Gail Zappa: Regarding Frank Zappa

Hi there. This is gonna be about exercising your right to vote. And it is going to be about Frank Zappa -- maybe some stuff you didn't know about either subject but might, given the fast approaching Day of Destiny for our next four years, be of interest to you.

Here is just one thing I loved about Frank Zappa: He chose freedom. In doing that, in every moment, he was free. He was present. And that one thing that I loved about him was in everything and so it became everything. It was everywhere around him. Every disadvantage became a challenge and a different opportunity. Saying yes to freedom means saying no to anything else -- anything that is other. Anything that is a disguise. Anything that is a lie. From him I learned how to own and operate the word "no." Such a tiny word and the only word in our alphabet. It is the one we need to learn. It is the one that will set you free. When you understand the power in this word you will fly. It is the line beyond which you will not go. It is the choice you will not make. It is the permission you will not give. It is the space you will not yield. It is the deal you will not accept. It is your word, your honor, your name, your invitation to the world to be vigilant. To protect. To preserve. To pay attention. To be present.

Frank said that democracy was our greatest export. He said, "Democracy doesn't work unless you participate." Remember, voting "yes" is also your chance to say "no." Choosing who represents the people is also choosing who may not. Your vote can be the choice that puts people out of office. Choose people who will represent a free people. Choose freedom.

In order to vote you have to register. In order to exercise your choice you need to vote. In order to participate in democracy, you have to VOTE. FZ included Register to Vote on every album since the 18 year-old vote was passed in 1971. (See for yourself at iTunes or wherever fine Zappa Records are available.) He released more than 65 albums in his lifetime. He was the first to register voters with the help of the League of Women Voters in the concert halls he played in. He showed up for you. There are more than 20,000,000 women out there right now who could change the current rhetoric against women's rights, who could change the national dialog to benefit children for real just by getting registered now. Take your girlfriend, your wife, your partner, your mom, your sister, your neighbor, your babysitter, your daughter, your aunt, your grandmother, your niece, your sister-in-law and her mother to the post office to register to vote. And while you're at it, don't forget to VOTE.

Ask not what your president has done for you lately -- ask what you have done for yourself, your neighbors, your friends, your countrymen, your countrywomen, your country-children, your environment, your planet.

VOTE like your life and your planet is at stake.
gz

www.zappa.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gail-zappa/voting-election-2012_b_2061440.html

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Mayor says NYC Marathon to go on in wake of Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) ? The New York City Marathon is a go for Sunday, and while logistical questions persist one thing is certain: The 26-mile route will have a disaster for a backdrop.

And a debate.

"I think some people said you shouldn't run the marathon," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news briefing Wednesday. "There's an awful lot of small businesses that depend on these people. We have to have an economy. There's lots of people that have come here. It's a great event for New York, and I think for those who were lost, you've got to believe they would want us to have an economy and have a city go on for those that they left behind."

Race organizers were still trying to assess how widespread damage from Superstorm Sandy might affect plans, including getting runners into the city and transporting them to the start line on Staten Island. Easing their worries a bit was news that 14 of the city's 23 subway lines were expected to be operating by Thursday morning - though none below 34th Street, an area that includes the terminal for the ferries that go to the island.

And there were runners like Josh Maio who felt torn about whether the race should go on.

"It pulls resources and focus away from people in need," said Maio, who dropped out due to an injury but is coaching about 75 runners.

He agrees the race is a boost to local businesses hurt by the storm ? it brings an estimated $340 million to the city. But he is uncomfortable with devoting so much to an "extracurricular" event.

Top American Meb Keflezighi, the 2009 men's champion, regards the marathon as "something positive ... because it will be motivation to say, 'Look what happened, and we'll put on the race, and we'll give them a good show.'"

New York Road Runners President Mary Wittenberg said organizers planned to use more private contractors than past years to reduce the strain on city services. Many people have offered to work as volunteers and could fill in gaps, and many runners and fans plan to raise money to help victims of the storm.

She compared this year's race to the 2001 marathon, held seven weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as a way to inspire residents and show the world the city's resilience.

Jonathan Cane ran in that race, working for the police department at the time as a fitness instructor, and it was "an amazing experience." But like Maio, he had mixed feelings about holding this year's marathon.

"I think if they do pull it off, the city will get behind it," said Cane, who is coaching more than 200 runners signed up for the race. "It's already a unique event, and this will make it more so."

Wittenberg expects the field will be smaller than the 47,500 who ran last year because some entrants can't make it to New York, but said so far organizers had received no more cancellations than normal. New York's three major airports were expected to be open Thursday morning with limited flights, leaving the nearly 30,000 out-of-town runners with hope that they can fly in but no guarantees.

Race organizers were rescheduling the elite runners' flights to get them into New York on schedule, with many rerouted to Boston. Number pickup for entrants is scheduled to open Thursday morning at the Javits Center.

Meanwhile, traffic choked city streets as residents tried to return to work and limited commuter rail service resumed. Utilities say it could be days before power is fully restored in the city and on Long Island.

The course mostly avoids areas hit hardest by flooding. Getting everyone to the start on Staten Island could be the biggest challenge if two usual methods ? the ferry and Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel ? are still closed. Organizers are working on contingency plans.

Runners always had to rise in the wee hours of the morning to make it to the start in time, and now they may need to get going even earlier.

Once under way, runners will cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. The route then winds through the borough and over the Pulaski Bridge into Queens. The Queensboro Bridge will bring the runners into Manhattan's East Side. After a brief swing through the Bronx, they finish in Central Park, which was closed Wednesday. Some 250 mature trees inside the park were felled by the storm.

The 43rd edition of the marathon is set to include three Olympic medalists and the reigning women's world champion.

Kenya's Wilson Kipsang won bronze in the Olympic men's marathon. His challengers include 2011 Chicago Marathon champ Moses Mosop of Kenya and 2010 New York winner Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana won gold and Russia's Tatyana Arkhipova was third in the women's race in London. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya won a world title a year earlier.

"Already what we're hearing from people is we went through the 9/11 marathon, and there was never a more moving marathon, and what that marathon did was it unified this city and brought people back to the streets for the first time in weeks," Wittenberg said. "What was most striking about that marathon to me was it was not about running and it wasn't about the runners. It was about the city. And on that day, instead of the fans being there for the runners, the runners were there for the city. And this marathon already has that same feeling."

___

Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mayor-says-nyc-marathon-wake-sandy-192620809--spt.html

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