Cartoon world

If you've been in a post office lately, you've probably seen the ballots that the US Postal Service (in league with the Gallup polling organization) has distributed to "vote for your favorite stamps of the '60s." The ballot is designed in a nauseating faux Peter Max-style, with lots of peace, love, and flower graphics and plenty o' "Hey, man" ad copy.

After the huge success of the Elvis stamp, the postal folks decided that there was money to be made in issuing stamps with the pop culture resonance so attractive to the great American public. And in the most democratic manner, the postal service is inviting its customers to vote for which events or personalities from the 1960s we would like to commemorate.

The proposed stamps break down into five categories: People & Events, Arts & Entertainment, Sports, Science & Technology, and the ever-popular Lifestyles. Having seen the options under each category, your superior correspondents wonder who exactly was on the selection committee.

For instance, one of the four choices under the Sports category is "televised golf." (The other three are "Roger Maris breaks home run record," "Super Bowl Kicks Off," and "Green Bay Packers.") We suspect that "televised golf" must have just edged out the "televised bowling" and "Killer Kowalski vs. Haystack Calhoun" proposals. Of course, your superior correspondents were thinking more in terms of "The Rise of Muhammad Ali," but never mind.

Under Arts & Entertainment, the selectors were (surr-prize, surr-prize!) a little top-heavy on the entertainment, with Star Trek, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and Easy Rider appearing as vital touchstones. We're sure that Granny would be itchin' to dump the whole list into the cee-ment pond, as Beverly Hillbillies is not mentioned. The merriment continues with "Barbie," "The Twist," "Shopping Malls," and "The Mod Look" leading the way in the Lifestyles category.

We're so happy to see that the US Postal Service has decided to go with the fun-house flow, once again relegating the 1960s to an era of frivolity and hedonism. Maybe they could scrap the whole list and just issue a stamp celebrating "The Rise of Marketing" or "The Seeds of Mindless Consumerism." That would just about sum up the long, strange trip for us.

Langevin vs. Lopez

During the 1994 elections, Phillipe & Jorge were a bit less than lukewarm on the candidacy of present Secretary of State James Langevin. Before the primaries, Jorge even moderated a number of candidate debates, and his decided opinion was that Langevin was one of -- if not the -- weakest candidate among those running for the Democratic nod, a reality compounded by the fact that Langevin was the obviously preferred choice of the Halitosis Hall crowd.

But more surprising than Langevin's eventual win has been his conduct in office. He has been superlative. As one of the premier advocates of opening up government in the Biggest Little, Langevin has incurred the wrath of his former compatriots in the General Assembly as well as the usual subjects among the backroom crowd. And while Jimbo has a healthy favorability rating with the public, as indicated in recent polls, we are amazed that it isn't even higher.

Meanwhile, the GOP has the perfect sacrificial lamb to run against Langevin. Ed Lopez, a young URI student, has tossed his diaper in the ring. Don't expect another candidate. The Republicans have stroked this guy into believing that he may actually be a serious competitor -- and he may actually believe it.

For Lopez, it looks like a no-lose proposition. While logic tells us that Langevin will (and should) cream Lopez, the young Latino will have an opportunity to launch his future political career, establishing that all-important "name recognition" by running for a statewide office. Of course, this is often easier said than done -- polls indicate that Lieutenant Governor Bernie Jackvony, for instance, is still a virtual unknown to large segments of the population.

Still, we contemplate that Lopez's campaign may become, while not actually competitive, quite interesting. This is his big shot to establish a name, and we believe that the ambitious neophyte will do some weird stuff, making the non-race for secretary of state our pick for sleeper contest of the year.

Home impairment

Can there be any surer sign of the zeitgeist than the announcement last week that the Rolling Stones were postponing their tour because that indestructible force of nature and avatar of all that is rock 'n' roll, Keith Richards, had injured himself? No, it wasn't a drug overdose, fiery shootout with Canadian authorities, or sword wounds from a showdown with a pirate vessel that sidelined our Keith. According to the news reports, he fell off a ladder at his Connecticut estate while reaching for a book. What's next? Jimmy Page laid up with a paper cut sustained during a torrid perusal of Architectural Digest? How about John Entwistle sidelined by a hernia incurred while hoisting his granddaughter from her bassinet?

The year of living dangerously

Three of P&J's good pals have just returned to the US from Indonesia, where they were evacuated through Singapore at the orders of the US Embassy. While one who'd been stationed in North Sulawesi reported virtually no demonstrations there (in fact, he and his family had been sea-kayaking when the word to head for Singapore had come in), it had been quite a different story in Jakarta.

There, our amigos decided it might be nice to head for Bali, and eventually America, when the houses on both sides of them began burning. Our acquaintance told of driving in between cars being rolled onto their roofs and set ablaze on the main toll road into Jakarta, where anyone could've become a target of the mobs roaming the main roads. He arrived in Jakarta and escaped with his companion by cleverly loading up his car with cigarettes and lollipops, which he judiciously distributed to the rioters and looters.

Despite the violence, there is a sense of optimism now among those who are still in Indonesia, or on a short hiatus from there. People are hopeful that Suharto's handpicked replacement, Habibie, will actually attempt to make changes in government operations. And now that Suharto's iron hand isn't poised over them, many influential people are revealing themselves in support of government reform. (If we could only say the same for the leadership at our own State House.)

Meanwhile, just where Suharto goes next with the billions he has pilfered is up in the air. A check of Swiss bank accounts has failed to turn up his name, although he could have someone like his trusted friend and golfing partner, Mohammed "Bob" Hasan, hanging onto it. Then again, maybe he just buried it in the backyard at his farm in New Zealand, where authorities are weighing the idea of putting up the despot in exile. We hear Baby Doc Duvalier has really taken a shine to Paris, however.

A long, strange trip

One of the more remarkable sports stories ended recently with the suicide of English soccer player Justin Fashanu, who'd been on the run from authorities in Maryland for having sex with a minor. Prior to his peccadillo, Fashanu had been in the States to coach a professional soccer team in the A-League.

Virtually unknown in the US, Fashanu had made headlines in England by becoming the first pro-soccer player in the country's history to declare he was gay (an announcement that promptly led to his being sacked by his team.)

A Nigerian orphan raised by a white family in Norwich, Fashanu had undeniable talent, as did his brother, John, who played on England's national team. But alas, as his career started to burn out on the field, Fashanu ended up in tabloid scandals after falsely claiming he'd had sexual affairs with married members of Parliament.

Fashanu was a unique man who burned a bit too hot in the long run. But he had the courage to flout convention in a sport that wears its Mr. Man attitudes proudly on its sleeve. Courage often takes on many different faces.

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