Sorry if my previous Tirade Against Sightseeing didn’t satisfy you. Don’t worry, no more about Juliet’s breast or balcony or Verona. This time we’ll make it a story, true of course. And to be on the safe side we’ll set it in Indonesia. In Sulawesi, that crazy shaped island, a few decades back called “Celebes,” and known for Celebes coffee. But that was then. (Peet’s still sells “Sulawesi-Kalosi” coffee, which in fact is my favorite blend.)

My late wife Grace and I have arrived from Jakarta at Makassar, a city which in that period was known as Ujung Pandang, and knocked around a few days. This is on the west coast of the southwest corner of the island, and not to be confused with the Bugis-dominated area (with their famous huge cargo-heavy sailboats plying the region) on the east coast of this southwest arm.

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Tirade Against Front-Enders Including Certain Friends of Mine

To see the background for this third tirade, go to “About Tirades.”

What you Front-Enders are missing: the last 4 minutes of Barry White’s “Your Sweetness Is My Weakness.” (Are you a Front-Ender? — someone that listens to 25 seconds of a song before skipping to the next? — or even 10 seconds? If so, this diatribe is directed at you.)

Yes, sometimes the Front-End is building a foundation for what can happen if you — yes, you out there, the listener — are willing to open yourself. Open to a transforming experience. A transforming experience that you Front-Enders miss out on. Sad?

Okay, take Buena Vista Social Club’s “Pueblo Nuevo” — you miss out on the overwhelming charms that can blow you away with their beauty, its climbing trumpet crescendo at 4 or 5 minutes in.
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