Isolation is nothing; Love is everything.

Today's Tids Issue 4.611

Smile at somebody:

It’s tough to write about a world that’s standing still. It’s hard to be an old curmudgeon when the world needs laughter and encouragement. It’s a time to disregard the petty ills we have felt and reach into a happy place, not just for ourselves, but for all of those around us who want to feel the brilliance of a warm and bright and nourishing sun. Somehow, we’ll get over this. It will end. But, being an old bastard like me has just got to change.

Let’s see, Break, Beach and Beer… or Bernie? The youth voter block must have opted for bacchanalia because the nation’s leading Socialist got crushed yesterday in Florida, Illinois and Arizona by the National Plagiarist Laureate.  

Tom Brady talk certainly helped fill yesterday’s vacuum. After today’s opening of NFL free agency and then the NFL Draft to come, it is just about the end of sports till the middle of next summer when perhaps we’ll see baseball, and NHL and NBA playoffs. And hopefully return of PGA Golf.

I used to get up early to play golf at dawn. Now it’s to go shopping in relatively uncrowded stores.

To be Frank, I’d have to change my name.

The Question:

What was the main claim to fame for Irene Cara, Kevin Dobson, John Kander and Vanessa Williams?

The Headlines:

--Financial Roller Coaster Continues With Hopeful Up Day Followed By Possible Depressing Down Day; Futures Tumble; Trump Admin Continuing To Push Massive Anti-CV Stimulus.

--5.7 Earthquake Hits Utah; Power Outages Hit SLC.

--April 15 Tax Day Deadline Is Extended 90 Days For All Americans Owing Less than $1 Million; Corporations Owing Less Than $10 Million.

--Biden Sweeps; Berenice Wonders; Biden Jumps Across 1,000 Delegate Line; Needs 1,991 For Nomination..

--McConnell Tells Repub Senators To “Gag And Vote For The Stimulus Bill”; Senators Close To Agreement At Mid-Morning.

--China Revokes Credentials Of All Americans Working For WSJ, NYT, Wapo.

--Tom Brady Officially Commits To Tampa Bay.

--Former GOP California Congressman Duncan Hunter Gets 11 Years On Felony Conspiracy Conviction; He And Wife Margaret Lived Off Campaign Donations; Masked Illegal Spending Ss Gifts To Wounded Veterans; Wife Margaret Set For Sentencing In April.

--Bernie To Assess Future Over Next Several Weeks.

Warren Buffet Today: On answering a question about the implications of negative interest rates – “I would say that is the most important question in the world. And I don’t know the answer. Now, if we knew the answer, it wouldn’t be the most important questing.” He ended by answering another question, “Do negative rates scare you?” “They puzzle me,” said The Oracle, “but they don’t scare me”. Now that’s a little bit of good.

If you closed all the bridges to this island upon which I and many live, you shouldn’t get any of those bad grams. Right? But, there wouldn’t be a way for trucks to deliver food. Flu or starvation? Tough choices.  

Hob Knobbing: When cheap door handles talk to expensive door handles.

One investment company is recommending buying DAWN over FANG. You remember FANG -- Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google.  Yes, we face a new dawning and that is Domino’s Pizza, Activision Blizzard, Walmart and Netflix. DAWN is the new Stay-at-Home package for Isolated living. You got your food delivery. You got your gaming. You get your ability to order household necessities and you got your streaming movies. The world changes rapidly these days.

Our mountains aren’t just funny, they are hill areas.

Spell-Check isn’t that smart. When I mistakenly type “P’” to begin an obvious “O” Word, why wouldn’t S-C recognize that “P” is next to “O” and because of the real possibility of a slipping finger offer at least one option started with “P”. Like perhaps l using logic. Is Spell-Check like its Auto-Driving Cousin?

Word has it that Hollywood will be sending new movies immediately to On Demand Pay TV options. Theaters are closed, and the moguls have got to start creating revenue to offset production costs. Could this turn into the big experiment that obviates the need for theaters, except for producers and directors whose egos can only be assuaged by the size of super wide screen.

Of course, going to the movies is a place to go. As is shopping, as is seeing doctors, as is going to sporting events and music events and dining out. This current mess will prove one thing for sure, getting off the couch and out into the sun, or at least having that option, is an essential quality of life.

Kim Jong un says he has a cure for the Virus! Long range missiles with H-Bomb war heads.

There’s no truth to the rumor that Bernie Sanders will be doing Capital One Credit Card “What’s in Your wallet” TV commercials.

But he likes the idea.

What could be safer than playing golf on broad green fields with yard and yards between people? Especially if you are like me who hits the ball where nobody goes!

Odorless perfumes are non-scents.

There’s a curious little dilemma facing NCAA College administrators. Because spring college sports have been cancelled, athletes playing Lacrosse, softball, baseball and more may be given an extra year of eligibility. Yet many HS athletes have been recruited based on a promise of stepping in when seniors graduate. Any super HS athlete now looking at some splinter time, wil soon be disgruntled. Expect a rush transfers and secondary recruiting.

There was no St. Patrick’s parade here yesterday, but our parade Grand Marshall was arrested wearing official banner and all while tenderly negotiating his trip home after much too much celebration in Irish halls. These are weird times.

I would describe Duncan Hunter and his wife Margaret as low-life’s, entirely amoral.

The Answer:

Irene Cara (Original last name Escalera) was best known for “Fame”. She was quite amazing, but most forget that Irene won an Academy Award and Grammy for writing and singing the best song, “Flashdance”!  Kevin Dobson rose to fame playing Detective Bobby Crocker, protégé to Teli Savalas playing Kojak. Dobson also had a good run On Knots Landing as Mack McKenzie. John Kander, a great American composer, teamed with lyricist Fred Ebb to give us super musical hits Cabaret, Chicago and about 13 other Broadway and some film favorites. He also wrote a little ditty called “New York, New York”, which you may have heard Sinatra using well in his performances. You may have noticed that. Vanessa Williams became famous as the first African-American Miss America and then for the losing her title after an unauthorized nude pic of her was published in Penthouse. She rebounded to have a pretty good acting career.

The Kentucky Derby still uses “My Old Kentucky Home” as an opening song. The Preakness also follows tradition using “My Maryland”. But the Belmont which used to have people singing “East Side West side, all around the town…”, opted to abandon tradition for Kander’s New York, New York. I prefer tradition, Sorry John Kander.

Time for a long walk in glorious sunshine.