It is actually the Baltimore City Art Commission, but with this one I personally consider it more like a committee, it seems like a fraternal one. This poem is more about the way that I believe that such a commission should act then the statues themselves. I believe that most art should be privately funded and the commission should act to aid the placement of it when it is proposed on public lands. We have had some interesting public art endeavors such as placing of modern art at schools and government buildings and the crab project which displayed large painted crab structures all over the city. Think of those comments.

I am no great fan of William Donald Schaefer. I really started paying attention to him when my mother started shaking and screeched to my father, "Lou! It's the mayor!" I was ten feet away and could hear the mayor yelling. My dad tried to talk to him, but ended up putting the phone down and typing another letter to the editor. Every once in a while stopping to see if he stopped yelling. This went on for an hour. Then they talked for a considerable amount of more time. I had an actual Schaefer encounter when I helped my friend with his Eagle Project at the Aquarium. My friend walked up to him and asked Schaefer, "Do you know Lou Kohlman?" Schaefer instantly turned red faced with looks that indicated a homicidal rage and my friend pointed to me and said there's his son. I ran away and Schaefer cornered me at that famed seal tank and grabbed my hand, "We'll I am glad to meet you and know your father well. Tell him I still look out for him!" My father despised the development at the inner harbor saying that that effort could be put into the schools and in fighting crime. Later my father felt that the Inner Harbor was perhaps the best thing that he could do for Baltimore as he eventually faulted the people and the politics and philosophies within various state and city agencies. My father did everything that he could to point people's attention to the problems that he felt that would destroy the city as well as, possible solutions and he paid a pretty good price for doing so.

I felt that indeed Schaefer should be honored with a statue, and the plans were very decent, displayed common sense and the desired location was a logical one.

I am also a Zappa fan and do enjoy his music and have even sang it. His lyrics do get people's attention. Though I feel the lyrics are very well put together and humorous, they are offensive. One thing that he sang about is hypocrisy and trying to stifle creativity.

"Stink Foot and Nasty Little Jewish Princess, Catholic Girls, talk of not eating the yellow snow swirls and Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? and 'the crux of thebiscuit is the apostrophe.' " Are song titles or extracted from some of the many lyrics that he has written and perfromed.

Later in life Frank Zappa became an advocate for freedom of speech and art, even testifying before congress about placing limits on it.

I agree with him, creative endeavors should not have governmental interference. I hold that the best art comes out of private resources and many should only be privately funded for this very reason.

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