Category Archives: General

General, Movies, TV

Omicron & Joe Manchin & Chris Noth & Spider-Man… Oh My… sigh…

First: Hope everyone’s having a decent time as we head into the holidays. Sorry for the dearth of posts but, as pretty much expected, things have been extra-busy lately and finding the free time to post -much less do much of anything with the very little free time I’ve had lately- has kept me busy.

Naturally, there’s been a bunch o’ stuff going on, not a lot of it good.

First up is Omicron, the latest COVID 19 Variant which has, unfortunately, become a real issue worldwide. Why? Because it appears this variant is even more highly transmissible than Delta, the last variant, and further appears to be leading to record-breaking infection rates. In New York, for example, has a new one day reported infection record (you can read the full article here):

The previous record, set 11 months ago on Jan. 14, crumbled when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced 21,027 new positive cases statewide Friday.

Locally, we’re getting grim news as well regarding surging infection rates. The only positive, if one is to look at it as such, is that at least so far it appears Omicron might be a weaker infection despite its strong ability to be spread. In other words, those who catch it appear to have more mild symptoms. Doesn’t mean, however, that some people aren’t showing stronger symptoms.

I can’t help but wonder if the lag in people getting vaccinated has allowed this virus the time to mutate and therefore become much more infectious.

Regardless, there still exist those out there who refuse to get vaccines and, sadly, they may find themselves in the bullseye like never before. Which is not to say those of us who have been vaccinated -even those who have gotten a booster- need not take this seriously.

There’s no poetic way to say this: It sucks. It really, really sucks.

Onto the second topic and…

Politics…. Beware…!

So this morning Joe Manchin, senator from West Virginia, decides to go on Fox News (you just know that’s no good) and announces he’s a “no” vote on Joe Biden’s Build Back Better legislation.

He’s always been slow on the legislation, but there seemed to be a deal made where the Infrastructure Deal was allowed to pass with the understanding that the BBB legislation would be passed… in whatever form Manchin finally agreed with.

There were progressives within the House who didn’t want to pass one piece of legislation without the other, and it was only because of the promise that the BBB would be passed that the Infrastructure Bill was finally allowed a vote.

Therefore its not terribly surprising Manchin’s statement today has left many absolutely furious with him.

Frankly, they have every right.

I don’t know where things go from here. I believe this great country needs more of an investment in its infrastructure and services to the citizens. I believe we need to spend more on climate change. Almost all the elements I’ve read which are in the legislation feel like they are good.

But even if Manchin had issues with the bill, even if he didn’t feel the bill worked for him, this move, going on TV and publicly making this announcement… it’s chicken shit stuff.

Dude, what prompted you to do this? One can’t help but wonder now if all those other negotiations, all that other “work” done on the bill to date… was him bullshitting and hoping to get the Infrastructure bill done so he could then pack up his toys and set fire to everything else.

It really casts him in a negative light, IMHO, and I never had a particularly positive or negative impression about him before.

If you’re curious, you can read more about Manchin’s statement and the blowback in this article by Daniella Diaz and presented on CNN:

Manchin says he won’t vote for Build Back Better Act

Next up is actor Chris Noth.

I like Chris Noth. Liked him since first seeing him many, many years ago in Law & Order.

Chris Noth, on the left, with Jerry Orbach on the right

He’s had a long and very successful career, more recently playing the role of “Mr. Big” in Sex and the City.

There was an interesting bit of controversy because in the premiere of the latest Sex and the City featured a stunning element involving Mr. Big’s character and… Peloton?! I don’t want to get into SPOILERS but if you don’t care about Sex and the City, you can Google that stuff yourself.

Anyway, its fascinating the way things blow up in the news and Mr. Noth has certainly become a cause celeb, but for all the wrong reasons. I suppose it was because the actor became newsworthy (he’s been around, as I said, a long time, but he’s never been front page news until the events of the first episode of the new Sex and the City).

The reason Mr. Noth is suddenly in the news? Because there have been actresses that have gone on record to accuse Mr. Noth of sexual assault. You can read about this in the following article by Lisa Respers France and found on CNN.com:

Chris Noth Peloton ad suspended after sexual assault allegations

It’s a sad story to read. Again, I’ve like Mr. Noth’s acting in various shows. Obviously, what he projects on screen and in his acting jobs has little to do with the person and, if the stories are to be believed, this is yet another actor who may well find his career aborted. In that respect, what struck me was the speed in which Peloton reacted to this and cancelled the ads using him.

It feels like maybe they know the accusations have some merit and wanted to rid themselves of Mr. Noth as quickly as possible.

Finally, Spider-Man No Way Home is doing absolute gangbusters at the box-office. The opening box-office weekend is projected to be $253 million dollars, the third highest opening of all time and easily the highest opening since the start of COVID.

I have to say -and I make no claims of being a psychic or anything- I’m not shocked the film is doing gang-busters.

The fact is the Marvel Universe films remain extremely popular and the trailers for this movie, to me, were intriguing. Understand: I’ve tired of the MCU films. Since the dual release of Dr. Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy and my subsequent disappointment with both films, I’ve found myself blasé about the whole thing.

I’ve also found the Spider-Man films -the first two- rather unimpressive. I thought the first Tom Holland starring one was ok after a weak opening and found the second (the one that came right before this one) near unwatchable for the first 2/3rd of the movie.

Yet even someone as jaded about the whole MCU thing found the trailers for No Way Home intriguing!

So good for them. I’ll catch the film when I can.

Anyway, I don’t know if I’ll carve out the time to post again before the New Year. I’ll certainly try.

But if I don’t, my best wishes to everyone out there.

Hope the New Year proves far better than the last two.

General

How The Mighty Fall…

Beware… Politics…!

Back when COVID was first becoming a worry/reality and the Trump administration started their disinformation campaign (because, hey, ignoring or downplaying a pandemic always works, right?!), there was one Governor who seemed to take the virus very seriously and focused his state’s attention upon it: Governor Andrew Cuomo.

He often showed his disdain/anger for Trump’s statements and became something of a media darling, even to some viewed as possibly a legit candidate for the Democratic Party in the next Presidential election.

Then, things went totally sideways.

Several women came forward to detail sexual harassment they claimed to have experienced from Andrew Cuomo and, after an investigation, it became clear, even to the usually pugnacious Andrew Cuomo himself, that he could not survive the scandal and thus, he quit. To this day, he faces lawsuits and possibly more serious legal jeopardy.

Now, over the weekend, his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, has been fired from his job.

You can read about that here, in an article presented on CNN itself.

Chris Cuomo, it turns out, appears to have used his position as an anchor within CNN to get information on those who accused his brother of sexual harassment. CNN decided his actions in trying to help out his brother were bad enough that they first merited a suspension and, only a couple of days later, being fired.

Andrew (left) and Chris (right) Cuomo

It fascinates me to see how the fortunes of these two individuals has turned so completely. As I said, when COVID first arrived and at the height of its worse days, Andrew Cuomo sure did appear to be what the country needed: The proverbial adult in the room who took this situation seriously.

Yes, not everything went smoothly, but still…

I recall watching Chris Cuomo a few times in/around those months. I don’t follow the news channels religiously -I’m finding it pays to watch these news channels in small doses… it does wonders for my mental health- so I can’t say I’m a fan of his work, though I was aware of it.

But the fall of the Cuomo brothers is instructive on at least one thing: There really seems to be a difference between how the political parties deal with people within their party -though I would grant you Chris Cuomo is not a politician- when they are perceived to or have “strayed”.

Just to be clear: I cannot support political figures who are involved in questionable behaviors like those that are alleged against Andrew Cuomo or Donald Trump or for that matter anyone else. Even if I feel the individual’s politics may align with my own, there is a point where such questionable personal behavior supersedes my personal support.

POSTSCRIPT:

Today, read that on top of the questionable “help” Chris Cuomo allegedly provided/attempted to provide his brother, there is a report he too was allegedly accused of sexual misconduct.

Chris Cuomo denies sexual misconduct allegations against him after CNN firing

I know, all these are, until a court decides otherwise, allegations and nothing more. But the picture painted is decidedly dark.

General

Booster Shot Blues…

So this past Saturday I got my COVID booster shot, ie the 3rd shot, of Pfizer, to “boost” the vaccine’s waning efficacy.

Given the number of people I’m exposed to, its a necessity to make sure I’m as protected from COVID as possible.

It’s interesting how things shake out with these shots, though.

When I got the first shot way back when, I had absolutely no reaction to it.

I was fine, other than perhaps a mild pain in the injection site, to that first injection.

When I went in for the second one, I had a slightly bigger reaction in that the next day I felt fatigued. However, by the third day I was fine, so the reaction overall and to say the least wasn’t anything terribly grave.

The booster shot, however…

Ho boy.

First off, the site of the injection hurt quite a bit shortly after getting the shot. Not incredibly painful, mind you, but more so than the previous two. I figured what happened is that in these days where supplies are tight, the pharmacist might have used a slightly bigger needle than was necessary (of note, the very kind lady who gave me the shot had problems putting on her gloves and stated that because of supply chain issues, they weren’t getting the proper sized gloves that they ordered!).

Anyway, that was early in the morning and other than the pain in the shoulder, I felt fine.

Things changed at nightfall.

Or rather, around 1 AM in the morning.

I awoke to pretty bad chills, as if I was feverish, and my teeth were chattering. I made my way to the bathroom and bundled up, putting on a shirt, light sweatpants, and socks and made my way to bed again.

I had a terrible night’s sleep.

Despite bundling up much more than I usually do when sleeping, I woke up several times through the night to these chills and, when morning arrived, I felt completely zonked out.

Worse, I had things to do which couldn’t be put off and genuinely wondered if I was going to make it through the day.

Luckily, I started feeling better as the hours progressed. Whatever temperatures I was experiencing dissipated and my head got clearer.

It felt like I was done!

Alas…

Sunday night I crashed hard but, once again at around 1-2 AM, I awoke to chills.

I bundled up again and, come Monday morning, awoke to a sweat filled shirt.

This time, I felt pretty good and, as it would turn out, the effects of the shot were over and as I write this on Tuesday evening, I’m feeling a little fatigued from the bad nights’ sleep but otherwise fine.

Weird how that works.

I wonder why the first shot was perfectly good, the second a little bit worse -but nothing outrageous- while the third shot, the booster, affected me so.

General

Oh… Aaron…

Let me be right upfront here and say: What I’ve seen of Aaron Rogers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, on TV he comes across as a humorous, down to earth guy. Apart from a damn good player (how I wish my poor Miami Dolphins had a quarterback of his caliber!) he seems like a guy who geeks out on popular culture and even managed to snag a turn hosting Jeopardy! on TV… and what little I saw of him doing so he didn’t do too bad a job of it.

Which makes the latest news regarding Mr. Rogers all the more head-scratching.

Over the past week/weekend it was revealed Mr. Rogers would sit out this past Sunday’s game, which the Packers wound up losing, because he had contracted COVID.

That in and of itself isn’t a huge deal… because of the infectious nature of the virus, one should be cautious around groups of people as even those who have been vaccinated can contract it, though by being vaccinated you stand a much better chance of having mild reaction versus a life-threatening one.

Anyway, here’s a segment from Inside Edition which manages to hit the more salient points regarding Mr. Rogers’ situation:

Now, I don’t subscribe to much of what’s stated at the opening of the clip above, that fault somehow lies with his current girlfriend/fiancé Shailene Woodley. Though she clearly believes in homeopathic remedies, I strongly suspect a good part of the reason Mr. Rogers and she are together is because they probably -and very likely!- believe in the same stuff.

So blaming her for Rogers’ situation is at best deflection and at worse something far darker.

Because Mr. Rogers is a (in terms we professionals use) a grown-ass man whose life decisions are his own, for better or worse.

No, what’s outrageous about this situation is that a) Mr. Rogers, in an interview in April and as noted in the clip above, heavily implied (one might even say lied) that he was vaccinated when he clearly was not and has subsequently admitted to this fact.

And even more alarming b) he did this interview where he tries to put the blame on “woke” or “cancel” culture and further notes he takes advise about vaccines/COVID from Joe Rogan!

Joe freaking Rogan?!?!

Look, I get -to some degree- people’s hesitancy about getting a vaccine. You feel like maybe your body isn’t your own and somehow pressure is being inappropriately applied to get a vaccine.

But the research is there now if one cares to look at it. The FDC does not willy-nilly give approval to a new vaccine “just because”. They go over the data and it takes considerable research for a drug -any drug- to get the proper approval.

They do this because approving of a new drug or vaccine, a product which by its nature will affect the health of an individual, is that important and requires a great deal of documentation and strong experimental results before such an approval is issued, which was obviously done for the big vaccines currently available, ie Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna.

I’ve had the Pfizer vaccine and enough time has passed that I’ve scheduled myself for the booster shot.

I’m one person, of course, but at least for me and my immediate family, we’ve all had the vaccine and apart from some fatigue after the shot, there has been no big adverse reactions and, even better, we’ve not had the virus (that we’re aware of!).

The thing that’s most infuriating about the Aaron Rogers situation, and by extension with all those who refuse the vaccine, is that they are slowing society’s move toward a day when we aren’t going to be as concerned about COVID.

All their talk about their freedoms and their supposed knowledge about alternate treatments and hesitancy of getting their vaccine ultimately slows the rest of us from enjoying that day that is ultimately coming when COVID isn’t such a concern. And all the while, they risk their very lives with their at best ill-informed opinions.

For me, its frustrating as hell because even in my family there are those who have been sucked into this alternate reality where freedom and “choice” are somehow equated with rejecting a vaccine which has been proven to help.

One day, we’ll get to that freedom. I’m certain of it.

In the meantime, how many must suffer -and some actually die- before we get there?

General

Marc Bernier…

The above name is unfamiliar to you?

Mr Bernier has the dubious distinction of being the third conservative anti-vaccination radio host to die from COVID-19.

You can read about him -and the other two hosts- who passed away in this article by Daniel Politi and presented on Slate.com:

Marc Bernier becomes the third Anti-Vax radio host to die from COVID 19

His death follows the deaths of Phil Valentine of Nashville and Dick Farrel of Florida, both of whom when they were hospitalized with COVID-19 decided that maybe the virus was indeed serious and urged their friends to vaccinate. For both of them, alas, it was too late and the virus took their lives.

However, for Mr. Bernier, it appears his final tweets suggested he remained an Anti-Vaxer even to his death.

I really don’t get it.

You hear about people being so anti-vaccine and anti-mask yet they fall for bullshit “treatments” like hydroxychloroquine and, more recently, ivermectin, a horse de-wormer (!!!!), instead of, you know, getting the free vaccine that has been proven to help against COVID-19.

It’s almost like they know, deep in their souls, that COVID-19 is serious but have so convinced themselves that the liberal media, Fauci, and the CDC, are somehow trying to bamboozle them with the approved vaccines and therefore IF they try anything, damned if they’ll do whatever Fauci or the CDC of FDA recommend… and therefore they go to dubious bullshit artists and stock up on their bullshit drugs and recommendations.

…whew…

Truly makes me wonder when a chunk of society collectively lost their damn minds and are so intensely sure their negative feelings toward such figures is justified they will go the extra mile to somehow “prove” their ideas/notions are right.

Even when it might mean they do so at the risk of their very own lives.

General

Hurricane Ida…

Really hard to look at the news and the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which slammed into the Louisiana coast yesterday.

CNN has a block of news devoted to updates regarding the storm:

Hurricane Ida Live Updates

Each year that passes and I remain living in a hurricane prone area, I scratch my head and wonder why I do so.

To those who don’t live in such areas, you just don’t know the “joy” of living the summer months watching updates on the tropics and possible systems that develop there.

August in particular is one of the worst months, though September isn’t all that far behind, where one watches and worries about what might happen.

I’ve lived through too many near misses and at least a handful of “direct” hits, including Katrina which passed over our area as a Category 1 Hurricane before exiting into the Gulf of Mexico where it rapidly gained strength and eventually -and devastatingly- hit roughly the same area Ida has now hit.

To say the least, I feel for the people there and extend my sympathy and fervent hope for better days to come.

Books/Literature, General

Coronavirus Diaries 39 & Other Things…

So I just checked my blog entries and was shocked to find its been two weeks since I last posted.

Where the hell has the time gone?

First though: Sorry for the dearth of posts. Given the situation regarding the passing of my parents at Champlain Towers, I’ve spent so much time dealing with the family business while going to lawyers and banks to deal with what my parents left behind.

Truthfully it feels like I’ve not had a chance to properly grieve yet, given how each day is filled to the brim, it seems with things we need to take care of… and what’s to still come.

On top of all this, I’ve tried to find time to keep writing, and hopefully I’ll soon make it through the 2nd draft read through of my new novel.

Concerning COVID, I’ve noticed that more people are taking the virus, and the need to vaccinate, seriously. I suppose the news of the Delta variant has finally made at least some of those who foolishly felt the vaccine was unnecessary or that the virus’ potency was overblown into finally realizing that, yes, you can die from it, regardless of your obnoxiously strongly held political beliefs.

Over the weekend we had another somewhat prominent conservative, this one a radio host, by the name of Phil Valentine, died at the age of 61 and after a month of dealing with COVID. Once he realized how serious the situation was, he reportedly changed his views on the vaccine.

Too late for him, it turned out.

But if you think everyone who has a close brush with death suddenly turns, you’d be wrong.

Newsweek had the story of Maine GOP Representative Chris Johansen attending an anti-vaccination rally days after his wife died from COVID.

Un-freaking-believable.

Even worse, it appears he had COVID -though he seems to now deny it- and may well have given the virus to his late wife.

Anyway, the good news is that vaccination numbers are up, so at least there’s that. We have reached the point where we want as many people as possible vaccinated so that we can head off any new variant of COVID which could potentially render the vaccines irrelevant.

If that should happen, we would quite literally be back to square one.

Needless to say, this would be the absolute worst possible scenario.

Get vaccinated, people. Let’s move forward instead of back.

General

Coronavirus Diaries 38

Honestly, I thought things would be much better now.

What with vaccines becoming common place and anyone can get one here in the United States, I really would have thought people would be flocking to get vaccinated for COVID 19 and surely the rates of the disease would be dropping by now…

Right?

Alas…

So it turns out that far too many people remain deniers of the virus. I suspect many of these people are the same ones who lose their shit at the idea of wearing -gasp!- a mask… as if that’s some kind of major infringement on their personal liberty.

Give me a fucking break.

Sorry if I’m sounding sour, but I’m getting really sick of this.

You don’t want to deal with Coronavirus anymore? Guess what, there’s a real easy solution:

Get vaccinated.

If you’re one of the brainwashed fools who think vaccines are some kind of liberal plot and that masks don’t really do anything let me offer two bits of advice.

First: Get your head out of your ass (ie, all those idiotic Right Wing bullshit articles out there).

Second, perhaps you should read this article about Dick Farrel, a Right Wing radio host who, like too many of these Right Wing types, had nothing but disdain for Dr. Fauci and felt vaccines and masks were stupid.

You can probably guess what happens next. The following article, presented on theguardian.com, tells us about how…

Rightwing radio host and anti-vaxxer Dick Farrel dies of COVID

Read the article if you want to, but the bottom line is as tragic as it is expected.

The 65 year old Dick Farrel, who had a plethora of wonderfully wrongheaded -and just plain wrong- opinions about COVID, vaccines, and Dr. Fauci, contracted the virus and, once in the hospital, realized his mistake…

…and it was too late.

From the article

(Dick Farrel) reportedly changed his opinion about vaccines after falling ill and later being admitted to hospital before passing away on 4 August aged 65. “He texted me and told me to ‘Get it!’ He told me this virus is no joke and he said, “I wish I had gotten [the vaccine]!”

Get vaccinated, people.

Please.

General

Champlain Towers South

It’s been a very long nearly one month since last I posted on June 25th, the day after the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South.

A lot has happened since then and forgive me for not providing updates.

It’s been very hectic.

As I mentioned in my previous post, once I had an idea of the nature and extent of the Champlain Towers collapse and realized among the apartments that were part of the collapse was that of my parents, I feared there was little hope for their survival.

On July 2, my father’s body was recovered. On July the 10, my mother’s. Both were identified by a DNA swab I provided. As painful as the news was, at least for my family and I there was closure, which at that time there wasn’t for everyone who lost loved ones to this tragedy.

On Friday, July 16th, we finally had their burial. I was truly touched by those who showed up and had kind things to say about my parents and truly appreciated the company we had following the funeral.

Not only did I lose my parents, though, but also everything they had in their apartment. Family pictures, heirlooms, jewelry, artwork (nothing by anyone famous, but nonetheless some beautiful pictures and one sculpture they had for literally decades), is gone.

Even their cars, which were parked in the underground garage and likely survived the initial collapse as they were under the part of the building that remained standing, could not be brought out. To be very clear: Nor should they have been considered being removed over the far more pressing need to find survivors.

However, once the rest of the building was brought down, the cars were likely crushed as well.

So all their possessions along with them are gone and its so heartbreaking… its as if they not only passed away, but didn’t exist at all.

Perhaps the most infuriating thing to happen from this tragedy is that there are -and there is no kind way of saying this- assholes out there who took advantage and stole the identities of some of the victims…

Hacker steals identities of multiple victims killed in Surfside condo collapse

I hope they’re found and prosecuted to the absolute fullest extent of the law.

So today, nearly a week since the funeral, my sisters and I are going over my parents’ estate and sorting things out. It will be quite a process, likely to take many months and many trips to Estate lawyers and banks, etc., to close out accounts and distribute monies according to my parents wishes.

I feel better today, frankly, than I did in the last posting.

My parents, based on where their bodies were found with respect to the apartment, were likely in bed when the collapse happened, hopefully in a deep sleep.

If this was the case, and given the speed in which the building collapsed, they likely didn’t feel a thing or were even aware of the tragedy as it was happening.

It is my most fervent hope.

I have so many memories of my time with them and will cherish them for the rest of my life.

For those out there reading this, don’t take your loved ones for granted.

Rest in peace, my dearest.

General

8777 Collins Avenue, Surfside Florida

This will be my last post for a while.

How long I cannot say.

As many of you who follow the news know, early Thursday morning came the horrifying news that a condominium building known as Champlain Towers South in Surfside and at 8777 Collins Avenue had a “partial” collapse.

I woke up at about 4 am that Thursday early morning, headed to the bathroom, and saw the news on my iPad.

The shock hit me first. I saw the picture they had on the news website, and I though the building looked familiar.

The shock turned to horror when I read the building that partially collapsed was Champlain Towers South.

I drove off to it, a knot in my stomach, to see what had happened.

My parents, you see, live there.

I lived and grew up there, between 1983 or so until I got married and moved out in 1994.

I called my sister and she talked to my other sister. Eventually, they all showed up at the Red Cross station on 93rd street and Collins. We couldn’t find out parents there and the knot in our stomachs was turning into terror.

When we finally had some idea of what the “partial” collapse involved, the entire north and east wing of the building, the section my parents lived in, that terror grew not the unimaginable.

Losing a parent is gut wrenching. Losing both parents, and all the stuff in the world they had with them, in a matter of seconds, is simply unimaginable.

And I’m trying my best to process that.

Yes, its still early. There might be a miracle and maybe one or both of them are found alive.

But I just… as much as I may wish that to happen, I just don’t see it.

Their apartment was on the ninth floor and faced the Atlantic Ocean. It was the last apartment, one of two, on the Far East side of the section that collapsed.

The view was beautiful, though for someone like me with fear of heights, I found it very difficult to walk the balcony and hadn’t done so in years. The apartment itself was a beautiful one, enough to house all of us -my parents and sisters- when we were living there.

My sisters and I eventually married and moved away but my parents never considered leaving the place, though my mother now and again looked around at real estate listings of homes. It was never a serious thing, more a curiosity, and that memory is even more painful given what happened.

My parents lived comfortably and were well past retirement age, yet my father continued working his business, with the help of my sisters and I.

My mother kept herself busy with her own things, visiting friends and planning to vacation and see her family in Europe after the whole COVID thing was over.

It’s still early and, as I said, a miracle could happen and one or both of them might be found alive.

But looking at the destruction, looking at the fall of the building…

I’m shaking at the thought and find it hard to type through the emotions.

It looks as if I’ve lost not just one but both of my parents to an absolutely indescribable, seemingly impossible event.

And today they say there are 159 others missing from the many other apartments that collapsed on that wing of the building.

My heart goes out to those people.

I feel their pain.

I’ll post again, I promise.

Just give me time to sort this tragedy out.