Prime Time Radio Blog

Mary Robinson on Women Leaders

2008-06-10T12:46:00.008-04:00

"Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it." - Hillary Rodham Clinton, June 7, 2008.

While many lament the failure of Hillary Clinton to gain her party's nomination to become the first female American president, there have been many women around the world who have held their country's highest office. One member of that club, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, recently told AARP's Prime Time Radio that it's not as exclusive a club as many think:

More on Marine Sergeant Shurvon Phillip's Story

2008-06-04T13:44:00.009-04:00

As part of AARP's ongoing Veterans' Caregivers project, we've told the story of Shurvon Philips and his mother, Gail Ulerie. Our veterans stories are gathered together here.

The New York Times' profile of Shurvon and his mother is here: "The Sergeant Lost Within"

Daily Kos diarist Crashing Vor featured and commented our feature article on this story.

AARP TV's video featuring Shurvon Phillips and Gail Ulerie is below.

Guest blogger - Lynn Mobley - WE are "the media"

2008-06-03T11:49:00.003-04:00

I’m starting to think I’m not meant to watch the evening news. I don’t have acid reflux, I got enough calcium during my formative years, and when I want to sleep, I count glasses of merlot. So, during the moments I’m not busy admiring Brian Williams, I feel like I might be watching the wrong show.

It’s clear that younger people aren’t watching the news. Otherwise, they’d run funny ads featuring Neanderthals and lizards and ducks and beer, and ducks and lizards drinking beer. Apparently, Madison Avenue thinks that everybody who watches network news is pressed close to the old black-and-white, straining to catch the names of new chemicals that reverse the ravages of time, while they weigh the side effects - weight gain, weight loss, death, erections that can last for more than ten hours - all rattled off at breakneck speed by folks who sound blithely unconcerned.

Is it the ads or is it the news? The economy is frightening, the war is devastating, the candidates have to resort to throwing dirt because we voters get so easily bored with issues. Used to be that some government agency would point out the benefits of global warming two or three nights a week, but even that spot of brightness has burned out. And the station breaks just make it worse.

Apparently younger people get their news from “other sources.” They don’t seem to need that quiet half-hour to digest after a home-cooked meal, before Seinfeld or Jeopardy. Or maybe there’s another reason...

Maybe they don’t watch the evening news because, like me, they get, like, totally bummed by the ads. The litany of things I can look forward to before I shuffle off this mortal coil makes me want to end it sooner rather than later. Once, I could count on the news to remind me how lucky I am. Now, unfortunate people around the world are getting rockets dropped on their houses, and all I can think about is the heartbreak of psoriasis?

We need a network for health-care ads, with no other programming, where people who speak more slowly than auctioneers can go in-depth on symptoms and counter-indications. I know there’s a market for it. I’d even pay for it, just so I could focus on the news.

Wait a minute - I’ll bet there’s one on cable...

---Please share your thoughts on this topic with us, or submit your own blog ideas to PrimeTime@aarp.org

Australian Blog #4

2008-05-28T12:16:00.010-04:00

March 7th-Friday- Vanilla slice is a great dessert. Just write it down and save that information. I had one after buying a few books at “Books in Print” on Glenferrie Road where we always seem to end up.

We had Friday Shabbat with a lovely family—Penny’s daughter, Emma, and her boys, Ben and Harry. (Ben pictured at left). I had spent time with Ben at the park the day previous and we had all walked to his school to pick him and his brother up at the end of the week.

It was a remarkable scene with scores of parents, relatives and neighbours gathered in the school yard, exchanging gossip and weekend plans. Ben is in “kinder” at five and Harry is an old seven. Absolutely sensational kids, very bright and extremely funny. They have been reared on little television, lots of books and lots of free space and time to play by themselves and with each other. But both are very sociable kids and a joy to be around.

March 8th-Saturday- We went to an auction of a house priced by the “vendor” at A$3.4million. Good thing that he priced it that high as nobody in the crowd of over 70 even bid on the house and the auction flopped. Many homes are auctioned here and only 66% of them get their price or any bids at all. It was a lovely unit but, in our humble opinion, worth nowhere near $3.4 million, Australian or American dollars.

For lunch we had a “Florentine” for dessert. New to me, it was almost a meal in itself, made of corn flakes, peanuts, fruit chunks, raisins and other stuff all on a thin chocolate base. Unbelievably tasty.

That night we went to The Black Balloon, a new Australian movie starring Gemma Ward and Toni Collette. No, it is not true that she is in every Australian movie. This one is about a family coping with a son’s autism and we found it very effective and very moving. We came back along Chapel Street that appeared to be one long 20-something party site. Lots of varying clothing combinations and lots of legs and tans on display. The street was jammed with people and we felt very old.

Tomorrow is Moomba Saturday, the day of the great Birdman Rally. Jen is not enthusiastic but is being a good scout to accompany me and we’ll tell you all about it in our next entry.

Australian Blog #3

2008-05-21T11:00:00.005-04:00

Tuesday, March 5

The tram system is extensive and efficient, but not cheap in Melbourne. The best idea, if you are going to be here for an extended period, is a weekly or 20-hour pass. They run about A$28. The 2-hour pass is A$3.50 while a daily is A$6.50. Connections are easy and the trams run on time. There are also trains that serve other purposes and have different routes, and you can catch on to the system quickly with just a little practice. Like other cities, the system looks like an “honor system” as there is nobody enforcing payment of fares—all the time.

When the “Enforcers” do board a train, they will ask for your ticket and check the time to see if you have any left. Woe betide the rider who has an out-of-date ticket! The other tip is to carry a map of the city streets or memorize your stops as there is little warning. You can always ask the tram conductor to give you a holler when you are coming to yours.

We had tickets for a rowdy and fun Australian musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, so ate out on Little Collins Street. You will not lack great eating opportunities in Melbourne though, again, things can get pricey very quickly. Tipping is expected in restaurants but anything over 15% is looked on as showing off. Everyplace else, no tipping is expected.

We hear that Priscilla is coming to Broadway but I’m not sure how it will translate to anybody who is not up on Australian culture and humour. The theatre, the Regents, is ornate 19th century and has the most comfortable theatre seats I can imagine. Like the English, however, the Aussie theatres present no printed programs—you can buy one for A$20 but other than that, you’re on your own as far as cast and credits are concerned.

Wednesday, March 6
TV ratings in Australia are interesting: #1= RSPCA Animal Rescue #2=Australian-Indian cricket #3=The Force #4=Border Security #5= Seven News Sunday. Desperate Housewives ranks #13 and House is #16.

The Green Guide is an incredible weekly 56-page supplement jammed with TV, radio and film news with focuses on personalities in local programming. It’s more informative about the media in Australia in one week than we get in a month of media writing.
This morning we trammed to the National Gallery of Australia to see the Sidney Nolan exhibit. He was a fascinating artist who featured the bushranger Ned Kelly in a lot of his works.

While buying a Ned Kelly print by Nolan we ran into a woman from Appleton, Wisconsin, and told her about Brett Favre’s retirement. She was as distressed as I was. Her first visit and she and her husband are already planning another trip. Australia tends to do that to first-timers and veteran visitors alike. It was hot afterward so I zipped off my pants. A great purchase from a travel clothier, the pants convert to shorts in a jiffy and as it neared 90 I was glad I had chosen them.

Melbourne, though looking more like DC in terms of ethnic diversity, is still startling for its almost total absence of aborigines. It is a colorful and flamboyant city and a joy to walk through as we’ll find out when we go to “Moomba,” a uniquely Melbournian festival of madness, food and frivolity

Australian adventure #2

2008-05-07T09:51:00.005-04:00

March 4th, Tuesday

March 3 was spent in the air and was totally lost to us. We gain back the day coming back as we’ll fly for 35 hours but take off on the 24th and get home on the 24th. I hope March 24th is a good day since we’ll live it twice.

Our friend, Penny Coates, was ready for us when we landed. We had called her before leaving LAX to tell her of the luggage problem but she still laughed when she picked us up with “all” of our luggage.

We arrived at her lovely home in Caulfield, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, to be greeted by Pippa, her 13-year old Maltese mix and a family of three magpies. We were introduced to them by their conversation outside the kitchen door. Penny talks back atthem but she also delivers nuggets of hamburger which she tosses at them. They snap the meat out of the air and chortle their thanks before abruptly leaving, we assume for the next gullible neighbour. (There goes that spell-checker again!)

The secret to surviving a trip like the one we just concluded is to stay awake as long as possible on your first day. Yes, it’s painful, but with a good night’s sleep you should be fine for the rest of your vacation. We stayed up as long as we could and made it to about 2100 (9PM) and slept acceptably before rising at 0730 the next morning to the sounds of the hungry maggies. By the way, most Australian times are listed, as they are in Europe, in 24-hour format so you might get used to it before coming here!

Wednesday, March 5
We had breakfast to the sounds of the neighborhood: the maggies, plus the dog next door who is taunted by two dogs from up the street owned by a somewhat ancient Elvis impersonator, and the aging Volvo of the lady down the block. She has very shaky brakes that scream when she touches the pedal and she is a VERY cautious driver, touching the brakes all the way down the street and through the roundabout. Then there is the Mt. Scopus school bus that loads up early. Nothing irritating, except the thud of the Melbourne Age against the front window where we are sleeping. The paper is in a tight roll wrapped in Saran wrap so it can fly a long distance with a great deal of force behind it. Makes a lovely crunching sound against the window.

The forecast for the next five days is for “Fine” with highs near and over 80. Sounds perfect, but water capacity in the area dams is at 35.2% of capacity vs. 34% at this time last year! NOT a good situation. Penny has a “green smart house.” She collects solar energy on her roof and stores gray water there as well, which is used for toilets and gardening. Her windows are double-glazed and she has electronically controlled shades that cover the windows on the west side of the house that allow sunlight to warm the place during the day.

Still, Jen mourns for the lovely gardens, both formal and individual, that she remembers as they are all short of water and everything is very crisp at the end of the Australian summer. Some commentators are blaming the government for encouraging farmers to stick with it, even though the climate changes here have made small farms unviable for many. The commentators say that the farmers would be better off to admit defeat and get out of the business entirely.

Next entry: getting around Melbourne by Tram.

Australian adventure

2008-04-30T15:45:00.006-04:00

Mike Cuthbert Australian Blog #1

These entries were made episodically from March 2nd to March 24th and originated in and around Melbourne, Australia. Our holiday began on Labor Day weekend, the end of the end of Aussie summer. (By the way, if you want to sound authentic, it is not “awssy” but “ozzie” and the Aussies often refer to their country as “Oz.”) We were visiting family and friends but, as you will find when you go to Australia, making new friends is an activity you can plan on.

DAY ONE- March 2nd

Forty minutes late, we pull away from the Delta gate and my wife, Jen, sees our luggage sitting on a cart while we head to JFK for our Qantas connection. Pleas to get our bags back on the plane go unheeded. “You’ll get them at your destination,” we are told by a hapless flight attendant. “Do you have a clue as to what our destination is?” Blank stare. When told we are going to Australia and would like our luggage to accompany us, we are told our luggage “..will be in New York before you.” Since the next flight to JFK would get there at 6:09 and we were leaving on Qantas at 6:40, we expressed our scepticism. We were right and it was not until our second day in Australia that our bags arrived.

We always have a very flexible pool on when we will first hear an Aussie accent. 4:40 PM and it’s a girl from Brisbane with a growing infection from a New York-installed stud in her cheek. We did not visit with her.
Our first good omen: we got the exit row for the flight to LAX!! A wonderful flight with tons of movies Bad omen: I discover my digital camera screen won’t light up and the camera is more or less useless though I suspect it may be taking pictures without the screen working. I can’t afford to hope so plan on getting a new camera at duty-free along the way.

Watched “Romulus, My Father,” a prize-winning Aussie movie about an eastern European immigrant family. Eric Bana stars and it’s a sad, slow-paced movie. Listened to some Beethoven sonatas played by Australian Stephen Kovacevich. Excellent performances and a delightful break between movies. An extra treat was three unseen (by us) episodes of “Kath and Kim,” an outrageously Australian TV comedy that we fell in love with on our last visit three years ago. Laughed out loud but didn’t disturb my seat-mate, Harrison or “Harry.” He’s three and I’m worried. I shouldn’t be. Harry is a gem and alternately sleeps and watches TV, mostly “The Wiggles” the whole trip. Lovely little guy! His mother swears by “Gravel,” an anti-airsickness drug that also works to help kids sleep. It worked on Harry while I watched “The Assassination of Jesse James etc.,””The Heartbreak Kid,” “an awful teen movie with Seth Rogen as a cop and a start on “Two Days in Paris” with Julie Depuy. Fell asleep during that one so I can save it for the return trip as it looked kind of cute.

I have a good book to read, “The Commonwealth of Thieves,” by Thomas Keneally, an account of the founding of Australia under Arthur Phillip, but couldn’t focus. I think reading on planes, even over such long distances as we are covering, is very difficult and hard on aging eyes. There is lots of material to read about Australia before coming here and I always recommend at least one major book before you come here, just to get in the mood. NOT “The Thorn Birds!” I have others and will no doubt buy some Australian fiction when I get there. Book prices are outrageous in Australia, with paperbacks often going for A$30 or more, but many of them never make it to the States at all.

Book shops are in every neighbourhood—some are specialty stores for the fine arts, or Australiana or travel, but there are more book shops than tanning parlours, a welcome change from the States. (My spelling, by the way, of such words as “labour” and “parlour” is marked as an error by spell-checkers if written “labor” and “parlor.” Just so you don’t think I’m going native.

Next episode, landing in Melbourne, settling in and the calendar of events available for a tourist at this time of the year.

A Journey Worth Taking

2008-03-20T11:58:00.003-04:00

Some times in radio you get the privilege of a good hard nudge. You think you've written something that you are sure can never be better and then your editor rejects what you know is your masterpiece.

This happened to me recently, before I did the Prime Time Focus' weekender piece entitled Eva And Me, the story of the nurse who saved my life when I was a baby. Instead of the five minute version with Eva's voice that now is on the air, I at first happily turned in a shorter piece expressing my gratitude and called it a day. "You can do a better. This is an important story. " was the prodding reply. "Go see her, interview her, and then tell the story."

I only suspected then that I was afraid to drive to Erie where Eva lives a second time. My first visit several years ago with her - the first time I met her as an adult - was so loaded with mystery, so magical in its intensity for both of us, going back seemed scary somehow. Some how I knew our visit this second time would be more real and ordinary - two strangers caught together in one unbelievable act: one person saved the other's life. Now what?

But that second trip has meant everything to me. Without facing the fact that we really don't know each other and yet we are close, I wouldn't have started writing Eva weekly letters, something I wish I had done years ago. In some small way I am finally giving back to her now. Who would have thought a returned script could have accomplished so much.

My thanks to AARP's radio manager Janelle Haskell whose little nudge accomplished so much. I hope you like the resulting story and hearing Eva Nungesser's voice. The full interview I did will be mine forever. A new treasure along with Eva's letters which come to me when she is well enough to write.

Listen to the piece at Prime Time Focus

Richard Cohen and "citzens of disability"

2008-03-14T16:29:00.003-04:00

A recent guest of ours on Prime Time Radio put the world in a different perspective for me. At various times I am reminded of the truth of what Richard Cohen said to me in talking about his book Strong at the Broken Places. The truth is that people in our society who struggle with disabilities are seldom, if ever, regarded as persons in a whole sense.

He reminded me, in his portrayal of five different people, all with fatal or debilitating conditions, of how easy it is to dismiss them. As one of his subjects asks: “Why should anyone make a friend of me when there are so many normal people out there?”

One of Cohen’s subjects has ALS—Lou Gehrig’s Disease—another man non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a young woman Crohn’s disease of the intestines, another, the youngest, is a college student with a rare and virulent form of muscular dystrophy while the last has bipolar illness so severe that it can induce suicide.

All of these people are coping, in one way or another, with what is for some of them a death sentence and for others a life-sentence. Cohen copes with the latter being a victim not only of two bouts with colon cancer in the late 1990s, but an even longer life under the limitations of advancing multiple sclerosis.

I spoke with Richard Cohen four years ago in our AARP studios, He walked with a cane then. Now he relies on the cane, his vision is fading and his voice is notably weaker and shakier. Yet he copes, admittedly with the help of anger that stimulates his struggle against limits on what he can achieve physically.

What he has achieved in his latest book is a reminder that we cannot afford to overlook the myriad aspects of human character, behavior and thought that go into the making of a person.

Listening to Cohen and reading what he learned from his fellow “citizens of disability” forces thoughtful members of his audience to recognize the possibility that disability—in one form or another—is to be faced by almost all of us at some stage in our lives. It also allows us to see that disability can enrich rather than destroy a person and that focusing on the enriching factors is far more valuable, both to the disabled and to us, than pity or turning our backs on them and their diseases.

Talking with Richard Cohen, whose wit and erudition have not been stilled by his diseases, is more rewarding than talking with many, if not most, non-disabled persons. To focus only on his cane, and his vision would be to ignore him as a person—and what a waste of his time and yours that would be.

Aging

2007-11-27T11:28:00.000-05:00

It’s not surprising that we have many guests on Prime Time Radio whose expertise is the process of aging. Two diverse guests resonated with me recently and caused me to think more about aging than I usually do.

Aging is something I find it easy to not think about since there is not too much I can do about it. But Anne Kreamer’s Going Gray reminded me that many of us believe that, by changing our external appearance, we can appear not to be aging. This is sheer delusion, of course, but as Kreamer realized, she had spent over $65,000 in the past twenty years coloring her hair to avoid going gray.

(Listen to my conversation with Anne Kreamer with Real Audio.)

Yet she was not a day younger after all that investment. She is clear: that the perception is that women with gray hair are regarded as more antique than their tinted sisters and she may be right. Except that she found many successful women, youthful in mind and action, who had gone gray long ago.

Then there was Lillian Rubin, author of 60 on Up: The Truth About Aging in America. She is in her eighties and recently began a new career as an artist. She sold her first painting at the age of eighty-two. Her book is a sometimes-brutal look at aging.

She points out, for instance, that we spend millions of dollars on keeping men and women alive but a fraction of that, if anything, on ways to make their old age more comfortable or even tolerable. Life, it seems, is more important than how that life is spent.

She points out: “We say we want to die with dignity and mean it, but we’re so frightened of death that we submit to often painful and undignified medical procedures in the often vain hope of putting off our meeting with it just a little longer.” Perhaps that is a human failing, like the desire to believe that tinting our hair to cover the gray does something significant for the way we age.

(Listen to my conversation with Lillian Rubin with Real Audio.)

Both books made me assess how well I’m handling aging. At times, the best times, with equanimity and rational acceptance of what is. At other times, the worst, a frustration at the lack of control it is possible to achieve over the last decades of life.

I do not enjoy counting pills every morning and every night; pills that lower my blood pressure, control my cholesterol, shrink my prostate and take away inflammation from my knee. I do not enjoy looking at menus and seeing things that I know I can’t have if I want to control my blood sugar. But it is all part of aging that I must accept because there is little alternative.

My hair is gray, my knees man-made; my back is never what it used to be and I am shrinking. I hope I can approach the rest of aging with the dignity that Rubin talks about. I plan on it. But another part of aging that we cannot escape is that things change. What I fear most about aging is the loss of the ability to adapt. So far, so good.

I wonder what you fear most about aging and how you’re coping. Share it with us by clicking "comments" below. We post your comments soon after you send them.

Why I love my job...

2007-11-26T10:30:00.000-05:00

I’m sure there are many reasons why people feel really good about a job they love. For me one of the biggest draws in radio has been the distinct advantage it gives you – the almost unbelievable access - to ask people questions and learn about their lives.

It’s not the nosiness factor that interests me; it's whatever makes many people feel passionate – in joy or sorrow. The striving for something more that really lights them up.

Years ago I interviewed a spelunker who spoke about the excitement he felt in an uncharted cave - not knowing what would happen around the next corner. It sounds trite when you write about it, but when you hear the expression in his voice, you just know why he’s taken huge chances. Radio is such an intimate medium.

Since I started hosting and producing Prime Time Focus a few months ago, I’ve had the renewed privilege of getting to interview people. I’ve talked with pianist Emil Pandolphi, whose love of a lyrical tune and how he can re-score it brings deep joy to his life. He delights in being on stage to share it with others. Interviewing him made me want to play the piano again, to listen to music with a finer-tuned ear, to think more about what composers and arrangers ponder. It’s a gift Emil left with me long after I finished the piece. Listen!

On the flip side, some interviews are so gut wrenching you can’t hear more. Years ago I edited a documentary on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I can still hear a Vietnam vet describing someone being tortured – it’s a memory I wish I could get rid of. I cannot.

Similarly the pain that Mr. Brewer feels in the piece I did for Prime Time Focus on the serious problems people have experienced with some pre-need funeral policies was very hard to hear. He trusted those people and with an income of just $600 a month, had few options when his wife suddenly died. Such stories make you want to be the very best reporter you can be and to tell a story with compassion. How could you violate such trust? (coming in December - we'll post a link here to the story)

I think people who work in radio will tell you that if you play a piece of audio they gathered a long time ago they’ll still remember who spoke the words, and the larger story they told. Alone with headphones on, the ears tune in to something beyond the words.

I feel so very fortunate to have found something I love to do so much. I hope you enjoy my work and it’s a pleasure to share my thoughts about it.

Do you love your work? Please let me know right here by leaving a comment. Click the word "comments" just below...

We approve your comments quickly, and then post them...

Alyne Ellis

Lessons for Those Facing a Total Knee Replacement - Part Two

2007-10-29T14:59:00.001-04:00

10. There are various names for it, but learn to use and value the strap or belt that you use as a leg-mover. I call mine “Isadora” after Isadora Duncan and her scarf since I wear my leg-mover around my neck and use it for everything, even snaring the most valuable “Get Well” gift I received: an omnibus volume of NY Times Crossword Puzzles. Great for that hour from 2 to 3 in the morning when you can’t sleep anyway.

11. If you always wanted to get a laptop, get it before the operation and learn how to use it. It, like the crossword puzzles, turned out to be invaluable during those long, empty morning hours. Mah-Jong solitaire is particularly habit-forming.

12. Don’t worry too much about pulled muscles in your back, sides, wrists, etc. They come from walking differently and using crutches and canes. They’ll heal before your knee does anyway.

13. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll be able to sense when you’ve increased flexing by a degree or two and the same for extension. As you get closer to the end of rehab and establishing full Range of Motion, each degree becomes more and more precious. Celebrate every one of them!

14. They say it’s possible but if you have your left knee done, it’s impossible to sleep on your right side for very long and vice versa. Pillows between the knees? Under the knee? Doesn’t work for me. Good luck.

15. Be VERY NICE to your Significant Other. They will have to take on extra duties that make you impatient to even ask for but that you simply cannot do yourself for a while. At the same time, try to do more and more for yourself each day to remind yourself that this rehab stuff is temporary and has the goal of returning you to a normal, independent life, assuming you had one before the operation!

16. Get out to dinner, a movie or something fun as soon as you can stand sitting in one place for more than an hour. (That may take a few weeks.) You’ll have earned it and your Significant Other will want the fun as well.

17. Set goals for performance: pick a date for the resumption of your golfing hobby; set a goal for walking up and down the stairs foot-over-foot again; set a date for walking to the corner and back, around the block, etc.; make a date with your physical therapist for dinner so you can tell them you didn’t mean all those nasty things you called them when they were stretching you.

18. Don’t worry if the next thing that goes is a hip. They say the rehab is nowhere near as bad as for a knee!!!

Lessons for Those Facing a Total Knee Replacement

2007-10-08T14:23:00.000-04:00

I am undoubtedly not typical of a knee replacement patient but, having gone through the procedure twice in the past five years, I feel qualified to offer some advice. At least, these are some of the changes in your life you might look out for as you go through the process of the replacement. Yes, it is not merely an operation; it is a process, the most important part of which starts in the recovery room.

1. Rehab is everything. The operation takes a couple of hours; the rehab takes months and months so plan to start rehab as soon as possible.

2. Learn to manage your pain in the hospital and don’t be macho or Amazonian about managing it at home. Pain wrecks rehab, destroys sleep and exhausts you. The professionals tell us that not managing pain also slows recovery drastically. My rule of thumb: when my pain goes over 6 and is clearly headed higher toward 10, I take the Percocet and track the time so as to not take any more than two in four hours. (Sometimes each dosage will last longer than four hours, but it’s amazing how often at the four-hour mark you can feel the pain start to return!)

3. Rehab hurts. Once home and started with a therapist or by yourself or at an outpatient rehab facility upon discharge from the hospital, learn to manage your pain meds. I take 2 Percocets an hour before every therapy session. Without the pain meds, the therapy is limited by pain and not as productive. The goal is to regain “Range of Motion” in the joint and to do that you have to take your knee beyond where pain would stop you. BUT—see #4

4. When your pain meds kick in, be careful not to over-stretch because the pain won’t be there to stop you. Learn to exercise to a stretch that you can feel even with pain meds. To go any further asks for pulled muscles that turn up only after the pain meds fade away.

5. Have the operation in the summer months, during re-runs on TV. You won’t want to watch much anyway and the only sports on during the summer, baseball, can help you get to sleep anyway.

6. Do not plan to read War and Peace during recuperation. I find my attention span the first few weeks was limited to a few pages of Dr. Seuss at a time. Similarly, don’t plan to write anything meaningful. Many pages of my journal have these odd dribbles of ink off the page where my pen went when I fell asleep during a short entry.

7. Welcome visitors but don’t be afraid to let them know when you can’t remember their names any more from fatigue.

8. Plan to start a diet. I lost twenty pounds in less than a month because I didn’t want to eat much at all and didn’t need to. I have suggested that my orthopedic surgeon market his “Joint Replacement and Weight Loss System.”

9. Sleep whenever you feel sleepy. Usual sleep patterns are destroyed anyway so take it when you can get it. You’re not going to be going anywhere during the day and, if you followed suggestion #5, there’s going to be nothing you’ll miss on TV anyway. The best nap is the one after PT!!

After writing that, I made myself so sleepy that I followed my own advice and nodded off. Next blog, nine more tips on handling a knee replacement, including the value of Mah-Jongg on your computer and the care and treatment of your Significant Other.

Bringing Home the Story

2007-09-25T16:16:00.000-04:00

This year, I got to attend AARP’s annual member event for the first time. This year it was in Boston. (That's me with a friendly robot!)

It was a good thing I took the train because a plane would never have gotten off the ground with all the stuff I lugged home. There were hundreds of exhibitors there – everything from vitamin and pear people to travel booths where you could sign up for a barge trip. But most of the 100 pounds of extra weight that I crammed into my huge suitcase was paper, stuff about all the cool things boomers should know, will care about, and want reports on.

My suitcase was so heavy it took two of us to drag it across the wide gap on the train platform. A policeman even asked me if I had a body in there. I couldn’t blame him. It was a lot of dead weight.

It took six trips out to the car to unload that thing. There was no way I was going to try to wheel it up my front steps.

Now I’ve got to sort it all out…

I’m glad I went. I got to see a lot of interesting things including a simulated driving test for seniors, a talking bear that may one day show up in nursing homes and a rack for my kitchen that will help me get to the top shelf without reaching up on a ladder.

Next time I’m hoping I won’t be lugging quite so much. I like my heavy lifting to be a little microphone.

Beethoven Comes to Washington

2007-08-31T16:21:00.000-04:00

Imagine – that we could watch as Beethoven composed the Diabelli Variations, one of the most intricate and expansive works ever written for piano. Now imagine a modern musicologist on the trail of the story behind that composition. Throw in a love affair, a fatal illness, and an on-stage pianist supplying the soundtrack to the story – and you have 33 Variations, a new play written and directed by Moisés Kaufman, best known for directing the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play I Am My Own Wife on Broadway and helping to bring The Laramie Project to the stage.

33 Variations opened last night at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in its world premiere performance. The elements are assembled with love, but for a show that appears so original in its premise, parts of the play seem over-familiar. We’ve watched the prickly mother-daughter scenes before, and the slow decline that comes with disease - this time it’s Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, often called Lou Gehrig's Disease - that becomes a focus of sentimental drama.

There’s also something paint-by-numbers in the portrayal of Beethoven’s worsening deafness… and yet… the play picks up steam as it heads to its final curtain and an ultimate, unexpected moment of hope and clarity.

Where the play succeeds, it’s because of Kaufman’s steady and empathetic work with his ensemble. There are standout performances by Mary Beth Peil as Katherine Brandt, the ailing musicologist; Greg Keller, as a young suitor to Katherine’s daughter, Clara; and Susan Kellermann, who turns a small role as a German archivist into an exemplary portrayal of friendship and honesty.

And it seems an unaccustomed treat in the theater to enjoy the work of concert pianist Diane Walsh, who plays many of the actual Diabelli variations to illustrate either the emotional truths of the production, or to assist in moving along the timeline.

(Hear performances from Diane Walsh here).

The play starts almost immediately on parallel tracks. Katherine, visiting the doctor with her daughter for a checkup and an update on her medical condition, pleads for the time to finish her latest research and for medical permission to travel to Bonn to access the Beethoven archives. She seeks to understand why Beethoven became so obsessed by a simple waltz that he needed to create 33 variations – ranging from whimsical to majestic – of Diabelli's simple theme.

Meanwhile, time flows back to 1819, and we meet Ludwig himself, grappling with this commission which will take him four arduous years to finish.

This is, therefore, a tale of obsession, creativity, and running out of time. What gives the tale some hope is the love affair between Clara (the daughter) and Greg, who is also Katherine’s nurse. Their fumbling attempts to find intimacy leaven the more intense stories of decline – the composer’s and the musicologist’s – that inevitably lead to each character’s end.

This seems like a show that could be tightened and find its way to success in New York or London. Watch for it.

It Takes a Village

2007-08-14T14:01:00.000-04:00

Today, there are a growing number of options for housing which allow older Americans to avoid moving into big independent or assisted living facilities. In an extensive feature story in today's New York Times the focus is on "aging in place."

Here's a sample from the Times article:

"Urban planners and senior housing experts say this movement, organized by residents rather than government agencies or social service providers, could make “aging in place” safe and affordable for a majority of elderly people. Almost 9 in 10 Americans over the age of 60, according to AARP polls, share the Allens’ wish to live out their lives in familiar surroundings."

Listen to a segment from Prime Time Focus with host Alyne Ellis on a Washington, D.C. project called Capitol Hill Village. Real Audio link.

Find more from AARP about housing choices, in this special web module.

More on Beacon Hill Village, and similar options, from AARP Bulletin.

Policy and Research from AARP for professionals in the field of aging.

Watch this short video about Capitol Hill Village, from AARP Broadcast (click play to get it started):

David Brooks on 'Being Old'

2007-08-03T22:16:00.000-04:00

In a column in today's New York Times, conservative pundit David Brooks talks about a fascinating book he discovered on a road trip. "Autobiography of an Elderly Woman" was published in 1911, and contained what Brooks considers to be true insights into aging in an earlier era. He quotes the author:

“I do not know when the change came, nor do they, if indeed they realize it at all,” she writes. “There was a time when I was of their generation; now I am not. I cannot put my finger on the time when old age finally claimed me. But there came a moment when my boys were more thoughtful of me, when they didn’t come to me anymore with their perplexities, not because I had what is called ‘failed,’ but because they felt that the time had come when I ought to be ‘spared’ every possible worry. So there is a conspiracy of silence against me in my household.”

The column is thought-provoking but oddly ambiguous. And what does Brooks mean when he concludes "I don’t know how many of her opinions will ring true to today’s oldsters. Now, elderly are richer, more active and more engaged than their cohorts of a century ago, but are they still living in a different dimension?

"Is it now a dimension of their own choosing?"

If you subscribe to Times Select, you can read the column here. We'd like to find out what you think. Send us comments and we'll post them.

Let's Put on a Show! Capital Fringe brings variety of theater to nation's capital

2007-08-01T11:40:00.000-04:00

Karl Marx returns from the dead. A beatboxer with astonishing vocal dexterity raps a complex story about Jews and Palestinians. One playwright takes on the question of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, while another creates a well made play about a painting... a play that avoids most of the clichés inherent in that subject.

A young company powers through Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury and invites the audience to join in a sing-along encore of G&S favorites.

And in Christmas in Bakersfield, an African American performer goes home to meet the family of his boyfriend, and finds out why this sleepy California town is the breeding ground for the local Ku Klux Klan.

That's just a tiny selection based on one viewer's frenzied play going during the ten day mid-July marathon. The festival concluded last week after starting on July 19th with a fire breathing, horn blowing parade. The Fringe featured more than 500 individual performances involving over 200 companies in 30 venues, located in three distinct Washington neighborhoods: downtown's Penn Quarter, the 14th Street/U Street area, and H Street NE.

The Fringe is modeled on similar efforts in Edinburgh, Scotland and New York City. It's a sprint for lovers of performance art and the kind of theater that can be done on a bare stage, with minimal technical requirements, but lots of spirit and grit.

The Karl Marx show (Marx in Soho) featured actor Bob Weick (pictured above, photo by John Doyle) as the iconic philosopher, social scientist, historian and revolutionary. Despite the fact that his German accent came and went, the concept and execution were illuminating. The one man show, performed in a tiny venue that seats 20, allows Marx to come back to life and insist that Marxism is not, in fact, dead. Written by historian Howard Zinn, the monologue makes the case that capitalism, not Marxism, is the failed solution for modern society.

While much of the show is predictable -- we'd expect Karl to tell us that uneven outcomes for rich and poor are the greatest failing of our capitalist system -- it still tickles the imagination to hear the old guy stand up for himself.

At the other end of the spectrum of soliloquies, From Tel Aviv to Ramallah: A Beatbox Journey explores the commonalities and divides between young Israelis and Palestinians. The play came about after Yuri Lane and his wife Rachel Havrelock traveled through Israel and the West Bank together in 1999. Four years later, they created a play from their experiences that Lane performs in a dizzying verbal symphony of percussion and words.

The show revolves around a day in the life of Amir, a Tel Aviv dj and delivery boy, and Khalid, a Ramallah internet café owner whose parallel lives are separated by physical and political divides. This performance filled DC's hippest venue, the café/bookstore Busboys and Poets, and the audience listened in awe at Lane's skill and participated directly in the emotional power of the experience.

Too much to talk about in this short space. Bottom line: plan a trip to Washington, D.C. next summer for the third annual Fringe Festival. It's likely to be even bigger and better.

Retirement (by Prime Time Radio Host, Mike Cuthbert)

2007-07-27T10:24:00.000-04:00

Every possible weekend, which this summer has meant every weekend, I drive up the highway to West Virginia and spend at least two days playing golf. I don’t play all that well, which frustrates me, but I spend a lot of time with the Men’s Golf Association where we have our summer place and I learn a lot.

Many of the men I play with live in retirement at the resort; many are like me: weekenders. Every week the question of retirement comes up and I am fascinated by the responses. About half say they are delighted to be retired, though they’re not sure about how their wives feel about it. The other half are like me, convinced that they will work until they drop.

I feel that way largely because I have never been confident that I would ever have enough money in the bank to be able to do nothing to earn more. Another reason is that, if I wake up in the morning with literally “nothing to do,” I feel strange, as if I’m ill.

On a recent show we talked with Mark Freedman about “encore” careers and it occurred to me again that there’s another way. [after August 14th, check local listings]. Freedman talks about people who get up in the morning and want something to do but they want whatever they do to have a wider impact than their first career, which was for themselves and their families. At the same time, he makes the point that volunteering is nice, but everybody takes what you do more seriously if there is some recompense. [More about Freedman on his website Civic Ventures.]

So, as I face my second total knee replacement in five years next week, I’m starting to look around for things to do to replace the golf I may not be able to play next summer. I’ve got some ideas that could help people while earning a little recompense. I wonder how many people are doing the same thing, even if they have both knees?

Retirement? I still can’t imagine it. But I’m working on some alternatives and that’s reason enough to get up in the morning.

Rosie (by Prime Time Focus Host Alyne Ellis)

2007-07-26T10:00:00.002-04:00

I grew up with a cocker. Her name was Teetza and ever since then those drooping ears and eyes that pool with warmth and love have drawn me in like a magnet. Rosie is our fourth cocker, the others were American. She’s our first English cocker. She’s a dog with total devotion and a dog with a mind to do her own thing which she does with relish. Somehow she manages both opposites quite well, probably because she has trained us to behave.

One non-negotiable item as far as Rosie is concerned is food. I’m sure, and I don’t need an x-ray to prove it to me, that inside this little dog is a big pig. She’s got the human head motions down to demand what she wants – a jerk to the right; that means ”go get it.” We do. But when occasionally that doesn’t work, she has a mini whiny bark kind of thing she does to express displeasure. We always get going THEN and her sheltered life remains complete.

Some say cockers act like cats and Rosie definitely does. She sits on radiators, looks out windows, and climbs on the backs of sofas for a better view. We are undisciplined dog owners. What can I say, with Rosie and her buddy Tobie, a golden retriever, there’s lots of activity and you can always count on a warm greeting at any time, even when the kitchen is definitely closed for the night.

I'll be talking more about Rosie on Prime Time Focus soon. Do you have a special dog you'd like to tell me about?

Nelson Mandela and "The Elders"

2007-07-23T13:27:00.000-04:00

Last week, former South African president Nelson Mandela announced the formation of a new organization to tackle the world's most difficult problems. Here is part of what he said:

"In today’s world, many of the problems we face are global in nature. These include climate change, pandemics such as AIDS, malaria and TB. And of course, that entirely human created affliction: violent conflict.

"The structures we have to deal with these problems are often tied down by political, economic or geographical constraints. As institutions of government grapple – often unequally – with challenges they face, the efforts of a small, dedicated group of leaders, working objectively and without any vested personal interest in the outcome, can help resolve what often seems like intractable problems.

"We have the makings of such a group...Let us call them Global Elders, not because of their age, but because of their individual and collective wisdom.

"This group derives its strength not from political, economic or military power, but from the independence and integrity of those who are here.

"They do not have careers to build, elections to win, constituencies to please. They can talk to anyone they please, and are free to follow paths they deem right, even if hugely unpopular.

"It is now several years since Richard Branson and Peter Gabriel came to me with their idea for The Elders. Since then I have watched the concept grow, gain structure and strength, and become a real, viable, and pragmatic initiative.

"I believe that, with their experience and their energies, and their profound commitment to building a better world, The Elders can become a fiercely independent and robust force for good, tackling complex and intractable issues, especially those that are not popular....

"The Elders can speak freely and boldly, working both publicly and behind the scenes on whatever actions need to be taken. They will reach out to those who most need their help. It is those who have the least and who therefore suffer the most. It is those who are rarely heard. This group of Elders can represent them and make sure they are not ignored.

"I am also certain that that they will support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict and inspire hope where there is despair....

"...I wish them well, and hope they succeed in bringing light to some of the darkness that afflicts our world, and new energy to areas where others have become weary because of the endless conflict."

Visit The Elders website for the complete speech, and much more information about this initiative.

Deferring Retirement - DC Panel Addresses Workforce Transformation

2007-07-12T10:52:00.000-04:00

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, Senator Herb Kohl welcomed a group of experts to discuss the rapidly changing nature of midlife careers, and to explain legislation he has introduced to support the ongoing changes. The panel was hosted by AARP's Director of Workforce Issues, Deborah Russell. Here are some highlights:

Marc Freedman talked about his new book, "Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life." He predicted historic changes in the American workplace, where the time between the end of what he called "midlife careers," and the beginning of what used to be called "old age" is stretching into decades. What pathways will be created to find and train workers in that stage of life and help them find work that is meaningful to them?

Freedman talks about the book, and the issues, with Prime Time Radio host Mike Cuthbert in this extended conversation from the August 14th edition of Prime Time Radio. Listen with Real Audio.

Phyllis Segal, who's on the faculty of Harvard Law School, is a Senior Vice President of Civic Ventures, which spotlights innovative recruitment and hiring strategies targeting workers over 50. As she said, "old notions of retirement are in the rear view mirror." Because they have to, or want to, or because industry needs them, people will continue to work as they get older. She said older workers are looking for "both meaning and compensation." And this often leads them to non-profit organizations, or public agencies.

Jeri Sedlar is a senior advisor to The Conference Board. She's also the author of "Don't Retire - REWIRE!" She believes that workers over 50 want to move "from success to significance." And from "profits to passions." These desires, she says, are moving older workers into the nonprofit sector.

There was general agreement among the panelists that "debris" left over from outmoded ideas about retirement is one of the main obstacles to creating fresh opportunities. These stumbling blocks include mandatory retirement ages and the abrupt ending of work-related benefits at the time when workers "retire." Kohl's legislation would give employers a tax credit for establishing flexible work schedules that enable older employees to stay on the job without losing healthcare or pension benefits.

More on this subject in the New York Times of Sunday, July 22.

Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) Defends Himself on Senate Floor: "My Only Adversity is Age."

2007-07-02T10:45:00.000-04:00

On June 28, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd responded to critics who have recently suggested that he may be too old for his job.

The 89-year-old Democrat is the longest serving senator in history. Commentators had recently pointed out that Byrd seems to be growing infirm, that his signature was shaky, and his attention often wandered.

Here's part of his reponse:

Mr. President, I feel compelled to address head on the news stories in recent weeks that have pointed out the shocking discovery that I am growing older. I find it no surprise, but then I have had some time to become accustomed to the increasing distance between the year of my birth and the current date. I may not like it, but as Maurice Chevalier put it, "Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative."

A recent Associated Press story ran in West Virginia's Charleston Daily Mail. The headline read, "Dramatic change in signature shows that age is catching up with Senator Byrd." The newspaper offered as proof the signatures on my Senate financial disclosure forms from last year and this year. It is true that this year's signature looks like I signed it in a moving car. Some days, the benign essential tremor that I have had for years now is worse than on other days – just as it is for the approximately 5 million other people in the United States who suffer from similar tremors. It is annoying, but hardly evidence that I am at death's door.

Nor should it come as a surprise that I use canes to help me get around, or that I am not always as fast as I once was. I am not aware of any requirement for physical dexterity in order to hold the office of U.S. Senator. The often grueling hours that work in the Senate requires are tough on far younger Senators, and I am no longer one of the younger Senators. But to worry in print that I have missed one vote this year? Really?! Out of more than 18,000 votes in my career, to miss one or two votes every now and then is surely excusable. Even old people can be allowed a sick day or two now and then, can't they?

That is really the crux of the matter here. In this internet-savvy, media-infused culture, we have forgotten that people get older. Even, dare I say it – old. Television is full of pretty, young people. The few white-haired heads that one sees on television are made up and glamorous. Off-camera, though, most bear little resemblance to their tv persona. In a culture of botox, wrinkle cream, and hair dye, we cannot imagine that becoming older is a good thing, an experience to look forward to and a state worthy of respect. If I were 50 years old, and used canes due to some injury, or had a disease-related tremor, the news stories would be about my carrying on despite my adversities. But my only adversity is age....

Abraham Lincoln once rightly observed that "…In the end, it's not the years of your life that count. It's the life in your years." My only adversity is age. It is not a bar to my usefulness as a Senator. I still look out for West Virginia. I still zealously guard the welfare of this nation and its Constitution. I still work, every day, to move the business of this nation forward, to end this reckless adventure in Iraq, and to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution against those who would reshape it to suit partisan agenda. And I will continue to do this work until this old body gives out. Just don't expect that to be anytime soon.

I believe that all ages and all occupations should be part of a truly representative body. I also believe that society works best when the energy and idealism of youth pairs with the experience and wisdom of age. America is the land of opportunity. I don't think our some 36 million citizens over the age of 65 are disqualified from participating in the life of the country we helped to build. Our country rejected those kinds of arbitrary barriers long ago -- and this Senator loudly and proudly rejects them now.

Read the complete speech here.

Silverdocs Photo Highlights

2007-06-25T16:34:00.001-04:00

Reverend Billy (performance artist Bill Talen) appears at Silverdocs AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival in support of his new film, "What Would Jesus Buy," an irreverent attack on our consumer society.

Director Jonathan Demme (Stop Making Sense, Silence of the Lambs) appears at Silverdocs to accept his award at the annual Guggenheim Symposium, honoring the legacy of four-time Academy Award-winner and Washington-area filmmaker Charles Guggenheim.

Silverdocs - On the Radio

2007-06-25T15:33:00.000-04:00

The folks who produce Silverdocs, the AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival in Silver Spring, Maryland took a chance on something unusual this year and invited a radio festival to take part in the festivities.
(Gwen Macsai and Johanna Zorn of Third Coast)
The Third Coast International Audio Festival originates in Chicago, and brings together the country's most innovative and talented radio producers to talk shop and listen to each other's work each fall. With inspiration from Chicago producers like Ira Glass, host of This American Life, the festival has thrived and will be presenting its sixth edition in November.

At Silverdocs, festival co-director Johanna Zorn was joined by public radio host and producer Gwen Macsai for a listening session attended by about 50 people. Work from Third Coast's archives was played, including And I Walked, a compelling and unusual look at immigration across the Sonoran desert, and 'Til Death Do Us Part, a multi-layered audio home movie.

The idea was to present radio--with a focus on complex storytelling and craft--in a setting that is usually reserved for watching movies.

The producers of And I Walked, Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler have both gone on to create an impressive body of work in their early careers, helping reinforce Third Coast's reputation as a builder and nurturer of talent.

To this listener, the pleasure of listening to the radio features would have been enhanced by contact with the writers and producers of the work, but the format instead presented a survey of material associated with the festival. The listeners seemed please to hear something so familiar in a new setting, and Third Coast has plans to take the show on the road to film festivals and other venues as it evangelizes for radio art.