Le Petit Outre—really good pastries and breads, friendly environment with large tables for patrons to sip cappuccinos, lattes etc. brewed with artistic flair.

·      Catalyst—healthy breakfasts and lunches, good vibe, right on Higgins Ave, the main drag through town.

·      Red Bird—great Art Deco space to have a glass of wine. Or dine at the upscale at the restaurant/wine bar.

·      Green Hanger Laundromat—146 Woodford, best Laundromat in America. Clean, friendly with good machines. And say hello to Midnight, the house cat.

·      Good Food store—great quality health food, along the lines of Whole Foods, and with lots of beautiful customers and employees to add joy to your day.

·      Hob Nob—good breakfasts and lunches, good prices, located on the Hip Strip on South Higgins, a great place to meet and greet.

·      Scotty’s Table—upscale dining in a awe-inspiring room.

·      Charlie B’s (photographer—Lee Nye)-- Esquire named Charlie B’s one of the “15 bars you should drink in before you die,” and if you become a regular at Charlie’s you’ll probably hasten your demise from liver failure. The Lee Nye portrait photos of Missoula’s hard-living denizens of years past are worth the price of admission.

·      Big Dipper—homemade ice cream, great array of flavors served in generous portions on sugar cones, homemade waffle cones or in cups, truly delicious

·      Missoula Club—a sturdy wooden bar with old-time photos of Montana sports heroes, from the days before ESPN. Great crew of bartenders make every visit a fun experience and serve you the largest burgers known to mankind.

·      James Bar and Alan Vick’s— Missoula is a beer drinking town and great beers and friendly conversation is a feature of these nearby pubs on the north side of town.

·      Wood’s Second Hand & Pawn Shop—first pawn shop in Missoula, run by a couple of wise-cracking proprietors, the crowded shelves provide a glimpse into the goods and materials needed for survival in Missoula through the generations.

Missoula Art Museum—a lively museum and museums are not usually such lively places, the curator of these exhibits knows the artists that will pull you in, make you smile and think.

Riverside Trail—one of the best urban walking, hiking and biking trails in America, you walk around the river that runs through it, see the trees reflected in the water, look around and view the mountains above. Truly spectacular

shape shifter

Watched a movie called "Con Man" about an imposter, James Hogue, admitted to Princeton University under the alias Alexi Indris-Santana. Hogue, a talented distance runner, posed as a "self-educated" man and requested the Princeton give him serious consideration as a freshman applicant, despite the absence of a high school transcript. He scored significantly well on standardized tests to meet the criteria of a legitimate applicant. And he posted remarkable times as a distance runner. Princeton liked the package-- he was an exotic from the heartland and possibly could help the track team. He deferred his Princeton admission so he could assist his dying mother in Switzerland through our final days. Except the real reason was-- James Hogue was completing a jail term in Utah for theft and check forgery. Princeton found out about Hogue being an imposter. They not only dismissed Hogue, but turned him over to the local police and he ended up serving another jail sentence.

Hogue did well as a Princeton student prior to the bust. It was actually his third time to college and he had strong science and math skills. But a former classmate from Palo Alto High School recognized Hogue at a Princeton track meet. He was the same guy who has enrolled at Palo Alto High School, as Jay Huntsman and posted amazing distance running performances-- before getting exposed by a suspicious local reporter.

What do we share with James Hogue?
1) He wanted to go to a great school-- Princeton.
2) He wanted a brand new start-- just what going off to college is all about.
3) He wanted to exploit a talent (running) to achieve his goals and win the applause of the crowd. The Hogue was known to be modest about his sports achievements.
4) He liked the idea of re-invention (see Madonna).

What do we not share with Hogue?
1) We cannot comfortably shift identities.
Hogue changed his name, occupation, his personal history, his locations, his social class... with impunity. Most of us struggle with changing our wardrobe.
2) Our ethics are more grounded and rooted in the Ten Commandments-- thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not steal... The imposter lies with flair and a little bit of genius. James Hogue was also a thief.
3) The con man is a shape shifter. Hogue loved change-- changed his look-- left Kansas and went to three or four different schools-- University of Wyoming (track scholarship winner) as himself, Palo Alto High School, as Jay Huntsman, the University to Texas at Austin, and Princeton University (full scholarship) as Alexi Idris-Santana.
4) James Hogue was almost totally cut-off from his family-- in Kansas. The separation from his family seems like a red flag for dysfunction and mental illness.
5) James Hogue, though a shy person, had tremendous confidence in his abilities. The shyness combined with confidence is a unique combination.

Crazy in Love and 5 Red Flags

Last night I was Toastmaster at a meeting of Laughing Matters Toastmasters, my club here in Austin. I picked the theme of "Young Love"-- and felt quite insecure about handling such a broad topic. I was too many years removed from "puppy love" to summon any insights.

Whoa... what do I do? Who do you call? I called Ken, my comedy consultant.

Ken encouraged me to think about the pitfalls of falling in love.

* We get little clues in the early stages of relationships, red flags.
* We barely notice the red flags, even though they indicate trouble down the road.
* We ignore the red flags because of infatuation, our crazy love, with the new person.

Things to consider about the other person when you're in the early stages of falling in love--  some areas include:

1) Money-- do they pay bills?
2) Relationship history-- did this new lover date married people in the past?
3) The Law-- did they call the cops on an ex-boyfriend? You could be next.
4) Language-- do they cuss like a sailor? not good
5) Addiction-- do they drink, do drugs? Pay attention to this red flag.

Ken's guidance was helpful. Everybody has a relationship story to tell. Toastmasters is all about participation of the entire group. I resolved to bring everybody into the conversation.

Remember to pay attention to those red flags in the early days of a relationship. Sure you're wearing the rose-colored glasses. You're crazy in love but try to be objective. See the other person more clearly and save yourself some grief further down the road.

Why do legends die... so quickly

Talking to my daughter tonight. Commented how quickly people move out of the conversation, go from being household names to afterthoughts-- in the blink of an eye.

Think of Jay Leno? Remember him? Just barely right. He was The Tonight Show host. Had the best job a comedian can get. Then his tenure ended. He's forgotten. Or so it seems.

David Letterman? A comedy genius. The man who introduced irony. And that's the key to comedy performance-- a total revolution. Well, he ended a few months ago and is not completely forgotten. But almost.

Jon Stewart. You loved him. But you'll probably forget him. Can't see him every night. He doesn't exist.

Maybe if you were just the right age to savor Jon Stewart he will continue to resonate and hold a magic place in your heart and your memory bank. I didn't fall into that demographic. So Jon takes a minor role in the repertoire of characters filling the back rows of my consciousness.

Frank Gifford passed away, a football star and Monday Night Football broadcaster. The cool thing is he was immortalized in the literary annals by Frederick Exley in his incomparable A Fan's Notes-- must be read to be believed. Oxley is like Holden Caulfield, all grown up and still fucked-up as hell. A brilliant and wonderful book and with a strong Frank Gifford motif.

But I like Gifford. I was a 10 year old kid in NYC when he was a young gazelle for the NY Football Giants as they were called back then. Not to be confused by the baseball team NY Giants from up in the Polo Grounds.

And then for a kid who loved media... what could be better than The Hick, The Prick and Gif... the "irreverent county-boy" Dandy Don Meredith, "the contentious" Howard Cossell, and Frank Gifford "with his low-key persona"... calling the Monday Night football games at the behest  of Roone Arledge. Gifford was the rational one, keeping track of the ball and the flow of the game. But they're all gone now and soon to be forgotten. (Quotes are from the NY Times obituary of Frank Gifford on August 10, 2015.)

That's the nature of this beast, this thing called mortality. You have to reach a certain age to realize just how cruel it is, and how beautiful... we all dance to the tune of the Grim Reaper.... the kings, the peasants, the butchers, bakers, candlestick makers and football announcers too.

Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio,
A nation turns its eyes to you (woo, woo, woo)

(Simon and Garfukel, Mrs. Robinson lyrics)

Breaking Up with Nature...

How can we stay connected to nature? Probably a lost cause. We have broken up with Nature, and ending a relationship can be painful and fraught with confusion and denial. Breaking up is hard to do... (Breaking' Up Is Hard to Do, Neil Sedaka, 1962)

Nature is gone now, surrounded by man and his technology. The world is encompassed by satellites. Marshall McLuhan called the satellite--surround a the proscenium arch... turning the world into a stage and all of us into actors. All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. (As You Like It, Act II, scene VII, William Shakespeare, 1599) McLuhan said Nature becomes an art form under such conditions. Earth photographed from space looked like a blue marble. The image indicated the whole world was in our hands.

Politicians have become actors fighting for the spotlight. Twitter and facebook postings provide us an identity... a global audience. And back on earth... well, Nature has become an art form.

Why did the death of Cecil cause us such pain? Many lions have been hunted down. The numbers dwindled down to such a point that every lion is now a Van Gogh, a Picasso, something treasured. Cecil's death signals our complete separation from Nature. We long for Nature, feel a nostalgia.

Why the proliferation of pets? Veterinarian shows are all over cable TV. We long for the natural world.

Why all the references to feces in movie comedy in recent years-- our obsession with shit is yet another expression of a disconnect from nature. Our bodily functions still involve the natural world.

A friend of mine states that our dreams remain our only connection to nature. Dreams cannot be controlled. The run free like lions across the savannah.

Baltimore-- The Revolution Will be Televised

Remember Gil Scott-Heron's famous song-- The Revoultion Will Not Be Televised? He produced the song in 1970, and maybe started Rap music with that poem spoken to congas and bongo drums. A brilliant song, no doubt. But I think Scott-Heron guessed incorrectly on one point-- the revolution actually will  be televised.

Marshall McLuhan, the brilliant media philosopher, felt print media, books, newspapers, etc. had not been especially kind to the situation of African-Americans. The electronic formats-- radio, television, computers, cellphones, Twitter, etc.-- make things more immediate and personal than the traditional forms of written communication. Digital communication has changed all of us in profound ways, as McLuhan correctly surmised.

The Civil Rights movement really got started in the Sixties with the rise of television. Now we have an array of communication formats- and individuals participate on their own through Twitter and Facebook.

CNN covers the race riots in Baltimore and Ferguson and amazingly nobody, or very few, get killed. Everything is up close and personal and moves in an instant-- the news creates news. The digital world of instant communication brings us all closer. Changes happen faster. The digital universe seems a add an element of compassion for fellow human beings that was lacking in the pre-digital days. If television ended the Vietnam War, maybe the social network and electronic vortex ends racial discord-- or at least turns the corner on racial divisions.

We see a cellphone recording of Eric Garner being  killed on the streets of Staten Island. Demonstrations happen. Some police officers are ambushed and murdered, seemingly in retaliation for Eric Garner's death. The demonstrations subside. The information comes to us in a steady stream. Each event becomes a media event and another event rises from it. Ferguson, Missouri follows a similar pattern but the demonstrations turn violent.

The next development is a recording that shows Freddie Gray being arrested on the streets of Baltimore. He screams for help. His legs seem immobilized and he mysteriously dies while in police custody. The immediacy of the horror brings people to the streets almost instantly. Young kids communicate via cellphone and organize a plunder of the local mall. But, the riots end in a single day. Everything moves quickly. The peaceful leaders of the African-American community move into the streets. College kids come to Baltimore and immediately start sweeping the streets clean of debris. The Bloods and Crips put their hatred aside and work together! We meet an impressive "Mom of the Year" popping her son in the head and successfully getting him out of the riot. We admire her courage. We learn about each other quickly and suddenly community leaders take control of the streets.

Baltimore does not get burned to the ground-- like the neighborhoods that went up in flames following the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968. The violence never reaches the epic  proportions of the riots in Los Angeles in 1994, following the Rodney King beating.

The revolution actually is being televised-- along with a million other forms of coverage by the citizens-- but it still is a revolution, a revolution of compassion. Mr. McLuhan got it right! But he said there would be all kinds of disharmony and a cacophony of voices and opinions rising in the new environment-- just like any other village.