A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Graphic by Open-ClipArt Vectors from Pixabay In these dark and scary times when most of us ﹘ except virus deniers, stubborn individualists, skeptical libertarians, the occasional inebriated Spring Breaker and #CoronaKatie ﹘ are coping with the New Normality of self-quarantines, social distancing, and trying to remember the symptoms of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, humor is an excellent and essential coping mechanism. Now, I know that laughter is not the best medicine to fight the virus itself; avoiding infected persons, washing hands with soap and water, staying away from places where 10 or more people gather, and being mindful of your surroundings are the best preventive measures. But in a world where the reports of more cases and more deaths assail our eyes, ears, and nervous systems on a 24/7 basis, humor ﹘ even gallows humor ﹘ helps keep us sane and a bit less stressed out. So, without further ado, here are some suggestions for Broadway musicals with a COVID

Photo Illustration Credit: Pixabay Last night, while I was on Twitter, I came across a tweet by novelist Harry Turtledove, the guy who writes alternative history novels along the lines of Guns of the South and Ruled Britannia. I follow him on Twitter, and although I can't say we are "friends" or even "acquaintances," we have exchanged tweets and replies on that social medium. He has even liked quite a few of my tweets, especially if they are about writing, books, or politics. (On that topic, we both share a dislike for Donald Trump and his divisive brand of "conservatism.") Anyway, before I logged off from my computer last night before dinner, I came across one of Harry's typically clever tweets: Harry Turtledove @HNTurtledove · Jan 28 #AddAWordRuinABook For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls To Have Lunch and to Have Not The Great Big Gatsby Catcher in the Rye Bread The Halloween Mask of Apollo Johnny Got His S

Photo Illustration: Pixabay Hello, Gentle Reader, and welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the blog-within-a-blog where I don't write either political commentary (which is not my forte anyway) or write reviews of movies, books, TV shows, or music albums. This, if you will, is my "miscellaneous" or even my "personal space" section, and I'll be talking a little bit about this and a little bit about that. It's already early afternoon here in my little nook of Florida, and it's a lovely late January day here. The weather is quite pleasant right now; the temperature outside is 66℉ (19℃) under mostly sunny skies; per the forecast, it might get a bit warmer as the high is expected to reach 71℉ (22℃). Tonight the low is expected to reach 54℉ (10℃) around 11 PM Eastern time. Those temperatures are not ones in which I'd stay out-of-doors without the proper cool weather clothing, but they remind me of the typical late fall climate in Sevi

Hello and welcome once again to another installment of Bloggin' On, the "blog within a blog" in which I step out of my usual roles of the online reviewer and political commentator. I'm sorry that I have not been writing as often as I was before late October, but with the 400-posts-for-the-year mark rapidly approaching, I figure that I can slow down a bit now that I've achieved the goal of writing 365 posts in a single calendar year...and exceded it. It's Sunday, November 17 (Already? Wow!) and it's morning here in my corner of Florida. Right now the temperature is 51℉ (10℃) under mostly cloudy skies, and the forecast high will be approximately 65℉ (18℃), and even though no rain is in the forecast, the rest of the day will be mostly cloudy. A cold front (the first strong one of the season) has passed through, and the rest of the week will be cool and definitely fall-like. As for what you can expect to see on A Certain Point of View shortly... Well,

Photo Credit: Pixabay Hi, there, Constant Reader, and welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, my "random thoughts" corner of A Certain Point of View. It's Monday, October 28, 2019, and my morning is about to make the transition into noon here in my little bit of the Sunshine State. Currently, the weather here is still summery. Outside, it's hot; the temperature is 85℉ (29℃), but a limp easterly breeze and humidity levels at 80% makes it feel like it's 96℉ (35℃). With Halloween only three days away, these high temperatures certainly do not feel seasonal at all, not even for Florida. So, last night Donald Trump and his entourage, including his trophy wife Melania, attended Game 5 of the World Series at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. Ordinarily, this would not be newsworthy since most modern Presidents often attend pro sports games if they take place in Washington or adjacent cities. What makes it worth mentioning here, folks, is that Trump rece

Image by Lubos Houska, Pixabay Hello again and welcome to another installment of Bloggin' On, an occasional feature here in A Certain Point of View where I'll just prattle on about stuff that doesn't fall into the established categories of my blog (namely, reviews, political commentary, or updates about my literary or film projects). It's Friday, October 25, 2019, and it's a typically warm and muggy "fall" morning here in my corner of Florida. Currently, the temperature outside is 82℉ (28℃) under partly sunny skies. The humidity level is 85%, giving us an "endless summer" feels-like temperature of 91℉ (33℃). I' should try to get out and get fresh air and sunlight, but I'm not fond of humid heat, so I'll just stay indoors in the cool confines of my current domicile. So, what am I reading this month, you ask? Take a seat, relax, and enjoy your favorite beverage while I share my October reading list. Okay, so recently I finis

American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race  delves into the origins of Project Apollo and President John F. Kennedy's determination to land a man on the Moon before 1970. © 2019 HarperCollins Hello again and welcome to another installment of A Certain Point of View. It's a sunny autumn morning in my corner of the Sunshine State, with temperatures in the high 70s and no rain in the immediate forecast, although it is expected that it will be hot later today. Per the Weather app on my PC, today's high is estimated to reach 86℉ later this afternoon. Well, it looks like you're going to have to wait a little while longer for a new review; I went to sleep sometime after 2 AM, and even though I got close to six hours of sleep, I'm feeling a bit worn out now. So I think I'll take the rest of the day off from writing and relax with a good book or watch a few episodes of 24's Season Five on DVD. Looking forward to reading (and reviewing) Harr