Matthew

Last month a close friend died from covid that he contracted at his assisted living facility. He was the contact person who I met that introduced me into the organization that I'm still in now, knew him for forty years. Maybe because I'm in California, but I see 2021 as a year that will be in a continual stay-at-home mode, off and on, throughout the year. It's impossible to plan anything. I'm responsible for planning a big, five hundred person hotel conference event; had to cancel 2020 and forget 2021. I've postponed it to 2025, but even then, who knows if that kind of event is possible even then given the new reality. I'm trying my best to be responsible and attentive to others. I always wear a mask outside or in a public area. When I have to go to in-person large group meetings with others from out of state, I always test afterward (there's a good, accessible program in Napa). My big fear is what the present situation is doing to our society, it seems as if a generation of students are being lost with the shut downs. Even when schools open, who knows what the quality of their eduction will be, and I don't mean this as a criticism of teachers or school administrations, it's a difficult situation and there's no easy way out. The elderly have it bad, a lot of people out of work, despair is getting more prevalent, who knows where it all lead. Still, I'm hopeful that things will work out for the good, and eventually, some kind of normalcy will return, hopefully by the summer of 2022.

Singing in the Rain. It's the movie I return to time and time again. It's my all time favorite.

Here's to a better 2021 for everyone. I almost want to say: "It can't get any worse!" but I don't want to tempt the gods.

Good News. The oldest looking cast of students this side of Beverly Hills 90210, very enjoyable movie though.

How is this one? I've play his 70's music a lot, but never listened to this one.

Dean Jones & Suzanne Pleshette. I wonder how many movies like this they appeared in? Disney did have its stable of solid, dependable comic actors back in the day.

I get what you saying, in a way, but Thoreau (and the Thoreau family as a whole) was very committed to the Abolition Movement, as well as a participant in the Underground Railroad, so that outreach to others was there. One of the things that Dassow brings out is Thoreau's closeness to his family and the wide circle of people he knew. It was a complex life, and there are various ways of looking at it. Hope you enjoy it!

I'm still in denial that Darvish ever pitched in game seven in the 2017 World Series.. never freakin' happened!

Read somewhere that he has three years and 38 million left on his contract.

Think they keep Bryant for the start of the season, and wait until the trade deadline for the best deal. The rebuild starts again. The Padres are kicking butt in the trade market right now, though is it enough to catch the Dodgers? I have my doubts. The Dodgers have a great team and will be nearly impossible to beat. The biggest plus for the Padres is Tatis Jr., the guy wants to win now! so I expect a huge MVP year from him. Not sold on the Darvis deal, just something about Darvis makes me uneasy, you never know what you're getting from start to start.

Soul. I'm in the minority, I didn't think it was all that great and I did not like the animation for the film. I'll have to watch it again, but I was underwhelmed at my first viewing.

Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Laura. Such a wonderfully acted movie, the minute the characters appear on the screen, you know what kind of person they are. Always liked Vincent Price in this one.

En Route Pinot Noir 2018

This pandemic is going to be the cause of a ton of Ph.D's. The amount of studies to come out from all of this will be a never ending stream of dissertations, studies, workshops and legislation for decades to come.

The less said about the failure in leadership here, the better. No one, certainly not Gov. Newsom, seems to have a clue, other than a shut down, on what to do.

I've always wondered what happened to Mnytime, sad if true, I enjoyed his post quite a bit. Looking at the BNBB is a journey into the past, brings up a lot of memories of people, times and places.

I'm a big fan of Old Time Radio shows, and for the longest time, I thought Petrillo was a made up name by Phil Harris (The Jack Benny Show and his own show). Then one day I decided to look the name up, and low-and-behold, it turns out to be a real person and a real head of the musician union.

62 here. Was in my 30's when I joined the BNBB. Strange when I think how present these two boards have been through a good chunk of my life -- kind of a touchstone.

Damn! Wow this is depressing. RIP to a great musician. 2020 still keeps going in its suckitude.

I don't want to make light of the sentiments behind this move, but I think that a lot of players from the Negro Leagues would have appreciated some money to help them live in a better manner, than an after-the-fact stat gift that costs MLB nothing.

This is an outstanding album, great choice. My favorite track, though I love all of them.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Third time for me to read this book, and I'm enjoying much more than the other two time. I think I got caught up in looking for the "Catholic Symbolism" that is supposed to be running wild throughout the novel. Eh, I've never noticed all that much in my previous readings, so I'm just enjoying the luxurious writing of a great story.

I'll probably get it also. Not a fan of vocals, but given the right circumstances, my mind can be changed. I'm also a big William Parker fan and I think Painter's Spring is a stone-cold classic album, might be the best album in the past twenty-five years; Parker, Daniel Carter and Hamid Drake were a great team.

Bob Dylan: Trouble No More - The Bootleg Series. Vol. 13 / 1979 - 1981. Some great music here.