Joe Cocker's Woodstock version of the Beatles' "(With a) Little Help From My Friends" has always been a favorite of mine. The Beatles version, helmed by Ringo on vocals, was a pleasant piece of confectionary, but Cocker's version unpacked the true emotional power of the song and, as John and Paul no doubt intended, extemporized on the true meaning of friendship and the power it brings into our lives.

Finally, someone has captured Cocker's riffs in this captioned version of the Woodstock performance, highlighting, to be sure, Cocker's talent for improvisation but also the simple genius of the song's themes of alienation and intedependence in a post-industrial, post-modernist society. This new rendering of Cocker's groundbreaking performance allows us to fully appreciate the cultural watershed that was Woodstock.

Where Have I Been?

I realized with horror the other day that I had not posted in almost a month, and resolved not to let June 14 go by without something. I guess you could say I'm two days ahead of schedule from that perspective.

The last month has been intense. I am doing a big project on private health insurance market reform for an advocacy group -- lots of research and writing, re-writing, and re-re-writing. Fun but intense, with a couple all-nighters thrown in.

I am also doing a radio show on KOOP, the little radio station that keeps burning down. I am enjoying that immensely, but it comes with its own blog and outreach to the public.

The summer is here prematurely, with Austin recording its 10th day of 100-degree temperatures yesterday. Today is supposed to be #11. As a friend pointed out in an email, it's been this hot and it's not even summer yet!

I Consider Myself One of the Fortunate Few

According to BusinessWeek, Texas has surpassed New York as home to the most Fortune 500 companies. Fortune magazine annually compiles the list. This year, Texas is identified as home to 58 Fortune 500 companies, compared to 55 for New York and 52 for California. No wonder Arrrggghhh-nold is begging people to come work in California.

In other news, Texas Governor Rick Perry briefly visited an emergency room last night after he strained his shoulder patting himself on the back.

Twenty Years and Counting

This weekend was my 20-year law school reunion. It was held, of course, here in Austin, with a morning's worth of continuing legal education programs. a luncheon on the lawn at the Law School, and a dinner party for the Class of '88 that evening.

It was great seeing everyone. In many ways, it felt like we'd just gone our separate ways -- friends instantly recognized each other, classroom antics and Sixth Street sorties were re-lived, and former professors were recalled and, in some cases, roasted. (There were plenty of ears burning in Austin that night.)

In other ways, it was difficult if not impossible to summarize the 20 years of ups, downs, triumphs, disappointments, and just plain changes we all have lived through. Most of my classmates knew I'd gone to work for Governor Ann Richards shortly after law school -- but that was 15 years and five jobs ago. I've also bought a house, bought a ranch, married, sold the ranch, and divorced in that time. I've also lost both parents and had other experiences that, in many ways, transformed me as much as, or more than, anything that's happened in my professional career.

And every one of my classmates has those same stories: marriage, kids, some divorces, the death of parents and friends -- even the deaths of classmates. It's hard to compress all that into a luncheon and a dinner party, but we made a nice start of it this weekend. Hopefully we'll stay in better touch in the future.

Some pictures from the alumni events this weekend are here.

Fault Line

John Langmore, who is a great photographer in spite of the fact that he went to law school with me, has a new exhibit called Fault Line: A Portait of East Austin. It is showing at the new Mexican American Cultural Center in the Rainey Street neighborhood, and is a must-see. It continues until April 27th.

John's show premiered last night, and 200+ people jammed the auditorium at the cultural center to hear John describe his inspirations and experiences in photographing the life of East Austin. He commented on and praised the generosity and hospitality of the people of the community, who let him into their stores and homes and family celebrations time and again. He talked about the unique character of that part of the city, endangered by the march of time, progress and gentrification. And he warned about the challenges of keeping the city's quality of life while allowing it to grow and welcome more people.

Speaking of must-sees, the cultural center is a destination in itself. It's a beautiful, very modern building, with thoughtful architecture and beautiful grounds. It opened last fall and everyone in Austin should visit there.

Hail!

A brisk, rainy Friday morning. Thunderstorms sweeping in from the west, their gunmetal clouds blending in with the gray light of dawn. Hail mixed in with a hard rain. Xena scurrying under the bed as the precipitation cracks and pings off the metal roof of my home. Watching the white spheres fall and bounce in the grass in the faint morning light.

I Dunno. You Tell Me.

The Shell Houston Open is in, well, Houston this week. Shell is sponsoring it, no doubt hoping for some good p.r. after energy companies collectively raked in $123 billion in profits in 2007.

Anyway, here's an interesting video of golfer John Daly, captured on the driving range. You tell me what the other guy's doing.

Long Time, No See

It's been a leap year february (i.e., 29 days) since I last posted. No particular reason for the lacuna. But I had someone over the weekend tell me that he'd noticed I had not posted in a while. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought he read my blog, so I took inspiration from the fact someone was actually paying attention.

According to Google Analytics, I had 164 visitors since March 4, an average of 5 a day. That's not bad when you consider that most blogs are read only by the blogger himself and his mom, in whose basement he still lives. Of course, there are SERIOUS blogs like Burnt Orange Report that get millions of visitors. And there are hilariously irreverent blogs like In the Pink Texas that got over 100 hits a day, albeit from the same 19 people. I am proudly one of them.

Anyway, I figure I should entertain my reading public by, well, posting every now and then. And I'll hereby make an effort to do that. So start reading, y'all!

Friday Night

I'm sitting at home on Friday night, listening to the soft tick of a slow rain on the leaves in my back yard. It's a little cold and damp, but I'm on the patio so at least it's not raining on me. I think this rain will last all weekend, if not the chilly temperatures.

It sure is an interesting time for a Texas political junkie like me. I took the evening off from trying to keep up with news shows, websites and blogs, which is what I normally do. It is like trying to drink water out of a firehose -- too much information, too much Us Versus Them, too much noise. I think we political junkies have to remember that for most Americans, life goes on without the latest crosstabs from Texas or polling from Peoria.

Out in Real America, people are seeing movies tonight, or having dinner at home as a family, or going to the movies with their friends, or lining up to get into a club to hear some live music. Their eyes don't tear up with inspiration when they watch the "Yes We Can" video or with laughter when they watch the "John McCain: Three Words" video. They don't spend an hour -- as I did today -- parsing the crosstabs from the Texas Credit Union League poll to glean insights into the possible trajectories of March 4.

Are they missing something? Am I?

Cool Barack Obama Poster

Hat tip to Nicholas Jackson at Poll Dancing for calling attention to this Obama poster being sold online by Obey Giant -- "Manufacturing Quality Dissent Since 1989." Terrific poster.

Absolute Friends

I read Absolute Friends, John Le Carre's terrific 2004 novel, over the weekend. Did I mention it was terrific? Here's a 2004 radio interview with Le Carre about the book.

I love Le Carre; his "Karla Trilogy" -- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, and Smiley's People -- are some of my favorite books to read. I usually re-read all three of them every couple years.

Brother Martin McMurtrey, 1921-2007

For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground

And tell sad stories of the death of kings

-- Shakespeare, Richard II

Brother Martin McMurtrey, S.M. died on Friday, November 9, in, as they say, "the 87th year of his life and the 69th year of his religious profession." I have always loved the solemn dignity of that formulation, and its elegance is very appropriate to "Brother Mac's" life.

The San Antonio Express-News did a nice article about him, but it barely scratched the surface of his impact on a whole generation of students. A fuller obituary is attached below, but it also fails to capture what a great spirit he was.

I love Martin McMurtrey. He was my English teacher my sophomore year at Central Catholic High School in San Antonio, where he taught for almost 50 years. In 1970, he pulled me and, I think, six other guys out of our usual English classes so that we could work with him on a special project -- writing an analysis of poverty in San Antonio and what we could do about it. It was one of the transforming experiences of my young life.

We met every day and did research, studying all kinds of reports and government documents. Gleaning the information from libraries, the city and the federal government was a huge learning experience. I remember how shocked I was to discover that San Antonio was the poorest major city in the United States (and, for all I know, still is). We wrote what I am sure is a very forgettable report -- but the experience of writing it still remains with and shapes me to this day.

But Brother Mac was not content to let that be the extent of our immersion in the learning process. He took all of us with him to St. Agnes Parish every week, where we taught religious education classes to impoverished schoolchildren. Like our report, I am sure the CCD lessons I taught were forgettable -- but McMurtrey's commitment to the poor and the eye-opening difference between my life and those kids' made a huge impression on me, then and now.

For fifty years, Martin McMurtrey was that kind of teacher and mentor, a transformational figure in the lives of thousands of future leaders.

Sometime in the early 1990s, I was talking to Jan Jarboe Russell, who followed a stint as a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News with a writing gig at Texas Monthly and a terrific book on Lady Bird Johnson. I was then working for Governor Ann Richards, but Jan and I had known each other since I was an organizer for COPS and MCA, two powerfully effective community organizations in San Antonio.

We were talking about growing up in San Antonio and she asked me about significant influences. I mentioned Brother Mac and how he'd broadened my worldview and sharpened my sense of social justice. She told me that, in previous conversations with both Henry Cisneros and Ernie Cortes (the founder of COPS and one of the most influential community organizers of the last half-century), they'd both mentioned Brother Mac as well.

It'd be a great story to talk with all the people whose lives he transformed.

Mom's Cows

My mom spent the last three months of her life in a nursing home in LaVernia, a little town just outside of San Antonio. My sister, brother-in-law and niece live there, and so it made sense for her to be there, and my kin out there did a wonderful job of caring for her.

In the evenings, they'd take her for a little stroll around the property. One evening Mom spied some cattle in the field next door to the nursing home, and in no time had befriended and named them. From left to right, they are Pico, Frances and Julie.

For most of the summer, we'd take a little walk in the evening and call the cows over to the fence, where my mom would talk to them and we'd feed them some grass or hay. It's a tribute to the way my mom lived that some cows became part of the extended family.

Life is so beautiful sometimes.

Texas Dodges Hurricane Dean

It looks like Hurricane Dean -- which blew through the Yucatan today -- will completely miss Texas.

Hurricane Dean Swinging Further South

Hurricane Dean seems to be swinging even further southward, aiming itself towards central, not northern, Mexico. Compare yesterday's storm track. That's good news for Texas, although hardly for Mexico.

Hurricane Dean May Miss Texas?

For several days now, folks have been preparing for Hurricane Dean to barrel through Texas like a drunken cowboy in an F-150 pickup truck. But the latest prognostications from the National Hurricane Center have Dean continuing on a straighter course that takes it over the Yucatan, then across the Gulf into northern Mexico. It looks like we'll be spared its brunt in Texas, unless it slices right after it hits the Mayan Riviera.

It can still do a lot of damage, with plenty parts of South Texas already soaked with this year's much-higher-than-average rains. And, of course, the damage it inflicts on Mexican will also place demands on Texans and Texas, notwithstanding the Nativists' idea that Mexico is another planet.

For your graphical enjoyment:

WTF Is Going On In China?

I have a MySpace page. It's part of my attempt to be cool and relevant -- like commenting on In The Pink Texas, only not as funny. Or relevant. I really have not paid much attention to MySpace -- the friends I know on there can communicate better with me by picking up the phone than by sending me an email through MySpace -- but I am still down with the whole social networking thing.

Recently, though, I have become aware of a serious problem that has, it seems to me, national security implications. It turns out there are a lot of young, 20-something American girls who may be being held against their will in ... China.

I deduce this from the fact that I constantly receive offers to become "friends" on MySpace from 20-something girls who give their location as "China." These are not Chinese women, mind you -- to all appearances, they are healthy American girls who, for some strange reason, are in China. And by "healthy American girls," I mean "strippers," for that is what they all look like.

Take, for example, Florence, who is pictured on the left. She's 26 years old and, as you can see, lovely. In her profile, Florence tells us that she's "new to the area and want[s] to know where to go and what's fun." She continues, "Its a little overwhelming at first but I love it," which is a wonderful attitude to have about being in a foreign land like China. Apparently, her sole creature comfort in China is a digital camera. She loves to take pictures and, even more, to have her picture taken. In fact, she's so homesick that she's posted some pictures on another site, where could see her in all her glory for the mere price of admission.

Or take Eunice. I assume that Eunice is one of the girls on the left, but I cannot tell which one because Eunice prefers to keep the mystery alive. Eunice, and presumably her friends, are in China, where they may be held against their will. Perhaps that is why Eunice does not wish to say which one she is, for fear of repercussions. Like Florence, though, Eunice has a camera and is eager to share many pictures of herself for a nominal monthly fee.

My question is this: Is the State Department on top of this? Are these people in China against their will? Is there a burgeoning strip club industry in China that is absorbing our surplus strippers? What are the tariffs on tarts?

And most important, why does everyone think that Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, the inventors of MySpace, are the smartest guys since Ben Franklin and Tom Edison? Don't we all have at least eight reasons to hate MySpace?

Barry Bonds Hits No. 756!

We still do not know everything about Bonds' use of steroids and how that affected his pursuit of the record, but by any standard it is an astounding achievement.

'Twas nice that Hank Aaron had a videotaped congratulatory message for Bonds. Also nice that Bonds' godfather, Willie Mays, who defined the San Francisco Giants franchise for so long and so well, was there for the moment.

Texas Sunset

We had a nice family get-together in LaVernia last night. We took my mother out to dinner at the Italian restaurant there. I would not have known LaVernia had an Eye-talian restaurant, but it was actually pretty good. As we took her home, I snapped a picture of this lovely sunset.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Once upon a time, I cherished the hot, sunny summers we have in Texas. As I got older, though, the heat and humidity began to wear me down, so that I entered middle age as a fan of cooler summers. I even decided I liked it raining.

Well, enough is enough. This has been the wettest summer of my memory. And, according to KVUE News, the rainy weather -- including more "rain bombs" such as have struck Gainesville, Marble Falls, and D'Hanis this summer -- will continue into the fall.

The average rainfall for Austin for an entire year is around 32 inches. We have recorded over 34 inches already in 2007, at basically the midway point. Yeesh.