First In Their Hearts

Last week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell inadvertently re-opened the debate over naming sports teams after Native Americans, especially the Washington Redskins. 

Defending the name against accusations of racism, Goodell clumsily claimed it "represents a positive meaning distinct from any disparagement that could be viewed in some other context," adding that the R-word "may stand for the strength, courage, pride and respect" of the men who wear the uniform.

This is laughable on its face. Hello? "Red" and "skin." It's about the color of someone's skin. That's not racist?

And consider how the team got this name in the first place. They used to be called the Boston Braves, but the owner, George Preston Marshall, moved them to Washington and changed the name to the R-word.

Marshall was one of the most racist owners in any sport, not just football. He was the last NFL owner to integrate his team, bragging, "We'll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites." And before he died, he stipulated in his will that none of his money should be spent on "any purpose which supports or employs the principle of racial integration in any form."

The Washington NFL team is an extreme example, but that shouldn't mean other sports teams named after Native Americans should get a pass, no matter how many fans say we should all lighten up.

As Suzan Shown Harjo of the Morning Star Institute, an indigenous-rights organization, says, "That non-Native folks think they get to measure or decide what offends us is adding insult to injury."

And that goes for demeaning team mascots, too, like the Atlanta Braves' Chief Knoc-A-Homa.

However, there is one team – and only one team – that I would grant an exception to: The Cleveland Indians.

That's because they're not named after an ethnic group; they're named after a person.

Back in the 1890s, Cleveland was represented by a baseball team called the Spiders. They weren't very good, finishing at the bottom year after year.

But in 1897 they signed a Native American pitcher/outfielder named Louis Sockalexis, a hard-hitting, hard-throwing member of the Penobscot tribe. And with him as their star, the Spiders surged from worst to first.

He became famous for his walk-off homers – four in the span of just nine games in May alone. Years later, the great John McGraw called him the best he ever saw – a better base runner than Ty Cobb and a more fearsome slugger than Babe Ruth.

He finished the season with a .331 average, leading the Spiders to the pennant.

The fans adored him, and he basked in their adoration, carrying newspaper clippings and fan mail wherever he went.

Then it all fell apart. He got injured the next year, and he started drinking to alleviate the boredom of not playing. Two years after that he was a washed-up alcoholic and out of baseball. And the Spiders went back to the cellar and ultimately out of business.

Sockalexis died in 1913 at the age of 42, clutching the press clippings he always carried tucked inside his shirt.

But his fans never forgot him. Two years later, the new Cleveland franchise had the fans vote for a permanent name for the team. They voted overwhelmingly for Cleveland Indians, in honor of the player they never stopped loving.

Vote For Ballari!

I'm not in the habit of endorsing political candidates, but I'll make an exception this time. I urge you to vote for Ballari the dog for Pet Mayor of Piedmont.

Ballari, who is one of 20 dogs and cats running for the office, is a sweet, nine-year-old Siberian husky whose first six years were a nightmare. He was tied by a rope to a stake in somebody's back yard and neglected 24/7.

But two years ago he was adopted by Sarah Kidder of Oakland. At first he wouldn't look you in the eye, didn't know how to play, and got confused whenever anyone tried to pet him.

But under her loving care he has blossomed into a sweet, gentle bundle of love, especially with little kids. And get this: HE SMILES ALL THE TIME! He positively radiates joy!

So how can you vote for him (or any of the candidates)? By donating to the Montclair Pet and Wildlife Fund. Each dollar earns you a vote. Donate $500, and you'll get 500 votes.

And you couldn't ask for a worthier cause. The fund cares for the animals who fall through the cracks – the baby birds who fall out of the nest, the baby squirrel or opossum who has been abandoned by its mother, the deer that has been hit by a car.

"Last year we treated a Peking duck that had escaped from Chinatown and a snake that was found nearly frozen to death in Lake Temescal," says Lee Richter, who – along with her husband, Gary, the veterinarian at Montclair Veterinary Hospital and its Oakland counterpart, Holistic Veterinary Care – founded the Pet and Wildlife Fund 10 years ago. "We were able to save them both and find new homes for them – the duck in a private home and the snake at the Oakland Zoo."

Every year, Lee and Gary spend about $80,000 out of their own pockets to help these animals, and the Piedmont Pet Mayor contest usually raises about a third of that. It used to be the Montclair Pet Mayor contest, but this year it was switched to Piedmont.

Each candidate is sponsored by a local merchant. Ballari is sponsored by Black Swan Books on Piedmont Avenue. You can cast your ballot(s) for him there, or you can vote for any of the candidates at Petandwildlifefund.org.

And he has some formidable competition, including Nala, a pit bull mix who inspires people every day by demonstrating that having only three legs doesn't get in the way of living a full and happy life; Mini, an English bulldog with a huge underbite (her platform is oral hygiene for pets); and Riley, a Chug Weenie (Chihuahua-pug-weiner dog, aka daschund) who loves beets, carrots and Point Isabel, not necessarily in that order.

Each candidate has its own Facebook page, and many of them will make special appearances at their sponsoring businesses or doing guest bartender stints at Park Avenue Bar & Grill or Monaghan's On The Hill. (Check the fund's website for dates.) Ballari will appear at Black Swan Books on Father's Day from 2 to 4 p.m.

"I like that the fund helps creatures who don't have a voice," says Kidder. "For so long, Ballari didn't have a voice or anyone to help him."

Fun Reads For Kids

School's out for the summer, and parents are scrambling to find fun things for their kids to do.

How about a good book? Every year I publish a summer reading list for kids. And here's this year's, courtesy of Liz Price Patel, the librarian at Redwood Day School in Oakland:

                                    Grades K-1

Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems. These two endearingly silly friends give adults and children a chance to read and laugh together. Each of their amusing conversations is more fun than the last.

                                     Grades 1-3

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. With just the right mix of humor and suspense, this is the story of a young rabbit who loves to eat carrots - until they start following him. It’s definitely just his imagination. Or is it?

Akimbo and the Elephants by Alexander McCall Smith. Akimbo lives on an African game reserve with his father. His brave spirit and big heart for the animals compels him to infiltrate a gang of poachers to save the reserve’s elephants (one in a series).

                                    Grades 3-4

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. Konigsburg, who died this year at 83, left us with many wonderful books, including this classic about Claudia and Jamie Kincaid running away, living in hiding at the Met, solving a mystery, and finding themselves along the way. A childhood must-read.  

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin. Rendi has stowed away in a merchant’s cart. The moon is missing, and he hears crying in the sky. When Rendi’s hiding place is revealed, he is left to work as the innkeeper’s chore boy in the Village of Clear Sky.  The once-resentful chore boy slowly finds peace as he learns from the unusual townsfolk and inn guests, his past is revealed, and he sets out to rescue the moon.

                                  Grades 4-6

The Giant Slayer by Iain Lawrence. In 1955, against her father’s wishes, Laurie Valentine visits the hospital polio ward to see her friend, Dickie, who is in an iron lung. The best gift Laurie can bring to the kids in the ward is her storytelling. She weaves an adventurous and symbolic tale that becomes a life force for her friends and family, and for Laurie herself.    

                                Grades 5-8

Cardboard by Doug TenNapel (graphic novel). Out of work and down on his luck, Mike buys a cardboard box as a birthday present for his son, Cam. They quickly find that magic brings the cardboard to life. When the magic falls into the wrong hands and cardboard monsters make a play to take over, Cam and Mike face their enemies, fears and feelings to save the world. 

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. Gidwitz paints the awesome - and often gruesome -Grimm Brothers tales for a contemporary audience.  

                                Grades 6-8

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. Nonfiction and fiction lovers alike will find the history of the atomic bomb and the human stories behind it riveting.

33 Minutes by Todd Hasak-Lowy. Sam Lewis reveals why his former best friend is going to kick his butt in 33 minutes. Growing up is hard and funny and poignant. Sam tells us about surviving middle school, food fights, fistfights, and most importantly, friendship.

One's Favourite Programme On The Telly

 (L-R: Trixie, Cynthia, Jenny and, of course, Chummy)

Whew! Chummy didn't die! What a relief! Of course, if she had died, the producers would have been confronted by millions of angry fans making like peasants with pitchforks.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you haven't seen "Call The Midwife," the period drama from England that ended its second season on PBS last week.

It's about a group of young nurse/midwives and the Anglican nuns of Nonnatus House, a nursing convent in London's impoverished East End, during the early 1950s, right after universal health insurance was established. The nurses are initially appalled by the horrible conditions their patients have to live in, but they come to admire them for their perseverance and dignity.

After two seasons, the characters have become like old friends to us fans. There's the deeply spiritual but also extremely practical Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter); the blunt, earthy Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris); the dotty Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt), who might be losing it but might be doing it on purpose just to aggravate Sister Evangelina; and the sweet, earnest Sister Bernadette (Laura Main), the only nun who is the same age as the lay midwives.

The midwives include the pretty, idealistic Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine, with voice-over narration by Vanessa Redgrave playing Jenny as an old woman); the flirty, optimistic Trixie (Helen George) and the shy, sensitive Cynthia (Bryony Hannah).

But the breakout star of the series is nurse/midwife Camilla Fortescue Cholmeley-Browne (played by the marvelous Miranda Hart), known as "Chummy" to her friends.

Belittled by her aristocratic family, Chummy is crippled by shyness and lack of self-confidence. Her great height and physical clumsiness are part of the problem, but one suspects (that’s the way Chummy talks) a loveless childhood spent in boarding schools hurt, too.

But she is eternally good-humored and exceptionally kind, and she soon finds her true family in the nurses and nuns at Nonnatus House.

She also finds true love in the person of an ordinary working-class street cop whom she marries to the horror of her aristocratic family and the delight of her new friends. And, for the first time in her life, she thrives.

It's hard to express how much the fans of this show adore Chummy. She's the classic ugly duckling who blossoms into a swan, and it's a moving thing to watch.

So when word filtered out that Chummy's own pregnancy  was going to have a life-threatening complication – the same thing that killed Lady Sybil in "Downton Abbey" – we all went into a panic. Life without Chummy was too horrible a prospect to contemplate.

But we needn't have worried. The producers were too smart for that. Not only did they let her live, they threw in a resolution to the Sister Bernadette/Dr. Turner will-they-won't-they relationship that was the most romantic scene I have ever seen.

The series is based on the true-life memoirs of Jennifer Worth, after whom the character of Jenny Lee is modeled. Worth died on May 31, 2011, almost exactly two years ago. But the stories and characters she gave us will live forever.

Season three is already in production and will air on PBS in early 2014. In the meantime, do yourself a big favor and rent seasons one and two from Netflix. You'll thank me for it.

The Grammar Police Strike Again!

If you've ever been on Facebook, you know that the grammar police are out in full force. And now they've moved from the virtual world to the real one.

Case in point: Mr. Mopps' toy store in Berkeley, which for months has had a sign on its front door reading, "Push it good" – a cultural reference to a 1987 rap song by Salt-N-Pepa.

Wouldn't you know it? Last week somebody posted a second sign next to the first, reading, "'Push hard.' 'Push good' is not good English. Kids must learn good English. Thanks."

In other literary news, congrats to Cal's University Librarian, Tom Leonard, for winning the New Yorker's weekly cartoon caption contest No. 371.

The cartoon shows a mouse holding a gun on a cat, who is speaking. Leonard's winning caption: "Six rounds. Nine lives. You do the math."

The prize doesn't include a free parking place on campus. (For that, you have to win a Nobel Prize, confirming former UC President Clark Kerr's famous observation that "The main preoccupations on campus are sex for the students, parking for the faculty and football for the alumni.)

But he will get a framed copy of the cartoon, including his caption, signed by the artist, Joe Dator. According to contest rules it's worth $250, and Leonard is responsible for any tax obligations.

Since the contest began in 2005 it has attracted many thousands of entries from would-be humorists, including the late film critic Roger Ebert, who entered 107 times and won once.

But Leonard cautions not to expect a repeat performance from him anytime soon.

"I'd have to be inspired again," he says. "But I'm not quitting my day job."

By the way, Leonard knows a thing or two about cartoons himself. He's written a biography of the greatest cartoonist of them all – Thomas Nast, the man who created the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey.

Finally, May has been a mixed month for the City of Oakland.

On one hand, the city is going through police chiefs like facial tissues – three in one week, at last count. And the Warriors are threatening to desert their loyal fans for the fleshpots of San Francisco.

On the other hand, Oaktown was chosen by the travel website Movoto as "The Most Exciting City In America." (And to rub salt in the wounds of those snobs across the Bay, San Francisco placed a distant third.)

The criteria included museums, bars, movie theaters, music venues and theater companies per square mile (the more the better); big box stores and fast food restaurants per square mile (the fewer the better); and park acreage per person.

The two final criteria were population diversity – the smaller a city's majority race, the higher the score – and percent of population between 20 and 34 years old.

"We aren't saying older people are boring," says Movoto. "But a younger population does tend to be more excitable."

Sure, Oakland has problems. But it also has great weather, beautiful buildings, and some of the nicest and most creative people in the world.

"When we think of an exciting place to live, we think about places were there is always something to do, whether it's eating at new restaurants or jogging through a park," says Movoto. "That sounds a lot like Oakland."

To read the full study, visit Movoto's website at http://www.movoto.com/blog/top-ten/10-most-exciting-cities/

Rock On, Girls!

Hey, girls. Remember the column I wrote last March about an upcoming event at Berkeley High called JazzGirls Day?

A lot of you took me up on it, and apparently you had the time of your lives. I got email after email, from both kids and parents, and they couldn't stop raving about the experience.

"It was awesome!" said one girl.

"I thought I was the only girl who liked jazz," said another. "It was so great to find out I'm not alone."

Well, if one day was so much fun, how'd you like to do it for a whole week?

Many of the same musicians who taught at JazzGirls Day will also be teaching at the 5^th annual Jazzschool Girls' Jazz & Blues Camp, which will take place at the Jazzschool in downtown Berkeley from August 5-9. And every teacher is a woman who is making a professional career in jazz.

"That's important," says the camp director, saxophonist/drummer Jean Fineberg, co-founder – along with trumpeter Ellen Seeling - of the Montclair Women's Big Band and the Girls' Jazz Camp. "Girls need role models to make them realize that they can do it, too."

And that can be very empowering.

"My daughter LOOOVED camp and is now confident enough to join her school jazz band," said one mom.

A grandmother said, "My granddaughter came home excited and happy every day and now sees herself as a musician as a place in the world."

The camp runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, Aug. 5-9, with a concert, when the girls show off all the stuff they've learned, on Friday, Aug. 9, at 6 p.m.

One of the highlights of each day is the lunch break, when the teachers and students get together in the courtyard for a jam session.

Tuition: $450 if you pay before June 1, $475 afterwards. Some financial aid may be available. If you're an out-of-towner, housing with a local family may be available, too.

All girls grades 6 through 12 are eligible. All you need is some proficiency on your instrument – except singers, who can be newbies – and a desire to develop your skills in a fun environment with other girls.

The first step is registering online at jazzschool.org/girlsreg, where you'll find more information and tell them about your elective preferences.

Then call the Jazzschool at 510-845-5373 to pay and reserve your spot. You'll be contacted to schedule a short, friendly audition (voluntary for singers) to evaluate your skill level and place you in appropriate ensembles, including jazz, blues/soul and Big Band.

You'll also be offered a choice of electives, including improvisation, percussion, Latin music, pop music choir and songwriting.

Finally, each camper will be given a 30-minute private lesson.

Don't be scared by the prospect that you might not know anybody going in. On Monday morning Fineberg always says, "Everybody who doesn't know anybody raise your hand." And almost every hand in the room goes up.

But by Friday, those strangers will have formed lasting friendships based on mutual interests and mutual support. And that can be a real eye-opener.

"After I played my solo, all the girls in the band clapped for me," said one girl after last year's camp. "AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ANY OF THEM!"

How Tweet It Was!

(Gabe, James and Eli. Photo by Jose Carlos Fajardo, Bay Area News Group)

They squawked. They chirped. They cackled. And when the feathers finished flying Gabe Bolio, James Clifford and Eli Nash walked away with the Leondard J. Waxdeck Trophy on Friday night as the winners of the 48^th Piedmont High School Bird Calling Contest.

Gabe, James and Eli, all juniors, wowed the judges with their rendition of Tympanuchis cupido, the Greater Prairie Chicken. Senior Dina Zangwill placed second with her call of Gavia stellata, the Red Throated Loon. And sophomores Becca Havian, Jo Ireland and Amy Kelleher finished third with a spirited mating call of Falco rusticolus, the Gyrfalcon.

All three acts will fly New York later this month to appear on "The Late Show With David Letterman," continuing a tradition dating back to 1997 on the Letterman show and another 16 years before that on "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson."

The evening was a double triumph for Eli, who also served as co-host for the event with his friend, Alec Sieben, who competed as well with fellow juniors Zane Haney and Brian Lee, peforming the call of Grus Americana, the Laughing Gull.

Before the curtain went up Eli and Alec were asked how it felt to be both co-hosts and rivals at the same time.

"We respect and admire each other as hosts," said Eli, "but we despise each other as competitors."

The evening also featured a singing quartet of Lucy Faust, Sofia Gotch, Apryl Hsu and Nako Narter, who diverted the standing-room-only audience with a do-wop rendition of "Rockin' Robin" while the judges – author Kelly Corrigan, retiring Piedmont Middle School principal Jeanne Donovan and retiring Piedmont High School English and Public Speaking teacher Janet Labberton – reached their decision.

The crowd also viewed a rare video of the Piedmont bird ballers' very first appearance on "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson" in 1976, followed by a surprise appearance by Carson's nephew, Jeff Sotzing, who presented principal Richard Kitchens with a framed poster from the 1990 contest, which Waxdeck, the contest's founder, gave to Carson.

"It hung on the wall in Johnny's office until he retired, then it hung in his home until he died," said Sotzing. "Then it passed to me. But I think it's time it came back to where it came from."

Kitchens promised it will hang in a place of honor at the school, right next to the Waxdeck Trophy itself.

The bird calling contest began in 1963 as a class project in Waxdeck's biology class after one of his students asked him, "Wax, can we do something to liven things up here?"

The first competition, held in Waxdeck's classroom at lunchtime, drew only a handful of spectators. But its popularity mushroomed, and it had to be moved to the school's Alan J. Harvey Theater, where it quickly became the hottest ticket in town.

In 1976 Johnny Carson began hosting the bird callers on his show for the next 16 years.

"It was huge," said history teacher Ken Brown, who has been the contest's faculty advisor for the past four years. "I remember being a teenager back in the '70s and watching the bird callers every year on 'The Tonight Show.' When I finally got hired to teach here, I thought, 'This is the place!'

Carson retired in 1992, and Waxdeck died suddenly from a heart attack two years later. It looked like the bird calling contest had run its course.

But the students refused to let it die. They resurrected the competition in 1995 and asked Carson's successor, Jay Leno, to host the bird callers on "The Tonight Show."

Leno, who was still trying to get out from under Carson's shadow, turned them down. But Letterman, who adored Carson, was glad to have them on his show. And there they have appeared ever since.

The students will fly to New York on May 20 and appear on "The Late Show" the next night, May 21.

And the contest's future is assured. Sitting in the second row and having the time of their lives were Eli's sister Emily and her friends Molly Szczech, Addie Christensen and Amelia Eldridge, all eighth graders at Piedmont Middle School who will enter Piedmont High next year.

"We're going to enter the contest together!" said Amelia. "We've already started practicing!"