R.I.P. Carl Reiner ~ March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020

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R.I.P. Carl Reiner

Inviting people to laugh with you while you are laughing at yourself is a good thing to do. You may be a fool, but you’re the fool in charge.

~ Carl Reiner, My Anecdotal Life: A Memoir

 

Pandemic Parodies

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Antibacterial Girl, Holderness Family, Material Girl, Pandemic Parodies

 

Randy Rainbow Song Parody …. “😷 ‘COVER YOUR FREAKIN’ FACE’ 😷 …. “!!

You have to check out this new video from Randy Rainbow, courtesy of Dr. Rex! I promise you won’t regret it!😁

It Is What It Is

~~June 29, 2020~~

COVER YOUR FREAKIN’ FACE

One more time, Randy has ‘rescued‘ me from despair! As a result of the current American reality we are collectively , it’s quite easy to fall on negativity. There’s no time for breathing. The ‘news’ come at you at an amazing speed and one remains breathless and shocked!

Thank you, Randy, for a moment of reprieve from the ‘dumb-fuckery‘ that this ‘presidency’ has confirmed it’s always been.

(Why doesn’t he wear a mask? Claims he would look ridiculous. Isn’t that already a fact?)

RANDY, RANDY, RANDY!

HortyRex©

Randy Rainbow Taunts Trump with Hillary Mask in COVID Theme Song ‘Cover Your Freakin’ Face’

Randy Rainbow’s here to lighten a dark week of news with some advice for the Trumps and Karens of the world amid the COVID-19 surge threatening half the nation: Cover Your Freakin’ Face.

If you know Bye…

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Survivor Song, by Paul Tremblay ~ 4.5 Stars

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Adult Fiction, Horror, Massachusetts, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 7th, 2020

320 Pages

Synopsis: In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and the government’s emergency protocols are faltering.

Dr. Ramola “Rams” Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, receives a frantic phone call from Natalie, a friend who is eight months pregnant. Natalie’s husband has been killed—viciously attacked by an infected neighbor—and in a failed attempt to save him, Natalie too, was bitten. Natalie’s only chance for survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to get a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and her unborn child.

Natalie’s fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Rams make their way through a hostile landscape filled with dangers beyond their worst nightmares—terrifying, strange and sometimes deadly challenges that push them to the brink.

Paul Tremblay once again demonstrates his mastery in this chilling and all-too-plausible novel that will leave readers raving through the pages…and shake them to their core.

I sometimes wonder about this enormous masochistic streak I have and if I need professional help. I mean why else would I request a book about a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic? But in my defense, I love Paul Tremblay, so how could I resist. One reason why I think Tremblay is a great horror writer is because usually you’re left thinking at the end of one of his novels: “Damn! That could really happen!” His upcoming novel, Survivor Song is one of those.

This is not your typical zombie apocalypse novel, as the virus here is similar to rabies, except instead of weeks for someone who’s been bitten to start exhibiting symptoms, it can take under an hour. There’s actually this running riff throughout the story that has multiple characters explaining that victims are not zombies. Tremblay is also not known for happily-ever-afters, but that didn’t stop me from hoping for some sort of miracle for Natalie. I loved both her and Ramola and the close friendship they shared. Except for two teenage boys that provide a bit of comic relief as well as proving themselves quite helpful to Natalie and Ramola, there aren’t any other characters that really standout. But that’s okay because it’s the two women who the reader connects with as they share their inner most thoughts through their nightmarish road trip. I thought the ending was a smidge chaotic, but overall Survivor Song is sure to be another hit for Paul Tremblay. If you love strong, character-driven horror, I guarantee you’ll love this. It will immediately pull you in and not let go until you’ve reached the very last page.

Coastal Dining! Eating With Stuffed Bears! Mannequin Mates! Bumper Tables! Unique “Social Distancing” Ideas During The Covid-19 Pandemic!

John’s shared some interesting ways to dine out and still maintain social distancing. I personally like the first two, but the other’s have me sticking to takeout!😁

johnrieber

Talk About The Perfect Way To Practice Safe Dining!

I think it’s fair to say I could eat this way – in this location – forever!

As restaurants struggle to re-open and serve customers safely, people have been sharing some incredible pictures.

Coastal Passion shared this amazing 3D artwork created by Paul Milinski, 3D Artist, Designer and Art Director at Vaulter.co

The Art’s Title: “A table for two”

Follow @paul_milinski on Instagram to see more of his works: https://www.instagram.com/paul_milinski

Bravo for this! Paul isn’t alone in coming up with unique dining ides:

A Facebook friend shared this photo from Neil Astley, who captured a meal at an outdoor cafe in Paris now that’s a clever way to keep people apart!

Of course, a lot of people have shared pictures of restaurants that are using Mannequins to make sure people practice safe distancing – like this photo from the Inn at…

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“My Kid Won’t Sleep at Night” ~ A Chris Mann Parody (The Phantom of the Opera)

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Chris Mann Parody, Music of the Night, Phantom of the Opera

This is Chris Mann’s latest parody, as well as his more traditional cover of Music of the Night. I’m sure many of you who are parents can relate to the first video!

 

 

 

 

 

Town Hall With Trump & Hannity

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Trump/Hannity Town Hall

In case you missed it, on Thursday evening, Sean Hannity and Fox “News” hosted a live town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin with Mr. Trump. As Hannity is one of Mr. Trump’s chief propagandists, naturally all of his questions were of the softball variety. Here is verbatim, one question and answer exchange from the official transcript:

Hannity: If you hear in 131 days from now, at some point in the night or early morning, ‘We can now project Donald J. Trump has been re-elected the 45th President of the United States—let’s talk. What’s at stake in this election as you compare and contrast and what are your top priority items for a second term?

Trump: Well, one of the things that will be really great: you know, the word experience is still good. I always say talent is more important than experience. I’ve always said that. But the word experience is a very important word. It’s a very important meaning. I never did this before, I never slept over in Washington. I was in Washington, I think 17 times, all of a sudden I’m the president of the United States, you know the story. I’m riding down Pennsylvania Avenue with our First Lady and I say, ‘This is great.’ But I didn’t know many people in Washington, it wasn’t my thing. I was from Manhattan, from New York. Now I know everybody. And I have great people in the administration. You make some mistakes, like you know, an idiot like Bolton, all he wanted to do was drop bombs on everybody. You don’t have to drop bombs on everybody. You don’t have to kill people.

If there is anyone, anyone out there, who can discern an actual answer in that word salad, please tell me because I’ve got nothing!

Family Fridays #14

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Family Fridays

Wow! Another Friday. Is it me or are they coming faster and faster? I hope all of you and yours are safe and well. Here’s how things are going in Alabama as of Thursday evening, June 25, 2020. Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have increased in the past week from 27,796 to 33,206. That’s 5,410 more people. There are now 896 people who have died, which is an increase of 95 people from June 19. Over the last 24 hours alone, the state has seen a record increase with over 1,100 new cases. Hospitalizations also continue to rise and 82% of ICU beds across the state are full. Several states are now requiring residents and travelers from highly infectious states like Alabama, be quarantined for two weeks. We’re still under an amended “Safer at Home” order, but that expires next Friday, and right now no one knows what Governor Ivey will do. I’m guessing she’ll extend the order, but we’ll see. I’m happy to say that more people seem to be wearing masks. My husband and I had to run several errands over the last couple of days, and there were definitely more people wearing face coverings than not. I’m so relieved to see this, especially as I have to finally go to the doctor’s next week as I’m almost out of my medication. It seems like people are finally waking up in my neck of the woods, which is more than I can say for these lovely folks in Palm Beach County, Florida who have some issues with the new mandatory mask mandate set forth by their Board of Commissioners as there’s a spike in cases there:

Oh my. Here’s the rest of the testimony of the first woman. She appears to be alluding to Pizzagate, among other far-right conspiracy theories. pic.twitter.com/J10IB3AXTY

— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️‍🌈 (@aravosis) June 24, 2020

I’ll give you a moment to recover from watching that. A new study shows that if everyone wore a mask, 30,000 lives would be saved between now and October. But when we have political leaders from Mr. Trump on down, who are being intentionally negligent, it’s doubtful that will happen. Tragically, the United States has become a cautionary tale.

For this week’s positivity I’d like to share this 2014 music video from Playing For Change which has been seeking to inspire and bring people together through music, since 2005. I hope this version of Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry Be Happy brings a smile to your face and sets your feet to tappin’.

How are all of you this last Friday in June?

 

My Final Coronavirus Update From New York City (For Now, and Hopefully Forever): June 25, 2020

This is Brendan’s last coronavirus update as NYC looks like it finally has everything under control. Thank goodness for some positive news!

Blind Injustice

First of all, I want to apologize to my readers for a late post this evening. I was working a meeting related to where I work, and that meeting ended literally right before I started typing this. Hence, the delay in writing and publishing this post.

I should address the elephant in the room: the title of tonight’s post. I was thinking that I would continue these weekly update posts until we got to about mid-July, which would be a month or so into the reopening process in New York City. I wanted to wait to wind down this series until mid-July because I wanted to see whether the reopening process went safely in the city first. I said all of this in a post about a month ago.

However, a lot has changed in the past month.

Namely, there are now major hotspots emerging in states like Alabama…

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The 2020 Election

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2020 Election

Hi everyone. The election season is upon us and passions are running high on both sides. As you know, I’m not a shrinking violet regarding the expression of my feelings regarding what’s happening in the U.S. As such, you will be seeing more politically-themed posts from me over the next couple of months, and I welcome ALL comments and discussion. As usual my one request is that people keep it civil. That means no personal insults, no name calling, no nasty innuendos from anyone. If you disagree with something I write or with a comment from someone, speak up. But argue with facts, not attacks. I think it’s important to have safe places to express different views and I hope By Hook Or By Book will always be one of those.