Monthly Archives: January 2020

I'm not sure why I'm putting this here. The YouTube producer MsMojo will do a "Top 10 Best" list about anything. I'm surprised they haven't done a "Top 10 Best Members of the Three Stooges" yet. (If they did, they'd probably pad it out with Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham, etc.) This is their list of "The Top 10 Best Broadway Musicals." Needless to say, I don't agree with it and neither will you.

Discussing lists like this is always a problem because the criteria is unstated. Does popularity matter? Number of awards? Just what do they mean by "best" anyway? In this case, are we talking about how good the show was in one specific Broadway production or are we evaluating the book and the score, regardless of who performs it? I've seen some pretty lousy productions of some great musicals.

Of their ten, I've seen three. Haven't seen Les Miserables, haven't seen The Phantom of the Opera, and as we all know, I haven't seen Cats live. I would never make up a list like this but I wouldn't put The Lion King, Rent or Jesus Christ, Superstar on it, and I think Hamilton needs to age a few more years before we'll have some idea of how it fits into the overall parade. My list would almost certainly include The Music Man, My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, 1776, maybe Gypsy or Sweeney Todd, and definitely my favorite, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. None of them made MsMojo's Top Ten.

But I really don't have a list and if you do, don't send it to me. Here's theirs…

I had a nice week or so of pretending he wasn't there but eventually, we all have to get back to reality. Here are three reminders…

First up: Daniel Larison reviews how Trump's approach to Iran and North Korea has basically been to do almost nothing — and certainly nothing that's been effective — but to keep telling the American people he's solved those problems. But he hasn't. Money quote from Larison…

The problem here is not just that Trump gambled on bad policy goals and lost, but that he is determined to lie to the public about those policies for as long as he can. Trump has made sure that neither the Iranian nor the North Korean government can trust him, and he has proved to the American people that we can't trust him, either. His foreign policy initiatives fail in no small part because no one believes what he says and no one is willing to take a chance by trusting him to honor the commitments he makes.

Secondly: Jonathan Chait reminds us that Trump is still waging war against CNN because, as Chait puts it, "its message is not controlled by his loyalists." He also likes to lie about the ratings of anyone in that category. It reminds me of a blog post that famed zillionaire Richard Branson wrote back in 2016…

Some years ago, Mr. Trump invited me to lunch for a one-to-one meeting at his apartment in Manhattan. We had not met before and I accepted. Even before the starters arrived he began telling me about how he had asked a number of people for help after his latest bankruptcy and how five of them were unwilling to help. He told me he was going to spend the rest of his life destroying these five people. He didn't speak about anything else and I found it very bizarre. I told him I didn't think it was the best way of spending his life. I said it was going to eat him up, and do more damage to him than them. There must be more constructive ways to spend the rest of your life.

Finally for now, Steve Benen tells how Trump's claims and predictions about the stock market do not relate to reality or even to each other. Quote from Benen…

Part of the problem with Trump's boasts is that he often sees the market as a real-time political barometer tied directly to developments in D.C. If the major indexes are on an upswing, the president sees it as proof of his genius. If they're declining, he insists his political opponents are to blame for the downturn. The result is routine incoherence.

The other day, I saw a clip of John McCain in something on CNN and I couldn't help think the following: That if he was still alive, he would already have been the first Republican senator to support the impeachment. Just a thought.

Yesterday morning, a friend and I drove up the coast to Malibu — a drive I figured (correctly) would take less than Forever on a morn when everyone was home watching the Rose Parade. Our destination was one of my favorite restaurants…the Paradise Cove Beach Cafe. I recommend it but I also recommend not going without a reservation and not going when there's going to be heading-for-work or heading-home traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway. The place has great food, including the best clam chowder I've ever had anywhere.

Do me a favor. Since I just wrote that, do not write to tell me where to get even better clam chowder somewhere I'm not likely to ever be. Any time I post anything like that, I get all these e-mails that, first of all, want to correct me like I've made some sort of factual error; like someplace I've never been really has the best clam chowder I've ever had anywhere. And it doesn't do a whole lot of good to write and tell me, "You want really good clam chowder? Next time you're in the Republic of Botswana…"

Among the many delightful things to consume at the Beach Cafe are anything that comes with french fries. Theirs excel in quality and quantity. The pile that came with my fried shrimp contained about as many as your average McDonald's fries up in a month…and yes, I'm exaggerating for comedic effect but that's what we sometimes do here since this blog was started centuries ago. Among the leftovers I brought home, I had a helluva lot of fries.

I've tried reheating french-fried potatoes in the microwave and it leaves them as limp as…well, for some reason this morning, I can only think of dick jokes. But microwaving fries doesn't work so well.

So I tried something I'd read about on that all-seeing, all-knowing source of information (some of it even correct)…the Internet! I sprayed a non-stick skillet with canola oil and put it over medium heat. When it was medium hot, I dumped in some fries, swished them around with a spatula for five minutes and…like the proverbial Phoenix, they rose from the dead.  I didn't know you could do that but now I know…and so do you.

Yes, a friend of mine and I went to see the film of Cats today. I enjoyed it somewhat more than I expected and a lot more than a lot of people in the theater thought I ought to. Some of them apparently thought it's acceptable behavior at a movie to hoot and yell things back at the screen if we're all in agreement that the film's a piece of garbage. I don't agree with that kind of etiquette ever and I don't agree that Cats is as bad a movie as some folks say.

Note that I did not say it was a great film. As I mentioned here, I've never seen Cats as it was meant to be seen — as a musical on the stage. But my sense is it's not possible to make a great film out of the source material and still remain reasonably faithful. What I'm thinking is what we saw this afternoon might just be the best movie that could be made out of it.

I thought it was visually splendid. I thought there are plenty of outstanding performances, including some fine dancing. I think some of the songs are pretty good. And I thought some of the vocal detractors in the audience were laughing at the movie when if they'd given the film more of a chance, they'd have been laughing with it. There was some rather funny stuff in there, especially with James Corden and Ian McKellen.

Yeah, the story's kinda weird. That's the story of Cats, a musical that millions have seen and most have loved. This is no time to change it. Yeah, it's weird to see all those people "made-up" (mostly by CGI) as quasi-human felines. Again, that's just what Cats is. About five minutes in, I decided to embrace the weirdness, the sheer outrageousness of it all. Some of the critics have said they should have made a cartoon out of the show. I decided to treat it as if they did. I had a much better time that way.

I am not exactly recommending this movie. If you can't get past the humans-as-cats, you'll be staring at it with the "Springtime for Hitler" look. If you can accept it for what it is, it might be a good way to introduce the kiddos to musical theater and you may enjoy it too. Just don't go because you think it's going to stink and you'll enjoy it for that reason. It doesn't and you won't. What you might do though is lessen the enjoyment for others in the theater who might be enjoying it.

On The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, they keep recording what goes on between scenes and now and then, they air those snippets or post them online. Here are some moments from 2019…

I woke up this morning, looked outside and damned if it didn't feel like a New Year. There was almost no traffic…no sirens…no one yelling. So far, the news bulletins that pop up on my iPhone haven't brought me any bad news or infuriating Trump tweets. I have a friend here and we have plans for the day that involve other friends. I have no e-mails from producers or editors asking, "Where the hell is that script?"

Yep. This sure ain't 2019…so far.

I know people who, first and foremost in the world, want their lives to be interesting…even if that involves stress and fights and conflicts and anger. I like "interesting" too but not when it comes with those things attached. I don't see them as unavoidable if one is going to have an interesting existence and to the extent they are…well, I could tolerate a little "boring" now and then. I think one of the reasons I was attracted to writing as a lifestyle was that you can always make things interesting by sitting down and writing something interesting…and without bloodshed.

I'm assuming it will not feel completely like a new year for very long. By Monday, it will certainly feel a lot like last year and the year before and maybe even the year before. In my experience, it usually doesn't go back more than about three years. But I'm going to enjoy the new year while it still has that fresh New Car Smell. Hope you enjoy yours while you can.