Since I’ve been posting clips about the mental health impacts of Covid, and how we are all probably traumatized, it’s only fair that I also mention those entertainment options that might make us feel happier, at least for a while.
For example, “Emily in Paris” is fun. Lily Collins, the incredibly cute British actress with a size XS waist, is dressed like a model in every scene, and is the perfect example of why marketing campaigns work when they do.
This show’s many episodes are upbeat and made me smile.
But a few days later my bingeing hit bottom when I found myself watching “The Last Samurai” in Spanish with “live closed captioning” that read, and I quote: “Just buttons is perfect… so yeah…Toggle militar laser not DNA…there the location…I don’t want that Avistas Muchas.”
That’s one of those real-time technologies that still has a ways to go, but it did make me smile.
And I’ve spent just enough time working on films in Hollywood and as a guest on TV shows to know that it’s hard to be funny intentionally. By contrast, it’s incredibly easy to make mistakes, and they’re almost always funny.
In fact, our lives are filled with bloopers, and some of the best occur when we’re trying our hardest to appear serious and significant.
Some 40 years ago, after the publication of our book, Circle of Poison, which was as serious and significant as anything I’ve done, my co-author Mark Schapiro and I were waiting to go on the NBC’s “Today” set at Rockefeller Center with Tom Brokaw and Jane Pauley.
Mark and I were very nervous. We were told that Brokaw was supposed to interview us alone, so Pauley got up to exit the set. But as she did so, she tripped over some wires and fell directly across my lap.
The director was already counting down to the moment we would be live, “five-four-three…” when she barely scrambled up off my lap and out of the camera’s view.
Seconds later we were “live” from New York for all the world to see. I’ve never viewed that clip myself and have always wondered just which facial expression I wore as I tried not to watch Pauley out of the corner of my eye. I’m sure my smile was frozen, as I tried to concentrate on Brokaw’s first question.
Frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t break into hysterical heaving right there on national TV. But before I knew it, the whole thing was over, and Schapiro and I retired to a nearby Irish bar.
That’s when we both started laughing.
TODAY:
Almost two years after China first reported a cluster of "viral pneumonia" cases in the city of Wuhan, the regularly mutating coronavirus is wreaking havoc in many parts of the world, forcing governments to rethink quarantine and test rules. (Reuters)
CDC sharply drops estimate of Omicron prevalence in U.S. (Politico)
France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Malta all registered a record number of new cases this week. (Reuters)
Worries that omicron surge could impede essential services spurred new CDC isolation rules — Those who are vaccinated are likely to have mild or asymptomatic infections, early research shows — a finding that helped drive the recommendation to shorten to five days isolation for people with asymptomatic infections. (WP)
Omicron Is Not More Severe for Children, Despite Rising Hospitalizations (NYT)
The nation's capital has the highest COVID risk level in the country (NPR)
More than half of U.S. states will raise their minimum wage in 2022, but employers are hiking pay faster (CNBC)
Last year's flu season in the U.S. was the lowest on record, likely because COVID-19 measures prevented its spread. But this year's flu season has arrived on schedule, with flu hospitalizations rising and two child deaths reported. [AP]
Hong Kong media outlet to close as police step up crackdown on free press (WP)
Speed of Stand News shutdown sends chilling signal to Hong Kong’s media (Guardian)
China will take "drastic measures" if Taiwan makes moves towards independence, a Beijing official warned, adding that Taiwan's provocations and outside meddling could intensify next year. (Reuters)
Chile Rewrites Its Constitution, Confronting Climate Change Head On — Chile has lots of lithium, which is essential to the world’s transition to green energy. But anger over powerful mining interests, a water crisis and inequality has driven Chile to rethink how it defines itself. (NYT)
The Metaverse Isn’t Ready for You, but Your Investment Is Welcome (WSJ)
Alaska 'Icemageddon' warning follows heat record (BBC)
Over the past year, we’ve seen the hottest July ever recorded on the planet (again), the largest ever single wildfire in California history (again), and deadly hurricanes and flooding along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coasts (again). Here's a look at some of the year's worst disasters and what they mean for the future. [HuffPost]
Biodiversity: The tale of the 'un-extinct' fish (BBC)
Paul Simon Said His 1976 Collaboration With George Harrison on ‘Saturday Night Live’ Was ‘Effortless’ (ShowBizCheatSheet)
Emily in Paris Is the Last Guilty Pleasure (Atlantic)
Night-Shift Janitor Leaves Behind Brilliant Solution To Israeli–Palestinian Conflict On U.N. Chalkboard (The Onion)
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