tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094597787155808742024-03-28T01:03:21.319-04:00The Gay Curmudgeonthegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-66598831664094308322024-03-21T19:05:00.002-04:002024-03-22T09:39:52.623-04:00Where Have All the Old Punks Gone?<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZJMEf2MwlJQwAOtW2fNdil6WqCU5ZBLIe9IxIaSnVR6G3bbeochttWJo7KXmYxPvmBjZ0VsRZhbFviDTsxa_ZkimWdkLjT5Uwc36OQkcFdsWUKOudxfAE_RjAiwBjMDKDTla5t6Gtiqm6MdZwnkmbE3ge0NVr9zpW1aNUBz2XKhxRIwLZ1Q_hTRw6Ts/s600/1739232_rp1XBBJnP3L2xqzIrhWBbdJfA8CvPGsqKWZfHq6oKY4.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZJMEf2MwlJQwAOtW2fNdil6WqCU5ZBLIe9IxIaSnVR6G3bbeochttWJo7KXmYxPvmBjZ0VsRZhbFviDTsxa_ZkimWdkLjT5Uwc36OQkcFdsWUKOudxfAE_RjAiwBjMDKDTla5t6Gtiqm6MdZwnkmbE3ge0NVr9zpW1aNUBz2XKhxRIwLZ1Q_hTRw6Ts/s320/1739232_rp1XBBJnP3L2xqzIrhWBbdJfA8CvPGsqKWZfHq6oKY4.jpg"/></a></div><p>Last night, my friend Lisa had an extra ticket to see Chris Spedding at Bowery Electric. I’m not particularly a fan, but I feel like when something like this falls into your lap, you have to say yes unless you have a good reason <i>not</i> to. (And the fact that I’d normally be watching TV on a Wednesday night was not a good reason not to.)</p>
<p>Chris Spedding isn’t exactly famous, but he’s a well-respected “side man,” a musician’s musician who played with Roxy Music at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Previously, I’d only seen Spedding play with Robert Gordon (another show that Lisa invited me to). And before that, my only memory of him was of seeing his face on an album cover 40 years ago, when he looked quite stunning. </p>
<p>But for me the real show was the <i>audience</i>.</p>
<p>Before I even walked in the door, I spotted an old woman entering the club wearing a CBGB T-shirt. If ever someone could say, “I have T-shirts older than you,” it was her.</p>
<p>Then I entered and the <i>real</i> show began. (I wish I’d taken pictures, but I don’t think that would’ve been cool, even though I saw other people taking pictures.)</p>
<p>Where do I begin?</p>
<p>I’ve never seen so much black, leather and leopard print in one place. But something was amiss. At first, it was like entering a time warp. It was like being 19 again and entering the Mudd Club or Berlin. </p>
<p>Except everyone was 40 years older!</p>
<p>My friend Lisa and I seemed to be the youngest people there. (OK, not <i>everyone</i> was old. The bartender, who was absolutely adorable, seemed to be about 19 and much too healthy to be working there.)</p>
<p>Someone actually showed up with a cane! I was half-expecting someone to show up with a <i>walker</i>!</p>
<p>I saw one guy who looked like Alan Vega, the lead singer of Suicide. (Yes, that was the name of an actual punk band. It was the ’80s, what can I say?) Except that Alan Vega is dead.</p>
<p>Another guy in a leather top hat could have been the winner of the Alice Cooper Look-alike Contest.</p>
<p>There were two aging punk women in frizzy hair and black eyeliner screeching at each other. One of them had brought an album with her. (You know, those round vinyl things we used to play music on?)</p>
<p>I just had three questions: 1. Where did all these people come from? 2. What did they all do for a living? and 3. How can they afford to live here?</p>
<p>You used to see people like this in the East Village all the time. But that was 40 years ago. Were these the same people 40 years later? Even if they were rent-stabilized (like me), how had they survived? Did they now live in the far reaches of the Bronx or Staten Island and take the subway in to see Chris Spedding?</p>
<p>I thought of East Village fixtures like John Spacely (a.k.a. “Gringo”), whose eyepatched likeness used to hover above St. Mark’s Place. Or Jimmy Webb, the eternally youthful sales clerk at Trash & Vaudeville.</p>
<p>I had to remind myself that the Sex Pistols first appeared on the scene in 1977. That was <i>47 years ago</i>! So even if these people were 16 back then, they’d be 63 now.</p>
<p>That’s almost (gasp) <i>my</i> age!</p>
<p>I wasn’t sure whether I should be inspired or depressed. Was it hopeful that Chris Spedding was 79 and still rocking out or pathetic?</p>
<p>Was this my future? (Or, even worse, my <i>present</i>?)</p>
<p>After the show, I conducted a little mini-tour of my old haunts for Lisa. “This is where CBGB used to be. I’ve actually played there.” (It’s now a John Varvatos boutique.) “This is where The Great Gildersleeves used to be.” (It was torn down and replaced by an NYU dorm.) “This is where I ‘met’ (in the biblical sense) the Ramones’ art director, Arturo Vega, and where the Ramones used to crash.” (There’s probably some rich stockbroker living there now.)</p>
<p>I eventually made it home on time to catch the second rerun of <i>Seinfeld</i>. After all, some of us old punks actually have to work for a living.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-88376506422437538252024-02-13T20:27:00.004-05:002024-02-15T17:57:43.806-05:00Why I Can No Longer Watch Jon Stewart<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbKhmP2vwtTvBuoJfaahzlPwhb46uc3fb61fgU-XqHvq5kHtX33w5Gt2bCyTgytZ2m05Vihj8EvkmAw2_6llrA3Tg13TUhFObqa1HDhaTlhuomfPwHydKe6Agf0-jS4hd2qhMv0UOikmnL7Cpml_-X6DsuG31pw5cogRmvpXqbCgPvHvTF6qYynY_gacc/s2016/IMG_7961.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbKhmP2vwtTvBuoJfaahzlPwhb46uc3fb61fgU-XqHvq5kHtX33w5Gt2bCyTgytZ2m05Vihj8EvkmAw2_6llrA3Tg13TUhFObqa1HDhaTlhuomfPwHydKe6Agf0-jS4hd2qhMv0UOikmnL7Cpml_-X6DsuG31pw5cogRmvpXqbCgPvHvTF6qYynY_gacc/s320/IMG_7961.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>I had high hopes for Jon Stewart, really I did. I even added Comedy Central to my Spectrum channel lineup specifically so I could watch <i>The Daily Show</i>.</p>
<p>I didn’t appreciate the way Stewart was unceremoniously dropped from Comedy Central along with his compatriot, Stephen Colbert. Colbert was kicked upstairs to Comedy Central’s older sibling, CBS, where he continued to thrive, while Stewart was left to wander the streaming wilderness.</p>
<p>But Stewart and Colbert were built for a time when politics were, for lack of a better word, normal. The stakes in this election are about nothing less than democracy vs. autocracy. Given that choice, everything else pales in comparison.</p>
<p>This is not the time for cutesy old man jokes and bothsidesism. What we need is the full-throated condemnation of someone like Lawrence O’Donnell (<i>The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell</i>) and the analysis of his legal experts (and frequent guests) Laurence Tribe, Andrew Weissmann and Neal Katyal.</p>
<p>As it happens, Stewart debuted a few days after Donald Trump made a speech in which he said he would encourage Putin to attack our NATO allies if they didn’t “pay up.” (Never mind the fact that NATO countries don’t actually <i>pay</i> America anything.)</p>
<p>In normal times (i.e., pre-Trump), Republicans would have gone ballistic over a comment like this. Instead, there was crickets, if not outright support.</p>
<p>And what was the news media covering when this happened? </p>
<p>There were tons of stories about President Biden’s age, brought on by special counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden’s retaining of classified documents (which Biden, unlike Trump, promptly returned), in which Hur inserted his personal opinion about Biden’s mental acuity.
There hasn’t been such an egregious case of editorializing since Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, preemptively cleared him before Robert Mueller’s report on the investigation into “Russiagate” was released!</p>
<p>On the same night that Stewart’s show aired, O’Donnell, on his show, used the example of Franklin Roosevelt, who was one of the most accomplished presidents in history despite being confined to a wheelchair,<sup>1</sup> to make the point that it’s not one’s <i>appearance</i> that matters, but how qualified they are at <i>making decisions</i>. </p>
<p><i>The New York Times</i>, which published more stories over the weekend about Biden’s age than about Trump’s NATO comments, tried to atone for their lopsided coverage by publishing an essay by a neuroscientist, explaining why we shouldn’t be concerned about Biden’s memory lapses.<sup>2</sup> </p>
<p>Paul Krugman expressed a similar opinion in his column.<sup>3</sup></p>
<p>Meanwhile, Trump makes gaffes on a daily basis and the media doesn’t even bother to cover it.</p>
<p>So, forgive me, if I won’t be watching <i>The Daily Show</i>’s election coverage for the next nine months. I’m afraid it would only make me more infuriated than I already am.
I think the nostalgic comfort of <i>Seinfeld</i> might be more what I need in order to be able to go to sleep.</p>
<p>1 https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-biden-on-his-worst-day-is-better-than-trump-on-his-best-day-204101189938</p>
<p>2 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/opinion/neuroscientist-on-biden-age-memory.html</p>
<p>3 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/opinion/biden-trump-america.html</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-86756830643476434222024-01-14T10:37:00.001-05:002024-01-14T10:37:56.081-05:00The Beatles: Get Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtHoIAW3gDREjKaK9Nx6Shi63cWL9YQHNvd89TSmP4zQKOwAnyfuJ7NCDtBkbAjzWrLf3nfbSB54LFnkemG-Lbt9aNC4QVgwNBaoMCeJLqC0yewxv3K5BdZEB11ce4Gu0-k4IkjZ8I8Y29Qaltpfy4VqutpXUT41e29S8RVA_652dhvoDtapdTL6gN1c0/s353/The_Beatles,_Get_Back_poster.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtHoIAW3gDREjKaK9Nx6Shi63cWL9YQHNvd89TSmP4zQKOwAnyfuJ7NCDtBkbAjzWrLf3nfbSB54LFnkemG-Lbt9aNC4QVgwNBaoMCeJLqC0yewxv3K5BdZEB11ce4Gu0-k4IkjZ8I8Y29Qaltpfy4VqutpXUT41e29S8RVA_652dhvoDtapdTL6gN1c0/s320/The_Beatles,_Get_Back_poster.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Just when I thought I couldn’t be in any more awe of the Beatles, along comes <i>The Beatles: Get Back</i>, Peter Jackson’s three-part, uncut version of their 1969 documentary, <i>Let It Be</i>, to blow the top of my head off.</p>
<p>I’m old enough to have seen <i>Let It Be</i> when it was originally released (and buy the album). I don’t remember too much about the movie but I think it’s mostly remembered as an account of the Beatles’ breakup, most of which was blamed on John Lennon’s girlfriend and soon-to-be wife, Yoko Ono.</p>
<p>What I see when I watch the uncut version, however, is four men who clearly love each other, particularly John and Paul. Their relationship is so close, it’s like they’re two halves of the same person. Most of the film is taken up with the four of them laughing and joking.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s true that George Harrison walks out of the recording session and threatens to leave the band at the end of the first part. That seems to be the <i>real</i> reason for the Beatles’ breakup (among other things): the fact that George felt that his opinion wasn’t valued and not enough of his songs were being included on Beatles albums.</p>
<p>But the real revelation of this film is the sheer depth and breadth of the Beatles’ talent.
During the course of <i>Get Back</i>, you hear songs that not only are not included on <i>Let It Be</i>. (Some of them wound up on <i>Abbey Road</i>, some of them wound up on <i>Hey Jude</i>, some of them wound up on Paul and Linda McCartney’s <i>Ram</i> and some of them wound of on George Harrison’s <i>All Things Must Pass</i>.) Some of them are not on <i>any</i> of the Beatles’ studio albums (and I had all their albums from <i>Rubber Soul</i> onward)! Some of them are not even on their <i>Anthology</i> collections! I’m hearing Beatles songs I’ve never heard before!</p>
<p>Beyond that, their knowledge of the pop music that preceded them—people like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, as well as lesser-known artists—is truly encyclopedic, as is evidenced by the number of these songs that are in their repertoire.</p>
<p>But the thing that will truly blow your mind is watching songs you know like the back of your hand come to life.
<p>They’ll start out with maybe just a bit of the melody and no lyrics and they might just hum along or sing nonsense words. Then they’ll gradually start adding lyrics until the whole thing takes shape. And finally, at the end of the film, you see them performing some of the finished songs. It’s nothing short of miraculous!</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and one more thing: Paul was absolutely beautiful.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-44723127197368968102024-01-01T11:25:00.000-05:002024-01-01T11:25:41.141-05:00All of Us Strangers<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoidvAYWIbgbzI6RUM2Kz6SiNR7wHIneas56gU1TCvCSam9bg2t07Z1OB3Z7LwB-H_94GHrRFl1Dstr-hZwIxg66SLzQictXyQNSLMxYsrxvExvdtXzt9JSMDF8bYhyphenhyphensl-6UkfcX7wbXC-8l2ZwMbcU6YWvDZmInLdwGB-hCZu1Pe6RjINmLGuvFU-5A/s275/download.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoidvAYWIbgbzI6RUM2Kz6SiNR7wHIneas56gU1TCvCSam9bg2t07Z1OB3Z7LwB-H_94GHrRFl1Dstr-hZwIxg66SLzQictXyQNSLMxYsrxvExvdtXzt9JSMDF8bYhyphenhyphensl-6UkfcX7wbXC-8l2ZwMbcU6YWvDZmInLdwGB-hCZu1Pe6RjINmLGuvFU-5A/s320/download.jpg"/></a></div>
<p><i>All of Us Strangers</i> is the most disturbing movie I’ve seen since <i>The Deer Hunter</i> in 1979. (That movie left me crying in my childhood bedroom afterwards. I remember my brother coming into my bedroom to ask me what was wrong.) When I got home, I posted on Facebook that, “while I thought it was extremely well done (particularly the performances), it's not a movie I'd recommend if you're feeling sad or depressed or don't have access to a therapist immediately afterwards. I also had to check Wikipedia when I got home to find out wtf happened in it and I'm still a little confused.”</p>
<p>I’m slightly less confused now but after a somewhat sleepless New Year’s Eve, I’m still disturbed by it, but I can’t discuss it without revealing some plot points, so here goes.</p>
<p>SPOILERS AHEAD</p>
<p><i>All of Us Strangers</i> is about two gay men, Adam and Harry, who live in a mostly empty apartment tower on the outskirts of London (they seem to be the only two tenants in the building) who meet and start a relationship. During the course of the movie, it’s revealed that Adam’s two parents died in a car crash when he was 12. It’s a little confusing, though, because throughout the film, Adam visits his childhood home, where his parents are still alive and basically the same age he is. At the end of the movie, according to Wikipedia, Adam returns to his apartment building and “goes to see Harry but finds him long dead in his flat's bedroom, with the same bottle he was drinking from on the night they met empty in his hand." So does that mean their entire relationship was a fantasy?</p>
<p>One of the most depressing things about the movie is that it uses the song “The Power of Love” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (quite powerfully, I might add) and I had to remind myself that that song is 40 years old.</p>
<p>So where do I begin?<p>
<p>On the one hand, this is a powerful, thought-provoking film with great performances by the entire cast (especially Andrew Scott as Adam, but also Paul Mescal as Harry and Jamie Bell and Claire Foy as Adam’s parents), but you might feel suicidal afterwards. I think it speaks to the alienation of living in a large city like London and also deals quite effectively with the issue of coming out to one’s parents and wanting to be accepted by them.</p>
<p>I think the movie’s message is that love transcends death (or “the power of love,” like the song used in the movie), but, damn, at what cost?</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-21539073187623911292023-12-20T10:56:00.001-05:002023-12-21T21:13:31.997-05:00Eat Drink Laugh<p>I’ve been producing a monthly stand-up comedy show at Pangea in New York City’s East Village for almost two years. My next show is this Saturday, December 23 at 9pm. $10 cover in advance, $15 at the door plus $20 minimum. Advance tickets available here: <a href="https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/78845?fbclid=IwAR3gzvxicuRkFUZuz6fx9qScUX3IHieceaMw7o_JpkHdF88-YfnJwaaXfCM_aem_Adv5QiTYjnMiIH0JZNjKpZvNP9SYXESHbLe7Um0r8AGHMu6L9B6-Fmak7PXquZZ8yhw&fs=e&s=cl">https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/78845</a> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZOnjwD5RtAg-8JD0sYzisjcRmQMHKpe2KCAAATDbtrcAi5Mof3NM479JALWErzplnTt_UK_F_ci8iGIipgxOlSoxVTQW-b3cjtNMGNGjgdisB7UAzLQYC4uhpEHhHp9Tj79Bs0V31UWOfVXT4HHxp1ePQH6ITSguGUqCCwbkVktBs1X5JwZln1RHT0s/s792/2DE092F2-0313-4F0C-AA8F-40FC07377635.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZOnjwD5RtAg-8JD0sYzisjcRmQMHKpe2KCAAATDbtrcAi5Mof3NM479JALWErzplnTt_UK_F_ci8iGIipgxOlSoxVTQW-b3cjtNMGNGjgdisB7UAzLQYC4uhpEHhHp9Tj79Bs0V31UWOfVXT4HHxp1ePQH6ITSguGUqCCwbkVktBs1X5JwZln1RHT0s/s320/2DE092F2-0313-4F0C-AA8F-40FC07377635.jpeg" width="247" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-85074020043610690562023-12-14T22:03:00.002-05:002023-12-15T07:23:39.848-05:00Madonna at Barclays Center<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBND_hrG2bzdB3XDMrQrcGpQ3KLydGya1uEpoXyGUKtHhMdSq9xjwg8KoREjPj7MI-paNeARwIy0q8zfmA8rnRZ8Q35N270iFNl-qr6APQaBblHIK2HP-CCfxfwUu4ZUREVwHz8h9GQfrPZlllgCQ05viES_9Exygm5BSwB4OraFtlm51BQfeVesEpnI/s275/download-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBND_hrG2bzdB3XDMrQrcGpQ3KLydGya1uEpoXyGUKtHhMdSq9xjwg8KoREjPj7MI-paNeARwIy0q8zfmA8rnRZ8Q35N270iFNl-qr6APQaBblHIK2HP-CCfxfwUu4ZUREVwHz8h9GQfrPZlllgCQ05viES_9Exygm5BSwB4OraFtlm51BQfeVesEpnI/s1600/download-1.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madonna and her daughter, Mercy</td></tr></tbody></table><p>I had high expectations for Madonna’s concert last night at Barclays Center after reading Mary Gabriel’s exhaustive new biography, <i>Madonna: A Rebel Life</i>, which confirms Madonna’s place as a cultural icon. I had lost touch with her music after <i>Confessions on a Dance Floor</i> and thought this might be my last chance to see her. (Is she going to keep touring when she’s 80, like Mick Jagger?)</p>
<p>I had heard from a fellow audience member that the 8:30pm show wouldn’t start until 10pm. It actually started at 9pm (only a half hour late), but first we were subjected to a one-hour “set” by DJ Honey Dijon. (I’m sorry, but a DJ isn’t my idea of an opening act.)</p>
<p>Finally, at 10:45pm, Madonna took the stage and, thank God, she delivered.</p>
<p>First of all, she looked amazing. It was classic Madonna: blonde hair and bustier. (Does anyone remember her Pippi Longstocking period? How about the shaved eyebrows and gold tooth? Hello?)</p>
<p>Secondly, I think this was her most elaborate production yet. (I’ve seen her live twice and I’ve seen several of her concerts on cable TV.) She not only hovered above the stage in a steel cage suspended from the ceiling, but at one point she literally set the stage on fire.</p>
<p>And yet it was also strangely intimate. She talked to the audience and even managed to crack a few jokes. (After all, this was her first show in her hometown of New York City.)</p>
<p>Some high points for me: “Live to Tell,” which was accompanied by photographs of people who died of AIDS, like artist Keith Haring and Christopher Flynn, her dance teacher; “Bad Girl,” on which she was accompanied on piano by her daughter, Mercy; and “Don’t Tell Me,” during which she recreated what I think is her sexiest video. (Dancing cowboys! Woof!)</p>
<p>In the end, I forgave her diva behavior because she put on a great show and, well, bitch, she’s Madonna.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zYTe-mUpF85CuzqXnBq6FfIzDNyCbeQDnGjlvAxZXLwt3VRfkTxUlktzqhp2f3SW9sEAxq2WoN5ySWZtXMOBs2eDOm4jq2fIi_U9cuUR-5aevUHfHzTZAP35gYQzyuPx4_4v5-6FwD2vTOVp_iYOcdvd6bObaWMwRepE2T22Z0uhicCe2H_wV-9cHAg/s2016/IMG_7920.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zYTe-mUpF85CuzqXnBq6FfIzDNyCbeQDnGjlvAxZXLwt3VRfkTxUlktzqhp2f3SW9sEAxq2WoN5ySWZtXMOBs2eDOm4jq2fIi_U9cuUR-5aevUHfHzTZAP35gYQzyuPx4_4v5-6FwD2vTOVp_iYOcdvd6bObaWMwRepE2T22Z0uhicCe2H_wV-9cHAg/s320/IMG_7920.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barclays Center. My seat was so high up, I needed oxygen!<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb7zwPm12h8KyH2GZMxTAe0nltKal4-DZenraTepID1gCi2Q4GVLydavvjZi8bfa_5QZy4FRbmtNn3sgi_AkgSKUxnfABx6Pi66mO-wRuwPGjpiMhJn1ZaK0UZ7tlU3NBSTFOWUILx7ae6FT97loDj8oz3HP3g41b_2xhSR-pBiNsuChyLVSyttEva76w/s2016/IMG_7922.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb7zwPm12h8KyH2GZMxTAe0nltKal4-DZenraTepID1gCi2Q4GVLydavvjZi8bfa_5QZy4FRbmtNn3sgi_AkgSKUxnfABx6Pi66mO-wRuwPGjpiMhJn1ZaK0UZ7tlU3NBSTFOWUILx7ae6FT97loDj8oz3HP3g41b_2xhSR-pBiNsuChyLVSyttEva76w/s320/IMG_7922.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keith Haring and Christopher Flynn</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zYTe-mUpF85CuzqXnBq6FfIzDNyCbeQDnGjlvAxZXLwt3VRfkTxUlktzqhp2f3SW9sEAxq2WoN5ySWZtXMOBs2eDOm4jq2fIi_U9cuUR-5aevUHfHzTZAP35gYQzyuPx4_4v5-6FwD2vTOVp_iYOcdvd6bObaWMwRepE2T22Z0uhicCe2H_wV-9cHAg/s2016/IMG_7920.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-3219886563745689962023-11-20T17:57:00.005-05:002023-11-22T03:23:53.548-05:00In Search of New York’s Lost Record Stores
<p>There are no second acts in New York real estate. Except when there are.</p>
<p>One such exception is Café Figaro on Bleecker Street. When I was a still going to college on Long Island, I thought it was the height of sophistication to go to the Café Figaro. I associated it with the Beat writers of the ’50s, as well as the Bleecker Street Cinema, which was down the block. I thought I was so cool ordering my spinach salad with chick peas. (Or was that at Bagel And, which, unbeknownst to me at the time, occupied the site of the original Stonewall Inn?)
</p><p>Anyway, imagine my surprise to see that it was reopening.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OAZmOKa2MdAroireetDoSuSagMcSTaHEPrc2DuVxJyX_zwTuO03CqYdNpNeltcuBB4ov-LSRY4j4lcLdNKKi5If8l8qo7FnnNvBD0yYIsQo0ZFCAbOtfM0KSOc2uq_y1i4z2mTvnct7LgAnip3jhqiPYfSoF8yU-YSZ7-lYzGEjqZXKiJxWTVndhp1I/s2016/IMG_7892.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OAZmOKa2MdAroireetDoSuSagMcSTaHEPrc2DuVxJyX_zwTuO03CqYdNpNeltcuBB4ov-LSRY4j4lcLdNKKi5If8l8qo7FnnNvBD0yYIsQo0ZFCAbOtfM0KSOc2uq_y1i4z2mTvnct7LgAnip3jhqiPYfSoF8yU-YSZ7-lYzGEjqZXKiJxWTVndhp1I/s320/IMG_7892.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe Figaro: It's back!</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>I walked into the restaurant and told the new owner my whole history with his establishment. This was at least the second time I had done this. The previous time was when I walked into the former site of the Greene Street Café (which is now a high-end stereo store) and explained to their owners that I had once worked there as a busboy and that HBO had filmed a <i>Young Comedians</i> special there with people like Bill Maher. (That how long ago it was. Bill Maher was still a “young comedian”!)</p>
<p>Anyway, the reason for all this nostalgia was that I was trying to find a copy of the CD <i>Fearless</i>, by Nina Hagen, for a reading of my screenplay. It’s not available on iTunes and is out of print (although you can find it on eBay for as much as $90). I have the German version on vinyl and, in a pinch, I could just play the song on YouTube, but I thought it would be nice to have a digital copy and, anyway, I needed the English version. Fortunately, a DJ friend of mine offered to burn me a copy of her <i>Greatest Hits</i>, which contains the song I need (“New York New York”).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wCkdypfNzt6ZgOeqoN3zskeFYQa5Md3WlFboxAOuAL3i66Z0CczFUYVTgc1nHDA1LFPJTrPonCrCljJnYq1GI9ANGKfd5s0YoCMakhfSrGpwHWzJrhLFUhvZES1Ft6wSi5ON5z_vszv-m_1Cuu2sjdY5RciWIfliQbhNfxFlM6dlhHiCRVUuJcdux6M/s2016/IMG_7893.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wCkdypfNzt6ZgOeqoN3zskeFYQa5Md3WlFboxAOuAL3i66Z0CczFUYVTgc1nHDA1LFPJTrPonCrCljJnYq1GI9ANGKfd5s0YoCMakhfSrGpwHWzJrhLFUhvZES1Ft6wSi5ON5z_vszv-m_1Cuu2sjdY5RciWIfliQbhNfxFlM6dlhHiCRVUuJcdux6M/s320/IMG_7893.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />Nina Hagen's <i>Greatest Hits</i>: I found it!</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Out of curiosity, I decided to visit a few of my old record store haunts (and a few new ones) to see if I could find it. I started at Academy Records on West 18th Street, which I’d never been to. These places are like walking into a time warp, but once upon a time, before streaming and mp3s, I used to spend a lot of time browsing record stores in search of a particular record or CD.</p>
<p>Needless to say, they didn’t have it, but they did have some surprising selections I didn’t expect to see (Heaven 17! Human League!) along with some that are even before <i>my</i> time (Jimi Hendrix?!). OK, I may have been <i>alive</i> in the ’60s, but I was more into the Beatles at that age. Hendrix was a little too heavy for me.</p>
<p>My next stop was Generation Records on Thompson Street, in the heart of the Village. Same story.</p>
<p>And finally, Village Music World (a.k.a. Village Revival Records) on Bleecker Street, where I was shocked to actually find a copy of Nina Hagen’s <i>Greatest Hits</i> on CD, which I was tempted to buy but didn’t because my friend would never let me hear the end of it. (“You spent $22 on a CD after I offered to burn it for you?!”)</p>
<p>Just for the hell of it, I decided to walk further west on Bleecker Street to see if one of my other hangouts, Golden Discs, was still there. It wasn’t. It had been replaced by a store that sold Lotto tickets and some other nondescript business.</p>
<p>Around the corner, on Jones Street, I thought I’d look for another beloved record store, Record Runner, and, much to my surprise, I found it! They didn’t have Nina Hagen, either, but I was encouraged to see two young men entering the store after I left.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0V5YfnLkNV0YHMdrbvfSYojSLhAg1O89tupLNESIlj6z3FZcs8gfKO_46yOHpHh-ICroKurZ6dhnGksKTOGKlOouibtvv4cpRuNViam0_S-wV3YQXllR5fCzbepxy6wGS6rFj6yXhVs_4hsl9TTUvJLg1lHuXuZwaJ92MkUU0CPCShXdw6NjqYqU4OGI/s2016/IMG_7894.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0V5YfnLkNV0YHMdrbvfSYojSLhAg1O89tupLNESIlj6z3FZcs8gfKO_46yOHpHh-ICroKurZ6dhnGksKTOGKlOouibtvv4cpRuNViam0_S-wV3YQXllR5fCzbepxy6wGS6rFj6yXhVs_4hsl9TTUvJLg1lHuXuZwaJ92MkUU0CPCShXdw6NjqYqU4OGI/s320/IMG_7894.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />Record Runner: Still there!</td></tr></tbody></table><p>There used to be <i>tons</i> of record stores in the Village: Sounds, Free Being, Rebel Rebel, Vinylmania and, of course, Bleecker Bob’s<sup>1</sup>. Flipping through bins of vinyl (or plastic) was a sign that you were a real music fan. Entire books and movies have been written about this! (OK, one: <i>High Fidelity</i>.)
</p><p>Nowadays, I feel like a historian, regaling unsuspecting store owners with tales of my illustrious past.</p>
<p>But somebody has to.</p><p>1. <a href="https://thegaycurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-last-days-of-bleecker-bobs.html">https://thegaycurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-last-days-of-bleecker-bobs.html</a></p>
<p></p><p></p>thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-18880019424299809272023-10-29T06:49:00.003-04:002023-11-01T21:03:33.356-04:00In Praise of Matthew Perry OR I’m a Closet Friends Fan<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZqeELJAu6vMaDmVMI5o5a5YlV86wTaX7xa_quqfg6XiKiEkikKldzIEmAKeBzoRRuXcB1nLGV47S-VnJBiGrZvuZBBtPiNs3rr345BZ9TtSiAkT7Dd6w8SoFuDYBofiH6LOMq3GgpLsaVTFa5JjO8ENuKItWrJX0-Squ6rwpycSPpa1LJPxIxlw8WBA/s253/download-1.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZqeELJAu6vMaDmVMI5o5a5YlV86wTaX7xa_quqfg6XiKiEkikKldzIEmAKeBzoRRuXcB1nLGV47S-VnJBiGrZvuZBBtPiNs3rr345BZ9TtSiAkT7Dd6w8SoFuDYBofiH6LOMq3GgpLsaVTFa5JjO8ENuKItWrJX0-Squ6rwpycSPpa1LJPxIxlw8WBA/s320/download-1.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>The sudden death of actor Matthew Perry at age 54 has made me more upset than I would have thought possible. It’s kept me awake all night and made me come to the decision to come out of the closet about something that has caused me some degree of shame: I’m a closet <i>Friends</i> fan.</p>
<p>I feel the need to say this publicly because I’ve often made fun of those tourists taking selfies outside the <i>Friends</i> house on Bedford and Grove Streets. But consider this: People from all over the world travel to a house that was just used for an exterior shot on a show that was filmed in Los Angeles—<i>20 years after it went off the air</i>!</p>
<p>I think that says something beyond our country’s obsession with celebrity. I think it says the show touched them on a deep, emotional level.</p>
<p>Now, I can’t claim to be a fan of the show in the same way that I’m a fan of, say, <i>Seinfeld</i>. <i>Seinfeld</i> is more misanthropic, for lack of a better word, and that seems to be closer to my personality than <i>Friends</i>, which seems to have a higher opinion of the human race.</p>
<p>But I have to say that, on the occasions when I’ve left my TV on after <i>Seinfeld</i>, I’ve been surprised by how well-written and well-acted the show is. </p>
<p>In fact, I’d have to say that the cast of <i>Friends</i> may be one of the best ensembles in sitcom history, a rare instance where it was the <i>group</i> that was the star, rather than any individual actor.
And the show itself, it must be said, is one of TV’s greatest sitcoms.</p>
<p>And why is that? Why is this show so popular and why has there been such an outpouring of grief for Perry, who stood out even among this group of talented actors?</p>
<p>I think it’s because the show was about the importance of friendship itself, how no matter what may be happening in your life, you always have your friends to fall back on.</p>
<p>I think Perry’s passing will be a marker in the lives of Gen Xers, the moment when they lost their innocence and confronted their own mortality.</p>
<p>There’s something so tragic about it (although I suppose every passing is tragic to some extent). This man brought joy to so many people and yet was in personal pain because of his drug and alcohol addiction. (If you read his memoir, you know what I’m talking about.) As someone who gets physically ill after two drinks, it’s hard for me to understand how someone can drink so much. But I can certainly understand being in pain and wanting to be able to “fix” it with something like alcohol.</p>
<p>Why does this happen to so many artists (or is it just that we hear about it more often <i>because</i> they’re artists)?</p>
<p>I’m reminded of Whitney Houston, whose documentary, <i>Whitney: Can I Be Me?</i>, I’ve watched countless times. I always think, this woman had everything. She was beautiful, rich, famous and had one of the best voices in the history of pop music. And yet she destroyed her voice (and thus her life) with drugs.</p>
<p>Or Amy Winehouse, another great singer who literally drank herself to death.</p>
<p>And now we have Matthew Perry, who was such a gifted comic actor.</p>
<p>Could his death <i>be</i> any more tragic?</p>
<p>No, it can’t.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-44756364474198354282023-10-26T00:34:00.005-04:002023-10-26T01:23:20.766-04:00Morrissey at United Palace<p>I wasn’t planning to see Morrissey at the United Palace theater. I’d already seen him four times (twice with The Smiths and twice as a solo artist) and, to be honest, I’ve kind of lost touch with his music. (He’s <i>very</i> prolific!). But I won a free ticket from WDRE and I was pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>His voice was strong and his band was <i>tight</i>! I don’t normally think of Morrissey as a rocker, but I have to say: he <i>rocked</i>! </p>
<p>The audience greeted him with a standing ovation and remained standing for the entire show.</p>
<p>One of the great things about a Morrissey concert are the videos before and slides during the show. They’re like an encyclopedia of his influences and cultural heroes. Some of the ones I recognized were Visage, Sinead O’Connor (her “Nothing Compares 2 U” video got <i>applause</i>!), Siouxsee and the Banshees, Roxy Music, David Bowie, Brigitte Bardot, <i>To Sir, with Love</i>, Judy Garland, Lypsinka, Steve McQueen, Oscar Wilde, the New York Dolls, Lillian Hellman and Gertrude Stein.</p>
<p>One more thing: The United Palace theater, like the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn (where I saw Billy Idol) is one of the architectural wonders of New York.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieW4Dbg7OfUgBbeW35s1bZUtaFo5KiR37M1d0BQ4fSuTK4AqgnFwlLvK0yqDOE8oCTr3-2As97JUVnO0V7Q2G36sIKzd6vkpap5mAYKyZrW-cM2tpl8G2IWSoQI_BHsbm0PyzOd421udj8yYk-D9WqSSBTEqqZ0PLKAb9O-0fICXicjMBTXgbS4qu1ECg/s4032/IMG_7855.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieW4Dbg7OfUgBbeW35s1bZUtaFo5KiR37M1d0BQ4fSuTK4AqgnFwlLvK0yqDOE8oCTr3-2As97JUVnO0V7Q2G36sIKzd6vkpap5mAYKyZrW-cM2tpl8G2IWSoQI_BHsbm0PyzOd421udj8yYk-D9WqSSBTEqqZ0PLKAb9O-0fICXicjMBTXgbS4qu1ECg/s320/IMG_7855.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Nosebleed seat again (but it was free)! And another amazing theater!<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt9NPgPKIvWZM7GUhW-19rUMBRuIAHVEaQehnoB4tZ78kDQaaNvyk2Yc3536UG9wB33dpEp63pJraI0jVDOagOw1KACJKH77ZlSuAqnH_-NpKVvBepiofdZHzdziNT0cPrHGfvvzwjEcRJrLu-cDcRVTpu-aqxzApXdoJPuJvSOE3py6O3oYv9DH4GUwo/s4032/IMG_7856.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt9NPgPKIvWZM7GUhW-19rUMBRuIAHVEaQehnoB4tZ78kDQaaNvyk2Yc3536UG9wB33dpEp63pJraI0jVDOagOw1KACJKH77ZlSuAqnH_-NpKVvBepiofdZHzdziNT0cPrHGfvvzwjEcRJrLu-cDcRVTpu-aqxzApXdoJPuJvSOE3py6O3oYv9DH4GUwo/s320/IMG_7856.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The ceiling! </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokZ1KtnQvaUpGSCJGjfkOb5dBcPbFWkx3a3Q2krfAQzeXOwllMjusTA4SJK90QlOPg4661PugOuAFCo0svqCokod5623S2-6BQU2FejQG-KiuLRyvxgdvg8HLftiInH6cgjIxvB-OEnaLsUr7ca4GBKJpYvVcv1F3S02L49DKiicsCI0Vwn9lkXHGuGQ/s4032/IMG_7857.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokZ1KtnQvaUpGSCJGjfkOb5dBcPbFWkx3a3Q2krfAQzeXOwllMjusTA4SJK90QlOPg4661PugOuAFCo0svqCokod5623S2-6BQU2FejQG-KiuLRyvxgdvg8HLftiInH6cgjIxvB-OEnaLsUr7ca4GBKJpYvVcv1F3S02L49DKiicsCI0Vwn9lkXHGuGQ/s320/IMG_7857.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The wall! </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtsy_lcUsisgqv9axMa_em6UMiwWgXx84lw26r-OQqpLWC3Q6IaaNBEBN3undqj2fu36EvFKqu2lKIHNEfffOh_KhB5W33CcbR4M0jLzs9Q9DqD0VqoHW0ILzO9UPHvA6eOxyuJB1jHbpropv-1OKTlfwaA6Izjj1HmuIIUMRnWlJQCiBuSetesVqqRik/s4032/IMG_7860.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtsy_lcUsisgqv9axMa_em6UMiwWgXx84lw26r-OQqpLWC3Q6IaaNBEBN3undqj2fu36EvFKqu2lKIHNEfffOh_KhB5W33CcbR4M0jLzs9Q9DqD0VqoHW0ILzO9UPHvA6eOxyuJB1jHbpropv-1OKTlfwaA6Izjj1HmuIIUMRnWlJQCiBuSetesVqqRik/s320/IMG_7860.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Moz!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjzSmaQz2Bk3MUftroWOl47eGacjsqvFYX8dKGU7LuvPjmjcrFjurlF-GwPmIyOTWTf0uVisnabshOyKWOHbWSRYJ4zo50e2yqr7d6-hOCkwRF0K-oq2WqrtUUU3kkL1St5UMZy6dfm7jizD5IVX5BDoDkjwNF4wWCD7Ksn45DNXg8rmr-VcLomacfc0/s4032/IMG_7861.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjzSmaQz2Bk3MUftroWOl47eGacjsqvFYX8dKGU7LuvPjmjcrFjurlF-GwPmIyOTWTf0uVisnabshOyKWOHbWSRYJ4zo50e2yqr7d6-hOCkwRF0K-oq2WqrtUUU3kkL1St5UMZy6dfm7jizD5IVX5BDoDkjwNF4wWCD7Ksn45DNXg8rmr-VcLomacfc0/s320/IMG_7861.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Moz again!<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiya8Vn82vosp-xN5wvBEyHDiF2iymk_hVE8FdtOfq851hYyPRFGKutpT1DL0LjwDT6d4uAqldCm4yt0hwq9C7SaBIVA2gBEEbe3Ov9kzx2zoqyDLcZMVGamsSDRgqH-7Y-H9fxov606__ccXvXpcYt4QaCnOcPhqatyKV4JLdYCvuZ78Fj1WX6iE44lCc/s4032/IMG_7862.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiya8Vn82vosp-xN5wvBEyHDiF2iymk_hVE8FdtOfq851hYyPRFGKutpT1DL0LjwDT6d4uAqldCm4yt0hwq9C7SaBIVA2gBEEbe3Ov9kzx2zoqyDLcZMVGamsSDRgqH-7Y-H9fxov606__ccXvXpcYt4QaCnOcPhqatyKV4JLdYCvuZ78Fj1WX6iE44lCc/s320/IMG_7862.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">A shirtless Steve McQueen</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7PpJrMp0_W0Mwgsht6aLxk29HkPP9l6t7rERBThlSKdjm_p-dI0P1ISNSNlD2r5Ij4AZEFYFWMxfYCzfnYudJ4caCZZwESS_avWbC0aBc8IFrG4BF0ACYFDvF6d0EjUQ74XSfpLZ6NGQYzD9nUnuBiXlNksU92g4KjZDQnDc5aUbXv5O9DpFfBOQKRM/s4032/IMG_7863.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7PpJrMp0_W0Mwgsht6aLxk29HkPP9l6t7rERBThlSKdjm_p-dI0P1ISNSNlD2r5Ij4AZEFYFWMxfYCzfnYudJ4caCZZwESS_avWbC0aBc8IFrG4BF0ACYFDvF6d0EjUQ74XSfpLZ6NGQYzD9nUnuBiXlNksU92g4KjZDQnDc5aUbXv5O9DpFfBOQKRM/s320/IMG_7863.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Moz again!<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZpnryH1vJfkPkpVwosDo9cuBUzWbPiKX90gxPVJTDIjc37X2HhMksfPRUJ-WN7z2iVdghO7m8IWyay3MKnswprIigtcUy8KNG4g7G_x9zqP1XvKSVxbXED5yHVdOnIzfvnabwUsLu9zLXWrQn3nVuaMN_xymZ-7gG18dzlez2j7Iy8Z7wfXAE3YkTs8/s4032/IMG_7864.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZpnryH1vJfkPkpVwosDo9cuBUzWbPiKX90gxPVJTDIjc37X2HhMksfPRUJ-WN7z2iVdghO7m8IWyay3MKnswprIigtcUy8KNG4g7G_x9zqP1XvKSVxbXED5yHVdOnIzfvnabwUsLu9zLXWrQn3nVuaMN_xymZ-7gG18dzlez2j7Iy8Z7wfXAE3YkTs8/s320/IMG_7864.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Moz and Oscar Wilde</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVm0B7kwznZbgqOLfg_uhFke53I8V_fGnQ5pRparFkQuNHXV_1PRXwzRItmW9PuuAoVi_OGDA17tNhzCCApMnE8P-4fHXnoIlDl9xpKfNkPWOd_ORq504p-DUaskUmBDtMfNQryAH8_Q-w0bdGO23XcBL7Vi1MIcKGqoc2CBy4yvmFvnSsc8b5Qtsq4HE/s4032/IMG_7865.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVm0B7kwznZbgqOLfg_uhFke53I8V_fGnQ5pRparFkQuNHXV_1PRXwzRItmW9PuuAoVi_OGDA17tNhzCCApMnE8P-4fHXnoIlDl9xpKfNkPWOd_ORq504p-DUaskUmBDtMfNQryAH8_Q-w0bdGO23XcBL7Vi1MIcKGqoc2CBy4yvmFvnSsc8b5Qtsq4HE/s320/IMG_7865.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The New York Dolls<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiv_l_2s_pKlP92c5OSRFTf_UZhKj1vqXY-6vZpaIAXZXGIkBBoEW0bYDwz0GpN11m0irFCg3r5vksIPmxTcRJEfYU6ok4_hS5duR9hAmGdMchYsk6rN4piX5kq7Uk2UOgToNRwp8JEFoANE7EvKPCqlWh2Fm3uk23G3V78xLEj15P7dVdTHOvbFTjHok/s4032/IMG_7866.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiv_l_2s_pKlP92c5OSRFTf_UZhKj1vqXY-6vZpaIAXZXGIkBBoEW0bYDwz0GpN11m0irFCg3r5vksIPmxTcRJEfYU6ok4_hS5duR9hAmGdMchYsk6rN4piX5kq7Uk2UOgToNRwp8JEFoANE7EvKPCqlWh2Fm3uk23G3V78xLEj15P7dVdTHOvbFTjHok/s320/IMG_7866.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Moz again!<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTu97M7_hsdRk_kQlvS2a8css0qz8CkJqFoMmfWn09cFqsNc1ygu6sA5g7o9k4KdEkpZPj_Uq-4kVCtyoegPek4HrJxAjy8M19wCxsqBfMbLpA0VqN6Sbj-_l21bmpJg_L6DAJQQ-fRM-e8ZGzOsRHX1WtOyrbuC2c193JMFwZtUbIdI2fKMknNTTOp4/s4032/IMG_7867.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTu97M7_hsdRk_kQlvS2a8css0qz8CkJqFoMmfWn09cFqsNc1ygu6sA5g7o9k4KdEkpZPj_Uq-4kVCtyoegPek4HrJxAjy8M19wCxsqBfMbLpA0VqN6Sbj-_l21bmpJg_L6DAJQQ-fRM-e8ZGzOsRHX1WtOyrbuC2c193JMFwZtUbIdI2fKMknNTTOp4/s320/IMG_7867.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="-apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Moz and Lillian Hellman</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-81123989560229168342023-09-12T23:54:00.000-04:002023-09-12T23:54:20.024-04:00Billy Idol at Kings Theatre, Brooklyn, NY<p>A year ago I wrote to Billy Idol’s website asking when he’d be performing in New York and got no response. After flying across the country in May to see him (and other musicians) perform at the Cruel World festival in Pasadena, he announced a tour. Tonight he performed at the Kings Theatre, a spectacular theater in Brooklyn, NY, and I saw him again. (I won a free ticket from the “new music” internet radio station WDARE, the successor to WLIR and WDRE.)</p>
<p>As he did in Pasadena, he performed all his hits, but I’m particularly glad he sang “Bitter Taste,” from his latest EP, <i>The Roadside</i> (which he didn’t sing in Pasadena). I’m still wondering why that song isn’t getting more airplay. I think it’s one of his best.
And “Hot in the City: New York!” (which sounds like “New Yoke” when he says it) sounds a lot better than “Hot in the City: Pasadena!”
He even did the same joke in New York as he did in Pasadena about having to do the same amount of promotion for an EP as for an album. </p><p>Idol has accumulated an impressive song catalogue (no one-hit wonder he) and he knows how to work an audience, as well. And his guitarist, Steve Stevens, is an amazing musician who is at least as responsible for Idol’s (and this concert's) success as Idol himself.</p><p>Billy Idol is now a grandfather, as he reveals during the concert. But let me assure you: this old punk has still got it!
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIRpTM3ukydfWfbVmZ083wPmjmJahET_mHK6HTud-TjwQDYnxQtKDmHaoHo0XUS1E_wpU19o8rCVs10Hasl0KZ2IdBRsIP9VAOl5_g29FYi0y6ml4mm2FefrDxnAW7BJy5TID9Dq1txp7yBEZ9LdFUH_LU6tRD9jdIPBuRIEbSbV0IiKUSVNUeUYT4oM/s2016/IMG_7816.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIRpTM3ukydfWfbVmZ083wPmjmJahET_mHK6HTud-TjwQDYnxQtKDmHaoHo0XUS1E_wpU19o8rCVs10Hasl0KZ2IdBRsIP9VAOl5_g29FYi0y6ml4mm2FefrDxnAW7BJy5TID9Dq1txp7yBEZ9LdFUH_LU6tRD9jdIPBuRIEbSbV0IiKUSVNUeUYT4oM/s320/IMG_7816.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The marquee</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGgN86OCG2eYSyVEFuVuod2P_NV0D1F5BgxiCjbp2TJubXmoivbqSLx8FF7qPOgJNAsGKnTutGaOoN2GZzcFyynNuuZrovHXetIaqmsTwJ-3Y-tt-xYcz9vSJRUvx1gzi9rufixnPw6UARSXTX9jbftCtUM7lO3875fQu2ybrqdgRaWqmyJ5IQTvwE00/s2016/IMG_7817.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGgN86OCG2eYSyVEFuVuod2P_NV0D1F5BgxiCjbp2TJubXmoivbqSLx8FF7qPOgJNAsGKnTutGaOoN2GZzcFyynNuuZrovHXetIaqmsTwJ-3Y-tt-xYcz9vSJRUvx1gzi9rufixnPw6UARSXTX9jbftCtUM7lO3875fQu2ybrqdgRaWqmyJ5IQTvwE00/s320/IMG_7817.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ceiling</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFEUPS6PCEsbbtwIpiHJA4A3GmfnQgVao6TlyTj68Go5a0skkPqqWM96PKfEZumXVI49SIohjvlztjcrgsru_yJI_sPW18DVRytPFh__StDt0ojCIVHVmbbHKF2J77IRw8L1YNMP-RYuIdVmUWhmm3-T4EkOY8je65io8uZaPCU5cvmdeC2QZ5Cwf_fQ/s2016/IMG_7818.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFEUPS6PCEsbbtwIpiHJA4A3GmfnQgVao6TlyTj68Go5a0skkPqqWM96PKfEZumXVI49SIohjvlztjcrgsru_yJI_sPW18DVRytPFh__StDt0ojCIVHVmbbHKF2J77IRw8L1YNMP-RYuIdVmUWhmm3-T4EkOY8je65io8uZaPCU5cvmdeC2QZ5Cwf_fQ/s320/IMG_7818.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The audience</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJq8cPLcGi8kInULbs-sSCi7TUJCbVhFWmrvDnu8Ql6PwjPKioHVqLtO-v3Js5oKBe5Bl2_FxzCEUPHszhmDFwNGrsuI5sckKEOjhmPy94mMiE4_EF95-t1mI3OfdjrWL_9HkJnlCFk90GAchrWhALsnXNTPpp-C8SkZNPP6pD2r_DnToTFajjNyMeF4/s1800/4872DBF6-1B58-48EE-A8AE-9A721DCD3CA7.JPG" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJq8cPLcGi8kInULbs-sSCi7TUJCbVhFWmrvDnu8Ql6PwjPKioHVqLtO-v3Js5oKBe5Bl2_FxzCEUPHszhmDFwNGrsuI5sckKEOjhmPy94mMiE4_EF95-t1mI3OfdjrWL_9HkJnlCFk90GAchrWhALsnXNTPpp-C8SkZNPP6pD2r_DnToTFajjNyMeF4/s320/4872DBF6-1B58-48EE-A8AE-9A721DCD3CA7.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The man</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><p></p>thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-62427501019270772852023-05-26T12:33:00.005-04:002023-05-26T16:19:32.092-04:00How to Survive a Job Search
<p>Looking for a job can be one of the most dehumanizing experiences there are. (I should know. I’ve been looking for a job for the past four months.) Want ads for jobs that don’t exist, recruiters who call you and then disappear, having to go through a phone interview and a Zoom interview just to get an in-person interview and then having to compete with who know how many other people. It’s enough to make even the most well-adjusted person crazy.</p>
<p>And it’s even more dehumanizing when there’s a holiday weekend approaching and everyone who has a job is heading to the Hamptons or Fire Island and no hiring managers are in their office to look at your resume, anyway.</p>
<p>My advice is to take advantage of the things you <i>do</i> have control over. Here are some of the things that have worked for me.</p>
<p><b>1. Exercise.</b> If you’re lucky enough to be able to afford a gym membership, use it. Exercise releases endorphins and you’ll have a feeling of accomplishment when you’re done. If you can’t afford a gym membership, maybe you can afford to invest in some weights. I have some weights at home and I’ve designed an exercise routine I can do at home that’s almost as good as going to a gym. If you can’t afford a gym membership or weights, take a walk. I like to walk to Hudson River Park. Walking clears my head (I often get writing ideas while I’m walking) and parks are perhaps the only quiet place in the city (as long as someone’s not playing music which, incidentally, is illegal in parks). But you absolutely <i>must</i> get out of your apartment.</p>
<p><b>2. Clean your apartment.</b> For me, a messy apartment is like a messy life. Cleaning your apartment will give you a sense of control and coming home to a clean apartment will be much better for you, psychologically, than coming home to an apartment with dishes piled up in the sink and a bed with all your sheets and blankets curled up in a pile. (Confession: My sheets are blankets usually <i>are</i> curled up in a pile, but I did vacuum today and that made me feel much better.)</p>
<p><b>3.</b> To the extent that you’re able, <b>continue to do the things that bring you joy.</b> I like the theater but, obviously, I can’t afford $150 for a Broadway show right now. Fortunately, a lot of Broadway shows are available on PBS. (One of my favorites, <i>Anything Goes</i>, is on tonight at 9pm!) I also like to read and if you can’t afford to buy books (books are <i>expensive</i>!), go to the library. Yes, it’s true, a lot of the books I want to read often aren’t available, but a lot of books are available as e-books, so you can read them on your phone. (As a writer, I feel a little guilty doing this, but I literally don’t have room in my apartment for any more books.)</p>
<p>Remember: you are more than your job. (Most of the accomplishments I’m proudest of have nothing to do with my job.) And stop trying to analyze why you didn’t get a job after your interview and just move on to the next one. (It’s difficult, I know.)</p>
<p>And here’s a little secret: Holiday weekends are one of the best times to be in the city. Most of those Hamptons and Fire Island people will have left and those places will actually be more crowded.</p>
<p>But don’t tell anyone I told you.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-82201944952258285652023-05-21T03:37:00.006-04:002023-05-22T17:25:33.350-04:00Cruel World Festival<p>Today I attended the Cruel World festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, a festival of ’80s bands. The scheduled lineup included Animotion, Berlin, The Vapors, Modern English, Gang of Four, ABC, Gary Numan, Adam Ant, Echo & the Bunnymen, Billy Idol, Love and Rockets, The Human League, Iggy Pop and Siouxsie. This was the most star-studded lineup since Live Aid, especially if you like ‘80s bands, as I do. (Adam Ant canceled but was replaced by Squeeze, who have to be the best understudy since Liza Minelli filled in for Gwen Verdon in <i>Chicago</i>!)</p>
<p>Pundits like August Brown at the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> made the usual old-people jokes (“If you’re a gently graying Anglophile who still can squeeze into leather pants, you’ve likely already bought your tickets.”), but there’s something to be said for nostalgia. In the ‘80s, I was in my twenties, I was in a band that played at CBGB and I even tried my hand at deejaying. I like to say that I have every record that came out in the ’80s, and that’s only a slight exaggeration.
And now concert promoters have put together “nostalgia concerts” for every decade (’80s, ’90s, ’00s etc.), so take that, millennials and Gen Zers! On the other hand, some bands do themselves no favors by showing videos of themselves when they were in their twenties, while their middle-aged selves are performing onstage.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the concert was cut short due to “severe weather” (although it wasn’t raining and I didn’t see any lightning), so Iggy Pop’s set was cut short and Siouxsie didn’t get to perform at all. (There were also several sound outages during Pop’s aborted set.)</p>
<p>I thought it never rained in southern California. Oh, well…</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMeV-q48wKsvmc8rDS2oQ-P8OqAz3KIKD_I4ozFubjk1DvZvn3-WQZIGeJXRUz-vRlZcUMLbVG8svXnGI6bfzZSZkpb_JPT2YJ23pYSYdwoCNTVS0Ec6mIXDTctnvwApVPrJ4MV2iWl2zxDQ1KMxDXNYSJJIpF2ze89TgEeM9LuaNPeFkq-pO669k/s2016/IMG_7640.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMeV-q48wKsvmc8rDS2oQ-P8OqAz3KIKD_I4ozFubjk1DvZvn3-WQZIGeJXRUz-vRlZcUMLbVG8svXnGI6bfzZSZkpb_JPT2YJ23pYSYdwoCNTVS0Ec6mIXDTctnvwApVPrJ4MV2iWl2zxDQ1KMxDXNYSJJIpF2ze89TgEeM9LuaNPeFkq-pO669k/s320/IMG_7640.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rose Bowl</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcUkpQI8mpWNKNJly_OzMkhXZ07ipa-JW-ukFqTNYqbAS7mNEEr_qoYo6-wUQPxJMow8K9efItBYaN8uw-gOjIZ4tihvED434UqHJAHO0f2id_mZr4ZqiooAtncMk99DHueGPFa3-XOsk2PR8j5zuSq7dOFo5OAkYZ0Kiru9wa5l0w8hBtZrkTCC6/s2016/IMG_7642.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcUkpQI8mpWNKNJly_OzMkhXZ07ipa-JW-ukFqTNYqbAS7mNEEr_qoYo6-wUQPxJMow8K9efItBYaN8uw-gOjIZ4tihvED434UqHJAHO0f2id_mZr4ZqiooAtncMk99DHueGPFa3-XOsk2PR8j5zuSq7dOFo5OAkYZ0Kiru9wa5l0w8hBtZrkTCC6/s320/IMG_7642.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old punks never die, they just move to LA.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2cIkzyJk-ITXUOv9OzzVfREQVuvdX-yERJJvwOAfm-1AZHnrkEDZ-Ekz8d7hqQEedh_xfiXJmHuTBCXKHZgKBy9OCWSp3OZ_ku7R6-Lp41ebH3vFdIlH4NLkWIe2niGpuLdQ5D82_znjSmAUtxbaL0Vp5y0a8xDoHr4S_ucR4PZBBFv9yUImZNro/s2016/IMG_7643.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2cIkzyJk-ITXUOv9OzzVfREQVuvdX-yERJJvwOAfm-1AZHnrkEDZ-Ekz8d7hqQEedh_xfiXJmHuTBCXKHZgKBy9OCWSp3OZ_ku7R6-Lp41ebH3vFdIlH4NLkWIe2niGpuLdQ5D82_znjSmAUtxbaL0Vp5y0a8xDoHr4S_ucR4PZBBFv9yUImZNro/s320/IMG_7643.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animotion</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZIxNURU0l-FT5FjSamSVpmgZGW1mHEryevgWtVspfKNcy5uaWmPh5zTEpGXPo8ouQu3xK-4SBV1k4H7rnoZRdvuVrPjvPFY7-UabeTJ4oRVDAFPY3LcO7tHqsyCbfhBmoCpXSQVSXFhaQBC6Ii2k59ZaNKI9RmjLL5MEQ7DS5PoXu4602G2JV6jV/s2016/IMG_7652.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZIxNURU0l-FT5FjSamSVpmgZGW1mHEryevgWtVspfKNcy5uaWmPh5zTEpGXPo8ouQu3xK-4SBV1k4H7rnoZRdvuVrPjvPFY7-UabeTJ4oRVDAFPY3LcO7tHqsyCbfhBmoCpXSQVSXFhaQBC6Ii2k59ZaNKI9RmjLL5MEQ7DS5PoXu4602G2JV6jV/s320/IMG_7652.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Vapors</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEEsXSfjwvNM-qWU1uKFHIlpDuULauSvGKAoRccTFsc_niLTWzEai3kcJnry0MiduVFyzryJtKQbGWgWY_zjyuH8J3NCmf-9INRb__-ke6ZtZL-PiENqintHrhUEQBT_VdOBDaEV0UsEQ_GJ2_GERrG-7nlNmER7U1b4PQ1oYroUUI6hDs38GIK71R/s2016/IMG_7653.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEEsXSfjwvNM-qWU1uKFHIlpDuULauSvGKAoRccTFsc_niLTWzEai3kcJnry0MiduVFyzryJtKQbGWgWY_zjyuH8J3NCmf-9INRb__-ke6ZtZL-PiENqintHrhUEQBT_VdOBDaEV0UsEQ_GJ2_GERrG-7nlNmER7U1b4PQ1oYroUUI6hDs38GIK71R/s320/IMG_7653.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">70,000 people attended.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaiwPQYmSC4XDeGOauLUDmBlT2jwN1ACCnkoQAGsQJrApbgeKVDU7QmcNycc0qdeNBUBj0rS1tqWflybHzXhHnNCpsUJOjFezctMDpMBSxi6G-93tfBD0i7Varf-trxr5O5hrsLK5IThh4-x6Wk7sqLx07xLDnH_1AagRt21_dh62xtkg1oyms_Ve/s2016/IMG_7657.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaiwPQYmSC4XDeGOauLUDmBlT2jwN1ACCnkoQAGsQJrApbgeKVDU7QmcNycc0qdeNBUBj0rS1tqWflybHzXhHnNCpsUJOjFezctMDpMBSxi6G-93tfBD0i7Varf-trxr5O5hrsLK5IThh4-x6Wk7sqLx07xLDnH_1AagRt21_dh62xtkg1oyms_Ve/s320/IMG_7657.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern English</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOA0oYMe1c3UHVFeaUyWq4g4a7CvakL5dkqMfDFVE4-fZVqNBMRJJVjIRgDABnQup_0d2Xu0FoxDLV2yk7NyHC3DXhDJSkbmFBC2FLZ5CfY5ubriWEylKcLp9bK16doGuLWdzkogD9YXZfRGzL-50O-W3X_JOAvZG5x5-kzZcqrgxJ2eLoqXUONr8S/s2016/IMG_7658.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOA0oYMe1c3UHVFeaUyWq4g4a7CvakL5dkqMfDFVE4-fZVqNBMRJJVjIRgDABnQup_0d2Xu0FoxDLV2yk7NyHC3DXhDJSkbmFBC2FLZ5CfY5ubriWEylKcLp9bK16doGuLWdzkogD9YXZfRGzL-50O-W3X_JOAvZG5x5-kzZcqrgxJ2eLoqXUONr8S/s320/IMG_7658.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gang of Four</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEK3fHsPRveugZaOPZaXuFKrz_uDZ_NSwVmzE-Xy53R11jbiqICR-i8vXg9uF0ThZDQ13rPXYRfHxCASsKRygUeWNouX5CH1A80sUSLgLekGVwYb_AeHKczwRHlIKGPQyu2h3ZB0XC1PQfHDfg3_szihAc5-S8uNQCjCEps09gtc42EjWToJ1R2OfB/s2016/IMG_7661.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEK3fHsPRveugZaOPZaXuFKrz_uDZ_NSwVmzE-Xy53R11jbiqICR-i8vXg9uF0ThZDQ13rPXYRfHxCASsKRygUeWNouX5CH1A80sUSLgLekGVwYb_AeHKczwRHlIKGPQyu2h3ZB0XC1PQfHDfg3_szihAc5-S8uNQCjCEps09gtc42EjWToJ1R2OfB/s320/IMG_7661.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ABC</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAo65jZzMaTii0nQNgBS-SrFeQI2PGt6aobJi62YkVuz4SDl74d_nCiA_uMzT3ojFWznQVIsY1rP2-HF4KbP3ndU-bcX4irsHet7lEmd-6L7apF0WDOCpWmj2hZ6F7jYurZQYlqB9vBZlwqLs5yIhEsr0o0fNDLvqJQTVE719mFzWZlAZZm8jZVI4E/s2016/IMG_7664.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAo65jZzMaTii0nQNgBS-SrFeQI2PGt6aobJi62YkVuz4SDl74d_nCiA_uMzT3ojFWznQVIsY1rP2-HF4KbP3ndU-bcX4irsHet7lEmd-6L7apF0WDOCpWmj2hZ6F7jYurZQYlqB9vBZlwqLs5yIhEsr0o0fNDLvqJQTVE719mFzWZlAZZm8jZVI4E/s320/IMG_7664.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squeeze</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxzzvekH0d3HW8aRgLbL-UWfgRafUZXqBs2LySsrEMu9YDQNG9Hoyho3IXiLsRrGNj-qc65NANXK9WCb5e5UXUfLIPjNHJG7F4sGBxyZ1cJzE2Elwtfth6KyeqtYKu0riaKbjAVGnITHcTjDNuO0A8d0C1wY9rkGTudhYZtH0y6Uxmbnoz26dxIXb/s2016/IMG_7667.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxzzvekH0d3HW8aRgLbL-UWfgRafUZXqBs2LySsrEMu9YDQNG9Hoyho3IXiLsRrGNj-qc65NANXK9WCb5e5UXUfLIPjNHJG7F4sGBxyZ1cJzE2Elwtfth6KyeqtYKu0riaKbjAVGnITHcTjDNuO0A8d0C1wY9rkGTudhYZtH0y6Uxmbnoz26dxIXb/s320/IMG_7667.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Billy Idol</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgXDyi6embItpDn7DbOGR3KiBAXkk6__LLLwZ-XKUeJSayndKGaCPjX2tDXETfeewCt7aIwXhMgFO_NJcy22z9S0Vs6nMwDnLlFkWaeBzb0JebakOMO6rN7u6fIopDU7CnHLrnCjXqkUw6wDGeeOWe2hMdQS1azD5Nbdh4caYRP1C4zSybwD87dg0/s2016/IMG_7671.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgXDyi6embItpDn7DbOGR3KiBAXkk6__LLLwZ-XKUeJSayndKGaCPjX2tDXETfeewCt7aIwXhMgFO_NJcy22z9S0Vs6nMwDnLlFkWaeBzb0JebakOMO6rN7u6fIopDU7CnHLrnCjXqkUw6wDGeeOWe2hMdQS1azD5Nbdh4caYRP1C4zSybwD87dg0/s320/IMG_7671.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iggy Pop</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGTOGXcdsf3XvPXDudnPp4Mn8PJMjb82IE1CMjClKF1VAjGCgFw25Zmh-JGIOW93vfDXTm9oClHO0NgPqzrW93_o5FXq8Gh5ptLwEE0ozB8SUcX6jmlijn1BcP-ZsgomTSuRCApUzNUUl4fVrbl_n8R-Mz40BK16DYoe_DD8hUm7B7Ave_wckLziB/s2016/IMG_7673.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGTOGXcdsf3XvPXDudnPp4Mn8PJMjb82IE1CMjClKF1VAjGCgFw25Zmh-JGIOW93vfDXTm9oClHO0NgPqzrW93_o5FXq8Gh5ptLwEE0ozB8SUcX6jmlijn1BcP-ZsgomTSuRCApUzNUUl4fVrbl_n8R-Mz40BK16DYoe_DD8hUm7B7Ave_wckLziB/s320/IMG_7673.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The concert was cut short due to "severe weather."</td></tr></tbody></table>thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-39292790062144450172023-02-26T17:33:00.010-05:002023-06-09T07:13:34.749-04:00Why Bed Bath & Beyond Is Bankrupt or Bed Bath & Beyond as Metaphor<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Knc0WjP3oOR7xuwfHdZSpWJ3_za594Vaej-zOAaKl7aCxowsdacls91-2EEiqnB2L0R5rXpV8b8wHwBvrBgGmJEnWkSFaU2UTXpZ8EQTv0lQNMIJ_NPBsmLV50RmuL2NnXsWQ-c-NYcvfXEIwek6UooKld1Zvz5si322T2lhX6AFNPIqSje6-vdV/s119/download.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="119" data-original-width="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Knc0WjP3oOR7xuwfHdZSpWJ3_za594Vaej-zOAaKl7aCxowsdacls91-2EEiqnB2L0R5rXpV8b8wHwBvrBgGmJEnWkSFaU2UTXpZ8EQTv0lQNMIJ_NPBsmLV50RmuL2NnXsWQ-c-NYcvfXEIwek6UooKld1Zvz5si322T2lhX6AFNPIqSje6-vdV/s320/download.png"/></a></div>
<p>This is the story of how I tried to buy two pillowcases at Bed Bath & Beyond and how it turned into an all-day ordeal. But it’s also a story of how the entire retail landscape has changed (and not for the better) and how that’s a metaphor for the economy in general.</p>
<p>In case you haven’t been following the news, Bed Bath & Beyond recently filed for bankruptcy and I think I know why. First, they spent God knows how many millions of dollars to renovate their Chelsea flagship store, which was an unnavigable warren of dead ends and the source of one of my favorite jokes. (“I just spent three hours at Bed Bath & Beyond. Not shopping, trying to get out.”)</p>
<p>That was a good thing.</p>
<p>The bad thing is that there’s now no merchandise in the store. No merchandise and no sales help.</p>
<p>You might think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not.</p>
<p>Where there used to be an entire wall of sheets and pillowcases arranged by price and color, there’s now a wall of high-priced comforters and nary a sheet or pillowcase in sight. So rather than an array of $20 pillowcase sets, as I’m accustomed to finding, you now find one set of $80 pillowcases.</p>
<p>That’s the other thing that’s happened. There’s no merchandise and what little merchandise they do have is overpriced.</p>
<p>I asked if they had any Wamsutta pillowcases (Bed Bath & Beyond’s house brand) and they said no, and they wouldn’t be getting them in until June.</p>
<p>JUNE!</p>
<p>It’s February! I’m supposed to wait four months for pillowcases?!</p>
<p>And, by the way, it’s still as impossible to find your way out of the store as it was <i>before</i> the redesign (which is not entirely a bad thing because it means I can still do my joke).</p>
<p>Since there are a Marshalls and a TJ Maxx in the same building, I decided to try my luck there.</p>
<p>Woe unto the person who decides to enter either of these hellholes!</p>
<p>They’re both a hodgepodge of low-quality merchandise thrown together in no particular order. I had a flashback to the bargain basement establishments my parents used to drag me to. You know, the kind with bad lighting?</p>
<p>Needless to say, I hightailed it out of there without buying anything. </p>
<p>And what’s the difference between Marshalls and TJ Maxx, anyway? Why do we need <i>both</i> of them?</p>
<p>After I regained my composure, I attempted to do a Google search on my phone for “pillowcases near me.” (Why are there 200 kinds of anything you try to do a search for on Google?)</p>
<p>The closest thing I could find in my price range was Target. I saw that the Tribeca location had exactly one set of blue cotton pillowcases for under $20, so I rushed down there.</p>
<p>Target is another sort of bargain basement hodgepodge, and they also had barely any sales help. (They even make you check out your own purchases. If I wanted to work here, I'd apply for a job!)</p>
<p>But I did find my one set of blue cotton pillowcases for under $20, so I felt like my day had not been a total waste.</p>
<p>So why is this a metaphor for the economy in general?</p>
<p>Because the retail marketplace mirrors our economy at large, which is to say there’s a high end and a low end, but no middle.</p>
<p>Beyond that, there’s the sheer contempt with which the people in charge of these establishments hold their customers (hence the lack of sales help).</p>
<p>The whole atmosphere seems to say, “We only care about maximizing profits for our shareholders, and if you don’t like it, you can go someplace else.”</p>
<p>Except you can’t. If everyone’s doing it, there’s no place else to go.</p>
<p>So old farts like me, who like to actually see what they’re buying before they pay for it, are left holding the self-checkout bag.</p>
<p>So I guess I’ll be (reluctantly) buying my sheets and pillowcases at Target from now on.</p>
<p>Or at least until June.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-49875796742792851942023-02-12T15:15:00.004-05:002023-02-15T18:45:13.866-05:00The Great American Gluttony and Violence Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JRAQ1j2vI0RpPgix2yS4BoGjvBKUNYRlrW5etDMAXJQpLpJtpzLNYa2gvkiSblae3r4X-V5cPll8wsNWejj0FA9-m7tCwHUxE-b5DmhVbIeUyK8vg09OGfII_sFa-WLlQqKDS2_kB59lH5CPNz0tWE_JUQ8lwhmjbdHoLs9DK2XP1nhyKfPEGXF2/s300/download-2.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JRAQ1j2vI0RpPgix2yS4BoGjvBKUNYRlrW5etDMAXJQpLpJtpzLNYa2gvkiSblae3r4X-V5cPll8wsNWejj0FA9-m7tCwHUxE-b5DmhVbIeUyK8vg09OGfII_sFa-WLlQqKDS2_kB59lH5CPNz0tWE_JUQ8lwhmjbdHoLs9DK2XP1nhyKfPEGXF2/s320/download-2.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>The Super Bowl may be the most American institution we have because it embodies two core American values: gluttony and violence.</p>
<p>Everything about the Super Bowl is absurd, if you looked at it objectively. From the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner” to the Air Force flyover to the game itself, it’s almost an object lesson in self-parody.</p>
<p>Let’s start with the national anthem and aforementioned flyover. </p>
<p>What’s <i>that</i> all about? Are we pledging allegiance to the Super Bowl? Is there some connection between football and our armed forces? The implication is that football is somehow tied to our national identity and if you don’t like football, you’re somehow unpatriotic.</p>
<p>Then there’s the game itself.</p>
<p>Let’s talk about what we’re <i>really</i> watching: a bunch of 300-pound men throwing themselves at each other and trying to cause as much damage as possible without actually killing someone. (I suppose that’s what all that padding and helmets are for.)</p>
<p>But a few weeks ago, the nation watched a football player go into cardiac arrest on prime time television.</p>
<p>For a brief moment, it seemed as if the powers that be might actually stop to consider the dangers inherent in this sport. But I knew from the outset that nothing would actually change. There’s too much money involved!</p>
<p>Which leads us to the other feature of the Super Bowl and the main reason why people like me (who don’t give a shit about football) might actually consider watching: the commercials.</p>
<p>Here’s yet another example of what makes this game so American. It’s all about selling people shit they don’t need and can’t afford.</p>
<p>But, hey, at least the commercials often feature celebrities because we are, after all, a celebrity-obsessed culture. So even if you don’t care about football, we can still bond over our mutual love/hate relationship with celebrities.</p>
<p>Then there’s the half-time show, another exercise in excess but, again, at least it gives non-fans like me another excuse to watch.</p>
<p>Last night I caught part of a documentary about the making of the last half-time show. There was lots of backslapping and self-congratulation to go around. You’d think they’d just cured cancer. (OK, even I would have to admit that the logistics of organizing all those people, sets, and special effects is some kind of accomplishment, but give me a break!)</p>
<p>Oh, and I almost forgot the gluttony part.</p>
<p>How ironic is it that we celebrate an athletic event by gorging ourselves on pizza and chicken wings? And then we act like <i>we’re</i> the ones winning even though we're sitting on our couches stuffing food down our throats!</p>
<p>So, yes, I will probably be watching today’s Super Bowl.</p>
<p>But only for the material.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-68959788968308547682023-02-09T11:37:00.002-05:002023-02-15T18:47:37.692-05:00Why Most Americans Think Our “Good” Economy Is Bad<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVw_6rpylBzHLQQmK3PNbx4PGBK_m21M3fp_JLkJEwywbmoOqBs-0EzXOerY97zFCeaTI-d_4waq46VGvl2fj7jtj5ucrbn7YUqf2cpp811wEOImmLEPjVgDsGtRjqMNOFH8KNmENkwIk7mr_jWK4997cUo-VfBfhhmrIgRSH2nTfTCBBq6os7g03t/s1440/329576803_575017280955061_5317356447682626828_n.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVw_6rpylBzHLQQmK3PNbx4PGBK_m21M3fp_JLkJEwywbmoOqBs-0EzXOerY97zFCeaTI-d_4waq46VGvl2fj7jtj5ucrbn7YUqf2cpp811wEOImmLEPjVgDsGtRjqMNOFH8KNmENkwIk7mr_jWK4997cUo-VfBfhhmrIgRSH2nTfTCBBq6os7g03t/s320/329576803_575017280955061_5317356447682626828_n.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>According to a recent Gallup poll, half of Americans say their finances are worse off now than a year ago.<sup>1</sup> That’s despite record-low unemployment, massive job growth and declining inflation.</p>
<p>But if you’re a temp, freelancer or contract worker, like I am, you might be one of those people. That’s because if you’re a temp, freelancer or contract worker, you have no job security (not that any job is really “secure,” as thousands of tech workers—and others—recently found out). On top of that, you probably have no health insurance and, chances are, you can’t afford any, even with the so-called Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>Furthermore, while inflation may be declining in some areas, it’s increasing in others. When the price of eggs at my local deli went down to $7 from $9, I was so excited I took a picture of it. But then the next day, <i>The New York Times</i> announced that it was increasing the price of its daily newspaper from $3 to $4.</p>
<p>You can’t win!</p>
<p>My salary peaked in 2015 and has actually been <i>decreasing</i> since then. And that’s not accounting for inflation, which, even if it was only 4% per year (and it was much higher last year), would mean that prices have gone up 32% in the last eight years!</p>
<p>Then there are things like natural disasters (which have increased since the advent of climate change) and medical emergencies, which can wipe out a family’s savings (assuming they have any) in one fell swoop.
We’ve now had over 40 years of trickle-down economics and, guess what, folks: it hasn’t worked.</p>
<p>Our so-called “safety net” isn’t always enough to sustain people until they can find another job and some people don’t even qualify for that safety net.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, technologies like ChatGPT are set to further erode the job market, and retirement for many people (including myself) is nothing more than a pipe dream.</p>
<p>This is why it’s so frustrating when I keep reading and hearing people (I’m looking at you, Jerome Powell) say that low unemployment and high wages are bad. It’s as if the Fed is actively trying to make things <i>worse</i>.</p>
<p>It’s even more frustrating that we live in an age of social media, where everyone pretends that everything is great all the time.</p>
<p>Well, I have news for you, people: it’s not.</p>
1 <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/08/biden-touts-economy-wins-half-of-americans-say-finances-are-worse-off.html" target="_blank">https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/08/biden-touts-economy-wins-half-of-americans-say-finances-are-worse-off.html
</a>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-37915045448661032992022-11-21T21:15:00.001-05:002022-11-21T21:15:42.261-05:00Guns and Hate
<p>As many Americans head home for Thanksgiving, there are some who will not be heading home.</p>
<p>That’s because on Saturday, there was yet another mass shooting at a gay bar in Colorado, where five people were killed and many more were injured.</p>
<p>There have been over 600 mass shootings so far this year. That’s more than one every day.</p>
<p>I know we’ve become numb to the frequency of mass shootings in America, but we can’t allow that to happen. </p>
<p><i>I</i> can’t allow that to happen. I’m too angry. </p>
<p>In the past few years, in addition to seeing people targeted and killed because they were LGBTQ (and, particularly, because they were trans), we’ve seen people targeted and killed because they were Black, Jewish, Asian, and Mexican. We cannot allow this hatred to continue.</p>
<p>But the thing that allows someone who is homophobic or racist or antisemitic to kill people, and the thing that often gets left out of the conversation, is guns.</p>
<p>And I’m tired of the excuses.</p>
<p>Don’t tell me it’s a “mental health” issue. Other countries have people who are mentally ill, but they don’t have anywhere near the level of gun violence America has. Not even close.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, now that Republicans are poised to take over the House, we also know that nothing will change.</p>
<p>And don’t tell me not to politicize a mass shooting. It <i>is</i> political.</p>
<p>That’s why we have laws. The number one responsibility of our elected officials is to protect the health and safety of Americans. And they are failing to do that.</p>
<p>That’s why I want President Biden to sign an executive order to ban assault weapons. And while he’s at it, he should also ban high-capacity magazines and body armor. </p>
<p>No one needs any of these things for “self-protection” or “hunting,” so I’m calling bullshit on Republicans and the gun lobby. I don’t even want to hear it. And I can’t wait another two years for things to change.</p>
<p>And let’s talk about the other thing that often goes unmentioned: hate.</p>
<p>While antisemitism and racism have become unacceptable (at least ostensibly), it seems that it’s still OK to target LGBT people (and, as I said, particularly trans people).</p>
<p>We just had a campaign season where LGBT people (and trans people in particular) were the centerpiece of many Republican campaigns.</p>
<p>And what message is Ron DeSantis sending with his “Don’t Say Gay” bill? He saying that LGBT people are second-class citizens and don’t deserve the same rights and protections as other Americans.</p>
<p>The fact that LGBT people are being targeted for hate crimes is precisely <i>why</i> we need to educate children about LGBT people, if only to say, “Not everyone is a cis-gendered heterosexual, but they deserve to be treated with respect, just like everyone else.”</p>
<p>As for guns, we know that gun control works.</p>
<p>It’s no coincidence that the number of mass shootings went up after we let the assault weapons ban expire.</p>
<p>Other countries have figured this out. Why can’t we?</p>
<p>After just one mass shooting in New Zealand, they banned assault weapons in <i>three days</i>.</p>
<p>Why can’t we? How many more people have to die?</p>
<p>And I’d like to ask our politicians, (particularly our Republican politicians), “How can you live with yourself? How you can allow this to continue?”</p>
<p>And you know that it will, unless we do something about it.</p>
<p>How long will it be until the next mass shooting?</p>
<p>It’s time to stop treating gun violence as yet another “culture war” issue and instead treat it as a public health issue.</p>
<p>I can’t wait any longer. Enough already!</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-28371430940117654392022-11-05T20:06:00.002-04:002022-11-06T08:52:48.376-05:00Will Ignorance Win Again?<p>I just got back from my corner newsstand, where I overheard three women discussing the price of a soda, which one of them mistakenly thought was $8. She said, “Inflation,” and then “Joe Biden,” as if a) Joe Biden was responsible for inflation and b) that was the hysterical punchline to a joke. It took all my self-control not to scream at that woman, “You fucking idiot! Do you even know what <i>causes</i> inflation?!” But I didn’t. They were probably tourists and they didn’t strike me as intellectuals. (The rest of their conversation was about a bag of gummy bears.)</p>
<p>I’d be surprised if they even bothered to vote.</p>
<p>This morning, a friend of mine, a former New Yorker who now lives in Virginia, texted me, “I take it that Eric Adams is not well liked in NYC?” to which I responded, “Huh?” This was news to me and I live in New York City. When I spoke to my friend later on the phone, I said, “Where did you hear that?” And he said, “The media.” </p>
<p>Everywhere I look, I’m hearing “crime, crime, crime,” and my reaction is, “What crime?” I haven’t been the victim of a crime, nor do I know anyone who has.</p>
<p>Today’s <i>New York Times</i>, in fact, has two articles which seem to contradict the running narrative about inflation and crime. </p>
<p>The first article’s headline is “Job Data Stays Strong, Despite Inflation Curbs” (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/business/economy/october-jobs-report.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/business/economy/october-jobs-report.html</a>) and the other’s headline is “High-Profile Subway Crimes Overshadow Riders’ Low Risk” (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/nyregion/new-york-subway-safety.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/nyregion/new-york-subway-safety.html</a>).</p>
<p>Why are so many people taking the Republican narrative about inflation and crime at face value and why aren’t the Democrats fighting back?</p>
<p>I suppose part of the reason is that everyone’s living in an information bubble these days, so if you watch <i>Fox News</i> or read the <i>New York Post</i>, all you’re seeing is stories about inflation and crime. Missing from those stories are several important facts. </p>
<p>First of all, inflation is a worldwide problem that’s primarily caused by three things: 1) the lingering effects of the pandemic and the resulting snag in supply chains 2) the war in Ukraine, which has tightened the supply of oil (from Russia) and grain (from Ukraine) and 3) price-gouging from companies (primarily oil companies), who are experiencing record profits.</p>
<p>As for crime, a large factor is the widespread availability of guns in this country. (There are more guns in America than people.)</p>
<p>And perhaps the most important fact is that Republicans don’t have a plan for either of these things beyond cutting taxes for the rich and making guns even more available.</p>
<p>I know the polls are predicting that Republicans will win the House (and possibly the Senate), but democracy itself is on the ballot this year. Why are so many Americans willing to give up democracy just to save on their gas or grocery bill (two things over which <i>neither party</i> has much control)?</p>
<p>Bill Maher had a devastating “New Rules” segment on <i>Real Time with Bill Maher</i> last night about what will happen if Republicans win (and democracy dies). Here’s a link: <a href="https://youtu.be/HKVBvooZ2c8">https://youtu.be/HKVBvooZ2c8</a></p>
<p>I would urge every American to watch it—and then vote Democrat.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-47229277386340968092022-10-23T11:42:00.002-04:002022-10-23T15:18:04.709-04:00Dear Democrats: Grow Some Balls
<p>Election Day is in a little over two weeks and, according to most polls, Republicans are likely to take over the House and, possibly, the Senate.</p>
<p>This, in spite of the fact that we just spent the summer and fall watching the January 6 Committee painstakingly lay out their case that Donald Trump led a multipronged effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and not only orchestrated the attack on the Capitol, but did nothing to stop it. </p>
<p>As I write this, Trump has just been subpoenaed by the January 6 Committee (a subpoena which, if the past is any indication, he will probably ignore), and is the subject of several investigations. In addition to the January 6 Committee investigation, he’s the subject of several investigations by the Justice Department, including the Mar a Lago documents case, where he just lied to a federal court judge; Fani Willis’s investigation in Atlanta, where he interfered with Georgia’s election results (“I just want to find 11,780 votes”) and Letitia James’s investigation in New York, where he simultaneously inflated his net worth to banks and underreported it to the IRS.</p>
<p>In Texas, Greg Abbott is leading Beto O’Rourke in the governor’s race, in spite of yet another classroom of children being massacred in Uvalde and the Uvalde Police Department (and several other law enforcement agencies) doing nothing to stop it, and Texas’s electrical grid failing last winter.</p>
<p>In Georgia, the spectacularly unqualified former football player Herschel Walker is in a close race for Senate. He’s allegedly pro-life, in spite of the fact that he paid for his girlfriend’s abortion (and she has the receipts to prove it).</p>
<p>In Pennsylvania, TV “doctor” and snake oil salesman Mehmet Oz is running for Senate, in spite of the fact that, until recently, he didn’t even live in Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>And all of this is happening because the price of gas is too high.</p>
<p>Let me address the subject of inflation, since that seems to be the only thing that anyone cares about. The inflation we’re currently experiencing is primarily caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the lingering effects the COVID pandemic, both of which have had a devasting effect on the supply chain. We can also thank Russia (and OPEC) for recently raising the price of oil.</p>
<p>Moreover, it’s a worldwide phenomenon that President Biden has very little control over. </p>
<p>Inflation is a temporary situation. If we lose our democracy, that will be permanent.<p>
<p>I often wish Biden were a more forceful speaker. I know he had a stutter when he was a child (and he’s mostly overcome it), but nowadays, the ability to convey a “presidential” image on TV (whatever that means) means more than the ability to pass legislation or having any coherent policy positions. </p>
<p>Biden needs to be a motherfucker on the level of Trump. I don’t mean someone who’s willing to break the law. I mean someone who’s willing to call Republicans on their bullshit.</p>
<p>But speaking of legislation, Biden passed the only meaningful climate change legislation ever. He passed the only meaningful gun control law in decades. The Inflation Reduction Act will reduce the price of prescription drugs (among other things). Why aren’t Democrats shouting this from the rooftops? And, if they are, why isn’t it getting through.</p>
<p>Because Republicans (and, to a lesser degree, Democrats) are living in an information bubble.
If you watch Fox News, you don’t even know the January 6 hearings happened. You still think Trump won the 2020 presidential election (even though numerous recounts—including by Republicans—and court cases have proven otherwise).</p>
<p>And if you think I’m being alarmist about losing our democracy, look at what’s happening (and has already happened). </p>
<p>Trump tried to overturn a free and fair election. That has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt and, if that weren’t enough to sway our opinion, we all watched the January 6 insurrection happening on live TV.</p>
<p>Republicans have passed numerous laws restricting people’s right to vote and are now threatening to engage in voter intimidation. </p>
<p>And, if they take over Congress, they’ll dismantle the January 6 Committee and try to investigate Biden. (For what, I don’t know, but that’s beside the point.)<p>
<p>If Republicans take over Congress (and State Houses and governorships), the price of gas will be the least of our problems.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-23537488303048282342022-10-02T00:19:00.012-04:002022-10-02T10:05:40.428-04:00Bros Blows Me Away<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekIUmeo1vCM-UqIgK7FlcOuRFldDI_KukO1z_gHfqLx1RwneFiZKe_eSG7cZ3LI0FYSagv8-ISNhT4XxnRSPsQXBC4NzXOrOixgFVeGHz3DcTAM-0tLNAR_MewN8DfczBscL_jv-DmSeJ2GGGwvvsCBUfzs8e4PKwxme87GW-i8PdQBs4mlc2SVaq/s398/Bros_%28film%29.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekIUmeo1vCM-UqIgK7FlcOuRFldDI_KukO1z_gHfqLx1RwneFiZKe_eSG7cZ3LI0FYSagv8-ISNhT4XxnRSPsQXBC4NzXOrOixgFVeGHz3DcTAM-0tLNAR_MewN8DfczBscL_jv-DmSeJ2GGGwvvsCBUfzs8e4PKwxme87GW-i8PdQBs4mlc2SVaq/s320/Bros_%28film%29.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>Part of me didn’t want to like <i>Bros</i>.</p>
<p>I was never a fan of Billy Eichner’s man-on-the-street interview show, <i>Billy on the Street</i>. But, then again, I never watched enough of it to know whether or not he was being serious about his infatuation with celebrities or whether he was sending it up.</p>
<p>I now have to admit that I vastly underestimated his talent.</p>
<p><i>Bros</i> nails so many aspects of gay life and culture, it’s almost like an anthropological study. From the inantity of Grindr conversations, to gay stereotypes about masculinity (from which the movie get its title) to the ubiquity of gay men who aren’t “emotionally available,” this movie has it all.</p>
<p>It’s also the funniest movie I’ve seen since <i>Trainwreck</i> (which was also produced by Judd Apatow).</p>
<p>Eichner simultaneously mocks heterosexual romantic comedies and gives us the gay rom-com we’ve always wanted to see. (OK, <i>some</i> of us wanted to see.) </p>
<p>OK, so it strains credulity a bit to see Eichner hooking up with the impossibly gorgeous Luke Macfarlane (who, for you straight people, is like the gay John Cena). But it’s no less unbelievable than Amy Schumer hooking up with the <i>actual</i> John Cena in <i>Trainwreck</i>. After all, isn’t that what rom-coms are all about?</p>
<p>He even gives us the running reunion/finale that’s a feature of every heterosexual rom-com from <i>When Harry Met Sally</i> to <i>Manhattan</i>.</p>
<p>And, as if that wasn’t enough, Eichner can also sing (and has a great voice). I hate him!</p>
<p>In other words: go see <i>Bros</i>!</p>
<p>And, yes, I fully expect to be offered an acting and/or writing job after this review.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-28797596328459790612022-08-02T22:11:00.010-04:002022-08-03T20:20:58.246-04:00How to Have a Fire Island Vacation in Two Days<p>As a temp who doesn’t get paid time off, I have to plan very carefully when I take a vacation. Fortunately, since I’ve been going to Fire Island for over 20 years, I’ve figured out how to have a complete Fire Island vacation in two days.</p>
<p>Now I should mention that there are two distinct Fire Island experiences.
If you’re going to Fire Island to party, you should go there on the weekend. It will also be more crowded and expensive on the weekend. </p>
<p>If you’re going to Fire Island to relax, you should go there during the week. Rates will be cheaper and it will be less crowded.</p>
<p>This post is for non-A list gays like me who are going to Fire Island to relax. You won’t find anything in this post about the Pines, the Pavilion (the Pines dance club) or Tea Dance. In fact, the last few times I’ve gone to Fire Island, I didn’t even set foot in the Pines. I guess that makes me a Grove person. So be it.</p>
<p>One of the good things about squeezing your Fire Island vacation into two days is that you’ll be able to splurge. And you will splurge. Fire Island is very expensive. That’s because everything has to be shipped in from the “mainland” (i.e., Long Island).</p>
<b><p>Day 1</p>
</b><p>My first stop when I get off the ferry and after I’ve dropped my bags at the Belvedere (a “guest house for men” and my preferred place to stay in Cherry Grove) is Sand Castle for their lobster roll. Don’t bother with the French fries. That’s not why you’re paying $35 and, besides, you’re not allowed to eat carbs on Fire Island.</p>
<p>After lunch you’ll have time for a swim (if you can call three strokes in the Belvedere pool a “swim”) and a walk on the beach. That’s the one thing the Grove Hotel has over the Belvedere: they have a better pool. But the Belvedere is an architectural masterpiece and the Grove Hotel has all the charm of a Motel 6.</p>
<p>But I digress.</p>
<p>I don’t like to just lie (or sit) on the beach. That’s boring. Walking is good exercise and you’ll see a lot of hot guys (if you’re walking in the Pines), but I should point out that they’ll probably ignore you unless you’re also hot. In which case, you’d probably be staying in the Pines anyway.
I also don’t like going in the water because I’m terrified of waves. If God wanted people to swim in the ocean, he wouldn’t have invented swimming pools. </p>
<p>After your walk on the beach, it’s time for dinner. I suggest Island Breeze. Actually, I’d suggest Top of the Bay, but every time I’ve gone there in the last few years they’ve been “full.” (Maybe because I was by myself?)</p>
<p>At Island Breeze I had an excellent sesame-crusted tuna. But if you’re going to have dessert, stay away from the churros, unless you like your carbs fried <i>and</i> with sugar.</p>
<p>If you time your dinner properly (sunset is deal), you’ll segue right into Hedda Lettuce’s show at Cherry’s (if it’s a Monday). Lettuce can write jokes <i>and</i> sing, which makes her a rarity among drag queens. (I kid the drag queens!) But I’d suggest standing in the back unless you have a strong ego.</p>
<p>Monday is also Broadway Sessions at the Ice Palace, where they have Broadway singers perform. I unfortunately missed it this time because I assumed they were just going to have another drag queen. (Oh, snap! Did I say that?)</p>
<b><p>Day 2</p>
</b><p>Breakfast at Floyd’s is a must. I recommend the Farmer’s Eggs, a combination of eggs, sausage (or bacon), potatoes and toast. You might want to break the carb rule for this one.</p>
<p>After breakfast, you have time for another swim, or you can just relax until lunch.</p>
<p>I hate to suggest Sand Castle again, but they <i>are</i> on the ocean. And since you can’t order lobster roll twice (well, you can, but I’m trying to give you <i>options</i>), you can try to Cobb salad. Just bear in mind that even when you try to order something healthy on Fire Island, they somehow find a way to make it unhealthy (usually by adding French fries or bacon).</p>
<p>After lunch you have time for another walk on the beach and then, voila! You’ve done it. You’ve fit your entire Fire Island vacation into two days and you still have time to catch the 6pm ferry.</p>
<p>If you follow my schedule carefully, you might even be able to squeeze in some sex.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5GROqFeF9SK1FdxZk_fqdD4UfH3OhrEx1FMFEGxl3pjcUdrIqGtPpoLnbR8Y9lGxvwxxuavZj2ydu5wjAGWq6wSt079ZpVr13dhKTFaoMUACOUmnJMnUGY9sqiwgoFm38Nl_h6_mpDKW8boks_LgY0gfY_ajgUXQ9-eNpwdNJ7FVc9MCcDMNAaem/s320/IMG_6940.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5GROqFeF9SK1FdxZk_fqdD4UfH3OhrEx1FMFEGxl3pjcUdrIqGtPpoLnbR8Y9lGxvwxxuavZj2ydu5wjAGWq6wSt079ZpVr13dhKTFaoMUACOUmnJMnUGY9sqiwgoFm38Nl_h6_mpDKW8boks_LgY0gfY_ajgUXQ9-eNpwdNJ7FVc9MCcDMNAaem/s320/IMG_6940.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="_a9zs" style="align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_aacl _aaco _aacu _aacx _aad7 _aade" color="rgb(var(--ig-primary-text))" face="var(--font-family-system)" style="border: 0px; display: inline; font-size: var(--system-14-font-size); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-system-regular); line-height: var(--system-14-line-height); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A room fit for a queen (i.e., me)<br /><br /></span></div><div class="_ab8w _ab94 _ab99 _ab9f _ab9m _ab9p _abaj _abc0 _abcm" style="align-content: stretch; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--base-unit); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: calc(var(--base-unit) * 4); padding: 0px; place-content: stretch flex-start; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_FIaqfhVV3k8bpYe60xQrL39aU9FBnFhs0n7-smaNgmQ_UONh-t2Y4683zgSXoO0o1oi0KOt5pAfdo3Ek0KGP0K8kh_JW1ljoPr-ZR6UwykkrR9LJRbYiEiTEMiRs_seH7Ce2v-TeStFVk_dBEVUFZr-uhgzZL8nHkqISPPD3bir2EScN3bJ6178/s320/IMG_6941.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_FIaqfhVV3k8bpYe60xQrL39aU9FBnFhs0n7-smaNgmQ_UONh-t2Y4683zgSXoO0o1oi0KOt5pAfdo3Ek0KGP0K8kh_JW1ljoPr-ZR6UwykkrR9LJRbYiEiTEMiRs_seH7Ce2v-TeStFVk_dBEVUFZr-uhgzZL8nHkqISPPD3bir2EScN3bJ6178/s320/IMG_6941.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="_a9zs" style="align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_aacl _aaco _aacu _aacx _aad7 _aade" color="rgb(var(--ig-primary-text))" face="var(--font-family-system)" style="border: 0px; display: inline; font-size: var(--system-14-font-size); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-system-regular); line-height: var(--system-14-line-height); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F.k.a. The Bay Leaf, f.k.a. The Monster under construction<br /><br /></span></div><div class="_ab8w _ab94 _ab99 _ab9f _ab9m _ab9p _abaj _abc0 _abcm" style="align-content: stretch; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--base-unit); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: calc(var(--base-unit) * 4); padding: 0px; place-content: stretch flex-start; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqb2vPFMDYtcKx1qx9VwdpF-RECezZH8ZGxwgzPoWe7i9-cShj69TfUVxIFCMEYpN9oV_yASzJH_2pxXNeszpgjzZztLdy2mCIcVVevGjRQqdGDQGCdWQK7V9LlafJbSv0hlbmXbUsBp-FGK-_0hteq_YkjCjnBIsBKHm6o-uVDR3XDmtrr4FqIbIW/s320/IMG_6942.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqb2vPFMDYtcKx1qx9VwdpF-RECezZH8ZGxwgzPoWe7i9-cShj69TfUVxIFCMEYpN9oV_yASzJH_2pxXNeszpgjzZztLdy2mCIcVVevGjRQqdGDQGCdWQK7V9LlafJbSv0hlbmXbUsBp-FGK-_0hteq_YkjCjnBIsBKHm6o-uVDR3XDmtrr4FqIbIW/s320/IMG_6942.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="_a9zs" style="align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_aacl _aaco _aacu _aacx _aad7 _aade" color="rgb(var(--ig-primary-text))" face="var(--font-family-system)" style="border: 0px; display: inline; font-size: var(--system-14-font-size); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-system-regular); line-height: var(--system-14-line-height); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">New, very Pines-looking house on Bayview Walk<br /><br /></span></div><div class="_ab8w _ab94 _ab99 _ab9f _ab9m _ab9p _abaj _abc0 _abcm" style="align-content: stretch; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--base-unit); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: calc(var(--base-unit) * 4); padding: 0px; place-content: stretch flex-start; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJGt9CHo3WtKGTzI3pMuDWQndMGXjDs9AjpAPqsogVTwBNOTktFahrpATjJxNjNSYSYSPCpOHHC0pTjNPWoyrpTQgH92hk_UNdUaqYDH3Xils-cOtjT0-Gqn1cywED0PPtkiNpQFEHQ3DFufNYoOX4QkNHxg0ZE0zoJ9agoE64OR4HsCSMMgExadR/s320/IMG_6943.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJGt9CHo3WtKGTzI3pMuDWQndMGXjDs9AjpAPqsogVTwBNOTktFahrpATjJxNjNSYSYSPCpOHHC0pTjNPWoyrpTQgH92hk_UNdUaqYDH3Xils-cOtjT0-Gqn1cywED0PPtkiNpQFEHQ3DFufNYoOX4QkNHxg0ZE0zoJ9agoE64OR4HsCSMMgExadR/s320/IMG_6943.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="_a9zs" style="align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_aacl _aaco _aacu _aacx _aad7 _aade" color="rgb(var(--ig-primary-text))" face="var(--font-family-system)" style="border: 0px; display: inline; font-size: var(--system-14-font-size); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-system-regular); line-height: var(--system-14-line-height); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sunset<br /><br /></span></div><div class="_ab8w _ab94 _ab99 _ab9f _ab9m _ab9p _abaj _abc0 _abcm" style="align-content: stretch; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--base-unit); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: calc(var(--base-unit) * 4); padding: 0px; place-content: stretch flex-start; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZZ-TFyZ-8zC3OFAkIfZ7RucmfmI-Cz9EfkG_XBmKIPVZZhIkVC6uE6_6lGD_B19jOY6W9BAzo4Vecro1sVuS_vrMA2VoqJDH3iBSuN1URJ0IWIlWswBbB2dTfcCVfLz_6pbNky_pR7Z4uN5RW_XNniGFLXCbKPoxxf7r7hPn_h0U9ZrXn81IHbs8J/s320/IMG_6946.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZZ-TFyZ-8zC3OFAkIfZ7RucmfmI-Cz9EfkG_XBmKIPVZZhIkVC6uE6_6lGD_B19jOY6W9BAzo4Vecro1sVuS_vrMA2VoqJDH3iBSuN1URJ0IWIlWswBbB2dTfcCVfLz_6pbNky_pR7Z4uN5RW_XNniGFLXCbKPoxxf7r7hPn_h0U9ZrXn81IHbs8J/s320/IMG_6946.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="_a9zs" style="align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_aacl _aaco _aacu _aacx _aad7 _aade" color="rgb(var(--ig-primary-text))" face="var(--font-family-system)" style="border: 0px; display: inline; font-size: var(--system-14-font-size); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-system-regular); line-height: var(--system-14-line-height); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sesame-crusted tuna<br /><br /></span></div><div class="_ab8w _ab94 _ab99 _ab9f _ab9m _ab9p _abaj _abc0 _abcm" style="align-content: stretch; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--base-unit); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: calc(var(--base-unit) * 4); padding: 0px; place-content: stretch flex-start; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhfMArCetCLbiWIU27CoRAL7UP24jn8LiZPfcRWtRPIDRLHOwH22MdbSvCbRq0TWkKZvmDhFM_Z5GgIsshKyOJOYnA7HzJnMscP37CYmbpAjG_hbXLGekSJLkLHJehImxgzXK4XwMUQnsxcZvt-zrFfmJvy-jfw4oh-xlleYoc6BEz_LgRk-UWf7c/s320/IMG_6947.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhfMArCetCLbiWIU27CoRAL7UP24jn8LiZPfcRWtRPIDRLHOwH22MdbSvCbRq0TWkKZvmDhFM_Z5GgIsshKyOJOYnA7HzJnMscP37CYmbpAjG_hbXLGekSJLkLHJehImxgzXK4XwMUQnsxcZvt-zrFfmJvy-jfw4oh-xlleYoc6BEz_LgRk-UWf7c/s320/IMG_6947.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="_a9zs" style="align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_aacl _aaco _aacu _aacx _aad7 _aade" color="rgb(var(--ig-primary-text))" face="var(--font-family-system)" style="border: 0px; display: inline; font-size: var(--system-14-font-size); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-system-regular); line-height: var(--system-14-line-height); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hedda Lettuce<br /><br /></span></div><div class="_ab8w _ab94 _ab99 _ab9f _ab9m _ab9p _abaj _abc0 _abcm" style="align-content: stretch; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--base-unit); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: calc(var(--base-unit) * 4); padding: 0px; place-content: stretch flex-start; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlPYqxgdm7dkFE9dqmclAMbvcm3DRmyhu7RsPqIEMjFziOz3n_bpLaxBiIpYMX_MjjkJMs2QiPiLjR12u5UF2TKeOT45xg5xeOlrvjH7UfW2_trMB36lxjJMghMLECD12ia1Clop80J0MdeXoSM1apXyct85HMVUJ3fHHuLD_QK9wbFom5W-39crG/s320/IMG_6948.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlPYqxgdm7dkFE9dqmclAMbvcm3DRmyhu7RsPqIEMjFziOz3n_bpLaxBiIpYMX_MjjkJMs2QiPiLjR12u5UF2TKeOT45xg5xeOlrvjH7UfW2_trMB36lxjJMghMLECD12ia1Clop80J0MdeXoSM1apXyct85HMVUJ3fHHuLD_QK9wbFom5W-39crG/s320/IMG_6948.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="_a9zs" style="align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_aacl _aaco _aacu _aacx _aad7 _aade" color="rgb(var(--ig-primary-text))" face="var(--font-family-system)" style="border: 0px; display: inline; font-size: var(--system-14-font-size); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-system-regular); line-height: var(--system-14-line-height); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Belvedere at night<br /><br /></span></div><div class="_ab8w _ab94 _ab99 _ab9f _ab9m _ab9p _abaj _abc0 _abcm" style="align-content: stretch; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--base-unit); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: calc(var(--base-unit) * 4); padding: 0px; place-content: stretch flex-start; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpO-s8rb-n4-JIe7HAX0r94C5AinMxjkhbDFtzkvvMp4i4lF3vGA2FD_JcM_wAYkmlUHUCj7k5JwodzDQTw6l4cN1QXGtA2fGTe8L9E8VVvTP-PvFGErHStQcRmom0xseuo4TnQ0VerUnN6Rd7opXBhJtn0H5O6cpkxM5rV7P3mjWJpPV6OM9AQOe/s320/IMG_6949.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpO-s8rb-n4-JIe7HAX0r94C5AinMxjkhbDFtzkvvMp4i4lF3vGA2FD_JcM_wAYkmlUHUCj7k5JwodzDQTw6l4cN1QXGtA2fGTe8L9E8VVvTP-PvFGErHStQcRmom0xseuo4TnQ0VerUnN6Rd7opXBhJtn0H5O6cpkxM5rV7P3mjWJpPV6OM9AQOe/s320/IMG_6949.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="_a9zs" style="align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline; flex-direction: column; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_aacl _aaco _aacu _aacx _aad7 _aade" color="rgb(var(--ig-primary-text))" face="var(--font-family-system)" style="border: 0px; display: inline; font-size: var(--system-14-font-size); font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: var(--font-weight-system-regular); line-height: var(--system-14-line-height); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wanda Sykes sighting!<br /><br /></span></div><div class="_ab8w _ab94 _ab99 _ab9f _ab9m _ab9p _abaj _abc0 _abcm" style="align-content: stretch; align-items: stretch; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--base-unit); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: calc(var(--base-unit) * 4); padding: 0px; place-content: stretch flex-start; position: relative; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-62629990458472674202022-07-18T02:53:00.006-04:002022-07-18T03:41:41.567-04:00Howard Jones, Midge Ure, Getting Older, WLIR and the Concert Industry <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUiqXPAvFzbKyvAKPOc6QCXhfRxxtn4vbNlm-iBTHsF-6E6aSLe3u8B5Dc1OBAv2Qo_bV2VK7ilx6JXT-CdDJYjfegHos0Atx6IRgcK5eFqVKijZN2q-vZOMxL1tRWQvch0rNDu1A_N4C_CdBf2Y_ZR3e6eYmlZCiEt2fhI4_VwpGQH5N_HHLs85_/s1800/ED802C7E-9F0B-4497-B793-22E375B784CE.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUiqXPAvFzbKyvAKPOc6QCXhfRxxtn4vbNlm-iBTHsF-6E6aSLe3u8B5Dc1OBAv2Qo_bV2VK7ilx6JXT-CdDJYjfegHos0Atx6IRgcK5eFqVKijZN2q-vZOMxL1tRWQvch0rNDu1A_N4C_CdBf2Y_ZR3e6eYmlZCiEt2fhI4_VwpGQH5N_HHLs85_/s320/ED802C7E-9F0B-4497-B793-22E375B784CE.JPG"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_-rCUS8dW0cPGR8ontq2dwFEK5Pk_Ots_2jUbC90LLaMpYyQRP2jxOnAA-7p2UiwAFCcIFV-v67B1tGh0qvKzxVWLHfUT9iEUabjaOaHoOHpJ0r5Jv_gFmJHoZ9y2UfFDO60HMnTTw9DHhkvdRgKz4luqPvjmumFvyO38XFBASKDRpGX4CCBm4JH/s1794/B566CF99-B467-449D-8D86-EBD1824BAC5A.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1794" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_-rCUS8dW0cPGR8ontq2dwFEK5Pk_Ots_2jUbC90LLaMpYyQRP2jxOnAA-7p2UiwAFCcIFV-v67B1tGh0qvKzxVWLHfUT9iEUabjaOaHoOHpJ0r5Jv_gFmJHoZ9y2UfFDO60HMnTTw9DHhkvdRgKz4luqPvjmumFvyO38XFBASKDRpGX4CCBm4JH/s320/B566CF99-B467-449D-8D86-EBD1824BAC5A.JPG"/></a></div>
<p>I went to see Howard Jones and Midge Ure at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts last night and a good time was had by all. I’d previously seen Howard Jones’s “acoustic trio” perform at Sony Hall in New York City back in February, so I already knew that he puts on a good show. He also strikes me as a genuinely nice person. (In fact, all the people I’ve seen in concert strike me as nice people. Maybe that’s part of their success?)</p>
<p>Anyway, I was looking forward to this “full concert” experience (as opposed to the “acoustic trio,” which nevertheless was able to produce a great sound) and Jones did not disappoint. Mostly. </p>
<p>He did perform a remixed version of “The One Who Loves You,” which was a bit of a disappointment for me, as I’d been looking forward to hearing it since February. (He didn’t perform it in his acoustic show.) I know artists need to keep things interesting for themselves as well as their audience, but I’ve listened to the original version a million times and was quite satisfied with it. (You may have noticed that I’m a bit of a control freak.)
Fortunately, the hits were all there and the audience sang along.</p>
<p>The real surprise for me this time was Midge Ure, whom I never thought I’d see in concert ever, as I was convinced he was a studio creation, as was the stereotype about many ‘80s bands. (See my review of the Tears for Fears concert at Jones Beach.) Imagine my surprise when I saw that he could actually play guitar! And despite looking quite a bit older than his Ultravox days (I know, I shouldn’t talk), his voice was still perfect! In addition to playing several of his Ultravox hits, he really blew me away when he played Visage’s “Fade to Grey,” which he co-wrote.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that Jones decided to play Long Island and not New York City on this tour and I’m wondering why. I’m sure part of it has to do with the fact that WLIR, the former Long Island radio station (it’s now available online) was responsible (along with KROQ in Los Angeles) for breaking many New Wave bands in America in the ’80s. But I’m wondering if part of it doesn’t have to do with the concert business itself.</p>
<p>The reason I mention this is because, after I saw The Psychedelic Furs at Pier 17 on Friday (see my review), I checked Ticketmaster's website to see how much tickets would be for Blondie and Elvis Costello, who are also playing there. What I found was what was being referred to as “verified resale” tickets, which basically amounts to legalized scalping. While these tickets normally sell for $49.50, the cheapest ticket for Blondie was $114 and the cheapest ticket for Elvis Costello was $225. I would have happily paid $49.50 to see them, but since I’ve already seen both of them, there’s no way I was going to pay those outrageous prices.</p>
<p>A large chunk of the concert industry is controlled by one company, Live Nation Entertainment, which consists of Live Nation, which promotes concerts, and Ticketmaster, which sells tickets. That’s what’s known as a vertically integrated monopoly, and it’s supposed to be illegal. (The only thing they don’t own in this arrangement is the concert venues themselves.)</p>
<p>So while it may seem like I’ve been seeing a lot of concerts lately (and I have), it doesn’t look like I’ll be seeing many more—unless the tickets are more reasonably priced.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-61775381361978110732022-07-16T11:10:00.000-04:002022-07-16T11:10:55.892-04:00The Psychedelic Furs and X<p>I went to see The Psychedelic Furs again at Pier 17 last night (with X opening) and, I’m happy to report, they were MUCH BETTER than their show at the Apollo two weeks ago! They cleared up the sound problem on “The Ghost in You” and the missing xylophone on “Love My Way” didn’t bother me as much. (They duplicated the xylophone part on keyboards, and the keyboard and drum parts were spot on this time.)</p>
<p>Opening for the Furs was X. They played a combination of—what would you call their music? Rockabilly? Surf rock? Tex-Mex? Anyway, they rocked, and their guitarist, Billy Zoom, was a virtuoso on the order of Chris Spedding (whom I saw play with Robert Gordon at Coney Island Baby a few years ago).</p>
<p>Also, the venue, the roof of Pier 17 (which I’ve never been to before) is a great place to see a concert, with views of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan and—especially good for these Covid pandemic times—outdoors.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjaukrHDGN9ZZZHwJ1cs7PkpWT6YZXvI9duWd2EfJVQGLO2zrNroFU3P4iobzhAxW6HlJzxr3uulb66bV1P09Z-qwMkJObJrit1ZnXinp8D_pe8S8OtDFDUurZwpPdFwEBlUPvxJ12y4UrcV7YiBaPOfWgVfoKhcl9hQfDF5-JKShwPjgIsHsaEve/s1800/F0E65AD5-EEDE-42BD-9E90-83E3649A8946.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjaukrHDGN9ZZZHwJ1cs7PkpWT6YZXvI9duWd2EfJVQGLO2zrNroFU3P4iobzhAxW6HlJzxr3uulb66bV1P09Z-qwMkJObJrit1ZnXinp8D_pe8S8OtDFDUurZwpPdFwEBlUPvxJ12y4UrcV7YiBaPOfWgVfoKhcl9hQfDF5-JKShwPjgIsHsaEve/s320/F0E65AD5-EEDE-42BD-9E90-83E3649A8946.JPG"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZfvVJdONpVS_XkE3IBwwPJ5bx7yixPaBTYOYApuBXH0t1I0h-tt2GYONFijqz-ZyD_LOVZLFkT3oS88vhsj9XKdovUt5Hn4mr7mdk-JQdqzMV0OVXv5AsbZojE2336-8qAGG-SaVMUk3K34LLinDVyoiPCX9hY8gZsC6SriwLjYrLsYTcOBD0jhWx/s1794/F384E558-922F-4B43-90E2-93B1F7FEE492.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1794" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZfvVJdONpVS_XkE3IBwwPJ5bx7yixPaBTYOYApuBXH0t1I0h-tt2GYONFijqz-ZyD_LOVZLFkT3oS88vhsj9XKdovUt5Hn4mr7mdk-JQdqzMV0OVXv5AsbZojE2336-8qAGG-SaVMUk3K34LLinDVyoiPCX9hY8gZsC6SriwLjYrLsYTcOBD0jhWx/s320/F384E558-922F-4B43-90E2-93B1F7FEE492.JPG"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0Oq0Aux57vtBrw0nGXDRlG_fJsBaIIT85I-h-oeyrm6jE_9_7zTtiaCiVWNIgeCnVa0soByUXRewtxP--_LSsROSVzt99iaBTtbQ3SoNaGIDsrKIJ75Mw82C8w_yYzp3y1mwRJpiL7sIHktypbxn22SBd1MjEZmwn6lzwYV3pT39KA5oMQPF7aqK/s2016/IMG_6835.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0Oq0Aux57vtBrw0nGXDRlG_fJsBaIIT85I-h-oeyrm6jE_9_7zTtiaCiVWNIgeCnVa0soByUXRewtxP--_LSsROSVzt99iaBTtbQ3SoNaGIDsrKIJ75Mw82C8w_yYzp3y1mwRJpiL7sIHktypbxn22SBd1MjEZmwn6lzwYV3pT39KA5oMQPF7aqK/s320/IMG_6835.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPG2_Ot_gPsGwOSJe-3Tw-xu5cMPmn9JhrGx36pg3DCWixrN79cFZ6ibpcPEJQxab7t4Ff2DUiX3Z91fmOKY9xU6LFRgVW6h5-gLfHGORN-V0sqgy3dXl1eAv_7-iR1NO2YVdpAjG3DfjLEFMdFWhkSgrMzhbqdj0_xaG3yAPcrugHSQrpsl89WclV/s2016/IMG_6836.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPG2_Ot_gPsGwOSJe-3Tw-xu5cMPmn9JhrGx36pg3DCWixrN79cFZ6ibpcPEJQxab7t4Ff2DUiX3Z91fmOKY9xU6LFRgVW6h5-gLfHGORN-V0sqgy3dXl1eAv_7-iR1NO2YVdpAjG3DfjLEFMdFWhkSgrMzhbqdj0_xaG3yAPcrugHSQrpsl89WclV/s320/IMG_6836.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOp4jt0EZL_-D8ttq14HDRDSBrRm6_LdfB2P-VdLoVi1z_JjJ0CneE4jM97A125b9vXy4kQ6FofnkXsJHg2BGmWFaSfrqMPKf0mCA-u2gtp801lqHgIx88sBszw03pJLIRZlSrDoyBfD9nvCYDv9dXnAiC0BRazaYQ0dq0DqzEGWOpjgBATwxdMby/s2016/IMG_6837.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOp4jt0EZL_-D8ttq14HDRDSBrRm6_LdfB2P-VdLoVi1z_JjJ0CneE4jM97A125b9vXy4kQ6FofnkXsJHg2BGmWFaSfrqMPKf0mCA-u2gtp801lqHgIx88sBszw03pJLIRZlSrDoyBfD9nvCYDv9dXnAiC0BRazaYQ0dq0DqzEGWOpjgBATwxdMby/s320/IMG_6837.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvPDQlxXHpX35Spd4GfgzBBs26simzfwYgK4NjUtd1Qk4zFprdFiGxXexgI_gG1IEiR8Ss_mC7WNRPiTRHvssNRaV2CV96luFSqhCL-saICBPC7AgzXv1v33h7F3SrScBgB0aHxP3ip8ByjD9WN9rR5Rp-cIo4dPk48n5eRA2pDgmDeQqfZYJ1T6X/s2016/IMG_6838.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvPDQlxXHpX35Spd4GfgzBBs26simzfwYgK4NjUtd1Qk4zFprdFiGxXexgI_gG1IEiR8Ss_mC7WNRPiTRHvssNRaV2CV96luFSqhCL-saICBPC7AgzXv1v33h7F3SrScBgB0aHxP3ip8ByjD9WN9rR5Rp-cIo4dPk48n5eRA2pDgmDeQqfZYJ1T6X/s320/IMG_6838.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOwg7Ru_9PIjrn5jP32HVo31_6a2qVE9cG7PDEqL0crshXG8HQjj3H2Kb07FTq3XNf7LvkxPZQHb_ojt7GlIIFncEC5m9KwFqiC83bAunC8SNdK7bFhEcOpbwSgBA05PCi_KZ3b_La6HMgQHDU2_0Nl-7M8Jq6fbrGXz-EcfYvMfwF40f29eS8NQt/s2016/IMG_6844.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOwg7Ru_9PIjrn5jP32HVo31_6a2qVE9cG7PDEqL0crshXG8HQjj3H2Kb07FTq3XNf7LvkxPZQHb_ojt7GlIIFncEC5m9KwFqiC83bAunC8SNdK7bFhEcOpbwSgBA05PCi_KZ3b_La6HMgQHDU2_0Nl-7M8Jq6fbrGXz-EcfYvMfwF40f29eS8NQt/s320/IMG_6844.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpqYKoeddqWRse-9UpH8FWmRnLUopO2yglTLFqBsVdNWpiy2Yr4muc_za_APigbvaKxCo6cMOR56AQFu-1pVY5MeP2oe_Yr0PfIebesGCPci07jiroxiOddwkISlKzn-nTv79amQQ5dwzdw0UiwopQzA9WNWjVmiOCyYuQaYcXcuQuBqU7vUUEsQq/s2016/IMG_6845.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpqYKoeddqWRse-9UpH8FWmRnLUopO2yglTLFqBsVdNWpiy2Yr4muc_za_APigbvaKxCo6cMOR56AQFu-1pVY5MeP2oe_Yr0PfIebesGCPci07jiroxiOddwkISlKzn-nTv79amQQ5dwzdw0UiwopQzA9WNWjVmiOCyYuQaYcXcuQuBqU7vUUEsQq/s320/IMG_6845.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlcOkf09irjIQ30uMNsKHxin9BW-ecVXuhUEsm5qbQ0kCeqXRFgBT50mp4TG2SXI1O925LdFH-zeP4Zkg2AJwsVf5ktVLbdiHPCDDjQww8VF4SsER_7by_TOK-AgJqxSCBXlb4hmz5WkuQj3bZxksZvDHQT1PDSNSOEDlJ7-mFRN_uhoKL4pNjVLS/s2016/IMG_6846.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlcOkf09irjIQ30uMNsKHxin9BW-ecVXuhUEsm5qbQ0kCeqXRFgBT50mp4TG2SXI1O925LdFH-zeP4Zkg2AJwsVf5ktVLbdiHPCDDjQww8VF4SsER_7by_TOK-AgJqxSCBXlb4hmz5WkuQj3bZxksZvDHQT1PDSNSOEDlJ7-mFRN_uhoKL4pNjVLS/s320/IMG_6846.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-STrGdYun7WfngIa-ipriGGN-4rmpXMbuIgI7rZS3bnA2KRaqpk55oulyHHhSfiPhVSfik4nhb_mi8YeFf8JG5sinwvG37o59mIQ1wJ9Kg8oFlo-XQvUlbYAv1rjODsuxNOXUOidX93XSXJUff9ehV4SdWlZDRZvm1TbTnd_hYbWOQ5imguEv5-q/s2016/IMG_6849.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-STrGdYun7WfngIa-ipriGGN-4rmpXMbuIgI7rZS3bnA2KRaqpk55oulyHHhSfiPhVSfik4nhb_mi8YeFf8JG5sinwvG37o59mIQ1wJ9Kg8oFlo-XQvUlbYAv1rjODsuxNOXUOidX93XSXJUff9ehV4SdWlZDRZvm1TbTnd_hYbWOQ5imguEv5-q/s320/IMG_6849.jpg"/></a></div>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-39810383344597672662022-07-01T08:45:00.005-04:002022-07-01T09:56:14.528-04:00The Psychedelic Furs and Tears For Fears<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqgqgs9eNhVcvbcSnWiBotI1jyImQ7FwcST6CiBteQhWkVGxkp4l93fIwQry6E9FJlM9-CLTZSteaP87__o3JHmXCdZwjUjL2YAxL1qsEeBf1qJyKKxg4Rb8vMhX_Fs5dj8yeRzVrFBAnB367jpaa9dCOffQZGIXPC3HnH-vrNyiZNKz-FFR2xe3F/s2016/IMG_6824.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqgqgs9eNhVcvbcSnWiBotI1jyImQ7FwcST6CiBteQhWkVGxkp4l93fIwQry6E9FJlM9-CLTZSteaP87__o3JHmXCdZwjUjL2YAxL1qsEeBf1qJyKKxg4Rb8vMhX_Fs5dj8yeRzVrFBAnB367jpaa9dCOffQZGIXPC3HnH-vrNyiZNKz-FFR2xe3F/s320/IMG_6824.jpg"/></a></div>
<p>I recently had the chance to see two bands on my bucket list: The Psychedelic Furs at the Apollo Theater and Tears for Fears at the Jones Beach Theater. (At my age, my bucket list consists of bands to see before <i>they</i> die.)</p>
<p>I purchased my tickets for The Furs almost a year ago and their concert was postponed <i>twice</i>, so I was a little bit concerned before I saw them. I’m happy to say that Richard Butler can still kick ass. (Butler strikes me as a cross between David Bowie and Johnny Rotten: a crooner with a punk attitude.) I was mostly pleasantly surprised, but I had two minor disappointments. I’d been looking forward to hearing them play “Love My Way,” but when they played it, it was sort of anti-climactic. The distinctive xylophone part that opens the song was missing, replaced by a keyboard line (How do you play that song without a xylophone?!!!) and the keyboard and drum parts that have been tattooed on my brain were also gone. There was also some kind of sound problem during “The Ghost in You.” I’m not sure if Butler couldn’t hear himself (he kept touching his earpiece, as if he was saying “What the fuck?”) or he was singing to a backing track, but it sounded like two different vocals, and one of them was out of tune. At this point, “The Psychedelic Furs” has several new members, but their drummer, Zack Alford, also kicked ass--this is a rock and roll band! I also liked the song “No One,” from their new album, <i>Made of Rain</i>. Why isn’t WDRE playing it?</p>
<p>Tears For Fears is a different kind of band, but I was also pleasantly surprised. A lot of ‘80s bands have a reputation for being “hair bands” or “pretty boys,” but Tears For Fears are real musicians. They were also backed up by an excellent background singer, Carina Round, who provided great vocals on songs like “Woman in Chains” and “Suffer the Children," the latter of which she sang entirely by herself. Even though Roland Orzabal now looks like Gandalf from “Lord of the Rings,” his voice is still in excellent shape. And Curt Smith (who, I have to admit, really <i>is</i> a pretty boy, even now) also sounded great. </p>
<p>So sometimes you can see your heroes--four decades later--and they (mostly) don’t disappoint.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-27547717425886085542022-06-24T08:39:00.002-04:002022-06-25T10:08:14.627-04:00Supreme Death Court<p>I couldn’t sleep last night. I woke up this morning and I’m still angry.</p>
<p>Yesterday, the Supreme Court overturned New York’s concealed carry law. On the same day, the Senate passed a weak gun control law that doesn’t address any of the major issues: banning assault weapons, banning high-capacity magazines or raising the age to buy guns.</p>
<p>It’s like we took one half step forward and one million steps backward.</p>
<p>We’re becoming a society where we’re going to need metal detectors in every public building. They already have them in theaters in concert halls. Now, if you don’t like what a comedian says, you can just shoot him.</p>
<p>I’m trying to write jokes about this, but reality is outstripping the most cynical thing I could ever think of.</p>
<p>Bill Maher jokes about extreme wokeness: If it sounds like an <i>Onion</i> headline, don’t do it.
But the opposite is also true. If the most outrageous far-right thing I can think of is reality, how am I supposed to joke about it?</p>
<p>Here’s my attempt at a joke: New York will now be installing metal detectors in the subway. Too far-fetched? They’re already checking people’s bags. What are they going to do now that concealed carry is legal?</p>
<p>Another attempt: How many guns can you hide under Supreme Court robes? I don’t know, but they’re gonna need ’em.</p>
<p>Too much? They’ve already asked for increased security.</p>
<p>Someone on Twitter said they should take away the Supreme Court’s security detail and just give them guns. I agree. They should know the fear that every American now feels.</p>
<p>Faith in the Supreme Court is now at its lowest level in history. Only 25% of Americans have faith in the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>I’m not surprised.</p>
<p>It’s going to be the wild West out there.</p>
<p>In the past, if there was an argument, it might wind up in a fist fight. Now it winds up with one or more people dead.</p>
<p>That’s what happens when you have a country with more guns than people.</p>
<This is Gay Pride Weekend.</p>
<p>A few years ago, after the terrorist attack on the Boston Marathon, there were police sharpshooters with machine guns guarding the New York City Pride Parade to prevent a similar attack.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court just made the their job a lot harder.</p>
<p>I no longer feel safe in this country.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209459778715580874.post-50312453558873113882022-05-15T19:51:00.002-04:002022-05-15T21:11:42.975-04:00America’s Uncivil War<p>This morning I awoke to an email from <i>The New York Times</i> about the latest mass shooting in Buffalo, NY, but I didn’t read the article. I didn’t read the article because, frankly, I’m exhausted and overwhelmed. I’m exhausted and overwhelmed because mass shootings have become an almost daily occurrence in the United States and our government has become powerless to do anything about it. Our government has become incapable of exercising the will of the American people.</p>
<p>Part of this is because our government is inherently undemocratic. From a Senate that gives the same number of senators to Rhode Island as it does to California, to an Electoral College that twice in the last 22 years has given the presidency to someone who didn’t win the popular vote, to the Supreme Court, which has become yet another partisan branch of government. (Then again, when you over 400 million guns combined with a nearly nonexistent mental healthcare system, that’s a recipe for disaster.)</p>
<p>Every time our democracy fails, people like Vladimir Putin use that as proof of their theory that democracies don’t work. I know that there’s a war between democracy and autocracy going on in Ukraine, but we can’t even defend our own democracy at home.</p>
<p>Ironically, this is precisely the kind of environment that’s a breeding ground for authoritarians and dictators. It gets to the point where people get so fed up, they just want “law and order,” even if they have to give up some of their rights in order to get it.</p>
<p>I keep thinking of that line in <i>Network</i> where Howard Beale says, “Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone."</p>
<p>That’s increasingly how I (and I suspect many others) feel, especially now that so many people are working from home. We’re all just crawling into our own personal fortresses just to stay sane. </p>
<p>I often joke, “Thank God I live in the independent republic of New York City” because I increasingly feel like I wouldn’t even be safe between the two coasts. I actually feel safer in New York, because of its tough gun laws, then I would in, say, Texas.</p>
<p>This is the kind of environment that swept Trump into power and could sweep him into power again if Democrats don’t get their act together RIGHT NOW.</p>
<p>For the last three days, I’ve been having conversations with my friends about the increasing incivility of American people (<i>all</i> people?), at every level of society, from my neighborhood, with its noise and graffiti, to comedians being attacked on stage, to the assault on the Capitol. It’s starting to feel like nobody’s in charge. </p>
<p>Why is this happening?</p>
<p>I think part of it can be traced to the Covid pandemic, which, in addition to killing one million Americans, has been far more destructive than I think anyone thought it would be. For almost two years, we’ve been essentially locked up in our homes, and I honestly think that people have forgotten how to behave in public (assuming they knew how in the first place).</p>
<p>I think the other part can traced to Donald Trump, who, through his words and actions, gave permission to people to say and do things that, prior to his presidency, were, at the very least, considered impolite.</p>
<p>What else?</p>
<p>Police departments (or at least New York City’s police department) that basically stopped enforcing the law (especially quality-of-life laws) after the Black Lives Matter protests. </p>
<p>I hate to sound like I’m defending Rudolph Giuliani’s “broken windows” theory of policing, but there has to be a way to enforce the law without resorting to his racist stop-and-frisk tactics.</p>
<p>Bill Maher did a segment on his show this week that showed shoplifters brazenly stealing from a drug store while security guards just stood there and watched. And anyone who’s ridden the subway in New York City (that is, anyone who still <i>is</i> riding the subway) can attest to the number of homeless people—some of whom are obviously mentally ill—who have made the subways their home. Yes, Mayor Adams has added more police to the subways, but a lot of times they’re just looking at their cell phones.</p>
<p>We shouldn’t be worried about foreign countries attacking us. (OK, we should, but not exclusively.) We should be worried about <i>ourselves</i>.</p>
<p>I have seen the enemy and it is <i>us</i>.</p>
thegaycurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14992081621678823018noreply@blogger.com0