Cinema Sunday: Young Frankenstein

Today's Cinema Sunday takes a look at the 1974 comedy from director Mel Brooks, Young Frankenstein.   

Stylistically, Young Frankenstein is a tour de force with Brooks going to extensive lengths to emulate the look and feel of the he 1931 film Frankenstein. Brooks shot the film in black and white, employed a 1930's style for the opening credits and employed transition devices of the era such as iris out and fade to black. 

For the equipment in Frankenstein's lab, Brooks used props created by Kenneth Strickfaden for the 1931 film. 

Gene Wilder who co-wrote the screenplay with Mel Brooks chews up a ton of scenery as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein ("that's pronounced FRONK UN STEEN!"), the descendant of Victor Frankenstein who wants nothing to do with his morbid legacy until he discovers his grandfather's plans just might work. 

Even when Dr. Frederick Frankenstein is working very hard to stay calm and measured and not like a mad scientist, Gene Wilder's manic intensity is barely repressed. When the lid is off that repression ("GIVE MY CREATION LIFE!!!!"), there is no part of the set that Gene Wilder does devour like its an Easter dinner ham.  

Despite Brooks' attempts at adhering to the somber stylings of the original 1931 Frankenstein movie, Young Frankenstein serves up a lot of Brooks' classic sense of absurdity. 

In order to present his lifeless creation (Peter Boyle) brought to life to the greater scientific community, Frankenstein opts to do so with a song and dance number, presenting his creature as a man about town in a performance of "Putting On the Ritz".  

What brought Young Frankenstein to mind for this week's Cinema Sunday was the sad news of the passing of Cloris Leachman who was impeccably sinister and weird as Frau Blücher, a woman so strange and foreboding that the mere mention of her name prompts fear in horses.

Repeatedly. 

The whole cast turns in strong performances with Marty Feldman playing the hunchbacked helper Igor as a Borscht belt comic.  Terri Garr is witty and luminescent as Helga and Madeline Kahn's turn as Frankenstein's extremely high maintenance fiancé is incisive and acerbically funny. 

Mel Brooks is known for movies that parody various genres including westerns (Blazing Saddles) and science fiction (Spaceballs). But none have such a strong sense of style and such a powerful inherent love of the source material than Young Frankenstein. 

Yes, it is a litany of nonsense for a lot of good laughs but it is also a love letter to classic horror films from Universal Studios back in the 1930's.  

Songs For Saturday: Instrumentals by Lindsey Sterling, Booker T & the MGs and more!

 

Today's Songs For Saturday features instrumentals.  

I'm not necessarily a fan of instrumentals; I usually prefer a full musical tableau including singing with intelligible lyrics and stuff.

But there are some instrumental songs that I do very much enjoy. 

Starting off our play list for today is a theme from TV show from the 1950's called Peter Gunn. Mr. Gunn was a hard boiled private eye with a ballsy theme song by Henry Mancini to match. 

Performing the Peter Gunn Theme by Henry Mancini, here is the Qatar Philharmonic Brass.

I tell ya, that drummer and the tuba player needs to put in for overtime, bro. 

Next up is the surf rock group The Ventures. Performing their classic Wipe Out, here are the Ventures with special guest Max Weinberg joining Mel Taylor on drums . 

Max Weinberg is a drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and was the band leader for Late Nite With Conan O'Brien. 

Lalo Schifrin's theme for the classic TV series Mission Impossible remains one of the all time greatest themes ever composed, an iconic composition recognized by millions who may never have seen the TV shows or any of the subsequent movies starring Tom Cruise.

Next up on today's playlist is my favorite dancing violinist Lindsey Stirling team up with  pianist Jon Schmidt and cellist Steven Sharp Nelson from The Piano Guys for a kick ass take on the Mission Impossible theme.

Wrapping up today's playlist is perhaps one of the most popular instrumentals crossing boundaries into rock 'n' roll and R&B.  Here is Green Onions by Booker T & the MG's

That is one of my favorite songs without words from the 1960's.

And the accompanying video is pretty damn cool too! 

That's that for today's Songs For Saturday. Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.   

History Eats Itself

Today is January 29th, 2021.  Exactly 1 year ago on this date, I wrote this blog post.  

Wednesday, January 29, 2020,  Partisanship Vs. the Constitution

Donald Trump‘s defense team appealed for a quick acquittal. "It will show that you put the Constitution above partisanship," White House counsel Pat Cipollone told senators in his closing remarks. 

The hypocrisy on display here is just staggering.

That the Senate Republicans were prepared to vote in favor of Donald Trump before one word was uttered by the defense is the very definition of putting partisanship above the Constitution.  

That was then. This is now. And one year later, Donald Trump is facing his second impeachment for his reckless and nefarious role inciting the January 6th siege of the US Capitol by a swarm of Trump's agitated supporters.   

Nothing, it appears, has changed.  

45 Senate Republicans voted on Tuesday to dismiss the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump.  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul introduced the measure to stop the trial before it even got started, arguing that holding such a trial of a former president was not constitutional.   

My God, Republicans love to hit people about the head and shoulders with the Constitution whenever anything happens they don't like. 

Donald Trump's preternatural hold on the Republican Party persists even as Trump's post presidential corpse is rotting in Mar-A-Lago. 

Rand Paul's effort to stop the impeachment trial has fuck all to do with any constitutional concerns and every thing to do with the calcified partisan divides between the Republican Party and every damn body else.   

Even now, in the face of Trump's most egregious act, the Republican Party cannot look beyond itself and hold one of their own to account.  

To do so would force several Republicans would have to answer for their own complicity in Trump's actions who echoed the big lie that the election was riddled with fraud and Trump's rightful victory was stolen from him.  

Why blame Trump for the rally run amuck when everyone has some responsibility as Kevin McCarthy pitched last weekend? 

Why bother with this since Trump is out of office? Why not just "give the guy a break" as Nikki Haley asked?

The 10 Representatives who did vote for impeachment in the House last week are facing angry responses and punitive action from the party faithful back home. 

Trump may be gone from the White House but he's not gone from the party. Donald Trump is the Republican Party and loyalty to Trump is loyalty to the party and loyalty to the party trumps all other concerns. 

As I wrote on January 29th, 2020:   

In the battle of Partisanship Vs. the Constitution, Partisanship is still on it’s feet, smugly smiling with hardly a cut or bruise while the Constitution lays bloody, beaten and gasping for breath on the mat.

One year later, it appears nothing has changed. 

I wrote this post two days later: 

Friday, January 31, 2020, The Impeachment Inevitability

Meanwhile, the man the Senate Republicans have bartered their souls to Satan to defend, Donald J. Trump, continues to be a fucking lying moron.  I mean, the GOP is going to the wall for defend... this guy? I mean, come on! 

The fix is in. 

One year later with Democrats in charge of the Presidency, the House and the Senate, somehow, even now, even with literal blood on their hands from the events of January 6th, somehow, 

The fix is still in. 

And history eats itself. 

Curbside Confusion

 We've all seen the videos of the petulant person, usually a middle aged white woman with a mad on about some minor issue.  Indignant that some lowly functionary at some business is unable to change the rules or laws that everybody else is following, she demands to speak with a manager.

We have come to know this woman as "Karen". 

"Karen" is an embarrassing personification of the excesses of white privilege, the insistence that everything must perfectly fit her view of the world and makes no allowances for the needs of others. 

No one wants to be "Karen". 

But a few days ago I was compelled to say those words that every struggling person in the service industry dreads to hear:

"I want to speak with the manager."

A few nights ago, it was just Andrea and I alone at the Fortress of Ineptitude. She wanted dinner from one of her favorite restaurants.  They don't deliver so I need to do a curbside pick up. 

I put in the order online and pay for it. I've done this over a dozen times with this particular establishment since the pandemic began. 

I received a confirmation email that the order was received along with payment and that the food would be available for pick up at 6:53 PM. 

I arrive  at the restaurant at 6:54 PM and I call the number for curbside pick up. A friendly woman confirms who I am, what parking spot my car is in and tells someone will be out shortly. 

So far so good. 

I'm chilling out in the car, listening to some tunes and reading some stuff on my phone when I wonder, "How long have I been out here?" 

The time was 7:04 PM.

11 minutes after the food was supposed to be ready and 10 minutes after I called. 

I understand that the whole "food available for pick up at 6:53 PM" is an estimate and sometimes stuff happens. Still, this is a bit outside of the norm for this place. I should know having picked up curbside orders a dozen times before.  

Still, I decide to give them a bit more time. Maybe three minutes? 

Ar 7:07 PM with no food in sight, I called the curbside number. 

The guy who answered this time seemed to have no clue why I was calling. Am I calling to order food? 

No, I'm calling about food I had already ordered.  He checks with someone in the background. 

"Does anyone know anything about a to-go order for Long?"

I hear a woman yell back at him, "He needs to come in and pay for it!"

He relays this information: "You need to come in and pay for it!" 

I reply that I've already paid for it when I ordered the food online for curbside pick up. I am an email confirmation and everything. 

Or at least I try to say all this but the guy is talking over me, "I don't know anything about all that. You need to come and pay for it." 

And then he adds this: "Have a blessed day." And hung up on me. 

Well!

I really don't want to do this. I don't want to go in there like some kind of "Karen" but damn, this is not some minor slight to my easily offended sensibilities. There is food that I've paid for that I'm not getting.  

I pull up my mask and go inside. 

At the front door is a young woman, the hostess. I can tell at first glance she is tired and has put up with enough bullshit for one day. I am sympathetic but I also have food I've paid for that I don't have so I take a deep breath and proceed to share my story.

I understand that this haggard lady can only do some much to solve anyone's problem but she should know who can. 

But halfway through my spiel (which I am endeavoring to make as short and efficient as possible), she touches the side of her head set and speaks to someone. "There's someone here, name of Long for a pick up order." 

Then she tells me, "I'm sorry sir but you need to be patient. Your food is not ready yet." 

Wait! What now? 

OK, I don't want to be "Karen" but I think I have some legitimate cause to go frickin' bug nuts at this point. But what, pray tell, would that resolve? 

I take another deep breath and say those magic words: 

"I want to speak with the manager." 

A few minutes later, a bullet headed man in a blue shirt and tie approaches me. His name is Matt. 

He listens to my story. 

Then he goes to section where food is kept for pick ups and curbside. There's my order, waiting there. With a receipt attached, showing it is paid for. 

Matt was kind and professional, doing the one thing that no one else had done since this whole debacle started: he listened to me. 

While he apologized for the mix up and the confusion, he did offer a piece of advice before I left: if this should happen again, just come inside and speak with the cashier where the curbside orders are kept. 

I nodded and said, "I'll keep that in mind" as I took my leave. But I'm thinking a fuck up of this magnitude should not happen again. 

Now that's thinking like a "Karen", isn't it? 

The Resolution Dissolution

This is the last week of January 2021.  Already? The first month of the year is nearly gone. How did that happen?

It may be too late to talk about new year resolutions but that makes no never mind to me. 

I don't make new year resolutions. 

That's not to say I'm perfect just the way I am and I don't need to make any improvements in my life. Far from the truth, that is. I certainly could be healthier and smarter and more emotionally secure and better organized and more focused and... well, the list could go on. 

And on. 

Which is why I don't make new year resolutions. There's just too damn much about me that needs fixing. I've reached an age where I am accepting that I'm old and decrepit and any efforts made towards trying to counter any of that is time away from watching TV and movies or a stack of comic books. 

My sarcastic new year resolution is always to watch more television. In 2020, thanks to the pandemic and unemployment, I actually kept that resolution. Well, I'm back to work now but damn it, I still need to finish watching Justified. 

No resolutions from me but just a fervent hope that 2021 may be a damn sight better than 2020.  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Mr. Mayor, Call Me Kat, The Watch, Star Trek Discovery & Duck Tales

My wife Andrea and I are following the new NBC comedy co-created by Tina Fey called Mr. Mayor.  Andrea was mostly interested in trying this show to follow Ted Danson who stars as the titular mayor. The show is amusing but after four episodes, I'm still not sure about it. 

Mr. Mayor seems to be having trouble finding it's tone. Sometimes the show has a genuine earnestness. The reason retired businessman Neil Bremer (Danson) ran to become Mayor of Los Angeles was to earn his daughter’s respect. Awww! 

Then Mayor Bremer spends an episode high on canabis having wacked out hallucinations which were very funny. 

Mr. Mayor is having some trouble figuring out what kind of show it wants to be. Which to be fair is something that Tina Fey's 30 Rock struggled with in it's early episodes. 

Speaking of which, apparently Mr. Mayor began life as a pitch for a 30 Rock spin off where Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) became mayor of New York City.  

Ted Danson makes Mr.Mayor worth watching but Holly Hunter give him a run for his money as Arpi Meskimen, the deputy mayor of Los Angeles whose no-nonsense attitude plays well with Bremer's more relaxed style. 

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Call Me Kat starring Mayim Bialik. I mentioned that although Andrea is easily entertained, she was not entertained by the pilot episode of Call Me Kat. And neither was I. 

Well, we both felt bad about that and decided to give the show another try with the 3rd episode.  

About 5 minutes into the episode, Andrea said, "Hey, is Big Bang Theory on TBS?" I said yes and she said let's watch that instead. 

I am so sorry, Mayim. We love you and respect your talent and we both wanted to like this show. But sorry, we've tried twice and it ain't happening. 

One more thing about my previous post about Call Me Kat where I leveled some barbs about the appearance of actress Swoosie Kurtz as Kat's mom. On one hand, I am really sorry for judging someone on their appearance. On the other hand, Swoosie's near cadaverous look on Call Me Kat is still very distracting. I blamed this on plastic surgery run amuck. I hope she not sick or something. 

About a month ago leading up to the Doctor Who special on January 1st, BBC America bombarded us with a ton of ads for it's new show The Watch. The family was intrigued and our daughter Randie was up to give it a try. 

I know the show got some bad press because fans of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books were not happy with the hatchet job The Watch does on the source material. Having never read Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, we were prepared to accept The Watch on it's own merits. 

The Watch is the law enforcement in the city of Ankh-Morpork on a planet where elements of fantasy (like trolls and dragons) are real. The Watch is a largely ineffective law enforcement force due to fact that most crime in Ankh-Morpork is legal. You can commit crime with impunity as long as you licensed to commit that crime and you leave a receipt. 

The captain of the Watch is Sam Vines, a grizzled old man who has seen too much and has more than enough of this shit. Which is a most disappointing development to Constable Carrot, new in town and filled with lots of gung ho "justice for all" spirit that gets immediately challenged by the very dispirited Watch team and the lawless anarchy of Ankh-Morpork. 

There's a lot of world building going here but we held on OK to the lay of the land (although having a handy dandy scorecard wouldn't hurt). 

But after watching the first episode of The Watch, we are not collectively feeling a lot of inclination to keep following this series.  

When pressed for time to continue to follow the watch or finally get a move on with season two of Star Trek Discovery, we elected to follow the gang on the Disco! 

Right off the bat, there is a sense of Trekian optimism that season one lacked.  And the giddy fan boy thrill of having Discovery cross paths with the Enterprise under Capt. Pike is hard to resist.  

This weekend, Andrea and I caught up on season 3 of Duck Tales. David Tennant continues to rock as Scrooge McDuck. I really don't have much more to add than that. I watch Duck Tales and it doesn't suck. Duck Tales is more Andrea's jam than mine.  

Last night was the season 2 premier of Snowpiercer. I'll have something to say about that in next week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.  

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down, would ya? I'm watchin' TV in here! 

Larry King

 Larry King died this weekend. Given the litany of medical ills he suffered over the course of his life, it is a wonder that Larry King lived to be 87 years old. He endured multiple heart attacks, a stroke, cancer and more. 

Larry King spent a quarter of a century on CNN with his weeknight talk show airing at 9 PM Eastern time with his trademark square glasses and suspenders. King became so iconic in his role that he frequently made appearances in TV shows or movies where a character becomes famous enough to be interviewed on TV. 

Larry King was sometimes derided for asking his guest soft ball questions and not being a more hard hitting journalist. But Larry King was there to have a conversation with his guest and his easy going conversational style engaged his guest to be perhaps more forthcoming with an honest answer than a more confrontational approach. 

Odd factoid I did not know or had forgotten: Donald Trump was a guest host on Larry King's CNN show. Since Larry's biggest advice for an interviewer is to listen, I can't imagine how a Donald Trump hosted show would go.

My experience with Larry King began before he became a mainstay on CNN. Before going to television, Larry King hosted a radio interview show on the Mutual Broadcasting System that aired on stations across the country that started at midnight on the east coast. One of my first paying jobs in radio was working at a Greensboro station, WBIG. And my job was running the board during the Larry King show. It was a part time gig.  

Modern day radio being mainly computer run, I imagine "running the board" jobs are a thing of the past. Basically, running the board meant being in the control room/studio, running station ID's at the top of the hour and local ads through out the hour with some on air work with time and weather checks.  Also taking transmitter readings to make sure the station was still on the air at sufficient power. 

And I would listen to Larry King. On radio in his younger days, Larry King was less congenial that his more folksy TV persona. He was still friendly but he would not suffer fools who called into his show. He would not hesitate to cut off a caller who was rambling, off topic or just plain boring. 

His show on CNN was always a brisk hour. Larry's time with his guests was less an interview and more of a conversation. And he treated each guest with respect regardless of their position. Celebrities and presidents sat in Larry's guest chair to have a chat over the course of an hour.  

A lot of talk show hosts today seem to seek the attention of the camera away from their guests. Larry King was of a passing breed that remembered the guest was the true star of the show.

Let's wrap up this post with a clip of Larry King from The Simpsons. 

 

Cinema Sunday: At the Circus

A few weeks back, I wrote a Cinema Sunday post on a Marx Brothers film called Go West wherein Groucho and this brethren cast themselves in a western. 

Before Go West was released, the Marx Brothers made At the Circus. 

Here is what you need to know about the plot: 

• Good news: Jeff Wilson is living his best life with Wilson's Wonder Circus which he owns and  Julie Randall who he loves.  Julie has a singing horse act. No, the horse doesn't sing; Julie sings while guiding the horse through various tricks. 
• Bad news: Jeff Wilson owes $10,000 to John Carter.
• Good news: Jeff Wilson has $10,000 and can pay John Carter. 
• Bad news: John Carter doesn't want to be paid. He wants to take over the circus for himself. And he doesn't like Julie's act, the fiend. 
• Worse news: John Carter arranges for Goliath, the circus strongman and Little Professor Atom, a dwarf, to steal the $10,000 with Gibraltar the gorilla the only witness to the crime. 
• Worst news: Jeff Wilson will lose not only the circus but Julie Randall will have to go elsewhere to find work. 

So where are the Marx Brothers in all this? 

Tony (Chico) and Punchy (Harpo), circus employees and friends of Jeff, call in attorney J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho) for help. 

And it's all downhill from there.  

Loophole discovers Carter's moll, Peerless Pauline, is hiding the money, but she outwits him and he fails to retrieve it. 

Well, Loophole thinks he knows where Pauline is hiding the money but as he tells the audience, the Hays office* won't let him look there.  

*The Hays office was the enforcer of the production code for American cinema which prohibited a very long list of immoral behavior. Which included Groucho Marx reaching down the front of Eve Arden's leotard. 

Loophole, Tony and Punchy are unable to retrieve the stolen money and Carter about foreclose on the circus. Then Loophole discovers that Jeff's aunt is the wealthy Mrs. Susanna Dukesbury. 

Enter the grande dame of Marx Brothers' comedies,  Margaret Dumont. Dumont plays the matronly sophisticated woman of society who inevitably winds up bamboozled, embarrassed and humiliated by Groucho's antics.

Spoiler alert: Margaret Dumont will be shot out of a cannon before this picture is through.  

Loophole tricks Mrs. Dukesbury into paying for paying $10,000 for the Wilson Wonder Circus to entertain at her latest society soiree.  

Mrs. Dukesbury is expecting French conductor Jardinet and his symphony orchestra. Tony and Punchy cut loose the moorings of a floating bandstand. Jardinet's symphony performs Wagner's prelude to act III of Lohengrin from the middle of a lake. 

Mrs. Dukesbury's audience is very happy with the circus. 

Jeff Wilson has $10,000 again to pay off Carter but Carter ain't taking this one lying down who orders his henchmen try to burn down the circus. 

The henchmen are  thwarted by Tony and Punchy with some help from Gibraltar the gorilla who retrieves Jeff's money from Carter after a big trapeze finale.

And Mrs. Dukesbury (we warned you about this) is shot out of a cannon.

At the Circus has a several musical numbers, most prominently  Groucho Marx's classic rendition of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady".

At the Circus is a fairly enjoyable film but there is a sense of the Marx Brothers in an all too familiar groove. Groucho, Chico and Harpo have done this shtick a few times and it shows. 

There are some comic highlights. Loophole interrogating , Peerless Pauline while she practices her walking upside down routine has some sparkling repartee between Groucho Marx and Eve Arden.  

All in all, At the Circus is not a bad picture but it's a bit removed from the comic heights of the Marx Brothers in their prime.

Songs For Saturday: Super Music Team Ups With Sting!

 

Today's Songs For Saturday will present three of my favorite songs featuring former Police front man Sting teaming up with other musicians.

First up is "Desert Rose" with Sting joined by Algerian raï singer Cheb Mami.  

Next is not Sting, per se but it's Rufus Wainright doing a cover of that Police classic "Wrapped Around Your Finger". 

But then... Sting shows up to lend a hand.

Finally, this has got to be my favorite version of my favorite Police song. Here is "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" featuring Sting and a symphony orchestra in Brazil.

And that is that for today's Songs For Saturday. 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.   

My Digital Pal Who's Fun To Be With: Tiptoe the Tortoise

Hi there! 

Welcome to I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, a blog of variable content and questionable value. 

Why does this blog exist? I'm not really sure.

Why are you here? I am quite unsure of this as well. 

I am reasonably certain that for whatever reason you have come to this blog, you are finding the experience quite disappointing. 

Hell, I'm the one writing this blog and I am finding the experience quite disappointing. 

In the interest of not making your visit to this blog a complete waste if time, I present this recurring feature: 

My Digital Pal Who's Fun To Be With

My Digital Pal Who's Fun To Be With is where I suggest other avenues available through the internet that I think may be more interesting than whatever the hell is going on here.  

Today, My Digital Pal Who's Fun To Be With is on Tik Tok. 

I present Tiptoe the Tortoise.

'

photos by Gavin Anderson 

This past July, Caitlin Doran of Pacific Palisades, CA  launched a Tik Tok account spotlighting Tiptoe, a 175-pound tortoise. Tiptoe has more than 2.3 million followers who check into see Tiptoe eat, wade around in his pool and explore the neighborhood. 

Below is a Tiptoe video posted to You Tube.   

Santa brought Caitlin Tiptoe as a Christmas gift when she was 7 years old. At the time, Tiptoe was 3 months old and half the size of a flashcard. 

Tiptoe is now 19 years old and weighs a whopping 175 pounds. It takes two people to carry him.

While Tiptoe’s diet consists mainly of hay, Caitlin also treats him to zucchini, squash, fruits and flower petals.  

Caitlin takes Tiptoe out for walks around the neighborhood where he gets to meet locals who are happy to greet their unique neighbor.  

Tiptoe's videos on Tik Tok are always a joy to watch as this tortoise gets to live his best life in safety, comfort and contentment. And the sheer joy Caitlin expresses sharing time with Tiptoe is quite palpable.  

Tiptoe on Tik Tok is a positive reaffirmation of joy in life. 

Tiptoe's YouTube page can be found here.  

Tiptoe can be found on Tik Tok @caitlinandtiptoe.

Tiptoe is My Digital Pal Who's Fun To Be With! 

Back To Work

I am now no longer self employed, working at nothing all day.

Tuesday was my official start date for being gainfully employed.

And it's been a bit of a challenge.

While my new job is with my old employer, apparently the last 10 months have erased my working knowledge of our operating systems.  Getting back up to speed on our computer systems has been like riding a bike. With 1 flat tire. While blind folded. On a gravel road. 

Then there is the issue getting back into a routine where my time is not my own. 

For 10 months, I have gotten up whenever I felt like it. I took a nap in the middle of the day whenever I felt like it. 

I am glad to once more have some structure to my days. But I do miss my nap times. 

 

The Damage Done

Today is Inauguration Day. 

The day we make it official and Joe Biden takes the reins as President of the United States with Kamala Harris as Vice President. 

And just as importantly, we can officially and finally pry the levers of the presidency from Donald Trump's sweaty fingers. 

It's tempting to see this moment as transformative, the end of the darkness of fear and division and the beginning of the illumination of hope and unity. 

The reality is that there so much work to be done going forward. 

The damage done to American ideals, to our collective spirit is substantial and will take considerable time and effort to repair. 

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will still need to contend with about 75 million voters who remain convinced their ascendancy to the upper levels of American political power is not legitimate. Donald Trump's persistent fear mongering that the election was rife with fraud and that his rightful victory was stolen from him will continue to cast a dark, cold shadow over the body politic for some time to come. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris will have a lot of cleaning up to do where Trump spent 4 years reversing course on environmental protections, medical coverage and diplomatic relations and more. Before Biden and Harris can move forward anywhere, they will have to spend some time going back to fix everything Trump broke. 

Today is an important day, the beginning of a new direction for America. But today in and of itself is not transformative. The transformation of America from broken to better will take more than a day. 

It will take a long time to fix the damage done. 

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, The Chase, Jeopardy and Name That Tune

 

My wife Andrea and I are old. 

We watch Wheel of Fortune. Everyday. We even have a Wheel Watchers Spin ID number for Christ's sake. 

So what do we need in our lives? More Wheel of Fortune of course. 

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune is like regular wheel except there are no trips or other prizes, it's all cash. And the cash winnings are larger. And there's more trash talk between the players. 

In the first episode, Leslie Jones and Chandra Wilson give Tony Hawk major beef for solving two puzzles without spinning the wheel. 

The celebrities are playing to win money for charity although Leslie was really into the game like someone who was taking this cash home.  

Each episode is an hour long with the three celebrities playing two half hour games.  

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune is a fun variant of the regular game but only as a temporary diversion. I hope ABC doesn't elect to beat this into the ground like it did with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? 

Following Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on Thursday is The Chase. Contestants vie for cash answering trivia questions. But they are up against an obstacle other than their own memories of minutia. They are also up against the Chaser. 

The Chaser is a professional quiz show contestant. It is their JOB to know stuff and it is their JOB to keep you from winning money. And the Chaser is really good at their job. 

The Chaser is one of the three contestants from last year's Jeopardy: Greatest Of All Time match up: winner Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter. The two who are not the Chaser for a given episode are backstage making snarky comments about the show; as Ken Jennings describes it, they are Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets. 

The Chase is hosted by Sara Haines from the View who I'm sure is happy to be on a show where she doesn't have to contend with Meghan McCain. Sara is friendly enough and keeps the game moving. 

The Chase is an interesting variation of the quiz show format with contestants up against professional competitors whose job is to know all this stuff. 

Last week, Jeopardy entered new territory with it's first new episodes without Alex Trebek. Ken Jennings opened his first show with an emotional statement about Alex and began subsequent shows with statements about Alex. And he closes each show with "Thank you, Alex".  

During the game itself, Ken seems adept at keeping the game moving and interacting with the contestants with grace and good humor. He's still a bit stiff and nervous at times. And I do miss hearing that lower baritone register we heard from Alex.  

But for a guy who doesn't have lifelong experience in hosting TV shows, Ken is doing an exemplary job.  

Andrea and I happened upon the reboot of Name That Tune, hosted Jane Krakowski. Jane is an effusive host, grooving to the music and chatting amiably with the contestants.  Interesting tidbit: the Fox reboot was filmed in Sydney, Australia, with American expatriates as contestants. Which is why there is a studio audience since Australia has their part of the pandemic under control.

Jane is joined by “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson who leads the band, and plunks out the crucial notes on the piano in the “Bid-a Note” round where contestants challenge their competitors with “I can name that tune in x notes.”

Here's my problem with this show. I can almost recognize some of the more modern songs but I cannot name that tune. Most of my exposure to modern music is not always matched up to something identifying the name or artist for the song. 

That is that for today's post. For next week's Tuesday TV Touchbase, I will share some thoughts on the new sitcom Mr. Mayor starring Ted Danson and the new fantasy series from BBC America, The Watch.  

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down, will ya? I'm trying to watch some TV here! 

The Sad Tragedy That Is Ted Cruz Is a Lying Fuck Bastard

In an opinion piece written for CNN, James Moore posits the following observation about Ted Cruz:  

He might have been the best of us. He is the worst of us.

Methinks Mr. Moore is giving Ted a bit more credit that he's due.

I on the other hand simply consign Ted to the trash heap of history under the heading: 

I've long been fascinated and/or appalled (mostly appalled) by Ted Cruz and his propensity for smug self righteousness in the service of his own political ambitions. 

The sad thing is that I do agree with James Moore: Ted Cruz could've been so much better. 

Look at his college graduate record: 

• Graduate of Harvard Law School
• And a graduate of Princeton University

OK, someone doesn't do that unless they have some intelligence. 

And in his legal career, Ted Cruz authored 70 Supreme Court briefs and argued nine cases before the US Supreme Court.

This is not the record of a man lacking in intelligence. 

And yet... 

Over the last weeks, Ted Cruz has consistently put himself on the wrong side of history in defense of a man Cruz once described as a "pathological liar" and a "sniveling coward". 

Cruz took up the cause of Donald Trump's verifiably false narrative that the presidential election was rigged and Trump really won the election. 

Cruz volunteered to argue before the Supreme Court any challenges to the vote that came before the court.  

Cruz signed on to challenge the results of the Electoral College, a specious act that added fuel to the fire of the amassed angry Trump supporters that stormed the Capitol on January 6th.  

Cruz then refused to hold Trump to account for his role in that siege of the Capitol when Donald Trump was impeached for a second time, arguing that such impeachment was divisive and now was a time for healing, unity and peace. All this despite Ted Cruz's own role in creating division and a decided lack of healing, unity and peace.

Ted Cruz can't help being himself, an obsequious hypocrite. Or to put it another way: 

James Moore in his op-ed piece for CNN offers an explanation for Cruz's conduct regarding Trump's false election narrative. 

Donald Trump had riled up the 74 million people who voted for him to falsely believe their voices had been silenced by a stolen election. Ted Cruz saw a chance to communicate to those 74 million people that he is their guy to take back the White House in 2024. 

So Ted Cruz propagated the mass delusion of a stolen election which in turn lead to the attempted coup in Washington, DC. in order to advance his own political ambitions. 

Jame Moore's analysis is parallel to mine about the motives of Ted Cruz. Or to put it more succinctly, 

Ted Cruz is a lying fuck bastard. 

And the sad truth is he didn't have to be. Maybe as James Moore wrote, he could've been so much better if Cruz was capable of looking beyond his own personal ambitions. 

But he's not. So...

Ted Cruz is a lying fuck bastard. 

Cinema Sunday: White Heat

Today's Cinema Sunday goes back to 1949 for a film noir production I've wanted to see for years but only recently took the time to watch it in total. 

White Heat is a gangster chronicle famous for it's over the top, apocalyptic ending. James Cagney's gangster Cody Jarrett  screaming "Top of the world!" has been referenced, homaged and parodied over many decades. 

What I didn't know was the story of how Jarrett gets to that fiery self-destructive moment.  

The film opens with a daring train robbery in the Sierra Nevada mountains.  Cody Jarrett leads a team in the swift, brutally efficient and ultimately deadly theft of money from the train. With 4 men dead and one of Jarrett's gang horribly injured, the gang absconds with the cash to go into hiding. 

Which is where things get tense. Cody Jarrett's a coiled up ball of rage, snapping at his gang and his wife Verna in the ice cold mountain cabin where they are waiting out the long arm of the law. Only Jarrett's Ma has any calming influence over him. Ma is as crooked and determined as her son. 

Ma Jarrett is particularly comforting when Jarrett suffers one of his debilitating migraine headaches. After one such attack, Ma and Cody have a drink and toast, "Top of the world!". 

The gang eventually leaves the cabin and splits up to stay ahead of the police.  Cody, Verna and Ma hole up in a motel in Los Angeles where it seems the cops have tracked them. As crafty as Cody Jarrett thinks he is, there's still stuff beyond his control.  

Jarrett's plan to avoid the FBI on his tail: go to Springfield, Illinois and surrender himself to the cops there, confessing to a crime that was committed there by an associate of Cody's at the same time as the train hold up in Nevada. It's a lesser charge, he spends a couple of years in the hoosegow then he pops out to claim his share of the train robbery money with the FBI now off his tail.  

Except the FBI ain't exactly buying it. But they give Cody Jarrett enough rope to let him think he's getting away with this plan. The FBI knows Cody Jarrett's big jobs are at the behest of an unknown crime boss and the FBI would very much like to meet this person.

The FBI sets up an operative named Hank Fallon to go undercover as con "Vic Pardo" to share a cell with Cody Jarrett, to get into his good graces and maybe get a lead on his silent partner in crime. 

"Vic" is able to gain Cody's trust. The volatile gangster is genuinely moved by "Vic's" help and friendship. And Cody needs all the support he can get. It seems that a member of his gang, Big Ed, has taken over the gang, making time with his wife and trying to have Cody killed in prison. 

A methodical plan to bust out of jail gets derailed when Cody Jarrett has a complete and total psychotic breakdown when he learns his mother is dead. 

One slightly messier jail break later with dead bodies in his wake, Cody Jarrett with "Vic" in tow catches up to Big Ed and kills him. Verna throws Ed under the bus for everything and hooks back up with her husband.  

Cody Jarrett meets up with his silent partner and sets up his gang's next big score, a payroll robbery from a chemical plant that will net just under half a million dollars. 

Under Jarrett's watchful eye, "Vic"/Hank Fallon is limited in getting word out to the FBI what Jarrett is up to. 

But he does get a message to the FBI and no sooner than Jarrett and his gang have entered the chemical plant, the whole place is swarming with cops. 

But "Vic" is exposed as a cop and this really pushes Cody Jarrett over the edge. In a total psychotic break, Jarrett is determined to fight his way out or die trying. 

Which brings us to the end, with Cody Jarrett  screaming "Top of the world!" before he is engulfed in a fiery explosion.  

The ending should not be a complete surprise. From the moment we first meet this homicidal psychopath, it is clear that Cody Jarrett would not survive this story. Even the manner of his death is in keeping with his volatile nature. Nobody who lived as hard and intensely as Cody Jarrett was going to be killed by a single bullet. It is fitting that his end comes in a ball of fire, as bright as the sun. 

What was a surprise to me as I watched White Heat was how much I came to care about this delinquent dynamo. Yes, Cody Jarrett is a cold blooded killer, a vicious rage machine. But it is also clear that he has mental health problems exacerbated by his crippling migraines and the enabling support of his mother. 

Cody's growing friendship with "Vic" exposes the fractures in his psyche. Cody opens up to "Vic" in a way that he does with no one else other than his mother. The revelation that "Vic" is FBI agent Hank Fallon is the worst kind of betrayal for Cody. The robbery has been foiled, escape is impossible and survival even isn't likely but above all that, the worst thing happening to Cody in that moment is the man he trusted more than any other is not who he appears to be. 

James Cagney's portrayal of Cody Jarrett is amazingly nuanced. It would be easy to lean into Jarrett's ruthlessness as a grimacing goon with an itchy trigger finger. But Cagney imbues Jarrett with a certain charisma, moments where he is sensible and even likable.  And when he interacts with his mother, he is sympathetic, a person clearly in both physical and emotional pain. 

Early in his career, James Cagney was well known for tough guy roles, playing gangsters and the like. He wanted to move away from such parts to avoid being typecast which he appeared to do after winning an Oscar for Yankee Doodle Dandy. But a series of flops at the box office made Cagney ready for a return to basics and returned to Warner Bros. to make White Heat. 

A return to Warner Bros. was not welcomed by James Cagney. He considered his time under contract there working for studio head Jack Warner as pure hell. Warner himself was not happy to have Cagney back on the movie lot, referring to him as "that little bastard".  

Still, as far as White Heat was concerned, James Cagney's return to Warner Bros. and to gangster films was a success both at the box office and with critics. To this day, White Heat is considered among the best motion pictures of all time. 

In the pantheon of film noir, White Heat remains top of the world.  

Songs For Saturday: Melissa Villaseñor, Hugh Laurie, Brent Spiner and Jodie Whittaker

 

Welcome to another edition of Songs For Saturday where I spotlight songs I like. 

Sometimes I just throw a handful of songs to the wall of this blog to see what sticks. 

And other times, there is a theme.

Today we have a theme: actors who also sing.  

First up on today's playlist is a song I recently discovered by SNL cast mate Melissa Villaseñor. Melissa is an extraordinarily gifted impressionist. She is a loveable goofball and one my favorites on Saturday Night Live.

And she is a talented singer as well.  Here is Melissa Villaseñor with "Dreamin' You Up".  

Last week's Songs For Saturday included Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere". Well here it is again as sung by Melissa Villaseñor  with Andrew Themeles on guitar. 

OK, this next thing is not a song but it's an SNL sketch. My favorite bit starts at 3:44 where Melissa Villaseñor riffs on Julia Louis-Dreyfous, Owen Wilson and Kate McKinnon in rapid succession.  

"Well, you know, I'm a bat!" Melissa just cracks me up all the time. 

Next up is a song I actually included in the very first Songs For Saturday ever from January 4, 2020.  But Hugh Laurie's performance of "St. James Infirmary" remains remarkably powerful and one that I wanted to share again. 

Brent Spiner became famous as the android Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. But it turns out the old boy could sing too and released an album of Frank Sinatraesque tunes called "Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back".   Here is BrentSpider with  "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart".  

Rounding out today's playlist is another song making it's 2nd appearance on Songs For Saturday. I first posted "Yellow" by Jodie Whittaker on February 29, 2020. A year later, this cover of the Coldplay classic is still a frequent part of my rotation of favorite songs. 

And that is that for today's Songs For Saturday.  Thanks for listening and sharing some of favorite songs. Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.