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Non-occurrence At Dunkin' Donuts

5/16/2018

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"EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTIONS"
By Patti Liszkay
is FREE on AMAZON KINDLE until May 17
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Non-occurrence At Dunkin' Donuts

As I recounted in my 5/13/2018 post, on the evening that Tom and I arrived in Chicago for our recent visit,

...while strolling around the Wicker Park neighborhood after dinner,

we came upon a Dunkin Donuts,

....and so we decided to go in and have some coffee, tea, and donuts.
But this I didn't tell:
Behind the counter was a young African American woman who looked to be in her twenties. We and she were the only people in the store.

After the young woman waited on us Tom and I took a seat at the bar so as to be able to look out the window.

     After we'd been sitting for a little while another customer entered the store, also a young African American woman who appeared to be about the same age as the woman working behind the counter. The young woman took a seat at the end of the bar where we were sitting and, elbow on the table and chin resting in her hand, she, too, began looking out the window.
     After she'd been sitting looking out the window for a couple minutes the young woman behind the counter called to her, "Can I help you?"
     The woman sitting at the bar turned around to the server. "I'm waiting for my friend," she said. "Do I have to buy something to sit here?"
     "No," server replied, "I just wanted to know if you wanted anything."
      "Oh, no thanks," the woman said with a smile, "I'm just waiting."
      "You can wait," said the woman behind the counter, also with a smile.
      And so the young woman, Tom and I all went back to looking out the window while the server continued standing behind the counter.
      And that's the end of the story.

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Walking, Eating, And Napping Around Chicago

5/15/2018

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May 15 through May 17
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"A rollicking good yarn." - Amazon review

Walking, Eating, And Napping Around Chicago

...Continued from yesterday:

After the Heroes Breakfast (see yesterday's post), Claire and Miguel had some work to do, so we made a plan to meet up later for dinner. Then Miguel and Claire went their way and Tom and I went ours.

Tom's and my way consisted of a stroll along beautiful Michigan Avenue to take in the sights,

...and also to take in a couple of donuts at a Dunkin' Donuts we happened upon.

Tom and I love us some Dunkin' Donuts.

Then we continued walking,

...until we reached the corner of Michigan Avenue and Washington Street where is located the Chicago Cultural Center, which we entered.

The Chicago Cultural Center is a wonderful free museum,

..famous for its Tiffany-domed ceiling,

...and its variety of changing exhibitions.

On this day the works of several artists were on display.

This guy was my favorite,.

...but I also liked this one a lot, too.

In one room there were a number of foreign students working on a group project.

There was also an exhibit on the the music scene in Bronzeville, the historically African American area of Chicago.

And while I found the old photos and artifacts interesting, it occurred to me that I'd much rather be able to listen to the music of the times rather than just look at records and pictures of the people who made the music.

But then I came upon this phone booth,

...inside of which was an old-fashioned rotary phone and a list of numbers one could dial to hear recordings of the music covered in the exhibit.

So I dialed and listened. It was great.

After we finished our tour of the Chicago Cultural Center it was time for lunch.
We decided to walk to Union Station, about a mile away, to have a Chicago dog from our favorite hot dog stand, Gold Coast Dogs, located in the basement of Union Station.

Now, I hadn't slept much the night before but, veteran insomniac that I am, a night with little sleep usually doesn't affect me much the following day.
But today, for some reason, soon after we started our walk to Union Station I started feeling tired and slightly nauseous. The more we walked the more tired and nauseous I felt, until by the time we reached Gold Coast Dogs my desire for a Chicago dog was 'way less than zero.

So Tom had a gorgeous-looking Chicago dog,

...while I - sitting in a molded plastic chair at a table we shared with another diner in crowded, noisy Union Station - took a nap.

    I'll never understand why I have so much trouble sleeping at night in a clean, comfortable bed in a dark, quiet room but can fall into a great sleep mid-afternoon sitting in a plastic or even a folding metal chair. I've fallen into many's the fine nap sitting in a folding chair while supposedly listening in on my children's cello, violin or piano lessons.
     Anyway, my brief nap in Union Station was of such high quality that when I awoke I was almost in the mood for a Chicago dog.
     However, as we were to meet Claire and Miguel for dinner, I decided not to press my luck,

...and we opted to just take the subway back to the Holiday Jones,

...our Wicker Park hostel (see post from 5/13/2018).

At dinner time we met up again with Claire and Miguel.

I'd thrown down the challenge to Miguel that the burgers Tom and I had had the night before at Mac's Wood Grilled were the best on the planet, and he was willing to take the challenge. (Claire, being a good-natured vegetarian, was amenable to checking out the pub's vegetarian fare).

Miguel had the Bacon and Eggs burger,

...Claire had the Grilled Cheese with a tomato bisque which she thought was really good,

...and Tom and I shared the burger I'd found so exquisite the day before, the 'Shroomin,

...and the delicious salad.

Miguel's judgement was that his was not the best burger he'd ever had. In truth, though I still found my burger very good the second time around, and I'd gladly go back again, the thrill of flavor I'd experienced upon tasting it the first time was absent the second time.
I guess thrills never do last.

We finished the evening with a walk,

...and a visit to Stan's, a popular Wicker Park donutery.

After we said good night to Miguel and Claire Tom and I walked to a local supermarket to buy provisions to make my cherry almond streusel pie - everybody's favorite - the following day.

The following morning, Friday morning, Tom and I partook of the Holiday Jones's complementary breakfast,

A little later we hopped back onto the subway,

..which we rode to the Western stop in Logan Square.

...which offered a cool view from the platform:

We walked from the train to Claire and Miguel's house,

...where we were greeted by one of their kitties, Rosie,

...their other kitties, Sassy and Siri, being busy with the naps they enjoy taking on their kitty hammocks.

Claire, Tom, and I then walked from their house to the 606,

...the former subway line that has been re-purposed as a walking and biking path.

View from the 606:

We exited near our destination,

...the Yolk test kitchen,

...which is where this local restaurant chain tests recipes for use in its other Yolk restaurants,

...and where met up with Miguel for brunch.

We all thought the food was delicious.

Tom had blueberry pancakes,

...Miguel had the Short Rib Benedict,

...Claire had scrambled eggs,

...we ordered some pancakes to share,

...and I see that I forgot to snap a picture of my avocado toast, but as I recall it, too, was very photogenic and tasty.
After brunch we walked through Wicker Park and Bucktown,

...stopping at the landmark Bucktown Walgreens that used to be a bank,

...with a vitamin vault where the bank vault used to be.

We also passed by the building that used to house our formerly favorite hostel, the IHSP (see post from 11/19/2015).

Then we walked back to the 606,

...back to Miguel and Claire's house,

...where we spent a pleasant rest of the afternoon.

The kitty house.

The boxes of artificial flowers and garden statues Claire set up for the little neighbor preschooler to play with:

...instead of picking her flowers.

I baked a cherry almond streusel pie, the recipe for which I will once again share:

Cherry Almond Streusel Pie
The Pie:
2 cans of tart red cherries.
2 tablespoons of quick-cooking tapioca
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 9-inch unbaked refrigerated roll-out pie crust

The Streusel:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup slivered almonds

    Drain one can of cherries and mix it with the other can of cherries with the juice from that can. Mix the cherries and juice with the tapioca, sugar, and cinnamon. Let stand for 15 minutes.
    Mix the flour and brown sugar then cut the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture is crumbly. Mix in the almonds.
    Roll out the pie crust, place it in a 9-inch pie pan and spread the cherry mixture into the pie crust. Spoon the streusel mixture over the cherries.
    Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and topping well-browned.

When dinner time rolled around we set off for the bus stop,

...from where we hopped a bus,

...to Miguel and Claire's favorite Mexican restaurant, Las Palmas.

The food was fantastic.

Claire had tofu tacos,

...Tom had salmon,

...Miguel had the Enchayotadas: "Corn tortillas stuffed with grilled chayote, carrots, portabella mushrooms and crispy corn chips, in creamy jalapeño-tomatillo salsa, topped with melted Chihuahua, crema, queso añejo, & garlic vinaigrette salad."

...and I had the Enchayotadas with the jalapeño-tomatillo salsa on the side. It was great.

After dinner we decided to walk the couple miles back to Claire and Miguel's.

When we arrived home we had the cherry almond streusel pie with ice cream.

Then we said our good-byes,

...and Tom and I headed back to our hostel.

On Saturday morning we were up early, out of the Holiday Jones,

...back out on the street,

...and headed to the subway which would take us to the Greyhound station and the bus ride that will live in infamy (see post from 5/13/2018).

...but which we nonetheless survived.

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The Heroes Breakfast

5/14/2018

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The Heroes Breakfast

...Continued from yesterday:

As the Red Cross Heroes Breakfast was on Thursday morning at the downtown Chicago Hilton at 7:30 am, we were up early and on our way to join the morning commuters,

...and their phones,

...on the subway.
We detrained at the the La Salle station then walked through the city,

...to Michigan Avenue,

...and the Hilton Chicago.

...a pretty place on the inside,

...and crowded with people there for the event.

We found Claire and Miguel amidst the crowd,

...and, of course, I made them pose for a couple of ops.

(For those who don't recognize Miguel in the above pictures, the above is his new look since he shaved his beard and donated 16 inches of his gorgeous hair to Children With Hair Loss).

We entered the dining room, now filling up with the guests, many of whom appeared to be representatives of the businesses sponsoring the event.

We sat at a table with some of Claire's fellow nurses from Northwestern Hospital.

Breakfast.

Besides Claire there were a dozen other inspiring American Red Cross Heroes honored,

...including a nine-year-old who saved her 8-month-old brother, 4-year-old sister and mother from a house fire.

As with the other heroes, the Red Cross made and showed a video about Claire's work around the world,

...in which Claire talked about,

...her yearly medical mission to Haiti,

...here in a make-shift pharmacy which she and Miguel ran,

...her work in Texas after Hurricane Harvey,

...in Florida after Hurricane Maria,

...in Sierra Leone during the Ebola plague,

...and most recently in Bangladesh in the Rohingya refugee camp at Cox's Bazar .

Here's the link to the Red Cross video about Claire's work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHZ176WDbxA

...and the link to the video of Claire's award acceptance speech:
https://www.facebook.com/mjimenez82/videos/10107473470831442/

And here's a little clip the Chicago affiliate CBS did on Claire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi1a0T-hqUA

After the ceremony there were a few more photo ops,

...and finally, the dilemma of what to do with the big poster of Claire, which she was allowed to keep.

But that was a nice dilemma.

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Greyhounding It To Chicago

5/13/2018

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On Wednesday, May 2, Tom and I traveled to Chicago for the American Red Cross 2018 Heroes Breakfast,

...our daughter Claire being one of the honorees.

Now, up until last year our standard means of transportation from Columbus, Ohio, to Chicago was the wonderful Megabus, with its clean, comfortable accommodations and friendly, helpful drivers who'd make the trip in 7 hours flat.

    However last year Megabus left Columbus, leaving Tom and I to seek out a new mode of transport to Chicago for visits with our daughter and son-in-law.
    Last summer we drove the trip, during which our car was totaled by a disembodied rogue tire randomly bouncing down the highway right into our car (see post from 6/18/2018).
    And then there was the issue of trying to find parking on the Chicago streets once we arrived in our rented car.
     We decided that in the future we'd prefer not to drive the trip.
     Thus we decided to try the Greyhound Bus.
    The cost of the tickets was less than what we'd typically pay for the Megabus: we'd typically pay around $75 - $80 each for a Chicago round-trip Megabus ticket; the Greyhound round-trip tickets were $63 each.

It was nice having a terminal in which to wait for the bus - the Megabus arrived at a street corner - though the terminal was a bit run-down and the bathrooms rather behind the maintenance curve.

We learned that Greyhound no longer necessarily runs their own buses, but contracts out to other bus companies to provide their transport.

For example, to Chicago we rode a Barons Bus,

...which, while not as nice as a Megabus, wasn't bad, thought the promise of WIFI was an elusive one. But then the WIFI promised on the Megabus seldom worked for me, either.

     Our return trip from Chicago to Columbus, however, was on a bus from the Miller Transportation Line, and had to be one of the vilest vehicles on the road. The interior of the bus smelled like a latrine the moment one stepped on board, and the sorry - make that disgusting - state of the bus restroom - stench, sticky floor, empty hand sanitizer container, jammed toilet paper role that refused to dispense and an indescribable toilet seat - suggested that this facility had not been cleaned or maintained any time in the recent past.
     The seats on the window side of the bus were not comfortable because the seat leg was so located that it left insufficient room on either side to place one's feet.
    There was a passenger a few seats behind us who smoked during the trip and who appeared to be suffering some mental distress, which may be why the driver ignored the smoking.
    It was a 9-hour ride.
    But that unsavory trip home on Saturday on the Miller Transportation Line bus was in the future and thankfully unbeknownst to us on Wednesday as we set out for Chicago.
     Our Greyhound - Barons - bus left Columbus at 7:30 am. I had assumed there would be a lunch/rest stop along the way where we could get something to eat, but our one "rest stop" was a 15-minute lay-over at 9:00 am in the Trotwood, Ohio Greyhound station where the only food and drink was to be found in vending machines. So I purchased our lunch provisions - bags of pretzels and cheese crackers and bottles of water - from the vending machines.
    Most likely because our bus to Chicago stopped at 12 cities and towns along the way to drop off and pick up passengers, we traveled not along the highway but through the streets of small towns in Ohio and Indiana.

At the end of the eight-and-a-half hour trip we arrived at the busy downtown Chicago Greyhound station,

...from whence we walked to the Clinton Metro station,

...and took the subway to the Division Street stop in Wicker Park.

We then walked from the subway to the hostel where we were staying,

...the Holiday Jones.

The Holiday Jones is a cute, friendly place with a funky decor,

...an empanada restaurant on the first floor called 5411 Empanadas, a popular Wicker Park spot,

...and a nice common area in the basement with a well-stocked kitchen area where the guests may cook and eat and where a complimentary breakfast is served,

Our room was on the second floor,

...with bunk beds,

...and a bay window with a great city view.

The bathroom, which we shared with our fellow hostelers, was out in the hall.

The place was spotlessly clean and the staff as helpful and accommodating as last time we'd stayed there last summer (see posts from 6/20/2017).

After we'd settled into our room we headed back out and walked along Division Street in search of some food,

....which we eventually found at a little Division Street pub we happened up called Mac's Wood Grilled,

Burgers being the house specialty, we ordered burgers.
Now, mayhaps it was from hunger, or from my last meal having been a lunch of pretzels and cheese crackers,

...but I swore that the burger I ordered, the 'Shroomin, a rare, juicy, tasty patty topped with creamy Gorgonzola and a pile of mushrooms, was the best burger I'd ever had.
And the hot, crispy skinny fires were likewise awesome.

Tom also sung the praises of his burger, which he ordered straight-up with an equally praise-worthy salad on the side.

After our oh-so-satisfying dinner we strolled around Wicker Park,

...until we happened upon a Dunkin' Donuts, where we decided to stop, sample the wares, and watch the world go by for a while.

We then rejoined the evening strollers,

...until we felt like returning to the Holiday Jones,

...and our nice room with a view.

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"Finding Lien"

5/11/2018

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R. Bruce Logan is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, author and humanitarian whose cause is that of ending the child sex-trafficking trade in Southeast Asia.

Bruce and his wife, Elaine Head, travel frequently to Vietnam and in their work and research have come to know well "the structure of the trafficking and slavery network,"(1) and have met, interviewed, and come to know victims of child sex trafficking in that part of the world.

Logan's blog, "Journey's of the Heart,"
http://ebtovietnam.blogspot.ca/
chronicles his and his wife's travels and work in Vietnam.

It is the experience and knowledge gained from his life's mission and his two tours of duty in Vietnam along with "data gleaned from academic literature and journalism, careful investigation on the Internet, interviews and field visits to both Vietnam and Cambodia." (2) that R. Bruce Logan used to craft his remarkable first novel,

..."Finding Lien,"

...the story line of which is summarized here on the book's back cover:

    "Finding Lien" is such a good book. Not only is it deeply affecting, thought-provoking and informative, but it is fast-paced and a page-turner from the beginning as it opens with a sudden, shocking revelation that compels a retired U.S. Army officer to return to Vietnam to deal with the consequences of a brief, long-forgotten liaison with a young Vietnamese woman back when he was a young soldier during the war over forty years ago. The story then takes the reader down into the dark world of the Southeast Asian child sex-trafficking trade and is full of twists, turns, heart-gripping and heart-stopping moments and vibrant, realistic characters and settings. It is a realistic story that juxtaposes human evil, depravity and corruption with human goodness, courage and love.
    Don't forego reading "Finding Lien" because of the subject; read it because of the subject, and because the author is donating any profits from the book to the following organizations working to end child trafficking and slavery:
Blue Dragon: Hanoi https//www.bluedragon.org

Ethos: Northern Vietnam http://www.ethosspirit.com/ethosgiving.html

    Go Philanthropic: Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal http://gophilanthropic.org/gophil-expands-trafficking-work-vietnam/

Children's Education Foundation, Vietnam http://www.childrenseducationfoundation.org.au/programs.html

Vietnam Education Society: http://vietnameducation.ca/about-ves/

"Finding Lien" is available at Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Lien-R-Bruce-Logan-ebook/dp/B01F9ETB2O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526000305&sr=8-1&keywords=finding+lien

References
(1) Logan, R. Bruce. Finding Lien (p. 226). Black Rose Writing. Kindle Edition.
(2) Logan, R. Bruce. Finding Lien (p. 227). Black Rose Writing. Kindle Edition.

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There Is No Frigate Like A Book

5/10/2018

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"There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away."
So wrote Emily Dickinson, and if the poet was describing a book that one is reading, I can attest that her words also ring true in the case of a book that one has written.
The publication of my own book has unexpectedly opened new worlds to me:

...the world of book marketing, for example,

...nonexistent on my mental map or my cerebral encyclopedia a year ago,

...but one into which I was propelled almost as soon as my book was released.

Ditto the interviews,

...which I've not only given on the subject of my book,

...but now receive via telephone from other authors from around the country and the world - I interviewed one author from India - on the subject of their books for the book podcast yourbookmybook.com

Indian author Sonnal Pardiwala, whom I interviewed on her book, "Fan for the First Time."

But best of all has been the world of new people, especially fellow authors I've met, and some of their wonderful books that have taken me lands away:

I recently made the acquaintance via the Black Rose Writing Authors Facebook page,

...managed by my publisher, Black Rose Writing,

...of author R. Bruce Logan.

...and his superb book, "Finding Lien."

...that took me to a land so far away and yet that felt so real and close and so gripped my heart and my mind that I still haven't returned.
I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
To be continued...

Buy it on Amazon

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Bend, Oregon

5/7/2018

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…Continued from yesterday:
When I arrived in Portland on Thursday, April 26, the city was misty and overcast,

…but scenic all the same.

…and my sister Romaine’s neighborhood was in full spring bloom,

...including her front yard, which looked magical,

...as did her back yard,

...and, as always, the interior of her house.

My first request upon arriving in Portland was to have dinner at one of my favorite Portland eateries,

…a little diner around the corner from Romaine’s house called Dick’s Kitchen,

…Dick's being the source of one of my perennial cravings, the Kale Caesar Burger Bowl, which is a burger atop a bed of chopped kale with shaved Parmesan and Caesar dressing. Soooo tasty!

On Friday morning we had breakfast with Romaine’s sweet friend Atsu,

…at a neighborhood restaurant called Skcavone’s,

…where I had the yummiest avocado-topped omelet with some great potatoes on the side.

After breakfast I spent much of the day snapping the spring flora and fauna around Romaine's neighborhood.

Friday evening we went to see Randy Rainbow Live (see yesterday's post),

...and on Saturday afternoon we took a trip to Bend. Oregon.
163 miles southeast of Portland, Bend is a small charming city located at the foot of the Cascade mountains in the sunny, piney central Oregon high desert region on the beautiful Deschutes River.

Romaine and I stayed in the part of Bend known as the Old Mill District,

...at the Hampton Inn.

After we'd settled in we ventured out from our hotel on foot to explore the Old Mill District a bit.

Dinner time was upon us when we came to an inviting-looking restaurant called Greg's Grill,

...which we decided to try.

Romaine ordered the mac & cheese with chicken, artichoke hearts and spinach, which she thought was quite good,

...while I had the ahi tuna salad, which I thought was outstanding.

After dinner we strolled around the Old Mill District a bit longer,

...then we drove into town to have a look around,

...before returning to the hotel to snag some dessert from the Suite Shop in the hotel lobby.

The following morning we went to services at the Bend Unity church, located in a beautiful pastoral setting,

...and where the small congregation was very friendly and welcoming.

After church we returned to downtown Bend for lunch at a spot that had been recommended to us by the server at Greg's Grill,

...a cute spot called The Deschutes Brewery,

...where the Greg's Grill server had recommended that we try the Brewery's famous Pub Pretzel,

...which we did.

In truth, Romaine and were of the shared opinion that this pretzel was too much on the bready side; a really great soft pretzel would have been more on the chewy side. However the pretzel was greatly improved by the dipping sauce, a combo of a delicious cheese sauce ringed with stone ground mustard.

After lunch we headed back to Portland,

...which, of course, also has its charm.

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Randy Rainbow Live. Sort Of.

5/5/2018

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"Equal and Opposite Reactions "
By Patti liszkay
Buy it on Amazon http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa

Randy Rainbow Live. Sort Of.

Several months ago I Facebooked my sister Romaine,

...that Randy Rainbow's live stage show was coming on April 27 to a theater near her neighborhood in Portland, Oregon.

For those who don’t already know who Randy Rainbow (his real birth name) is, he is a young gay musical satirist who has come into his ascendancy during the golden age of political satire that has flourished in our nation, nay around the whole world,

...ever since Donald Trump became president.

Randy Rainbow's medium is the Youtube video, and he makes the most brilliantly hilarious videos, usually with himself starring as a newscaster who breaks into song - in the clearest, smoothest, most golden-voiced tenor - while covering the Trump White House.

As anyone who knows me well knows, I am a Randy Rainbow super-fan (See post from 9/15/2017).
So when my sister messaged me back telling me that she in fact had two tickets to Randy Rainbow Live and asking me if I'd like to come out to Portland to see his show, of course that was an offer I couldn't refuse.

And so on Thursday, April 26, I was once again in the Columbus airport (see post from 4/29/2018)

…and soon afterwards on my to Portland to see Randy Rainbow Live,

…and, of course, my sister.

And so on Friday evening Romaine and I set out for the Aladdin Theater,

…stopping along the way for dinner at a cute little pub called Mcmenamins Barley Mill,

…where we had yummy turkey sandwiches with a garlic aioli.

After dinner we headed to The Aladdin,

…a smallish, pretty, vintage theater,

(Poster in the ladies room advertising an upcoming event.)

…that would be packed by the time the show started.

There was a long line in the lobby to buy tee shirts,

...and an even longer line at the bar.

   This was a crowd of happy, excited, fellow die-hard Randy Rainbow fans, thrilled and stoked to be seeing him perform live. I over-heard one woman say that she’d already seen Randy Rainbow Live in San Francisco and she’d flown in from San Francisco to Portland to see the show again.
     That’s one hard-core Randy Rainbow fan.
     I can’t say what I expected the Randy Rainbow Live show to be. I knew that his medium is first and foremost video and that he creates ― prolifically ― his razor-witted videos in his apartment in Queens, New York using a camera and a green screen; so I assumed the show would include video,

…and the small band on stage was a clue that there’d be live singing.

     What the show turned out to be was a little over an hour of Randy Rainbow dashing on and off stage.
       While on stage he mostly sang along to his videos, which played on the screen behind him.
       His fine tenor voice sounded as clear, strong and wide-ranged on stage as it did on his videos; except that Randy Rainbow’s live singing so closely matched his singing on the videos playing behind him that one couldn’t tell whether he was singing or lip-syncing to the videos. Sometimes he turned and just watched a video along with us; other times he ducked off stage and let us watch one of his videos without him.
     While the rest of the audience appeared to be loving every minute of the show, I found myself wondering what the point was of watching the same videos on stage that I’d already watched dozens of times on Youtube. But then mayhaps the rest of the audience wasn’t as steeped in the Randy Rainbow repertory as I was, as the audience was lively and reactive and laughed at the videos as if this were the first time they’d ever seen them.
      Or maybe the adoring audience just didn’t care whether they’d already seen the videos and knew them all by heart. Maybe they were just so thrilled to see our idol in person that it didn’t matter what his show was.
       On the other hand, Randy Rainbow did have wonderful stage presence, and when he did tell a few smart, witty jokes between the videos his comic timing was spot-on. He seemed comfortable with the crowd, he was friendly and had good audience rapport and good audience engagement. There just wasn’t enough of it, thought I.
     At one point Randy Rainbow invited the audience to ask him questions. Most of the questions people asked were jokey or silly, such as “What does your mother think of your videos?” or “When are you gonna get that a***ole kicked out of the White House?” One woman asked if she could give him her son’s phone number. Randy Rainbow riposted with clever one-liners while the audience roared.
       I asked him the only serious question: Would he tell us a little about his musical education and background?
     A little is what he told us. He said that he went to college very briefly before dropping out, that he learned most of what he knew from his family, and that he’d been doing musical theater most of his life.
       It was after his quick, abbreviated answer to my question that the thought popped into my head: Randy Rainbow doesn’t relish doing these live shows. He’d rather be back in his apartment making his videos. He did in fact mention later that making videos was what he did all day long. So making videos must be what Randy Rainbow really loves doing. And indeed, he does that well.
     At the end of the show the audience gave him a rousing standing ovation, which I joined in, deciding that Randy Rainbow’s body of musical political satire as a whole deserved an ovation and that perhaps these live shows help finance his true art, his videos, which I've been watching for free for well over a year and which, I swear, are the only thing that have been getting me through the Trump Presidency.
     And so after the show I bought a tee shirt.

For the cause.

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Michelle Wolff, Potty-Mouthed Patriot

5/2/2018

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What Goodreads reviewers are saying about "Equal and Opposite Reactions":
"It's Hallmark meets the Sopranos in this fun and engaging read."
"The characters are well developed with lots of sass, drama and wicked humor."
"The characters were hilariously and perfectly flawed."
"Cleverly plotted and exceptionally well written... part drama and part slapstick comedy."

Buy it on Amazon http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa

Michelle Wolff, Potty-Mouthed Patriot

Though the snowstorm of commentary swirling around comedian Michelle Wolf’s speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last Saturday night has greatly subsided, there’s still a residual flurry of opinions in the air,

...and there appears to be exactly two on the subject: that Michelle Wolff’s coarse jokes, especially her Donald Trump jokes and her lampooning of Sarah Sanders and Ivanka Trump,

...were either mean-spirited affronts to decency or a dishing out of deliciously just ― and truth-flavored ― desserts.
I suppose that Ms. Wolff’s White House comedy routine was actually both.
Now, I am as a rule of the persuasion that it is beneath one’s dignity and more often than not counter-productive to repay gross nastiness with more gross nastiness;

...rather I am disciple of Michelle’s Obama’s philosophy of “When they go low, we go high.”

    But in truth I’m not so sure that what Michelle Wolff was doing at the Correspondent's Dinner was going low.
      Well, all right, yes, she was going low. But I don't think that skewering the Trump administration was really the point of Michelle Wolf’s off-color comic diatribe.
     I believe what Ms. Wolff was really doing at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was making sure that freedom of speech is still alive in this country.

It's no secret that the current President of the Unites States, though he loves to hurl gross insults at anyone who arouses his displeasure, cannot tolerate any negative commentary regarding himself.

     On more than one occasion he's made threatening statements against a free press and coined the term "fake news" to describe any piece of journalism that is not complimentary to him - as few outside of Fox News are these days.
       Donald Trump has praised murderous dictators such as Philippine President Rodrigo Duerte, Vladimir Putin, and even Kim Jong Un for their ability to control their people.
        Can there really be any doubt that, given leave to do so, Donald Trump would also crack down on freedom of speech and expression in our country?
     It may well be that under Under Donald Trump’s administration it’s important for citizens to occasionally publicly say the sort of things that Michelle Wolff did just to make sure that we’re still allowed to. And just to remind Donald Trump that, unhappy as he might be about being on the receiving end of the sort of mockery that he relishes slinging at others, he may in no way abridge the freedom of speech of any citizen.
       I believe that what Michelle Wolf was really doing in publicly pushing the envelope far past the point of civility was testing the waters for all of us, asking the question, “Am I still free to speak out? Are we all?”
       As of today yes, we still are.

References
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/30/17301436/michelle-wolf-speech-transcript-white-house-correspondents-dinner-sarah-huckabee-sanders

om/2016/08/14/trump-threatens-freedom-press-elected-president.html

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"One Of Us! One Of Us!"

4/30/2018

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...Continued from yesterday:
As it turns out, two readers knew the answer to yesterday's riddle as evidenced by their posted comments. The two readers who knew the answer just happened by coincidence to be two of my daughters.

Anyway, here's the answer:

In 1932 the movie “Freaks” was released.

Starring a cast of real side-show performers that both shocked and scandalized the general public,

... “Freaks” was a horror movie that was too horrifying for its time.
The story line of “Freaks” goes as follows:
The circus sideshow freaks are a good-hearted and sociable group though among each other they form a close-knit, supportive familial circle.

A kind-hearted dwarf named Hans who is well-loved within the freak community and his sweetheart, a tiny dancer named Frieda, are engaged to be married.

A beautiful but evil-hearted trapeze artist named Cleopatra learns that Hans is due to inherit a fortune, though Hans does not yet know this. Cleopatra and her handsome evil lover, a circus strong man named Hercules, plot to get their hands on Han‘s money.

Cleopatra pretends to fall in love with Hans and seduces him away from Frieda, then prevails upon him to marry her, which, completely smitten with the irresistible Cleopatra, he does.

Cleopatra, however, intends to poison Hans on their wedding day so that she will inherit his money.
Hans and Cleopatra are married, and the freaks joyfully celebrate at their friend’s wedding reception,

...except for heart-broken Frieda.

While the guests sit around the banquet table feasting and drinking, Cleopatra surreptitiously drops poison into her groom’s wine. The freaks, tipsy and happy, propose a toast to Cleopatra, telling her that even though she’s different from them, they will accept her as one of themselves.
Then proceeds the famous (among the film savvy), iconic scene from “Freaks,” in which the Freaks chant over and over again to the horrified Cleopatra:

“One of us! One of us! Gooba gobble, gooba gobble, we accept her, we accept her!”

Here's the Youtube link to the "One of us! One of us!" scene in case anybody would like to watch it and become a film savvy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Bnk6VU53Y

   Cleopatra throws the wine at the freaks and she and Hercules threaten them and insult and shame Hans, who succumbs to the poison.
      Hans eventually recovers and he and Frieda are reconciled, but not before the freaks, who have discovered that Cleopatra and Hercules tried to murder Hans for his money, go after the evil pair and deliver to them their just desserts, carrying out a special vengeance on Cleopatra: they capture her and turn her into a sort of squawking duck-woman so that now she, too, is a circus sideshow freak and one of them.
     "Freaks" was considered so horrifying when it opened in 1932 that the final "duck woman" scene caused audiences to run screaming from the theater. One woman claimed the movie caused her to miscarry.
    However in the 1960's the film was rediscovered and has since picked up a cult following among hard-core movie buffs such as myself (I'm not actually a cult-follower of "Freaks," just a hard-core movie buff) and the line "One of us! One of us!" is a frequent in-joke reference (that few get but from now on you will) in pop culture, as it has been on The Simpsons, Big Bang Theory, South Park,

...in a hilarious kiddie book my grand daughter likes called Dog Man,

...and now at the Columbus airport,

I wonder if whoever thought up the Columbus Airport slogan googled it first?

Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freaks

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