Posted on January 13, 2025
Those of us who didn’t vote for the incoming president-elect are holding our communal breath as Donald J. Trump becomes president again one week from today. I have paid no attention to any plans for the inauguration; although I am aware of the money various millionaires and billionaires are donating to it. And I just learned that Carrie Underwood and the Village People are performing. I wonder if they will be paid.
Donnie has a habit of not paying his bills. With last fall’s campaign in the rear view mirror, more than one city is still seeking reimbursement for the costs associated with electioneering. Among the cities are Erie PA; El Paso, TX; and Mesa, AZ. The costs cover such things as police protection and overtime, additional security services, and the use of airports and other buildings. Not surprisingly, some of these bills date to the previous presidential campaign in 2019.
If you think I’m just sour graping, then do as I did. Google® “Does Trump pay his bills?” And you’ll see source after source weighing in on this subject. It doesn’t matter if you are a conservative or a liberal or somewhere else on the spectrum, you can probably find information about Donnie’s attitude toward money.
I only hope Carrie Underwood and the Village People have read their contracts. Even though they’ve lost me as admirers, I wouldn’t want them to be stiffed.
Posted on January 12, 2025
It used to be called a side job or a part-time job or a moonlighting job, and it’s been going on forever. A person has a full-time gig but for various reasons wants to earn more money. It might be to buy a big ticket item or because the regular job doesn’t support a lavish lifestyle or because the person wants to start a business someday.
Plumbers, electricians, dry wallers moonlight. So do famous athletes, although their gigs are usually as testimonials for various commercials and not as blue collar laborers after regular hours. Think of football favorites and sports announcers who are past their prime and are hawking beer, chips, or casinos. Cars too.
So when The New York Times published an article this morning about how many Hollywood celebrities have “side jobs” because of the insecurity of the Hollywood scene, I took note. I guess if you want to make sure you have a financial base once you “age out,” it’s the way to go.
Cases in point: Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande, both relatively young, have cosmetic brands to augment their movie incomes. Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, George Clooney, Kendall Jenner and Dwayne Johnson all sell liquor with their names on the bottles. I haven’t tasted any of these curated concoctions to offer an opinion, but I’m willing to bet that you’re paying for the name and not the taste.
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Posted on January 11, 2025
In 1929, Virginia Woolf’s essay, A Room of One’s Own, was published. I read it a long time ago and didn’t take the time to reread it for this blog. What I remember, however, was that Woolf championed the notion that people, particularly women, need personal space, privacy, and independence.
We’re almost one hundred years down the road from this work’s first appearance, but I believe its basic premise still reverberates. We all – men, women, children, perhaps animals – need space.
And space is what happened to me today.
I cancelled a walking engagement with a friend – my only commitment of the day – and slept in instead. I had a “To-Do” list, as I always do, but at the end of the day there was little to cross off. Instead I started a book I’ve intended to read since the start of the millennium; and we had the easiest crock pot recipe in the world for supper.
The weather was mid-range, meaning it wasn’t so cold as to be numbing for this time of year but it wasn’t so warm as to be welcoming either. A great day to stay in. Today’s vernacular would call it ‘vegging.’ I call it reclaiming one’s space.
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Posted on January 10, 2025
I’m not a football aficionado, but I still appreciate what a great weekend this is for those who are. There is college football and pro football all playing out on various streaming outlets. If you’re into football, this is the time of year to revel.
Next weekend could be the same as the hype for the college final on January 20 and the playoffs to reach the Super Bowl inch closer. Earl often says that the best games are the ones leading to the final events instead of the final events themselves. I can understand that.
All this means our schedules for this weekend and next will filter around various games, timewise. If it’s a laundry weekend, we’ll time trips to the washing machine with half-times. We’ll manage meals for breaks between games. And we’ll do dessert when our team wins and the commentators are gloating.
If our team doesn’t win, there might not be dessert.
Posted on January 9, 2025
Earl and I are paper people. He owned a printing company for years, mostly before online publishing came to prominence. And I was a freelance writer whose clients wanted someone to make their words read well.
All of this is ancient history, except . . .
“Hey,” I said to Earl a few mornings ago. “Have you noticed the toilet paper we bought doesn’t perf right?”
“I sure have, “ he said, not skipping a beat. ”The perf machine needs to be sharpened.”
Perhaps we’re the only two people in the universe who would live together and notice the same thing. It’s because we’re paper people. We know about bleeds and margins and binding . . . and perfs.
“Perf” is an abbreviation for perforated. It’s that printing step where something you want to tear from a toilet paper roll, a coupon, or a reimbursement check pulls away easily from the rest of whatever it’s attached to. If a client wants something “perfed,” there’s extra money involved. But it does make for a more attractive product.
If you’ve ever tried to tear something from a piece of paper that isn’t perfed, you know how that turns out. A scissors is usually helpful. Of course, in the world of online communication, maybe perforation isn’t so important.
I bet you’ve probably never thought about this before.
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Posted on January 8, 2025
As sure as January follows December, the various entertainment award shows follow the holidays. The Golden Globes were three nights ago, and the New York Times is already touting the Oscars, whose nominees will be announced January 17. I don’t know when the Oscars are, but I’m sure the program has been scheduled to not interfere with any other major sporting or political event.
Time was when I was an awards show aficionado. I date myself by acknowledging when I was in high school Bob Hope was the MC in a black and white version of today’s extravaganza. For the record, Hope hosted nineteen times from before I was born until 1978. I was a married woman with two children by then.
But the Oscars weren’t the only special night I watched. I liked the Emmys, the CMA Awards, the Clios, and – best of all – the Tonys. I was also fairly up-to-date on the films or programs as well as the actors and actresses who might win. Not anymore.
So I’m finding the awards season to be tedious already. I no longer recognize performers’ names, and the titles of the films mean nothing. I did check a couple possible contenders for Oscars on Google®, and the synopses of the films were so depressing I’d never be part of the audience.
Maybe it’s an age thing; the people I connected with in film and on stage are no longer performing. In fact, most of them are no longer here. Maybe it’s a burn-out thing; I’ve watched these shows for so many years that they have worn out their welcome.
And maybe I just need to move on.
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Posted on January 7, 2025
Today was the day we dismantled our Christmas tree and stored it for next year. Our mega-manger (23 pieces plus real gold, authentic frankincense and myrrh) is back in its box, although getting all the pieces to fit correctly is always a puzzlement. The stockings that were hung by the chimney with care have disappeared, as have the various pillows and snowmen that adorn our home from Thanksgiving until Dismantling Day.
It’s never the same day each year; rather, it’s when the mood strikes. Today it struck full force. What takes us two or three days to assemble at the beginning of the holiday season comes down in an afternoon. All that’s left are the boxes, five of them, that will return to the attic for most of 2025.
While the new year officially began a week ago, yesterday was when the world returned to post-Christmas normal. School is back in session around here; people who were on vacation have returned to work; and airlines and highways are back to the standard congestion levels.
The most significant thing, however, is that peace on Earth is nowhere in sight but all the Valentine’s Day cards, candies, and cakes are in full view.
Posted on January 6, 2025
Four years ago today then-President Trump stood by while thousands of followers stormed the Capital to protest the certification of the election that had voted him out of office. Records show that seven people died, approximately 140 police officers were wounded, and the final tally for repairs to the building when the looters were finished ran in the millions.
Ultimately, Joe Biden was certified as the forty-sixth President; but not through any cooperation or graciousness from his predecessor. Which makes today all the more ironic.
Donald J. Trump has been re-elected to the Presidency once again; and today the certification of his election went off without a hitch, as it has for most of our country’s existence. That is because a peaceful transfer of power from one elected leader to another is a keystone of democracy.
I do not believe our incoming leader actually understands this concept or that he even cares about it. The certification was peaceful because he won both the popular vote and the electoral college; but even more so because those currently in power accept a peaceful transfer of power even when the results are not to their liking.
But when those coming to power refuse to understand that democracy got them there, it doesn’t bode well for the future.
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Posted on January 5, 2025
I figure if “Wicked’s” director, Jon M. Chu, can divide a Broadway musical into two parts, then I can divide my critique of the first part into two blogs. This part addresses my problems with the production.
Granted, I enjoyed it. Didn’t even think about leaving in the middle for a bathroom break. At the same time, I thought making the first half the same length as the original Broadway production was unnecessary. To do this, the director added various subplots that really didn’t advance the story; they just doubled down on it.
Cases in point.
The scene where Ariana Grande sings “Popular” to Elphaba. It’s one of the most emulated songs in the story, but this version is so over the top that you miss the irony of it. It’s all Ariana Grande pulling out clothing and shoes, swimming around Elphaba’s bed as a dolphin for some purpose, and then not focusing on Elphaba’s retreat in a way that shows her green discomfort.
Then there’s the scene where Elphaba and Glinda are in Oz and about to meet the Wizard. But first there is an extraneous explanation about a book called the Grimmerie, which is the source of all wizardry. It includes a cameo appearance by the original cast members Edina Menzel and Kristen Chenowith in something totally unnecessary. And insulting from my point of view.
Finally, at the end of Part I Elphaba sings the anthem “Defying Gravity.” In the Broadway production she sings it alone, but in Chu’s version she’s accompanied by a myriad of flying monkeys who just got their wings. Oh, how to diminish a signature song with special effects.
Having seen the theater version, I know the second act is much darker. Yet there are several musical ensemble numbers that could overshadow the real story. They almost do in the stage production. I predict they will in the film. And the pity is that the wonderful questions about what is good and what is evil will take a back seat when they are the real content.
I’m giving my experience with “Wicked, Part I” a thumbs up, even though I have issues. Those who never saw the Broadway production or read the original Wicked novel will have a wonderful time. Who am I to dissuade them?
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Posted on January 4, 2025
I won’t say I was kicking and screaming as my friend S and I settled into our seats for “Wicked, Part I,” but I was a reluctant attendee. I’d seen the stage play more than once, including a time on Broadway maybe fifteen years ago when we paid $300 a ticket for third-row seats. It was worth every penny.
The advance publicity for the production had put me off. First, the director, Jon M. Chu, split the work into two films with the first ending where the intermission is in the original production. Still, the first part rings in at almost three hours, the total length for the entire stage work.
I will say the movie was engaging, Elphaba and Galinda were appropriately cast, and the time passed quickly. There were at least three over-the-top ensemble numbers that remained true to the musical and a couple more quiet songs, like “I’m Not That Girl,” which charmed. The color of the work was beautiful, and the special effects were effectively special.
One reviewer noted that lengthening Part I enabled the relationship between Elphaba and Galinda to develop more fully than it does on stage. I could see that.
And who can argue with the success that, according to CBS News, “After fewer than ten days in theaters, the movie “Wicked” made more than $360 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing Broadway musical adaptation of all time.”
But as I thought about the movie since seeing it, I saw the same issues that are often present when a live-stage musical becomes a hot Hollywood property. There are nits to pick, quibbles to quib, and holes to poke.
Stay tuned for “Wicked, Part II” tomorrow.
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