An Afternoon at the Singing Convention

Singing conventions have been around for years, at least since sometime in the early 20th Century, and maybe earlier than that. As a child, I attended them regularly because my father was a avid singer. My sister played piano as well.

I had not been to a singing convention since sometime in my early teens. Yesterday, our historical society sponsored a singing convention in the Old Union County Courthouse, which we manage as a historic site. Large singing conventions were often held in the old county courthouses because the courtroom was usually the largest auditorium in the area. Thus, we were recreating a tradition that went on for many years. Our courthouse was once the site of the National Singing Convention.

Our county has had several natives who were gospel songwriters. Fred Rich and Hansel Hunter, together, wrote over a thousand songs. Rich's song "Jordan" has been recorded by such artists as Emmy Lou Harris, The Grateful Dead, and the Stanley Brothers. His family still releases his songs occasionally for publication in the various singing convention books.

Singing convention music is also known as "shaped note" music. Instead of the usual round notes on the staff, each of the seven notes is represented by a different shape. Singers who can read only shaped notes cannot read music written in the usual way, however, anyone who reads music by lines and spaces can read shaped note music. During a convention the singers sit together by parts and those who wish to choose and lead a song are chosen at random by the leader.

Yesterday, we had a full house in the courtroom, which seats over 2oo people. In addition we had between 25 and 30 singers and several pianists. The singing lasted about three hours and a great time was had by all. One family, which has a long and outstanding musical tradition, was represented by the mother and her three sons. The sons, all musicians and singers, have music degrees and are excellent musicians.

My father's family were great shaped note singers. For the first time in my life, I sang at a singing convention, sitting beside my cousin. We were both somewhat overwhelmed by the fact that we were recreating a family tradition that had been dormant for at least 50 years.

Singing conventions have been a dying tradition for many years. There simply isn't much of an interest in this kind of music anymore. I hope that we are able to revive it a bit in our area. It is fun to sing the lively gospel singing convention music. One must be a good sight reader and able to handle the movement of the various parts in order to keep up. For me it was a great adventure and much fun, although I am far from being the singer that my father was and that my music major sister remains.

Where Was James Dobson Eight Years Ago?

In a recent broadcast James Dobson of Focus on the Family stated the following:

I've been on the air for 32 years and I've never seen a time quite like this. It just illustrates what happens when we don't have what the Founding Fathers referred to as checks and balances, where the excesses of one party or one branch of government limit the reach of power hungry and self-serving people and keeps them form doing things that are harmful to the country. That's the way the system was designed. We have 2 major political parties in this country, not one. And bipartisanship is a media creation that's designed to promote one point of view instead of the debate that should occur. And that's why media doesn't talk about bipartisanship when conservatives are in power...

...[today] the radical left controls the executive branch through the president, and the Congress... and the Judiciary through the courts... now they control it all, including every department of government. As a result, the legislation that should shock the nation, if people were paying attention, is being rushed into law.

Just exactly where Mr. Dobson was eight years ago, when his party had a majority in Congress and was able to push through any right-wing legislation they desired is anyone's guess. A majority that rubber stamped everything that George Bush and his controller, Cheney wanted enacted. This was the total control that brought us Iraq, torture, a financial meltdown, and a near loss of the Constitution. Sorry, Mr. Dobson, but your slip is showing.

Evil Dick, He's Everywhere, He's Everywhere

It seems that no matter what news show you choose, the Evil One is there, pretending to be concerned about the "safety" of the country. The media, apparently, are as obsessed with having him on their interview shows, as he is with trying to clean up his legacy. Unfortunately, for him, it is far too late for any cleansing.

Cheney has already shown up more for interviews in the last 100 days than he did during his entire stint as the back room string puller in the Bush Regime. He seems to be in panic mode, since it occurred to him that his evil doings were about to become public knowledge. He rants about the current administration making the country unsafe. At times he incriminates himself by revealing information about his involvement in decisions regarding the use of torture. Throughout this entire sorry series of interviews, it has become clear that he is desperately trying to rewrite the history of the Bush Regime to somehow make himself a hero.

At the same time that he is trying to cleanse his legacy, he has almost become a spokesman for the Republican Party. This comes at a time when some in the party are talking about trying to create a new, positive image for themselves. Instead they have to continue to fight Cheney's negativity and his attempts to continue to make the Republican Party synonymous with extreme right-wing demagoguery.

About the only thing that Cheney has accomplished these last three months has been to keep the Republican Party on the defensive and give Democrats great talking points about the opposition. Democrats rub their hands together with glee every time it is announced that he will be on yet another interview show. At the same time Republicans cry in their beer, knowing that once again, one of the leaders of the regime that took the country into a needless war, killed the economy and gave the United States a bad name throughout the world will appear to drag them back into that bottomless pit.

Keep it up, evil one. Keep reminding the people of this country what you and your puppet did. You were responsible for the needless deaths and maiming of thousands of Americans and Iraqis. You stepped on the Constitution. You gave the United States the reputation as a torturer and at the same time gave those who oppose us great recruiting material. Yours and your puppet's failed economic policies and your failure to police big business and the banking industry caused millions of Americans permanent financial ruin. Keep it up and a new party will be born as the Republican Party is buried, forever to be remembered as the party of the evil Chaney and his little sidekick, G.W. Bush.