Monthly Archives: July 2021

As longtime readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of the song "The Rhythm of Life" from Sweet Charity. As recent readers know, I highly encourage people to get vaccinated. How could I not post a video in which a bunch of stage stars combine the two?

Since the world went all pandemicky on us, a lot of us have been saying it's foolish to try to predict the return of normalcy. This is all so unprecedented and so many people are not doing what others would call "the logical thing" that most predictions have been pretty useless. When the wise folks who run Comic-Con International announced that their 2021 event — scheduled for last weekend — would be virtual and not in person, there were all these outcries: Surely COVID crisis would have abated by then, allowing us to convene in the flesh. Hasn't worked out that way, has it?

It's much, much better than it was before the vaccines but we ain't outta the woods yet on this one. I'm repeating my "no predictions" policy not to remind you it was right but to remind me it was right. I've forgotten it too many times lately.

Working at home for most of the last few decades, my life hasn't changed that much. Back when I was on staff on various TV shows, I had to get up in the morning, make myself fit to be around others and go to an office and be around others. There are many, many good things about that lifestyle just as there are many, many good things about working with few (if any) people around you. And there are downsides to both.

One of the downsides to my "staff" years was that there always seemed to be someone in the office who was sick. I don't mean "sick" like in "coronavirus sick." I mean "sick" like in "bad cold sick" or "flu sick." And due to some misguided notion of heroism and/or devotion to duty, they would not stay home when, it seemed to me and others, they should.

I remember an Associate Producer on one show. Her work was vital but I think she was afraid that if she took too many days off to get better, it would become dangerously apparent that others could cover her responsibilities. And I'll say this for that concern: The guy who owned the show was constantly thinking about how few people he could have on salary. Less people on the payroll meant more money for him and he sure liked more money for him. That factored into every decision he made.

So this A.P. was often coughing and congested…and also not functioning at 100%. She made a lot of us uncomfortable and while I couldn't prove direct causation, her presence at the office (instead of at home in bed) did seem to lead to others coming down with whatever the hell it was she had for a month or three. She got better but she never got all-the-way better.

A person with the power to do so finally ordered her to take a few days off and she did…but not enough of them. When she decided she was well enough to return to work, she was back — still coughing to punctuate every sentence, still sounding less like a thirty-something-year-old woman than like Lurch on The Addams Family. Someone who didn't have the power to send her home again said, "She thinks she's helping the show by working while ill but she's working half-speed and sending more and more people home."

I don't know if this is an old saying but people at that office were reminding each other, "When you think you're feeling well enough to go back to work, take at least one extra day off to make sure. Otherwise, you may just be prolonging the epidemic" — and they all used the word "epidemic." Maybe now that we have a real epidemic, we should err more on the side of caution before declaring it's behind us.

Wanna hear nine minutes of great Big Band Music? Of course you do…

Here's a news item that should shake up some things…

Theatregoers eager to return to Broadway will need to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 before the curtain rises. The Broadway League, the trade association representing producers, theatre owners, and more, announced that all 41 Broadway venues will require vaccines for audience members. Masks will also be required inside the theatre, per current CDC recommendations in the wake of the Delta variant.

The news follows the release of safety procedures made in agreement between the League and Actors' Equity, the union representing stage performers and stage managers. Those protocols include, among others, that companies are "Fully Vaccinated."

As is the case with company members and with some out-of-town engagements (like Hamilton's upcoming run in Los Angeles), exemptions will be made for patrons under 12 and those with either a medical condition or "closely held religious belief" that prevents them from receiving the vaccine. In those instances, the individuals will be required to show proof of a negative COVID test (either a PCR test taken within 72 hours of the performance or an antigen test within six hours).

If Broadway's doing it, other entertainment venues will do it. There are already isolated shows (like Bruce Spingsteen's) that required it of audiences and, of course, counter rules like Eric Clapton and Van Morrison insisting they won't play venues that require proof of vaccination.

It looks like we're in for a lot of that…with people who won't get a vaccination comparing themselves to anyone anywhere who's ever been discriminated against because of their race, gender, heritage, religion, whatever.

But at the moment, I'm thinking about this: We are all familiar with people who stake out positions and say, in effect or for real, "Nothing will ever convince me otherwise." Back when I was way too interested in the Kennedy Assassination, I ran into them at every turn. J.F.K. was killed by Lizard People from the planet Reptilon and no evidence of any kind could ever convince them otherwise.

Or Man never walked on the Moon or 9/11 was an inside job or Donald Trump really won every state, etc. We've all heard these set-in-stone beliefs. But here's the thing: COVID Denial — it's a fake disease or it's nowhere near as bad as they say or it's all a plot for Mind Control — is the first time people are literally betting their lives. You couldn't die by believing Elvis is still alive but you could by refusing to take the coronavirus seriously. You and someone close to you could.

Obviously, some will continue to deny, deny, deny and they'll survive to say, "See? I didn't need the shot! I didn't have to wear a stupid mask!" And they'll have some cockamamie conspiracy theory to explain away the alleged X million deaths worldwide.

But some of them are going to quietly get the shot(s) while either denying they did or declining to state. Many Republicans in the House and Senate are refusing to say if they were vaccinated…which almost certainly means they were but they fear losing the support of the anti-vaxx crowd if they admit it. And now they can't go see Hamilton. And if Major League Baseball adopts the same rules, they can't go to a Nationals game. And they already can't go see Springsteen.

For some people in this world, admitting you were wrong about anything is as bad as — if not worse than — dying itself. I hope a lot of people, including some I know, won't be like that.

From Hyde Park in London, back in 2017: Frankie Valli, his back-up singers and a big orchestra sing thirty minutes of Four Seasons hits. Let's hang on to what we've got…

This article delves into the question of what kind of folks are refusing to get vaccinated. It covers many different groups but it doesn't address two kinds that I've encountered. One is the kind of person — and we all know a couple of these — who make up their mind about something and that's it. It doesn't matter if it's vaccinations or politics or what are the best pizza toppings. They decide something and even if the facts change, insist that's it a sign of weakness to change one's mind about anything.

And the other kind is the one who simply resents being told what to do…by anyone about anything. You've met some of them too.

Before you criticize Simone Biles for withdrawing from competition, ask yourself the questions on this "decision tree." (Thank you, Paul Harris.)

I hope you folks like The Fifth Dimension because I had a lot of their records on my mixtape. For no particular reason, I'll start with "Wedding Bell Blues," which was a hit for them in 1969. I think I liked the Laura Nyro version of this song a little better but this one somehow got on my mixtape and the other didn't…

Jackie Mason on The Ed Sullivan Show. This is not the infamous episode where he kinda/sorta/maybe gave "the finger" and one of his umpteen feuds erupted…

Like all of you, I don't fully understand what's going on with Simone Biles, nor is most of it any of my business. There are folks online who don't know either but they're not going to let that stop them from attacking her in all sorts of hysterical ways. "She let her team down," some of them said. Yes, because if folks are saying you're the best at what you do, you have to be at your best every minute. Being at your best 95% of the time won't do. I wonder how many of her critics are always as good at what they do as she is at what she does.

I find that as I get older, my eyes remain pretty good. I started wearing reading glasses occasionally about two years ago at the age of 67 — specs that have, literally, the lowest prescription you can get. And my knees are a problem. They don't bother me when I'm sitting down or standing up but they don't like when I transition from one to the other or go up or down stairs.

And lately, I've been having trouble with compartmentalization. I used to be able to deal with the worst-possible news or situations, then shift to another part of my brain and write something that someone might think was funny. It's gotten rougher and I'm not sure if it's me or the fact that the bad news — the climate, the virus, the Trumpiness — is so relentless. It's also stuff you can't do anything about except to try not to pay too much attention to it.

Which isn't easy. The Internet has become such a part of my life that I can't go too long without visiting certain sites, in some cases to order or track things I need. Other times, it's to look something up…but no matter where I go, I can't help but see clickbait headlines on matters I just don't want to think about right now. Yesterday's hearings concerning January 6 yesterday were one such topic. I think the insurrection that day was maybe the lowest point in the annals of Democracy in this country and the attempts now to sell it as some sort of tourist lovefest are lying of the highest order.

But me watching the hearings isn't going to change anything except my blood pressure, whereas me finishing a script might move along a project that should have benefits to many people, myself among them. And thanks to YouTube and other online services, I can watch the hearings next week when the script is done.

I think I'll post this and maybe, later today, a video link or two. And I'll spend all my other time on that script.

So…does anyone have any idea what this is about? Real answers only, please.

UPDATE, 25 MINUTES LATER: 42 of you (so far) have now informed me it's a joke relating to a video of Adam Driver running around with very little clothing on. The video is supposed to be part of the same tweet but they got separated somehow on my Twitter feed. Okay, everyone. Thanks.

Here's another one of those Broadway Overtures made up of snippets from Broadway Overtures…

• Tried calling StubHub because of a ticket problem and a recording said their helpline had wait times of "up to 3 hours." If your business has wait times of over 1 hour, I don't need to call back later. You need more staff and more phone lines.

We need a day when we don't keep thinking, "Gee, I oughta put something new up on the blog." Hard to believe, I know, but there are other things I gotta do. This is such a day.

There will be new stuff here…but later and there won't be much. Hope you can find something else to read on the Internet. I hear there are forums where people who don't know anything about medicine or science will tell you all about vaccines with a certainty that will never waver no matter what happens. Or maybe you can find some adorable cat photos.