My son and I had been together, every single day, since January of 2020. When I decided to take a brief trip to Madison, I asked if he wanted to join me. He declined. Some time apart is healthy. I’d feel better about it, however, if it weren’t for the Delta variant. I went out of town to attend my first indoor music show. Orville Peck was absolutely amazing. The venue was lovely. As was the boutique hotel I booked, a block from the venue. I drove there after work Thursday night, worked from the comfort of my hotel room all day Friday, then went to the show. It all would have been so perfect but being packed into a crowd of 2500 other humans was unsettling, to say the least. Maybe 60% of us were wearing masks. I hope the percentage of folks vaccinated was much higher. I try not to judge other parents, but a couple brought their unmasked three or four year-old daughter to this sold-out show, and without ear protection to boot. If my son was still ineligible for the vaccine, we wouldn’t be engaging in such risky behavior. I do wish I could have gone to Orville Peck’s outdoor show, at Red Rocks, instead. Or that the venue required proof of vaccination, like the First Avenue empire now requires. I hope more businesses go this route. My new employer planned to have us return to the office, part-time, following Labor Day. But this current surge is so severe that that plan is now on hold, thankfully.
In less dire news, comedy continues to help me get by.
- Ted Lasso is back, and as beautiful as ever. And my Roy Kent crush has only deepened (the twitter-verse is with me on that one). Roy Kent is played by the delightful Brett Goldstein, who has a podcast called Films to Be Buried With. He has a lot of other great comedians on to discuss two topics that occupy my thoughts: films and death.
- A repeat guest on Brett’s podcast is the incomparable Romesh Ranganathan. Who also has a show with Rob Beckett. I’ve seen many episodes of Rob & Rom Vs. but a recent one had me just howling. So much that I alarmed my son. Watching the out-of-shape Rob and Rom attempt to participate in Olympic sports was a thing I didn’t know I needed.
- Speaking of out-of-shape middle-aged people (I am one, myself), I thoroughly enjoyed The Paper Tigers. Now on Netflix. The movie “blends action, comedy, and heart to produce a fresh martial arts movie with plenty of throwback charm.” I highly recommend it.
- Back to the Olympics, the only coverage I really consumed was comedic. Like Snoop Dogg’s commentary on dressage. Perfection. Or diver Tom Daley’s impressive knitting output.
- Another source of joy recently has been the musical comedy Schmigadoon!
Sad that we’re already reaching the finale this Friday. I wouldn’t want Melissa and Josh to be trapped there forever, but I could use more episodes. Each one has been so brilliant.
Last September, for my son’s pandemic birthday, we had a small outdoor picnic. We were careful to spread out and shout to have conversations with the handful of friends and family we invited. To make up for last year’s lackluster celebration, I’ve rented out a small movie theater next month to host a private screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. We’re asking our guests to only come if they have been vaccinated and that they wear masks throughout to minimize risk. Really hoping that the covid surge reverses and we can pull this off safely.
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