Odds and Ends

I was going to name this column "The Week in Review," but since it's Monday that doesn't seem right.

This was the first weekend without snow since the last one in November (but I was out of town for two weekends over the Christmas holiday, so can't speak of what went on then). It felt good to get out of the house without having to rush back when the snow started sticking. And it was warm enough to melt the ice that had one of our cars captive for nearly three weeks. But guess what's coming tonight? I'm not complaining; at least it held off until Monday.

This year's HBO programming for Black History Month was a biography of the Brown Bomber, heavyweight champ Joe Louis. Every time I think about what happened to him I get mad. The man was an American icon whose patriotic spirit outweighed his wish for financial success. He willingly gave up four of his best fighting years in order to serve in the Army, yet the IRS hounded him relentlessly for years, even taking the trust funds he'd set up for his children. It was time for a comprehensive biography on the champ while there are still people around who remember him. I much preferred listening to his friends talk about him, or his son recalling things his mother had told him about his dad, or even people who'd actually seen him fight, to the musings of Dick Gregory and Bill Cosby, both of whom talked about Louis' 1935 match with Max Baer, as well as its affect on the black community, like they'd witnessed it personally. Dick Gregory was 3 years old in 1935, and Bill Cosby wasn't born until 2 years later. That's like getting Will Smith to describe the mood of the country at the time of the Kennedy assassination.

I watched the Oscars last night. That little girl who sang with the choir at the Academy Awards (she's 11) has a great future in front of her. On the other end of the spectrum, the white-haired, cranberry-clad, 83-year-old Ruby Dee is still a stunningly beautiful woman in her 80s. She might not have gotten an award, but she's a winner.

The Puffy version of Raisin in the Sun airs tonight (Monday). If you watch, maybe you can shed some light on where Beneatha slept before the death of her father. I've never been able to figure that one out, and it's always bothered me.

Note that I didn't mention my writing progress. That's because it was too little to bother with, but I'm not slacking. I'm working very hard on other writing-related issues. Honest.