My dear brother (three years my junior) and I have been working on our relationship since childhood. As his ‘big brother,’ in those early years, I am sorry to say I made his life very hard, sometimes. It was so long ago, I don’t remember much of what it was like, what I thought, what I intended. But I do remember being mean to him, where there was never a time later in our lives when I would do anything like that - to him or anyone else.
Now I rejoice in our times together, in our times of laughing and sharing. It was with great joy that I received his invitation to go with him to see Elton John when he came to town several weeks ago (Mar. 13, to be exact.) It was a marvelous concert, as you would expect. I had not seen him live since a concert many many years ago, when he sang for us a new release, ‘Rocket Man.’ Turns out that was released in 1972, and was only about to be released, as I recall it, when he played it for us in concert then. So it has to have been that long ago. Man.
(I have written at least two diaries about my brother, from the time of his battle with lymphoma, and then his victorious moment. I hope my love and regard for him shows through in those! Those remain my HAPPIEST Top Comments diaries.)
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I have to say, the man still ‘has it!’ Playing, singing and entertaining brilliantly and with passion. He thanked ‘us’ for treating him so well the 46 YEARS he has been coming to this country for concerts. He played over two and a half hours of music without an intermission, music that has spoken to me just about all my life, music that has permeated the culture in which I grew up, in which I always lived.
He played Candle in the Wind, and I flashed to that terrible time in 1997 when she died. When Elton John sang so courageously at her funeral, which I watched with my Mom, tears streaming down our faces. How he did that entire song without breaking down is a mystery I will never solve - his closeness to her was well known, and yet he honored her with grace and power.
Courtesy of YouTube, I watched it (and marveled at it!) again tonight. It seems to me you can see that deep pain in his face as he performs, but you can also see how well he held it together in what had to be an unfathomably grief-stricken time for him.
(This is an Italian video, but it shows Sir Elton’s grim, dignified, focused arrival, and his rendition of the song honoring Princess Di.)
Of course, now he plays the ‘Marilyn version,’ but the magic is still there, as it was for Levon and so many other brilliant songs.
Then two days later, scarcely out of town, he was confronted by hatred and bigotry in the form of an ‘announcement’ by two gay (believe it or not!) fashion designers that children of gay parents are ‘synthetic.’
According to translations, Dolce said:
“You are born to a mother and a father – or at least that’s how it should be,” Dolce added. “I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteri [for] rent, semen chosen from a catalog."
From the
Time Magazine version of the story.)
librarisingnsf wrote a fine diary on the subject at the time, though the story did not receive that much coverage on Daily Kos.
According to a quotation cited by librarisingnsf (and many other places), Dolce & Gabbana issued a clarifying statement later, that said:
We believe firmly in democracy and we think freedom of expression is essential for that. We talked about our way of looking at the world, but it was not our intention to express a judgement on other people's choices. We believe in freedom and love.
Of COURSE it was their intention to express a judgment on other people’s choices. And, worse, on people born to loving families outside of what Dolce & Gabbana consider acceptable standards. They did not express it to give others 'insights' into their thoughts and beliefs. They did it to INFLUENCE. To affect others. To give homophobes political cover.
But what I loved most about Sir Elton’s action is that it stood against the trend we see far more in this country, of expanding the power, impact and reach of political statements by making them from a corporate podium. Fortunately, so far, at least, that seems much rarer in the world at large. May Sir Elton’s stand help keep it confined to our shores. And may his justified outrage open eyes here to the cowardly practice, as well. Bravo, Sir!
To close, Anne Hathaway, from her HRC speech in 2008 (h/t to KathyinSC for sending me this!):
Love is a human experience, not a political statement.
Isn't that terrific?!
(Please watch! And feel free to cheer!)
Dolce & Gabbana could learn from that.
On to tonight’s comments! Formated and collated bill bryllig! ::wink::
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From AJayne:
This comment by MargaretPOA explains the problem with holding the pronouncements of ancient philosophers above our current ability to think. From a well-reasoned diary by Hilltop Mama.
Flagged comments (although always best to send them in directly so we don't miss them):
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From Angie in WA State:
This absolutely terrific Top Comment by DailyKosPaul is the sort of comment that Top Comments was created to share with the Community. From Steven D's What Do Conservatives Want When They Say "I Want My Country Back?".
Top Mojo for yesterday, March 29th, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary
FAQing Top Mojo.
1) A great diary. Thank you for writing. by OregonWetDog — 127
2) What's sad is how many of them will happily by ontheleftcoast — 116
3) Hear, Hear! by JekyllnHyde — 116
4) That verse is talking about by stophurtingamerica — 111
5) It's not their country, and never was by Dallasdoc — 110
6) No one who celebrates Christmas welcome either. by stophurtingamerica — 107
7) This is something that needs more attention by ontheleftcoast — 104
8) Didn't evil Brewer in AZ veto the same kind by a2nite — 103
9) They also want the country that... by Shockwave — 102
10) Of course he lied, Kerry. by JeffW — 97
11) He thinks leadership only comes from the... by markthshark — 88
12) He's using flattery now./ by Mark Lippman — 84
13) no, oblomov, he felt bad to have to do it. by eve — 84
14) Just Make Sure You Don't Have any Pictures Visible by Gooserock — 79
15) Not all of it was lies... by Trix — 77
16) LOL, I can't help myself... by ChemBob — 74
17) Yup, on both counts. Indiana was another test c... by freelancewoman — 70
18) Thanks by fcvaguy — 70
19) Illinois welcomes all of Indiana's lost business! by JeffW — 68
20) This is why my establishment by stophurtingamerica — 68
21) The GOP's basic problem by Intheknow — 68
22) In Boehner's mind, war = leadership. by GeorgeBurnsWasRight — 67
23) What Shockwave is Trying to Say by JekyllnHyde — 66
24) What they want is ethnic cleansing. by CwV — 62
25) Stupid and evil. Sad that Indiana elected him. by TomP — 58
26) I don't give a flying damn what THEY want by BlackSheep1 — 57
27) 100% polyester okay ... COME ON DOWN! by Cartoon Peril — 57
28) I hope others follow suit. by penelope pnortney — 57
29) Well. Here's maybe a better idea by jan4insight — 57
30) It's not sad. It's infuriating. by Matt Z — 56
31) I would hope all presidents would be anti-war by Paleo — 56
32) Is this your shop? by bleeding blue — 56
Top Pictures for yesterday, March 29th. Click any picture of a cat to be taken to the full comment. Thank you
jotter for the image magic!