Aw. Dammit all.

I don't care how late I am on this. I want to formally note the passing of Ms. Mary Jean Loutsenhizer who died a couple of months ago.

If you knew her at all you knew her as Chris Conner -- a voice and a presence created by God to demonstrate what He meant by "jazz."

If the only music in the world were Gershwin and Porter as sung by Miss Conner, we wouldn't be out all that much.

"There's a boat that's leavin' soon for New York..."

Kids in the cabin. More kids in the guest cabin. Vizla and shorthair giddily primed to go to work. Look out pheasants. Fly at your peril of death by fear -- avian heart failure -- as the heavy shot loads pass near you.

(The foolish and unhealthful overeating part of this little annual fest is already well begun.)

The Nancy Pelosi Charade

Grandma Nan pounded dozens of her weaker members into politically dangerous ground Saturday, and now the media are reporting that, duuhh, her health care bill has about the same chance of Senate approval as Osama does of a B'Nai B'Rith brotherhood award.

Is there anything to this woman besides ego and Maybelline?

The Wall

Twenty years ago this week I was standing over the Model 15 Teletype printer in my Utulei office on a Pago Pago harbor beach. Crowded around were Samoans, Europeans, and Mainland Americans. It was the only AP ticker on the island, the only source of current credible information on the amazing teardown of the Berlin wall.

My buddy the middle-aged Dane started crying. He tried to control it, couldn't, and left. Later he told me one parent was German and this entire side of his family had been locked in the Communist East since August, 1961. That's time enough for one generation to be be born and grow to adulthood while another one rots away and dies in a Peoples Republic where everything was decided by government for your own good. There was universal military service, universal government health care, universal employment, universal civilian gun prohibition, universal misery.

As I remember my friend's tears, I hope everyone can find a way to help our young people absorb the notion that things like The Berlin Wall are very real with very human consequences. They are not made for teevee movies.