May 2021 - Page 6 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

89 more people = no lost NY House seat

27 to 26

When I heard that New York State was to lose a Congressional seat after the next reapportionment, it didn’t particularly upset me. The projections from months ago had suggested the possibility of the state losing one or even two seats.

UNTIL I heard that if the state had counted 89 more people, and the other numbers had stayed the same, the number in New York would have stood pat. Minnesota would have lost a House seat.

THEN it hurt. I mean almost physically pained me. I took it personally. I’d spent months trying to plug the Census. Then I WORKED the Census as an enumerator for six or seven weeks. I was SO invested.

Put in your favorite sports cliche here. US football last play of the game, down 4 points, and the running play stops three inches shy of the goal line. Two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning in baseball, down one, runner on base, and the blast from the batter is caught at the fence. The basketball three-pointer to win hits the rim and bounces away.

I Heart NY

New York was the 32nd fastest-growing state in the nation. The US gained 7.4% overall. With 20,201,249 residents, NY’s count was 4.2% higher than in 2010. But the New York delegation will fall from 27 to 26 members of the House of Representatives.

BTW, the US saw the lowest overall population growth since the Great Depression. “Experts say that paltry pace reflects the combination of an aging population, slowing immigration, and the scars of the Great Recession more than a decade ago,” reports the Associated Press, “which led many young adults to delay marriage and families.”

Incidentally, these pieces may be of interest:

A Preliminary Analysis of U.S. and State-Level Results From the 2020 Census.

How the Census Bureau Unduplicated Responses in the 2020 Census.

Movie review: The Father [Zeller]

about dementia

In the film The Father, the storytellers found a new way to figure out how to portray losing one’s facilities. We see Anthony (Oscar-nominated Anthony Hopkins) in his apartment.

Or maybe it’s the apartment of his daughter Anne (Oscar-nominated Olivia Colman). She’s moving from London to Paris. He finds this ridiculous since “They don’t even speak English.” Or maybe she isn’t.

Anne is clearly devoted to her father, although occasionally exhausted. Anthony can be prickly with his primary caretaker, which is often the case, though he appears to love her as well.

Laura (Imogen Poots) is one of his caretakers, looking very much like someone else to him. Paul (Rufus Sewell) is Anne’s impatient partner. The portrayal of different actors in the same roles is a clever device. Mark Gatiss is The Man and Olivia Williams, The Woman.

The screenplay is by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, based on Zeller’s play. This is probably why the production feels a bit stagey.

Or maybe that’s an asset. Megan Basham of the WORLD notes, “The close-set and small cast are the ideal building blocks to illustrate the narrowing that so often comes with the end of life, when the world available to us, both physically and socially, grows so small.”

Because I was so damned confused – as we are supposed to be, I suspect – I didn’t really warm up to this film until near the end. It’s very well acted; it’s just a tough subject.

In the pantheon

The Father is a fine addition to the list of Movies About Alzheimer’s and Dementia You Shouldn’t Miss, published in January 2020. I’ve seen only the two most recent, Away From Her and Still Alice. These are more dramatic portrayals, as I recall, effective in their own ways.

The reviews for The Father were 98% positive in Rotten Tomatoes. Eli Glasner of the CBC News Network writes, “Ultimately I’m struck by Anthony Hopkins’ courage. At 83, fearlessly taking on this role with such vulnerability.”

“Things I hate that you might love”

isolating

Writer Ken Levine released a recent podcast called “Things I hate that you might love.”

Ken notes hating the Beatles song, Hey Jude, and the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. He is not fond of performances by the actor Maya Rudolph, though he admits to enjoying her impersonation of Kamala Harris. He distinguishes this feeling from noting things lots of people hate (opera, e.g.), or genres he doesn’t enjoy for which he is not the target market (hip hop music).

Here’s my attempt, although HATE is a bit strong, except in the case of foods:

Interest in cars. The last two cars my wife bought I’ve regularly mistaken for other vehicles on the street. To be fair to me, she’s done the same thing once or twice.

The sister of a former girlfriend of mine could tell you the difference between a 1964 Volkwagen beetle and the 1965 model. The lights have a different shape or something. This is not me.

If I saw a robbery where the criminal drove off, I’d be a lousy witness. “It was a big, blue, four-door… something.” If I don’t see the logo, I would have no idea. On the other hand, I’m likely to remember an alphanumeric license plate hours later, if I had a need to.

Food and drink

Coffee. I’ve never acquired a taste for it. And it can be inconvenient because folks are always buying those Dunkin’ carafes of java for the group. Not liking coffee can be socially isolating.

On the other hand, it means I didn’t have to make the coffee in the office. Once, someone insisted that I do so, and I complied. I gather – and I have no way to judge because I don’t drink the stuff – it was quite awful. Guess who was removed from coffee prep?

Beer. This was even more isolating. While I’m in the bar with a group of people, they’re downing pitchers of suds, while I’m ordering a glass of white wine separately. There is plenty of booze I’ll drink – whiskey, vodka, tequila, rum – but beer creates a gag reflex.

Peanut butter. I recall eating JIF as a child. I must have OD’d on it because now, even the smell makes me nauseous.

Melons. Cantaloupe, watermelon. Hate ’em all, including candies that supposedly taste like melons.

Television

Binge-watching TV programs. I have a short attention span for watching show after show. It makes me agitated. I might watch one segment of 60 Minutes followed by a JEOPARDY episode, both on the DVR so I can fast-forward through the commercials, then I turn the TV off.

Reality television. This is also on Ken’s list. There’s a certain sameness of the rhythm of these shows that I find exhausting. Worse, they tend to recycle their casts so that the breakout “star” shows up on a spinoff.

There was a show called Honey Boo Boo, which I saw for a full two minutes before I had to turn it off. Well, now there’s a spinoff, Mama June. heaven help us all.

These people are stars. They must be because they show up on Dancing with the Stars, a television show my wife watches. I wander into the living room and say of a participant, “Who’s THAT?” Maybe it’s someone from a recent season of The Bachelor or a program I’ve never heard of.

So news about these people is not, particularly, of interest. “Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar Speak Out After Oldest Son Josh Is Arrested on Child Porn Charges.” They’re some of the “stars” of 19 Kids and Counting, so the story is hardly noteworthy, except for their overt “Christian” beliefs.

Yet, early on, I could watch reality TV. Three seasons of The Real World, the original Queer Eye, even a few seasons of Survivor and American Idol. But it’s become all too much.

Vaccine hesitancy in America

older technology = new vaccine

Although my family is fully Pfizerized, I worry about vaccine hesitancy. A lot actually. A couple of weeks ago, my daughter ended up walking her reluctant friend to an injection site. And the friend’s family has no one else who is vaccinated. This in spite of an increasing supply and eligibility for everyone 16 and older.

And I know they are hardly the only ones.

The situation is made worse by certain elected officials. US Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), for instance. “The science tells us the vaccines are 95% effective. So if you have a vaccine, quite honestly, what do you care if your neighbor has one or not? What is it to you? You’ve got a vaccine and science is telling you it’s very, very effective. So why is this big push to make sure everybody gets a vaccine?”

Science!

So I contacted one of my friends, who is a health policy wonk, for help. They pointed me to some articles. This one from the AMA advises physicians on how to combat vaccine hesitancy. “Researchers have studied and worked with this type of vaccine for decades, not just the past 10 months.”

A good point, since it traditionally has taken 5-10 years to get a new vaccine. And that appears to be the #1 factor in the hesitancy.

The decade-long work of Dr. Peter Hotez at Baylor, who my friend finds very credible, may be helpful. Read how SARS and MERS vaccine research led to COVID-19 vax.

See also the CEO of Pfizer on Developing a Vaccine in Record Time.

The next piece is more of a scientific paper than for the general population. “On the basis of this knowledge, and information gained from preclinical studies with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV13, the spike protein was identified as an antigenic target for the development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 at a very early stage.” This saved the scientists a whole lot of time.

Separately, the Vlogbrothers have used their four-minute video platform to try to persuade. I think the emotional empathy by John Green – “shame doesn’t work” – may be more effective than the rational logic of Hank Green, neither of whom are related to me, but see both.

Also, watch 24 minutes of John Oliver and peruse Doonesbury.

If that weren’t enough

Some folks who are fully vaccinated nevertheless “have been diagnosed with what epidemiologists call ‘breakthrough cases.’ These infections are rare and entirely expected; the three vaccines cleared for emergency use provided robust protection in clinical trials, but they aren’t perfect.” And I fear the 10-day pause in using the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will create even more resistance to all of the shots.

The Boston Globe reports that some folks are “getting their hands on blank CDC vaccination confirmation cards and filling them in with false information. “Some have made a cottage industry of it, posting blank cards for sale on eBay.” Reprehensible and dangerous for us all.

“While a large number of Americans are being vaccinated daily nationwide, health officials are recommending we still follow safety measures including social distancing. But despite the recommendations and the known benefits of social distancing in stopping the spread of COVID-19, some individuals refuse to follow precautions and resort to violence when confronted…. a high school hockey coach died after being punched outside of a bar in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 17 following an argument about social distancing, the Star Tribune reported.”

Here’s the CDC Provisional Mortality Data for the United States, 2020. Complex stuff, so give the agency a break, OK?

Be safe. And stylish, like this young man. And listen to heart surgeon and Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), who says that getting the shot is the “best way to end the government’s restrictions on our freedoms.” Hey, whatever works.

Movie: The United States v. Billie Holiday

born Eleanora Fagan

Andra Day started drinking (some) and smoking cigarettes to prepare for her leading role in the movie The United States v. Billie Holiday. She shared that detail in several interviews, including with Oprah Winfrey and Trevor Noah. But, she added, she avoided taking narcotics. She felt a lot of responsibility in taking the role of such a musical icon.

Her investment of time and manner was well-rewarded. Day sounded very much like the recordings I have of Lady Day. The mannerisms are quite credible. She deserved the Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

I do wish I liked the movie as much as I appreciated Andra Day’s performance.

On the other hand

The storyline was brutalizing to Billie, as she’s kicked, punched, slapped, and sexually exploited repeatedly. Yet the narrative is oddly contrived and disjointed, with an uneven tone, convoluted chronology, and wasted opportunities. There’s a flashback in a whorehouse that should have been less confusing and more impactful.

Near the beginning and end of the film was Leslie Jordan in a dreadful wig playing a celebrity journalist interviewing a financially desperate but unwilling Holiday. I found it cringeworthy.

It is documented that she was hounded by the feds, who got her dealer-level jail sentences for possession of small amounts of heroin. But Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund), the actual head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which became the Drug Enforcement Administration, was a one-note villain as written. The real man was clearly an avowed racist, who also hated jazz. But his rage over Strange Fruit, the anti-lynching song is without foundation, and, coming in 1947, was eight years after the recording.

A chunk of the film tells how Billie was betrayed by a Black informer and lover, an FBI agent, named Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes). It doesn’t bother me that it was largely fictionalized, but it didn’t provide help to the muddled narrative. The performers playing Louis Armstrong and Billie’s maybe-lover, actress Tallulah Bankhead, were disappointing cameos.

The director is Lee Daniels. The script was by Suzan-Lori Parks, based on the book Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari. Daniels, in particular, has done great work in the past, directing Atar and the Butler and executive producing the TV series Empire.

Still, your experience may differ. While only 53% of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes liked it, largely based on Andra’ Day’s performance, 88% of the general audience approved.

Lady Sings the Blues

Now I’m feeling the need to watch the 1972 movie Lady Sings the Blues. It was a Berry Gordy production starring Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, and Richard Pryor. Even though the critics were kinder to that film (69% positive), even the efficacious reviews were often a mixed bag. For instance, “Watch Ross dazzle in her screen debut but realize you will not gain much insight into Billie Holiday, the artist or the person.”

Maybe it’s because Billie Holiday was so much an enigma. In the recent movie, she says that she’d never read her own “autobiography,” ghostwritten by William Dufty. For legal reasons, the book had to leave significant information out, such as her relationships with Charles Laughton, in the 1930s, and with Bankhead, in the late 1940s.