Rich Heldenfels, Pop Culture Wanderer

Viewing of late has included "The Assistant" (pictured above), "The Old Guard," "Black and Blue,," "The Morning Show" and "Athlete A" along with a rewatch of "Bombshell," a cumulative contemplation of what women must endure -- and the evil men do. And then there's "Greyhound," where a woman appears in the most token fashion imaginable. Especially disturbing is the documentary "Athlete A" on Netflix, an examination of the horror inflicted on women gymnasts and the myriad ways people in power tried to hush it up. Unflinching in its description of the sexual abuse, unblinking in noting how the authorities added to the abuse by trying to intimidate the truth-tellers, almost unbearably agonizing as the women tell their stories -- stunning, agonizing work. And, sadly, not the only production dealing with such horrors. The absorbing "The Assistant" (now on disc) is mercifully brief -- under 90 minute...

I mentioned recently "The Great Influenza," a book about the 1918 pandemic, which is worth reading just to see the way government indifference and incompetence were a part of that disaster, and people who should have known better ignored warning signs and ways to control the disaster. As it was ever thus, right?  But I've done some other reading as well, including "Orson Welles: One-Man Band," the third volume of Simon Callow's biography of Welles, and as engrossing a read as the two previous volumes. (A fourth will complete the saga.) This book covers a period that included two Welles gems, "Touch of Evil" and "Chimes at Midnight" (also known as "Falstaff"), along with near-successes (some torpedoed by Welles's boredom as the project went on), failures (ditto), unrealized ideas, unpaid bills, unsatisfied appetites, unsuitable roles, It's a rapid read, full of accounts from people who knew Welles and who kept diaries, br...

A few months ago I started posting songs on Facebook. I've done that before, but this evolved from an occasional post (often with some thematic connection to events of the day) into a daily post of songs I liked for one reason or another, or which I thought might resonate with my FB friends. But which I still liked. I spared everyone commentary, beyond "Good morning," and let the songs speak for themselves. I also wanted to avoid too much duplication of artists and songs, which led to my keeping a list, one page of which you can see above.  I've done more than 100 songs so far (which you can see and hear via Rich Heldenfels on Facebook) and some duplication has crept in, but it has been fun to reach into my memory banks and old files for contenders. Songs I liked in high school, songs I liked in college and young adulthood, songs I like now (hello, Lizzo!), songs I had on vinyl and tape and CD and on iTunes (although my iTunes account went weird some time back, wiping...