Anxiety Alert

Tomorrow is mid term election day across the country. 

What's at stake is control of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.  

Historically speaking, the party in power tends to lose power in mid term elections. 

There was a time when I really didn't care about that. Conservative or liberal means different approaches to solving problems in our country but something will get done somehow.

Well, we may not agree what the solutions are as long as we agree on what the problems are, things will still work out. 

Inflation is running amuck and the Republicans are counting on that to sweep Democrats out of office.  

Except....

Here's a list of what Republicans say will be priorities if they regain control of Congress.

• A national ban on abortion. In the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe V. Wade, protecting a woman's autonomy over her body should be a priority. The Republicans want to stage a legislative attack on women's rights in addition to the judicial one.  
• Gutting Social Security and Medicare. These programs are popular with most Americans, particularly with regard to protecting the poor and the elderly. Apparently the Republican position is "Fuck you for being old and poor." 
• Stopping investigations into the insurrection against the US government on January 6, 2020. The alleged "law and order" party wants to put a stop to any inquiries as to who broke what law on January 6th and why this disorderly assault on the Capitol happened.   
• Impeach President Joe Biden for.... something? Who cares? Democrats impeached Donald Trump so it will be the Republicans turn, I guess? Yeah Joe Biden is very, very old and is prone to verbal gaffes but he's also not tried to withhold approved military aid to an ally for personal political gain or spearhead an insurrection of the US government, acts committed by a very, very old man prone to verbal gaffes.  

By the way, none of that will do fuck all about inflation.

Many of the Republican candidates are really stupid people with little to no experience who are being promoted based on their fealty to a lie, that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.  

Get a load of the Georgia Senate race where there are polls showing Republican nominee Herschel Walker pulling ahead of Raphael Warnock, the Democratic incumbent.

There was a time when Warnock enjoyed a solid lead over Walker.  Then stuff started coming out about Walker.

• Public statements that revealed his incredible ignorance.
• Revelations that all the stuff he brags about (running hospitals, working with law enforcement, etc) were all lies.
• His unyielding support for bans on any and all abortions for any and all reasons undermined by reports he paid women to have abortions. 

In a normal world, Sen. Warnock could've stepped back and let Herschel Walker do his work for him, letting Walker's own gaffes and scandals tell the voters just how bad a candidate Herschel Walker is and does not deserve to be a US Senator.

But we do not live in a normal world.   

With each and every one of the gaffes and scandals that should have put a stake through the heart of the Herschel Walker US Senate campaign, his fund raising went UP and his polling numbers went UP.  

So ahead of tomorrow's mid term elections, I am feeling anxiety.

It really shouldn't matter which party is in control as long as men and women of intelligence, good character and good will are leading our nation in service to the American people.  

But the modern Republican Party has ceded ground on "intelligence, good character and good will" in deference to simply winning at all cost in service to personal vendettas, ideologies and a lust for power.   

Which is why I am on an anxiety alert!

Cinema Sunday: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Today's Cinema Sunday turns it's attention to a comedy of epic proportions in terms of length and the size of the cast. It debuted 59 years ago on November 7th 1963. 

I first saw this movie as a kid in a theater during a re-release during the 1970's and I recently introduced the film to my wife Andrea.

Today, Cinema Sunday turns the spotlight on It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.   

Before the advent of "home video" in the 1980's, the only way to see older movies other than when a TV station or network might choose to run one was through occasional re-releases. It was during one such re-release that I first saw It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

I have a distinct memory of being somewhat enthralled by the increasing damage to Edie Adams skirt in the sequence where she and Sid Ceasar are trapped in the hardware store basement. 

God! I couldn't have been more than 10 years old and I was perving on the advancing torn slit in Edie Adams' skirt? 

OK, I do have other memories from that childhood viewing.  

Mickey Rooney & Buddy Hackett trapped in an out of control airplane with an inebriated pilot played by Jim Backus (Mr. Howell from Gilligan's Island).  

Jonathan Winters going all "Hulk out" and destroying a gas station with his bare hands.  

The extended fire truck ladder flinging cast members all over Santa Rosita. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

The film begins with  a speeding car flying off a curving road over the side of a hill and crashes.

Five motorists stop to help the driver: 

Melville Crump (Sid Ceasar), a dentist on a second honeymoon with his wife Monica (Edie Adams).  

Lennie Pike (Jonathan Winters), a furniture mover.

Ding Bell (Mickey Rooney) and Benjy Benjamin (Buddy Hackett), two friends on their way to Las Vegas

J. Russell Finch (Milton Berle), a seaweed-business owner, traveling with his wife Emmeline (Dorothy Provine) and his loud, obnoxious mother-in-law Mrs. Marcus (Ethel Merman). 

Just before he dies, the driver (Jimmy Durante) tells them about $350,000 buried in Santa Rosita State Park under “a big W”. 

Unable to find a way to satisfactorily split up the money, the motorists immediately engage a reckless madcap race to get to Santa Rosita State Park. 

Unknown to this bunch of knuckleheads, Captain Culpeper, chief of detectives of the Santa Rosita Police Department, has them under surveillance to track down the missing stolen money.  

In the mad headlong rush to get to the money first, this collection of idiots engage in ridiculously reckless levels of reckless behavior and really, really, really bad decisions. 

Other people get roped into this mad chase for the money.

Vacationing British Army Lieutenant Colonel J. Algernon Hawthorne (Terry Thomas) offers a ride when Finch wrecks his car and now wants his share of the money. 

Forced to hitchhike due to damage to his truck, Pike hitches a ride with motorist Otto Meyer (Phil Silvers) who betrays and abandons Pike and lies and cons his way into the hunt for the money.  

Loud mouthed mother-in-law Mrs. Marcus calls her her dimwitted son Sylvester (Dick Shawn) for help and he completely misunderstands her and winds up on the chase for the money. 

It's mad, I tells ya.

It's a mad world.

It is, I dare say, a mad, mad, mad, mad world.  

In addition to all these people, there are dozens and dozens of cameos of comedy stars from film and television of that era.

• Don Knotts.
• The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Joe DeRita)
• Jack Benny
• Buster Keaton 
• Edward Everett Horton
• Joe E. Brown  
• Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
• Peter Falk 
• William Demarest
• Andy Devine 
• Stan Freberg 
• Norman Fell 

Mark Evanier is a big fan of this classic film and speaks of it more eloquently than I ever could.  For some of Mark's posts on the subject, click on these links from December 5, 2002 and April 10, 2021 and July 6, 2020 among the many, many times Mark has written about this motion picture.

While Mark Evanier will declare  It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is his favorite movie, even he will not say it is objectively the best film ever.  His affection for this movie is less about what it is and what it represents.  

Mark was a young boy when he saw it for he first time on a certain late November Saturday, mere days after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Everyone, adults and children, were in shock in the aftermath of that tragedy. Seeing It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was permission to forget that trauma for awhile, to remember that life and laughter are still part of the world.  

I don't have anywhere near a similar connection to this movie but it was I think the first comedy for grown ups that I saw on my own in a theater. I remember being wowed by the sheer scope and spectacle of it all and felt like I was peeking behind a door kids like me weren't supposed to see. Here were adults, the people allegedly allowed to run the world, behaving with utter stupidity for the base reason of greed.  

In many ways, one might argue It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is an overstuffed mess and I might agree with that assessment. Director Stanley Kramer basically made this movie on a dare that he made to himself, that as a director of dramatic movies he too could make it a comedy and cast with every TV and movie comedy star he could.   

If nothing else, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World serves as a bright and colorful time capsule of the comedy universe circa 1963.   

Just check your brain at the door and get comfortable because this movie is LONG! (There's an intermission, for crying out loud!) It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a diverting spectacle with some good laughs along the way.  

Songs For Saturday: Art Garfunkel

For the month of November, Songs For Saturday will feature musical selections inspired by musical  birthdays. 

On this date, November 5th in 1941, Art Garfunkel was born.

Art Garfunkel came to fame in the 1960's as one half of the pop-folk duo of Simon & Garfunkel. (I'll let you guess which half.)

By the 1970's, Simon & Garfunkel were no longer a duo as Art set off for a solo career.  

From that solo run, here is a romantic ballad, that begins softly but builds to an epic crescendo of passion and longing. Here is Art Garfunkel with "All I Know".   

Next up is another track from an Art Garfunkel solo album but this time, Art is not alone. With a little help from Paul Simon and James Taylor, here is "What A Wonderful World".  

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

Next week, I'll post some tunes from a classic rocker who was also born in the 1940's.  

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

Your Friday Video Link: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Rumble on the Wonder Wheel

This week's edition of Your Friday Video Link features a scene from season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Now you don't have to know all the plot details to appreciate the humor and the logistics of staging a family argument spread out over a Ferris Wheel. 

Time to take in the wild and wacky family shenanigans that become the Rumble on the Wonder Wheel!

Anything Goes

It's "live theatre" day here on the ol' blog thing wherein we stretch the definition of "live theatre".   

The show in question was live when cameras were aimed at it to film it when it was performed  at London's Barbican Theatre in 2021.  

Andrea and I watched this life show as part of an episode of PBS's Great Performances series that aired in 2022. 

The show is Anything Goes, a lavish production of Cole Porter & P.G. Wodehouse's classic musical, featuring a full company of over 50 including a full-sized orchestra and even 14 tap dancing sailors. 

The big attraction in this production is the lead performance of Sutton Foster, currently co-starring with Hugh Jackman on Broadway in The Music Man.  

So what exactly is the big deal with Sutton Foster? Doubtful I will get up to Broadway to see The Music Man anytime soon to answer that question but if the 2021 London production of Anything Goes is any indication, the big deal with Sutton Foster is that she is very, very good at what she does.  

The story is set on an ocean liner bound on a journey from New York to London. 

Billy Crocker is a stowaway in love with heiress Hope Harcourt, who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Over the course of the show, Billy will be called upon to impersonate a sailor, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh's brother and a gangster named Snake Eyes Johnson, Public Enemy #1. 

Also on board is Public Enemy #13, "Moonface" Martin who spends part of the trip impersonating a priest.  

On board for ship's entertainment is nightclub singer Reno Sweeney who also includes "evangelist" on her resume although her idea of church is a sexy and sultry performance. This is the role where Sutton Foster fires on all cylinders with razor sharp comedic time, a powerful and sensual singing voice and energetic dance routines that defy gravity. 

There's a lot of excellent performances in this production of Anything Goes but Sutton Foster shines especially bright and demonstrates why she's such a big deal on Broadway.  

Challenging Sutton for the spotlight is Robert Lindsay as "Moonface Martin" who stills sounds like a mobster even while allegedly in disguise as a priest. He fancies himself a tough guy in the mob but deep down, he's a teddy bear which is why he can't get any higher on the "Public Enemies" list than #13. 

Let's wrap up this post with Sutton Foster and the cast of Anything Goes perform the show-stopping Act 1 finale.

And if you want to see more of Anything Goes, click here for the whole show.

Doctor Who: Minute #90 And Beyond

Last week, I posted about "The Power of the Doctor", the Doctor Who BBC Centenary special featuring Jodie Whittaker's swan song as the Doctor.

Which was the focus of 89 minutes of the special's 90 minutes. 

Today's post is about what happened in minute #90. 

If you haven't seen "The Power of the Doctor" yet, what's coming up next is spoilieriffic as hell.

Of course given the pervasive presence on the interwebs of what happened in minute #90, well, there's a good chance you know this all already. 

After the break, we'll move forward.  

In five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

...and ONE! 

And we're off!  

Stepping outside the TARDIS on a cliff by a sea side to feel the sun one last time, the Doctor says to her next incarnation, "Tag! You're it!" and lets the regeneration energy fly. 

And out of the golden glow emerges....

David Tennant?

"What?"

"WHAT?!?!"  

OK,  so not only has Jodie Whittaker regenerated into David Tennant but his clothes changed too.

To repeat the incredulous newly regenerated Doctor: 

WHAT?!?!?

Why did the 13th Doctor change into the 10th Doctor?

Well, they didn't.

Here's what Russell T Davies had to say in the immediate aftermath of the special:  

“If you thought the appearance of David Tennant was a shock, we’ve got plenty more surprises on the way! The path to Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor is laden with mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun! And how is it connected to the return of the wonderful Donna Noble? How, what, why? We’re giving you a year to speculate, and then all hell lets loose!”

OK, it bears repeating: 

WHAT?!?!?

Yep, Ncuti Gatwa will be the Fifteenth Doctor which makes whoever is standing on the cliff side the Fourteenth Doctor.  

The mysteriously changing fashion ensemble is the least of our mysteries it seems.  

Then the next day this image was released.

A new logo for a new era with classic series retro vibe.

And please notice the text below the logo.

Yep! Outside the United Kingdom and Ireland, new episodes of Doctor Who will be appearing on Disney+.

In a tweet, BBC America acknowledged their long standing relationship with Doctor Who is coming to an end.

Given BBC America's ham fisted editing of episodes and their failure to offer any kind of regular berth for Doctor Who episodes outside of marathons run right before new specials, well, good riddance to them.  

Other than providing a wide ranging and popular streaming platform for Doctor Who, little else is known about what this partnership with Disney may entail for  Doctor Who.  

In the lead up to the the Doctor Who BBC Centenary special, most attention was on what Russell T Davies was up to next for Doctor Who.

The special finally lands and for 89 minutes, Chris Chibnall recaptured our attention. 

In minute #90, RTD has our full attention once more.  

In a week or so, Chris Chibnall will have my attention once more as I post my post mortem on the Chibnall era of Doctor Who.   

Tuesday TVTouchbase - Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy

 

Last week, Andrea and I finished of season 3 of Star Trek: Lower Decks. The animated series has a tricky mission of having fun with the legacy and mythology of the Star Trek universe while also adding something of substance to that universe as a legitimate Star Trek series.  

OK, I know Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated series but does it need to be paced, produced and performed like one? Frenetic bursts of activity and dialogue spouted (and sometimes shouted) at super fast rates of speed can leave me lost and disconnected from what's going on. 

Thankfully in it's 3rd season, the show has learned to trust itself a bit more and slow down a bit.  Although the season premiere leaned really hard on those break pace speeds and some it's worst habits. 

In  “Grounded”, Capt. Freeman has been arrested for blowing up the Pakleds' home world and her daughter, Becket Mariner, is convinced that she and only she can save her mom from an unjust fate. But she and the rest of the crew are stuck with the Cerritos in drydock for repairs after the events of season 2.  

One of Star Trek: Lower Decks' bad habits is having lower deck officer Becket Mariner save the day even if her impulsive and reckless actions are the cause of the problems. And the season starts with Becket at her worst behavior with the following 2 point plan:

1) Steal the Cerritos 

2) Save mom.

If step 2 seems a bit lacking in detail, welcome to Becket's world where she frequently jumps into a situation and hopes an answer presents itself.  

In this case, the plan gets no further than step 1 thanks to the intervention of Capt. Freeman. It seems while Becket was talking fast and acting faster, Freeman and her bridge crew were already on the case of who blowed up the Pakleds' home world (answer: the Pakleds because Pakleds are dumb) and clearing the good Captain's name.  

But Freeman's had more than enough of her rash and  impetuous behavior and puts First Officer Jack Ransom in direct charge of Becket Mariner.  

Over the course of the season, something remarkable happens: Becket Mariner actually... behaves. There are times when being brash and impulsive might be warranted but Becket slowly builds the skill sets she needs to know when to follow protocol and when to throw caution to the wind.  

Also developing over the season is Brad Boimler who makes a life changing decision to be more bold, to take chances. Yes, it's the opposite direction of Becket's path but it has the same impact of making Boimler a better Starfleet officer. 

D'Vana Tendi is coming to terms with her legacy as an Orion (who are primarily known for piracy and sex slaves) and her aspiration to become one day a Starfleet captain.  

And there is Sam Rutherford, the ultimate Starfleet engineering geek discovering his lost memories.  The mystery of who he was before he got his cybernetic implants and why he has those implants are unravelled a bit this season.  

The season finale turns on two of Star Trek's most problematic tropes: computer driven technology run amok and the ethically compromised Starfleet admiral.  But the episode does provide for a exciting finale and some significant character development for our lower deck pals.  

Perhaps the most beloved episode of the season was “Hear All, Trust Nothing” which brought the Cerittos to Deep Space Nine and Nana Visitor and Armin Shimmerman reprise there roles as  Kira Nerys and Quark.

The most controversial episode of the season was “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” which spent the majority of the episode away from our principal characters and focused on return of Peanut Hamper, the selfish Exocomp who put survival over duty in the season 1 finale.  Peanut Hamper is a self centered bitch of an Exocomp but they do seem to be on a path of redemption with Starfleet. Until they are not.   

Star Trek: Lower Decks has a plethora of inside jokes and Easter Eggs to appeal the most hard core Trekker and that remains a lot of fun. But in addition to the homages to Star Trek's past, the show has evolved to actually trust itself to establish it's own meaningful journey and tell it's own story. I still wish the show would be a little less frenetic and less shouty. But over all, Star Trek: Lower Decks continues to be an enjoyable ride through the Star Trek universe. 

On the subject of animation, even as Star Trek: Lower Decks brought it's 3rd season to a close, Star Trek: Prodigy has returned to resume it's 4th season.  It's been since February since episode 10 dropped so as I told Andrea, it might take me a bit to remember who these characters are.  

The Protostar crew have conducted several "good deed" missions under the guidance of the Janeway hologram.  The crew wants to establish their bonafides as trustworthy and hope to be welcomed by the Federation.   

At the very edge of Federation space, they make contact with a distant outpost.  Unfortunately, the Diviner's evil scheme to turn the Protostar into a weapon against the Federation manifests itself, resulting the outpost being destroyed and Protostar's crew labeled as saboteurs. 

Prodigy may be designed to target younger audiences but the complexities of the plot and the character development seem to belie that directive. Prodigy succeeds because it does not talk down to it's intended audience. 

And that is that for the touchbase this week.

Next week, I'll post about  Interview With the Vampire. And at some point, we'll catch up on what's going on with Stargirl.   

But we're not done with TV yet. We've got a Doctor Who post coming up tomorrow.      

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.