Day: October 26, 2024

Phil Lesh and the Meaning of “Seem”

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Full respect and affection for the late Phil Lesh, who famously and joyously played bass for the Grateful Dead for 30 years (’65 to ’95) and then kept playing with The Other Ones and one or two other groups into the early teens.

Lesh was 84 when he passed on 10.25.24, apparently from cancer.

This may sound off but when I heard of Lesh’s departure, the first thing I flashed on was that Altamont footage from Gimme Shelter (’70)…that brief discussion between Lesh, Dead headliner Jerry Garcia and Santana drummer Mike Shrieve about the Hells Angels beating people up, etc.

I remembered it because the very first time I saw this 1970 Alfred and David Maysles documentary I was struck by Lesh’s slight hesitancy in condemning what had reportedly happened.

Jerry Garcia: “Oh, that’s what the story is here?”
Mike Shrieve (Santana): “Yeah.”
Garcia: “Oh, bummer.”
Shrieve: “Really, man. I mean, like…it’s scary.”
Phil Lesh: “Who’s doing all the beating?”
Shrieve: “Hell’s Angels.”
Lesh: “Hell’s Angels beating on musicians?”
Shrieve: “Marty [Balin] got beat up. Hit in the face.”
Lesh: “It doesn’t seem right, man.”
Shrieve: “It’s really weird, man. It’s really weird.”
Garcia: “Oh, man. Really?”

Doesn’t “seem” right? My immediate reaction way back when was “hey, Phil, don’t go out on a limb!”

Joe & Jane Pudgeball Experiencing Mixed Reactions

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A B-plus grade isn’t a major problem, but it is a slight one. It means that a certain percentage of the Conclave respondents had an issue or argument withg the ending. trust me. Traditional Catholics, traditional-minded people, Average Joes and Janes, etc. I saw it for a third time on Thursday night (I had to flush that awful Montclair Film Festivql screening out of my head), and there was a somewhat older couple sitting behind me, and when the lights came up they were obviously a bit displeased, and perhaps even a bit stunned. I could feel their vibe

“Rolling Around, Fighting Some Monkeys or Something”

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The word around the campfire is that Paul Mescal may be a bit of a problem in Gladiator II.

Friendo: “Critics are going to be too scared to say he’s terrible in the movie but two [fellows] I spoke to tell me he has zero range and is incredibly miscast.”

HE: “Because he’s…what. too dweeby or peculiar? Not macho enough?”

Friendo: “They’re telling me Mescal is not as muscular or intense a presence as Russell Crowe was. [They’re also saying that] Denzel is far and away the best in show.”

I asked a certain thorny and contentious film guy, whom I assume has seen Gladiator II (although I don’t know this for a fact), whether or not this assessment is fair. His response: “Fuck off.”

Film guy #2: “NOT. AT. ALL. I was actually surprised how good he was, immediately putting him in the Best Actor race when I didn’t expect to. Talked to a few Oscar voters there who loved it and him. I know you don’t like him so you may not go in with an open mind. He is strong in this, even reminding me in a couple of shots of Spartacus-era Kirk Douglas.”

Kamala Should Visit Joe Rogan…Dodging His Show Is A Mistake

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The reason she hasn’t yet agreed is almost certainly because her people don’t trust her unscripted abilities…they’re afraid that she’ll somehow misspeak or put her foot in her mouth.

I think Kamala needs to step out of the scripted arena and let her hair down. She could finally address how woke insanity took over the progessive left in 2020. She could candidly state that the Biden administration, reacting to the cruelty of Trump’s resrictive border policy, arguably leaned a bit too far in the other direction for three years. Why hasn’t she said the obvious about the vice-presidency, which is that it’s essentially a ceremonial, rubber-stamp job that has no independent agency? (Ask Lyndon Johnson and John Nance Garner.) Chris Christie said the same thing yesterday on The View.

As we all know, Kamala flubbed it when Anderson Cooper asked if the Biden administration had made any mistakes and, if so, whether those mistakes taught her anything.

What she should have said: “As you know, Anderson, that’s a ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ question. If I admit to mistakes I’ll be trashed for throwing President Biden under the bus, and if I say there were no mistakes I’ll be called a delusional liar and a fantasist.

“It’s part of human nature to make occasional mistakes, and hopefully to learn from them, and c’mon…there’s never been a White House administration that didn’t screw up here and there. I could acknowledge rhetorically or admit that some believe Joe’s team tactically screwed up on the Afghnistan withdrawal. I could acknowledge rhetorically that some maintain we were too liberal in our border policy for two or three years. But I’m not going to say that because it’s a no-win. To be human is to be fallible. I believe in learning, growing and improving our game. I’ll leave it here.”

Kelly’s Trump Allegiance Aside, This Is Absolutely Verifiable

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How many of the 3678 recipients of gender-affirming bottom surgery, kids between the ages of 12 and 18…how many of these kids changed their minds in the aftermath?

How many minors have had bottom surgery between 2020 and the present?

“The number of people seeking gender-affirming surgeries such as breast and chest operations or genital reconstruction nearly tripled during the three years before the coronavirus pandemic, a new study shows.

“The number of patients getting these operations nearly tripled from 4,552 in 2016 to 13,011 in 2019” — the Trump years — “before decreasing slightly in 2020 amid the coronavirus restrictions that postponed or halted many types of non-emergency operations, according to the study published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open.

“Gender-affirming surgeries were most popular with young adults; more than 25,000 people ages 19 to 30 received these procedures. Fewer than 8% of patients — a total of 3,678 — were 12- to 18-year-olds, a group scrutinized by lawmakers pursuing restrictions mainly in conservative states.” — USA Today, 8.23.23.

Why didn’t Megyn Kelly stick around for the Overtime segment?