QUOTE OF THE MOMENT

YOU'VE GOT TO BE CAREFULLY TAUGHT

I saw South Pacific when it came out in 1958. I remember the impact this scene had on me. I felt the truth in the lyrics. Especially since the character supposedly singing them (sounds like someone else's voice) has fallen in love with a woman with "brown" skin, against the law still in many states, at least if you wanted to marry.

I was sixteen and just starting to notice, and secretly falling in love with, some of my fellow teens who happened to be females with darker skin than mine. It's great that inter-racial love (and marriage) is no longer against the law and even quite acceptable most places in this country now. But obviously after this weekend, there are people still being carefully taught.

YES

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER

There was a good crowd in the theater I saw this in, which made me happy. But I thought of all the people who need to see this film and won't, either out of lack of interest or actual prejudice against anything that questions their beliefs.

I actually held back sobs a few times, overwhelmed by the fragility of our planet and the abuse it has taken and is now responding to in ways that may be irreversible. Thinking of my grandchildren and yours, and of their children and their children, the future can seem very bleak.

The film ad campaign online and elsewhere tries to project the hope that Al Gore keeps rising back to despite his own "despair" (his word) at times of defeat for a cause that should be drawing more strength than it seems to. After all, it's the only world we have, as Gore points out.

I found his dedication and capacity for rebirthing hope in himself and then in others, over and over again despite the odds, quite poignant. His stoic and sometimes stiff personality (which cost him votes that might have made the right's ability to steal the 2000 election from him despite his win, more difficult) adds to the poignancy, because it's so clear what a righteously committed human he is to a cause we all should be as committed to.

Worth seeing just to feel energized in a new way about this cause, despite the setbacks that are occurring now (though they are energizing action too, like all the states and cities committing to The Paris Agreement despite the administration's withdrawal from it).

AND EVEN MORE DUOS (BACK TO JERSEY/1999-2009)

me & neighbor/writer Elaine Durbach shortly after I moved back to Jersey 1999

my oldest sone Miles & me in his then backyard in The Berkshies c. 2000

me (playing a priest obviously) & Ed O'Neil on the set of The Big Apple 2000-01

me (at the piano) & actor/writer/musician Kale Browne at my 60th birthday party in The Berkshires 2002

 actor/writer Peter Coyote & me on the set of Deadwood 2003

me & writer/producer David Milch on the set of Deadwood 2003

me & the sweet horse whose name I forget but I was on his back sometimes galloping (unfortunately cut) for a couple of weeks and grew to totally love him/her (don't remember which) Deadwood set 2003

me & actor/writer Michael Harris on the set of The Technical Writer 2003

my youngest child Flynn & me on my good friend Anthony DiNovi's boat in New York harbor c. 2004 (photo probably by artist Lucy Chamberlin)

writer and old dear friend Dale Herd & me at a reading I did at Beyond Baroque in Venice Beach CA not sure what year

"the other actor/writer Michael Lally" (and director) after a reading I did in Venice Beach CA around 2004?

me & my son Flynn on Father's Day 2005 (photo by Jamie Rose)

my grandchild Eli & me c. 2005?

 actor/writer Jamie Rose & me c. 2005?

my son Miles & me in Jersey c. 2005?

me & the great poet Maureen Owen at the St. Mark's Poetry Project 2005?

me & my son Flynn c. 2005

me & my friend writer/therapist Bill Lannigan c. 200?

me & Flynn at the location in Jersey where they were shooting the outdoor pool scene for the movie Little Children, invited by my dear old friend photographer Robert Zuckerman (who took the shot)

me & my son Flynn contemplating a climbing wall c. 2007?

me & my son Flynn at KGB Bar in NYC where I was doing a reading, c. 200?

poet and dear old friend Simon Pettet & me outside the Saint Mark's Book Store when it was on 3rd Ave & 9th Street c. 2007?

poet and old and dearest friend Terence Winch & me in January 2009

Jamie Rose & me after my brain operation in November of 2009 (it was in NYC and she flew out from LA to be there for me, that's friendship (others came distances as well, just didn't get a photo with them)

me & my dear friend Sue Brennan (lawyer/writer/veteran/etc.) after my brain op in 2009, which she got up in the middle of the night to take me to, and after my older kids had to return to their families Sue stayed on my couch until I could take care of myself again) 

NEW FAVORITE QUOTE

"Being a person has always meant getting blamed for it." —Rachel Cusk (from an interview in the Aug. 7&14 New Yorker)

WHY GLEN CAMPBELLL AND BARBARA COOK WILL BE SO MISSED (YOU HAVE TO WATCH EACH VIDEO TO THE END TO GET IT)

I wasn't a big fan until I realized what a great musician he was, and though I prefer this slower it sure shows his mix of humility and talent:



I didn't catch her early in her career on stage in time to understand how great she was, but eventually caught up online, and this video (thanks to dear friend and also genius musical talent Cheryl Bentyne for posting it) is a perfect example of why I too ended up adoring her and has to be watched to the end if you want to feel chills in the presence of glorious musical talent: