Areas of Unrest

16 July 1999 - Under a Tuvan Moon

First, one minor followup that I forgot to mention the other day. I've reached the minimum fundraising requirement for the Avon 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk. So all I have to do now is be ready to walk 55 miles in October.

Anyway, there were several major movies opening today. I admit I am interested in seeing both The Blair Witch Project and Eyes Wide Shut and I might consider Lake Placid. But the movie I rushed off to see was Genghis Blues. I first stumbled across Tuvan throat singing in March, when I randomly listend to a CD titled Back Tuva Future at H.E.A.R. Music in Santa Monica. Since then I've also bought stuff by Huun-Hur-Tu and Yat-Kha and read Tuva or Bust by Ralph Leighton about how he and Richard Feynman attempted to go to Tuva. I should also mention that my interest in Central Asia in general goes back a while but has tended to focus more on Kazhakstan (specifically Samarkand and Bukhara) and on Mongolia, largely because of intriguing photos I've seen. So it isn't entirely surprising I'd go to see a documentary about Tuvan throat singing.

Anyway, the story is very simple. Paul Pena is a blind blues singer, best known for writing the song "Jet Airliner" for the Steve Miller band. He stumbled across Tuvan music by listening to shortwave radio and figured out how to do it. Eventually he hooks up with other people who are interested in Tuva, gets invited to participate in a throat singing competition, and the documentary details the trip. Paul suffers from depression and his blindness makes the travel difficult, but his obvious love for the Tuvan music (and the Tuvan people) helps to overcome the hardships. It's a fascinating movie, full of warmth and humor, and I left the theatre ready to get on the next plane to Kyzyl (the capital of Tuva). Oh, yeah, the scenery was pretty impressive, too. I also saw at least 3 people make a beeline from the theatre to the Tuvan section at the Virgin megastore in the same complex.

Another thing I want to write about is my bewilderment at our system of public policy. I understand the desire for health care reform and all, but it doesn't seem to me that Congress should be deciding how many days a woman gets to stay in the hospital after a mastectomy. And, while I understand that HMOs are easy scapegoats - and some do deserve their bad reputation, I've heard just as many horror stories about people arguing with traditional insurers about what is and isn't covered. It isn't just health care policy where I think Congress is micromanaging; I see them down in the dirt of defense policy, too. I'd really prefer to see the legislature looking at the big picture and delegating the details to appropriate agencies.

I'm also annoyed at the major league umpires, who apparently plan a mass resignation because their union doesn't allow them to strike. The issue has to do with whether or not they can ever be disciplined for their behavior. Personally, I find it hard to sympathize with people who earn over $100K a year (and are free to take other jobs in the off-season), will get an average of $400K in severance pay, and are naive enough to think they can resign and still get their jobs back when they form a new corporation. To quote the musical Damn Yankees "you must be out of your mind, ump!"

Finally, today was the 30th anniversary of the liftoff of Apollo 11, which was, of course, the mission that included the first moon landing. Lance circulated a fascinating article at work, about the contingency plans that were in place in case the mission was a failure. There were real fears that the lunar module wouldn't be able to return and Aldrin and Armstrong would be stranded helplessly on the moon. Plans were in place for how to notify the widows and Nixon had an entire speech written. I found it thoroughly chilling to think about having to go through the excitement of the moon landing with that speech at the ready in case of disaster. We can all be glad that's one press conference that never had to be held.

By the way, there's a reenactment of the landing that's going to be performed in Huntsville when I'm there. It might be a way to make an otherwise tedious business trip more tolerable. I doubt it will be up to the level of "Space Panorama," the mime piece I saw in Edinburgh last summer, in which everything from the astronauts entering their capsule to the rocket fuel propelling the Saturn 5 was acted out by two hands on a table.