World on Fire

Tonight was a night for remembering why it is that politics are so life-consuming these days. I haven't always cared this much. And it was also for remembering why it is that I need to excuse myself every now and then and not think about politics.

The Bread and Puppet Theater is in town. As I left work one day earlier this week, cranky and bleary-eyed from staring at the computer screen for six hours, I heard the sound of a ragtag brass band coming down the street. I looked up, and there they were, dancing down Mass Ave on stilts. For a second, before I got my bearings, it was like being inside a Fellini film. Then I just felt happy.

My son took his friend, a Loyola student displaced to Boston by Katrina, to see tonight's show. He came back awestruck, declaring himself a puppeteer. Bread and Puppet shows you the world as Peter Schumann, who is either the world's most sophisticated child or the world's most childlike sophisticate, sees it. And if you ever start doubting whether one person can make any difference, google "Cheap Art Manifesto" and check out how far one man's idea can travel.

ART IS FOOD. You can't EAT it BUT it FEEDS you...
ART SOOTHES PAIN
Art wakes up sleepers!
ART FIGHTS AGAINST WAR AND STUPIDITY!

While my son was at Bread and Puppet, I was watching my daughter play the Tchaik 4 (as the music nerds refer to it). There is no pleasure more pure than watching her play a piece of music she loves - she cannot keep the joy she feels from showing in her face.

This was a good night. I often feel that George Bush's real goal is remove all joy from the world. It feels wonderful to be reminded that he's been a failure at that mission too.