First of all, everything is fine.

About 40 minutes ago, I smelled smoke in the house. I woke my sister and we checked the whole house. We could both smell it strongly (exception the new extension, praise be), and my eyes started watering in our family room.

Sis thought we should just go back to bed, but I called 911, told them we couldn't see any smoke or flames -- and that I'd checked outside to make certain we weren't smelling a neighbor's house -- but we could smell it.

Now, Savannah rarely drops below 45F, but tonight we're having a hard freeze. So, Sis put on slippers and a fleece. I put on my winter coat, bless 14 years in Boston, and I gave her some gloves. We were inordinately happy that we'd put the dogs in their sweaters on Sunday, so we didn't need to worry too much about their being cold.

We had three fire vehicles here in under 15 minutes, possibly under 10. They went through the whole house twice. No hot spots. The conclusion is that it was the first time the heating had come on and dust or other minor detritus had singed.

I'm somewhat embarrassed, but I think I did the right thing. The firemen were all very kind.

What occurs to me now is that neither of us thought of grabbing our wallets, car keys, or the very nice little box with most of our relevant insurance and mortgage information. It is flood and fire proof. I got it for the folks the Christmas that they moved to Savannah, and it surprised me how difficult it was 5 years ago to find a box the right size that was both.

So, next time -- and I really hope there isn't one -- grab box, grab purse, maybe grab medications?

Merrily We Roll Along won several Tony awards in 2024. It also was filmed and is being released theatrically on December 5. If you like Daniel Radcliffe or Jonathan Groff or the music of Stephen Sondheim, then go see it. It's 2 hours and 25 minutes long, so use the restroom before you find your seats.

I didn't like some of the choices made. One thing I love about theater is that you get to choose where to look. The first scene of this production didn't allow that. There sounds like there's a lot going on in the background, but all we see is a close up on Jonathan Groff. Sometimes another person is in the frame with him, but the bulk of the opening section is him in medium close up responding to what's being sung or occasionally singing himself. It just didn't work for me.

Daniel Radcliffe's patter song "Franklin Shepherd, Inc." is really well done. You can tell that the character is just letting out a whole bunch of stuff that's been building and he didn't intend to do it publicly and he can't stop. It's painful, well sung, and the entire scene becomes devastating.

The years 1960, 1958, and 1957 pay off a lot of what we saw earlier in the play and later in their lives.

Hedda starring Tessa Thompson is excellent. It's not really Ibsen's play; it's more of a fanfic update of the play. Thompson's performance is amazingly good. The character is definitely chaotic, but whether the alignment is neutral or evil is up to the watcher. I don't think anyone could seriously argue for neutral good. Everything is well cast. They made one change toward the end that I think diminished the impact of the movie, but it's also been years since I read the play (on a trip to Norway when I was 20), so I may be misremembering the impact from the play. There are Ibsen plays I've seen performed, but Hedda Gabler isn't one of them.

I don't know if Hedda will have a theatrical release. I hope so because there are potential Oscar nominations if it is. I do know that it was paid for by Amazon Prime Streaming, so at some point we'll be able to see it there.

The last one we saw was a documentary called Natchez. It's an interesting one to compare the southern attitudes of the past to the way the history should be taught now. It was thoughtfully put together. It's supposed to have a theatrical release in February and will show on PBS next May.

There was also a short film shown before it called Beyond Silence. One of the lead actresses is Deaf. I was also very shocked at how much I understood. I didn't think my Dutch was that good, but from the beginning I was following the spoken parts in real time and rarely needed the subtitles. I don't know where this might be seen, but it was very well done.

The Savannah Film Festival started yesterday. So far, I've seen two films.

The first was Blue Moon starring Ethan Hawke and directed by Richard Linklater. I knew enough about the lyrist Lorenz Hart to want to see it. It would be a better movie if it were between 10 and 20 minutes shorter. At the risk of sounding somewhat bitchy, I don't get Margaret Qualley's appeal. The supporting cast is excellent, including Patrick Kennedy as E.B. White. Hart comes across, possibly correctly, as someone completely charming and completely frustrating at the same time.

The second was Nuremberg. I keep going back and forth in my head about whether Rami Malek was really good or just OK as Douglas Kelley, the first psychiatrist to work with the first 22 men on trial at Nuremberg for war crimes. Michael Shannon as Justice Jackson was a standout as was Richard E. Grant as Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, the British prosecutor.

The outstanding performance is Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring. The man is charming. He is also a drug addicted egomaniac who is aware of how his manipulations come across. It's thoroughly creepy and yet a very warm, disarming performance.

I would have liked more about Hess or Speer -- two of the seven not sentenced to death -- as a contrast to why some were and others weren't. I know Speer admitted wrong doing and even shame -- whether he actually felt it is anyone's guess.

I highly recommend Nuremberg even as I recognize that I'll probably never watch it again. It shows documentary footage of the concentration camps, so be prepared for it.

As a side note to Hess, by 1987 he was the last prisoner in Spandau. I didn't realize until today that he committed suicide, though I'd known he died, at the age of 93 on May 12, 1987.

From 1983-1987, my parents spent four months of the year in West Berlin while Dad taught at the local American military base. In 1987, Dad was due to start teaching in Boston in August, but he had to complete his last courses in Berlin. My 26th birthday was May 29 that year, and I discovered that Modern Jazz Quartet would be playing in Berlin on my birthday. Dad invited me to join him to celebrate my birthday.

On the two previous years when Sis and I joined our folks for Christmas in West Berlin, we had, at least once each trip, had a reason to go by Spandau. This time when Dad drove us by Spandau, around a quarter of the building was gone. As soon as Hess's death had been confirmed, the Soviet Union began taking the prison apart brick by brick. The prison no longer existed by the end of August that year. It was a disturbing site.

The fandoms I've chosen have all given me joy. None of them is light or fluffy. I apparently don't need good special effects to enjoy something either. All of these fandoms are ones that make me think and feel in about equal measure, and I like that sensation.

General nos: Extreme or explicit violence. Rape or Dubcon. A/B/O. AUs unless requested. There are certain acts which just don't turn me on: scat, blood play, golden showers. Any BDSM must be safe, sane, and consensual.

General yeses: Exploration of emotions and the consequences of actions, even if those consequences are negative. I'm fine with explicit slash, het, or threesomes (or moresomes). I like a happy ending -- it's Yuletide; let's celebrate -- but I completely understand if it doesn't make sense within the story. A well-written fic with a sad resolution is better than something jammed in to make it happy.

Yuletide Requests:
The Champions (TV 1968)
Rotherweird (series) -- Andrew Caldecott
Harlequin (1980) aka Dark Forces
The Illusionist
Etoile (TV)

( “Onward” )

Gather 'round, children. As an elder of the tribe, I must remind you of history, and the perspectives it can provide.

https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1973/05/29

The above link goes to what is probably the most famous Doonesbury cartoon of all time. Many papers refused to run it. Many that did run it, put it on the editorial page rather than the comics page. The Washington Post ran an editorial about why it didn't run it. It was controversial because it violated the presumption of innocence for John Mitchell. Many papers cancelled Doonesbury, though most who didn't run it, just skipped that day.

And that was it. It was well known that President Nixon hated Doonesbury and, by extension, Garry Trudeau, but he didn't demand any retribution.

Watergate was a punchline. It was a punchline for Flip Wilson who ran at 8 p.m. on Thursdays. It was a punchline for local radio DJs. It was a punchline for Johnny Carson (who was scathing in some of his monologues). And no one got cancelled, suspended, or disappeared for the jokes, whether good or bad.

When Gerald Ford came into office in late 1974, he said [perhaps slightly paraphrased], "In Washington, we get our news from intelligence briefings, The Washington Post, and Doonesbury -- not necessarily in that order."

It never occurred to me that I would look back on the violent and discordant early 1970s as "the halcyon days." Still, say what you will against Richard Nixon, he believed in the Constitution and he understood all the amendments.

When I lived in Belgium in my late teens, we were thirty years removed from WWII. Belgium had surrendered before any shots were fired on them, something many older Belgians hated, so they were never the battleground as they had been during WWI. In some ways, WWI had a greater impact on the Brussels that I knew.

Having said that, I met one of Dad's Dutch colleagues who had run errands for the Dutch resistance when he was approximately 11-16. He lived through the famine the Germans helped create by eating tulip bulbs as so many of them did. As many of them did, he died in his early 60s of stomach cancer. There's no proof that the bulbs led to the cancer, but it is a specific cluster.

The Baroness who lived downstairs from us was a full grown woman when the war hit. Her husband (he had some form of senile dementia which made him difficult to talk to, mostly because he spoke nine languages and would drift from one to the other.) was the Belgian ambassador to Germany when the war hit. Previously, he'd been the ambassador to Greece and Spain. Greece wasn't accessible. Spain was. She walked with nine children from Belgium to Spain, helped by people she met on the way. One of the children didn't survive it. But that indomitable woman walked with 8 children across the Pyrenees so that her family couldn't be used to make her husband participate in anti-allied propaganda.

The concierge's husband said, in passing, that working with the resistance in Belgium, was much more fun than school for him, shrugging off the contributions he'd made before he turned 18.

The janitor who went to our school was put into hiding by his parents because they were Jewish. Toward the end of the war he helped get food to people being held in the transit camp near him. There was some cutting wires and getting people out, not many, not often. But he found a way to do something with his local resistance. He lost both parents to the camps.

I'm saying this because people are despairing about what's going on in the U.S., worried that there's no grand general organizing us against our current government. Honestly, if you're not part of the military, there is rarely one leader to get behind to walk us, like Moses, to our promised land.

If you want the equivalent to the DeGaulles and the Queen of the Netherlands -- both in exile, both under threat, both putting backbone into their people from that exile -- then listen to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and Beto O'Rourke or applaud what Gavin Newsom is doing while recognizing that his stance on our trans friends is terrible.

But most of all remember that Jules, the Baroness, Guillaume, and the school janitor all found small ways to resist, to help prevent worse, to give hope to others during a long war.

Organization is great. Be part of your local Indivisible chapter if there is one (and you have the spoons for it).

But remember that the small things are helpful, too:
A) If you think you see an injustice, record and post it with as much context as you can provide.
B) Write to your Senators and Representatives at both state and federal levels and explain why what they're doing is wrong (or great, if they've done something good. Positive reinforcement won't hurt.).
C) Find out what laws they're trying to pass and be part of the public comments, especially if you think the law is wrong or overreaches governmental rights.
D) Talk to your friends and neighbors about the mid-terms and see if you can strategize to turn out the vote, keep people on the rolls, or protest any laws that might limit voting.
E) Give blood.

The Obituary at the Guardian

He was a great satirist and performer. Apparently, he was a good professor, too. At 97, it's impossible to say that Tom Lehrer was taken from us too soon -- especially since he mostly retired over 60 years ago -- but that doesn't mean that he won't be missed. While he lived, there was always a chance for one more song.

Those of you who've known me since I lived in Boston -- heck, some of you who've only known me since DC -- probably know that I get bronchitis. A lot. The only reason that I haven't been diagnosed with pneumonia since 2005 is because I've had the shots (and boosters) to prevent it.

What I haven't had -- at least according to one of my Boston doctors -- is asthma.

In the past year I've had 5 bouts of bronchitis and one of tonsilitis with coughing. This isn't good. My primary care sent me to a lung specialist and last week I got a lung function test (Google has failed me as to the actual name of the test) to ascertain whether asthma was an issue.

So. The test uses spirography (Google didn't entirely fail me). I blow into a tube. My base lung function is recorded. Then I blow into it four more times after having various levels of a drug that inhibits lung function. If you don't have asthma, you might feel a little light headed, but it won't cut down your ability to blow out into that tube by much.

I did the baseline. I did the minimal level of the drug. Then I did the second of the four levels. The technician stopped the test and said, "I'm not a doctor. I can't diagnose, but I'm pretty sure that you have asthma." She then gave me the albuterol which should help my problem before I have to drive.

Now, I was a bit surprised that they could tell so quickly, but since my eyes had darkened and I felt like I was going to faint for the first time in nearly 30 years, I was just as happy to stop.

The next morning, I had my official diagnostic meeting with the physician's assistant. The first words out of her mouth were, "I've never seen a test like this." I went from full lung function with none of the drug, to about 95% lung function with the first dose of the inhaled drug. On the second round, I dropped to just under 40% lung function. Apparently, the 40% isn't that rare with the fourth round. It's why you're given albuterol to help you breathe before you're allowed to leave. But dropping that far that quickly is rare.

I'm on a drug called Trelegy which tastes bad, can give me mouth thrush, and makes me feel worse. I haven't had a serious cough since March or April, and that wasn't bad enough to go to the doctor. Since I've been on the new drug, I've been coughing like it's an Olympic sport. It's great for my abs, but the rest of me hurts.

I plan to contact the doctor's office tomorrow to find out whether this is normal in the first week or so of taking the drug. But I started this on Friday. It's Sunday, and I feel worse than I have since my last bout of bronchitis.

Keep your fingers crossed.

1. I am so sorry to hear about Brian Wilson's death. I found out about the Beach Boys at summer camp in the 1970s. [You can do the Virginia Reel to Help Me Rhonda.]

2. I am planning to go to my local "No Kings" protest on Saturday. I'm a little peeved that they scheduled it for the heat of the day. SPF 70, a hat, and a soaker scarf are my friends.

3. I went to Richmond, VA with my sister on Thursday. I flew back on Saturday, and she'll drive back today.

The Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was pretty good. She'll never be my favorite artist, but having a context to frame her work is very helpful.

I had forgotten what a good small city museum the VMFA is. It has a very famous Mary Cassatt, a collection of Faberge objects which includes several Imperial Easter eggs and silver service as well as jewelry, Egyptian Rooms and a nice (small) sample of Roman Art. I fell in love with a Childe Hassam painting that's unlike most of his work.

Sis and her friend, whom she visits yearly, agreed to go out to Perley's for Jewish Deli food. The matzoh ball soup was some of the best I've ever tasted and the potato latkes had an apricot/apple sauce that tasted great with them, plus some scallion sour cream. They also have house made syrups for sodas, and I can attest that the apricot wasn't too sweet and was very refreshing.

Flying home was a bit of an ordeal. My plane took off on time, 4:15 pm and was supposed to land in Atlanta 1.5 hours later. The pilot attempted to land when cleared, but the turbulence was so bad that he had to pull up. I held the hand of the woman next to me to help calm her down. I've been on roller coasters with less dropping.

We went to Augusta to refuel which took two hours because there were other planes ahead of us. Just as we were about to take off, the storm which had inundated Atlanta hit Augusta. It was another hour before it subsided. By the time we landed in Atlanta most of the food court had shut down for the night, so I was very hungry.

Fortunately, my plane to Savannah had been delayed. It was supposed to take off at 8:18. We were finally allowed to board at 11:20.

In Savannah, I had to try 4 taxi companies before I found one who had a driver willing to pick-up at the airport. I got home at 2 a.m. Not my best flight ever.

On our drive from Toulouse to our first hotel, bunny rabbits came running out of a field to our right. There were more than 20. I came to a full stop and just let them keep running to their hutch to our left. It was amazing, and I'm so grateful that I didn't hit one.

neotoma being so patient pushing the car out of parking spaces. Bless.

Every single meal, but especially the confit de canard and iles flottant of our first night.

It's not my favorite Paris land mark, but seeing the Eiffel Tower so closely was amazing.

The feeling of relief I felt when I realized Notre Dame would be fine.

Having hazelnut/chocolate ice cream from Berthillon.

Get complimented on my French.

Getting to use my little bit of Dutch, briefly.

Now, I know I haven't written much about Iceland -- which was starkly beautiful -- but that's because I managed to slip in the bathtub and sprain my ankle badly enough that I couldn't walk around Reykjavik with neotoma. The bruise on the opposite inner thigh is just now fading.

I do want to go back to Reykjavik at some point. It was stunning.