April 26, 2021

Good morning all, today is April 26, 2021, Monday. So we start a fresh new week today, the weather report is favorable with temperatures into the high 50’ and sunny . So it sounds like we should have a pretty favorable day. The kids will be able to spend time outside along with us to get fresh air in our lungs, which we need to keep doing. Supposedly the governor has a major announcement today about moving forward, it will be interesting to hear what he has to say.

Last night we got to watch the Academy Awards, a night to celebrate the movie industry, many of you are saying who cares and to a certain degree you are right, I watched for about 15 minutes and could take no more. But I am as you know of a certain age where movies were an important part of growing up. When I was small television was a very new thing so we still went to the movies a lot. Remember the movies were the major source of entertainment for the first half of the 20 th century, most times you got to see two movies. As a kid we could spend all afternoon at the movies , I loved watching westerns and adventures like Sinbad. Then it was the date of choice, you went to the movies and an ice cream or hamburger after. My first date withmarylou was I remember the movies. In the summer you looked forward to it because they were air conditioned. I remember seeing Jaws at the Claridge Theater in Montclair with the two Marylou’s we Waited for hours to get in to watch a movie that changed my feelings about ocean swimming forever. Or the night we saw Love Story and at the end you could hear actual sobbing, when a man got up and yelled are you people crazy it’s a movie not a funeral.

So it was natural for us to look up to the people who starred in these movies and to watch the Academy Awards to see them honored. What they wore set the style for formal wear for the year. When I had the women’s clothing store I read Women’s Wear Daily and they would devote several editons to the fashions of the Oscars. I had a friend whose father in law owned a famous dress manufacturing business and the factories busiest night was the Oscars he had people copy and manufacture the designs immediately and they were in the stores the next day. Many a girl wore copies to the prom.

Then as all things change so did the Oscars. They became a political forum in many ways. Not that we didn’t love movies stars but that’s what they were entertainers meant to entertainj not political anyalist who really cared about their political views.then it became a racial forum, yes I’m sure many black entertainers were slighted and that was wrong. But now by saying black actors need to be honored you lower the standards of it all not because of them being black but because now you are making it unfair and take the honor away from people like Hattie McDaniel. And Sidney Poirtier, and Hallie Berry who won for their craft, being the BEST performer of the year not the color of their skin. We need to stop looking at that if we ever want to all be the same. We are all the same regardless of our skin tone or nationality. I hope I did not offend anyone by these remarks that was not my intention.

Before I close today, I want to remember two friends of mine who attended the Academy Awards every year a brother and sister. He died a few years ago a fine actor and his sister who died of COVID this year along with her son. So we need to be thankful for what we have lived through. So have a great day and enjoy the weather. Til Tomorrow!