My back still hurts from having fallen down the stairs and I dont have anything even remotely clever to say tonight. So, I think Im going to call it a night
Ive got a few good tips though, if youre looking for something good to either read or listen to The first is a recorded piece by Walter Cronkite on the 50th anniversary of the episode of CBSs See It Now in which Edward R. Murrow publicly questioned the actions of Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy. The second is from the New Yorker. Its a piece on the history of the modern shopping mall, which apparently also just celebrated its 50th birthday. I loved both pieces; the first because it reminded me just how courageous Edward R. Murrow and his producer, Fred Friendly, really were, and the second because it made me begrudgingly acknowledge that there is some beauty in the science of the mall planning. (The New Yorker piece contains this great quote: Shopping malls are, at bottom, delivery systems for lipstick.)
I really have to go and lay on the floor now and give my spine a rest.
Im sure Ive never mentioned it here, but I met Fred Friendly once, when I was young and first living in DC. I remember him as being a very warm, very nice man. I was helping with one of his seminars. If memory serves, you could see me on PBS for a few minutes. I think I was sitting behind Peter Jennings. This would have been 1986 My back hurts.
