Tragedy and the Tony Awards

I don't know what else to say about the shootings in Orlando other than that I continue to hope and pray the survivors are able to recover and that those who lost loved ones have support and love from those around them to help them get through such a terrible situation. Why some people just can't mind their own business and let grown folks live their own lives is just ridiculous to me. If you want to live in a country where the government rules your life with an iron fist, then you shouldn't be living in the United States. There are countries out there where you can live with a government that controls who you love, who you marry, what you eat, what you think, when you can come and go, etc. and I'm sure they'd be happy to take you if that's what you want.

Moving on to a more upbeat topic, I did see the Tony Awards last night (well, most of them anyway) and I largely enjoyed the show. I loved seeing Bebe Neuwirth come out and do a little bit of "All That Jazz" from Chicago and I enjoyed the opening number by James Corden. I didn't like the Spring Awakening number. "Mama Who Bore Me" is a great song that was ruined, I thought, by the woman singing on the Tony's last night. I was so worried about Audra McDonald when I watched a clip this morning (because I missed it last night) of her in a number from Shuffle Along. Audra, as I've mentioned in another blog post, is pregnant and she's not exactly a young woman. She shouldn't be hoofing like that! Watching her tap dancing made me nervous. It's time for her to leave Shuffle Along. Sit down, Audra! Take a bow! My sister is going to see Shuffle Along and Hamilton next week in NYC. Oy! That's a lotta Broadway! I hope she enjoys both. I passed on going to see Hamilton because, as I've blogged before, it's just not my thing. I'm glad to see Lin Manuel on top and a diverse Broadway cast, but history and hip hop just don't do it for me personally. (No offense Hamilton fans!) I would like to see Shuffle Along though. Maybe if I'm able to get back to NYC before the summer is out, I'll check it out.

Terrible!

I've been reading all morning about the shooting at the Orlando nightclub, Pulse, and it's such a terrible tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their loved ones. Unfortunately, when tragedies like this happen, we see all too often how ugly the world (and some people in it) can be at times.

Learning the Hard Way

Most of us (myself included) sometimes have to learn the hard way how things we say or do can come back to bite us in the ass. Today's recipients of those who have learned the hard way that they'd messed up are Nick Denton and actor Noah Galvin. Let's start with Denton. According to what I've read on the interwebs, he's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Gawker Media due to the whole Hulk Hogan lawsuit. I've expressed my feelings about both sides in this case (there are no winners here) so there's no use rehashing that, but I will say that people should learn when you put anything and everything out in the internet, particularly when you're putting other people's business in the universe, you need to be prepared for blowblack. Putting a sex tape on the internet (that's not your own), is probably a mistake and a mistake that could have been avoided if you'd simply minded your own business.

Now on to Galvin who gave a scathing interview to NY Magazine where he badmouthed some other actors and basically called a director a pedo. If you're going to make those kind of statements to the press, you'd better be prepared to back them up. Galvin, clearly, was not since he issued an apology less than 24-hours after the story was posted. After all the bravado he expressed in the interview, he was practically cowering in his apology to everyone he said awful things about. In this day and age of the internet and 24-hour news, it's hard to say anything publicly and not have it come back to bite you. It's not just celebrities or people in the media either. Plain, every day folks have found themselves out of a job because of something stupid they Tweeted or posted about on Facebook. I read today about a guy (a Cavs fan) who Tweeted  a nasty comment about Steph Curry's family and the guy put his place of employment (a realtor or realty company) out there with the Tweet. People complained to his employer, and he was promptly fired. He wasn't a media mogul like Denton or a TV show celebrity like Galvin, yet he, like them, learned the hard way that what you say (or do) in public can come back to get you and take you down.

High-Brow Smut

I read that a movie version of the book Call Me By Your Name (CMBYN) by Andre Achiman is being made starring my favorite blond at the moment, Armie Hammer. I was surprised to read that someone not only had optioned the book for film but that an acutal movie (and apparently not a small-budget movie either) is being made. I read CMBYN some years ago and remembered that it was dirty. I recall having a discussion with a woman in my Philadelphia book club about the book because she'd read it for her Washington, DC book club. (She used to live in Philly, but moved to DC, but returned to Philly often to see friends and attend our book club meetings.) Anyway, I was shocked when she told me she'd read CMBYN for a book club because it's so smutty. I'm currently rereading it because I couldn't really remember much about it except that it was smutty. In my second reading, I'm still finding it smutty, but it's high-brow smut. There's a lot of talk of Greeks and religion and Haydn, but underneath all of that high-brow talk is a lot of sexual angst and sex itself. I have to say, reading the book a second time makes me more inclined to see the movie (and not just because of Armie Hammer--hey, I passed on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.). I mainly want to see the movie to find out how much they cut out (or leave in) from the book. The book centers on a 17-year-old boy who's in lust with a 28-year-old house guest who's staying with his family at their Italian villa for the summer. Are we really going to see Armie getting it on with a 17-year-old? Yeah, I doubt it. I have a feeling it'll turn into a series of scenes with the teen staring at Armie in lust and then being filled with angst because he can't (or won't) express his feelings or, when he does, he's rebuffed. The film is scheduled for a 2017 release, so if it finishes and sees the light of day, I'll certainly check it out.

Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66

I forgot to mention that I saw Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 (well, Brasil 2016 now) at the City Winery in Chicago last Monday night. It was a great show. Sergio and the band performed many of their hits (Mais Que Nada, Magdalena, Fool on the Hill). Some of the songs were updated with a rapper named H20. I could have done without his input, but I guess Sergio wanted to try and update some of his older tunes to try and attract a younger audience. If you read my blog regularly, you know I love Brazilian music so I didn't want to pass up the chance to see (and hear) Sergio Mendes when he came to town. At his age, I'm surprised he's still out there touring. Go Sergio!

Pre-Shingles

I keep seeing these commercials for shingles medication that warn if you've had chicken pox, the shingles virus is already inside of you and they're freaking me out. I believe I did have chicken pox as a child. I distinctly remember my father telling me I had them when I was a baby and he and my mother put socks on my hands to keep me from scratching myself. But when I asked my father recently about my bout with chicken pox, he said he couldn't remember if I'd had it or not. (Too bad my mother's not alive so I could ask her because I'm sure she'd remember.) My father is in his 70s, so I don't expect him to remember events from more than 40 years ago. In any case, I fear it's just a matter of time before I get shingles...painful, blistering shingles. I think I'm in pre-shingles mode now. Do you have shingles? No. I have pre-shingles. I'm a carrier of the shingles trait. Shingles just seems like an awful thing to have to suffer with. In the commercial I saw, the narrator said a bout of shingles could last up to 30 days. I can't imagine having a painful, blistering rash for a month. Oy! My father told me his doctor wrote him a prescription to get a shot that helps with shingles pain. The shot doesn't prevent you from getting shingles, but it lessens the pain if you do get it. My father told me he was still in the "thinking stage" and he hadn't decided if he was going to get the shot or not. I'm probably too young to worry about shingles now, but I just have a feeling the shingles will be a part of my life in the future. Now I need to get on Google and read everything I can about shingles to try and prepare myself for what's to come.

Hurry Up and Wait

For the past two afternoons, I've been stuck in traffic coming home from my day job. I have a long commute anyway (an hour each way) but my commute time doubled yesterday and today. Yesterday, heavy rain just forced everyone to crawl along the freeways and surface streets. Today, a semi was overturned on I-294. Oh, and the semi was on fire. While I hope no one was injured in the crash, it really jacked up my commute. Once I got past the wreck and was finally on my way, I saw my first Trump bumper sticker. I hadn't seen one until today. I'd seen a lot of "Feel the Burn" stickers and an occasional "Hillary" bumper sticker, but never one for The Donald. I had to speed up to look at the driver and was just as I expected: white, white-haired, and male.