Addis Ababa and Me

Today I being a travelogue. I'm recounting stories of my Mama's several visits to a country located at the Horn of Africa called Ethiopia. Discover the wonders of this ancient civilization, the complexities of its current culture, and why Mama travelled 24-hours by air to its capital city Addis Ababa.

Here are two web sites that provide some basic facts about Ethiopia:

http://www.tourethio.com/index.htm

http://www.macalester.edu/courses/GEOG61/kshively/

http://www.selamta.net/index.htm

Mama offered a variety of artifacts, material culture if you will, to help me convey the many contradictions of a visit to Addis Ababa [means Little Flower]. Above you see a piece of Ethiopian cloth showing musicians holding traditional instruments.

So please check back during the next week or so as I share my virtual trip [based on Mama's actual experiences] to this surprising country. And if you have any specific questions, you may ask them by clicking on"comments" located at the end of this entry.

Mon Oncle Andy: Firm Commitment

Firm Commitment. Get it?

Voila mon Oncle Andy. Of Lester, Loving & Davis Law Firm. http://www.lldlaw.com/index2.html

Unlike my Mama et Papa, mon Oncle Andy [perhaps the title of my next film, but more on that later] hobnobs with the upper-middle-class and the sort of well known. OK, not actually the rich and famous, but far better than the poor and obscure that I tend to meet here. Oncle Andy jets from one exotic locale to another: Edmond, OK to Washington, D.C., to Norfolk, VA to NYC and even Denver, CO. [for more on mon Oncle Andy see the July 9, 2006 entry]

For example, mon Oncle Andy appeared on the Chris Matthews Show, in the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and was interviewed by Brian Williams. Although Andy has been among the rising stars since the Reagan years, his spirited defense of Mike Brown's FEMA leadership has attracted more broadly based attention. [To read numerous articles of up-to-the-minute critical relevance see his law firm's web site--address above-- and click "news" and then "articles."]

But mon Oncle Andy is more than just another celebrity attorney. He is a community leader, devoted to his family, Tante Barbara and ma cousin Susan, [see entry August 4 2006], and a highly responsible, participatory citizen. Here is one description:

Andrew W. Lester attended Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich, Germany, received an A.B. in History, magna cum laude, from Duke University in 1977. He received J.D. and an M.S. (Foreign Service) in 1981 from Georgetown University.During law school, he was a member of President-Elect Reagan’s Transition Team for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Since 1988, Lester has been an Adjunct Professor at Oklahoma City University School of Law. For eight years, Lester served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma. In that capacity, he presided over numerous trials and handled various other matters.

In 1993, Lester spent several months in the former Soviet Union as a Constitutional Law Specialist for the Central and East European Law Initiative of the American Bar Association.

He has published 1 book and more than 80 articles on professional and public policy issues.

He has served on the boards of the Federalist Society’s Civil Rights Practice Group, the Salvation Army - Oklahoma City Command, the University of Central Oklahoma Foundation, St. Mary’s Episcopal School of Edmond, and the Edmond Rotary Club.

He was chairman of Enid’s Police Civil Service Commission, and a member of the boards of the Booker T. Washington Community Center, Enid Habitat for Humanity, and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Commission.

Lester is referenced in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, and Who’s Who Among Emerging Leaders.

Of course my Mama et Papa are proud to be related to Oncle Andy. Mama claims that, as his older sister by 3 years, it was she that started him down the highway of success by teaching him to read, protecting him from neighborhood bullies, and creating one-act plays and other venues to help sharpen his public appearance skills [only three amongst many more opportunities that she offered him]. She fondly remembers happily sharing her Halloween candy with him, willing to pander to his sweet tooth out of the kindness of her heart.

Only one item gives her pause.

Note the last words of the satisfactorily laudatory paragraphs highlighted in pink above. Mama asks, "Are we actually living in a world in which my brother Andy is among our emerging leaders?"

To which I reply, "The pictoral evidence above suggests mon Oncle Andy has already emerged."

Re/search and Re/visit

This shot shows me, sitting at my desk, with none of the usual toys, treats, fawning attention, and etc. [read numerous of the entries below] to distract me.

Today, I first revisited one of Mama's most significant, if underappreciated, works:
"The Dark Side of Comparative Research," Elli Lester-massman. In Journal of Communication Inquiry, 15:2

In it, she argues that [social] science is a rhetoric deeply embedded in culture and that comparative research in particular replicates, implicitly and often explicitly, a power structure that maintains a specific world system of dominance and exploitation.

Next I opened the current issue of the same journal. Imagine my surprise when amongst the table of contents the name Fred Vultee leapt out. Note the black and white photo above and you'll see the authors of the 3 articles of today's reading. [the third figure, centered, is Andy Lester: see entry, July 9, 06 below]

Mr. Vultee, a doctoral student at the University of Mississippi, authored: "Fatwa on the Bunny" News Language and the Creation of Meaning about the Middle East. [Journal of Communication Inquiry, 30:4] Vultee's article supports Edward Said's thesis that "a pervasive Western discourse" cements a "fundamental ideology of difference."

Thus I was reminded of Mama's article in 28:1:
"Chimera Veil of 'Iranian Woman' and Processes of U.S. Textual Commodification: How U.S. Print Media Represent Iran," Elli Lester Roushanzamir.
Here Mama investigates how U.S. print media construct a specific commodified version and vision of Iran by using consistent and iconic images of Iranian women....[how] Iran itself is gendered female....[and how the] veil, prolific of meaning, parsimonious of form, is a global product symbol.

Finally, exhausted but exhilarated by these three fine examples of scholarly arguments and insights, I retired to my seat on the porch to reconsider my own position on a number of the issues raised.

Dog Gone

Perhaps you've missed my entries over the past week. Please excuse my lack of blog diligence & permit me to offer an explanation.

It was a cold & rainy week. Rain lashed at our rooftop and wind bent the trees. Water rushed down the incline of our driveway, dislodging rocks & damaging the delicate plants alongside.

Donning my oilskins, and with a courage untapped 'til now, I braved the elements to save or restore the landscaping heretofore lovingly maintained by Papa et Mama. As I collected sticks, tied up plants, and reconstructed cedar chip pathways, Papa et Mama watched from the screened porch.

Each day, as Papa left for work and Mama read interminable ebook mysteries I ventured outside to tackle the day's disarray. Plagued by neighborhood squirrels and chipmonks, mocked by birds, and teased by passing children, I remained committed to my war with raging nature.

Perhaps it was because of my efforts, which I don't for a minute regret, that the last two days I've spent in bed with a nasty cold. Nor have I been cheered with chicken soup, ice cream or hard candies. The effort was its own reward.

The important question: when will I return to regular blogging? I'll do my best not to disappoint you but I may still require a few more days recovery time. So til I'm back on my feet again, cheers to you & yours.

A Dog's Life

Yes, mine is a dog's life and a dog's life is a curious one.

For example: free & frequent feedings, fresh water always available, plenty of toys to play with, several reserved resting places and yes, a treasure trove of love, attention, appreciation and affection.

However, the photo above demonstrates the conundrum of a dog's life. [Remember that conundrum means: A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma]

My own pillow cushions my own spot at the picnic table on the screened in porch. [Mama et Papa permit me to leave the door to the inside open even when the air conditioning's on.] Once on the porch I require my own water bowl be moved out as well. If I prefer it, my own porch chair, cushioned comfortably by a Power Ranger's blanket, is also available.

But also note: I am dressed, a dressed dog. And if you look closer, you'll notice the pink shirt and contrasting bandana-- green with a variety of colors including a touch of pink to coordiate the "outfit." Suggestive of a style designed by a fashionable dressmaker. [Dogs agree that the only dressed member of the animal kingdom should be one akin to a turkey.]

Now consider another shot. Two [awfully] Pink Items, a fake "dog," and a book about coutured little pooches. These were a gift, acquired [on purpose and after some consideration] by my Mama to give to hers. A birthday gift to my grandmama given to remind her of me.

Perhaps you know that people have coined sayings about dogs' interactions with humans which testify to our importance in the grand social formation. One is: don't be a dog in the manger, implying that although dogs lead fantastic lives we don't truly appreciate our good fortune.

Another that comes to mind: it's a dog's life. That one remains open to interpretation. Please spend some time thinking about it.

Pauvre Mama

I have told you quite a bit about my life with Mama et Papa. Now I shall share a little bit about Mama.

She earned a Ph.D. [Mass Communication with a minor in African Studies] from the University of Wisconsin-Madison & had previously attended the University of Michigan [M.A.] and Duke [B.A.].

Thus one might assume she is well read, knowledgable across the social sciences and humanities. You'd think her mind was occupied with the weighty issues of class, race/ethnicity, gender & sexual orientation in a global society & the relationship of mass communication to those variables. Some of her favorite authors might be Raymond Williams, E.P. Thompson, Roland Barthes, Eric Hobsbawm, etc. Her heros, one might justifyably assume, would include Herb Schiller, Hanno Hardt, & Bob McChesney.

How wrong would be your assumptions.

See the picture above for her 2 favorites: Jerry Seinfeld [the comic who does those meaningless routines such as-- "have you ever noticed that when you're getting ready to move all you can think about is boxes?...] and Superman [a cartoon, albeit one pledged to defend our free & democratic way of life-- and he can fly!]. And here they appear together for their interview on The Today Show.

Pauvre Mama. [does this strike any of my loyal readers--as I must admit it does me-- as slightly pathetic?] But at least her preferences are related to mass communication.

Now, for an example of how I occupy my time, see the book review below.