The Beatles and Now And Then

Now And Then may not be John Lennon’s best-ever song, but the new, orchestrated and augmented version has an undeniable poignance with the surviving Beatles in the final act of their solo careers.

At this writing, I haven’t gone on to Facebook and Reddit to experience the reactions of first and second generation Beatles fans, who are often less forward-thinking (usually spouting knee-jerk racism towards Yoko Ono) than the Fab Four were.

Kudos to Giles Martin, with the aid of Peter Jackson’s software, for a crisp, immediate remix of Love Me Do (the version with Ringo on drums).

New Poem: HERE’S TO THE PARENTS

 here’s to the parents

 you know which of them I’m talking about 

 the ones who default to discipline if humiliation doesn’t work 

 who slap and hit well into teenage years

 who throw the approval preserver

 only if the child abandons his/her/their dreams

 taking junior on long summer vacations out of town

 all the better to ward off bad influences 

 but what if the child gets hurt by others saying no

 and the parent or parents choose to end this by saying:

 don’t you know I’d pay her to go out with you

 if I could 

 here’s to the parents

 who create children 

 that become nervous adults 

 and choose not to have children 

 of their own 

New Poem: VARIATION ON MELLENCAMP’S SMALL TOWN

 grain elevator, giant oil derrick, red/brown brick streets

 train station which became Boy Scouts facility

 elementary school that felt ultramodern in the 1960s

 large and small churches teaching different versions of Jesus’s teachings 

 car races which some classmates never survived

 drive-in eateries and motels which tried to survive the freeway bypass

 >

 newspaper ad said help save our town, buy at home

 but the next city was just a half-hour away by car

 some migrated there, others to other small Texas towns

 only a few dared move out of state

 to see if neutrality healed wounds and strengthened bonds

 

 

New Poem: KEN BURNS AT BOHEMIAN GROVE

WELL. WHY SHOULDN’T I GO THERE?

because old (mostly white) boys still run the world

and I make long TV shows

about old (mostly white) boys

with occasional girls in support

.>

please don’t ask me about Jann Wenner

Summing up Jann Wenner’s Boomer-centric racist/sexist comments.

David Marchese of THE NEW YORK TIMES got ROLLING STONE co-founder Jann Wenner to admit that there is no place for Black and female artists in the Wenner pantheon because of “articulation.”  So Joni Mitchell, Grace Slick, Janis Joplin, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and Otis Redding were relegated to nevers or also-rans.

Regarding Jann Wenner’s criteria for Caucasian male rock star myth/legend status: there are people who want to be mythic and pursue validation by someone Important (Bono, Bruce Springsteen).  And then there’s Jann chasing already mythic Dylan, Lennon and Jagger with the hunger to be validated by them.  

And here’s Wenner’s part-apology, part don’t cause my book to be pulled statement:

In a statement issued late Saturday by a representative for Little, Brown and Company, the publisher of his book, Mr. Wenner said: “In my interview with The New York Times I made comments that diminished the contributions, genius and impact of Black and women artists and I apologize wholeheartedly for those remarks.

“‘The Masters’ is a collection of interviews I’ve done over the years,” he continued, “that seemed to me to best represent an idea of rock ’n’ roll’s impact on my world; they were not meant to represent the whole of music and its diverse and important originators but to reflect the high points of my career and interviews I felt illustrated the breadth and experience in that career. They don’t reflect my appreciation and admiration for myriad totemic, world-changing artists whose music and ideas I revere and will celebrate and promote as long as I live. I totally understand the inflammatory nature of badly chosen words and deeply apologize and accept the consequences.”

New Poem: RECURRING DREAM MOTIFS 2023

 looking for clothes

 trying to pack a suitcase

 can’t find clothes

 clothes apparently lost or stolen

 look all over for missing clothes

 find a bunch of concert T-shirts on a table

 all the shirts are too small

UCLA Medical and its mask-optional policy for staff (including oncolgy)

At the end of this post isa letter I sent to an oncologist whose department saved my life in the summer of 2021 at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Hospital (I had a bone marrow transplant to treat multiple myeloma).

Sadly, 2023 is not the pandemic summer of 2021 and UCLA has recently changed to please restive, mask-averse, mask-optional staff when administering infusions of anti-cancer medication.  God help us if this becomes future hospital policy.

Sent this to [local oncologist] last night: After last Tuesday at the UCLA Porter Ranch medical center, I feel I must say that I am not comfortable with staff being maskless around me during the process of dispensing medication, administering IVs and the Darzalex infusion itself. If this change in policy keeps happening, then please transfer me to a different location. UCLA may give medical staff freedom of choice as to whether or not to mask. I’d like to not risk being home bound or hospitalized due to their actions.

 

After sending the above, received a voicemail at 8:14 a.m. from Porter Ranch (replied this afternoon) essentially telling me that [local oncologist] can mask and (presumably) the nurse or nurses attending to me will—but policy will be the same wherever I go within the UCLA system.

 

Given the recent rise in Covid-19 infections and the likelihood of further vaccine hesitancy, I find it very saddening that your colleagues and peers approve mask-optional policy in oncology treatment areas.

TRUMP MUGSHOT POEM

 lower that granite unlearned head

 glare harder than a junkyard dog

 put it on X Twitter to thank Elon

 believe no MAGA faithful will run away

 fear more swing voters looking for refuge