Hello. I'm just barely awake enough to write something here, not awake enough to make it semi-entertaining.
I see where a new study has debunked with some authority the claim that COVID-19 was created in a lab either by accident or, as some insist, a deliberate scheme to infect and enslave us all. The study says it originated naturally — the word "naturally" being the scariest part of this — at an open-air seafood market in Wuhan.
This explanation will be accepted by everyone right after we all agree on who killed John F. Kennedy, if Neil Armstrong really walked on the moon and where to get the best pizza. Folks tend to believe whatever will best serve their immediate domestic political agendas. If pinning COVID-19 on one's opponents will bludgeon those opponents, that has to be the truth.
I'm paying very little attention to the Ukraine situation…just enough to recognize who the bad guys are, who the victims are and how bravely many (perhaps most) of the victims are fighting back. I have friends who are watching this with the same intensity they'd give to it if it was occurring in their own zip codes…and I don't doubt that it is serious and world-changing. But at times in my life, I skew towards the philosophy that I've probably quoted here from Jim Henson…
At some point in my life I decided, rightly or wrongly, that there are many situations in this life that I can't do much about — acts of terrorism, feelings of nationalistic prejudice, Cold War, etc. — so what I should do is concentrate on the situations my energy can affect.
I have come across quotes from Mr. Henson that one could interpret as rebuttals to that quote but it's like the theories of how COVID-19 started. Most of us will believe in the one that best serves our current needs. So I'm not going to give too much of my attention to the Ukraine matter with its acts of terrorism, feelings of nationalistic prejudice, Hot War, etc. If I did, I'll bet the online articles by my man Fred Kaplan would have a lot of valuable insight but I'm not even reading all of them.
This afternoon and into the evening, there's an outdoor memorial service celebrating the life of my good buddy Will Ryan.
I will be speaking briefly at or around 5 PM, probably following Leonard Maltin. The event is being live-streamed between 3 PM and 6 PM on the Celebworks Facebook page for those who can't attend but want to be there in spirit. Those are West Coast times. If you can't make it either way, just know that it'll consist of a lot of music with periodic speeches by those of us who were privileged to know this lovely, talented man.