Author Archives: ronqueens

And So It Goes

Today is Saturday, July 12, 2025. It’s late here, owing to Elliot and I watching a film on Tubi, a 1986 crime thriller directed by John Frankenheimer called 52 Pick-up starring Roy Scheider in a more mature, sleazier role than his character in Jaws and Ann-Margret. The film is based on a book by crime novelist Elmore Leonard who adapted his book for the screen. Scheider plays Harry Mitchell, a wealthy businessman whose life is upended when he he’s blackmailed after being caught in an affair with a much younger woman. Margret portrays his wife who is running for city council and is initially not aware of her husband’s adulterous affair. Scheider decides to play along with his blackmailers but doesn’t intend to pay, which sets up a cycle of escalating violence and threats. The core of the film revolves around the blackmail scheme and Harry’s attempts to outsmart the criminals. We both enjoyed the film but did not enjoy the numerous commercial breaks delivered on Tubi from which we watched the movie.

Earlier, I found myself at the Majestic Theatre feasting my eyes on a blockbuster by the name of Gypsy starring the incomparable Audra McDonald in the title role of Mama Rose. I was able to see this overly satisfying version of a Broadway staple that has had numerous revivals over the years courtesy of Elliot’s former neighbor and friend, “Mary.” She called us two days ago to inform us that she had a ticket to Saturday’s performance and that she was unable to attend this showing. Elliot called yesterday to confirm the giveaway and she said that whoever was going just had to go to the box office and ask for her ticket. Which is what I did! I had no trouble at all. I sat in the orchestra, Row Q, and it was quite a good seat in terms of how close it was to the stage. I took a pair of binoculars, but I really didn’t need them.

How could anyone not appreciate this enduring play with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by powerhouse Stephen Sondheim, who was very young in 1959 when it first came out. There are so many memorable songs in the score like “Let Me Entertain You,” “Some People,” “Have an Egg Roll, Mr. Goldstein,” “If Momma Was Married,” “Everything Is Coming Up Roses,” “Together, Wherever We Go,” “Small World,” and the powerful finale sung by McDonald in rare form, “Rose’s Turn.” She literally brings down the house in her rendition of a backstage mother who only longed for stardom for her two talented children, but sacrificed everything for their success. At this point, both her daughters have left her to pursue their own dreams of success; her youngest, June, would go on to become the actress June Havoc, and the eldest would evolve into burlesque star and stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, who also wrote books and had numerous roles in films decades ago. On the screen, she was portrayed by a young Natalie Wood. Here she is portrayed by Joy Woods who matures into her own woman who desires to escape from the clutches of her overbearing mother. Danny Burstein plays long-suffering agent Herbie who falls in love with Rose and pleads for her hand in marriage numerous times throughout the production.

For this production, critics have noted that McDonald’s classically trained voice might not always perfectly match the demands of the Gypsy score, which often calls for a more belting style. Think of the late Ethel Merman who has essayed the role of Rose on Broadway decades ago. She always belted out a song. I have to admit when I first heard McDonald sing as in her solo, “Some People,” where she’s first living with her grandfather in a hovel in Seattle, I had some reservations about her more operatic voice succeeding here, but within time, I must have warmed to her vocal style as Rose as time wore on. Her acting was titanic in this iconic role, I thought. She was certainly very memorable. I also have to say that I haven’t seen any other actor in the role on Broadway; I’ve seen the film which starred Rosalind Russell who was actually not much of a singer. Looking up the film with her in it, I did discover that she did some of the singing herself in the film, but her singing was partially dubbed by Lisa Kirk. She was more known for her acting chops.

Anyway, this is what I’ve done today. Elliot was fine staying with Atticus and then going out to a Japanese restaurant on Austin Street.

Tomorrow I’m seeing another but different kind of production, this one being an off-Broadway effort starring Lea DeLaria in something called Brunch Is Gay at 54 Below. My friend “Seth” asked me to see this with him, and I said yes. I have no idea what this show encompasses. And it does include brunch. All I know is that DeLaria is gay and a comedian who also sings. She was in the popular series Orange Is the New Black as Big Boo. Unfortunately, I never saw the series.

Have a good Sunday.

And so it went!

Here is my playbill from today’s show.

Here is Audra McDonald turning her body on stage at the end of the play.

Here’s a better picture of Audra McDonald taking her bows.

And So It Goes

Today is Friday, July 11, 2025. As I’ve already written, this so-called president is suffering from the effects of dementia and today another online article seems to confirm my early suspicions. The Irish Star leads off with an article entitled “Trump sparks dementia worries after confusing old clip of Pete Hegseth as live interview,” by Falyn Stempler, online that depicts how internet users are speculating about Diaper Don’s health after his latest gaffe.

Here the toddler in chief praised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his appearance on Fox News this morning via his ridiculously named “Truth” Social. However, reports confirm that the drunk was not invited onto the show, though an old clip of him was shown on the morning news show. The forced error led many online to question the president’s health.

“Secretary of War [sic] (Hegseth is not Secretary of War, so this is another telling gaffe from the old man), Pete Hegseth was great on Fox News this morning. Talking about modern weapons and warfare. Thank you to Brett Velicovich, who really knows his ‘stuff.” We are really on our war. MAGA!.” What the fuck does “We are really on our war” here means, answer me that. This is another incoherent piece of gibberish from the man who said the immigrants are eating the dogs and cats in Ohio.

Diaper Don appears to be referring to a clip originally posted on Secretary Hegseth’s X account the day before it was shown on Fox and Friends this morning, where he spoke about his efforts to cut through red tape to speed up U.S. military drone production.

Internet users have speculated for months about the state of the 79-year-old president’s mental and physical health, including concerns he has dementia, a degenerative disease that reportedly runs in the family. His martinet of a father, Fred Dump, definitely suffered from it.

A group I never heard of, Verified Republicans Against Trump, replied, “Trump’s cognitive decline is getting hard to ignore.” One member wrote, “I’m not sure Trump knows the difference between live and prerecorded, if we’re being honest.”

Another similarly added, “This man has access to nuclear codes but can’t tell the difference between a broadcast and a repost.”

What is definitely appalling about this tin-plated dictator is a photoshopped image of Dump in a Superman costume that was released by his fucking White House that has left many Americans up in arms. As you should know, the true hero as depicted in the Superman comics for over 80 years is a symbol of hope and the slogan attributed to him is “truth, justice, and the American way.” Do you think for a nanosecond that this convicted felon, adjudicated sexual predator, and overall dumb cluck represents the true American way and the path toward truth, justice, and the American way? Fuck no! is my immediate answer. This idiot doesn’t deserve such a honor bestowed on him even though it’s all a facade! Damn his administration for even releasing such a ridiculous image of their Supreme Leader during the week that this film opens. It will be forgotten long before the Superman film is. And, yes, I still haven’t seen the film. When I do, I’ll let you know.

And this is just wonderful: the news that Dump’s base is furious over the growing Jeffrey Epstein scandal in which Attorney General – another blonde bimbo – Pam Bondi, contradicted her own assertions about releasing the Epstein files and now is pulling back from doing anything about it. Dump’s base was desperately hoping for a wide list of clients including prominent names like Bill Clinton and others on it; of course, it is Dump’s name that his Department of Justice and FBI are scrambling to have concealed in this dossier. So now the maggots are accusing Bondi of telling lies (boy, is that rich!) as well as FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino – both of whom are Chump appointees. Another far-right influencer, maniac Laura Loomer is even calling for Bondi to be fired for her handling of the Epstein matter, and has posted on social media today that Bongino is considering resigning in the wake of this matter. Don’t you just love a rift in MAGA World right now?

Today my anger was aroused when I came back from enjoying my usual Wednesday morning (this time I drove to Royal Collectibles at 12) reading my two comic books and having breakfast at Buen Sabor Latino Restaurant and then browsing the shelves of the North Forest Park Library to examine a new dent on my new car’s fender! I couldn’t believe my eyes! The car was parked on the street on a one-way street and there was still damage done to the car in the rear. Thank God I wasn’t in the car.

So now I’m faced with having to repair the car only after having it eight months. I think it’s better to not report it to my insurance company and just pay to have it fixed on my own. For that, I’m considering telling my garage attendant “Louis” – who took our old Nissan Altima back in August after it was sideswiped by a motorist at Green Acres Mall – about this new dent and taking it to his brother-in-law’s shop. As of now, there’s no problem driving it. And the damage doesn’t look as extensive as it was on the sedan. But I’m still angry. So this date, July 11, is a date that will live in infamy in my book.

Have a good weekend.

And so it went!

Here’s the car with the damage caused to it by an anonymous driver who hit it and ran!








And So It Goes

Today is Thursday, July 10, 2025. As I alerted you yesterday, I was going to be absent from this page because I intended to see my Central Islip friend “Jake” and expected to stay out the entire day, and I certainly did. After awakening at 8:15, I got ready to have breakfast out at my usual place of morning culinary delight, the Austin House Diner, and then I was going to take the subway to the LIRR station at Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue since I thought there was no train running from the Forest Hills platform. I later found out I was laboring under a misapprehension since on my return back from Central Islip, I was able to change trains at Jamaica Station to board a train going to Kew Gardens and Forest Hills. I just had to wait around 15 minutes.

I got to the LIRR station earlier than expected: a little after 10. I was to board the 11:24 train to Ronkokoma, but I wrestled with getting on an earlier train, like the 10:50 train, which would have put me at the stop close to 12. So I decided to call Jake and inform him that I would arrive slightly earlier, and he consented to my arriving earlier.

Thus I boarded the earlier train and continued to read The Friday Afternoon Club, by Griffin Dunne. I’ve read about 300 pages already; it’s that readable. I’ve reached the part where Dunne eloquently writes about his sister’s strangling at the hands of a deranged suitor named John Sweeney in 1982. I remember the case and the subsequent trial in which this serial abuser got quite a light sentence for snuffing the life out of this promising young actress who played JoBeth Williams’ and Craig T. Nelson’s older daughter in 1982’s Poltergeist, a popular film in its day with a story by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper.

I was met by Jake a few minutes past 12 after I disembarked from my train. Jake was in his 2002 red Cadillac DeVille. It was as long as a boat, I felt. Our first stop was a Dunkin’ Donuts nearby where I had my third cup of coffee plus a blueberry glazed donut. We sat down at a round table and talked for over an hour.

Soon it was time to get up from our comfortable seats to drive to the Central Islip Central Library where we went up to the second floor to see a free film in a meeting room, Sabrina. For those who know about the film, this version was the most recent starring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, and Greg Kinnear. This latter film, released in 1995, is a remake of the 1954 effort starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden. The only thing we agreed on afterward is that the original had more charm than this lackluster incarnation.

After the film, we made our way to the Quiet Room where we talked some more about our last trip and where I showed Jake a few choice pictures from it. Jake was quite impressed by the beautiful scenery captured on my phone.

It was then time to drive to our last destination, Shandon Court, an Irish-American restaurant with a busy bar and comfort Irish food like shepherd’s pie and chicken pot pie. This is where Jake engages in Trivia Night every Wednesday and where I was recruited to play with Jake and his team. But first, we had to have dinner, so we ordered a full bowl of French onion soup to share and then I ordered the chicken francese. Jake ordered the shepherd’s pie for his entree.

Game night promptly began a little after 8, with at least four teams playing. We were the smallest team, with only three members playing. Two or three members were unable to show up last night. These were family members of the third member: “Philip.” So we played with all the gusto we could muster, even though we had fewer members than any other team.

The quiz that we played contained four sections, three sections having 12 questions each, and one section composed of pictures that we had to identify screen duos from films released through the years. This proved to be my greatest strength. I was able to identify 9 out of 12 pictures. Some of the duos included Sid and Nancy, Robin and Marian, Benny & Joon, and so on.

The game lasted close to 2 hours. Sadly, we came in fourth.

Then I became a little worried that I wouldn’t make the 10:57 train from Central Islip. I impressed upon Jake to leave the restaurant as soon as the game finished. After saying goodbye to Philip and other team members, we hurried out of Shandon Court.

We got to the station within minutes and in a blink of an eye, the eastbound train hurtled my way. I hugged Jake and said good night and boarded the Penn Station train. As I mentioned earlier, I got off at Jamaica and waited for the next train to Forest Hills. It arrived around 12:10 a.m. and it wasn’t long before I was back in Forest Hills.

As I got off the train, it began to rain. Luckily, I had my blue umbrella and opened it immediately. Before exiting the platform, I spied a rat at the bottom of the staircase. It scurried underneath some debris. Ugh, what a sight!

It’s getting late and there’s no time to write about what we did today. Maybe I’ll get that in tomorrow.

And so it went!

Here’s a sheet from Trivia Night in which I could answer 9 questions. I couldn’t produce a blank sheet where you could test your memory of famous screen duos through the years – sorry. I couldn’t answer No. 2, No. 9, and No. 11.

And So It Goes

Today is Tuesday, July 8, 2025. Yes, I did say that I was going to be absent from my blog, but Elliot convinced me to cancel plans we had with my cousins “Rivka” and “Dillon” tonight because of an expected weather alert. And I’m glad I did because it did rain here quite furiously for a while after we had dinner locally at a restaurant in Forest Hills. We managed to return home right before the deluge. Also it was quite hot outside for most of the day, and having to wait on a subway platform in this heat was not something either of us looked forward to, which was another reason to delay getting together with Rivka and Dillon. Thus I called Rivka early thing morning to convey our reasons for not getting together and she was very understanding. We were able to reschedule for next Wednesday, July 16.

So since I’m here, I can report on new, breaking news regarding the Trumpfication of this country, and one significant story is the increasingly partisan “Extreme” Court issuing another decision supporting America’s newest dictator. In an online article for The Washington Post, Anne E. Marimow delivers an explanation of the Court’s new ruling regarding the firing of federal workers under the Chump regime. The article is entitled “Supreme Court allows Trump to launch mass layoff and restructuring plans.”

Today this partisan court cleared the way for the Dump administration to launch plans for mass firings and reorganizations at 19 federal agencies and departments while litigation continues.

The highly conservative justices lifted a lower-court order that temporarily blocked plans to lay off thousands of federal workers, including at the State Department and the Social Security Administration (SSA) because the administration did not first consult Congress. This ghastly autocratic regime seems not to consult Congress for anything these days! They do whatever they fucking want without any Congressional oversight and these lawmakers are just permitting the worst abuses being carried out by this dictatorial regime.

In response to other emergency requests from this administration, the Supreme Court consistently has sided with this president’s efforts to upend the federal bureaucracy and they don’t think this is fucking wrong. The court’s horrible conservative majority, featuring two justices who have been compromised by billionaires who have them in their pockets, has permitted the regime to fire independent regulators [who root out corruption] and thousands of probationary workers, while legal challenges play out in the lower courts.

As you would not expect, two liberal justices joined their despicable conservative justices, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, who think this dismantling of 19 agencies was okay. Sotomayor said she was doing this because the administration had directed agencies to operate “consistent with applicable law,” which I don’t know what the hell this means.

In their brief unsigned order, the majority said that “we express no view on the legality of any” agency plans for restructuring or shrinking of the workforce and left open the possibility that the issue could return to the Supreme Court. Oh, fuck me!

The only dissenting voice on this un-American court was Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who noted her sharp disagreement with her other colleagues, warning of serious harm that could come from allowing the administration to dramatically remake the federal government before determining whether its actions are legal. She is the only voice of reason here in a gaggle of insensible and irrational voices as expressed by the majority on the Court.

She appropriately stated, “For some reason, this Court sees fit to step in now and release the President’s wrecking ball at the outset of this litigation” which she wrote in her 15-page dissent. “In my view, this decision is not only truly unfortunate but also hubristic and senseless.”

This new development just indicates how this idiot is allowed to take a “wrecking ball” to all governmental agencies without anyone stopping him! It’s appalling and I wonder how we will be in just two years when – and if – the midterms occur.

I will not repeat what occurred during a marathon Cabinet meeting presided over this buffoon since it truly showed how demented this guy really is. Lawrence O’Donnell provided an overview of it just now on The Last Word and it would be hilarious if this man wasn’t president. Actually, it would be pathetic mostly.

To change direction a little here, who would expect that a film that hasn’t even officially opened has generated negative backlash against its director because he chose to emphasize the principal character as an immigrant. If you haven’t guessed what I’m referring to here, it’s the new Superman movie that opens on Friday, July 11. I intend to see this newest entry in the Superman franchise since I’ve seen every one of them since 1978. As you know, I’m a collector of Superman comics from the get-go.

But this criticism of the film for its immigrant stance is just plain stupid and it shows how a vocal minority has taken over social platforms and, actually, this country for its extreme views on immigration. For those of you who hold on to this view, let me remind you of this fact: Superman IS a fucking immigrant. He wasn’t born here, if you know his origin story. He was born on the planet Krypton and he rocketed to this world as a baby (his parents save him as their planet was facing total destruction) and was adopted by kindly Martha and Jonathan Kent of Smallville, Kansas. So if you want to paint Superman as an immigrant, be aware that he is. But he’s a super-powered one, no doubt about it. So those who criticize this film because of its apparent politics, fuck you and get a life.

Tomorrow I definitely won’t be here since I will be seeing my friend “Jake.”

Have a nice Wednesday.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, July 7, 2025. While the death toll from those central Texas flash flooding disaster has risen to at least 82 (since this writing), we have a pic of our disgusting president enjoying an ice cream cone in today’s online article from Irish Star by Debadrita Sur and Kai McDonald entitled “‘Heartless’ Trump captured enjoying ice cream while rescue workers desperately search for Texas flood victims.”

Deservedly so, the faux president, as I call him, received brutal backlash after a video of him engaging in leisure activities over the weekend emerged on social media as the search for more victims of the devastating Texas floods continues. There are 41 more missing victims after the Guadalupe River rose to the height of a two-story building early Friday morning.

An online right-wing watch X account, Patriot Takes, posted a video of their stupid Supreme Leader, donning a ghastly red Make America Great Again, golfing and enjoying ice cream. He’s fat already; he doesn’t need to add any more weight to his stocky bulk.

The account posted this statement about the horrible optics of the fat president eating ice cream: “Trump was golfing and enjoying ice cream this weekend while search and rescue teams were in Texas looking for child flood victims.”

Another X user posted this: “While Texas was drowning and children were missing in catastrophic floods, Trump was out golfing and indulging in ice cream like it was just another weekend. At a time when leadership meant showing up, coordinating rescue efforts, and putting politics aside, he chose distraction and leisure.” The user went on, saying what so many millions of us have been saying all of these fucking years about this monster, “Too little, too late. This isn’t leadership. It’s callous neglect. While families grieve and communities are shattered, Trump’s priorities are clear: himself, not the American people. Shameful.”

Dump’s own “busy” schedule showed that he had no public events scheduled. Of course, this clown’s very supporters still backed him, despite the evidence to the contrary that truly showed his lack of empathy for the scores of flood victims in his own country. Some nitwit [read: Trump supporter] posted this in defense of the useful idiot: “He does have a Cabinet and Administration, you know. After Biden’s 4 years of zero responsibility for anything, it’s best that you cease commenting on Trump’s Performance, isn’t it?” Does this jerk know what he’s writing about and why bring in the previous president who definitely would have flown to Texas as soon as it was possible; he would not be shown having an ice cream cone and golfing like this asshole.

Thus the “president” has yet to visit Texas in the wake of the floods, but claims he will “probably” travel to the Lone Star State later this week. I won’t hold my breath.

In defense of this golfer in chief, he did sign a major disaster declaration for Kerr County on Saturday morning “due to damage resulting from severe storms, straight-line winds, and flooding beginning on July 2.” Oh, it was Texas Governor Gregg Abbott who requested him to do it. So maybe he might have gone golfing instead if he didn’t get that missive from Abbott.

An update on the flooding in Texas: now more than 100 people have died in the wake of this horrible natural disaster. And our president licks an ice cream cone.

As for me, I will be out having dinner tomorrow with my Manhattan cousins “Rivka” and “Dillon.” We have reservations at Bottega Restaurant on 2nd Avenue at 7. So I’m not sure I’ll be home in time to post my blog.

As for Wednesday, I plan to spend the entire day with my Long Island friend, “Jake.” He usually has me join his trivia night group at 8 or so, so I won’t be home until after midnight.

My next blog should be posted on Thursday then. Let’s cross our fingers then.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Sunday, July 6, 2025. I wrote that I might not have written my blog today, but here I am! We were indeed very busy, having left Forest Hills at 12 today to get into Manhattan a little before 1 in order to have bagels and coffee at the newly renamed Murray’s Bagels on 8th Avenue and 18th Street. It is now called Zucker’s Bagels, and the interior looks the same as the old Murray’s Bagels, so when we got up to the cashier to pay for our food items, I asked about the change in name. The young woman behind the counter said the establishment is owned by the same people who ran Murray’s Bagels, but just changed the name.

Today we had tickets to see Pilobolus at the Joyce Theater at 2, so we walked in about 1:30. This is not our first time at the rodeo, as they say. We’ve discovered this incredibly athletic and lithe group of modern dancers quite a number of years ago at this venue. We even saw the late actor Paul Newman and his stalwart wife, Joanne Woodward, in the audience of a Pilobolus performance in 2006, I think. Soon after, Newman, sadly, was diagnosed with a virulent form of cancer and he died in 2008. So we’ve been attending dance performances of this one particular troupe for many years now.

Today’s program consisted of four performances: “Particle Zoo,” “Bloodlines,” “Flight,” and “Rushes.” Each of them were singularly amazing. The troupe consists of four hunky men and two women. The first segment of the show featured just the men shirtless and all wearing white pants and belts cavorting with each other and on the stage. I believe it was in this segment where one of the men fell out of the sky and was scooped up by his fellow dancers. The audience positively shrieked with delight when the dancer landed safely in the arms of his compatriots. The second segment, “Bloodlines,” featured just the two women in a pas de deux of simple elegance and sisterhood. The third segment, “Flight,” was appropriately named since it did somehow revolve around the majesty of flight, as the dancers revolved around the stage with what looked like paper airplanes. This piece was performed by only four of the principal dancers, while the last segment, “Rushes,” featured the entire cast. At the end of the one hour- and forty-minute performance, the troupe deservedly received a standing ovation.

From the Joyce Theater, Elliot and I walked in the sultry air to Hudson Street to have dinner at the Bus Stop Cafe. As we walked to the restaurant, we commented to one another how the landscape has changed in the West Village. So many businesses we recalled that once thrived there have now been replaced by gaudier, pricier establishments. New York, as you must know, is constantly changing; it’s definitely not static. If you mourn the loss of earlier well-known landmarks that have been razed to make way for sparkling new venues, you should read Vanishing New York by Jeremiah Moss. It was written some years ago, but now screams for a kind of update.

Anyway, dinner was quite good: Elliot ordered the chicken soup and the meat loaf entree, while I ordered the cream of mushroom soup and had the turkey dinner, replete with mashed potatoes, steamed spinach, and stuffing. Everything was quite tasty.

It is here Elliot and I parted: Elliot went home and I headed east, intending to visit a gay bar and to have coffee somewhere. I found myself on Bleecker Street having a cup of coffee at Rocco’s and having two vanilla sugar cookies.

Eventually I made my way to the Stonewall Inn, where I spent a whole ten minutes surveying the scene. It was about 7 or so and there weren’t many people inside the historic bar. I walked to the wall by the pool table which had a display involving the various kinds of LGBTQ+ flags that have been designed over the years. Did you know that there is a bisexual flag and an asexual flag? I didn’t know. I was just aware of the iconic Pride flag, designed in 1978, I believe.

I had no inclination to stay in Manhattan, so now I made my way back home. I think I got home close to 8 or so. I took the E on West 4th Street.

Now back to grim reality: One silver lining in that passage of Diaper Don’s “big, ugly bill” is this online article in RawStory by David McAfee entitled ‘Bad, bad, bad day’: GOP lawmakers panicky as Trump ‘threatens House majority.'” This article paints these cowardly repugnicans as now being fearful of what their blind obeisance to the Orange Cheeto can do to them in the midterms of 2026, as a piece in Politico today ponders the fate of the repugnicans in Congress who voted to cut health care programs by more than $1 trillion over the next two years. The outlet further quotes Senator Jim Justice (R-WVA) as saying, “You would be foolish not to worry about it . . . If you don’t keep the voters right with you, you’re going to awaken to a bad, bad, bad day.”

According to the report, “adding to the GOP angst,” is that “Democrats are preparing to weaponize the bill as they did Republicans’ failed efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017.”

“That 2018 midterm election led to a GOP wipeout in the House, with the party losing 40 seats, including some districts in Trump-leaning territory,” according to the outlet. Thus “Democrats are planning to again hitch vulnerable Republicans to the cuts to social safety-net programs.” And well as they should!

One senator, Thom Tillis, already retired over his disagreements with parts of the repugnican spending bill.

In an ongoing story, at least 82 people have died in connection with the flash floods that have struck central Texas, according to officials. The terrible toll includes at least 28 children in Kerr County, where 10 girls and one counselor from Camp Mystic are still unaccounted for, authorities said.

Now I don’t know about you, but couldn’t this unnecessary death and destruction be possibly laid at the foot of this disgusting president who has taken a sledgehammer to agencies such as the National Weather Service (NWS) that oversee such disasters? Even though the NWS did issue a slew of alerts before the storm, questions still surround the agency’s staffing [Dump’s meddling!] and ability to reach residents at the time of the calamity. As I recall, one Democratic lawmaker has tied Dump to this Texas event and its tragic aftermath, but I can’t find the article in which his allegations are contained. I do know that comedian Rosie O’Donnell made the connection between Dump and the deaths experienced in central Texas, but she was slammed by despicable red hats on the internet. All they can do is scream at others who tell the truth but will never acknowledge the real truth about their Dear Leader! So far, so many families have been affected by this tragedy that it’s totally incomprehensible.

Anyway, try to have a good week.

And so it went!

Here is today’s playbill from the Piloblous show.

I think this is an article depicting the actual Stonewall Riots in 1969. The paper is the Daily News and the date is July 6, 1969.

Here is a proclamation from the New York City Council on the 85th birthday of Tree Sequoia, legendary bartender at the Stonewall Inn. It was hanging on the wall of the saloon. It’s quite a testimonial to this well-loved and tireless AIDS activist, who has been featured in many outlets like Time magazine, Bloomberg, Reuters, and other outlets.

This is just a lovely street on the way to 6th Avenue and the subway. I should have noted the actual street name, but I didn’t. Sorry!

And So It Goes

Today is Saturday, July 5, 2025. It’s just a day after our “day of mourning.,” which is equivalent to July 4. An online article in Democracy Dies in Darkness hits home about how pride in being American has slumped to a national low since Diaper Don was inaugurated in January. Any fucking wonder? The article was written by Niha Masih and is entitled “National pride in the U.S. has declined sharply, Gallup survey.”

Thus only 58 percent of adults in the nation are “extremely” or “very” proud to be American [I’m shocked it’s even this high!], according to a Gallup poll released this week. This percentage represents the lowest level recorded by the company in the more than two decades since it started including the question in surveys.

The dramatic decline was driven – as predicted – not by repugnicans but by Democrats. Republicans who share the same delusional aspects of Diaper Don’s personality had strong feelings of national pride, according to the poll published Monday. Again, this result just shows – once more – the deepening partisan divide in the U.S. I can predict, though, when effects of Diaper Don’s “ugly, mean bill” start affecting people in rural, red states, I fucking hope that these people who are repugnicans will change their minds about how proud they are in being Americans. They will have nothing to show for their continuing support of the Orange Cheeto by then.

According to the poll, “At the beginning of the 21st century, U.S. adults were nearly unanimous in saying they were extremely or very proud to be Americans. But that national unity has eroded over the past 25 years due to a combination of political and generational changes.” In my mind, it’s not all Chump; it’s the rise of social internet platforms like TikTok, X, and Instagram or whatever that has caused this rift. These were not as dominant 25 years ago.

Also, younger Americans, particularly Gen Z, were more likely not to be proud of their country compared with previous generations. Thirty-six percent of Democrats expressed strong pride in their country in this year’s poll, down 26 percentage points from last year to a new low. Political independents also reached an all-time low, with 53 percent expressing great pride.

“The 56 percentage point gap between Republicans and Democrats is at its widest since 2001, when Gallup started surveying national pride.”

The new poll was conducted between June 2 and June 19 before the U.S. military strikes on nuclear sites in Iran, which could bolster the percentages even more for those feeling less patriotic for this country. Gallup says it was conducted through telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,000 adults across the country; the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for overall results.

“Referencing some of its previous polls, the company said the decline in national pride has come amid waning optimism about the future, widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country as well as ‘unfavorable images of both parties, and intense partisan rancor during the Trump and Biden administrations.'”

In the run-up to last year’s presidential election, The Washington Post reported that the “U.S. has become more polarized than ever, with more inflammatory rhetoric and anger.” This I totally blame Diaper Don for!

The survey showed clear generational differences, with each successive generation “less likely than the previous one to say they are extremely or very proud to be an American.”

Less than half of Generation Z (those born after 1996, according to Gallup) – or 41 percent – expressed strong national pride between 2021 and 2025, while that number was 58 percent among Millennials (those born between 1980 and 1996). Those figures are lower than the 71 percent among Generation X, 75 percent for Baby Boomers, and 83 percent for the Silent Generation.

Peter Loge, associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, said, “Negative partisanship is a feature of our politics.” He added, “Rather than agreeing with a party platform, negative partisans disparage people who agree with the other party.”

Loge indicated that Generation Z has “been told by the right that Democrats are anti-American [not true!], unpatriotic, and beyond redemption. They have been told by the left that Republicans are anti-American [so true!], fascistic [definitely true!], and beyond redemption.” As long as they have drunk the Kool-Aid for Diaper Don, they are beyond redemption, in my opinion.

I won’t compare this poll’s findings with those conducted by Fox News that was somewhat at odds with the Gallup findings. To me, it’s not credible at all since this supposed “news” station lies all the time. I have not and will never watch this network.

I thought I’d circulate these findings in the wake of our 249th birthday that was just marked yesterday. As you know, I was absent because Elliot and I were spending the holiday out in Woodmere with our friends “Mary” and “Joseph.” We brought a hefty chunk of flank steak for Joseph to barbecue. There were just two more guests sitting on Mary and Joseph’s porch: Joseph’s brother, “Richard” and his girlfriend “Melanie.” They were reunited after over 30 years when Noah’s wife died recently. I think they were sweethearts after high school or something like that. They looked each other up when Noah lost his wife and Melanie went through a contentious divorce. But now they’re an item for about five years. What’s particularly interesting about Richard is that he has a trans daughter. I could only imagine what he feels about this liar in chief.

I had an interesting discussion with Richard over my late-life activism since I informed him about my anti-Trump group online. He recommended that from this day onward, we need to post pictures and the names of every fucking repugnican who voted to take health insurance away from Americans. I hope that Democrats then start having town halls to discuss how bad Diaper Don’s bill will be for the majority of Americans until 2026.

We had as nice an evening as possible discussing the dire political situation gripping the country. Melanie mentioned she had family members who were Trumpers; I offered her my condolences.

We left Woodmere around 9:45 and didn’t get home until 10:30 or so. On the way home, we were treated to fireworks over the Grand Central Parkway. So we didn’t have to watch the spectacle on televise to see the Macy’s July 4th fireworks show. We got a birds-eye view of the pyrotechnical effects without having to take the subway or car to Brooklyn or Long Island City.

I forgot to mention that Diaper Don’s restrictive immigration tactics have had a real-life effect on our cleaning lady, “Lareto,” who canceled for the second time coming to us on July 3rd. When we probed the real reason she wasn’t coming, she mentioned how scared she was of being picked up by agents of ICE. You see, she’s from Guatemala and she’s not a U.S. citizen as of yet. So Elliot promised to pick her up at her home this coming week to take her to Forest Hills to have her work for us. As of now, that hasn’t been confirmed. This is the kind of fear this so-called felon in chief has instilled in those trying just to survive here and make a better life for themselves and their families. It’s a crying shame!

Tomorrow we have tickets to Pilobolus at The Joyce Theater, on 8th Avenue and 18th Street. The performance is at 2, but we intend to have a quick bite after the show. I might go somewhere after that, I’m not sure. So I might not be here then. You’ll just have to wait.

Have a good Sunday anyway.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Thursday, July 3, 2025. Elliot and I spent almost 12 hours out painting the town, as it were, beginning with having breakfast at the Ukrainian restaurant Veselka on West 9th Street and 2nd Avenue, then seeing the recently opened Jurassic World Rebirth at the Regal Theatre, on Union Square. From there, we made our way to Ninth Avenue and 43rd Street where we had dinner at an Italian restaurant, Nizza, at 5:15. What was quite marvelous about the dinner was not just the delicious food – I had the pappardelle fungi, with no appetizer, while Elliot had two appetizers – eggplant rollatini and grilled asparagus. We eschewed dessert to have something at Amy’s Bread, up on 46th Street and 9th Avenue.

Now to the play we saw, Angry Alan, starring John Krasinski in a one-man show, even though toward the end of the 85-minute production, we are treated to a young actor who portrays the title character’s son, Joe. The play is a tour de force for Krasinksi, who acted in The Office years ago and played with his real-life wife, Emily Blunt, in those Quiet Place horror films. The play is written by British playwright Penelope Skinner and is directed by Sam Gold. The theme of the play is this Midwestern character’s descent into a rabbit hole of internet hucksters who talk a good game of male victimhood at the hands of dominant women in our society. Krasinksi portrays Roger McLeod, a 45-year-old, divorced man, with a 14-year-old, and a new girlfriend, Courtney, whom we never see. He’s lost a good job working for AT&T and is now working as the dairy manager of a Kroger supermarket. Like many men his age and social status, he is struggling to pay child support and be more of a dad to his withdrawn son, Joe.

At the beginning, Roger, as played by Krasinksi, seems like any other middle-class average Joe, but as he talks about this online guru called “Angry Alan,” his tone gets progressively angrier and angrier. You see, this Angry Alan writes extensively about how women have exceeded men in today’s world and blames everything wrong with the world with something called the gynocracy (literal domination of society by women). Thus the real theme of the play is now emerging: how men can fall under the sway of the manosphere, an online community drawn together by an assortment of grievances that they broadly blame on the excesses of feminism rather than look inward to themselves. Though there are statistics thrown out in the play that are representative of the male sex these days like the shrinking share of college degrees held by men and the growing number of suicides attributed to men. These facts are irrefutable, but they have more to do with men still not being able to express their feelings more openly than women.

Krasinski’s tone throughout is unrelentingly sunny, even as Roger journeys deeper down the rabbit hole, consuming news exclusively from sources run by Angry Alan and even missing a child-support payment so he can purchase a ticket to Alan’s seminar in Detroit. Roger is proud of his “Gold Donor” status as an attendee at this seminar after sending Angry Alan more money beyond the price of admission, money that Roger probably can’t afford.

The affable tone displayed by Krasinski as Roger suddenly darkens as his son appears toward the end of the play to admit something that has consumed him for a long time. It’s Roger’s typical male reaction to his son’s confession that exposes the male toxicity that lies under Roger’s initial amiable exterior. I won’t mention what Joe tells his enraged father; I recommend you see this play just for Krasinski’s stellar acting. The play runs until August 3.

Oh, the newest installment of the Jurassic dinosaur series was just adequate. I miss the stars that populated the original series like Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Sam Neill. This latest installment stars Scarlett Johansson, my fave Jonathan Bailey (he from Fellow Travelers), Mahershala Ali, and Rupert Friend as the prototypical bad guy. The film follows a group of adventurers who travel to the remote regions of the equator where most of the remaining dinosaurs now hold sway. The expedition is led by troubled mercenary Zora (Johansson), paleontologist Henry (Jonathan Bailey), and Martin (Rupert Friend) who hires the first two to acquire blood samples from three representative dinosaurs supposedly for a cure for heart disease. Also in tow is Zora’s friend Duncan (Mahershala Ali) and a family that gets caught up in the mayhem accompanying the expedition to the island.

Halfway through the film, I was able to predict which characters would be chomped into bits by the big, bad dinosaurs, so the film lacks any serious tension or suspense. I just enjoyed seeing one gay actor (Bailey) portraying a real he-man adventurer. My recommendation is that you wait to see this unimpressive Jurassic entry on a streaming service.

The big news that I was terrified of hearing was that Diaper Don’s “big, beautiful bill” was passed in the House today. I hate Dump so much that it hursts! I do hope that this signals all repugnicans’ death warrants in terms of their careers in 2026. I read that there were only two repugnicans who defected and voted no. The roll call was very tight, 218-214. I applaud Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries who delayed voting for this “death” bill by holding the floor for more than eight hours with a record-breaking speech against the bill. Kudos, Mr. Jeffries! Now Democrats have one role to play until the midterms: to denounce the effects of this terrible bill and what it will mean to average Americans across the country. An online article in today’s Daily News lays out the horrible reality of what’s in the bill: $4.5 trillion in tax breaks for the uberrich, some $350 billion in “national security,” which I take it to include more fucking money for ICE, nothing else, funds to develop Diaper Don’s “Golden Dome” defensive system, $1.2 trillion in cutbacks to the Medicaid health care and food stamps, and a major rollback of green energy tax credits.

“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the decade and 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage.”

If you think this is a big, beautiful bill after this true accounting of the effects of this bill on mostly everyone excluding the billionaire set, then you’re stupider than I thought.

How any repugnican can justify this bill without choking on their own words is beyond me!

As for tomorrow, July 4th, there is no need to celebrate in the land. What is there to celebrate? I ask. As Democrats so direly pointed out, this bill will result in lives lost. “Food stamps that help feed more than 40 million people would ‘rip food from the mouths of hungry children, hungry veterans and hungry seniors.'”

Even after writing this, I have to say that we have been invited anyway to our Woodmere friends, “Mary” and “Joseph,” for a barbecue tomorrow. This is scheduled for 6.

I’m not sure if I will be writing my blog tomorrow. It all depends on long we stay.

And so it went!

Here is the playbill from today’s play: Angry Alan.

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, July 2, 2025. Yesterday I was indeed out attending my gay men’s reading discussion group at the Jefferson Market Library at 6:30 p.m. The subject of our discussion was a new book by an Irish writer called Evenings & Weekends by Oisin McKenna. The book details the comings and goings of a motley group of thirty-somethings over one hot June weekend in London pre-COVID, in the summer of 2019. I read the book surprisingly in just over four days in the middle of May, so I had to reacquaint myself with the plot by printing two reviews of it. I deemed the book quite readable, but really couldn’t declare it a masterpiece of delectable writing and plotting. But I was very interested in hearing what the other members had to say about it, so I was determined to attend the meeting, even though some thundershowers were forecasted in the evening. My New Jersey friend “Harvey” did cancel going at the last moment because he claimed it was raining by him.

When I left Forest Hills, it wasn’t raining quite yet. However, I did take an umbrella with me just in case. I left around 3:40, a little early, so I could get to the library before the meeting to check out the books on the second floor. Here are displayed many books on three shelves for a nominal fee. Like I needed another book! Guffaw! However, as I was browsing the titles of the books on the first shelf, what do I spy but the latest memoir by the late author Edmund White called The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir, released this year, right before his death at 85 just a few weeks ago. It was in hardcover – it was still so new! When I brought it up to pay for it at the front desk, I started talking to the male librarian about the group and how hard it was getting the books on the reading list. I then mentioned the book I had in my hand and he waved me off, saying, “Just take it!” And I wanted to leave him $5 for it.

Getting the Edmund White book right before the meeting, to me, was a sign that I should ask our group leader, “Jerry,” about inserting a book by White in place of one of the other books on the list. If Harvey were there, he might have proposed it, so it was up to me to mention it, and I did. I didn’t like Jerry’s response. He was not in favor of getting a book by White on the list because he feared members would complain. You see, he gave out the reading list two months ago just like professors do in a college course and it was now up to us to get the books anyway we could. I still request the books from the library, but many of the guys probably order the books from Amazon. It’s a whole lot easier!

Anyway, the discussion was quite illuminating as always. I even threw in more comments than usual. The highlight of the entire meeting occurred at the end when a new member – whom I’ll call “Sanjeev” – read an original poem he wrote that summarized the book we just discussed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear most of it, but I told him at Julius’s – after the meeting – that he should post the poem to the website, and he said he might do it. He actually complimented me on some of the points I made during the discussion and I was dumbfounded. I usually am rendered speechless during these meetings since I’m struck by so many intelligent comments made by the members that I feel I have nothing worthwhile to contribute. But I was a little more vocal last night which again is most unusual in my situation. Oh, even in the rain, we had more than 40 guys in the room. Not bad for early July!

As for what’s going on in the country right now, all of the attention is being directed to Chump’s “death” bill, as I now call it, not the “big, beautiful bill” which is a misnomer if there was one. And now my contempt is reserved for one “moderate” Republican from Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski, who originally indicated she had reservations about the bill and the cruel cuts on health care it was delivering to millions of Americans, but in the latest tally, this traitor voted “yes” on the bill in the Senate. In an opinion piece by Brian Tyler Cohen entitled “Lisa Murkowski cements her legacy,” the podcaster details how Murkowski has sold her soul to the devil.

As Cohen writes, the bill “strips healthcare away from 17 million Americans, takes food assistance away from 3 million Americans, eliminates school meal access for more than 18 million kids, adds nearly $4 trillion to national debt, sends electricity costs surging. and substantially raises health care premiums for older adults with ACA (Affordable Care Act) coverage, all to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.” As far as Murkowski was concerned, she recognized that the fucking bill was not good for the nation (an understatement if there ever was one) and noted, “This bill needs more work across chambers and is not ready for the President’s desk. We need to work together to get this right.”

Cohen excoriated Murkowski for actually voting for the bill even though she had reservations. He writes if she didn’t like the bill, she shouldn’t have voted in favor of it. The reason she changed her mind is that she presumably received some perks for her own state from meetings with other senators. She was able to secure some tribal exemptions on cuts to food assistance, a tax break for the fishing industry, and $50 billion to offset hospital closures, but Cohen notes that those cuts will have no effect in a bill that contains over a trillion dollars in healthcare costs within it. Murkowski’s “no” vote would have been the deciding vote to torpedo the bill, but she chose to take the easy path rather than show courage like the late Senator John McCain who had the deciding vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act, but chose not to by giving the thumbs down in the Senate chamber, thereby saving it.

Therefore, Senator Murkowski is my new person to hate in the repugnican party. Of course, there’s no one in the party who I like, as you can tell.

I probably won’t be here tomorrow since Elliot and I are seeing a play tomorrow, Angry Alan, starring John Krasinski. It’s a one-act play that Elliot heard was quite good, but I have no idea what it’s about, and I really don’t want to know. I can wait until tomorrow to see what it’s all about.

If I’m not here tomorrow, have a great Thursday.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, June 30, 2025, the last day in June. As I write this, the despicable Senate is debating the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” which really should be renamed the “murder bill” because it will result in many Americans dying because they will lose their health insurance. “It has been dubbed the cruelest bill ever seen in Congress,” by Lawrence O’Donnell from The Last Word tonight at 10. So far, the bill took a procedural step forward when, on Saturday, June 28, the U.S. Senate voted, 51-49, to advance it. We have to commend the “no” votes on the bill advancing to the Senate: all Senate Democrats, including Independent Bernie Sanders who voted no, plus two repugnicans, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis. Because of undue pressure exerted on him by this Orange Turd, Tillis has just announced that he won’t be seeking reelection in 2026, which will actually be fantastic for Democrats who can now run someone in his stead. So maybe this buffoon who finds himself president just fucked himself by pressuring Tillis to vote for the bill.

The reasons for these no votes is examined in an online AlterNet article by Alex Henderson entitled ‘Terrible, terrible, terrible’: CNN data guru exposes Trump plan’s ‘horrible’ unpopularity.” Paul opposes the bill because he’s a hardcore budget hawk who has warned that the bill will greatly increase the country’s federal deficit. Tillis’s reasons for opposing the bill are different from Paul’s in that he is warning fellow repugnicans that the megabill’s steep cuts to Medicaid will hurt their party in the 2026 midterms. This is so true! And Tillis is a hard-core realist; where are other repugncians who know this to be the truth and are still favoring it?

This fucking bill is faring badly in poll after poll, and CNN data analyst Harry Enten showed just how badly during an early morning June 30 presentation. Enten told his colleague Omar Jimenez, “If we’re talking about adjectives how about they think it’s awful, horrible and, to quote our colleague Charles Barkley, ‘terrible, terrible, terrible?'”

According to The Washington Post, Enten noted, the bill’s favorable rating is -19. And it’s -20 in a Pew Research poll. But Enten stressed that it’s even more unpopular in polls from Fox News (-21), Quinnipiac University (-26), and the Kaiser Family Foundation (-29). That’s terrible from all levels of polling. Never have we seen such a piece of legislation that is hated by such a swath of the American public. Enten stated, “The American public, at this particular point, hate hate hate the big, beautiful bill. As far as they’re concerned, it’s not a big, beautiful bill – it’s a big, bad bill.”

In response to Tillis bowing out of politics for the midterms, “Bitch” McConnell, the Grim Reaper himself, lamented about Tillis’s retirement, calling it a “big setback for the Senate and the Republican Conference.” For stating the truth, Tillis had his head bashed by fucking Dump on Truth Social when he excoriated the senator for voting against the bill; this liar in chief warned that Tillis was “Making a BIG MISTAKE for America.” The mistake is that we have Donald J. Chump as president!

A laughable replacement for Tillis, 64, is the president’s own daughter-in-law Lara Trump who is considering a run to replace Tillis in her home state of North Carolina. Thus repugnicans have a solid fear now that they will lose the Senate in 2026. There is no way that voters would favor a daughter-in-law – with no political experience – of this monumentally unpopular president. And Dump won’t have Muskrat to buy the election for him anymore.

Anyway, I hope this represents a glimmer of hope for 2026 with the bowing out of Thom Tillis from running in his home state in which he was considered a strong favorite to win the seat once more. Let Laura Dump run against a more experienced and competent Democrat, and let’s see who will win in November.

Tomorrow is my gay men’s reading club meeting, and I don’t think I will post my blog then since I might accompany some of the members to Julius’s after the meeting, at 8. I hope to have my friend “Harvey” with me tomorrow evening.

I just heard on O’Donnell’s show that an amendment to prevent families with kids under 12 from losing their food assistance as proposed by Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff was REJECTED by all repugnicans on the Senate floor. Don’t these fuckers have any decency? This is an outrage! Boy, have we become such an inferior country under these repugnicans in office.

Have a good Tuesday then.

And so it went!