Roger O Green

Soon-to-be governor Kathy Hochul

Erie County

Someone from outside of New York State asked me what I thought of soon-to-be New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. The answer is that I had hardly thought of her at all. In fact, a month ago, if someone had shown me an unlabeled picture of her, it’s only about 50/50 that I would have been able to identify her.

This is a good thing, actually. She wasn’t tied at the hip to Andrew Cuomo, and has, so far, said the right things about cleaning house.

Daily Kos notes: “Hochul will be New York’s first governor from the Buffalo area since none other than Democrat Grover Cleveland, who won the top job in 1882 after a short stint as mayor. She’s also the first bona fide Upstate resident to hold the post since Republican Nathan Miller of Cortland County left office in 1922.”

From Buffalo to Albany

This upstate/downstate issue has been an issue in the state since approximately forever. Heck, where upstate begins – Poughkeepsie, maybe – is subject to debate. (And that doesn’t even count the people who’ve decided that Buffalo’s actually in the Midwest US because it’s closer to Detroit, Mi (255 miles/411 km) than New York City (374 miles/601 km).

Daily Kos: “As distant as her geographic roots are from the Queens-born Cuomo’s, so too does her personal style differ. As Roll Call’s Jim Saska puts it, ‘Where Cuomo was feared, Hochul is beloved; where Cuomo had judged, Hochul has empathized.'”

Her relatively conservative record when running for Congress a decade ago became a liability when running for lieutenant governor. She was primaried twice and did less well in her primaries than Cuomo did in his. I voted for her opponents both times. I picked in 2014 legal scholar Tim Wu, who lost 60-40, and in 2018, low-profile New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams, lost by only a 53-47 margin. So since I’ve not voted for Cuomo in 2014 or 2018, I’ve never voted for her.

Enough is Enough

Still, I’m very willing to give her a chance. After Andrew, she’ll be a refreshing change. She says she’s running for governor next year, and she absolutely had to announce that. If she didn’t, she’d be an instant lame duck. It’ll be a contentious primary in June 2022.

From the Times Union: “She has led Cuomo’s 10 regional economic development councils, chaired a task force on heroin and opioid abuse and addiction, and led the governor’s ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign to combat sexual assault on college campuses. She is married to William Hochul, the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, who is now in private practice. They are the parents of two children.”

The history community is excited to see her in the new job. As IHARE notes: “The incoming Governor is far better qualified… I say this not because she has a background in such history but because of her training in office. For the past few years, she has held what is routinely regarded as a ‘ceremonial’ position. As such she has spent a lot of time outside of Albany traveling to a multitude of local events. These events from time to time include history sites and conferences.

I wish Kathy Hochul good luck as the state’s first female governor.

Fire “Milkshake Duck” Mike Richards

Jeopardy – not just another syndicated game show

I learned a new term very recently. It’s Milkshake Duck. Hey, it’s only been around since 2016.

The term is “an Internet meme that describes people who gain viral popularity on social media for some positive or charming trait but are later revealed to have distasteful histories or offensive behavior.”

Know Your Meme: On June 12th, 2016, Twitter user @pixelatedboat posted a tweet about the internet’s love for ‘Milkshake Duck,’ followed by the revelation ‘we regret to inform you the duck is racist’. Within one year, the tweet gained over 22,700 likes and 9,600 retweets.” Huh? Whatever.

Short-lived host

Mike Richards was pleasant enough as a fill-in host of Jeopardy. But, as you may know, he stepped down as the newly-named permanent host of the show, following reports of a number of inappropriate comments he made on a podcast that ran in 2013 and 2014. The podcast was appropriately named The Randumb Show.

Much of the offensive comments that targeted Jews, Haitians, and especially women are documented extensively in The Ringer, as well as mentioned in Parade. Just one example: him calling his colleague on-air a “booth ho” and “booth slut.”

I now believe Mike Richards should resign – or be fired – as JEOPARDY’s Executive Producer because he has harmed the show.

Institutional memory lost

Long-time executive producer Harry Fridman retired in May 2020, after 23 years. “Then, just months into Richards’s debut season, Trebek died due to complications of pancreatic cancer.” And though it started before Richards’ tenure, Glenn Kagan, longtime coordinator on the show, says “he was discriminated against based on his age and ultimately fired from the show on the pretense of Covid-19 safety procedures, while being replaced by a much younger employee.

There were other recent departures of several key staffers—including the longtime head of the contestant department, Maggie Speak, and stage manager John Lauderdale. Add to that “the taping difficulties caused by the pandemic, which left many staff members working from home, there was a widespread perception internally of a power vacuum.”

(BTW, I LOVED Maggie. She made me feel good after my loss. “You were the only one to get Final Jeopardy correct!”)

Heir apparent

A bunch of paragraphs from The Ringer on how Richards undercut Ken Jennings:

Sources close to the show cast doubts on Richards’s decision-making surrounding Jennings. Many Jeopardy! staffers and former contestants long presumed that Jennings would be Trebek’s anointed successor, an expectation that only grew in the months after Trebek’s 2019 cancer diagnosis.

After Jennings won 2020’s Greatest of All Time tournament, Friedman hired him as a consulting producer—a move from contestant to staff that some interpreted as a bridge to hosting, with Jennings’s early duties including presenting categories of his own creation. Trebek furthered this perception, asking Jennings to narrate much of his 2020 memoir, The Answer Is …, and arranging a call with him to discuss guest-hosting just two days before Trebek’s death.

As The New York Times reported, the host left Jennings a pair of his cuff links, which awaited him in Trebek’s dressing room, along with a note from Trebek’s wife, Jean, when Jennings arrived at the studio to serve as the season’s inaugural guest host.

Jennings taped six weeks of episodes before a minor conflict with an upcoming tape day emerged… Sources say the show’s production staff was able to accommodate the conflict, only for Richards to step in and insist on hosting instead. When the time came to tape the preamble to his first episode, Richards blamed COVID-19 for the change and exaggerated the nature of Jennings’s conflict.

Mike to the rescue?

After Jennings’s curtailed run, which posted the highest ratings of any guest host this season, Jeopardy! did not air any additional [clue] categories hosted by [Ken]. Previously, the categories had aired roughly once a month, about as often as those hosted by members of the Clue Crew. Categories featuring clues read by the Clue Crew, celebrities, and affiliate station news anchors continued to air…

After Richards was named the executive producer of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune in 2019, another former Let’s Make A Deal employee remembers a supervisor who had worked closely with Richards remarking, “I bet he hires himself.”

“I think that one reason why Jeopardy was aspirational for many of its contestants was its sense of integrity,” says Kristin Sausville, who won five games on Jeopardy! in 2015. ‘There was something intrinsic to the show and Alex Trebek’s hosting of it that elevated it above other game shows.

“‘The baggage Mike Richards has brought from his previous experience as an executive producer, as well as the optics of what comes across as his self-selection as host, have tarnished that. I think there’s a real danger of Jeopardy! becoming just another syndicated game show, and that makes me concerned for its longevity and standing.”

Out goes he

I’ve been in touch with other Jeopardy contestants. A few noted a decline in the quality of the clue-writing under his tenure. “It has long been more than clear that Richards’s focus has not been on the good of the show.Most [contestants] don’t understand how he can stay on, as he was the guy in charge of this whole guest host year of distraction in the first place.”

As a columnist noted, it makes “one wonder why the Jeopardy team didn’t perform much due diligence on Richards. Oh, wait … I forgot who was put in charge of it.” And, presumably, Richards will be choosing his own successor as host.

This is why I think that the self-aggrandizing Mike Richards, milkshake duck, should be fired as Executive Producer of JEOPARDY!

Imitation title songs #6; IJKL, some M

Interpol, Robert Lamm, Marillion, Midnight Oil, Joni Mitchell, and Macca

These are more imitation title songs. The album name appears as a lyric, but it’s not the title song. There is no actual title song, but these can be imitation title songs.

Great Southern Land – Icehouse. Album: Primitive Man. Lyrics: “You walk alone, like a primitive man.”

Don’t Need A Gun – Billy Idol. Album: Whiplash Smile. Lyrics:-“You can drive me through That red stop light With a whiplash smile.”

NYC – Interpol. Album: Turn on the Bright Lights. Lyrics: “It’s up to me now turn on the bright lights.”
Stay in Touch – Interpol. Album: Marauder. “Marauder chained of no real code.”

Still Life – Iron Maiden. Album: Piece Of Mind. Lyrics: “Nightmares, will give me peace of mind.”

Jay/Kay

Ted, Just Admit It – Jane’s Addiction. Album: Nothing’s Shocking. Lyrics: “Nothing’s shocking. Showed me everybody.”

Cantonese Boy – Japan. Album: Tin Drum. Lyrics: “Bang your tin drum.”

Dun Ringill – Jethro Tull. Album: Stormwatch. Lyrics: “And the stormwatch brews a concert of kings as the white sea snaps at the heels of a soft prayer whispered.”

Nikita – Elton John. Album: Ice On Fire. Lyrics: “With eyes that looked like ice on fire.”

The Little Pot Stove – Nic Jones. Album: Penguin Eggs. Lyrics: “Salt fish and whalemeat sausage, fresh penguin eggs a treat.”

Heartbeat – King Crimson. Album: Beat. Lyrics: “I need to feel your heartbeat.”

Celluloid Heroes – The Kinks. Album: Everybody’s In Show-biz? Lyrics: “And everybody’s in show biz, it doesn’t matter who you are.” I have this on vinyl.

El

I Could Tell You Secrets – Robert Lamm. Album: Subtlety and Passion. Lyrics: “Subtlety and Passion Have fallen out of fashion.”
The Love You Call Your Own – Robert Lamm. Albums: Too Many Voices and In My Head. Lyrics: “Too many voices in my head.”

When It All Comes True – Lanterns On The Lake. Album: Spook The Herd. Lyrics: “But don’t set me off On the blue lights That spooked the herd.”

Ready Teddy/Rip It Up – John Lennon. Album: Rock ‘n’ Roll. “Ready ready ready to Rock’n’roll.” I bought this LP on December 9, 1980.

Elusive Butterfly – Bob Lind. Album: Don’t Be Concerned. Lyrics: “Don’t be concerned, it will not harm you.” I own this on vinyl.

In Inverna Garden – The Lilac Time. Album: Astronauts. Lyrics: “Lamplight shining through the years Like astronauts romantic.”

River of Fools – Los Lobos. Album: By The Light Of The Moon. Lyrics: “Tear streaked faces by the light of the moon.”

No More I Love You’s – The Lover Speaks. Album: The Lover Speaks. Lyrics: “The lover speaks about the monsters.”

Em

Pop Muzik – M. Album: New York, London, Paris, Munich.

Pseudo-silk Kimono – Marillion. Album: Misplaced Childhood. Lyrics: “The spirit of a misplaced childhood is rising to speak his mind.”
The Last Straw – Marillion. Album: Clutching at Straws. Lyrics: “We’re clutchin’ at straws.”

Slave Driver – Bob Marley. Album: Catch A Fire. Lyrics: “Slave driver, the table is turn (Catch a fire)”, and throughout.

Gin and Listerine – Martha. Album: Courting Strong. Lyrics: “We were whispering, ‘Pity Me forever’, we were courting strong.”

That Day Is Done – Paul McCartney. Album: Flowers in the Dirt. Lyrics: “She Sprinkles Flowers In The Dirt.”
I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter – Paul McCartney. Album: Kisses On the Bottom. Lyrics: “A lot of kisses on the bottom, I’ll be glad I got ’em.”
Fine Line, and Promise to You Girl – Paul McCartney. Album: Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Lyrics: “There is a long way between chaos and creation” and “Looking through the backyard of my life”, respectively. I have all three of these Macca albums.

Me

Hercules – Mercury Rev. Album: All Is Dream. Lyrics: “All is mind, all is lost and you find All is dream.”

Who Says? – Mesh. Album: A Perfect Solution. Lyrics: “It might be the perfect solution.”

My Apocalypse – Metallica. Album: Death Magnetic. Lyrics: Death magnetic Pulling closer still.”

And – Microdisney. Album: The Clock Comes Down the Stairs. Lyrics: “You are just there to clear the air ‘til the clock comes down the stairs.”

Brave Faces – Midnight Oil. Album: Place Without a Postcard. Lyrics: “he sand dunes I imagine A place without a postcard.”
Warakurna – Midnight Oil. Album: Diesel and Dust. Lyrics: “Diesel and dust is what we breathe.”

The Beat of Black Wings – Joni Mitchell. Album: Chalk Mark In A Rainstorm. Lyrics: “I’m just a chalk mark in a rainstorm.”
Both Sides Now – Joni Mitchell. Album: Clouds. Lyrics: “And feather canyons everywhere Looked at clouds that way.” et al.

The DeSantis variant of COVID-19

some have good sense

Someone suggested “the DeSantis variant”, and I’m not remembering who.

After I got my second dose of the Pzifer vaccine on March 24, I felt…liberated. It wasn’t that I thought the pandemic was over, but that it was ending in the United States sooner rather than later. The country had a sufficient amount of vaccines, enough to send to countries that didn’t have access, through WHO’s COVAX program.

Then the new vaccine numbers plummeted, and infection rates went up, first in the South and Midwest then everywhere. What I saw on the television, of medical personnel turning cafeterias and parking lots into extra COVID-19 beds. But this was different than last year at this time. Many of these folks were frustrated. And a lot of them were ANGRY.

Most of them DIDN’T say, “You dummies! You’ve brought this on yourselves!” But it was, in several cases, the clear subtext. Patients, or their families asking, begging for the vaccine as people suffer through the effects of the condition.

Some people who didn’t get injections I cut a lot of slack for. Pregnant women who worried about the side effects. The immunocompromised who are going to need that third dose.

“Freedom”

But the argument that people who aren’t getting the vaccine only are harming themselves is simply not true, despite the panoply of articles being sent to me by someone I’ve known most of my life. (It also includes info about the stolen election, the persecution of the Pillow Guy, and minimization of the Holocaust, so I’ve deigned to filter them out.)

Those folks not getting vaccinated are Petri dishes making the population, i.e., ME more likely to become sick with a variant of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, governors such as Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida have, in the name of “freedom”, banned school districts in their states from a vaccine and/or mask mandates, though some districts are ignoring them. What about the freedom to keep people safe and healthy?

Dr. Rob Davidson is looking to understand. “I don’t blame my patients for their refusal [to get vaccinated.] What breaks my heart, as someone who took an oath to prevent harm, is that my patients choose to abandon the science and evidence that can save their lives. I do blame Fox News and other right-wing media outlets for poisoning the minds of millions of Americans with the deceptive propaganda they spray into living rooms 24/7.”

Patience lost

True enough. Yet, despite my desperate attempt to try to “see the other side,” I’m just not able to do it anymore. Don’t have it in me. These people are, if I’m being totally honest, infuriating me. Thoughtless privilege. Cognitive distortions. And since I can’t just scream at them – it would do no good anyway – it leaves me in a state of melancholy. I have what Mark Evanier calls “The Springtime for Hitler” look at anti-vaxx/anti-mask efforts in our country.

DeSantis, in particular, irritates me, with his posturing to grab hold of the Trump voters when he presumably runs for President in 2024. He’s threatening to withhold salaries from district superintendents who mandate masks in schools. At least I can yell at him when I see his smirk on the TV. I’ve renamed the Delta variant the DeSantis variant; use in good health.

The vaccine could save us if we let it. But as we go backward in the fight against COVID-19, I can hold onto the fact that at least most of my friends and relatives have the good sense to protect themselves, and me. Especially me.

Movie review: Collective [Romania]

medical establishment

The International Feature Film Oscar nominee Collective, representing Romania, is an intriguing docudrama. It’s in no small part because the viewer thinks the story is going to be about one thing, but there continues to be much more to the narrative.

The title comes from Bucharest’s Colectiv nightclub. A 2015 fire there killed 64 people. But the majority of them died well after the conflagration. Why is that?

A group of reporters from, of all things, a sports daily newspaper, keep finding bits of the story, led by Catalin Tolontan and Mirela Nega. These are dogged investigators who might put Woodward and Bernstein to shame. Think of the movie Spotlight or other investigative films, without the Hollywood lighting and mood music.

The newspaper initially reveals one villain, a medical supplier. Did the company director know about the discrepancies in the product line? But this turns out to be merely the tip of the iceberg.

Knight to the rescue?

It is at that point that director Alexander Nanau pivots, rightly so, I believe. He then focuses on the personable new minister of health Vlad Voiculescu, a former activist after his predecessor suddenly resigned. Vlad’s job is to initiate a whole redo of Romania’s corrupt and inept medical establishment. Naturally, he experiences pushback from the systems, plural: medical, bureaucratic, and political.

Near the end, Vlad notes the lack of interest in hospital reform from Romania’s doctors, while the public grows frustrated with how slowly change is coming. He notes, “It’s like we are living in separate worlds.”

A minor, but compelling storyline involved the recuperation of burn survivor Tedy Ursuleanu and her nifty new mechanical hand.

Critic Roger Moore notes, “One can’t watch the… documentary… without feeling as if the film is a snapshot of America’s future.” This detailed review in Indiewire tells a lot more than I’m sharing here. 99% of the critics and 88% of the general audience applauded this movie.

Despite the many setbacks experienced by the protagonists, Collective shows the value of truth, and the importance of a free press addressing countervailing forces. The movie’s pacing is slow, especially early on, but it’s worthwhile overall. I saw it on Hulu. It is in Romanian, with subtitles.