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Hollywood Stars Relaunch The Committee For The First Amendment
In the tumult that is the debate over freedom of speech and the First Amendment, a large group of Hollywood celebrities, led in this effort by Jane Fonda, have relaunched The Committee for the First Amendment. I’m glad to see it.
First created during the McCarthy ‘Red Scare’ era after government repression of American citizens for their political beliefs, the original Committee for the First Amendment was also a group of Hollywood actors, producers, directors, writers and more attempting to fight the repression led by Joe McCarthy’s efforts to purge communists from all walks of life. That repression led to black lists, the end of careers, and a black stain on the freedoms American’s cherish. Sadly, we’re back there again.
Some in today’s world of complicit media like to call this current mess a debate over freedom of speech. That’s bullshit in my opinion. There’s no debate in the attempts to label what speech, what entertainment, what ideas are allowed or not, certainly to when you have many Hollywood and media executives willing to bend the knee to the fascist regime we now have in place.
Here’s an excerpt from the webpage:
The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry.
We refuse to stand by and let that happen. Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American of all backgrounds and political beliefs – no matter how liberal or conservative you may be. The ability to criticize, question, protest, and even mock those in power is foundational to what America has always aspired to be.
We understand that this is a frightening and confusing moment for many people. We recognize that we represent just one group of many who are under threat right now. Across classrooms, libraries, factories, companies and workplaces of all kinds, Americans of every walk of life are facing intimidation and censorship too — and we stand with them.
We know there is power in solidarity and strength in numbers. We will stand together—fiercely united—to defend free speech and expression from this assault. This is not a partisan issue. That is why we urge every American who cares about the First Amendment—the cornerstone of our democracy—and every artist around the globe who looks to the United States as a beacon of freedom to join us.
The list of those signing on is long. Here’s hoping we see more join in for what appears at the moment to be a long fight. And not just from Hollywood. It’s going to take this kind of action in all sectors of our society.
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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Final Trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein Released
I’m looking forward to the release of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on Netflix perhaps more than any other film to be released this fall. The movie hits theaters on October 7 and streams on Netflix beginning November 7th. The official trailer has now been released.
Mary Shelly’s tale of the monster who created a monster has been so twisted around in so many different incarnations it’s hard to separate the takes from the original fiction. That’s not a complaint, it’s just what it is. I can imagine this one will offer up a unique twist or two given Guillermo del Toro’s previous films.
I’m really looking forward to this and hope it lives up to its promise.
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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Afternoon Snack
Caught this fella in my lens the other day and thought I’d share the image.
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Hoping For A Shutdown But Not Just The Government
We’re on the cusp on another potential U.S. government shutdown. It’s political theatre, but then so is every thing else these days. And it’s all bad political theatre, because the players insist on remaining on the stage even with the audience booing their awful performances.
In my opinion, even with the turmoil a government shutdown would cause, I say bring it on. Not only that, I think we should hope and aim for something larger.
Supposedly this shutdown, if it happens, begins at midnight September 30. That’s Tuesday night. Learning from our COVID lockdown days, let’s shut the whole country down for the rest of the week (or longer.) Yes, that’s right. Make it a national strike. Stay home Wednesday through the weekend. Don’t go to work. Don’t do any shopping. Hell, shut off the streamers. Don’t watch the baseball playoffs.
Sure there will be some who have to do things, but if enough folks walked out of it all we might be on to something.
Am I dreaming? Sure. I like my dreams better than this damn nightmare we’re living through. Frankly if we’re ever going to bring this horrible moment we’re living in to a head some sort of national strike is going to be needed. Otherwise the inertia that comes with getting through life just keeps things rolling along.
I don’t know about you, I’m tired of the bad political theatre AND the lazy audiences.
Photo by Taylor Brandon on Unsplash
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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Sunday Morning Reading
It’s been a fortnight since I’ve published one of these columns due to travel. So much has happened. The travel adventures to London and Memphis were great. The way the world continues to pull itself apart continues to not be, as witnessed by protests and a madman’s threats of troops in the streets followed me from Chicago to London to Memphis. You can shut off and shut down to enjoy new places and visit dear friends, but the insanity keeps getting more insane. So, Sunday Morning Reading is back at it this week, with a mix of politics, culture and a bit of tech. (Oh, yeah, Apple released new iPhones during all of that.) If you can’t feel the currents flowing together, you’re not paying attention.
On my travels my wife and I caught some theatre. Two plays by Shakespeare and the contemporary play Stereophonic. The two Shakespeares were one of his worst, Merry Wives of Windsor, and one of the best, Hamlet. We’re theatre rats and know the importance of the medium and certainly recognize the role writers in all mediums play in our lives, history, and culture. So too does a favorite writer of mine, David Todd McCarty. Check out his important piece The Reason You Need To Be Making Art Right Now. And if I may be so bold, the other Sunday Morning Reading links below demonstrate that to a tee.
NatashaMH reflects on free speech, punk rebellion and British satire in When Satire Was Safe. Great piece. I dare say, satire has never been safe even when tolerated. Plenty of fools can attest to that. Ask Yorick.
I mentioned there’d be politics and here’s a few links to some excellent context on just how damn familiar all of what we’re living through is. For those who bother to pay attention. First up is Mark Hertling’s Beware Today’s ‘Fire-Eaters’. If you don’t know that term, read the piece. You’ll recognize today’s fire-eaters in a second.
On a broader scale, take a look at Nikki McCann Ramirez’s interview with Mike Duncan in Are We Witnessing The Fall Of The American Empire? My short answer is yes. Here’s the money quote that should terrify us all:
So if we go this route, we’re going to have congresses, we’re going to have Supreme Courts, we’re going to have a President of the United States, there will be governors, there will be elections, it’s just what’s happening underneath that facade. The facade is never going to go away, it’s how tissue-thin the facade is.
Follow that up with George Packer’s America’s Zombie Democracy.
For a bit of recent history and context, check out The Story of DOGE, As Told By Federal Workers from a team of Wired writers led by Zoe Schiffer.
As I mentioned Apple released new iPhones last week. Om Malik seems quite taken with the new iPhone Air, although he has some concerns in Go Out & Get Some Air.
In this column and other posts I’ve been following Denny Henke’s journey to de-Apple himself in his tech life with a keen interest. I greatly admire his drive and his sharing of his efforts. Check out My Ongoing Effort To de-Apple the iPad.
And to bring this all back around, take a look at Neely’s Tucker’s sharing of a guest post by Patrick Hastings, Nobody Would Edit Shakespeare, Right? Right? They have and they do. David Garrick wasn’t the first or the last. Throughout history we always look for the ways to make it easier to swallow tragic moments and unhappy endings. In the theatre and on the stages of our lives.
(The image above is of David Garrick’s monument in Westminster Abbey, taken by me on my recent travels.
If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.
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iPhone 17 Pro Photography Testing
Testing out a bit of iPhone 17 Pro Photography last night at a nephew’s football game. The shots in the gallery below were taking running up the ladder and through the different cameras from Ultra Wide to the Main Camera to Telephoto from .5 to 8.
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Nothing Lasts Forever
You know how you know that nothing lasts forever? When you go online to search for images of a place you worked, shed more than a few beads of sweat, blood, and tears in, and you can’t find images of it.
That’s the case here. I’m referring to Theatre Building, at 1225 W Belmont, Chicago. Yes, there is no “the” in front of it. Like Apple insists that there is no “the” before iPhone. In the case of the performance space that was intentional. Pretentious maybe, but purposeful nonetheless.Theatre Building was founded as such in 1977 by three theatre companies: Travel Light Theatre, Pary Productions and the Dinglefest Theatre Company. The latter of those became Performance Community, and then the New Tuners Theatre, and after Travel Light and Pary Productions hit their respective closings, ended up managing the three theatre complex.
At one point or another just about every Chicago theatre company, and some from outside the city, rented performance space there. It was one of the centers of gravity in the Chicago theatre landscape. I can’t tell you the number of amazing performances by Chicago actors that I’ve seen on those stages. Shows hit. Shows flopped. Shows happened. And that was the point and purpose of Theatre Building.
Theatre Building was sold to Stage 773 in 2010 and still continued providing a home for Chicago theatres, until it changed it’s focus and became WHIM, which was supposed to be a sort of interactive attraction before it folded.
Here we are in 2025 and The Chicago City Council has granted approval for the property to be converted to a five-story apartment complex. As I said. nothing lasts forever.
My theatre company, The Absolute Theatre Company rented space there for a number of years, and I later served on the staff of New Tuners Theatre and helped manage the facility. I helped renovate the three theatre spaces in the late 90’s. So there are quite a few personal memories attached to those stages. They seems like another lifetime ago.
Change happens. The sad thing about this one is that there are three less performance spaces in Chicago, but that’s been the case since Stage 773 ran into financial difficulties and had to shut down after becoming WHIM.
I may not have been able to find a picture this morning of Theatre Building, but I do have this brick from the building that was given to me after my last show, before I headed out to Virginia for that part of my theatre career.
Guess I’ll hang on to that piece of Chicago theatre history.
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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iPhone and OS 26 Reviews Off The Beaten Track
New iPhones have been released, are being delivered, and I assume being used. Some of the usual sources have already reviewed the devices and the new operating systems and I’m guessing you’ve seen many of those.
I’m enjoying reading reviews that are sort of off of the beaten track, assuming the Internet has one of those, and thought I’d link to a few of them.
First up Jason McFadden of Jason Journals talks about his experiences and impressions after installing OS 26 on several older devices. Good read.
Next up is Sebastian de With’s look at the iPhone 17 Pro cameras. Sebastian is one of the developers of the team Lux that developed the Halide camera app for the iPhone.
Olivia Lipski writing for Good HouseKeeping says I’m a Tech Reporter and a Mom. Here’s My Honest Review of the iPhone Air.
And finally Rakhim Davlekali has written a review of macOS in reverse starting with the now current Tahoe and going backwards through time. Benjamin Button Reviews macOS is worth a read for a few laughs.
I still think it’s early for any real judgements to be made about the new devices and new operating systems. But the links above are worth a look.
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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Jimmy Kimmel’s Return: Grace and Strength
Jimmy Kimmel returned to the air in some places last night. In my opinion, he did so with grace and with strength.
He certainly didn’t give any ground as a comedian, continuing to needle the Trump administration and the two-faced chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr. But he also showed a great deal of grace given the moments he and we have all been through since this episode of life under a crazy emperor with no clothes.
I’m linking to the video above with his opening monologue, because one way on the other the moment is a piece of broadcast and cultural history. The optimist in me hopes it will prove to be bigger than that, perhaps a turning point. The realist in me thinks we’re due for some sequels.
Here’s hoping people and the cowardly CEOs have learned a lesson or two before the next sequel is given a green light. I’m not holding my breath on the latter. I have more hope for the former.
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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Just Because
Snapped this shot yesterday and thought I’d share it before everything goes to seed.
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Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3
Musings on life, the theatre, technology, culture and the occasional emu sighting
Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3 