So many good thoughts! I have nothing against vegetarians. I have nothing against anybody as long as they don't hurt anybody else or proselytize. When I was performing regularly (as I hope to be doing again soon), I did two distinct types of shows. One was a childrens' show, in which I did indeed try to stick to tradtional childrens' folk songs (Turkey in the Straw, etc). Lately I got a call from a woman who wanted live music for a small child's birthday party, and when she found that I did not know Barney the Dinosaur songs or songs from recent Disney movies, she said I'll call you back and didn't. Speaking of Disney, I heard that when they opened the Disney world in France, people were so confused that they didn't serve wine in the restaurants that it nearly went down after the first year. In French Disney World, they now serve wine, but not here. I have spent some time in Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, my wife being Czech, since the fall of Communism. One thing that impresses me every time I go is that whenever people get together, they sing! When I was playing in clubs (mostly old country and jazz and such as that), I could never get anybody to sing, even at the end of the show on "Goodnight, Irene". Don't know what that means. As for the possibility of someone thoughtful enough to listen to traditional music or jazz and vote Republican, I doubt it. But I'll have to say that here in South Carolina the difference between Republicans and Democrats is generally kind of vague. The only reason, I believe, that most Southern politicians were Democrats until recently was that the tradition was established back when people remembered that Lincoln was a Republican. We've still got Democrats that can make most people's Republicans look like Che Guevara. I'm a science teacher, by the way, in a high school for incarcerated juveniles. Any other teachers out there? Maybe we can do something about this situation we discuss here. I keep trying.

Chet W.