To help celebrate the Opening Day, we'll start the year as is our tradition -- with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti (in a Cubs jersey) playing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”  I think it was done in honor of the Cubs 2016 World Series, their first in 108 years, since the video was posted on November 6, 2016.  And the musicians are in street clothes, but many are wearing Cubs paraphernalia or blue.
 
It's a wonderful and fun arrangement, too, not trying to overwhelm such a small, charming song with orchestral bombast, but arranged with an almost old-timey feel.  And Muti seems to be having a good time with it all.

Just to follow-up on Jessie Buckley as ‘Sally Bowles’ in 2022 London production of Cabaret, this is her singing “Maybe This Time.”  (The song wasn’t in the original musical, but since the movie it’s officially been interpolated into the show).  Her rendition starts lovely and then just grows on you and becomes truly moving.

Man, do I hope some video of the production gets released at some point…

Ten years ago -- almost to the day, on March 13, 2013 -- I wrote a a semi-facetious  article (though only "semi") about how Blue states trying to find a solution to gun violence should take a page out of Red states getting around lthen-egal abortion laws by making the process near impossible.  It seems like a good time to repeat it.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been a massive fan of Jessie Buckley since before she started to get known here (and probably still isn’t hugely well-known, though much better known).  That was when she had a tiny role in Chernobyl, and she leaped out to me from her few scenes, since I thought she’d be perfect for a film project I was working on.   When I initially brought her up, the response was understandably, “Who’s she?”  Over time, her talent became evident, though she still wasn't well-known.   Now, it's "Yes, she's great.”
 
What most people here probably aren’t aware of is that last year she appeared in a limited-run production in London of Cabaret, with Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee.  (For accuracy sake, it opened in mid-December 2021.)  I dearly wanted to go when I first read about it – probably six months before it was set to open -- but then the pandemic hit, it got delayed, eventually opened during still-difficult travel, and because of the limited run (which subsequently got extended with other actors, because it became a huge hit) and because it was done in a small venue made to look like the Kit Kat Klub, tickets were massively expensive, maybe as much as $500.  Both actors won the Olivier Award.
 
Here's her enthusiastic, emotional acceptance speech – 

There's really not much new to add, again.  Again.  So, pretty much all that can be done is repeat things over and over again.  Again.  Because then the points don't go away, and the focus can't be changed to something else.

Three schoolchildren and three adults were shot to death in Nashville yesterday.  Six people dead, killed by a woman with two assault weapons.

Fewer doors wouldn't have helped, she shot up the door with one of her assault weapons and just walked in.

A good guy with a gun wouldn't have helped.  Assault weapons would have blown that good person away every time, especially if they just have a single-shot pistol. And often the bad guy with the gun (sorry, I mean with the assault weapon) will also be wearing protective tactical gear.

"Thoughts and prayers" (tm) won't help, because they haven't helped yet, year after year after year.  Though if one is going to send "thoughts and prayers" (tm), at least make them about there no longer being any more mass killings.

It's true that now is not the time to talk about safe gun laws -- that time was long before this mass killing.

And it again bears repeating, again, that the vaunted Second Amendment grants the right of gun ownership to "militias," rather than individuals, and further, also makes clear very specifically that they not only must be regulated, but "well-regulated."

By the way, when people say we need to ban assault weapons, it's important to realize that that's not phrased correctly.  What we need is to re-enact the assault weapons ban that was already the law, under which mass killings plummeted, because Republicans and the corporate-owned NRA terrorist organization got it repealed.

And it's important, again, to add a reminder about Rep. Andy Clyde (R-GA), again.  He's the congressman who thought it would be a really fun idea to pass out assault weapon lapel pins for his fellow GOP-representatives to wear in place of the American flag pin they usually hide behind.  

No word yet how many Republican members of Congress were wearing their assault weapons pins yesterday.  Or if Rep. Clyde was handing out any.

Now, I should add one touching statement that released by Republican Congressman Andy Ogles, who represents the district in Tennessee where the mass killing took place yesterday.  As you might imagine, the assault weapon mass killing had a notable impact on him.  He said --

“My family and I are devastated by the tragedy that took place at The Covenant School in Nashville this morning. We are sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those lost. As a father of three, I am utterly heartbroken by this senseless act of of violence.”
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The name "Andy Clyde" might be familiar to you.  He's the Republican representative who sent out the follow family Christmas card this year --

It was very nice that Rep. Andy Clyde mentioned his family in his statement, since one can see how meaningful assault weapons are to his family, having twice as many as the two that the mass-shooter had when she killed the three children and three adults.

And yes, the use of "mass" in relation to his family Christmas card takes on grisly context.

So, between Rep. Andy Clyde and Rep. Andy Ogles, it wasn't a good day for Republican "Andy" congressmen yesterday.  Perhaps they can form a club.
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My friend, the inveterate Chris Dunn was at the WGA Awards a couple weeks ago, where he won for Daytime Drama.  I’m going to say that this is his sixth WGA Award, but he’s won so many he’s lost count (and don't even ask about how many nominations) -- though in fairness to the other nominees this year, his show Days of Our Lives was actually the only one nominated.  Really.  Honest.  Needless to say, that makes waiting to hear who the winner is SO less stressful.  I like to say that Chris being in the category scared off all the other shows, who figured he's won so often why bother competing.  That's not true, of course, but I like to say it.

After returning from the event, he sent me this video of Charlie Kaufman getting the lifetime Laurel Award for screenwriting.  Kaufman, if you don’t know his name, wrote such unique and eclectic movies as Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, the animated Anomalisa and many others.  He gave a wonderful, blunt, scathing five-minute speech about dealing with studio executives, that will make most screenwriters -- and perhaps audience members, too -- deeply appreciative, and so I'm posting it below
 
And as a nice bonus to the video, he’s introduced by the terrific Jessie Buckley, who starred in his most recent film, I’m Thinking of Ending Things.  I’ve adored here since before she started to get known here, and have recommended her for projects I’ve written before she started to break through.  So, it's enjoyable to see her fun, enthusiastic introduction.