I’m an RN. You speak the truth. Everyone thinks they are immune. That the rules don’t apply to them. That it won’t happen to them. And then it does. I talk to patients all day. First the virus was “out there, somewhere.” Then it started creeping into the periphery. You knew someone who knew someone. Then a bit closer. A coworker’s husband, perhaps. Or a coworker, themselves. And then it hits your family. All of them. Even though they follow the precautions. I can tell by my conversations exactly what is happening with the virus before I even hear it on the news.

The vaccine can’t come fast enough.

Kim McAllister

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We’ve been sitting in our house in San Francisco since March, not seeing family in person for the holidays (even though they’re only a few hours away!). And now it seems like we just did it so everyone else could go about living their normal lives. I get it, life isn’t fair. I signed off social media because it just made me frustrated and angry.

Greg Simon

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Bob,

You are NOT alone on this!  My wife and I had the same basic discussion tonight.  You hit it on the head, no one thinks it will happen to them, and they “know their group follows the rules, so we can hang out on New Years, we’re all smart”. Meanwhile,  a friend’s relative – who they thought it was ok to spend Thanksgiving with, because you know, they are careful.  Just passed away from Covid. It is maddening.  Just tonight I went to pick up dinner at a local restaurant [PA just reopened limited indoor dining].  It was a small place, one couple dining in a corner, but as I walked in, there was this guy looking at a menu to order take out, MASKLESS!!  It was all I could do not to yell at him.  I just don’t get it.  I really think we’re doomed.   Healthy and happiness to you! Peace.

Chris Goerlitz

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Bob, we’re all locked down.  It just feels that way but as every day passes people closer to us are contracting.  Even the careful folks.  A Dr. friend said last year to me, around April, “we’re all gonna get it”.  The circle is closing in.

Danny Ostrow

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It’s pretty shitty here in SoFla. Though plenty of people still wear masks, distancing etc., plenty do not. And where I am (Boca Raton) is pretty much a Dem stronghold, so wtf? And up the road in Delray Beach, downtown Atlantic Ave is packed with tourists and locals. Oy!

I remember seeing somewhere (Twitter?), “How American of us to stop taking precautions during a pandemic because we’re bored.” That, plus the criminal lack of leadership (Trump and Gov. Florida Man) and we are truly fucked.

But Happy New Year, Bob.

Richard Pachter

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You are not alone.

We quarantine my friend. We live in Syracuse NY. I just said this same thing to my wife that why is it I feel like our family is the only one playing it safe any more…

Our county has more positive rates than ever before (like the nation). With that even, her coworkers don’t wear masks in meetings (teacher). I’m fortunate, working remotely. But our kid’s friends have had sleepovers, go out to dinner, etc. We remain home.

Sorry to hear of those infusions you go through.

Just had to share from this side of town.

Steve Anderko

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Every time I go out (which is very little – usually to take the kids to the park) I am shocked by how many people are out and the # cars on the road.

Right after listening to an interview on NPR about rationing of crowded hospital beds and ambulance rides I saw the videos of the anti-maskers parading around Ralphs and the Century City Mall.  I got so mad and frustrated.

Agree it makes no difference to some but I appreciate you voicing your frustrations.

Stay safe,
Eric Stern

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My wife and I are “in the woods” of eastern interior Maine, surrounded by anti-vaxxers and COVID non-believers and Trump fanatics.  It ain’t good.  Meanwhile, a friend from my growing up days has died, here in Maine, and another friend is on 100% oxygen (not a ventilator, at least not yet) in Florida.

Stay well.  And be proud that you’re living in the 64th best country on earth…

Kevin Ritchie

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I have a friend who told me that I couldn’t get the virus.  He thinks it’s a hoax. Now his son, grandson and wife have gotten it.  Now the narrative is that no one he knows, seventeen people who’ve had the virus have gotten sick.  They’ve gotten sick, but have not been hospitalized.

I know someone in NYC that got COVID and died.

I spoke with someone today I’ve been working with in California whose father got COVID and they had to put him on a ventilator.  His Pop’s prognosis is not good. They expect him to die. My colleague could hardly keep it together when he told me this.  He’s obviously devastated.

So back to my buddy and his seventeen contacts.  He’s still trying to convince me that people won’t get sick.  I’m not sure what parallel universe he’s occupying. Unbelievable…

Tim Pringle

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I agree with you Bob. We are in another universe. I run for government in my town in NJ. My daughter is a healthcare tech at a hospital and she is bagging dead bodies everyday at 22 years old for $18 an hour. Ridiculous!!! I ran into our newly elected mayor who I was talking about my concerns, and she told me “What are you worried about, its just a head cold”, and laughed at me. So sad, because I like this person, but as a Republican, she has been brainwashed like so many. Living in a Republican town, and running for office as a Democrat, and trying to talk common sense in all these people is truly a lost cause.

Nick DeStefano
Democratic Candidate 2020 & 2018
Pequannock NJ

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Going to the grocery store is like a demolition derby: move fast, don’t bump into anyone and get out safely.

Same for you?

Brad Auerbach

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I am Bob! And I’m getting really pissed at all those who, because of their willful ignorance, have extended this nightmare on the rest of us. Had the government just paid everyone to stay home, this would be over now! Instead of giving $12 Billion, which they printed out of thin air, to the owner-class, had they given the $8 trillion to pay everyone to stay home, the money would have trickled up to the rich in any case. It would have been less expensive (by orders of magnitude) to do it Bernie’s way.

But . . .

I am fucked!

Kieron K. McKindle

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Hello Bob,

Please don’t be too disheartened. I’m reading from rural France and feel as though only maybe one or two other people have observed lock-down like our household (that is too say, strictly, respecting germ theory!). We’ve been mind-boggled, angst-ridden, stupefied and furious about the general attitude of complacency and slavish obedience to (lifestyles of) convenience despite Covid’s raging – and often indiscriminate – horrors. We are resigned to it now – and just trying to reach a point of compassion – for in the immortal words of filmmaker Deepa Mehta: “people are dumb.”

Anyway, hope you don’t feel like you are screaming into the void. From a farmhouse in France, we can hear you!

Stay well and thank you for your work.

Hannah.

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No, I haven’t been around anyone except my wife and dog since March 11.
No stores, restaurants, tattoos or bowling.
I am fortunate to be able to do this and while not easy, I’m happy to be alive.

Mike Donahue

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It’s not even about politics it’s about self centered people vs community centered people.

Problem is everyone who is under 40 is spreading it and traveling either going to Tulum or Miami or Weddings (!!?) or parties or seeing family for Christmas or New Years. People are selfish assholes. They don’t want their grandparent to die but they also don’t want to give up on fun either! We are fucked.

Jared Shelton

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I’m writing to you from Sydney, Australia.

We’ve just been ordered to wear masks on supermarkets etc – for the first time. Until now they’ve been suggestions.

This when we only have a few hundred active cases on the entire country with  total casualty numbers being 909.

We are closed interstate again and we’ve got super efficient tracking now. A young asymptotic camper visited half a dozen towns but a tracker located him and was able to warn him right away and he did a right thing.

Testing numbers are like 30-40 000 a day in Sydney and Melbourne each but we’ve had close to 70 000 test days per city.

As the social distancing still mostly works we’re ok. This is the holiday month and many, many plans have been cancelled as  the state borders closed just before New Year.

Still people are not really questioning or rebelling against all this. Seems common sense is prevailing over individual freedom right now.

My elderly family lives in Finland. This will be most likely the second year in a row we don’t get to see them. But they’re are alive and healthy and so are we here.

Wishing you and all L.A. people all the best.

Aku Valta

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Bob, I’ve read your posts for many years and, yes, I do care that your medical condition may make the vaccine ineffective for you. The thing is, we got to this moment in the ‘GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD’ by forgetting the admonition to ‘Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You’ which every religion and most belief systems embraces. We are all worried, scared and very tired of being apart from the ones we love. But if I manage not to spread this virus to anyone, I will feel a great sense of peace.
May there be better days ahead for us all!
Lisa Berryhill Davis
Nashville

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Thank you for expressing the bitterness I am feeling towards my fellow humans better than I ever could. What has happened to compassion? And respect for education? Ignorance is bliss until you die I guess.

Lynn

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My wife and I, and most friends I know here in CT are in total lockdown, masked when we go out on the trip to Stop n Shop or CVS…but it’s getting even scarier, so your take on things is spot on. I occasionally see people (mostly teens and twenty somethings) flouting the rules, too…

True about what you said…if I had a heart attack tomorrow, could they get me to hospital on time, hurry hurry hurry….oh oh oh oh oh?… (my attempt at a modern day geriatric Ramones tune). Probably not, and if they did, would there be a hospital bed available? Probably not. And unlike you in sunny warm CA, we can’t set up emergency wards in the parking lot this winter. Like the dyslexic rabbi says, “YO!” But do keep sounding the warnings, Cassandra!

Chip Lovitt

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Keep it up. Vermont is playing by the rules. We have hope. Jim

Jim Eaton

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Hey Bob – Samantha and I are 1000% with you.  We stay home – we get instacart and take out and tip very well.

Still wiping down groceries like crazy people

Hang in there brother!

Stay well!

Bill B

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As a husband and parent I look out for me and mine. Sounds like you are doing the same. As for those who aren’t taking care of themselves and those they care about, shame on them. To paraphrase Loren Eiseley, if it should turn out that we have mishandled our own lives, it seems a pity that we should involve others in our departure.

George Laugelli

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I hate to put this on an email, but you and I might be the last two people
left on Earth. I haven’t done anything except go to the store for groceries
and feel like I’ve been isolated since 2018. I can’t believe the idiots
going out for more or to restaurants or shows or trips (TRIPS!) throughout
2020.
We will get through it.
Best,
Eric Alper

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The more affirmation I recieve regarding vaccines the better . I shake my head at this one ..https://www.facebook.com/11the.meme.show11/videos/406960050621477  an RN with a masters . I can’r wrap my head around it . How do you deal with the nay sayers ?  BZ

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I hope you are feeling ok and had a 2 and half hour session, not a 4 and a half hour session.  I love when you piss in the wind because it is always so close to my pissings into the winds.  I am dumbfounded by the hubris in America.  I am amazed at how confused and overwhelmed with info I am, just to feel more unsure of any decision.  I am glad you say it so when I say it to my pisser in the wind I feel less alone.

Be safe.  Keep writing.  I hope the vaccine works for you.  I wish I could take you to lunch at the Snug Harbor – oh how old fashioned a lunch date feels now.

Happy new year!!

Chris Moore

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I am in Lockdown Bob..  Stick with it!!

XOXO

Mardi Silva
Controller
Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise

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Keep with the message.  I just hope the lunatics that don’t believe they will be affected wake up. Twelve year olds have died from it already yikes!!

Chris Chapin

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The whole of Britain is in lockdown Bob.  We’re with you.  It’s a global thing.
Julia Davis

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No Bob you’re not The UK is in total lockdown

Happy new year

Nick Stewart

Founder & CEO.

Nick Stewart & Associates | Man in the Moon Records.

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No, Bob, you’re not.

I don’t leave the house unless I have to go to Trader Joe’s that’s about once every six weeks because I get to borrow the cart and walk two blocks with cases of water and everything else come to your via Amazon or Amazon fresh.

I’m in a bubble how about you? I bet you I leave my apartment less than you leave yours …

– Howard Hughes (Liane Curtis)

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I don’t understand the convoluted logic that these people take. A friend posted today that flu cases were drastically down because of COVID preventative measures (they are). His conclusion? Those measures are not working for COVID, and should be stopped. And also, this proves that the case and fatality numbers are “obviously not accurate.” I also don’t understand his comfort with posting stuff like this publicly.

Tom Grueskin

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Hi Bob, I wish you well!   I am a cancer patient (multiple myeloma) living on Vancouver Island….my doctor phoned me last night at 9:30, to ask how I was doing!
We talked about the virus medications ….like you I will not be able to have the shot because of my compromised immune system….he noted that the new drugs were only tested on healthy people to keep the success rate high..and to please the Shareholders!
To my relief all of my cancer treatments and drugs are free, and my prognosis is that I will be in remission for 2-3 years….I am 74.
People here are generally behaving well so far with cases flattening….
All the best Jim Cameron

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I’m in San Francisco. My wife and I stay inside, or walk to the store which is half a block away. I do not understand how stupid people are. Especially the stupid fucking Republican cult believers who do all this crazy shit and then end up in the hospital on incubatrors saying they didn’t know or suddenly realize they were wrong. And then their enablers who say we must have sympathy for these people, because they believed what the president told them. I’ve seen a few of these recently on twitter. I have no sympathy.

Anyway, stay safe!

Alex Walsh

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No, you are not the only one still in lockdown.  My husband and I have been home since March.  We haven’t seen our kids or grandkids, except for one of our daughters and her children over Christmas after they quarantined for 14 days then took Covid tests.  No guarantee, my doctor said, “you should” be OK.  It was like Russian Roulette, luckily we dodged a bullet, but we won’t risk anythink like again until we’re vaccinated, if all goes well. We booked a family vacation in August, fingers crossed it happens.  I used to look forward to my weekly grocery store trips (masked up and well equipped with hand sanitizer).  Then when L.A. County started to surge, I moved it to every other week.  Now with this new “more infectious strain”, I’m considering having groceries delivered.  It feels like the walls are closing in and it’s 10 months later. Nothing compared to Anne Frank, but, like my mother said, “you can always find someone who had it worse than you, but it doesn’t negate your reality.”

What you say has much impact and I think it will with the majority of your readers. I care about you and I hope you can take the vaccine. I’m not discounting anything you’ve said because, sadly, it’s true.  I don’t know what has happened to this great country of ours either.  Where, when, how did it slip away?

God take mercy on us while continue to wash our hands, wear our masks and stay home.

Merlene Travis

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Bob – I wanted to reach out, patient to patient. I do a 4 hour infusion every other Tuesday, so I know what you mean. But when people ask me all the time how do I deal with it I tell them this: to me, it’s like taking a flight. Now, traveling always sucks but if you’re good at it and prepared, then it’s more tolerable. So here’s a few tips that might help:

Comfort – My grandkids got me a blow up neck pillow with a nice cover. Really makes a difference. Don’t get the bead kind, they are never comfortable. The blow-up kind can be set for your own comfort level and when you’re not using it, it folds up very small and easy. As for your feet, look for a slipper/flip-flop called OOFO. They are amazing. Especially when you get up to walk around.

Food – I always bring a muffin or a bagel with me and eat before they start. I liken it to sitting on the plane before take-off. Actually takes the edge off a bit. And bring more food for later, even if you don’t eat it. I like fruit or pretzels.

Your Mind – Shut off the world! I do NOT take calls, I do NOT answer emails or texts and I do NOT watch TV. Like you I bring an iPad with 2 things in mind:

1. I know the Benadryl will hit about 20 minutes after its in and I zone out. I plan “2-fer Tuesdays” and pick 2 albums by 1 artist and que them up. Put on my bluetooth headphones, maybe some sleep blinders and zone out for 60-90 minutes. Nobody bothers me and when I come out of it, I’m over Kansas City and time for a snack.
2. Twilight Zone – I download 3-4 episodes at all times on the iPad. Skip the intro and they run 23 minutes. Perfect way to kill a little time until seats and tray tables up.

Peeing – Ask to get the hydration a little bit before and then the rest after. Not only will you pee less, but the after-flush is like that hot towel they bring you just before you land. Very refreshing and really hydrates you. Then you can pee after they unhook you and you’re in the “terminal”.

And don’t forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses – I bring 2 dozen Dunkin Doughnuts with me each time for the nurses and staff. It’s the littlest thing in the world to do but they love it. And after all, Nurses Rule.

Hang in there. It’s always good to vent. But keep looking at the horizon, never your feet.

Be well and stay safe. All the best, Michael Reinert

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Hello Bob; long time reader here, first time caller.

I had a thought and Yyou might know how to make it happen:

 

Last March/April, the DOD made a big deal about deploying the Navy Hospital Ship “Mercy” to LA and a sister ship (Comfort) to NYC.   As far as I can recall, neither got much use. The intent was not to house Covid patients (not a feasible idea due to the close quarters on a Navy ship) but to treat seriously ill and injured non-Covid patients, thereby alleviating some pressure on the medical infrastructure.  Like people with heart attacks, or cancer.

 

It would seem that now the LA health care community could really benefit from a redeployment.

Assist hospitals with non Covid patients; and 3.) boost the community’s spirits, particularly for all the beleaguered healthcare workers.

 

How can we best communicate with the federal government or the military that we need help now?  If they were willing to do so last Spring, I think everyone agrees that it would be even more helpful now.    Can we implore LA Mayor Garcetti to ask that Mercy redeploy to LA?

I’m not in LA, but as an older guy with several pre-existing conditions, I am fearful of going into any hospital now, even here in Riverside County.

Bill Knopf

Indio, CA

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This made me laugh, in a good way, you talking about trying to pass the time during your shots and anxieties about being in public.  The rest of the screed I agree with completely, tho it sets my blood a-boilin’. People are lazy, stupid and entitled, especially in America, and especially certain groups of Americans.  And I don’t know which is worse, the virus itself or the infection of jingoism and ignorance you mention.

I saw someone post on social media yesterday a meme with an image of people being herded into trains by the Nazis with the caption “Just do what you’re told, everything will be alright.”  I can’t even fathom the ignorance and entitlement that would embolden a white male wasp to compare himself to victims of the Holocaust for having to wear masks and take small safety precautions for the health of others.

I also can’t understand why it’s taking so long to administer the vaccines.  What IS the hold up?

You, you’re not pissing in the wind, at least you’re doing your homework and taking the time to share your story and some knowledge and that’s appreciated.  Thanks Bob, and stay healthy!

Geronimo Son

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Thanks for sharing your your medical issues and your conundrum. I hope the Rituxan doesn’t negate the COVID Vaccine.

But I have another question..WTF IS GOING ON IN LA COUNTY???

I grew up in Lakewood, went to art school in Pasadena, lived downtown 35 years ago, then in Hollywood before moving to New York where there are skyscrapers, subways, buses and most people don’t have cars. Real human density.

We figured out a way to slow the progress of the pandemic.

I’m curious as to your opinion of what is going on in LA in regards to the pandemic???

While it would appear that everyone must be deeply tongue kissing each other for hours in between orgies, I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. I get that much of LA is dense (yes literally and figuratively) as is much of this country (70 million morons voted for the worst manager ever), but it’s warm, I remember all the 75 degree Christmas’.

Please let us know why you think LA is exploding with cases. I’m not shitting you, it’s a goddamn mystery from 3000 miles away.

I think your audience wants to hear this, we read your honest take on so many other topics.

Thanks – Darryl Estrine

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You are correct…LA is the epicenter for Covid 19 today.

If LA county was a state, and with 10M people it would be a good size state, it has the most deaths of any state except TX in the last week, and TX is 4 times its size…actually LA would be the worst state for deaths per capita at 1.8 deaths in the last 7 days, next being Kansas at 1.7.

It looks like hospitalizations for CV-19, which is the most reliable statistic, shows CA might be hitting its peak, but that may be because they are running out of room.  If this is a peak then the next two weeks will be the worst for deaths and hopefully we will see a decline the second half of this month.  As this flu moves quickly with seasonality, LA could be all clear within a couple of months.

Good point about the new vaccines, based upon new technology they may work better for someone like you than the traditional ones, like the one most recently approved in the UK that has been in development for 10 years (the baseline vaccine).  That’s the one I’m waiting for…I have great hope for the new technology used to develop the new vaccines and the promise it holds to treat more diseases in the future, but I’ll go with the tried and true for now.

Stay Safe!

Ed Kelly

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I’m with you Bob. Not quarantined because I work outside the home, but I have incredibly minimal interactions with anyone outside my family, and never maskless outside the home. I simply love my entire family too much to play the risky game with this. I’m germ averse as it is, and think most people are super careless and gross (pre pandemic) so winter always made me freak out. Now? I’m so pro mask – I intend to keep wearing mine during cold and flu season, long after this vaccine has done its job. No doubt covid will flare up just like the flu so maybe we should change the name of the viral season… I always admired eastern cultures who would mask as a courtesy when the bugs are being passed around. Common sense but hey.

I frame this situation to my 6 year old like this: all of us at some point are called on by our country to do hard things for the good of others. Grandma and grandpa did it, my grandma and grandpa did it, and now we are doing it too. It’s our duty to look out for everyone around us, and sticking together as a family and wearing our masks, and visiting folks on the iPad is the best way to do that right now. A super long and wonky way to learn compassion and selflessness, but that’s the lesson to teach.

My kids are bored, my wife wants me to take her on a date, and my parents miss us. But we are healthy, we can still stand each other and I rest easier knowing we haven’t contributed to the spread and are trying to be a small part of the solution. We are pretending to be bears hibernating for the winter, eating lots of cookies and continuing to learn to love being together more than being apart.

Wish you well Bob, I look forward to your writing and have for a decade. Stay safe and healthy and we will all see this on the other side. My wife reminds me that a better tomorrow often requires a lot of nasty struggle first. We are in the throes now, we’ve gotta believe (and behave) as if a better future is ahead.

Eli Chastain

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Your words are hitting some of us.  I don’t want anything to do with COVID-19.  I don’t have a medical condition that puts me in a severe red zone if I contract this thing, but I also like being able to taste my dinner and, oh yeah, breathe and survive.  I can’t believe the Tweets that I read from the LA Times talking about 2020 holiday travel numbers setting records.  People are fucking maniacs and I’m tired of people not giving a shit about the citizens around them.  Was it SO important to have an in-person holiday dinner that risking health to get there was worth it? That’s nuts.

I stay home for work and generally stay home 90% of the time.  The 10% that I leave is to get groceries or bathroom items.  That’s it.

I don’t have COVID.  I’ve been tested.  I don’t want to get it.  And if I had it, I don’t want to give it to people.

We’re greedy, narcissistic, selfish human beings in America because we’ve been told time and time again how great it is here.  That’s all bull shit.  Our health insurance situation is shit.  Education is expensive and out of reach without MASSIVE debt.  LIVING is expensive.  Everything is being peddled for profit by some suit in a highrise. I’m tired, man.

I knew we’d be in trouble when it was being said that it was going to take a communal effort to get this thing in control.  In all honesty, I don’t trust my fellow citizens on that level.  I kinda know the American life score and it’s sad but so very true.

Best to you with your health on all levels.  I’m in this thing with you to keep up my end of the bargain.

David Moorhead

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Man! It sounds like you really have to go through it with the drip process,  and very often too. Six month increments is a ritual I bet. For the grace of God there go I. I just have to see my 2 Cancer docs once a year. I know I’m lucky.
I’m still staying in. I cheat to buy a bottle every other week. All else is online and drive up load my trunk please. Mail and work from home on computer. I am lucky.
The distractions of football and soon to be baseball are welcome. Music still #1 but no shows. I’ve not tried an online show yet. It can’t be the same.
Bought gas 3 times since March. One time was for lawn mower.
Had a nice garden but that’s over now.
I’m up for doing it all again to stay safe. I know I’m lucky.
Keep the faith.

Chuck Thatcher

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I’m with you, both still in lockdown and being treated with Rituxan (though for Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis). When I had my infusions last month, my doctor (the one overseeing the Rituxan infusions that is) advised that the Covid vaccine would likely still be generally effective, but not as effective as it is for the general population… so who knows, at least for now.  In any case, good luck and stay safe!

Dave Pierfy
Wright Entertainment Gro

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My Uncle has taken Rituxan treatments for almost a year, to deal with a neurological/neuropathy issue.

He now has COVID, and has been in the hospital since Christmas, with no sign of leaving in the foreseeable future. It’s a virtual lock that those Rituxan treatments destroyed his immune system, and not allowing his body to develop antibodies to fight the virus.

They’ve given him Convalescent Plasma treatments – where they infuse him with the blood donated by people with the antibodies – and it’s not working. He just can’t produce antibodies even when they’re fed into him. Thanks, likely, to Rituxan.

He has good and bad days, mostly bad. Ventilator might be on the horizon, though he’s staving that off so far.

Food for thought.

Stay healthy and safe.

—Rob Maurer

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Bob, during a virtual Dr appointment today I asked my doctor how will I know when I am eligible for the vaccine, who will tell me and how will I be told. She paused for a moment and literally said… “I have no idea, we haven’t been told anything.”

Michael Brandvold

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I’ve been on lockdown since
March 10.

If we could only get the media to shut the fuck up and focus on the population and promoting living-a life.
Stop selling, spinning, more,more, more…

STOP THE egomaniacal opinions,
we might have a chance if WE all remember

We are all HUMAN
all made from the same material
Stop the identity BS
FOR soon no one will identify
we all will b gone.

U treat the vaccines like a touring show and WW2.
U commandeer all the refrigerated trucks, thousands of the trucks.
FEDEX UPS WTF?
vaccines should go to places like dodger stadium, the new billion dollar temple to football in Inglewood and all those other wastelands of parking lots.
In smaller towns, smaller venues.

HELLO LIVE NATION!

Then Take all the out of work production managers/ crews/ that have made rock n roll WORK
to make this happen.
OVERNITE!

I’m so disappointed in our country.
Especially how money only matters.

StayWell and safe.

Marc Brickman

Am I the only person still on lockdown?

Seems like it.

Yesterday I went for a Rituxan infusion. For my pemphigus foliaceus. I need two every six months, otherwise my skin starts becoming unglued, literally, and…

The doctor came to talk to me. Yup, you sit in a chair in the infusion center, where people get chemotherapy, and every once in a while a doctor or social worker or a pharmacist comes to speak with you. It’s usually routine, but the key is…if you want something, try to come across like an intellectual. These jobs are so rote, that otherwise they punch the clock on you, these professionals are dying for an interesting conversation, and if you provide it, they’ll give you as much time as you need, in my case nearly half an hour.

Rituxan negates the flu shot. They don’t even bother to give the flu shot to someone who’s been treated with Rituxan. You don’t form antibodies, it’s a waste of time. So, when it comes to the coronavirus vaccine?

Rituxan is given to lymphoma patients. They get it every other week, ad infinitum, but in a much lower dose. I get about seven times as much, which really just means I’ve got to sit in the chair longer. They’re padded chairs, not that they all work perfectly. And you can’t raise the footrest and lower the back independently, they work together, which means it’s hard to get comfortable, especially after they give you the Benadryl and you get restless leg.

It’s not an exact science. The issue is how fast they can drip the drug in without a reaction. If you’re lucky, they can do it in two and a half hours or so, but it could be four and a half. And whenever you start anew, they discard the old markers and go slow again, so it turns into an endurance test, primarily because you can’t get comfortable, and you’re out of it. Not completely, but you have trouble concentrating, reading the newspaper, watching a show… Oh, there are TVs, but who’d want to watch that crap, mindless. But I do bring an iPad, they have good Wi-Fi, but I’ve realized it’s useless to start something new. So I end up surfing on my phone, irrelevant interests, to pass the time.

Now to tell you the truth, I figured out a more comfortable position yesterday. With a pillow behind me and my foot on the tower. Yes, everybody has a tower, kind of like a hatrack. The bags drip into this machine that adjusts the flow rate and then the tube enters your arm. But it’s not only the Rituxan, but saline too, which means…you have to go to the bathroom. Which is both a blessing and a curse. You’re not motivated to get up, but when you do it’s like going on vacation, checking out the sights, but in this covid era, you’re uptight about touching the toilet, the sink, the light switch, the handle… But now, if you know where to look, there’s a bottle of hand sanitizer you can use after the fact, which assuages one’s anxiety. And the truth is, you like to feel safe, but at UCLA hospital they’ve had covid infections, they don’t want to advertise it, but they have, so you don’t want to let down your guard (although I was at Cedars center, separate from the hospital). Meanwhile, the doctor never lowers his mask and puts on rubber gloves before he touches you, and sanitizes thereafter, they’re taking no risks.

So when it comes to Rituxan and the vaccine… Well, they just don’t know. But since I’m having a high level conversation with the doctor, intentionally, I reference that this vaccine works differently, at least the two now available in the U.S., so… This is one of the benefits of being informed, you never know when the knowledge will become useful. Most of it is not, but some of it is, and you can’t stop the conversation for research. And the doctor says this may be a factor, the way the vaccine works, and covid is different from the regular flu, despite what those on one side of the political fence might say.

So what’s a poor boy to do, other than to play in a rock and roll band?

Well, get the vaccine and then test to see if you’ve got antibodies. As for that test…he didn’t know if there was one, or which one to take, that I’d have to confer with my internist. In other words, the more you know, the less you know, but living in darkness can impact your life, literally, when it comes to the coronavirus.

And you do know the vaccine is not immediately effective, right? I didn’t. I thought you got inoculated and then BOOM!, you were in the clear. But the truth is you’ve got to build up those aforementioned antibodies, and that could take weeks. But they say after the second shot, you should be good. But now they’re saying let’s inoculate everybody once, I’m down with that, and then see if there’s enough juice for the second shot for everybody.

Meanwhile, in 1947 they gave 6 million New Yorkers the smallpox vaccine in a month, but the city couldn’t even inoculate a hundred fifty thousand people with the covid-19 vaccine. What happened to America, the supposed “greatest country in the world.” Talk to anybody who’s been anywhere else, it’s quite good, in some ways even better than the U.S., but our country has been infected by ignorance and jingoism, to the point where if you’re informed you’re a pariah (but being informed pays dividends, as per my doctor interaction above).

So, it seems everybody is tired of staying inside. They don’t know someone who’s died, so they won’t, they’re immune. Where has this attitude come from? Never mind the wackadoodle anti-maskers, the “freedom” constituency, who believe America should have no public safety rules…cough on these people and they have a fit, but don’t ask them to wear a mask!

It’s bad in L.A., really bad. I’d quote the statistics but either you’re here or you’re not. And if you are, you’re informed, but you’ve stayed home and sacrificed too much already. Anne Frank and her family lived inside for years to save their lives, but you can’t even do it for a week, even a day. And what happened to Anne Frank? Someone squealed, she went to a camp, and she died! Of disease! There are certain situations you don’t want to be in, you want to be safe, but everybody feels safe today.

Only essential workers can get it. You can visit your family, because everybody’s “reasonable.” Meanwhile, they’re turning people away from the hospital in L.A., it’s a bad time to have a heart attack. Yes, you want to choose when you have a health issue these days.

And people are burned out on flattening the curve, they feel it’s like the boy who cried wolf, they think if they get sick there’ll be a bed for them in the ICU…good luck!

And if so many recover, that means if they get it they won’t die, even though at last count 354,000 have.

And then there are the long termers, who still don’t have their sense of taste and smell, months later. And those who’ve become psychotic. Oh, that’s their problem, compassion has left the country, now it’s every person for themselves, and if you just put on binders, put your head in the sand, you’re immune.

But you can’t say anything negative about our country or its inhabitants, because it’s the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!

Meanwhile, Jim oversees entrants to the lodge at Aspen Highlands. People refuse to observe limits, because they’re rich and the rules don’t apply to them. And I was planning to get the vaccine and immediately go skiing but now…the vaccine might not work for me and I don’t want to play Russian roulette with my life.

You don’t want to hear all this. You want to be ignorant, it helps your mood. Kinda like not knowing about how Rituxan affects vaccines…what you don’t know can’t hurt you, ONLY IT CAN!

And if you get sick, no one cares about you. That’s today’s America.

Thanks for letting me piss in the wind, I know what I say will have no impact.

That’s what we’re watching now, it’s on Acorn.

Yes, we’re paying for another service. It seems inevitable if you want to catch the greats. And before this we signed up for Sundance Now to watch “The Bureau.” Not regular Sundance, cable Sundance, it’s not on there. And as for regular Sundance, they aired “Deutschland 89,” which we were eager to see, but it was dubbed! That won’t do, why not give us the option? Furthermore, are the people who are actually watching the show such lowbrows that they can’t handle subtitles? I don’t think so.

Oh yeah, concurrent with the airing of “Deutschland 89,” there was also the latest season of “The A Word,” which you can probably watch on demand, assuming you’ve still got cable, I can now see why people are cutting the cord, is there really anything necessary there? Most streaming shows fall into two categories, at least two categories that I will watch, crime and family/relationships. As for fantasy and horror, never mind superheroes, I’ve never been into them. I know that makes me part of the minority, then again I never ever read comic books growing up, never mind had a collection, other than “Casper” and “Archie” when I was a little kid. I prefer the family/relationship shows, but the good ones are few and far between, like comedy, they’re harder to do than action/crime. And maybe most people want to be torn away from the regular world when they fire up the flat screen, but I still must say two of my absolute favorite streaming shows are “Bonus Family” on Hulu and “The A Word” on Amazon/Sundance. “Bonus Family” is Swedish, but the issues are just the same, blended families, relationships…how much do you give and take, do people judge you based on your income? As for “The A Word”…just like there’s a gay member of every extended family, there’s also a person on the spectrum. But that’s not all “The A Word” is about, it’s shot in the beautiful Lake District and the interpersonal relationships… I just need to hound you on these two shows again, because if you like this genre, they’re two of the best, you’ll be thanking me when you finally watch them.

But that’s not what “The Bureau” is about. “The Bureau” is about the French CIA, the DGSE.

Now if you just want to dive into one political show, start with “Borgen,” not only is the show great in plotting, but the lead actress, Sidse Babett Knudsen, is absolutely spectacular. Watch a couple of episodes on Netflix, you’re either in or you’re out. But “The Bureau” takes more time…

Detective work, police work, intelligence work, just like legal work, is slow. It’s sped up and dramatized on screen, but in real life… So, “The Bureau” is at times tedious, but then it’s tense. The first season is mostly set up, and you won’t know exactly what is going on. But the second! It all comes together, many say the second season is the best French TV ever. I’m not sure that’s true (and I must remind you on Tuesday the last season of “Spiral” starts airing on MHz and if you haven’t watched this French series, most of which is available with your Prime subscription, you’re missing out on one of the absolute best police procedurals of all time, better than the ones from America), but the second season of “The Bureau” is great.

You see other countries have access and presence in countries that are off limits to us. The footage in the Middle East is worth the price of admission alone. We don’t see these countries in U.S. productions. But the reason “The Bureau” gets so great is because of the TENSION! It’s equivalent to a movie. You know, you’re sitting there holding on to the arms of your chair, immobile, freaked out about what might happen. “The Bureau” is a commitment, but it is truly great, I highly recommend it.

After signing up for Acorn, we watched “The Hour.” There are multiple productions with similar titles, but this is the one about an English TV news show in the fifties, starring Ben Whishaw, who you’ll remember was so great in “London Spy.” The second season is better than the first, and there are only two seasons, and if you’re into period pieces, marveling at what once was, and you want to know about the news back then, dive in, but “The Hour” is not at the level of “The Bureau.” Nor is the second show we watched on “The Hour,” “Keeping Faith.” Oh, “Keeping Faith” is better than most American TV, and the star, Eve Myles, is a tour-de-force, but I won’t say this is must see TV, but “Line of Duty” is.

“Line of Duty” got honorable mention in my bible, the “New York Times” listing of last decade’s best foreign shows: https://nyti.ms/3pII25q But before diving in, I checked it out on RottenTomatoes. Once again, there are multiple productions with similar titles, but you can view the ratings here: https://bit.ly/3hIDlFR And for those who do not want to click through, let me say that “Line of Duty” gets 98% on the critics tomatometer and 96% on the audience score. THIS, I’ll check out!

And like so many shows, you don’t know where “Line of Duty” is going at first. And yes, the first episode is violent and bloody, but that’s just the set-up, the rest of the episodes are not this way, to this extent anyway. And it takes a while to figure out where the show is going, what’s happening, and then it becomes clear, “Line of Duty” is about police corruption.

Now I hate to reveal any plot points of streaming TV shows, because it’s best when they’re brand new, but in this case I’ve got to convince you to pay for Acorn and stream this show and those are two big thresholds so…

You’ll be trying to figure out who is guilty all the way through. You’ll be stopping the stream to discuss it. And at the end…it’s not black and white. That’s as much as I’m going to say.

Well, I’m also going to say… No, I won’t, because that will ruin it a bit too.

My point is “Line of Duty” is an adventure. Vivid. Engrossing. The characters become three-dimensional, you’re not sure who you’re rooting for and then there’s the essence of community…to put it Bob Dylan’s way, “to live outside the law you must be honest.” But if you’re part of a group and you live by that…you’re squeezed out. We’ve all got constant moral dilemmas in our lives, and “Line of Duty” illuminates this.

We’re not through yet, we’re in the middle of the third season, of five. They’re short, five episodes in the initial one, six in the remaining ones. The show is not dragged out.

So…

At some point I’ll make a list of my likes in order. At this point, I’m just reflecting on what I’m watching now. Once again, if you’re new to streaming, start with “Happy Valley,” that’s my number one streaming recommendation, it’s on Netflix. AND IGNORE RECOMMENDATIONS, SCREW THE NETFLIX ALGORITHMS! Netflix and the rest of the streaming outlets will never steer you to the productions they do not own, that are not watched by many people, and most people are sheep, they just go where everybody else goes, but when it comes to art you must go down the road less taken, that’s where the rewards are, and there are rewards in the shows I’ve highlighted above.

Conventional wisdom was Republicans would eke out a victory in Georgia. After all, they only needed one, whereas the Democrats needed two. And if it weren’t for the need to have in excess of 50% of the vote to ascertain victory, Perdue would have won in November, and he was ahead by about 90,000 votes or so anyway, not an insignificant margin.

But I’m not so sure about that anymore.

Welcome to 2020 America, where nobody knows anything. They used to say that about the movie business, now we can say it about politics. No one, and I mean NO ONE, predicted that Donald Trump would do so well in November. Of course he didn’t win, of course on a popular level he was trounced by approximately seven million votes, and he he lost decisively in the electoral college too. Ignore the Senate shenanigans, but beware of Trump pulling a rabbit out of his hat, martial law, who knows, the Donald has superseded limits again and again, however the tide is now turning, with his veto overridden by the Senate just this week. Trump is already fading away, but as per usual, Trump makes great news, and therefore media can’t stop glomming on to his story, reporting it, whereas after January 20th that’s gonna change, coverage is going to dissolve, and Trump with it.

Furthermore, nothing in America works anymore. The disastrous rollout of the coronavirus vaccine proves this. And Republican values have exacerbated the problem, their anti-government hogwash, insisting on lower taxes, means municipalities don’t have enough money to execute inoculation. Then again, government is the enemy… I thought the Republicans were supposed to be the law and order party, but now they’re all about DISORDER!

But shake your fist at me all you righties, you’re missing the point, it’s not about me but about African-Americans, influenced by artists, rappers and filmmakers and…

Hip-hop works. It dominates current music. Sure, you may get shot in the process, and that’s unfathomable to me, that a hundred and fifty years later we still live in the wild west, but there’s fame and riches and most of all…impact.

This is where youngsters get their messages, from hip-hop.

And there’s even hip-hop in country music. Think about that, talk about the future, all those youngsters in the south listening to hip-hop are gonna continue to vote for redneck, racist, isolationist policies? I don’t think so.

And January 2021 is quite different from November 2020. In Georgia, they have HOPE!

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Georgia was firmly ensconced in the south. And leftward-leaning southern states like Tennessee and Florida are now firmly red, who’d expect Georgia to be an outlier?

But it was.

Atlanta is the epicenter of hip-hop. Sure, there’s hip-hop in New York and Los Angeles, but as a result of technology, the internet, you no longer have to be in those two latter metropoli to make it in music, as a matter of fact you can be ANYWHERE, there is no flyover country anymore, everybody has the tools of creation and distribution at their fingertips.

But if you live in New York or Los Angeles, Atlanta gets no respect. It’s still seen as a second-rate city. Furthermore, in self-satisfied New York, news central, it is believed NO OTHER CITY compares, no other city is important…just talk to a New Yorker, they’ll tell you it’s the GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD!

Might be, but I’d rather live in Los Angeles. And many African-Americans would rather live in Atlanta.

They call Washington, D.C. the “Chocolate City.” Yet, it’s not even a state! But Georgia is. And in Georgia, African-Americans are now organized, credit Stacey Abrams, they’ve been screwed one too many times, they’re fighting back, ergo the victory for Joe Biden.

So now what?

Well, Trump can’t stop denigrating Republican governor Kemp, and he just called the Senate races “illegal and invalid”… Yes, Trump is peddling pessimism, he’s not living in the real world, and this does have effects. If they want to win, Republicans have to advocate mail-in voting. As for believing the virus is a hoax and no masks are necessary and you can just show up and vote on Tuesday…in yesterday’s “New York Times” article about what went down in the room where it happens, in the White House, at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s pollster, revealed the confounding news:

“But what set off debate that day was Mr. Fabrizio’s finding that more than 70 percent of voters in the states being targeted by the campaign supported mandatory mask wearing in public, at least indoors, including a majority of Republicans.”

“Trump’s Focus as the Pandemic Raged: What Would It Mean for Him? – President Trump missed his chance to show that he could rise to the moment in the final chapter of his presidency and meet the defining challenge of his tenure.”: https://nyti.ms/38YABAa

But Mark Meadows and Stephen Miller, et al, believed that the base would revolt, so there was no mandatory mask edict.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 is raging.

However, people still forget that so many more people voted for Biden and that the Senatorial game is rigged against the Democrats, the less populous red states still get two Senators.

But now it all comes down to Georgia.

Atlanta is not only the epicenter of hip-hop, it’s the epicenter of African-American culture in the United States. And since the people are Black, and in the south, they don’t get much attention, not what they deserve on a national level. Isn’t this what all the hoopla has been about this past year, the underrepresentation of Blacks?

So, you never want to give people hope, not if you want to keep them down. Demoralization is real. But, if you see you count, all bets are off. And that’s the feeling permeating so many of Georgia’s residents now.

So, I was checking my Twitter feed today, where the pulse of America truly lives, those who say otherwise just don’t want to lose control, they’d rather what they say determine the narrative, and I came across a tweet by T.I.

T.I? The rapper? He’s got 9.1 million Twitter followers!

T.I.’s tweet said:

“Wise words @tylerperry Georgia, we gotta show up!!

And below these words was a video of Tyler Perry speaking.

Tyler Perry… A king of cinema. Who makes his movies in ATLANTA!

He’s not worried about production values, he’s not worried about appearance, Perry’s talking directly to the camera, speaking his truth. 

Unlike too many celebrities, Perry is neither talking down to his audience nor evidencing a lack of education and intelligence, quite the opposite. Perry is down in the pit with the proletariat. He’s a combination of English teacher and coach. He’s wearing his hoodie, he’s not afraid. And he’s laying it on the line, this means everything, people have to vote, to turn back Mitch McConnell who doesn’t want people to get help.

And contrary to the supposed internet rule, Perry is not talking in a quick soundbite, he’s taking two minutes and twenty seconds to get his message across, check it out: https://bit.ly/3pIpjXz

Listening to Perry inspired ME, it gave ME hope. And even though Biden won I haven’t been so hopeful. But the people who have always gotten the short end of the stick, the African-Americans, they now see an opportunity, and they’re acting on it. It’s exciting.

There’s not a news outlet alive that’s got the power of a hit song or a hit movie. Never underestimate the power of entertainment. And despite so much over the top fluff and other shenanigans, hip-hop’s roots are in truth, telling people what is really going on in the streets, educating them and making them feel alive.

The light bulb went off in my head. And I felt, once again, the mainstream media had missed it. But Googling, I found one major outlet that got it, CNN:

“How Atlanta rappers helped flip the White House (and they’re hustling to flip the US Senate)”: https://cnn.it/3hBd5NH

African-Americans are on a roll. They can feel it. This has been their year, they’re finally gaining some power. Sure, there’s a counter-narrative on the right, but not only was the whole world watching, over the summer the whole world got in the streets and Biden did win, and Georgia was key.

So maybe the two Democrats can eke out victories in Georgia, maybe Democrats can gain control of the Senate.

But maybe not. Never underestimate efforts on the right to suppress the vote and influence election outcomes. That’s their mantra, didn’t Trump talk about “levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again”? https://nyti.ms/3hAuaau

So maybe it’s not about a song. Maybe, like that old mantra, all politics is local, especially in today’s cacophonous world. Maybe it’s less about songs than credibility, and everybody knows rappers have more credibility than pop singers, never mind so many politicians. And now with a defined area, with the rest of the country in relief, the cultural titans of Georgia, the African-Americans of hip-hop, will sway this election.

Maybe not. But this could be a harbinger of things to come. I hope.