Leon Acord's Blog, page 6

Who Are We Now?

What's wrong with us? With more and more vaccines administered, and society opening up as a result, one would think we'd be embracing the good news with the same unbridled joy and fervor of those who celebrated the end of World War II.*

Alas, many don't seem "cautiously optimistic." In fact, a lot of us are unsure at best.

There's a name for that gnawing sense of unease, as we begin to see that light at the end of the COVID tunnel. It's called "Cave Syndrome."

It's the dread sparked by the thought of returning to the ways of "before," following a year of hyper-consciousness – and despite being vaccinated and continuing to wear our masks and keep our distances.

If you're suffering from "Cave Syndrome," take comfort. You are not alone. Far from it.

A February study by the American Psychological Association found 49% of Americans – almost half of us! – "feel uneasy about adjusting to in-person interactions once the pandemic ends."

Things like going to the office, eating out, attending movies and theatre, having lunch with friends – things we used to love – continue to cause discomfort, dread, or sometimes fear, even as those activities become safer and safer.

In that same survey, 46% of respondents say they "do not feel comfortable returning to their pre-pandemic way of life."

Meaning, they've had enough of working outside the home, going to the gym, squeezing into nightclubs.

But the true shocker, according to the study, is this: adults who received COVID-19 vaccines gave the same answers as those who had not been vaccinated!

Old habits die hard. So do old mindsets.

As we begin to climb out of our collective caves, the logical "next question" is: "Who are we now? What is our life now?"

Because after a year in lockdown – of avoiding others, of being germ-phobic to the nth degree, of finding novel ways to accomplish even once-mundane tasks of real life – there’s no question that most of us are not who we were way back in the now-innocent days of pre-March 2020!

I've now had both shots, and am waiting out the last few days before I am considered officially, completely vaccinated.

As I emerge next week from my cave, I'm interested to learn, "who am I now?"

Because, while I certainly miss the "lifestyle of before," the idea of returning to "before" sometimes seems beyond me. Often in the most ridiculous of ways.

Will I be a near-germ-phobic, almost-agoraphobic, borderline-hypochondriac homebody forever? (I never liked crowds or the "Hollywood kiss," but I would love to hug vaccinated old friends and co-workers again! I'd like to endure allergies without immediately wondering "Is this...?!")

Will I ever manage to get in the shower before 12 noon again? (It has gotten slightly easier, since Biden became President, to tear myself away from the news in the morning – but a pre-noon bath is still "pie in the sky" for now.)

Will I ever manage just one trip from apartment to car, without having to return for my mask? (Oh, wait, go back again for sanitizer – ok now let's go – oh, shit, just as soon as I run back upstairs one more time and fetch my damned car keys!)

Will Laurence's question "What do you want to watch on TV tonight?" ever stop filling me with existential dread? (It's slightly better now that my awards-season duties are fulfilled, but still!)

Will I ever be able to hand my cellphone to someone without immediately and visibly cringing? (Or will I ever be able to hand my cellphone to someone else, period?)

Will I ever want to act on stage again, with an audience all breathing in my direction? (God, I hope so, I miss the theatre more than almost anything!)

Will I ever learn to act with a sheet of plexiglass between my scene partner and myself? (I certainly learned long ago how to work with actors who were just as plastic and who had the same depth!)

Some things I know for sure:

I will continue to effusively gush "Thank you!" to workers at grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations.

I will continue to work and lobby for a livable minimum wage and universal healthcare!

I will continue to speak out when I see people putting others at risk by not wearing a mask or keeping their distance.

I will get together with (vaccinated) friends for cocktails, food, and laughs! Every weekend!

I will – slowly but surely – get back inside a cinema, the theatre, the coffee house, and – eventually – an elevator!

But first, I'm getting on a jet (gulp!) next month and flying home to my family in Indiana, after over 20 months away, for a much-delayed reunion with my parents, nieces and nephews, and some good friends.

I'm not looking forward to the crowded flight – stuffing myself into airplanes or subway cars gave me germophobic heeby-jeebies long before any of us had ever heard of COVID-19 or worried about where our next roll of toilet paper was coming from!

But I am dying to see my family. I've worried about them every day for over a year.

So I'll keep reminding myself of the words of Dr. Marybeth Sexton, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University School of Medicine, whenever I feel my own Cave Syndrome bubbling to the surface:

"Two weeks after your second dose ... the risk of being hospitalized or dying [of COVID] is almost zero."

Ironically, I'm not concerned about catching anything during my upcoming trip.

But now, I apparently have to worry about the chance of transmitting some California variant to the few family members who refuse the vaccine!

And I guess I still need to worry about the possibility of verbally kicking the ass(es) of mask-refusing jerk(s) while in Indiana.

That's one thing that will definitely never change, no matter how long I'm outside my cave!

So tell me, who are YOU now?

______________

*This piece does not address the small percentage of Americans who believe this nightmare was all a hoax. They continue to live in a world of denial. Idiots.

"In the Room With" Leon

Leon sits down to chat with Stephanie Piche & Jordyn Aquino for RCR News Media's new podcast In The Room With...

Click HERE or watch the video below!

https://youtu.be/okr-UiheCyU

On 'Cancel Culture'

Maybe it’s because I've worked in “show business” for so long.

Or, maybe it’s because I’m gay.

Maybe it’s because, as a gay man, I exist in a culture that, from a historical standpoint, is only just now emerging from an eternity of being “cancelled” by mainstream society, particularly by threatened “Christians” and conservatives.

Maybe that’s why I view the Right’s latest outrage – their brouhaha against “cancel culture” – with unbridled delight.

Because their insistence that the Left “invented” cancel culture is downright hilarious, completely ludicrous, and loaded with irony.

Let’s jump into our time machines and travel back to 1852, shall we?

Historians point to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published that year, as the first book in the United States to be banned. Believing it to have a pro-abolitionist agenda, and because it aroused heated debates about slavery, the Confederacy barred it from bookstores.

The Confederacy. You remember them, don’t you? They’re that wannabe-nation with a pro-slavery agenda that caused an American Civil War – and whose disgraced flag is still so popular in parts of the Deep South (and with others who should know better).

A decade or so later, Congress passed a law that prohibited the mailing of “pornographic materials.” Among items too sexy for U.S postal service? Textbooks about anatomy and/or reproduction, The Canterbury Tales, and anything written by Oscar Wilde.

“Sure sounds like a left-wing move to me!” I typed sarcastically.

Unbelievably, attempts at “comstockery” (the act of banning books) continues to this very day. The American Library Association publishes an annual list of the year's 10 most challenged books.

In 2019, eight out of ten of the books were challenged for LGBTQ content. What a shock.

Ninth was Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, for obvious (chauvinistic) reasons.

And #10 on the list? A book series so evil, it contained “actual curses and spells.”

You may have heard of it.

Yes. Some conservatives actually believe reading Harry Potter leads to Satanism.

(Apparently writing Harry Potter leads to bigotry, but that's a whole different discussion!)

But let’s talk about “cancellation” on a far more personal and destructive level.

Even today, in 2021 – maybe even right now, as you’re reading this – some “Christian” parents will disown their own children if/when they learn he or she is LGBTQ.

Worse, a few parental monsters will even throw a teenaged or even pre-teen kid out into the streets when they make that discovery. It’s horrific, but it still happens.

It is the ultimate in "cancel culture." Created by the Right.

So, please.

After the endless indignities of Trump (and Weinstein and Epstein and Cosby and...), many liberals are merely – and finally – saying "ENOUGH!" to toxic ways and customs of the past.

And if we're doing so a bit too shrilly, too earnestly, perhaps its because we've put up with racism, and sexism, and homophobia, and inequality, and double standards, and systemic, institutionalized bullshit for as long as we can remember.

The problem isn’t that we’re finally using the right's tactics against them.

The problem is that it took us this long to do so!

Kill the GOP!

Did we really think Trump's Second Impeachment would end any other way?

Nope.

Not when the modern-day GOP has proven, time and again, that their only interest is maintaining power at any cost.

Not after working so hard, for so long, to suppress voters and voters' will.

Not after spending the last four years telling blatant lies and denying the undeniable, ad nauseam.

And it is 100% undeniable: Donald J. Trump gathered, and then incited, a riotous group of insurrectionists on Jan. 6 to attack our senators and representatives in the Capitol -- to prevent them from confirming what had been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt: Joe Biden won the election, fair and square, and by more than just a little bit!

In voting to acquit Trump, the self-described "Law & Order Party" has officially embraced lawlessness and anarchy.

The "Blue Lives Matter" Party doesn't care that Trump's incitement killed three Capitol Police officers, and caused the serious injuries of scores more.

The Republican Party is now tainted forever. They are now tied to Trump for all time.

And there is no washing off that rancid stench.

While still pretending to be good folk, the Republican Party is undeniably now the official party of racism. Of sexism. Of crime and criminality. Of cheating. Of violence.

They will continue to deny it, of course. Lying is all they do now.

And with no self-awareness, the Grand Old Party appears hell-bent on self-destruction.

So what are law-abiding, peace-loving Americans to do?

We must end the Republican Party, dead as a door nail, once and for all!

"How do we do that?" you ask? Be getting involved more than ever before.

Call and email and tweet your Republican representatives every. single. day. Tell them in no uncertain terms how angry and disappointed you are. Make them feel under assault by the communications. Make them dread their jobs. Make their staffs want to quit. Do the same with vile GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman on Facebook). Every. single. day. Gather lists of the companies and corporations that donate to your local GOP candidates -- then organize boycotts of all donors! Then do the same on a national level. Volunteer to work in support of Democratic candidates in your area. Got cash but no time? Donate! Got time but no cash? Make phone calls! Too shy for calls? Send texts and emails. Hang signs. Send letters to the editor of your local papers. Create and organize "political action" groups on Facebook and other social media. Show up at town halls. Protest appearances of the repugnant Republicans as they run for re-election. Call "bullshit" on each and every lie they spew. Never let them forget they enabled, and then forgave, the unlawful violence that occurred that day. And don't let civilians forget either.

With the GOP hell-bent on self-destruction, let's help them on their way.

"But what about Trump?" you ask? "He got away with it again!"

Well, yes. But also, probably no.

Karma moves slowly sometimes, but she does move.

Case in point: O.J. got away with murder. But karma made damned sure he still ended up behind bars (for robbing a sports-memorabilia collector at gunpoint).

And I have to believe the same will be true of Donald O.J. Trump. There's a reason Trump was so desperate to remain President -- because it provided protection from facing criminal charges.

He doesn't have that protection anymore!

There are plenty of ways it could happen, too.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is continuing to investigate Trump's corrupt business dealings in New York; Fulton County, Georgia's new District Attorney Fani Willis has opened a criminal investigation into Trump's unbelievably stupid phone calls to Georgia officials bullying them to "find" votes in his favor. The case goes to the grand jury in March. Washington, D.C. could still issue a warrant for Trump's arrest for inciting the violence on January 6. Who knows what other law-enforcement agencies are investigating him?

Even if Trump scribbled some "pardon" to himself on a napkin, it wouldn't apply to the state cases in New York, Georgia or elsewhere.

And just one felony conviction would bar him from ever running for President again.

His coming troubles aren't all just criminal, either.

Survivors of the dead, or anyone injured or damaged in the Jan. 6 attack, could sue Trump for monetary damages in civil court. (And Trump no longer has the Office of President to protect him from subpoenas, or from giving depositions under oath!)

Even if he faces only some of the above legal challenges, they'll quickly eat up whatever money he has. With $400 million in additional debt also coming due within a couple of years, he's going to need all his cash -- and his freedom -- to keep earning more.

I look forward to when he is deprived of both his money and his freedom.

But even if he succeeds in alluding a prison sentence (doubtful), the rest of his life will be filled with legal challenges, financial troubles, endless lawyer fees, and probably a lengthy and costly divorce proceeding.

None of that is good for a person's health -- especially when said person exists on a diet of McDonald's and Diet Coke.

Meanwhile, as we wait for Trump's eventual comeuppance, we have plenty of work to keep us busy

We have a corrupt political party to sweep off into the history bins.

Let's start today.

YouTubing

With grown ups once again at the controls in Washington, my days aren't nearly as consumed by news (and outrage) as they had been. For that, I am incredibly grateful!

But with Los Angeles still the American epicenter of COVID-19, there's not a lot out there with which to fill my sudden abundance of free time.

Show business is still in hibernation mode. And I can't seem to focus enough to get started writing my next book, even though I know what it will be.

Thank God for all the movies and series on the streaming platforms!

But being a Gemini, I often find the sheer number of choices to be a bit mind-numbing. I open up Netflix (or Amazon Prime, or HBO Max, or Hulu, or CBS All Access, or AppleTV+). Next thing I know, its two hours later, and I'm still scrolling, scrolling, scrolling...

Too often, I cannot pick a single "tree" out of the TV "forest."

And we don't even have Disney+, Peacock, or the new Paramount+, or the Waffle House Channel (jk!) -- or else my head would explode!

So since my attention span during the last several months has been next to nil, I've been going retro and turning to YouTube more and more for entertainment and distraction. The short clips are more my speed these days.

In no particular order, here are 10 of my current favorite YouTube channels, and a little bit about why I love them.

Cinema Rules

I guarantee you'll laugh as you watch British lads Shaun and Tom screen (and react to) famous films for the first time.

Laurence and I discovered them around Halloween, as they started with horror classics and slasher films, and we became instant fans.

Their post-mortems are actually quite intelligent -- so much so, I sometimes wonder if they are actually film students.

They've since broadened their scope, and now watch other genres as well. They are always very entertaining, no matter the film. It's interesting to get the younger generation's take on the classics. But I still enjoy them most when they are screaming and cringing at shock and gore!

An added bonus: the boys are very cute, and have such great chemistry, that you might find their videos just a touch homoerotic around the edges!

Be Kind Rewind

Film history with a strong feminist slant. This channel offers many fascinating videos about women in Hollywood.

Most of the videos focus on a Best Actress winner of a particular year, the other nominees, and the political, artistic, and social influences that led to each winner's march up to the podium.

But other offerings dive deep into topics such as "Why We Love Meryl Streep"; the "feud" between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford; comparisons of every version of A Star Is Born and Little Women; a historical guide to Mank; the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and why the Oscars and the film business tends to be so damned white!

I know it sounds stuffy, but the vids are anything but. They are written, produced and narrated by Isabel C. with sly humor and more than a little snark.

Beyond The Trailer

Entertainment reporter Grace Randolph offers film analysis, reviews, and Hollywood news that every film geek will love. Because she's a big film geek, too!

On Fridays, she offers detailed info on the major films coming out that weekend; on Tuesday, she offers analysis of the weekend's box office numbers.

And throughout the week, she posts movies reviews, shot-by-shot trailer breakdowns, casting news, and more. If you're a fan of comic-book movies, you will particularly love her! (Don't worry, she digs DC & Marvel equally!)

Vogue 's 73 Questions

I've become hooked on Vogue magazine's interview series (sadly now on hold due to COVID). Thank God they shot a lot of them before lockdown!

In each video, a famous guest from show-biz, fashion, or sports answers a rapid-fire list of questions thrown at them by an off-screen interviewer who follows them about for the duration.

The subjects are always moving -- about their house, across their yard, down the street. And yes, some do feel a bit staged (they would have to be -- have you ever answered that many questions without a single pause?) But they are fun and entertaining, and many offer a glimpse into the subject's home or work space. My favorites so far include Dan Levy, Gal Gadot (natch), Lizzo, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

CinemaSins / CinemaWins

Run by the same folks, these two tongue-in-cheek channels are the flip side of the same coin.

CinemaSins hilariously lists everything wrong with a particular film, using a counter to add up just how many "sins" the movie has committed. Its a very quick way to "hate watch." (I don't think I could've sat through Cats any other way!)

CinemaWins does the same thing, only in reverse. Its counter lists everything a particular film does well. I've also used this channel to help decide on whether or not to watch movies I'm not sure I want to commit to -- most recently Midsommar (which I loved).

Yanis Marshall

DISCLAIMER: Do not try this at home!

French dancer Yanis Marshall first found fame on Britain's Got Talent in 2014, for his high-energy routines performed in very high spiked high heels.

The 31-year-old has since found success as a choreographer, and travels the globe teaching his "Heels Intensive" routines, many of which can be found on his YouTube channel.

He is truly a marvel to behold. I couldn't even walk in his shoes without breaking my ankles. Damn, the boy can dance! I dare any football player to match the athleticism in these numbers!

Screen Junkies

This show-biz obsessed channel offers hilarious commentary and reviews on movies, TV, and pop culture in general.

But my favorite clips are their "Honest Trailers," wherein they recut film trailers so that they more honestly (and hilariously) describe the film they advertise.

Here's a sample, from Wonder Woman 1984: "Crank up the girl power -- after you crank through an hour of just ... kinda ... waiting for the plot to get going" (followed by a 15-second silent scene of Steve and Diana walking through the aviation museum at the Smithsonian).

Amanda Gari

OK, so I might be a bit biased with this choice. But my good friend and colleague Amanda Gari's dollops of political satire, disguised as musical-theatre parodies, helped keep me sane during the Trump Era, and continues to do so as we wait out COVID. And every so often, she appears as Judy Garland (a character she has a side career portraying!).

With her wonderful voice, comic timing, and satirical lyrics (which she writes herself), she'll have you asking "Who's Randy Rainbow?" in no time!

HISHE

No, its not a site about gender pronouns. It stands for "How It Should Have Ended."

Using fabulous animation, this channel produces parody alternative endings to recent major motion pictures. -- while gently poking fun at said film's shortcomings.

From DC to Star Wars to Marvel to Disney, no sacred cow is spared!

SuperSoaps

File this one under "Sheer Guilty Pleasure." If you're a fan of any of the prime-time soaps from the 1980s, you'll find plenty to like on this channel.

Top Ten lists, tributes to stars who have passed, and lots of fan-favorite scenes. You won't find any deep analysis of the '80s Prime Time Soap Phenom -- but you will find a fun trip down memory lane.

* * * * *

All this YouTube viewing has led my husband's latest catchphrase: "Can we watch a real show now?"

He's about to get his wish. With the delayed Screen Actors Guild Award season now upon us, I'll have to forsake YouTube, at least temporarily. For I now have a long list of films and TV series to watch before casting my ballot!

So I've shown you my list! Comment below and tell me your favorite YouTube channels or videos, and/or what you're watching on TV!

The Shit Show Implodes

I wanted to call this "We Survived Trump!" But tragically, 400,000 Americans (and counting) have not.

Or "He Didn't Blow Us Up!" -- my greatest fear around this time four years ago.

(Don't jinx us, Leon. He's not out of the Oval Office yet!)

But here we are -- finally nearing the end of the shit show that has been Donald J. Trump's Presidency.

(It's been the longest four years of my life. Hell, I've aged five years just since March!)

But back to our outgoing President and his accomplishments. A partial list:

The only president to be impeached twice. The largest one-year loss of American lives ever. The largest daily loss of American lives ever. The only president to leave with higher unemployment. The largest national debt ever left by a President. The only president to serve McDonald's at a state dinner.

But his many failures, endless temper tantrums, and dubious achievements pale in comparison to his undeniable crimes this past week.

As much as we'd hoped to put Trump behind us quickly, for now that's impossible. Damn!

For after lying non-stop for months about his historic popular and electoral loss to Joe Biden, Trump scheduled that now-infamous rally outside the White House for Jan. 6 -- the very day Congress was scheduled to confirm Biden's electoral-vote victory.

He enticed his fans for weeks, promising it would "be wild," that they could "stop the steal." Congressional Trump ass-kissers encouraged their followers to attend, too, as did the usual gang of right-wing propaganda artists.

Anyone on social media knew that Jan. 6 would be a dangerous time to be in Washington D.C.

Well, apparently anyone except the ones we pay to know such things.

At the rally, following comic ghoul Rudy Giuliani's call for "trial by combat," Trump took the stage.

While continually repeating his fantastical lies that the election was stolen, he worked the radical-right crowd into a bloodthirsty rage.

He urged them to "fight much harder" against "bad people"; chiding "you have to show strength and you have to be strong." He told them "when you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules."

"We've got to get rid of the weak congresspeople [sic] ... we got to get rid of them ...We will never concede ... you don't concede when there's theft involved ... our country has had enough ... we will not take it anymore ... if you don't fight like hell, we won't have a country anymore."

What resulted was a literal terrorist attack, by any reasonable standard, and took the lives of at least five people, including a Capitol Police officer. Another officer lost an eye. (Others are currently hospitalized and recovering.)

Trump had told them he'd march with them to the Capitol building. A lie, natch. He watched the ensuing melee on TV with glee, reports say, only regretting that his terrorists weren't more telegenic.

The wannabe "revolutionaries" brought weapons, broke into offices, stole laptops, went hunting for Pelosi and others, and literally left shit all over our Capitol.

But the attempted insurrection failed.

Following hours in lock-down (where Republicans refused to wear masks, and guess how that's turning out!), Congress reconvened that very night and certified Biden's win.

America prevailed.

Then Congress promptly impeached Trump for inciting an insurrection.

Big Business was pretty quick to follow, with corporate donors announcing they weren't going to be donors anymore -- at least not to anyone who perpetuated the election-theft myth.

Facebook suspended him.

Then, the impossible happened. Twitter finally booted @RealDonaldJTrump, and then blocked him from @POTUS and other official accounts. (A development that gives me no small satisfaction, I admit!)

Right-wing Parler lost all their vendors and went buh-bye.

Media is generally proclaiming "America wakes up to Trump's evil ways."

(Uh, hello? Millions of us have been screaming it from the rooftops for over four years!)

In the days since, there's emerging evidence that the assault was planned and coordinated in advance, and the insurrectionists were aided and abetted by sitting Republican members of Congress.

Some of them (I'm looking at you, Lauren Boebert!) hosted groups of the terrorists into the Capitol on Jan. 5 (verboten since March 2020 for obvious reasons), for "reconnaissance."

While a few brave Republican souls have condemned Trump, the rest are apparently terrified -- of Trump, of Trump's Terrorists, of possible investigations, of losing their base.

Too many Republicans have fallen right back into "bullshit mode," urging that an impeachment trial won't unite America (wanna bet?) and -- after four years of attacks -- saying we should just move on (not gonna happen!).

But wait, there's more!

The FBI has briefed Congress that more attacks are planned, including on Biden's inauguration next week, and on state capitols coast to coast.

It boggles the mind,.

But does it surprise me? No. As I said, I feared we'd be in a nuclear winter by now.

But there's good news, too.

Since the traitors stupidly posted tons of photos and videos of their criminal acts, the FBI predicts hundreds of arrests. Footage of crying Trumpettes in airports, as they learn of their new no-fly status, has been delighting millions.

Within days, Joe Biden will be sworn in.

Kamala Harris will become our first female Vice President -- one of color at that!

We will have control of the House.

We will have control of the Senate (finally), thanks in large part to Georgia's Stacy Abrams. ("Have a seat in the rear, Mr. McConnell!")

We can finally -- finally! -- begin to repair our nation from the venereal disease known as Donald J. Trump & family.

Wonder Woman Saves X'Mas But Not Cinemas!

As many of you may already know, I am a bit of a Wonder Woman fanatic.

I discovered the comic book in grade school; fell in love with Lynda Carter's interpretation during junior high; and continued to read her adventures, collect her action figures, and aspire to the characteristics the character represents -- honesty, bravery, and a willingness to fight for justice and the underdog -- ever since.

I'm such a die-hard fan, that as I impatiently waited for the June 2017 release of Wonder Woman -- a film decades in the making -- I remember thinking, "After waiting this long, Donald Trump better not kill us all before I see this movie!"

Thankfully, he didn't. And I did. And I absolutely loved it.

So the irony isn't lost on me this go 'round, as COVID-19 (and Trump's disinterest in science) has bumped the release date of the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, repeatedly -- from June 2020, to October, then to Christmas Day.

Once again, I'm thinking, "Trump better not kill me before I see this movie!" But this time, its not quite as funny. (Because 254,000 have already perished as I write this.)

But with cinemas in Los Angeles (as well as New York, San Francisco and elsewhere) closed, many WW fans (myself included) were screaming at Warner Bros.:

"Why won't you just release it POD, or on HBOmax, a la Disney+'s release for Mulan?"

Our screams fell on deaf ears. So it seemed.

Now, with alarmingly skyrocketing numbers of COVID cases and deaths not only coast to coast, but worldwide as well, WB has finally faced the music. This past week, they announced WW84 will still open in theatres (well, in those that are open) on Christmas Day, but it will also stream on HBOmax beginning Dec. 25 as well.

Its wonderful news for Wonder Woman fans like me. An added bonus? After accepting that I would not be spending Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's doing anything exciting, and despite having no real money to spend on gifts, I at least now look forward to Christmas morning almost like a giddy child.

But as quick as WW fans were to celebrate, almost immediately came a deluge of voices, proclaiming that WW84's move to streaming would be the last nail in the coffin of the near-dead cinema industry.

And those critics have cause to be concerned. The future doesn't look bright for movie houses.

Warner Bros. hoped Christopher Nolan's new film Tenet would seduce audiences back into the theatres that were open. But crowds understandably stayed away in droves.

So other distributors started moving release dates for their films -- highly anticipated films like Black Widow, Dune, Candyman, No Time to Die, West Side Story -- to 2021.

But not Warner Bros.! Just like in the comics, WB was determined that Wonder Woman was to come flying in for a last-minute rescue in 2020, and give theatre-owners the hope of at least a little cash in their coffers for Christmas.

But now that Warner Bros. will stream the film beginning on Christmas, it's reasonable to assume most viewers will opt to stay home and watch it with their families -- greatly diminishing the already miniscule crowds that could and would see it in a cinema.

It's good news for limiting the spread of the virus. But the worst possible news for cinemas.

The Regal Cinemas chain has already thrown in the towel, closing all domestic U.S. locations. AMC Theatres, the largest U.S. chain with over 600 locations, said if it doesn't reach 75% of previous capacity very soon, the chain will shutter for good unless it receives a substantial government bail-out.

And those are large chains, with healthy cash reserves (now depleted). The forecast is even more bleak for smaller chains and the one or two small-town "mom-and-pop" theatres. Many of those are already long gone.

It's similar to the dilemma Hollywood faced in the 1950s, as television kept more and more people at home in front of their sets, and out of movie theatres.

Back then, the studios predicted the complete collapse of the movie theatre.

But it didn't happen then. And I personally don't think it will happen now.

Yes, many theatre chains will close. It may be a long time before we're all comfortable with sitting in crowds of strangers again.

Cinema may hibernate for a while. But it will return.

Some movies demand a big screen. Other films deserve to be seen with an audience, And film festivals need to move back from the computer screen and drive-in to the theatres eventually.

Once the vaccine is wildly distributed, folks will slowly come back inside the movie houses.

At least I hope so! After all, I still hope to watch Wonder Woman 3 in a packed theatre filled with other WW fans!

Maybe by the time that happens, life will be somewhat back to normal.

Banned for Life!

For some time, I've badgered Twitter for answers to three questions, starting with this one:

"Why has every account I've ever had on your platform -- including those for Old Dogs & New Tricks and SUB-LEBRITY -- been shut down at some point without explanation?"

Well, official word has finally arrived from the bizarrely bearded Mr. Dorsey's dysfunctional company.

I am banned from Twitter. For life. Or, in their words:

Note that if you attempt to evade a permanent suspension by creating new accounts, we will suspend your new accounts. If you wish to appeal this suspension, please contact our support team .

Twitter being Twitter, they continue to ignore my other queries:

"What did I tweet (and from which account) that was so offensive as to ban me forever? And how do I appeal if you won't tell me what I'm appealing?"

I won't hold my breath for further explanation. I have a hunch, which I'll get to in a bit!

But first, in the interest of full disclosure:

For about ten years, I've had a love/hate relationship with Twitter. I recognize its power, although I never really mastered how to use it to maximum effectiveness. While it's great for self-promotion, it's also a bit of a cesspool of rage.

Still, as an actor and writer, I saw it as a necessary evil.

But then Donald Trump ran for President. He began tweeting hateful, outrageous lies practically every 20 minutes.

It was just too easy to respond, react, insult -- not only to him, but also his icky family, the sycophants in his administration, and the ass-licking Congressional Republicans as well.

As a result, Trump blocked me from his Twitter feed early in his campaign, way back in late 2015 (a fact that pleased my parents to no end).

But I kept at it. And at it. When they closed one account, I would create another. Then I used the accounts for my show and my book to "talk back" to Trump. Apparently, at some point, Twitter got wise and I was tagged as persona non grata.

But can we really blame Twitter for being oh, ever so protective of Trump? If Trump didn't exist, neither would Twitter. After all, he basically saved them from bankruptcy single-handedly!

Twitter stock had fallen 72% -- seventy-two percent! -- since its all-time high in 2014. Twitter wasn't even Pepsi to Facebook's Coca-Cola -- Twitter was the online equivalent of R.C. Cola or Shasta, and barely treading water.

But then, along came Trump, who "made Twitter one of his key speaking platforms, inspiring critics, traders, and supporters to follow the account avidly, trawling for clues on the administrations next steps .... that’s great news for the ailing social media company" explained Fortune magazine in its Feb. 2018 piece ,How Donald Trump Could Save Twitter.

But things may soon be changing a bit on the platform.

A while back, as they were bombarded with demands to delete Trump's account, Twitter changed it's rules for "world leaders, candidates, and public officials.” They were now exempt from most of the rules that govern the rest of us commoners in Tweetsville.

Obviously. Because Trump's constant lies, insults, conspiracy theories -- which would (and did) get any of us banned -- continue with only an occasional "warning label" slapped on his most outrageous tweets.

But ,after Jan. 20, 2021, Trump will no longer qualify as a "world leader" or "public official" (did you just say "Hallelujah"? I did!). ,His vile, malignant tweets will, supposedly, be policed like the rest of us,.

So who knows? In a just a few weeks, Trump may find himself in the same boat as I!

Don't expect me to pull a hissy fit, like repugnant Republican queen Milo Yiannopoulos did when he was forced off Twitter, and claim that the platform is now doomed to extinction.

Bitch, please. I wish!

Alas, I fear we are stuck with the toxicity of Twitter for some time.

But Trump's possible absence would impact Twitter. ,Just on Oct. 30, Twitter's stock plunged 20% as investors began to ask "What happens if Trump loses?"

In any event, I am actually quite content to be blocked from that poisonous snake pit -- and relieved of the temptation to engage with its many deplorables. Because I expect Twitter's toxicity levels -- and the temptation to wallow in those toxins -- will only increase.

If Trump is cut off from his favorite toy, other vile monsters will just take his place, like a venomous, conservative hydra.

Or maybe they will all just move to Parler! Buh bye!

So, what horribly offensive tweet got me kicked off? I seriously have no clue. I've mouthed off a lot. And as I've mentioned, Twitter isn't exactly a font of information in this regard.

It may have been when I tweeted to Ivanka a photo of a naked Barbie doll and asked "Show us on the doll where Daddy touched you!"

Perhaps it was the many times I referred to Trump's wife as the "White House Whore."

Or maybe it was when I insinuated that praying wasn't the only time Paula White got on her knees for Trump.

It could've been all the bad-natured ribbing I gave the hideous Trump sons. One example: "WHO THE FUCK GETS BANNED FROM CHARITY WORK? People who steal from children's cancer charities, that's who! People like YOU!"

But my instincts tell me it was when I replied to one of Trump's most contemptable comments (who can remember which one now?) from the ODNT account with just two simple words:

"DROP DEAD"

Twitter instantly made like Ricky Ricardo, telling me I "had some 'splainin' to do!"

I sent them this screen capture, from the Oxford dictionary:

I assured them it was a common expression, a figure of speech. As demonstrative evidence, I even sent them an example from 1975:

No reply. And that was the beginning of their long silent treatment.

Now I ask you: Is "Drop Dead," in that context, any worse than the garbage our repugnant soon-to-be ex-President tweets on a daily basis? Worse than the insults to women and minorities? Worse than the conspiracy theories and flat-out lies?

Ah, how wonderful to have a new President starting Jan. 20!

And how delightful it would be, not to have Trump's constant, shrill Twitter-enabled bullshit driving the news.

Please, Mr. Dorsey, grow a caveman's courage to accompany your caveman facial hair, and finally -- FINALLY! -- stop playing hail to the chief, and start giving hell to the ex-chief!

Dear Cindy Brady,

Yes, I know, your name is really Susan Olsen. But I also know that you hate to be called Cindy Brady.

Sorry. Old habits die hard.

After four years of hateful presidential tweets and press conferences full of snark and shade, my first impulse on this wonderful morning is to figuratively grab you by your pig tails, push your face down into Trump’s humiliation, and rub your nose in it.

But I’m not going to.

Because the days of insults and over-the-top online hostility – the type of behavior that Trump introduced on a national scale and made to seem almost acceptable, the type of behavior you demonstrated during our "feud" four years ago – are over.

Done.

Trump lost.

It’s time to return civility back into the national discourse.

It’s time to reject childish, churlish behavior from grown-ups who should know better.

Sadly, being the cult it is, Trump’s fans (you) continue to buy into any number of conspiracy theories that allow them (you) to believe he won; they (you) will continue attack anyone who challenges their (your) tenuous grasp of reality with insults and ugly names.

A decade from now, half of you will still be projecting conspiracy theories about this election, embarrassing your family members as you refuse to figuratively remove your red hats.

I suspect the other half will be too mortified to admit that they once supported such a vile, malignant tumor of a human being.

Whoops. There I go I again. This will be a hard habit to break. But I will.

For over four years, I’ve tried to understand how otherwise intelligent people – people like you – could have been sucked in by Trump’s hateful rhetoric. But as of today, I’ve stopped wondering. I no longer care. I don’t have to.

It’s time for crackpots like you and Alex Jones and all the rest to go back to the fringe where you belong.

It's time for intelligent Americans to work together, and to accept compromise.

It's time for us to behave like adults again.

It's time for those who can’t to go and sit back down at the little kids' table and let the grown-ups get to work.

And that's not snark. That's just a fact.

A Google search of either of our names instantly calls up our blow-up from four years ago. We're sure to be mentioned in each other's obituaries. Like it or not, Susan, we are "linked" together for the rest of our lives.

For that reason alone, I sincerely hope you take this time to look inward.

Please try to solve the mystery of how someone like you -- pro-choice, dedicated to animal welfare, so supportive of Mr. Reed when he died of AIDS -- could have been seduced by such a vile, unqualified man as Donald J. Trump.

And maybe one day, I'll be able to watch The Brady Bunch again without cringing.

Your former fan,

Leon Acord

4 Long Years Later...

"People don't show up early, in record numbers during a pandemic, to maintain a status quo." Norman Acord

I sure hope Dad is right!

Seeing the long, long lines of folks, waiting patiently for hours & hours to cast their early votes, has been truly encouraging & heartwarming.

It certainly is promising to hear, for example, that the number of early 2020 voters in Texas has already surpassed the total number of 2016 Texas voters!

And I would love nothing more than for Saturday Night Live to go back to being irrelevant again. I would adore waking up in the morning without immediately wondering "What horseshit will our President spew today?"

But never forget, hardcore conservative Republicans never skip an election day. Never ever. Having seen the polls, they are now trying to cheat (limit votes, intimidate voters, delay vote-by-mail, and cast doubt on the results.) Just in California alone, the GOP set up fake ballot drop-boxes. And in Los Angeles, someone tried to set fire to one of the real drop boxes.

If you're actually voting at the polls Tuesday, please keep your cellphone in hand, and discreetly record your entire experience -- especially if you feel threatened or intimidated. The FBI just might need to see your footage! (And please, be very kind to the poll workers. Obviously, they are working under unbelievably stressful conditions.)

I'm prepared, as we all should be, for Donald Trump (and his mouth-breathing morons) to try anything -- anything -- to hang onto the White House. He's just had yet another fence erected around the White House. His ISIS-esque truck convoys are already shutting down major freeways and even tried to run a Biden bus off the road, for Christ's sake!

I'm not sure what will provoke them more this week -- a Trump loss or a Trump victory? Either way, we can expect the worst of these fools to act out. It's why so many storefronts are boarding up and shutting down this week.

Nevertheless, I'm already making my sign ("Every Vote Counts/Count Every Vote") and am prepared to take to the streets should Orange Shitler declare victory before the votes are counted, or if he attempts to cast doubt on the results, or any number of shenanigans he'll attempt to maintain power.

If the past four years have shown us anything, it's that Trump will try everything. He knows he has nothing but legal troubles to look forward to (and hopefully a lengthy jail sentence) if he loses.

Perhaps even more dangerous is what will happen when the megalomaniac has to face the fact that he has failed. Big time.

However, there is a very real possibility that Trump could legitimately "win" the electoral college again, if not the popular vote.

That's why every one is on edge this Monday.

That's why everyone must vote.

It seems, during every presidential campaign cycle, we hear the old hyperbolic saw "Vote as though the future of your country -- as though your life -- depends on it!"

I'm still in shock that it's no longer hyperbole. It truly is that important for YOU get out tomorrow and vote (if you aren't one of the millions who already have!).

So gird your loins, find your inner Wonder Woman or Superman, slap on your mask (and a shield, and gloves wouldn't hurt), and go out there and be a super hero for representative democracy!

We must send a message so loud, so undeniable, that the entire world hears it!

Then hunker down with whatever gets you through this most bizarre of weeks! And please, stay safe!