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The New Year’s Eve/New Year holiday has always been, to my mind, the poor step child of holidays. It is played up as a wonderful excuse to let loose, have fun and celebrate the passing of the old year and the promise of the new. In my experience, it has been anything but that. 

I should start out by saying that my parents had New Year’s Eve down pat. Year after year they got together with the same group of church friends and had an alcohol-free good time. They ate well, played games and laughed a lot. It was the one night of the year that they would come strolling in at 3 or 4 in the morning.  

Silly me thought that was the way it should be. When I got into high school the kids of that church group would get together as well. While it was an OK time, we inevitably ended a lot earlier than the old folks and never seemed able to match their high spirits.

It all went downhill from there. I don’t remember what I did on most New Year’s Eve nights over the years. I do remember one night when my South Carolina “friends” plied me with shots of Jack Daniels, which I was drinking on an empty stomach, by telling me that they had all done shots when I was out of the room. Let’s just say that the results were not pretty. 

There were some good New Year’s Eve parties at the Broder/Bernstein home in Mount Airy with plenty of good food. That being said, I definitely paid the next day for eating too many of the excellent Broder hot wings, and I had a much stronger stomach back then than I do now.  

One year Julie and I went to one of the New Year’s Eve extravaganzas which promised a buffet dinner, live music, a comedian and complimentary champagne. The food was terrible and the live music was generic. The comedian, though, was the worst. He went around the room asking people what they did, but then had no quips to follow it up. He asked either Julie or I what we did and whoever was asked answered that they were a lawyer AND HE COULD NOT COME UP WITH A LAWYER JOKE!!!!! You should not be allowed to call yourself a comedian if you can’t even rag on lawyers. (Q. What’s the difference between a lawyer and a vampire? A. A vampire only sucks blood at night). We drank our complimentary glass of flat “champagne” at midnight and were out of there by 12:15.  

Once we had kids and they were old enough to want to stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve we would make appetizers and plan a movie marathon, which my sister seems to be able to pull off pretty well. Inevitably, by 11:30 a couple of the kids has wandered off to bed and the rest were asleep, along with Julie. I would wake everyone up around 11:55 to watch the ball drop, and then we trudged upstairs to call it a night. Not exactly a New Year’s Rockin Eve!!! 

Last year Max, Will and I were in Seoul, South Korea for the New Year (back in ancient times when you could travel). Max and I made the mistake of going to the New Year’s Eve festivities there because we heard about a tradition of ringing a huge bell 33 times to welcome in the new year. It was just as jammed as New York is, if not more so. We heard a K-Pop band, saw people making speeches we could not hear, and would not have understood if we did, but didn’t hear the bell. We saw them strike it, but the sound did not carry. At least on the way back to the hotel we ran into a celebration at a Buddhist temple which was very cool.  

Julie and Calvin were jam packed into Red Square in Moscow with the Boy’s Choir. Apparently the Russians like to welcome the new year in by standing cheek to jowl as well, though they did have a terrific firework display from what I was told. I am not sure that Julie saw it as she was running around trying to locate some wandering choir boys. It wouldn’t be a KSB tour without some drama.  

Sum it all up and you have a pretty forgetful holiday that we remember every year. I’m not sure what this year holds, but hopefully we at least make it to midnight. More importantly, here’s wishing everyone out there a very Happy New Year!!!!   

I know that everyone has holiday rituals that stem from childhood and are so deeply ingrained they are not even considered. One of the most lasting for me are holiday movies. I know that I am not alone. 

This was really brought home to me last night when I watched “It’s a Wonderful Life”, which I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. It was so satisfying that I realized how much a part of the season it was for me. When I was growing up this movie was in the public domain and so was on constantly during the holiday season. I usually caught at least parts of the movie 3 or 4 times through the month of December, and sat down to see the entire movie once or twice. Every time I would choke up at the ending (“Attaboy Clarence!”). 

Other Christmas movies or shows were also a must. I had to watch “A Christmas Carol” – the Alister Sim version of course (“There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”). I would plan for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and the original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on network TV. Also, for some reason, the Bass and Rankin “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” was on the list. I think it was the Burgermeister Meisterburger.   

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There are plenty of others that, while not essential, entered the canon in recent years. “Elf” is incredibly funny, and really caught me by surprise when I first saw it in the theaters (have I said recently how much I miss theaters?).  For Julie it’s “Love Actually”. And a family favorite is “The Muppets Christmas Carol” (“We’re Marley and Marley Whoooooo!!!”). But for me the classics cannot be replaced.  

 

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All of this is what makes the holiday season so different. It is not just the enjoyment of what you are doing that year, but a reflection of what you have been doing your whole life. It is as much nostalgia as it is present reality. While living your entire life in the past is probably not a good idea, finding some time every year to wallow in the memories is healthy, and nothing gives you the chance to do that like the holidays.  

So, whatever your holiday rituals – whether its movies, music (viva Vince Guaraldi), decorations (a Starr on the tree), presents, or food (let’s not forget the food!!!!!) – enjoy the next few days and relish the season.  

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Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!

One of the really nice things about working at home during the pandemic, and then retirement, has been that it really let me be consistent in doing something physical every day. I have gone through spurts in my life where I have been getting regular exercise, but I finally feel like it is part of my everyday existence. That includes a good bit of walking, both around the neighborhood and in local parks. Since walking can be very boring, this has led me to podcasts. 

I know how silly it is to say that I have entered the podcast world years after it became hip, but it just didn’t fit until now. When I could have listened to podcasts, I read, like on the train, and reading always came first (and still does). But it’s very difficult to read a book and walk at the same time, or at least do so without walking into something (and don’t think that I haven’t done that). So I started listening to podcasts. 

Part of the reason I was resistant to podcasts was that I hadn’t been drawn to what I had heard. My family have been podcasters (is that a word?) for years, and so I would hear what they followed when we were travelling. While there were many enjoyable parts to these podcasts (like, My Brother, My Brother and Me, Comedy Bang Bang, Hollywood Handbook) too often it struck me as people laughing at their own jokes, and laughing much louder than was warranted. I didn’t hear anything that made me want to listen on a regular basis. 

Julie had, however, told me about an episode of the podcast Mobituaries by Mo Rocca, who I knew from the Daily Show, that talked about the sudden end of the career of comedian Vaughn Meader. I remembered hearing Meader’s album parodying the Kennedy family, though I was too young to appreciate it when it first came out, and knew it had been a huge hit (Won Grammy for Album of the Year in 1963. Really, it did). What I didn’t know, though I could have guessed it, was how his career came to a full stop on November 22, 1963. The story of his ultimately unsuccessful struggles to reshape his career, which I listened to while on a long delay in the Boston airport, was interesting and entertaining.  

Years later when I decided that I needed to do something when walking, I came back to Mobituaries. Rocca’s in depth look at people or events that had been significant at the time, but then faded into memory were always engrossing. My walks went quickly as I was drawn into the fates of Chang and Eng, the cojoined Siamese twins (between them they had 21 kids, 11 of them Chang’s, 10 of them Eng’s. Try to get you head, or heads as the case may be, around that) or learning about the tortured life of Thomas Paine, or television’s Rural Purge of the late 1960’s, or the disappearance of the first Darrin on Bewitched (the only real Darrin in my book!!!).  

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I had found my niche. I realized that I liked history, cultural or otherwise, that goes into some depth, makes me laugh every now and then and puts things into the context of what else is going on in the world at the time. That’s not too much to ask, is it?     

All of that led me to Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History. I want to be Malcolm Gladwell (except for the goofy hair, though looking at mine right now you might say that I am one to talk – You choose). As far as I can tell, Gladwell dives into whatever strikes his fancy, which is a lot, has the pull to talk to anyone he wants on the subject and people to help research and find obscure news reel or oral histories to bring the topic to life.

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It’s taken him (and me) from Wilt Chamberlin’s free throw shooting (underhand is fine, Wilt), to the way universities misevaluate potential students (don’t get me on a rant about college essays), to the tragic impact of Brown vs. Board of Education on black teachers and beyond.  

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But I’m hitting the wall on Malcolm. Plus, his season 5 has been his weakest (Four episodes on “Bombs Away” Curtis LeMay? Please!!!). I need to expand my horizons. Find new exciting podcasts. Boldly go where no other podcaster has gone before (Sorry, I got carried away).

Any other podcasters out there? You have my criteria. Any thoughts on what I should listen to now? I welcome your suggestions.    

Be afraid, be very afraid. I have decided to do something that I never thought I would do. I have decided to take over control of our kitchen. (Pause for a gasp from the crowd).  

Anyone who knows me, knows how silly an idea this is. I have absolutely no feel for cooking. None at all. I can follow a recipe, kind of. I get very flustered when I have to juggle two or three things cooking at once, or time when something goes in or comes out of the oven. Spices scare me. (I have no idea what adding Allspice or turmeric does. Sweet, spicy, sour? Your guess is as good as mine).  

I never really saw myself doing this. When people asked me how I was going to spend my time when I retired, cooking was not on the list. Oh, I knew that with Julie still working, and with her schedule, I would have to put something together to eat many nights, but actually cook? No, not me.  

So, what has prompted this radical shift? Reality has taken over. With a houseful again it just doesn’t work to start thinking about dinner at 5:30. The truth is that everyone else here is a lot busier than I am during the day. Plus, I am really tired of giving that blank stare when someone asks me, “What are we doing for dinner tonight?” The bottom line is that it was time to make a plan!!!! 

We tried a calendar, but that really wasn’t working. Too many empty dates. Max suggested that we decide over dinner who will cook the next night, but that seemed like it was going to get us into an endless round of discussions, and we have enough of those already. There was just nothing to do, but for me to make sure that there is something decent is on the table every night.

 Calvin actually started the process when he cleaned out our spice cupboard. It’s amazing how much room you have when you toss items that are long expired. (By the way, is Onion Salt with an expiration date of February 2007 still good?) Julie helped by passing along an article on the well-stocked pantry. Max and Will pitched in by helping me come up with a list of quick, easy to make staple dishes that can be thrown together on those nights when I am too lazy to think very far ahead (and we know that there will be plenty of those nights). 

 

I took my own first step by making an inventory of what we have, throwing out things that we will never eat (“Oh My Gouda Moon Cheese” nuggets anyone?) and making a list of what we don’t have that we should. Next, I have mapped out what we will eat through the rest of the week (tonight is spaghetti in a spicy cream tomato sauce – Max Cooking). Last, but not least, is to cook as necessary!! 

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I should be honest here. I will have plenty of help cooking. All of the kids, and Julie, will step up and cook if they have a night free (last night Cal made a mean Shakouka). Also, once people know what we are having they are happy to contribute, or even take over, which is a good thing because they are all better cooks than I am (Max is king of the stir-fry and Will owns shrimp). Does my filling in on the nights when they are unavailable make me the head chef? No, (emphatically) it does not. However, I will make dinner when needed and I will decide what I am cooking before 6:00 that evening!!!  

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So, we see again that there is no way to know on what paths life leads you. You think that you have it all worked out. You think that you know what you’ll spend your time doing, and what you will avoid. Then you hear that “ahem” in the back of your your head telling you that you know nothing (Jon Snow) and you push blindly on ahead. You never know, I might be taking notes while watching Iron Chef soon, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.  

With the loss of Aster just over a year ago family holidays have lost some of their luster. They are impossible to face without mixed feelings. On the one hand the ability to get together, even on the limited basis that we are doing it this year, has to be appreciated and honored. It is a very good thing. On the other hand, the gap at the table is even more noticeable. 

All that being said, while a year does not lessen the pain, it does increase the perspective. You realize that suffering loss is part of the human condition, and that you are not alone in your grief. You realize that life must go on. That there are obligations that must be met. That there are challenges to deal with. That there is laughter yet to be had.   

This is especially true at Thanksgiving, which has always been a favorite holiday. It is the least baggage laden of days we celebrate. It doesn’t have the gift buying pressures of Christmas, the sense of New Years that there is somewhere a better party that I should be at, the need for a clever costume at Halloween. It is just a chance to get together with family, eat too much, drink a bit and laugh over old times and new. What could be better than that? 

Also, with other holidays it’s easy to forget why we even celebrate them. With “Thanks Giving” that is not possible. You have to reflect on everything you have, how it’s more than you could ever have hoped for, and how it’s more than you really deserve. Like most people, I could list out the many things that I am thankful for, but that would be both boring and unnecessary. What’s important is that I recognize and appreciate the items on the list, and Thanksgiving demands that I do that. 

This Thanksgiving will have more than a tinge of sadness in it, to put it mildly, but it will also have a very real sense that there is so much that life has given me and that there is so much more to look forward to. So, I say without a hint of irony or sarcasm, Have A Very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!     

Round 1  

For 200 Mongolian Togrog: 

He had all the answers, but you had to know the questions (and no, it is not my Uncle Irving). 

For 400 Mauritanian Ouguiya: 

He made us Jump with his great guitar solos, but might now be Dancing with the Devil.  

For 600 Malaysian Ringgit: 

He came from Philadelphia, but that didn’t stop this Black Mamba from striking at us again, and again, and again.  

For 800 Lao Kip: 

She was briefly James Bond’s wife, but Avenged that death many times before succumbing to the Queen’s Justice.  

For 1000 Kazakhstani Tenge: 

Truly a Justice for all.  

Double Jeopardy 

For 400 Haitian Gourde: 

Baseball actually lowered the freaking mound because he was so dominant!!!!! 

For 800 Gambian Dalasi: 

As leader of his Group, he proclaimed I’m a Man, but acknowledged he needed someone to Gimme Some Lovin. 

For 1200 Georgian Lari: 

He chronicled A Drinking Life and everything else that happened in New York City for over 50 years. 

For 1600 Nicaraguan Cordoba: 

He walked Paths of Glory and went 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and always came back up with that chin intact, still yelling “I am Spartacus!!!!” 

For 2000 Venezuelan Bolivar Soberano:  

He marched across the bridge leading out of Selma and never stopped marching. 

A Video Final Jeopardy:    

After too many vodka martinis, shaken, not stirred, this iconic actor considered his role as Zed in Zardoz his crowning achievement (or at least I assume he did). (Click on the link).  

Answers (or are they Questions?) (No Peaking): 

Round 1 

1. Who is Alex Trebek? 

2. Who is Eddie Van Halen? 

3. Who is Kobe Bryant? 

4. Who is Diana Rigg? 

5. Who is Ruth Bader Ginsburg? 

Double Jeopardy 

1. Who is Bob Gibson? 

2. Who is Spencer Davis? 

3. Who is Pete Hamill? 

4. Who is Kirk Douglas? 

5. Who is John Lewis? 

Final Jeopardy –

Who is Sean Connery? 

Since I saw fit to comment on the 2020 Presidential election with a 5:00 a.m. semi-depressed rant I thought that I should probably follow it up with something more measured now that the counting is all but done. Obviously, I am ecstatic about the outcome, but what happened isn’t really weighing on my mind. The more interesting questions are what this election foretells for the future, not that I have a lot of answers.  

It is hard to see this election as anything other than a referendum on Donald Trump. What is not clear is the extent to which it was a referendum on him personally or on his policies, though both naturally come into play. Ultimately, did the coalitions that formed reflect a belief that we have to implement/repudiate action on issues such as climate change, student debt, tax structure, pandemic relief? Or did the coalitions form to either embrace or reject Donald Trump and his style of leadership? 

The upcoming Georgia runoff elections for Senator should tell us something about these coalitions. Will the 2.455M Georgia voters who supported Trump in the general election come out in similar numbers in an election where he is not on the ballot and is unlikely to significantly engage? Conversely, will the 2.465M Georgia voters who supported Biden come out in similar numbers in an election where Trump is not on the ballot to vote against? Plus, how many of those voters who could not stomach four more years of a Trump Presidency will be equally wary of a congress fully controlled by the Democrats? How many of those voters really wanted to see a significant change in policies, or were they just interested in getting rid of Trump?       

And what now for Donald Trump himself? I watched a post-election webinar sponsored by Authors against Trump because it included two novelists I greatly respect, Paul Auster and Salman Rushdie. They, along with the other panelists, said they thought that Donald Trump would now go quietly in the night. I wonder whether they had been paying attention to the last four years and had digested the election results. 

Donald Trump garnished over 70,000,000 votes in this election, more than any other candidate in the US history (except for Joe Biden of course). If this was a referendum on Donald Trump half of the country answered with a resounding YES!!! Whether we like it or not, Donald Trump remains the most popular person in the country. Is there anyone else other than rock stars that can pack arena after arena the way he does? I certainly doubt if Joe Biden could.  

Knowing Trump’s love of the spotlight, and how much he feeds off of these crowds, do you really think that he will give that up? (Honestly, do you think any of us could?) We know that he will never admit that he lost this election, that much is already clear. We also know that many of his followers believe that as well, regardless of whether there is any proof of fraud. Donald Trump will eventually have to abandon the White House, but it will be kicking and screaming. 

I think that what we are likely to see from Trump is a never-ending, unrelenting Twitter stream castigating Joe Biden, being received by millions of receptive fans. Barring debilitating medical or legal issues (both of which are very possible considering his lifestyle and the way he conducts his business dealings) I can very easily see him coming back for round two in four years. He knows the support will be there. There are clearly no Republicans that could challenge him. If he does run again, will the voters come out again in droves once more to reject him? Because you know his supporters will be there for him. 

Actually, I think that Joe Biden is coming in at a good time to withstand any challenge four years from now. We are at an ebb, much as we were in 2008 when Barak Obama became President. Four years from now the pandemic should be behind us. The long-term economic outlook is actually pretty good, especially if Biden provides short term stimulus for those hit hardest by the virus and invests in infrastructure projects that put people back to work. That being said, all Presidents are subject to attack because of where they sit, and many of his supporters, especially young progressive voters, will be looking for more than a return to stability to enthusiastically support him again in four years (assuming that he is in shape to run again – a whole different topic).  

Well, again, I really hadn’t planned to delve into politics in this Blog, but there are some things I can’t resist. I feel like all of the networks that have had 24/7 election coverage for the last week. “Now back to our regularly scheduled program”.   

It is 5:00 a.m. on November 4 and I am wide awake. I spent most of the night after my stint as a poll worker trying to avoid watching the election results, but failed miserably. Just as I have failed in my attempts to go to sleep. At this juncture the final tally has not been recorded, or a winner declared, but it is clear that the results will closely mirror 2016. Regardless of how the few remaining states play out, there is no doubt that Donald Trump remains immensely popular, and any thought of a blue wave is gone.  

I know that I said that this blog would not be political, but, as Bill Murray said in Ghostbusters, that is more of a guideline than a rule. Anyone who knows me knows that I am bitterly disappointed in these results, and will be even if Joe Biden manages to eke out a victory, which, frankly, I doubt will happen. However, if you are looking for a screed against Donald Trump or those that voted for him, you will be disappointed. I believe that it would be misplaced. 

After the 2016 election I was among many who dismissed the results as stemming from a hatred of Hillary Clinton, or people not appreciating who Donald Trump really was. I was wrong to do so. We have now had four years of Donald Trump, so people know who is and what he stands for, and Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton. And yet his support has not waned in the least. If anything, it has strengthened. It is time to admit that Donald Trump won in 2016, and has made the showing he has in 2020, because many people in this country like him and his positions.  

I totally fail to see the allure of Donald Trump, and could not disagree more with what he stands for, but that is immaterial. Clearly millions of people in this country do think that he should be our President. There is no Russian interference, or voter fraud behind that. It is not a matter of Democrats being complacent. It is the reality of our electorate. 

At this juncture, as painful as it is for me to say it, we have to accept this reality. We are where we are because we live in a democracy and the people have spoken. I have joined the chorus deriding Donald Trump for undermining democracy, but I cannot have it both ways. I cannot attack those who seek to dismantle our system and at the same time refuse to accept the results of the democratic process.  

Nor can I continue to bemoan to electoral college. It is a waste of energy. Yes, it is antiquated and anti-democratic (with a small ”d”), but it is not going anywhere. There is no chance of achieving the consensus needed to alter this process in the foreseeable future, so we better learn to live with it, for better or worse. 

Does this mean that we roll over and play dead? Of course not. We still need to agitate, and then agitate some more, for what we believe in until we are blue in the face (pun intended). If Donald Trump is the ultimate winner, we need to call him out on every policy and every pronouncement we disagree with. We also need to strengthen and hone our positions to convince more people that we have the better vision for this country and not get sidetracked by minutiae.  

Turning this around is not as farfetched as it seems. We have to remember that half the voters in this country voted against Trump in both elections, and want to see change. Further, many of the same states and counties that supported Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 supported Barak Obama in 2008 and 2012. (Don’t ask me how that’s possible, but it’s true). Politics in this country goes in waves, and the tide will shift again.  

Well, it’s 5:45. Little has changed on CNN. There is no way that I am going back to sleep, so I am going to make myself some coffee and start reading a book that has nothing to do with politics (The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, if you must know). Please forgive these early morning ravings. I promise that going forward I will rarely go down this path again (emphasis on rarely).