Fan Film: Monica’s Attorney Calls: Impeachment American Crime Story

Fred Melamed plays William Ginsberg, Monica Lewinski’s initial lawyer. 

Make-believe and play are often enhanced by technology. Such is the case with my fan film.

Fred Melamed, who plays William Ginsberg, Monica Lewinski’s initial lawyer, delivers a truly inspired performance. In the scene I depict I reprise his role to tell independent counsel Ken Star’s lackeys to go to hell.

In the first several episodes of Impeachment I became agitated at the different forces manipulating Monica Lewinski for their own purposes. It was gratifying to finally see serious pushback, by Fred Melamed, no less.

I find Fred’s character a role model for myself. I like to think Fred is a middle-aged Jewish man dipping into his own experience to play middle-aged Jewish men in television and movies.

Making the video was a fun escape from reality. Enjoy!

 

This Is Us

We did this a few years ago and got rewarded with the above printed on thick paper and a fancy envelope. I'm proud of the verbiage but don't need the document, so I'll leave it here for posterity.

One can also access this when one walks into the Jewish Community Center and interacts with the giant iPad. I think here is the better place -- although I do like to schvitz. 

Keep Your Cards Close to Your …

My system looks old fashioned but it works for me. 

Cool Art

 

Greetings from the son.

Car Stuff

 

Today I had my hair cut. The barber was a VW van enthusiast who had a beautifully restored vehicle parked in front of the shop.

I remarked that the recent popularity of VW vans were remarkable given the low tech of the air-cooled engine.

I wondered if there was some new technology that made such nostalgia easier to bear. Nope. For purists like the barber, he just gave up on having functioning climate control. Good for us Oregon has a temperate climate.

He did say that some people had placed Subaru engines with radiators into VW vans, then wiring up all the normal controls.

All this made me think of my years with a 1971 Super Beetle. Good times and several breakdowns.

The peak of the conversation came when the Barber told me he had goosed a Beetle over 100 mph on a quarter-mile track with improved gearing and carburation, and a few other tweaks – keeping the original engine displacement. Of course, this guy was from southern California.

And the haircut was good, too.

The World Keeps Spinning: Skateboarding

About ten years ago skateboarders began to ride the train to the zoo, then roll down the hill past our house. 

Our neighborhood association, composed of grumpy, old, white men, immediately declared the end to life as we knew it and began haranguing the police to arrest anybody with a skateboard.

I did see a police cruiser from time to time at an intersection, the officer always looking angry and bored. I also learned that the city asked a skate organization to suggest better behavior from skaters and disseminate information about how not to be a pain in the ass.

Eventually a public culture evolved -- motorists learned to be patient and skaters generally adhered to the rules on the above sign. 

Although I have been inconvenienced when driving by youths having a rip-roaring good time, I instinctively side with the skateboarders. The notion that once one is inside a car all pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, and anyone else, must yield so the driver may get to her/his destination as quickly as possible is problematic. 

We need to reevaluate where the car fits into our landscapes. We have sacrificed so much that is pleasing in our urban life to the automobile. Always giving the car primacy has been responsible for so much blight.

Let's share the road with all who would play upon it. If that means chilling out for 30 seconds, I say so be it. 

         

Change is Difficult

Change is difficult, if not impossible, as nobody uses cash anymore. My life is such that the few transactions each month I do in cash stand out as oddities -- everything else is on the card or mobile payments. 

Parking in Portland has its own app (Parking Kitty). When I go to Hood River the parking meters accept coins, which I do not have, and I generally skip paying for parking. I do not like this as I am a follow-the-rules guy. 

Now the meters in Hood River are serviced by apps. I just installed ParkMobile and look forward to meeting my obligations.

I still have a small container on my shelf filled with change, but I've never remembered to bring the coins when I leave Portland. I used to stock my car with change and singles but I've given away that vehicle to a kid. 

I note the changes in my life and try and accept them with grace and equanimity.

Friday Cat Media

Now that chilly weather is here, I get office lap time with Stuart.

One of the advantages of being almost 56 years old is that the notion of not doing something because “people” would find it inappropriate almost never applies. At one point I might have felt that I was posting too much about cats but who cares, cats are fun, and the internet supports me on this. 

Checking the media feed.

I Went To A Sports Bar

Last week I went to a sports bar and had a beer. Unfortunately I ordered a vegetarian burger (Impossible) thus blowing my cover.

I wasn't in Portland, otherwise I would have been fine. 

For the duration of the meal I pretended I was a sports fan. When I got up to leave, at some crucial juncture in the game, the servers looked at me with pity.

 

Musical Theater Night

A bit of cultural literacy I missed, tonight we are watching a stage production of the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar."

I will answer all questions.

Postscript: This was a rock opera in the sense everything was sung, unlike a musical where the actors recite lines of exposition between songs to move things along and build drama. The result was that I missed out on many of the dramatic moments because of not being familiar with the details of the story. Still, I loved the dancing and excellent music. And I did have enough knowledge to understand the ending -- crucifixion.