Thoughts Day by Day

On Sunday I saw 'Aladdin' - the new Disney musical at the beautifully restored New Amsterdam Theatre.  I enjoyed it. Wonderful romantic music, gorgeously extravagant costumes, beautiful sets and lighting and magical special effects.  I enjoyed the very talented cast.  Newcomer Adam Jacobs was a handsome, energetic and comical Aladdin with a beautiful tenor voice, Tony winner James Monroe Engelhart was an hysterically funny showstopping Genie. His big song and dance number 'Friend Like Me' was unforgettable.  And Jonathan Freeman was a perfectly villainous Jafar.  Two days later the catchy song 'Prince Ali' still sings inside my head.  The magic carpet ride was a wondrous special effect.  My only complaint is that the book  of this musical could have been written with a little more sophistication with a focus on the romance, instead of so cartoon-like with a focus on the Keystone Kop chase scenes. Disney on Broadway altered 'Mary Poppi...

I know I am going to be accused of being racist for this blog post. But here it goes. I just read an article in Yahoo News that stated Blacks are vastly under-represented in Silicon Valley jobs.  Less than 2% in fact. Are companies in Silicon Valley intentionally refusing to hire Blacks? I doubt that is the case.  Are American schools denying math and science courses to Black children?  I doubt this also.  Is race a factor in one's ability to learn math and science?  Doubtful.  And certainly Asians and Hispanics are not under-represented in Silicon Valley jobs. So what is the cause of this disparity in hiring practices?  Where are the qualified Blacks? This made me think for a moment about the frustrations of Blacks in America with regard to treatment by the police - which some say is racially biased.  I am not convinced.  But it is true that the high crime neighborhoods in America, where a higher police presence is needed and where m...

New Year's Eve is just 2 days away.  Time to reminisce about a truly terrible year; 2014.  Were there any good news stories this past year?  I'm sure there were some but they were mostly overshadowed by the following: We lost many great entertainers that I will miss.  The funny Joan Rivers and Robin Williams. Fine actors James Garner, Ruby Dee, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Lauren Bacall.  As a teenager I saw Ruby Dee perform Kate in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew".  It was unforgettable.  Directors Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park) and Sir Richard Attenborough (The Sand Pebbles, Gandhi) gave us memorably classic plays and movies, but no more  I still recall the movies I watched as a small child that starred Mickey Rooney and Shirley Temple Black.  How sad that their passing was hardly noted by a press so focused on a new generation that does not relate to these great ch...