Tag: 2018

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La Dame aux Camélias

Novel and stage play by Alexandre Dumas, fils. Later adapted by Giuseppe Verdi to La Traviata. 

Tickets to the Metropolitan Opera. Christmas gift from our fils. Parterre box.

New production with James Levine’s replacement. Montreal’s Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Unique deathbed retrospective one venue set, it brings all of Violetta’s life into her room with the requisite pathos and an added Ballet Jeté ensemble just because. Bavarian soprano Diana Damrau cajoled Violetta’s lacrime in a controlled splendor. The crowd loved it and her.

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La Nuit Divine

O Night Divine. Gloriously sung in French by soprano Susanna Phillips at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Applause wafted up the aisle. Couldn’t help it. Capped off last night’s Christmas Eve service with choirs and horns and harps and a Paul Winter sax solo. And. The most haunting organ crescendo Harking the Herald of Angels. Transported. Second annual tradition with Ben.

Inclusive Episcopalian congregation. A little political. But. No kneeling!

Joyeux Noël 

 

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Too Big to Fail – Again

Remember too big to fail? The 2008 government bank bailout? That worked out really well. And today? 6 banks still run everything. Determine the global markets. Shape the American economy. Citibank, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. Their CEOs say that they have ample liquidity available for lending this time around in a strange set of calls from Treasury Secretary Mnuchin. And we should believe them?

Mnuchin is forming a group including these six banks, the Fed and the SEC, the same assemblage as in the financial crisis of 2008. Calling it a “Plunge Protection Team”.   Danger. Danger.

And. Oh yeah. Merry Christmas!

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2018

Good

Theater- The Lifespan of A Fact
Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones, Bobby Cannavale

World Cup Soccer
Parkland Students Rally America against guns

Dolphin jumping out of the sea in Amagansett

 

Bad & Ugly

Petulant Adolescent President
Kavanaugh confirmation hearing
Emojis
Toxic Misandry

Sad   Art Bell
Tragic   Anthony Bourdain

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2018 Wish List Missed

My 2018 Wish List. Predilections. Didn’t get a lot.

Luann de Lesseps & Harvey Weinstein hookup in rehab. Not that I know.
Melania on Dancing With the Stars. Nope.
Jon Stewart replaces Colbert. Too bad not.
Sam will reunite with real Jason. Almost.
Tim Ryan not Paul Ryan will replace Pelosi as Speaker. Kinda sorta but not.
Tiger wins another major. He did not.
Patriots will not win the Super Bowl. Ding. Ding. Ding.
Tops will no longer have shoulder holes. Unfortunately they still do.
Pets will develop allergies to humans. No. But they were attacked by raccoons in Central Park.
Alexa will do the dishes. No. And we had to put her in the cabinet. She was spying on us.

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2018 Report Card

December 2017 made these predictions for 2018. How’d I do?

Trump will tweet a lot  A+
Cable News and NYTimes will freak out about it daily A+
So will certain family and friends A+
TTSD antidote will be mid-term elections  C+
Societal polarization will vertically widen  B
Garbage trucks will wake us up B+    (getting used to them)
Streaming services will shutter movie theaters  C-  (most still open)
Online shopping will render the end of malls   B-   (some still open)
There will be a military action in North Korea   F  (Rocket Man bromance)

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2019 Predictions & Predilections

Predictions

The obvious. Women will march. Bernie will run. So will Biden. Trump will tweet. The media will go nuts every time he does. Lots of people will get shot by guns. Okay. Now for the harder stuff.

All-LA LA Super Bowl – Rams beat Chargers
Tiger wins a major
House gets set to impeach
Trump mounts foreign military action to wag the dog
2 more Supremes get replaced


Predilections

Laura Benanti and Melania both go on Dancing With the Stars
Ronan Farrow is caught canoodling with Kevin Spacey
Fired Generals storm the White House with armies and tanks
Jared and Ivanka hightail it to Saudi Arabia
Kimberly Guilfoyle goes missing on a big game hunt with Donny Jr.
Senate coots all keel over during a confirmation hearing
Cory Booker is cast in new movie as Spartacus
Elizabeth Warren v. Kamala Harris cage fight on the Senate floor
Hillary takes on the winner
Nancy Pelosi hits herself on the head with the gavel
Jeffrey Toobin & Chris Cuomo get #MeToo’d
Joe Scarborough leaves Mika for Katty Kay
Ray Donovan fixes Michael Cohen
Yankees have a great season

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2018 Takeaways

Masculinity is toxic. Misandry is hot. #MeToo has caused men to wear straightjackets to work.

Michael Avenatti & Deval Patrick won’t be running for Dem Prez. Everyone else will. Only liberal women of color should be nominated for or elected to anything.

Never speak the name of our current Prez.

College kids are offended by everyone. They need comfort pets in their dorms. And. Marijuana. But. No peanuts or cigarettes. After graduation, can’t get a job. Cuz they can only talk to screens in safe spaces. Stoned. Hugging iguanas.

No more costumes at Halloween. Upsets groups. Santa abuses his reindeer. And his little elves, too. Probably Mrs. Claus. Hannukah overlaps with Kwaanza. So. Forget holiday celebrations.

Can’t bring home the bacon anymore. Only broccoli.

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Facts Are Fungible

The Lifespan of a Fact. Daniel Radcliffe. Cherry Jones. Bobby Cannavale. Studio 54 Theater. Yes. That same old disco venue. Clever staging. The takeaway from the play. Facts are not truth. Yet truth needs some facts. Writing was the star. The ensemble inimitable. Without them. No reason to go. Radcliffe supplied the crucial electric current. Jones the cerebral publishing glue. Cannavale the stalwart artist. Called a farce. Disagree. A witty composition on the vagaries of life. Without going down trite emotional trails. Consistently true to the conceit. Great.

And. Not once did Harry Potter occur.