Cruise to the Mediterranean, Pt. 2: Kotor, Split, Bari, Otsuni

Day 3: Kotor, Montenegro

One of the many cats of
Kotor, Montenegro

I started the day on the outdoor deck of the buffet, sprawled in my chair like that photograph of Faye Dunaway the morning after she won the Oscar for Network (and it should have been Liv Ullman for Face to Face). I was so relaxed because today there would be no excursions, no agenda. I just took the tender into the port of Kotor, Montenegro with no particular plan. Like Dubrovnik, there was a walled fortification enclosing a quaint old town center. I wandered around, bought postcards and refrigerator magnets. There were cats everywhere. I was tempted to go into the Cat Museum for 1 Euro, but it looked cheap even at the ridiculously low admission price, plus the second floor was closed for renovations. It probably would have consisted of kitschy kitty art with felines assuming human activities like shopping or commuting to work. So I went into a church for free and made an Instagram reel with the photos, set to Madonna's Like a Prayer. (I recently discovered how to make reels with musical accompaniment.)

Dinner at Red Ginger was wonderful. I had salmon with scallop ceviche, lobster and avocado salad, and bay Scallop trio with lobster pad thai. Peach tea and fruit salad for dessert. The entertainment was decent with the ship's singers and dancers performing a pop music revue featuring the hits of artists of my generation like The Pointer Sisters, The Bee Gees, Cher, Rod Stewart, Celine Dion and Tina Turner. They ended with "River Deep, Mountain High."

Day 4: Split, Croatia

We learned from the on-board lecture that Split was famous as the site of the retirement palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the only one to step down voluntarily. Most others were assassinated or died of natural causes. Diocletian reigned from 284-305 CE

Game of Thrones, Season 4,
filmed in Split, Croatia

and died in 311. He was considered a great ruler at the time with many public works to this credit, but because he mercilessly persecuted Christians and fed them to the lions in the coliseum, his reputation has stunk through the centuries and we hear very little about him today. Split is also famous as the filming location of several episodes of the HBO hit series Game of Thrones. I'd never watched a single episode, but we signed up for an excursion tour of a castle and the dungeons of Diocletian's palace where several scenes from GOT were filmed. The tour was titled Dungeons and Dragons or something catchy like that. Our guide gave us every detail about the episodes filmed at the castle called Klis. In Split where I later wandered around, there was a Games of Thrones shop and a museum. Now I will have to watch those segments so I can say, "I was there."

Day 5: Bari and Otsuni, Italy

Otsuni, the White Lady

From Bari, Italy, I took an excursion to a town called Otsuni in Brindisi. I had no idea what to expect, except that that brochure called the town "The White Lady." It was an hour's drive from the port and I thought, "I hope I didn't make a mistake." My fears were soon allayed when we walked from the bus to the town and I saw a gorgeous white-walled town with beautiful small squares, churches, and art galleries. Our guide walked us around the beautiful back streets into the town square with its statue devoted to St. Francis of Assisi. One interesting sight was a stylishly attired elegant woman walking her dog and picking up its leavings, never losing her poise or pose.

I had lunch at an open air cafe with fellow passengers and a swarm of flies. The waitress told us the insects were attracted by the wine-processing system which started in October. There was so many hanging around my prosciutto and mozzarella, I finally had to accept their presence and only occasionally swatted them away. 

We drove back along the sea. Right off the bus, I got on the shuttle to Bari and found a little trolley car thing for 15 Euros for a city tour. At first I thought it was a rip-off because we drove around along the seaside embankment and a little ways into the town and then back. But then a guide named Donnatella got off with me and two other ladies from the ship and said she would give us a brief tour of St. Nicholas' basilica. Outside the basilica was a statue of St. Nicholas (the inspiration for Santa Claus and Father Christmas) donated by Vladimir Putin because there is a large Russian population there. Donnatella gave us some info on the church and we went in. I asked her how Italy left about Putin. She diplomatically replied "We are divided." I responded so was America. Then the trolley took us back to the port, so it was worth 15 Euros. 

I decided to walk around a bit since I had time before the ship would leave. I found an artist's studio where she sold magnets made of clam shells for 2 Euros. Lately, I've bought a magnet from every country, city and town I've been to. The refrigerator is getting a bit crowded.

B'way Update: MTC Season Includes Sondheim, Vladimir, Eureka

Lea Salonga and Bernadette Peters
in Old Friends, transferring to
Broadway in 2025.
Credit: Danny Kaan

Manhattan Theater Club has announced plans for its 2024-25 season on and Off-Broadway, which will include the Broadway premieres of Eureka Day and the London Sondheim revue, Old Friends starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga who will repeat their London performances. The Stephen Sondheim tribute ran in London's West End in 2023 and will begin previews at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theater on March 25, 2025 with an opening date TBA. The show will have a pre-Broadway run at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theater from Feb. 8--March 9. The production was devised by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by Matthew Bourne, side by side with Julia McKenzie. Additional cast members will be announced. 

A Dark Time

The forces of darkness are getting stronger in the US and around the world. It seemed we had a glimmer of hope when Biden defeated Trump, but our joys of liberal sanity have been short-lived. No sooner does the COVID crisis wane than Putin decides to invade Ukraine, sending gas prices through the roof. Even though Trump has been kissing Vlad's ass and would have done absolutely nothing to stop his boyfriend if he had been re-elected, MAGA nutbags will blame Biden for the inflation and price increases. States are passing laws banning books, forbidding teaching history with accuracy, and silencing gay families in the early grades. The latter complaint stems from the "Don't Say Gay" Bill in Florida which claims to protect elementary school children from the horrors of acknowledging the existence of gay and trans people. Governor DeSantis is confusing sex education and gender identity with gay visibility. He and his right-wing base don't want to admit there is nothing wrong with being gay. What happens if a gay teacher casually says "My partner and I went to the movies this weekend?" or if a student with gay parents brings up his or her family? Can the teacher of this class be sued by the outraged parents of "straight, normal" students? Previous generations of gay people were stereotyped as single, sex-crazed, 24-hour party people. Now we have families and kids and we're in commercials and on game shows. We're like everybody else. That's what frightens these people.

The recent SCOTUS confirmation hearings of Ketanji Brown Jackson are another indicator of the deep polarization of our politics. Republicans who voted for her a year ago for a lower court appointment now villify her and smear her just to score points with the base. Their reasoning seems to be "The Dems treated Kavanaugh badly, so we have to do the same to their nominee."

I fear the dissatisfaction with inflation will spur a Republican takeover of the House and possibly the Senate this November. Then Biden will not able to get anything done. In 2024, I pray the disenchantment with Trump will be enough to keep him out of the race, but he could still secure the Republican nomination despite his two impeachments and incitement to overturn a legitimate transfer of power. Biden will then be 82 and if it's a Biden-Trump rematch the outcome is far from certain.

MacTrump: A Shakespearean Farce: Act III, Scene II

Let us continue with my Shakespearean parody of the Trump circus: (previous installments Act One, Act Two, Act Three Scene One)

The curtain rises on a gloomy cave with three forbidding figures surrounding a boiling cauldron. At first they appear to be the three reporters from Act One who were in reality the three witches. Then lightning strikes and they slowly morph into Vladimir Putin, Kim Jung Un, and the Saudi Crown Prince.

All Three: Double, double, toil and trouble
Media burn and racism bubble
Unleash the hate with a viral stream
Ripping bullets and victims' scream

Witch 1 (Putin): Energize the brew with a cyber hack
Leave no trace of Wikileaks' track
Flavor with poisonous blaze
And ripped-out livers of despised gays

Witch 2 (Kim Jung Un): Add vapor trail from nuclear missile
Blood pricked from sharpened thistle
Saliva from Trump's ass-kissing smacks
Crumbs from his Cheetos, French Fries, and Big Macs

Witch 3 (Saudi Crown Prince): Throw in limbs from chopped up writer
Oil contract and Middle-East igniter
Veil worn by hypocritical First Daughter
Souls of victims of our ravenous slaughter

MacTrump A Shakespearean Farce Act III

Keeley Hawes, Judi Dench, and Phoebe Fox
in BBC's TV version of Richard III

The MacTrump saga continues. For a switch, this scene focuses on the women in Trumpy's life, much like the one in Richard III where his mother, wife, the deposed Queen Elizabeth (his sister-in-law), and mad Queen Margaret join together to curse the "bunch-backed toad."

Act III, Scene One

Scene: The entry hall of the G7 Summit Meeting, several months after Act II. Theresa May and Angela Merkel stand center stage.

Merkel: How canst thou treat this ill-mannered swine as a seasoned statesman?
Know you not his boorish behavior where women are concerned?

May: Chide me not, lady. My counsels differ from thine.
Thou are not head of a conservative party leading a divided land.
Art not dealing with withdrawal from the Common Market.
McTrump is the key to mine triumph and must be coaxed and flattered.

Thoughts on Handmaid's Tale and Roseanne

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT. If you have not watched all of Season 2, spoilers ahead.

Elisabeth Moss in The Handmaid's Tale

The Internet abounds with jokes about The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel, actually being a documentary. The show which just concluded its second season and received 20 Emmy nominations, provides progressive liberals a satisfying opportunity to dump on Trump by comparing its totalitarian vision of Gilead, a future America, to the Donald's administration. "Look, aren't Commander Waterford and his terrible wife Serena Joy just like those bad old Trump supporters," we say to ourselves, as an act of consolation for having to tolerate such a racist jerk for a president. For a moment, we feel our anger and frustration relieved. It was such a thrill to see Waterford and Serena kicked out of Canada and reviled by protestors after the letters from captive handmaids were downloaded. Waterford and Serena's expressions of shame were what we want to see on our Trump-loving countrymen's faces when and if he is ever exposed for the vile creature he is. But then it's back to reality.

Let's Fake a Deal!

Monty Hall from the old Let's Make a Deal show.
Trump is copying the format.

The news has been depressing me so much lately that I have foresworn cable channels like CNN, MSNBC and Fox. Never mind that I don't have cable anymore, I could have gotten access through YouTube. So now my default viewing when there is nothing worth watching on broadcast channels and I'm too lazy to surf through all the choices of Netflix and Amazon is Buzzr, a game-show haven where I can watch visions of the past including What's My Line, To Tell the Truth, and I've Got a Secret. An hour-long block of Let's Make a Deal is on at 8, but even that comfortable echo from my childhood makes me think of our hellish new political landscape.

Announcer (Paul Ryan): These suckers...I mean people, dressed as they are have come from the four corners of the world to the marketplace of America on LET'S... FAKE...A DEAL...and now here's TV's big dealer...Monty Trump!

(Orchestra plays theme music: Let a Winner Lead the Way. Monty Trump enters. Audience cheers)

Snowden Praises Homophobic Russia

Last night I was listening to NPR on my car radio while driving upstate. After the Fabulous Beekman Boys finished talking about gooseberries, there was a news report that exiled NSA leaker Edward Snowden emerged from the gift shop at the Moscow airport to hold a press conference. He announced he was seeking temporary asylum in Russia which he called a champion of human rights. I nearly crashed into a guardrail. Obviously Mr. Snowden has been too busy browsing through vodka shot glasses and nesting dolls to hear that Vladmir Putin, the macho crime boss of Ruskieland, has passed draconian antigay laws. It is now a crime to hold a gay pride rally, espouse progay sentiments, or even wear rainbow suspenders in public. In addition, gay or progray foreigners can be detained for 14 days and then expelled from Vodkaville if they so much as do a Bette Davis imitation or start singing Lady Gaga songs. (Good thing I cancelled my St. Petersburg trip.) So much for human rights, Mr. Leaky Faucet. I supposed this hero of freedom (Snowden) doesn't consider gays eligible for equal treatment.

Joe Stalin--I mean Vlad Putin--has said Snowden can stay in Gulagtown if he doesn't harm the US. Snowden reportedly plans to go to South America at some point.  

There have been calls for boycotting the upcoming Winter Olympics scheduled to be held in Sochi. I'm all for it.