Salman Rushdie and Random Thoughts

23 September 2019

A few random thoughts. Does anybody else see anything wrong with these things?

Saturday afternoon I was on my way to the park. Beautiful day to be outside. Right in front of me I saw a person with two dogs sitting in their lap, taking in the breeze. The person was driving an SUV at the time.
I'm convinced people no longer understand how to use windshield visors.
While enjoying happy hour at a local watering hole, I noticed a woman wearing a black baseball cap. It read, simply, "I don't care." How nice.
Today, Rolling Stone sent out an email with a happy 70th birthday wish for Bruce Springsteen. The email (and site) read, "Happy Birthday, Bruce Springsteen: 70 Years of Proving It All Night. Springsteen is entering his seventh decade at peak creative strength. Here's our tribute to his saga so far." Um. No. That's factually incorrect. Think about it. And, by the way, how many other things does Rolling Stone get wrong?
Speaking of Springsteen, he's presented himself as a man of the people and a staunch anti-scalper. And yet, during his recent Broadway run, only tickets sold during the daily lottery were not allowed to be resold. Why? That's a distinction of limited help to fans unwilling to shell out thousands of dollars to "resellers" (the PC term for scalpers) for a single seat. As proven by the Black Keys over the weekend, ticket transfers can be blocked in full. Of course, it sounds like some people weren't paying attention to the published rules when they bought their scalped ducats. But, nonetheless, it proves if artists truly took true fans' best interests to heart and were truly anti-scalping, all it would take is a simple flip of a digital switch to make it happen.
Back on 17 June 2019, The Wrap, one of my favorite sources of journalistic boo-boos, ran this headline: "Stephen Spielberg's 'West Side Story' Offers First Look at Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler and the Rival Gangs." When Steven Spielberg does Stephen Sondheim, maybe it's easy for some people to confuse the two. But how many other things does The Wrap get wrong?
Perpetual pet peeve back in the headlines: It's Ukraine, not "the Ukraine."

16 September 2019

It was a thrill to see Salman Rushdie at the Arvada Center. Imagine that. Rushdie, controversial (and ridiculously talented) author, one of my favorites, mere blocks from my childhood home.

Naturally, there were political comments made by both Rusdhie and the emcee. I don't always agree with Rushdie — or other favorites, including Bono. I'm independent minded. (Who did I vote for in the 2016 presidential election? Me.)

Nonetheless, in the case of Rushdie (and Bono), I think a 1:1, face-to-face conversation over a pint would find us seeing eye-to-eye on many things once some facts and viewpoints are put on the table.

Gosh. The lost art of civil (and civic) discourse.

Photo taken with the iPhone 7 Plus;
anxiously awaiting the arrival of my iPhone 11 Pro Max for situations like this!