I'm hoping that since it is Halloween, even the idiots who believe COVID-19 is a hoax will wear a mask. At least for one night.
But certainly, Trick-or-Treating will be curtailed nationwide (or at least in communities that believe in science). And it'll be hard to bob for apples with a mask on.
I've always liked Halloween. Not to where I decorate the house and walk around drenched in fake blood all day, but I do enjoy it. It's the start of the extended holiday season. Although this year that will be a very different holiday experience. No big family gatherings for Thanksgivings (which might be a blessing for some families and save a lot of ugly arguments), no holiday parties. and with our nation so divided it's anyone's guess as to whether we'll have goodwill for all. Christmas shopping will be primarily done on line. Shopping malls will really suffer. Those poor old drunk Department Store Santa Clauses will be out of luck.
No Macy's Parade this year. No Rose Parade. No snow storm stranding thousands of a travelers in O'Hare for two nights. No half million people jammed into Times Square. Thank God at least we'll still have Ryan Seacrest.
Homes will still be decorated I assume. Chinese restaurants deliver so Jews will be covered. Hollywood takes a big hit this holiday season. December and the summer are their big cash cow seasons. Gone is the Christmas tradition of studios raising ticket prices.
We'll all adjust and get through it. Those of us lucky enough not to have contracted the virus.
But in the back of my mind, I can't help thinking so much of this could have been avoided had we had a real leader who addressed the problem instead of lying about it for his own self-interest.
Vote for Joe Biden, if for nothing else than to act upon this pandemic and really give us something to be thankful for next Thanksgiving.
I'm with you-and love the take on the current "normal".
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit alarmed at how easily the falsehoods are starting to fly, how effortless they seem to come, and that I KNOW some people will believe anything they are told.
Ya know, you never have a bridge or some phony oil stocks to sell when you need them....
It was only a matter of time. Sean Connery RIP.
ReplyDeleteEveryone will be talking about James Bond, but let's not forget his brilliant performances in The Untouchables, The Rock, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Rising Sun, and The Hunt for Red October.
Don't forget "Darby O'Gill and the Little People."
DeleteM.B.
Uh oh Ken, you know you;re going to have to disable comments after your so true comments on our Orange so-called Leader.Great piece as always ...
ReplyDeleteSome thoughts on Sean Connery, a true movie star … 90 years old … impressive life … worked with him on a Richard Brooks film called WRONG IS RIGHT (Brooks was rather impressive too) … they set up a screening for me in Burbank … was going to a do a junket in NY … sitting by myself and the projectionist comes in and says we are just waiting on one other person … no problem … a few minutes later .. in walks Sean. I say hello, he says hello and extends his hand to shake and says “Sean” … like I don’t know him! Great moment!
Was very friendly to me but struck me as very tough with others … didn’t suffer fools easily, like Hackman.
Very very few legends left now.
Yes sir.
ReplyDeleteJust think this holiday season will be after the election. We can hope that a weight will be lifted off our shoulders and we can look forward to January 20. I will be relieved.
ReplyDeleteI am not downplaying this pandemic at all. I have been out to pick up food a Panera's. Gone to Barnes and Noble a couple of times. And a few other places. I have even gone back to my part time job after 6 months. We live in Wisconsin and we have gone to Minneapolis once a month to see our Grandson. Out side of going to a park I don't go anywhere. I haven't been thrilled that they have sent their son to day care. (He is 2 and a half) I do wear a mask if I plan on going in to a store and I keep my distance. My wife actually goes out more than me but she wears a mask. I even visit my brother on our way home from Minneapolis. I know I am taking a few chances and I am in the age risk group. I wish people would be more cautious. I saw the other day that Melbourne is out of lockdown. They has strict rules during the lockdown. There are still a lot of restrictions now. I don't know how how far they have cut cut cases but enough to allow people to get out.
ReplyDeleteKen, you'll be pleased to know I voted Friday (and through my choice for president, kept myself in your good graces!). Since voting is LA countywide, I chose to cast it over at the SoFi Stadium complex; no, we didn't vote inside the stadium (even though both the Chargers and Rams are on the road this week), but in a building not far from the venue. It's impressive, and I sense the stadium, the Clippers' forthcoming arena, plus retail and housing being built, will do for Inglewood what Nationals Park has done for the Navy Yard and Anacostia River waterfront in Southeast D.C. That area is unrecognizable from what it was when the ballpark opened in 2008.
ReplyDeleteThis screenwriter also needs advice. Last night, I was in contact with a producer and script consultant whose IMDb profile proves he's legit (it includes films like the Ryan Reynolds-Anna Faris rom-com "Just Friends"). I'm trying to market a rom-com of my own, which he liked, but added this:
Please note there is a small facilitation payment ($550). This payment will cover for the producer statement, pitch deck and legal petitioner. We need these documents to market the script in the hands of film executives and production companies that may show interest in your project."
He added he'll take no commission from the sale of my script, and I'll be protected by an NDA. My question: Is this a common industry practice, or am I being exploited?
Most medical experts say the pandemic will go on for at least another year and if we don't get Medicare for All we'll be in even bigger trouble.
ReplyDeleteVP81955
ReplyDeleteYou're being exploited.
A possible Friday Query: We were looking for a new comedy to watch and saw UNICORN with Justified's Walton Goggins. The pilot was laugh out loud funny but after that, the later episodes collapsed into a made for Hallmark channel, Family Values, Treacle infested blob of cliched mediocrity. It was as though they had A-list creatives for the pilot and then handed it off to a Liberty University creative writing 101 class. How can a show end up being so different from the pilot? (Plus I saw it was renewed for a another season.WTF?)
ReplyDeleteKen said: I'm hoping that since it is Halloween, even the idiots who believe COVID-19 is a hoax will wear a mask. At least for one night.
ReplyDeleteYeah, right! I’m sure they’re all going as The Lone Ranger.
Depending on what happens Tuesday, we'll either be celebrating Thanksgiving in a few weeks or Halloween for the next four years.
ReplyDeleteI wear a mask. I think people should wear masks. But, from what I have read, masks do not prevent or slow the spread of COVID-19.
ReplyDeleteWhy wear a mask? It is a social signal. A signal to my fellow Americans that we’re in this together. That I respect each of you enough to pull a mask over my nose and mouth while in a shared space. It’s the right thing to do, common courtesy.
Same reason I wear pants.
Well, since it is Hallowee, and a blue moon, I will go on record as one of the very few who actually liked the movie "Halloween 3:Season of The Witch". Just wanted to mix it up a bit. Anyone else with a guilty Halloween movie pleasure?
ReplyDeleteKen, you'll be pleased to know I voted Friday (and through my choice for president, kept myself in your good graces!). Since voting is LA countywide, I chose to cast it over at the SoFi Stadium complex; no, we didn't vote inside the stadium (even though both the Chargers and Rams are on the road this week), but in a building not far from the venue. It's impressive, and I sense the stadium, the Clippers' forthcoming arena, plus retail and housing being built, will do for Inglewood what Nationals Park has done for the Navy Yard and Anacostia River waterfront in Southeast D.C. That area is unrecognizable from what it was when the ballpark opened in 2008.
ReplyDeleteThis screenwriter also needs advice. Last night, I was in contact with a producer and script consultant whose IMDb profile proves he's legit (it includes films like the Ryan Reynolds-Anna Faris rom-com "Just Friends"). I'm trying to market a rom-com of my own, which he liked, but added this:
Please note there is a small facilitation payment ($550). This payment will cover for the producer statement, pitch deck and legal petitioner. We need these documents to market the script in the hands of film executives and production companies that may show interest in your project."
He added he'll take no commission from the sale of my script, and I'll be protected by an NDA. My question: Is this a common industry practice, or am I being exploited?
Anytime a "producer" or "director" asks for fees up front, it's a scam. Don't walk away. Run away.
Ken, I'm not going through with that producer, because I've found a free alternative. A verified producer -- in other words, one with money and means -- is seeking "Multiverse live action feature and TV projects with mass audience appeal." Genres include comedy and science fiction; my feature fits in both, and the lead in my script can best be described as a semi-superheroine. As for "mass audience appeal," someone in coverage said my project has "four-quadrant appeal." I'm certain I'll have plenty of competition, but believe my logline, concept and hook are marketable. Best of all, I won't have to pay a cent.
ReplyDeleteKen's comment about Chinese restaurants and Jews reminded me of the story a friend told me who had some Orthodox Jewish friends. She said they wouldn't let their kids trick-or-treat because Halloween is a "Christian holiday." Which amused me and my wife because we both grew up in the kind of Christian environment where a lot of kids weren't allowed to celebrate Halloween because it's a "pagan holiday."
ReplyDeleteI mailed my ballot in about a two weeks ago and then, alarmed by stories about people setting up fake mail boxes, called the county board of elections to find out if it had arrived safely. It did! My vote counted in what may be the most important election of my life.
ReplyDeleteHere in L.A. County, we had a house party on our left, one on our right and two across the street. We gave out no candy. Out our window, we could not see a mask anywhere, including Halloween.
ReplyDeleteWe live like freaking shuts in. We're lucky we can telework. My wife goes to the grocery store once a week. She forgot cat food but we found Amazon does next day on it so that comes today and so no need for another visit to Von's. The county and the state is thisclose to another shutdown because morons like the people around us. What the fluck is wrong with people? By the way, we voted. Changed the clocks last night and the government on Tuesday.
For the record:
ReplyDeleteI am a registered Democratic voter, in the Village of Oak Lawn, County of Cook, State of Illinois.
As such, I obtained a mail-in ballot from the County Board of Elections, which I filled in and mailed (my condo building has a mailroom, so I dropped it in).
A week or so later, I received an Email from the County Board, informing me that my ballot had been received, and would be counted at the designated time (Illinois rules).
It was back in 2016 that I wrote you about my long-term reservations about the Electoral College; in 2020, those reservations are still in force (to the tenth power).
As for Tuesday, my plan of procedure is as follows:
I'm spending the day at my DVD Wall, watching as many different programs as possible.
I've got a vast choice (or half-vast, anyway) to work with, so there will be no bingeing of any one property.
I'm NOT watching any election coverage until midnight (Central Standard Time) at the earliest.
I don't sleep well anyway, and this election should only make it worse.
Am I a pessimist?
Was Charlie Chan Swedish?
I live in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) PA, and I voted early - twice! They sent out ballots and we filled them in and returned them. Then it came out that they'd sent out the wrong ballots, so they sent us a second set (with different districts - federal and state options were unchanged) and we filled them out and sent them in again. (They won't double count us, they say, and if we hadn't submitted the corrected ballots our original ones would have worked for the federal and state level offices.)
ReplyDeleteI'm so sick of Cheeto. And to know it's going to be days if not weeks before all the ballots are counted is just too depressing to think about.
@Arlen Peters, that's a great story!
Re Connery... one of the last of the proper movie stars, some of his attitudes wouldn't fly these days, but he was of his time. I'm Scottish and he's generally loved here (again with the caveat of a couple of his odder comments on Scottish life). One other little detail which doesn't get much coverage - he had a rep for being a bit 'tight' with his money - he came from poverty and like many others who did, you never lose that fear that it could all vanish - but when he made Diamonds Are Forever, he used the fee (a million dollars, IIRC) to set up a trust for Scottish students studying abroad. I got some cash from there trust when I was at film school in Canada, so thanks, Big Tam.
ReplyDeleteWell it looks like you are going to get you WISH!
ReplyDeleteNow we get to see IF you and Joe are correct.
Well looks like you and all the other West Coast peeps got your wish, now Do what you say.
ReplyDelete