JFK's 100th BIRTHDAY: REMEMBER WHEN AMERICA RESPECTED THE PRESIDENT?

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(Updated, 05/29/17, at 1:14 pm.)

Happy Birthday, JFK !

Today is the 100th birthday of the late President John F. Kennedy, the youngest person ever to be elected US president.

No occupant of the Oval Office has ever been such a friend and proponent of the arts. In addition, he challenged us to go the Moon when even the aerospace community thought it was impossible; he founded the Peace Corps; he brought the world the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty when survival of the human race hung in the balance; he proposed the Civil Rights Act in a live address on TV and radio (it was passed after he was murdered); and he gave the world a youthful, energetic, vigorous, hopeful "anything is possible" spirit.

Once upon a time, there was a past that really looked like a hopeful future.

Yet Big Media has long profited from endless imagery and speculation into his death, with precious little that celebrates the accomplishments and legacy of his life.

Here's a short message from the executive director of the JFK Library Foundation.

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May 29, 2017

Today we mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of our nation's 35th President, John F. Kennedy.

President Kennedy mobilized a generation to serve their country. He championed equality, advanced peace, celebrated the arts, and challenged us to work together to achieve the impossible. Together with Jacqueline Kennedy, he inspired millions of people around the world with his vision of a New Frontier.

As we take this moment to reflect on President Kennedy's legacy, we revisit history not for its own sake, but to find lessons and inspiration that can help us meet the challenges of our own time. Today we have an opportunity to make this more than a birthday landmark by recommitting ourselves to ideals and values that transcend time and place.

Please join me in honoring President Kennedy by signing his digital birthday card and telling us how his legacy inspires you today.

[ sign the "JFK 100 Centennial Celebration" birthday card, and WRITE YOUR MESSAGE at: https://jfkcentennial.org/card ]

Sincerely,

Steven M. Rothstein
Executive Director
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Columbia Point, Boston, Massachusetts

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The Guide must contribute this thought...

Partisanship aside, isn't it time we focused again on a future worth having, instead of all this wrangling in the mud like a bunch of protozoa fighting over stinky bacteria? Isn't it time we looked at leaving a legacy that will make those who come after us grateful, rather than resentful that the boundless greed of our time exhausted everything and left only piles of dangerous waste?

As the Kennedy Library says in their banner to proclaim today's anniversary, "Visionaries never go out of style!"

If only our time would embrace that.

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Remembering JFK on PBS

The PBS series, "THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE," produced a fine multipart video documentary series on the late president. Plus, they've published addition articles that inform or go beyond the content of the TV productions.

Especially for the JFK centennial, they posted the article, "JFK: Intimate Memories of an Icon." It marks the 35th president’s 100th birthday with stories and moving and informative quotes from those who knew him well. That overview article is at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jfk-intimate-memories-icon/

The complete series offers a look at all the key points, accomplishments, challenges, setbacks and the culminating tragedy that cut-short a life at a time of hard-fought wins and triumphs, spanning everything between May 29, 1917, when John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born at his family's home in Brookline, MA, and the shocking end of his life. The privileged yet sickly second son of one of the wealthiest men in America began his political career with a lackluster two-terms as a playboy Congressman, followed by re-election to a second term as US Senator before mounting a game-changing campaign that captured the presidency in 1960. Of course, history was forever changed when Kennedy's first term was cut tragically short by an assassin in 1963, and to this day, he remains one the nation's most mourned and beloved leaders.

You can explore much of his life and legacy with "JFK" produced by the "American Experience," and available at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jfk-legacy/

A good read is the article, "Politics on Television," exploring how John F. Kennedy's skillful use of media ushered in a new era of politics. It's at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jfk-presidential-politics/

A fun article is "JFK Trivia" with some strange, some coincidental, but all true facts about John F. Kennedy, at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jfk-did-you-know/

Many serious aspects are covered, too. Like this article, "JFK and Civil Rights," chronicling how Kennedy pushed civil rights on many fronts, though his approach was viewed by many as noncommittal. It's at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jfk-domestic-politics/

There's a particular episode of the Civil Rights era that gets additional treatment as a graphic novel / comic book-style illustrated story, with illustrations by Eoin Coveney, from the story as told by Harris Wofford. It's the article, "The Phone Call: An original historical comic." Martin Luther King, Jr. had disappeared. His wife was frantic. Then she received a phone call from John F. Kennedy that may have changed the course of history. You can read "The Phone Call," an original illustrated retelling of a favorite story from the 2013 documentary, "JFK." it's at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jfk-the-phone-call/

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Here are more video links and articles from "The American Experience"

* Part one of "JFK" first aired November 12, 2013. The entire multipart series runs 3 hrs 41 min and you can watch it online. A 9 min, 5 sec clip from part 1, where you'll find links for more, is at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jfk-chapter-1/

* A transcript of the full series is available at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/jfk/

* Links for the entire series on "Shop PBS" and on iTunes are also at the above url.

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Forever enshrined in myth by an assassin's bullet, Kennedy's presidency had long defied objective appraisal. The Emmy® Award-winning biography "JFK" examined the man beyond the myth, his accomplishments and unfulfilled promise. Clips and articles explore some of the defining moments of his life and career:

* "Documenting JFK"
* "Jack's early years"
* "Jack Kennedy courts Jacqueline Bouvier"
* "Kennedy's inauguration"
* "The Cuban Missile Crisis"

And one more, a video that requires an accompanying note:

* How does a journalist get a clear-eyed view of a president who has been so celebrated?"

If you've infested your device with Facebook's insidious spyware (that means all your devices, through their ability to read all your email and/or various social media accounts, and their cross-platform linking with GPS and smart phone body sensors), you get damn few real advantages, but one is this: You can watch the "American Experience" discussion with JFK director/producer Susan Bellows on her filmmaking process and how she worked to tell the story of the real man. It's at:

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanExperiencePBS/videos/10155305089519122/

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All the LATEST MUSIC NEWS is in the edition published just before this one. That's at:

http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/we-found-best-non-festival-destination_28.html


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See you next time!

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Ahead in the Guide...

THE COMING SUMMER...

Contrary to appearances the last couple weeks, we're really NOT going back into the daily music calendar bid'ness. But, that said... there is an irresistible bridge of tunefulness between the current weekends of festivals.

And we all know that if you rely on corporate mainstream media for your supposed news, you'd miss all these things. Along with 'purt near all the music news we bring you. So, we'll feature some select picks of concerts, etc., as we navigate the summer together.

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As always, you know that a whole lot more is coming soon — including fresh MUSIC NEWS, PREVIEWS & REVIEWS, and more additions to our massive guide to the MUSIC FESTIVALS of 2017.

Meantime, with all that's about to happen that we report in the foregoing? Go get tuneful!

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LEGALESE, CONTACTING US, 'N SUCH...

Boilerplate? Where's the main pressure gauge? And the firebox?

What "boilerplate"? Who came up with that goofy term for the basic essential informational stuff...
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♪ The ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC GUIDE endeavors to bring you NEWS — and views of interest to artists everywhere — more specifically to musicians and the creative community and music makers and fans of acoustic and Folk-Americana music. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds o’ things in the world of acoustic and Americana and accessible classical music. From washtub bass to musical spoons to oboe to viola to banjo to squeezebox, from Djangostyle to new-fangled-old-time string band music, from sweet Cajun fiddle to bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
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