American politics has become a sh*tshow these days, regardless of the where you stand on the political spectrum.
Charles J. Sykes is both a conservative radio personality and best-selling author. His 2017 book, How the Right Lost Its Mind, tracks how the GOP and the Conservative party has changed its core values. In the past, the party stood for limited government, traditional values and a free market. As of recently, the party has come to stand for bigotry, hypocrisy and political falsehood. The question is, can the GOP and the Conservative movement return to the values that have defined them in the past or have they forever been changed?
Many of regular readers will know that my politics are squarely on the left. I read this book not to gloat, but to understand what happens when a political party is hijacked and abandons the values they once held near and dear for a candidate or a politician who motives are not exactly crystal clear.
BTW, you know who comes up in the book, but he is not the only issue that the author points out has caused this dramatic shift.
Among the recommendations that are often quoted to writers, one of the most well-known is to write what you know.
Philip Roth was raised in Newark, New Jersey and famously used his fiction to write about his experience growing up in the years during and after World War II.
In his 2008 novel, Indignation, Marcus Messner is a young man who has been raised by his second generation Jewish parents in Newark in the early 1950’s. After completing his first year of college at a local university, Marcus is ready to spread his proverbial wings. But his father, who owns his own butcher shop is increasingly becoming a helicopter parent. To get away from his father, Marcus enrolls in Winesburg College, a small university in Ohio. At school Marcus is slowly becoming a rebel. He is starts dating Olivia Hutton , a young woman who carries her own emotional baggage, in addition to not sharing Marcus’s religious faith.
Can Marcus find his own way in the world or will he follow the path that has been laid out before him?
This book is amazing. What makes it stand out for me is that his journey feels normal for a kid in their late teens or early 20’s. That period of life, as I remember it be, is a period of exploration and discovering your own identity as a human being.
Politics and politicians never fail to elicit a WTF response from the populous. This particular administration has had more than a few WTF moments in the last year and a half and probably will produce quite a few more before the 2020 election.
Randy Rainbow’s new video, WTF, YOU GUYS!? – Randy Rainbow Song Parody (NSFW), is a parody of the song, “Omigod You Guys”, which is the opening number from the musical adaptation of the film Legally Blonde.
In the pantheon of Randy Rainbow videos, this is just another perfect satirical sendoff of the reality of current American politics.
BTW, in case anyone is interested, the original song is below.
Keep it coming, Randy Rainbow. Your country needs you.
It’s a proven fact that many who suffer from mental health issues have considered or have acted on suicidal thoughts. In the United States, suicide is quickly become one of the leading causes of death. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Writer Jennifer Michael Hecht knows all too well the pain that losing a loved one to suicide brings. Her 2013 book, Stay: A History of Suicide and the Arguments Against It, was inspired by the loss of two friends to suicide. In the book, Ms. Hecht examines how suicide was viewed in the past by different cultures and how these cultures argued against suicide. She also examines how attitudes in regards to suicide have changed, but the reasons to live remain the same.
This book was not only well written, but eye opening. Suicide has been part of the human experience for an untold number of generations. For me, living with mental illness, the most important reason for reading this book was the argument that life is worth it. Suicide is permanent, pain can and does heal.
Many go into politics for altruistic reasons. Whether or not their reasons change over time is to be seen.
In the 2007 film Evan Almighty (a sequel to the 2003 film Bruce Almighty), Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) has changed careers. After spending years reporting the news, he becomes the news when he is elected to Congress. Sensing that Evan is a virgin politician, Congressman Long (John Goodman) is trying to pressure Evan to co-sponsor a bill that will allow developers to re-create the National Parks in their own image. Then G-d (Morgan Freeman, reprising his role from Bruce Almighty) tells Evan to build an ark. Evan is not exactly a believer in the instructions he has received. Torn between co-sponsoring the bill and the more than obvious signs from G-d, Evan has to make a decision. Should he save the world or co-sponsor the bill?
As sequels go, the film is not that bad. I also certainly appreciate the message about taking care of the environment. This film is the type of film that you might see in theaters or find it while flipping through the channels on a rainy weekend afternoon. But it is the best sequel ever? Not really.
Sometimes, fate surprises us. We learn and grow in the most surprising ways.
In the play The Band’s Visit (based on the film of the same name) a band from Egypt is scheduled to play at the opening of an Arab Cultural Center in Israel. A mistake is made and they take the bus to the wrong city. The locals take them in for the night. The leader of the band, Tewfiq (DARIUSH KASHANI) beds down for the night with Dina (KATRINA LENK), the owner of a small cafe. What starts out as a night of hospitality turns into a friendship and a conversation about being human and the experiences we have.
I loved this show. It absolutely deserved the 10 Tony Awards that were conferred on the show by the Tony voters. What makes the show interesting is that it has the running time of a play (about 90 minutes), but it has the narrative structure and character arc of a musical (using song and dance to tell the story). I read somewhere that the show stands out because it speaks to the heart and the intelligence of the audience, instead of appealing to the audience’s baser instincts when it comes to Broadway shows.
But what makes the show stand out for me is the fact that it speaks to the idea that even when two groups of people who are known not to like each other, individuals on opposite sides of the conflict can find common ground and perhaps friendship.
I absolutely recommend it.
The Band’s Visit is playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theater at 243 W 47th Street in New York City. Check the website for ticket prices and showtimes.
In the late 1960’s, Robert F. Kennedy was a beacon of hope and light in the darkness and chaos that defined the era. He was gunned down in 1968 by an assassin while on the Presidential campaign trail. Though his body has long since returned to the earth, his legacy lives on.
This book is amazing. While the interviewees are vastly different, the message is the same. RFK represented what America could be and challenged her citizens to step up to create the America he believed could one day exist.
*Warning: This post contains spoilers in regards to the narrative and characters from the book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Read at your own risk if you have not read the book or have seen any of the adaptations.
There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.
In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from Little Women to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.
If we are lucky, we have older relations who love us and want the best for us. But that doesn’t mean that they are always right. In Little Women, that older relation is Aunt March. Aunt March is the wealthy and widowed Aunt by marriage of Mr. March. She is also very opinionated and not afraid to share her opinions. The reader is introduced to Aunt March when we follow Jo to her job as her aunt’s companion. They get along like oil and water.
It is Aunt March who continually harps on what she believes to be her nephew’s poor decision-making abilities. She also nearly breaks up the engagement of Meg to John Brooke. John is just poor tutor without connections or a large fortune and according to Aunt March, an unwise choice of a spouse.
Though she is critical and not afraid to speak her mind, Aunt March is not heartless. She takes a shining to Amy and encourages her to develop her artistic abilities. She also leaves her home, Plumfield to Jo after her death.
To sum it up: Aunt March maybe a cantankerous and stubborn old woman, but that does not mean that she puts money above family. I think when writers create characters like Aunt March, there has to be a balance between the smart-mouthed old biddy who thinks she knows everything and the woman who really does care, but it doesn’t come out in a direct fashion. It’s just a matter of knowing when to reveal which part of the character’s personality.
This will be the last character review post for Little Women. The next group of characters who will receive a character review in two weeks is…….I’m not telling you. You have to wait and see.
Game shows have been part of the television landscape since the early days of television.
From 1986-1993 Double Dare was a regular on Nickelodeon’s schedule. Hosted by Marc Summers, the competition contained both trivia questions and physical stunts that could only be described as messy.
I remember watching this show back in the day and thinking that it was so much fun to watch. Looking back, what made it so much fun was the fact that it was neither a strictly academic or strictly physical competition. The physical component of the game was also a little gross, but gross in a good way.
Bullying in school has been around since the invention of school. Countless children over the generations have suffered at the hands of their classmates.
These days, in school bullying has been taken to another level by social media.
Last summer, Mallory Grossman was in sixth grade at Copeland Middle School in Rockaway, New Jersey. She took her own life after dealing with the persistent bullying she received from her classmates, both in school and online.
According to media reports, one of the accused bullies asked the young girl the following: “when are you going to kill yourself?”.
Some might argue that social media plays a role in the bullying that led to the girl’s decision to commit suicide. While I can certainly understand where that argument is coming from, social media is not entirely to blame.
If the bullying happened on school property and nothing was done by the staff to stop the bullying, the school is culpable. The blame is also on the parents of the bullies. Their children are responsible for this girl’s death and should be punished appropriately.
Two decades ago, I too was bullied in school. Thankfully, social media as we know it be today did not exist back then. Though it’s been years since my own experience of school days bullying, the scars still remain.
May Mallory’s memory be a blessing to those who knew and loved her. Wherever she is, the bullies cannot hurt her anymore.
Writergurlny 
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