It's Thanksgiving Day, so I think there's only one truly proper way to start off the festivities.  And that's with Stan Freberg's "Pilgrim's Progress" about the first Thanksgiving which leads into "Take an Indian to Lunch" from his classic, Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America​.

If you didn't get a chance to see this the other week, here is James Taylor on Stephen Colbert's show singing an updated version of his classic song, "Fire and Rain."  The song is a lot of fun, but I most enjoy the banter between the two beforehand.

As readers of these pages may recall, I've written at length over the years about a Philadelphia-based company called Stream TV Networks, which has developed a product, Ultra-D, that allows for remarkably high-quality 3D TV without glasses.

My initial article was here, and then this is one of the follow-ups.  I've seen the product in operation, and it's quite terrific, though there have been long delays in setting up deals and getting it into production.  So much so that I've taken a been of heat from some skeptics that this was all vaporware and would never come to be.

The thing is, I speak periodically with Mathu Rajan, the enthusiastic head of the company, and he's told me off-the-record of many of the deals that are in place (some significant), and many of the fascinating planned additional products.  Still, nothing was in the market yet.  

A few months back, Mathu invited to fly me in to a big press conference they were hoping to have soon in Beijing.  But it was too long a trip for only like 1-1/2 days, and there were also some personal conflicts, so I passed.  In the meantime, I waited.  And certain corners remained skeptical.

And it turned out that there were delays.  But then, last week, I got an email from the company that intrigued me.  Because for the first time, Stream TV's glassless 3D technology was in a product for sale.

The company putting this initial set on sale is IZON, which is based in Florida, though the product is being manufactured in China.  There are two models on sale, 50" and 65".  The price is a bit higher than I think it should be at the moment -- $5,499 for the smaller version, though not much more ($5,999) for the 65" model.  I'm sure when other companies begin competing, the price will come down, perhaps significantly.  I suspect significantly.

I don't have much for information than this.  I spoke with Mathu Rajan a couple of weeks ago, and he gave me a lot of updates and stories about these other companies and products, though nothing for publication yet.  One thing he did say for attribution, though, is that the recent delay was about some hiccups establishing content deals.  Content is critical in this technology -- a desert-like absence of content was part of the death-knell for 3D TV with glasses.  But a bunch of content deals are now in places, as well as games, and the Ultra-D technology also allows for instant real-time conversion of any TV broadcast into 3D.

As for that aforementioned matter of content, Stream TV Networks had a related-announcement just last week, that they are partnering with CAN Tech Co. LTD "to make its live programming and extensive content library available in Glasses-Free 3D for the first time" in the Ultra-D format.  (CAN Tech controls thousands of hours of content, either as a producer or rights holder.)  To be clear, this deal with CAN Tech is for the China market only, but it shows the growing foundation of content in glassless 3D-TV, as well as support for the technology.

From what I know from what Mathu Rajan has told me in the past, there should indeed be a lot more updates.  (To be cryptic, if I may -- you don't offer to fly someone out to Beijing on a whim.)  So, when I know more in specifics that I can officially talk about, I'll pass it along.

On the heels of yesterday's piece about Sheldon Harnick, here's a video about another legendary lyric-writing team, Betty Comden and Adolph Green when they appeared as the Mystery Guests on What's My Line?.  Some of you might not know they're names, but you'll know a lot of their work.  They wrote both the book and lyrics for such Broadway shows as Bells are Ringing, Do Re Mi, Hallelujah, Baby! (Tony-winner as Best Musical), and On the Town, written with Leonard Bernstein.  They also wrote the screenplay for the movie classic, Singing in the Rain.  Making this all the more fun is that one of the panelists is actress Phyllis Newman -- who was the wife of Adolph Green.

This is the full show.  Their segment comes in around the 12-minute mark.

I hesitate at length before calling someone a racist until they prove it fairly clearly on themselves.  That's why I wish I were more insightful, but I have no idea what percentage of what he says Donald Trump believes.  I'm certain that he sees himself as an entertainer and, as a megalomaniacal egotist, he probably is fine lying and saying whatever is necessary if it gets him big crowds and high poll numbers.  Do whatever you need to close the deal.  And there's a difference being a racist and "just" pandering to racists, saying what they want to hear even if you don't believe it yourself.  On the other hand, I have a hard time accepting that someone who isn't a racist could keep saying what he so dangerously does without being physically and emotionally unable to continue speaking those words, no matter how self-absorbed..

In the end, I suspect that Donald Trump isn't the virulent racist he appears, since not even a hint of it has bubbled to the surface before, only the case-study, unbridled ego.  I think a huge part of this is, in fact, that he really is that pathologically egotistic that he needs to feed the hate-filled crowd.  But -- if one panders that much to racists and thinks it's acceptable, then that alone is racist, and there likely is more in there, too.  I have no idea if this is the truth, but I'm okay accepting parts of both arguments are true.  

And so, for all my hesitancy, I think Donald Trump has proved being a racist on himself.  He may not be to the degree it appears (though who knows?), but being less of a racist than a venomous racist is not really a great calling card.  For anyone.  And really not for a presidential candidate.

It's gotten to the level where it's now near impossible to discuss "the latest" when it comes to Donald Trump's racist panderings because it just keeps pouring out of him, almost more so in a fevered-pitch way as he's maneuvered himself into a corner and has to feed the beast as it grows out of control.

But "the latest" to me which leaps out most viscerally is his tweet sent on Monday that quoted the "Crime Statistics Bureau -- San Francisco."  I'm not going to re-post the thing because I refuse to give it credence, though you can read an in-depth look into it here and see a couple of images in a very good story from Raw Story.  The short version is that he sent out a chart with the image of a scary-looking armed black man that accompanied statistics about how many white people are killed by blacks.  And included more shooting statistics by blacks.  But inflammatory as that is, it's not what's so harmful and racist.  Here's the thing  --

As far as anyone can tell, the organization does not even exist.  No reporters have yet been able to find any records of it.  And further, actual FBI statistics show that the real numbers are overwhelmingly different, to the degree of being almost polar opposite.  And worse still -- yes, I know, difficult as that would appear --, the original source of the "chart" was tracked back to a person with a Twitter account that uses a neo-Nazi symbol as its avatar.

And yes, this was sent out from someone asking you to support him as President of the United States.  It seems like the only thing truly worth supporting Donald Trump for is extradition back to his home in Hell.

One would think or hope or expect that most anyone, but especially a presidential candidate would have his staff do at least the most basic of due diligence for anything they release, but especially something so incendiary and track down simple, actual sources before making pronouncements.  That said, Donald Trump does have a history of this sort of thing, not long ago holding a supposed "fundraiser" for a supposed veterans group that turned out not to really exist, but was just one guy with a shady past.

But then, anyone who tweets out a chart and graphic about how scary and dangerous black people are -- anyone, not just presidential candidates -- is not really interested in due diligence and accuracy, but just interested in scaring the fearful in as racist a way as possible.

And this is only just one of "the latest."  We aren't even getting into the "Black Lives Matter" protester who was beaten up at a Trump rally, and not only did Donald Trump not condemn the beating, but later he went on "Fox News" to say that from what he was told the guy probably deserved it.

As I've said previously, when it comes time to casting actual ballots, I don't think Donald Trump will get the Republican nomination, though I don't discount it.  The problem here isn't that, though.  It's something else and two-fold.

First, the problem is that his GOP competitors are so craven that they haven't seized the opportunity to slam Donald Trump in the most outraged, damning way possible.  You'd think it would be really easy to do.  Most, however, have not only not been outraged, they've been silent.  This only gives credence to the racist attacks.  And it speaks horrifically about the leadership of the mainstream Republican Party.

The second problem is that whether or not Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee, he is building up a racist, hate-filled segment of the Republican Party and giving it a voice and substance.  And I can only imagine that he and it will only continue, if not get worse.

Ultimately, I suspect that, even in the Republican Party, the lies and angst-filled hate speech will become too unsupportable in the larger areas of the GOP and implode on itself.  But unless the Republican Party does something far more substantive right now to respond the to racism, they are ripping apart their party for the future.  And if they can't do something about it right now, that speaks gallingly horribly about the Republican Party.

Unfortunately, as I've noted before, this is a bed they have been building for themselves for far too long.  And that make it all the more difficiult.  And necessary.
​

There was a wonderful article the other day in the New York Times about lyricist Sheldon Harnick, written by
Michael Paulson. You can read it here.

The focus of the article is how active he is at age 91, working on five different shows, including a new Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, following its 50th anniversary.

I knew he’d been doing a lot of rewriting on earlier shows and writing new things, but I’m intrigued about the new version of the Rothschilds that is being done, a show whose score I quite like.  It's apparently being trimmed down significantly with him writing some new material and retitled, Rothschild and Sons.  My guess is that they're focusing more on the family's growth in the Jewish ghetto rather than as much of what happened when the boys were sent out to the world to deal with kings and ministers.  I also hope that they can pull off a good production of the show he wrote with Joe Raposo (of Sesame Street) titled A Wonderful Life, based on the Jimmy Stewart film. (I posted a song from it here.)
 
When the article mentions that Harnick is finally doing a recording of Dragons, that holds the most-dear thoughts from me.  My mother actually saw the first workshop production of that done at Northwestern probably 40 years ago.  In fact, I have a program for it that she got Sheldon Harnnick to sign to me (he was at all of the performances).
 
I’ve mentioned here, I believe, that he and my Aunt Joan grew up together and also went to Northwestern.  A famous family story is that when Harnick made the decision to give up the violin and go to New York, my aunt’s mother asked him, “Sheldon, do you really think there’s a career for writing lyrics in New York??” 

(The article also discusses his friendship with the actress Charlotte Rae, who he met at Northwestern and had a strong impact on him going to New York.  I finally had occasion to run into Charlotte Rae a few years ago and mentioned not only Harnick, but my aunt to her – they were in the same sorority -- with the actress Cloris Leachman, as well.  And also Jo Baskin...the mother the oft-mentioned here Nell Minow.  the later wife of FCC Chairman Newton Minow.  That's quite a fine sorority.  A lot of that group stayed in touch, in fact they’d seen each other maybe a decade earlier, so Charlotte Rae well-remembered my aunt.)

The article also includes nice little minute-and-a-half video that includes some of the interview with Harnick and also rehearsals from the new production of ​Fiddler on the Roof.

As a bonus, here's a short video about the aforementioned new version of The Rothschilds, which is now called Rothschild & Sons.  It includes interviews with the two surviving creators, Sheldon Harnick and librettist Sherman Yellin, along with several of the actors and the director, and a few clips of musical numbers.