Tina!

 The jukebox musical is a recent phenomenon. Familiar songs, familiar stories, and familiar reactions. There are some great ones (Jersey Boys, Beautiful) some good ones (Ain't too Proud to Beg ) some mediocre ones (Rock of Ages, On Your Feet) and some bad ones (Escape to Margaritaville). 

Tina hit town last night for the weeklong stay at the Orpheum Theater, where sound goes to die. Was Tina a great one, a good one, a mediocre one or a baddie?

Tina is the story of Tina Turner from her childhood days of Anna May Bullock, a poor child with a real dysfunctional family full of domestic abuse, abandonment and music. Tina moves to St Louis to be with her domineering mother and sister and to try and become a singer. She meets Ike Turner, joins his band, marries him and becomes a star. A miserable star indeed, beat up, humiliated and treated like a rag doll by Ike, a philandering drug addict prone to violence. Eventually she gets up the nerve to leave him, become poor again, and gets a 2nd chance at stardom and love.

Tina is not a fun watch. The music is great, the songs are great, but the story tries to cram so much into the 2 hours the music gets lost. The domestic violence scenes are brutal, the N bomb is dropped a lot (the last N bomb from a white record exec stunned the entire audience) and the story itself is cramped.

I don't know what to say other than I was entertained, but not really passionate about any of it. The actors were good, especially Tina's mother (Roz White) who got the good lines and made the most of it. Deon Lee as Ike showed why he was in the original Broadway run. He has that role perfected. Tina (Ari Groover) was a good lead, sounded like Tina Turner and carried the load of being in virtually every scene. Young Anna Mae played by a child named Symphony King, had a voice so powerful I had to see if she was really 9 years old. This kid is a phenom. 

Tina is a musical you should see if you are a fan. If you aren't, don't bother. 

The sound at this theater sucks. It always has and probably always will. I don't know if what I considered lukewarm audience reactions were a result of that or that the violence and gritty story just killed any musical momentum it had. It WAS Halloween, so maybe the demons that just to have to lurk in the 100-year-old facility were at work with the sound. There was just something off about the whole show. 

It's another On Your Feet, with violence. 

Killers of the Flower Moon!

 Killers of the Flower Moon is the latest Martin Scorsese movie that tells yet another important story in American history, the kind of story Republicans want to ban because it's the sort of history we should be ashamed of.

When the Osage Tribe was forced to move to worthless land in Oklahoma to be on a reservation what the Great White Father didn't count on was oil. The land housed lots and lots of oil and made a group of dirt-poor Osage into rich Osage. Mansions went up, cars were bought, jewelry was abundant, and that led to white men coming in to attempt to screw them out of their riches and in many cases, kill them. 

Robert DeNiro plays William Hale, a greedy amoral mob boss who runs the town of Fairfax, Oklahoma and everything evil goes through him. Leonardo DiCaprio is Hales nephew, Ernest Burkhardt, a WW1 vet who wasn't even bright enough to be in the infantry (he was a cook) and he comes to town looking for work. His "job" is to basically find an Osage woman and marry her thus putting him line to inherit her money. Lily Gladstone plays Molly, an Osage woman whose family is being targeted by Hale and his goons. They marry, Ernest sets the death of Molly in motion, Molly's sisters and mother are killed and then the Bureau of Investigation comes in to solve the murders. Jesse Plemmons plays Tom White, a stiff collared fed with a penchant for what's right and wrong. There are also short stints for Brendan Fraser (obviously still filming the Whale) and John Lithgow as attorneys. 

This movie is 3 1/2 hours long and to me, a guy who idolizes Scorsese, it may actually drag a bit at times. Scorsese's quest to show virtually every aspect of Osage life may have been the reason but nonetheless this film is important. It is real history, and may not be allowed to be taught to students in the state it took place in. Oklahoma has passed those stupid laws saying that white America might be offended by real history so just dont teach it. The Tulsa massacre (which is referred to in this film) and the Osage murders took place all in one 5-year period in Oklahoma. It would be malfeasance to not teach these events but hey its Oklahoma, a place where the head of education thinks the Bible is a history book. 

This is Oppenheimer 2. It's a long movie made for adults with great actors and a great director. It should be seen.

Lily Gladstone, you know her if you watch Billions and Reservation Dogs, will win the Oscar. She's the soul of this movie and plays it with a sadness that really gets to you. She is phenomenal. DiCaprio and DeNiro play dumb evil and just plain evil, respectively. They both have reached the point where their performances are just assumed to be great and therefore get no recognition. But they should be recognized. 

Is this better than Oppenheimer? Maybe but it doesn't matter because both are classics.

Wynton Marsalis!

 Who have I seen the most in concert? Its Wynton Marsalis. I would go every single day to watch this guy and his Lincoln Center Orchestra because jazz changes every time you see it.

Marsalis appeared in Lincoln on a Sunday afternoon in front of what looked like a packed house of olds, youngs, blacks and whites, males and females and jazz fans and not jazz fans (who became one if they had any taste). Marsalis knew that a substantial of young folks had showed up because he abruptly changed the set from mostly old stuff from Duke Ellington and McCoy Tyner to more updated jazz arranged by the younger members of his band.

I love jazz. It's actually my favorite music because of its spontaneity AND self-indulgence. But Wynton Marsalis transcends all that with his humility and obvious love he has for his band members. Every single band member got a chance to shine and as they knocked the solos out of the park, Wynton sat back and bopped along with a proud papa face. 

Long time band member Sherman Irby, a great sax and flute player, shined for me as he always does. Trombonist Chris Crenshaw shines with not only playing and versatility he also brought out the tuba for one jam, then was the butt of a joke for not reappearing fast enough after dropping the tuba off backstage. His deadpan eye roll was perfect. 

The trumpet section is top notch with Wynton and longtime collaborators Ryan Kisor, Marcus Printup and Kenny Rapton. These guys all got time to soar and as always, they did.

The engine is the rhythm section led by bassist Carlos Enriquez, drummer Obed Calvaire and pianist Dan Nimmer (whose constant tapping feet fascinated me). They keep the orchestra going full steam.

I loved every second of it as I always do. Though the band members are the same, the show changes and to the full house at the Lied Center, it's a 90-minute toe tapping good time.

Gym Jordan Fails!

 Gym Jordan is a total zero. He's a back benching incompetent congressman from a lizard like gerrymandered congressional district in Ohio, he spoke with Trump the day of the insurrection but doesn't remember what they talked about (oh maybe about the insurrection), he covered up sexual abuse of athletes while a wrestling coach at Ohio State, but he has the political party under the giant gut of Donald Trump backing him to be third in line to the Presidency. THIRD? Gee that wouldn't inspire MAGA nuts with guns would it?

Jim Jordan has two talents. He makes a lot of noise and he repels every sane person who comes in contact with him. Perfect to be Speaker of the House under this party of crazy cowards and actual insane people like MTG, Boebert, and Gaetz the statutory rapist. Since the House was taken over by the crazies who refuse to allow the presence of a majority on virtually anything, chaos has reigned. The Speaker was booted because he dared to work with Democrats to keep the government open. They have refused to do much of anything except pass meaningless bills that have no chance of passage in the Senate or be signed by the President. But thats what far right lunatics thrive on.  Chaos. Ya see they do not want to govern, they want to piss and moan because thats easier than working on solutions.

Jim Jordan, despite the threats he and his minions made to waffling members, despite the thuggish tactics of Sean Hannity, and despite the endorsement of the Defendant, failed to become Speaker today. 20 Republicans had the balls to say no to a Jordan speakership which of course would be nothing but a noisy shitshow. Jordan sat there with that stupid grin of his as his enablers patted him on the back and said its ok Jimmy, we will get you a participation trophy. 

Jordan may get more shots at it. He may even succeed as the 20 no votes get frightened of the death threats and the possibility of violence and losing the base's "loyalty". Christ, Jordan does nothing. He's perfect for Fox News, he just opens his big mouth and then runs off to Fox to be fawned over by the amoral gibbons that man that nightly clown show.

Gym Jordan is a shit throwing nihilist. What he cares about is virtually nothing. For fucks sake he doesn't even care about young adults being molested in a locker room shower because it inconveniences his lust for attention.

I have no love for former Speaker John Boehner but at least he recognized Jordan for what he is. As Jordan plotted to sabotage a debt ceiling bill Boehner exclaimed "Jordan was a terrorist as a legislator going back to his days in the Ohio House and Senate. A terrorist. A legislature terrorist."

Amen.

Cheap Trick!

 I couldn't have cared less about Cheap Trick until about 2012 or so. Their hits didn't do much for me, I didn't know much about them other than Rick Nielsen wore a crazy hat, Robin Zander wore a crazy hat and Tom Petersson wore a crazy hat, and Bun E Carlos was nuts.

Cheap Trick had a residence at Planet Hollywood or whatever it was called back then playing the Sgt Pepper album. Max and I were looking for something to do and found half-price tickets for the show. What the hell, it would kill off a couple of hours.

Then it happened. This garage band from Rockford, Illinois came out, played the entire Sgt Pepper album in exact order and then did their hits. Goddamn, this is what rock is all about. There's nothing fancy about them, they just come out and as they've done since 1975 or so and rock your socks off. I was hooked on a band I'd ignored for 35 years.

Since then, I've seen Cheap Trick 3 more times, including last night here in Omaha at the sound challenged Orpheum Theater. Cheap Trick aint fancy, no fire, no pyro, no backdrops, no overly self-indulgent crowd banter, it's just straight-ahead kick ass rock n roll. For guys north of 70 years old, they may not move like they used to but they get it done.

Robin Zander is exactly 70 and his voice is still fantastic. Rick Nielsen is 75 and at times moves like it, but his guitar chops are just as cool as ever, Tom Petersson can still keep the bass lines charging like a freight train. Now Cheap Trick has become sort of a family band as Robin Taylor Zander is the bands other guitarist and Daxx Nielsen pounds the drums. It's a family affair.

The show itself started at 8 on the dot, it was over at 9:40 on the dot because these guys insist on helping is old folks get home and to sleep at a decent time. Trust me kids, this will happen to you also as you just wish Springsteen or Phish or Pearl Jam would just fucking stop and day good night already!

The setlist is the same it's been for many moons. The deep cuts, the new stuff, the standards are all there. And like the pros they are, they make you wait for the stuff everybody knows. The last half hour is what a lot of people come for. The Flame, I Want You To Want Me, Dream Police all come in order. Then they leave the stage, old school like, and then come back for Surrender and Good Night. The 5-neck guitar comes out at the end, the jokes about "We're too dumb to quit" and telling you what a great audience you were. It is fucking great.

The crowd is older of course. A lot of them around me sat down during the deep cuts and just listened because if you weren't standing you couldn't see. Once the hits started though back up they came to rock out as much as decrepit old folks like me could (to be fair I stood the entire concert, a great achievement for me).

If you get a chance to see these guys, by all means do it. It's an hour and forty minutes of fun fun fun. And you'll be home by 10.

Monday Monday!

1) Justice and Tish James have the fucker right where they want him, looking all forlorn and realizing his 78 years of crime is coming home to roost. The resting I'm Fucked Face is all one needs to start a week off right. Oh yeah, the Defendant went on a rant for the cameras about witch hunts and how much his bed bug infested "resort" is worth (over a billion dollars) and "racist" Attorneys General and and how much the polls are with him and blah blah blah. He really should resist overinflating his Mar A Shithole hiding place for classified docs because thats why he's on trial for in the first place. Hey remember back when Florida tax officials valued Mar A Dumpo at $36 million and the Perp appealed the valuation as way too high and tried to get it lowered to $16 million?  He obviously just denies it happened. Throw the book at this fuckstick once and for all. The fact he's been gotten by a black woman is even more sweet. You go girl.

2) Over the weekend Rep Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm blocks away from the Capitol and the Republicans are shitting their khakis on how this is worse than Jan 6 and let all the feces throwing monkeys out of prison and throw his ass in prison and oh the drama. Republicans, already in a sort of pisser about Speakers and Ukraine and cutting safety nets and starving the elderly have their new "crisis" . A fucking fire alarm got pulled by a "Marxist" trying to overthrow the gubmint! The horror! While the GOP has serial statutory rapists and in public handjob givers and three toed sloths and yelling goateed screamers and frauds and ex felons on the payroll they want to expel Bowman for trying to get out a door to help them pass a spending bill. Meanwhile the friends over at Fox News are going to all the racist tropes they can insisting Bowman gets away with it cuz he's black. Cuz we all know the only oppressed people are MAGA white folks. This will blow over as soon as a new GOP "crisis" pops up and they can go apoplectic as they attempt to turn America into a fascist one party state.

3) The Nebraska Cornhuskers, a team I've been with since birth, a college football blue blood if you stop counting since 2003, is shit. Watching Michigan look like the 1995 Huskers in just pushing the entire team around like a bully for 3 1/2 hours was rock bottom? Or was it? We only stayed into the 3rd quarter when after stopping Michigan for once on a 3rd and 9 the Huskers were called for offsides which made it 3rd and 4 but noooo...a Husker was also called for an unsportsmanlike conduct giving the Blue a first down. The incompetence was too much and for maybe the 2nd time ever we left the stadium in quarter 3. The Michigan fans seated around us were almost more embarrassed for us than we were. Positive talk like "oh you guys will be back" and "just not your day" was abundant (funny thing is we heard the same thing back in 2018 when Michigan curb stomped us in Ann Arbor). Hey Blue, we are used to this sucking. Oh well, Husker fans ARE the Cubs fans of football. We just keep showing up no matter how bad it is. Go Big Red!

4) State Senator Katheen Kauth. God gawd what a hateful sour pussed woman .

She was appointed to the Nebraska Legislature by a trust fund baby named Pete Ricketts. Her bill to outlaw treatment for transgender youth was passed by the Lege after a contentious session that included a 12-week abortion ban to boot. Next session she vows to take on the next most important issue of our crazy times, forcing bathroom etiquette onto Nebraska schools. boys use boy's bathrooms and girls use girls bathrooms just like it is now. But because so many males are cutting off their junk just so they can leer at girls in a girl's bathroom this is priority one for the nutjobs like Kauth. Kauth recently had a campaign sign defaced with the word "facsist" and the anarchy symbol. Misspelled words and anarchy. Oh the humanity. Shes attempting to raise money off it because "Antifa" is obviously after her. Yeah, Kathleen, next time you go all Nancy Mace and have somebody deface your own sign get somebody who can fucking spell.