November 9, 2018
Dear Everyone:
Well, it’s
all over except for the shouting, of course.
And there’s plenty of shouting to go around.
Georgia still doesn’t know who will be their next governor, and may
not for weeks to come.
Ditto, Florida.
In the meantime… Those of
you who work during the day probably missed the golden opportunity to
hear President
Trump “mansplain”
what had happened. Wednesday
morning, there were numerous announcements of a “press conference” to
take place in the
White House.
I assumed that this would be yet another tease in which Trump and some
visiting dignitary would perch on ornate chairs, shaking hands and
congratulating each other on accomplishing something or other, followed
by a few frenzied questions from the press.
I was wrong.
Trump stood all alone at the podium, occasionally reading from a
prepared speech, in which he claimed a complete and total victory, while
simultaneously berating the
Republican candidates who failed to win their seats in the
House of Representatives.
For over an hour-and-a-half.
According to Donny, it was all their fault for failing to
“embrace” him during the election.
That’s right. It had nothing
to do with the fact that Donald Trump was so toxic in some districts
that they tried vigorously to distance themselves from him.
It was all because they didn’t hug him enough.
Then came the opportunity for journalists to ask questions.
Questions that Donny didn’t want to answer.
He actually got into a shouting match with one
journalist,
filled with personal attacks on Donny’s part, culminating in, “Why don’t
you let me run the country and you run (insert Network name here)!”
Later that day, the
Secret Service asked the journalist to turn in his credentials that
allowed him to enter the White House.
That’s right. He was
“banned”.
Immediately followed by the announcement that Trump had just fired
Attorney General
Jeff Sessions.
Shoot, Trump would have tried to fire the
Supreme Court if it would distract attention away from all those
disasters. Not to mention
hoping to get a replacement confirmed by his rubber-stamp Congress
before January.
Donny was having such a good time at his rallies, tossing “red meat” to
his loyal followers and basking in the glory of their adoration.
Now this. He has to
blame somebody else, of course.
So, here’s my question: What
is he going to do now? No
more excuses for rallies in the election.
The next election is two years away.
What’s Donny going to do when he needs a “fix”?
Face it: He’s
addicted to those rallies.
He needs to rail against somebody or other.
He needs to get his “base” riled up.
What now?
But enough about that nonsense.
On to more important things:
Movies.
“Jeannie” and her neighbor wanted to see
Bohemian
Rhapsody at the new
IMAX theater in
Concord.
I went along for the ride.
Coincidentally, this shopping center now occupies the same space
as the offices where I used to work.
The Company sold the property a few years ago.
Farrokh Bulsara
was born in
Zanzibar,
which is now part of
Tanzania, but he was as British as
The Beatles.
He moved with his family to
Middlesex,
England, in his
teens. There he fumbled
through a series of minor jobs by day and frequented the music spots by
night where he fell in with various Beatle-wannabes until he happened
upon the fellow musicians who would join together to form the group, “Queen”.
He also changed his name to Freddie Mercury.
The rest is history.
According to some critics, the film plays fast and loose with some of
that history. But, as
Mel Gibson said
of
Braveheart,
“It’s a movie. Not a
documentary.”
As a performer, Mercury was obsessed with finding new ways of doing
things.
Barbra
Streisand said the same thing, that she couldn’t just keep repeating
People all of her professional life.
So, lots of footage of Mercury adding coins to the drums, swinging
speakers around the room.
Finding a completely new place to record, even if the cows resented
being pushed out of their barn.
In time, Queen found its “voice” and its audience.
Mike Myers had
delightful a bit, playing a studio executive who didn’t want to produce
the signature song,
Bohemian
Rhapsody, because it was “too long”.
At the time, most radio stations wouldn’t play anything longer
than three minutes. Needless
to say, Bohemian Rhapsody
broke the “time barrier”.
I knew who Freddie Mercury was. And
what Queen was. I just
wasn’t paying attention at the time.
However, I did recognize more than a few musical numbers.
And I found the whole film charming, a bit sweet and a little
sad. After all, Mercury did
succumb as an early casualty of the
AIDS
Pandemic.
But not before appearing live at
Wembley
Stadium before a sold-out crowd.
Meanwhile, back at Politics As Usual…
Question: What is an
elephant?
Answer: An elephant is a
mouse described by Donald Trump.
Love, as always,
Pete
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