It’s that time of the year again. As has become a tradition much maligned anticipated in our neighborhood, moiself is hosting a different Partridge, every week, in my front yard’s pear tree. [1]
Can you identify this week’s guest Partridge?
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Department Of ( the upcoming ) Happy Winter Solstice To All
And to my fellow yogis, if this tradition is in your practice, moiself hopes you have a memorable 108 sun salutations. Since I am recovering from a surgery which requires that I put *no* weight on my left foot, throw in a few sun salutations for me, if you will.
Or maybe moiself will just engage in some adaptive yoga to mark the occasion.
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Department Of Our Window Is In Solidarity With Jewish Neighbors
And Friends And Coworkers…
and in this sad year, the Australians on Bondi Beach, and a certain, gone-way-before-his-time filmmaker….
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Department Of There Goes Another Piece Of My Heart
Rob Reiner was one of those artists whose name would not immediately spring to mind if I were asked to name either my personal favorite or the most influential contemporary movie directors…. Then, I heard the heart-twisting news re his death, began to consider his body of work, and realized that Reiner had directed many of the gems on my 100 Favorite Films List ® , [2] including
* When Harry Met Sally
* Spinal Tap
* The Princess Bride
* The American President
Reiner on the set of “The Princess Bride”
As is the case when a Famous Artist® dies, every news story about the demise includes a rundown of the artist’s résumé. But something is missing/is in error in all of the encapsulations I’ve seen (so far) of Reiner’s professional life: he did *not* get his “start” (however one calculates that) by co-starring in TV show, All In The Family. Before that, Reiner was a writer on the subversive, cutting-edge-at-the-time, comedy-variety show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. [3]
“Steve (Martin) and I wrote the first fart joke ever done on national TV.”
( Rob Reiner, ” ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour’ at 50: The Rise and Fall of a Groundbreaking Variety Show: Steve Martin, Rob Reiner, brothers Tommy and Dickie Smothers and more look back on their experiences transforming TV comedy with the innovative and controversial series,” The Hollywood Reporter, 11-25-17 )
Moiself found much to respect about the man. [4] Besides the excellent and varied films Reiner wrote/produced/acted in/directed – and it’s mind-boggling to fathom that the same guy who directed This is Spinal Tap also helmed Misery and Ghosts Of Mississippi – I admired Reiner’s political and community involvement, and what seemed to be his general sense of decency, kindness, perspective and humility. In all the interviews I heard/read about with Reiner over the years, he seemed well aware of the leg-up advantages/entry to showbiz *he* had, that others equally (or more) talented and driven lacked, via the connections that came from being the son of Hollywood icon Carl Reiner (and thus he counted among his family friends such comedy legends as Mel Brooks and Normal Lear).
Bravo, Rob Reiner. When it comes to your contributions to the cinematic arts, on a scale from one to ten, you go to eleven.
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Department Of Nailing the Reason Why In Eighteen Words…
Dateline: 12-9-25; The Washington Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax, responding to a Letter Writer’s dilemma. LW seeks Hax’s perspective in a why-do-does-he-do-this-and-what-can-I-do-about-it situation:
The LW’s father-in-law does not like the name the LW and her husband chose for their daughter, and he keeps insulting LW’s toddler daughter’s name ( yes, this child is the FIL’s granddaughter!), in front of the LW *and* the little girl. FIL continues to do this, even after LW asked him to stop. However, FIL no longer taunts his granddaughter about her name when his son is present, after his son (LW’s husband) asked his father to back off.
“…. But that’s why misogyny is so persistent and so insidious:
You get nose-blind to an everyday stench.”
( Carolyn Hax, from Father-in-law isn’t subtle about hating his granddaughter’s name )
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Department Of It’s So Difficult To Choose….
…but this might be my favorite of the Edward Sorel drawings in my FFRF 2026 calendar.
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Freethinkers’ Thought Of The Week [5]
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May you not go nose-blind to the everyday stench of prejudice;
May you treat yourself to a Rob Reiner film retrospective;|
May you take the opportunity to go to eleven;
…and may the hijinks ensue.
Thanks for stopping by. Au Vendredi!
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[1] Specifically, in the pear tree daughter Belle purchased and (with the help of MH) planted many years ago
[2] Which is something list makers list, and although I’m a list maker I haven’t done that one yet, but it does seem to deserve some kind of special notation….
[3] Whose other writing alum included comic/actor/author/banjoist/perennial SNL host Steve Martin and musician Mason Williams.
[4] Including that ground-breaking fart joke, for which I will be forever grateful.
[5] “free-think-er n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists. No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth.” Definition courtesy of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, ffrf.org
