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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us May 26, 2005 ‘Mame,’ a show of another time By Hal Jamison Ashland Great show! Mame, just concluded with audiences standing in tribute of applause for the Steffi Garrard Angela Lansbury-like Ashland High theatre department replicating Broadway-musical style shows — even with emphasis on the star at curtain call — circa the ’60s. Mame’s a show completely irrelevant to today and to no population more so than the U.S. high school graduating class of 2005. But consider: routes of escapism are closing down fast for our “youngsters.” Recruiters from the military are ubiquitous on campus and at the mall. There’s a dark cloud ahead, called the draft. This time the emphasis is going to be on education, or the aptitude therefor, for instance engineering, mathematical, or computer-technical aptitudes. There will be opportunity even for those with inclination for such esoteric fields as linguistics. They may well be needed for translation duty at the Abu Ghraibs dotting the U. S.-hegemonized planet. Thus, the graduating class may be wondering what’s the best education for survival? “Will college lead me into uniform and dodging roadside ambushes in Iraq, or how many other places where fronts of the war on terrorism are likely to open?” asks the head under the mortar board. Escape to Canada? No, not this time; ther’ll be no “Vietnam Syndrome” working up there either. Even a sweetheart’s letter to take a guy’s thoughts away from the immediate prospect at an Iraq-like location may not be delivered: she too, perhaps, will be a soldier. The draft this time probably will also include the liberated sex. So let’s not begrudge the youngsters, our “kids,” fantasies of the world of the ’50s, when Mame was conceived and many of us elders had it pretty good. If they dream of a time when alcohol was harmless, and “drugs” as innocent as ice cream, and you could take a spin in dad’s car and be your own designated driver, should we spoil it for them? What do we have to teach? The tunnel now has no light at the end; it’s looking more and more like a funnel. And I wonder did the AHS students who did such a good job presenting Mame and those who were in the audience enjoy it quite as much as their parents did? Which generation clapped the loudest? DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams