Mark: 8:36
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
For centuries we have repeated and reflected on those words from the Bible, often drawing comparisons to this or that in our own life and time.
But have we ever pondered what it will profit a man who gains the whole world but who has no soul to lose?
Now might be a good time to start that particular pondering. I’m sure some of us have already begun the unhappy process.
-
Mimi…I’ve seen no locusts yet, but I do run across the occasional enormous water bug. The tap water is not running red, yet. Just in case, I am boning up on my best Anne Baxter-“Oh, Moses, Moses!” (not to mention her sharp retorts to Yul Brynner–
“You are no god, you are not even a man!”)8:16 pm | January 30, 2017
-
Orange Man just fired his appointed Attorney General because she said she could not defend his immigration ban. Sally Yates, the first (possibly reluctant) heroine of the Resistance.
10:40 pm | January 30, 2017-
I read it an hour or so ago. As far as I am concerned she is a heroine.
10:47 pm | January 30, 2017
-
We can’t give in to despair. He and his henchmen mustn’t wear us down. I’ve been reading some good blogs and articles about the fatigue that sets in. Mostly they advice concentrate on a couple issues, pick a couple of things to support (I just committed to small monthly donations to the Sierra Club and the Southern Poverty Law Centers) and take a break from it all when despair starts setting in. We can’t give up our lives, all the joys our loved ones bring us daily, all the beauty in the world around us. If we do, they won. I’m going to read Rebecca Solnit Hope in the Dark. I heard her on a Sirius program speaking about despair. Made me think about how I approach this monstrosity who calls himself president (yes, a diminutive “p” on that, I won’t capitalize him hah!) I also don’t argue with his worshipers on social media. Counter-productive and they’re not interested in looking at things objectively. I just pass them by. What a freakin cluster-f$&k.
-
So many fronts to fight on. There is something new and awful on an hourly basis. I don’t feel despair as much as disgust. I will keep speaking out, waiting letters, sending emails and ignoring the trolls.
9:15 am | January 31, 2017 -
Jean, good advice!I took an outrage-free day today and posted a warm photo of Michael Fassbender on by FB page. I want that image in my head for the moment. Tomorrow, as dear Katie Scarlett said, is another day.2:07 pm | January 31, 2017
-
I have taken an outrage free afternoon and will carry through this evening. I watched the committee vote on DeVos as it was hijacked by republican and Lamar Alexander. He allowed Hatch from Utah to vote by proxy. This is supposedly not allowed in these committee meetings. So I was done for the day. SIGH and GRRR. Now on to a glass of Pinot Grigio, broiled scallops and veggies.
6:05 pm | January 31, 2017
-
If we all support causes dear to us, keep writing letters, sending emails to our congressmen/women and then do something every day to not only help ourself but to help someone in need, the world will continue to be good. Try mentoring a child whose reading skills need improvement, take a senior citizen out for a ride or nice walk so they aren’t homebound, well you get the idea. And of course read everything Mr. WoW shares with us!!
-
Exactly what I have been doing today. Emails, letters and phone calls to representatives. I have been a volunteer at our grandchildren’s schools for several years which is very rewarding. Onward with determination and also recognizing the need for self care. Reading Zur. WoW is a priority.
2:06 pm | February 1, 2017 -
Oh, Lulu–you don’t want to read everything from Mr. Wow. I am right now very tired of the “when is he going to get impeached?” drumbeat and the unending smugness of the still-in-the-bubble types at MSNBC.I wrote something furious on this, and was going to place it on Facebook. Then…I thought it over. I was gonna put it here but…I thought it over. The media faces of liberals are not nearly as sensible or intelligent as you and Deirdre and Baby Snooks and Jean, etc. Democrats sometimes make me very angry.Anyway, up to the importance of reading Mr.Wow, all your thoughts and suggestions are spot-on.4:25 pm | February 1, 2017
With a little luck the Democrats will win back both houses and proceed to get rid of the house madam who likes to take impeachment off the table and proceed to put it back on the table and not only impeach him but convict him and remove him from office and then ban the Republican Party.
-
Assuming we survive the next two years and assuming the Democrats resist the urge to send the Clintons out to campaign for them. We’ve had enough Bushes. And enough Clintons.
2:48 pm | February 1, 2017-
Enough Clintons indeed. Although she obviously is a preferred choice over what we’ve got, she never should have run again. Democrats should have been looking at and grooming other candidates four years ago. Considering the cyclical nature of politics, a Republican White House was not totally unexpected, but another candidate might have made it a less gruesome loss. It was hubris all around. Let’s have two “historic” presidents in a row–an African American and then a woman!And nobody can convince me that Bill Clinton does not have some sort of psychological issue and resistance to Hillary becoming president. The meeting-with-Loretta-Lynch thing was just incredible. (one of his many “missteps” in this and her previous run.) And HE’S supposed to the great politician! She was surrounded by friends and allies who did her no favors–Podesta, the Weiner wife, the hubby.Bleh!4:37 pm | February 1, 2017
-
I held my nose and voted for Hillary and based on some comments here and there apparently I wasn’t the only one. But many held their nose and voted for Trump. They were, and are, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Most people don’t want to hear that but they also don’t want to see it. And in both cases, well, past is prologue. All we can do is hope people go to the polls in 2018 and take back the Congress.
6:32 pm | February 1, 2017
-
-
I think we should have a virtual party and come up with our own non-partisan candidate. We can then promote the candidate with our charm, whits, knowledge and humor to the rest of those who are not smart enough to be part of Mr. WoW
Steve Bannon on Time magazine’s cover. Misspelled his name, even though they had three chances to get it right–Goering, Goebbels, or Himmler.
Thank you SNL for making me laugh.
“Don’t you ever call Zimbabwe again!”
Hilarious.
Here’s a blog post that may take your minds off the political unrest…Hollywood unrest!
In anticipation of “Feud,” I wrote a piece pinpointing where I think the life-long Joan/Bette competition started: when they both starred in M. Somerset Maugham sagas designed to show off their acting chops: ‘Rain’ and ‘Of Human Bondage,’ respectively.
Doesn’t that sound more fun than the Super Bore…Trump or the ballgame…your call!
http://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2017/02/did-joan-and-bettes-feud-start-with.html
Here’s a little something to get your minds off the weight world for a while from the Liz Smith column:
Generally, it’s called Throwback Thursday. But today we wanted to give you Throwback
Monday. The odd news about Judy
Garland’s body being moved from New York to Los Angeles after so many years,
got me to thinking about daughter Liza.
She lives quietly in Hollywood now.
But a couple of years ago, my guy Denis Ferrara did an interview with
Liza, that captures so much of her gracious, energetic, optimistic
spirit.
We’re being a
bit lazy today, and at least this column can’t even allude to politics—a temporary relief and respite, yes? Here are Denis and Liza M. circa 2014:
Along with the Oscar, the
Tony, the Emmy, the Grammy and the (still) clamoring fans at concerts all over
the world, there’s something else Liza Minnelli has won through trials by fire. She keeps her sunny side up; she walks on the
sunny side of the street. Life is just a bowl of cherries, more or less. Liza Minnelli is the most apparently
optimistic star I’ve ever met. Her
public face is always turned upwards toward the light and her outlook is
forward-thinking. She knows who she is
and what she’s experienced. She knows we
know. And we know—or we should!—that getting into what we
believe is the darker nitty-gritty of her colorful life is a pointless
task.
Like her late great friend, Elizabeth
Taylor, Liza tells only so much. She
keeps truly intimate matters close to her heart and away from her tongue. Her parents were the iconic director Vincent
Minnelli and MGM’s musical goddess, Judy Garland. But since you know that already….
If she’s gonna talk, she’d rather talk
about her work. And that is exactly what
we did not long ago, after seeing Liza at the State Theater in New Brunswick,
NJ. She was sensational. At the top of her current form.
We gave her a call.
LM: Honey
,how are you?! (This delivered in
her most upbeat tones—like a happy shot of electricity or a spike of Red Bull through
the phone.)
DF: I’m great.
How are you? I saw you in New
Brusnwick and you were incredible. I
kept thinking, “Indestructible. She’s
just indestructible.”
LM: Yeah, that’s me, Wonder Woman!
DF: Is it tiresome when people—like me—comment on
your energy and longevity and how you just “keep on keeping on?”
LM: No, it’s not tiresome. It’s just…well, I don’t think about myself. Look, when I go to the theater, I want to
come out feeling good. So that’s what I
think about—am I going to make my audience
feel good, too? They’re all scrunched in
their seats and paid good money, and I try to do what I can to entertain them. We’re locked in a building for two hours after
all! When it’s over. I’m just
tired. I don’t feel very indestructible.
DF: When they came to you and
said, “Arrested Development” was coming back and would you reprise your
character did you…
LM: Say yes immediately? Of course.
They are the most talented, funniest, group of people in the world. And the creator of the show is just brilliant. (Liza is not big fan of phrases like “It’s
just fine.”)
DF: And you get to have
vertigo again.
LM: That was my idea, actually. It was sort of during talks we had about the
character. They let me explore. Well, it
was my idea to fall down and it just went on from there! (Big laugh)
DF: Do you want to act more? Are you looking for things or are your people
looking for things?
LM: I’d
love to act more. I think it’s assumed I’m not interested. But I am!
Listen, I act when I sing, I act when I dance. But it all comes from acting. I don’t have to
sing and dance to act.
DF: You tell a real story
when you sing…
LM: I always think of myself as a storyteller.
Songs are stories and that’s acting, too, to get back to acting. And, here’s this—I love to learn. That’s my favorite thing. I’ll see something and I’ll say, “Oh, I want
to learn how to do that. And I’ve had
such great teachers over the years, they taught me, they made me—Marvin Hamlisch
and Fred Ebb and John Kander and Fosse and Charles Aznavor and…
DF: Wait, wait…I know you have a dozen more
names. You are incredible. I’ve never known another performer who gives
so much credit to others. Everybody else
always kind of acts like they’ve sprung full blown from the head of Zeus!
LM: My biggest talent, I think, was knowing who
was best, who I could learn the most from.
So, how can I not give them credit?
I guess I have good taste. And that’s a talent, too.
DF: You still take singing lessons, and dancing
lessons. That’s kind of incredible, but I have to say, there are aspects of
your voice that are stronger than ever.
LM: Oh, honey, thank you. But you know, things have calmed down. Everything’s
calmed down. At some point my body just said ‘Stop! Sit down!’ So, now I sit down a bit. But then you have to project more in some
ways—like a laser beam.
DF: Do you sing at home?
LM: Oh, sure. But you know, it’s like…I take
singing lessons not to learn to sing
but to keep up what I’ve got, to work the muscle. If you sit down too long, it’s hard to get
up!
DF: Is there anybody, is any aspect of
entertainment, you haven’t worked with who you’d like to?
LM: Oh, God, so many. But, right off the top, Tom Hanks. He has great taste, and every time I see him
onscreen I trust him. I think I’ve done
that onstage—giving trust. My concert audiences
trust me. But I’d like to extend that.
DF: Is it incredible to you that 40 years have
passed since
“Cabaret” opened? To me it seems like yesterday that I was
sitting at the Ziegfeld Theater watching it—and that was the first movie they
played at the Ziegfeld!
LM: It was!
And it seems like yesterday to
me, too. I remember everything. I kept thinking, “I wonder who they’re
talking about?’ Or, “Is this really
happening to me?” And what a film!
Nobody should ever just brush it off as just a musical. You know, it was my father who took the musical
off the stage and onto the street, he really made it believable to simply
‘Burst into song’ without the confines of a stage. “Cabaret” did the opposite. It put musical
numbers back onstage.
DF: I loved “
York
LM: Well…
DF: and “Stepping Out.”
LM: You did?
You saw it?! It kind of got lost,
which is a pity. I think it’s a very hopeful film.
DF: What is a day in the life of Liza Minnelli—I
mean, do you go out and buy groceries and such?
LM: Uh, sure.
If I have to. Something for the dog or whatever. My day–I get up and go to dance class. Have lunch, I do business. Then the day is mine. If I want to see friends or go to the
theater, or whatever. Again—it’s calm.
DF: Do you watch TV?
LM: I love it!
I love TCM especially! I have it
on right now. The old black and
whites. You learn so much. I still want to learn! And black and white was universally
flattering to women, and they had a way of making women up, and filming them
that was extraordinary.
DF: Do you ever go on vacation? I think you’re like Madonna sometimes—work,
work, work. Although I think she’s, um—calmer now. With kids and all.
LM: Of course I go on vacation. And isn’t Madonna great? I think she’s a lovely woman. I’ve always really just liked her. She’s fun to have dinner with. She’s not wacko. She knows things. She
wants to learn too. And Lady Gaga
too. She can do anything, and has a
great sense of humor, too.
DF: Do you ever forget where
you are, when touring?
LM: Honey, how can ever forget being in, like—
and new sights and sounds. And
especially how every audience is different; how each reacts to this or
that. And when you get into their
groove, you lean that way. I’m there to
tell them stories. It’s like having a conversation; a conversation that never
bores me.
DF: What is the best advice you’ve ever been
given?
LM: Oh, Geez!
So much. Well, one of the best
things anybody ever said to me was “keep moving.” But here’s the best advice I can give:
“Stay curious.”
DF: That’s great.
And you have stayed curious.
LM: I have.
But please don’t ask me to do anything more than turn on my computer!
There’s curiosity and then there’s technology.
END
-
It’s so nice to read a column with no mention of that person in the White House and his family. Wish everyone else would follow your example!
11:41 am | February 7, 2017
Happy Day After the Super Bowl and Puppy BowlI think Lady Gaga sang and said all – she scored the best ‘touchdown’ of all!!!
-
Even tho I am not one of her fabled “little monsters” Gaga was glorious and made her point without offense. (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone–whom I adore–could learn from that.)2:28 pm | February 6, 2017
-
-
She was being paid to entertain, not make a statement, and she did both without offending anyone as you put it although the people who might have been offended really don’t understand the meaning of “This land is my land…”
11:43 am | February 7, 2017 -
-
Well, Madonna has just adopted two more children. Perhaps she’ll…relax?
11:12 pm | February 7, 2017-
Who knows. I do love her but cringed big time at the bomb the White House remark. Hopefully the kiddos will help her relax.
11:29 pm | February 7, 2017
-
-
-
Tom Brady made the point of the evening not Gaga. A point everyone should take note of. All his naysayers, backstabbers, and double agents could not deter his victory.
-
Admitting to just how old I am, I remember watching Richard Hatch on All My Children in the 1970s. I watched Battlestar Gallactica because he was on it. Be at peace.
8:28 pm | February 7, 2017-
-
-
Oh, honey–don’t get me started on the soaps! I began while still at home, w “Edge of Night”, “General Hospital” “Dark Shadows” “One Life to Live” “All My Children”Later I branched out a bit to some of other networks…but my soapy home base was ABC. It went on for years!12:04 am | February 9, 2017
-
Oh yes! Dark Shadows was filmed in Newport so it was a big time favorite in Rhode Island. I liked Santa Barbara too. Eden and Cruz with so many Michael Feinstein songs as love themes. I still DVT General Hospital and binge watch late at night. xo
8:06 am | February 9, 2017
-
-
-
-
Valentine’s hugs and chocolate to Mr. WoW and B and all the WoWers! If this is a rough day for you, hunker down, ignore the hoopla and remember, you are not alone. This crew has your back. xo
11:42 am | February 14, 2017
Hi! The Apocalypse has arrived. I’m expecting locusts any day now!!!