Point Made

Did you ever notice when some kind of disaster happens, it's almost immediately compared to something similar in the past? The financial collapse of 2008 was compared to the depression of the 1930s. This current pandemic is often compared to the Spanish flu from the early 1900s. Is it that we don't learn from these things or that they get so far back we can't think of them as anything we should be worried about. Survivours of the German concentration camps, tell us we should never forget the evil men can do to each other if they fall under the spell of madmen like Hitler. We had numerous genocide outbreaks since then. When this pandemic is sufficiently controlled, we will all start to feel better, celebrate for sure, and move on with our lives. But are we going to learn anything? We could and should put practices and policies in place that anticipate and plan for another pandemic. We should be on a constant war footing against these bugs, because like it or not we wil...

I attended a film club meeting last night (Friday, April 17). Naturally, i n these trying times as we shelter in place and practice social distancing, we met on  Zoom. We discussed a film, Strictly Ballroom ,  I vaguely remember seeing in the theater a long time ago. So, I did take a refresher peek at the film before the meeting. It's an Australian film which, according to our moderator and film buff guy, John Hickey, was a breakout film for the director-writer, Baz Luhrmann, and the Australian film industry as a whole. The award list for this film, starting with the Cannes festival in 1992, reflects the international fame it achieved and it's cross nationality appeal. With a little prodding by Hickey, we agreed, that the film had several elements in it that strode hand-in-hand with tried and true authentic storytelling. Our reluctant hero is a young man, Scott, whose parents run a ballroom dance studio. Scott, we're informed by the dialogue, is going to be the next C...

I don't know, is TMTTT (To Much Time To Think) possibly a new Messaging short cut? Let's face it,  in these trying times as we shelter in place to practice social distancing, it sure would come in handy. As I think back on my conversations with friends this week, it's obvious this stay at home period is beginning to wear thin on people and pets. ( We have been warned, we may get the disease from our cats. As Jimmy Kimmel said, "This is the worst thing to happen cats since the movie. ) Many of us are dealing with this situation by multitasking the most mundane chores you can imagine. Fresh air and gardening. We've been told we can get out of our houses and get some air as long as we practice social distancing. Pam Frautchi, confirms she is out clearing the path for new growth in her notoriously grand upper east side Milwaukee garden. It is sometimes referred to as traffic-stopping. By admitting to me that she is scrapping a section of fence, an ordinarily lo...

I'll confess, I have not ordered food to be delivered from my favorite restaurant. Thus I haven't contributed to the limited income restaurants can generate "in these trying times." That last phrase is gaining in the contest for the most overused words in news reporting; however, I feel it would be near impossible to overtake "breaking news." I know that people from New York City spend a lot of time discussing the best take out and have several menus at hand. People from the midwest are talking about the supper clubs. People from Wisconsin babble on about frying out with Brats, hey.  I haven't a clue what people on the West Coast discuss in their foodie conversations. We in the midwest will find out in approximately five years when whatever they are eating and considering today will become fashionable here. Finally, we know there are people living south of the grits line. Okay. Nough said.  Florida is a unique state because so many people from all...

My studio apartment is in the back of the building that faces on Marshall St. I usually exit out the back door and walk the ally to Juneau. This exit puts me across the street from the Astor Hotel on Juneau. This is the view out of my kitchen window. What we see is the fenced passageway between the buildings. The corner of the building you see upper left is my building and below that is a small courtyard. To the upper right, you see the neighbors building and their trash wheelies. Lower left, you see part of my window frame. If you blow this up, you'll see the screen in my window.  Dreary to say the least However, on certain weekends, someone living in the building next door gets out a grill and cooks. While he grills, he listens to some of the best blues music I've ever heard. One of these days, I'm going to open the window and sit in with my harps. The downside of the window view. I get very little sunlight, wind, or driving rain. The view is ...

No matter how many of my friends and family call to check in on me and I do appreciate their efforts, and despite the length of those calls, I do have considerable time alone in the quiet of my apartment. It's surprising to me how quiet it is in my building Considering, and this is based on the unreliable polling information of noticing doors opening and closing in the hallway, it seems like a lot of my neighbors are staying home also. So, I think to myself, this is solitary confinement? Not really. I have my internet service, books and I've graduated from doing pencil sketches to watercolors. Not what you'd call the mental duress of four walls and no sunlight. I try to walk every day. I get some fresh air and a couple of "Hi "how are you doing" encounters. My uniform de jour is not sweatpants and ragged t-shirts. I have my regular hygiene habits requiring regular shampoo, showers, and fresh clothing. I'm using hand soap and hand sanitizer. I wipe dow...

Keeping a Proper Social Distance by Turning on the Radio By Jeff Jordan for Urban Milwaukee.com What the What? We have two and a half months of theater left, and they stop performing. It was Friday, March 13th. I was preparing to interview Sherry Lutken, the director of the upcoming Milwaukee Repertory Theater's (MRT) production of Hootenanny The Musicale when I got the memo. MRT was halting presentation of everything they had on four stages until April 6. That opened the flood gates, as everybody in the theater community came through with similar plans. So here we are sheltering in place. And why not? It's not only the theaters that are abbreviating or canceling events. Everything from restaurants to churches are shutting their doors to group activity. If we turn on our television sets, we get twenty-four hours of reminders to wash our hands and pictures of disappointed people trying to buy an SUV load of toilet paper. Some of us are alone....