“Musical Comedy Whore”: A parade of promiscuity and the hope for love

The film “Musical Comedy Whore” is a one-man song, dance and comedy show playing off Broadway in New York and is a raunchy autobiography of David Pevsner who both stars and is the writer of the play.

Pevsner is unabashedly gay and you are faced with a few of options here. Not everybody co-exists peacefully with the LGBTQ community. There are scores of gay bashers who will be disgusted by the homosexual promiscuity of Pevsner set forth in the play. And there are those, hopefully in the majority, who may be gay and delight in the originality, honesty and hope in the film. Then there are the straights who can look beyond anti-gay prejudice and see Pevsner as a gay man but a human being with a story to tell.

Pevsner realized his homosexuality early on this his life falling for the male lead in the 1960’s television show Flipper having a crush on the single dad male lead (Brian Kelly) whereas most were fixated on the dolphin Flipper.

He chronicles his life much of it in New York City, a “candy store for gays”. He worked on and off Broadway, a writer of songs for musicals, a nude model for photographers, an escort, a naked maid amongst other things.

His story is thick with the numerous sexual escapades he had in leather bars, gay bars, gay movie houses, saunas and gyms. He claims to have made notes with every man he slept with in his “book of lust”. No doubt an endless stream of promiscuity which at times he felt guilty and shame about. But if you can escape the strange daze of the concept for 10 minutes you are hooked into a fascinating and very honest story. Although you simply can not completely forget Pevsner is gay you may find you are so drawn into the narrative you realize that this is truly a story about a man and his sexuality as opposed to the story of a gay man.

There are LGBTQ films that focus on gayness and those more recently that focus on gays within a “human setting” which may include inclusion within a greater society than an isolated gay society.

Pevsner focuses on gay society but if you let it and you are open the gayness fades away and you are left with a fascinating story about a man who just happens to be gay.

Yes when Flipper was showing I loved Flipper and as a young boy could I understand and accept homosexuality? No. It was a long process to escape my prejudices to the point where I am today where there is so much hate in the world why can’t we all accept the LGBTQ community? Let them be and try and enjoy their culture and contribution to the arts. I am not saying you have to embrace the LGBTQ community but as a decent human being at least try and accept this community.

This play is about Pevsner “coming clean” and relating his experiences to make himself whole and not hide under the covers. Truth can be a powerful therapy.

The sad conclusion of the film is that as hard as Pevsner tries he can’t find true love and a sincere loving relationship. The last 30 minutes or so of the film quickly slip from comedy and sarcasm into a painful recounting of a loving relationship that simply couldn’t work. He sings he would be willing to give up his promiscuous lifestyle for love. In the meantime his coming clean has created words in a play that Pevsner feels he is the one who has been healed and in the end he considers himself a fabulous guy. He also says he is coming clean as he loves us all. I think his message is I really care about you humanity to tell you about how he has lived his life as a human and not simply a gay man.

An innovative, creative, inspiring film touched with humour and a bit of sadness.

A ground-breaking and friendly LGBTQ film. My biggest desire is to not have to refer to “LGBTQ films” but simply to a film. I think that Pevsner is taking us in this direction.

The VOD/DVD release date is September 1st on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, VUDU and Fandango. Another interesting film distributed by Breaking Glass Pictures in Philadelphia.

Novel Thoughts: Albert Camus: “The Outsider”

Albert Camus was born in Algiers in 1913 and eventually moved to Paris. He died in 1960. “The Outsider” was published in 1942.

” But I reminded myself, it’s common knowledge that life isn’t worth living anyhow, And, on a wide view, I could see that it makes little difference whether one dies at the age of thirty or three-score and ten-since, in either case, other men and women will continue living, the world will go on as before. Also, whether I died now or forty years hence, this business of dying had to be got through, inevitably.”

Toss the Naproxen Away for Osteoarthritis? Replace with Ginger, Pepper and Turmeric?

Randomized Controlled Trial Phytother Res

. 2020 Aug;34(8):2067-2073. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6671. Epub 2020 Mar 16.

Herbal formulation “turmeric extract, black pepper, and ginger” versus Naproxen for chronic knee osteoarthritis: A randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial

Motahar Heidari-Beni 1, Amir R Moravejolahkami 2, Pegah Gorgian 3, Gholamreza Askari 3, Mohammad J Tarrahi 4, Nimah Bahreini-Esfahani 3Affiliations expand

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is the most common articular disease that can lead to chronic pain and severe disability. Curcumin-an effective ingredient in turmeric with anti inflammatory property-plays an important role in protecting the joints against destructive factors. Gingerols and piperine, are the effective ingredients of ginger and black pepper, which may potentially enhance and sustain the effect of curcumin in this direction. To determine the effect of cosupplementation with turmeric extract, black pepper, and ginger on prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ) in patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis, compared with Naproxen. Sixty patients with two different levels of knee osteoarthritis (Grade 2 and 3) were studied. Individuals were randomly assigned to receive daily turmeric extract, ginger, and black pepper together or Naproxen capsule for 4 weeks. PGE2 was evaluated by ELISA method. 24-hr recall was also assessed. All of participants completed the study. PGE2 decreased significantly in both groups (p < .001), but there was no significant differences between groups. The results of this study indicated that intake of the selected herbs twice a day for 4 weeks may improve the PGE2 levels in patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis similar to Naproxen drug.

Keywords: Naproxen; black pepper; ginger; knee osteoarthritis; prostaglandin E2; turmeric extract.

Cork Away # 1: Australian Wine at The Liquor Control Board of Ontario

The Australian Winery Yalumba makes an excellent “Y Series Viognier” at a very reasonable price. This time we try an organic Shiraz available at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

It has a black cherry colour. As for aromatics black cherry, blackberry and a slice of blueberry pie. On the palate black cherry, cranberry all with a short finish. Unfortunately the acidity is a bit out of whack which doesn’t help this boring and uninspiring wine. Might match a tomato salad or a pasta with tomato sauce.

(Yalumba Organic Shiraz South Australia 2018, Yalumba, Angaston, Australia, $17.95, LCBO # 280883, 750 mL, 13.5% Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating DUD).

I have never been a fan of Robert Oatley wines but not enough to avoid them so we delve into a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Margaret River which as far as red wines go is known for its elegance and clarity and I would say produces a calmer and more sophisticated red wine.

On the nose it is loaded with blueberry but there are lesser beams of cherry and raspberry coulis. On the palate mild tannins and perfect acids which to me means you hardly notice its presence. More of that blueberry and some loganberry jam. There is a time and place for the more aggressive and bold Aussie reds and in the right mood with the right food that’s good on me mate. But this red is light on its feet and a good sipper. I might be persuaded to call this wine elegant. I’d pair it with grass feed New Zealand lamb or a kangaroo steak. And to help the Australians to keep their rabbit population down a rabbit fricassee.

(Robert Oatley Signature Series Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Robert Oatley Vineyards, Wilyabrup, Western Australia, $19.95, LCBO # 323741, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 90/100).

No mistaking this De Bortoli G.S. 2018 Yarra Valley Pinot Noir as a Pinot Noir on the nose with notes of raspberry and cherry in a smoky framework. Perhaps one might say a tad too much oak? But on the palate clean and pure with no oak interference. Raspberry, strawberry and cherry all very light on its feet. A Pinot Noir walking on air it would seem? Would be good with Arctic Char and wild rice or organic sweet potatoes. As it is so light and somewhat shy on its feet it is stereotypically far away from many Australian reds? Whatever your take this wine is well worth its $19.95 price tag.

(De Bortoli G.S. 2018 Yarra Valley Pinot Noir, De Bortoli Wines, Bibul, New South Wales, Australia, $19.95, LCBO # 15511, 750 mL, 13.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 91/100).

Schild Estate was one of the first wineries I encountered in my wine review career. It rather blew me away. Here years later a 2017 Shiraz from the Barossa Valley. On the nose bursting with blackberry but some red currant and black cherry. Matured in American oak very skillfully! On the palate this is no Aussie fruit bomb but very light footed and sophisticated. Short finish. Would handle a grilled flank steak marinated in soy sauce, ginger and honey. Although the label says enjoy now or up to ten years I would consume by the end of 2021.

(Schild Estate 2017 Barossa Valley Shiraz, Schild Estate Wines, Lyndoch, South Australia, $ 19.95, LCBO # 66555, 750 mL, 14.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 91/100).

“The COVID Cruise”: “The Nature of Things” Gives an Up Close and Personal View of the Diamond Princess Incident

David Suzuki on November 27th in his “Nature of Things” presents an episode “The COVID Cruise” which is a behind the scenes look of The Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama Japan in February with 3,700 passengers and crew on board. You may recall there was an outbreak of COVID-19 on the ship which was met with a quarantine which was not a great decision as all these people locked up in confined spaces and cabins created a petri dish for incubation. As epidemiologists say this was a “congregate setting”.

Gently narrated by Suzuki the story is primarily told through the crew and passengers. For some it was a time of fear and terror as their view was that of dozens of ambulances, police and media. The quarantine proved futile and 705 of the passengers and crew tested positive and 14 died.

Can any fault be placed on anyone? In retrospect yes but that is with the knowledge we have since gained about COVID-19. The crew toiled on delivering food and providing clean linens and in so doing became spreaders. The Japanese medicos on board crossed paths with the uninfected spreading the virus further. The evacuations appeared sloppily organized.

The crew received no training on COVID-19 as it was a new mysterious virus. However their initial reaction when the first case was confirmed was based on the Norwalk virus that has plagued cruise ships for years. So it was an enhanced cleaning protocol but that was insufficient.

One gets the impression the crew was without decent PPE to the point some went on Facebook pleading for help. The cruise line contract with crew prohibited them from talking to the media without corporate permission.

The passengers were mostly evacuated by their governments including the Canadians on board.

2020 saw 73 cruise ship COVID infections with 3,000 people infected and nearly a hundred deaths.

I really should stop here and let you hear the passengers and crew speak. Some are highly charged with emotion or terror. Others required Post Traumatic Stress Disorder counselling.

The lessons learnt are what most of us practice today in warding off COVID-19. But again that is now and not then.

One non-medical issue that jumps out at you is the sheer stupidity and or greed of cruise lines sending out 100 cruise ships out after the Diamond Princess. The first cruise since the cruise ship industry shut down was The Sea Dream 1 on November 13 with seven people so far becoming infected.

Kudos to Suzuki for his gentle narration and lack of finger pointing. If there is any finger pointing it was from crew and passengers.

“The COVID Cruise” airs on November 27th at 9 p.m. ET and for free streaming on CBC Gem.

You can watch the trailer https://vimeo.com/475991818

Filmmakers Mike Downie (director) and David Wells (writer and producer) reveal as the world watched Wuhan the same drama was playing out on the Diamond Princess.

I never had the slightest interest in taking a cruise and now I am even less interested.

Branded Like Cattle But It is for Your Own Good!

Welcome to the trial Common Pass which will be a prerequisite for travel and touted as temporary in the face of COVID-19 just as personal income tax in many jurisdictions was implemented to finance The Great War of 1914-18.

The Commons Project is partly financed by the Rockefeller Foundation. Now Rockefeller, There’s a name to associate with civil liberties!

The next step is to transform the Common Pass into a permanent tracking device or passport available to law enforcement, employers and government to track you and your personal information. And you’ll be sold down the river on this by the politico-medico elite, big business, Big Pharma and the media all in the name of the public good. Bark like a dog with a microchip in your ear. See the party line below.

CommonPass

For global travel and trade to return to pre-pandemic levels, travelers will need a secure and verifiable way to document their health status as they travel and cross borders.  Countries will need to be able to trust that a traveller’s record of a COVID PCR test or vaccination administered in another country is valid. Countries will also need the flexibility to update their health screening entry requirements as the pandemic evolves and science progresses.  Airlines, airports and other travel industry stakeholders will need the same. See the new party line developing below.


The Commons Project together with The World Economic Forum is working to initiate the CommonPass framework to address those challenges.

CommonPass is currently in trials. Click here to be notified when it is publicly available.Learn more

Medico-Political Totalitarianism Fueled by COVID?

Being mindful one might step back in a non- judgemental fashion and itemize what some see as the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.

  1. Freedom of association has been eliminated
  2. Union collective agreements have been “legally” violated
  3. Politicians are “deferring” to their team of non-elected medical experts on extremely political decisions
  4. Medico experts are obsessed with statistics more than compassion
  5. The obsession with COVID-19 in the medico mind shunts aside elective surgeries and surgeries that are necessary to save lives
  6. Anyone who opposes the medico-political dogma is categorized as a yahoo or psychopath and selfish
  7. A enormous amount of propaganda disguised as “information” is being pumped into the situation
  8. The media has been co-opted into covering the “big show” to keep ratings high and fear at a maximum
  9. Fear is a means of controlling the electorate
  10. Internment camps are being planned or are already in existence
  11. The increase in wealth has propelled billionaire growth at a greater rate than at any point in history
  12. The marginalized and poor are getting poorer
  13. Mental illness is skyrocketing
  14. Small business is being destroyed while big box flourishes
  15. Populations are being subjected to medico-political briefings on a daily basis like some sort of ideological imposition
  16. There is a possible surge in the thought of mandatory vaccination if not agreed to will result in punishment for those who oppose it
  17. Family units are being shattered

Now objectively what does this amount to? It seems very unhealthy and undemocratic yet it is been sold as necessary to the health of nations. You go ahead and judge the facts.

The Unmindfulness of Outgoing President Trump

There is a great Eastern based story that is taught to many mindfulness students.

A man is on a hunting expedition and the party enters into enemy territory. The man is shot by an arrow in the ankle. In great pain he reacts with anger criticizing himself for being so stupid. Why was he recklessly out in the open? Why was he wearing bright clothing that made him so visible? Why did the party so negligently stumble into enemy territory? How much more stupid could a person be.

These reactions have no useful purpose and a proper and calm response would be to attend to his injury which is painful. The reactions only intensify the pain and frustrate the rest of the hunting party. The better view would be to respond to the situation by taking steps to deal with the wound.

Outgoing President Trump clearly has lost his presidential election and is reacting in an unhelpful way by lashing out with rage and fury alleging fraud, corruption and portraying himself as a victim of the media, corrupt democrats and even Big Pharma. His reactions are causing his polarized vitriol to further divide a nation that requires healing. A rational response would be to concede defeat and cooperate with incoming President elect Biden to possibly save more American lives and offer assistance to the victims of COVID.

Is it any surprise outgoing President Trump is one of the most unmindful presidents in American history?

Burmester 10-Year-Old Tawny Port: A Slice of Mincemeat Pie Please

As we are now in a lockdown in Toronto and Peel is going out and buying a mincemeat pie for Christmas from my favourite pie shop going to get me arrested and sentenced to hard labour by the Ontario COVID Imperial Tribunal? Of course I make a bold assumption that while big box stores like Costco are open to the public my local retail pie shop has survived another lockdown. It seems quite evident the Ford government favours multinational (i.e. American) big box stores permitting them to remain open but closes the door to the public for small businesses here in Toronto. Perhaps he wishes I contribute to the obscene wealth of Jeff Bezos Amazon Man as opposed to supporting local small businesses?

Sorry but a taste of this Tawny has my mind riveted to how good it would be with a mincemeat tart or slice of mincemeat pie. As my family members are prohibited from joining my wife and I for Christmas dinner as they do not live in our household the Premier on Ontario’s logic, or that which is dictated to him by his unelected “health team” perhaps a fish burger from big box McDonald’s or a chunk of greasy chicken from Popeyes is better for my safety and health? It is amazing how COVID has augmented the wealth of billionaires in record amounts while food banks are the second hottest business in town. Do I smell conspiracy theory here?

The Burmester Tawny has a brick orange colour. On the nose marmalade, tangerine, almonds and honey. On the palate Amaretto orange cookies, burnt caramel and apricot jam tinged by a spicy framework and a very long finish. It is long enough to contemplate that as far as COVID politics go the fish stinks from the head down. I’d sell my soul for a slice of mincemeat pie with a wee dram of this Port but the way things are progressing the COVID Imperial Tribunal in Ontario may allot me very graciously the right to leave my home for a McDonald’s apple turnover. What incredible delightful luxury. (Burmester 10-Year-Old Tawny Port , Sogevinus Fine Wines, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, $29.95, 750 mL, LCBO # 223958, 20%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 93/100)

“The Goddess of Fortune”: Love as the Great Forgiver

“The Goddess of Fortune” is described partly in genre as an “LGBT Film”. The more references I see to this being a genre the more frustrated I get. The more a community defines itself as such the less it becomes human. It can be made subject to an analogy of late In the current American politics of hate where the term “black lives matter” has roared into the forefront and god help people who profess what is more important is “all lives matter”.

“The Goddess of Fortune” has its two main characters as gay man but it is so well done their homosexuality becomes irrelevant to me. It is just a married couple facing a crumbling of their marriage brought back together and into love again by two small children. Why try and ruin a wonderful story by trying to define the film as in the LGBT genre.

Let me try and recap the story without giving it away but first note it is a Warner Brothers Italia film and as such this is perhaps why the gayness of the men was not emphasized as the mainstream viewer could be categorized as anti-gay, intolerant of gays, accepting of gays or a gay prider. So water down the gay part and try as make as many camps at ease as possible? Unlike many of the LGBT films I have reviewed there are no steamy and “intimate” gay scenes. Is Warner Bothers Italia just about the same as Warner Brothers Hollywood?

The movie begins with a joyous marriage scene of Arturo (Stefano Accorsi) and Alessandro (Edoardo Leo) with a happy assemblage of friends both gay, trans and straight. Near the end Annamaria (Jasmine Trinca) arrives with her two young children Martina and Sandro. Alessandro and Annamaria were once lovers until Alessandro defected from heterosexuality to homosexuality and fell in love with Arturo. Could it be that the young boy Sandro is Alessandro’s son?

Well Annamaria states she is in town not only to attend the wedding but to undergo some tests for the severe migraines she has been suffering from and have Alessandro and Arturo mind her children for three days. Arturo and Alessandro really fall in love with the two children. They are natural parents, protective, loving and nurturing. Well the migraines are something far more serious and poor Annamaria succumbs but not before appointing Alessandro as their legal guardian.

Well as it turns out Arturo falls ill and Alessandro receives a call from a “friend” of Arturo saying he should come and retrieve Arturo.Well the friend of Arturo has been more than a “friend” for two years and Arturo and Alessandro are on the edge of breaking up. They hope to leave Martina and Sando to Annamaria’s baroness mother in Palermo so off they go from Rome to Palermo on a long ferry ride.

We discover that the baroness is a mean old bird who abused Annamaria as a child so Alessandro and Arturo can’t simply bear to leave the children with a mean bitch so off they head back to Rome but before they board the ferry they all take a dip in the ocean  in a very tender scene participating in a trick Annamaria told her children about the Goddess of Fortune, a statute at a museum where Annamaria worked. The trick to keeping a person with you forever is to close your eyes after staring at that person stealing their image in your heart and that person will be with you forever. Well it is not the trick that worked or maybe it was. But the tragic death of Annamaria has restored love between Arturo and Alessandro and created even more love and compassion between the two men and the children and the children most likely have cemented that love forever so perhaps there is some trick of fate involved.

A sensitive film directed by renowned Ferzan Ozpetek in Italian and with English subtitles. An excellent soundtrack and if you spoke Italian you might need a Kleenex if you could understand the lyrics.

The film opened in Canada and the United States on November 17th and you can access by clicking this link https://www.bgpics.com/movies/the-goddess-of-fortune/