#i would be more happy about my neighborhood if this version of mr roger’s lived it in.

[frnkiebby]

well fuck~🎃

[angryhausfrau-writes]

I Travel Troubled Oceans: Chapter 5 - In Which Jack Attempts to Become a Semi-Respectable Member of Polite Society and Charles Succeeds in Becoming a Completely Disreputable Trophy Boyfriend

Max and Mr. Scott – probably mostly Mr. Scott, who still has his finger on the pulse of London real estate in a way that's almost frighteningly omniscient - somehow land Jack and company a lovely house that's been subjected to a series of absolutely atrocious renovations and sat empty since the late nineties. So Charles and Anne spend the first few weeks of laying low pulling out all of the hideous carpeting and knocking down the terrible wood paneling – and in one case, an entire (non load-bearing) wall, which they attack with sledge hammers and far, far too much glee. And Mary, bless her, spends the week sweeping and scrubbing and peeling wall paper. Until the house sits an empty shell, stripped down to the stately bones that lay beneath the shag carpeting and twee plasterwork.

Jack spends his weeks learning to play tennis.

He hadn't had much chance to learn growing up, being an impoverished guttersnipe and all, so he's got a lot of ground to catch up. Because, see, the counselor – the one who'd sided with the Spanish over Lord Hamilton, allowing for his final downfall, the one who controls all of London's planning permission, the one Max needs an in with. He absolutely adores tennis.

He adores it with all the fervor of a middle class man who'd seen it as the gentleman's game growing up. And now that he's a gentleman – by wealth and importance, if not by birth, which still stings him, bitterly, and is the reason for his overcompensation – then by God, he's going to play tennis.

And since Jack's first job from Max is to get the counselor on side, he's got to learn to play tennis too. Well enough that whatever skill level the counselor actually has, Jack can play to it, keep the games close. Just barely beat the counselor or just barely lose, but keep it close enough that he keeps coming back for more. Which takes considerably more skill than simply learning the game and playing to the best of his ability.

So Jack practices and practices and practices, all with the help of a draconian ex-professional instructor Max found for him at a mid-level club nowhere near where the counselor plays for the entire month his house is torn down around his ears.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Eleanor and Woodes Rogers's world is coming down around their ears as well. Anne pays Max enough visits that she's always flush with the latest gossip – the sort of thing that goes beyond the polite, antiseptic description that has been in the papers. And the long and short of it is that Woodes Rogers is ruined. Fired from his job, disowned from his family, and, most importantly, the rich person version of penniless.

So he just doesn't have any resources to come after them, if he even suspected anything. And he'll be lucky if he doesn't end up in jail because apparently Eleanor's creative approach to accounting has been helping him evade taxes for a good long while as well. And now that he's too poor to be protected – and his reputation too tarnished – he's looking at the possibility of a five stretch.

Eleanor will probably avoid seeing the inside of a cell, mores the pity. She's too cunning to be taken down with her husband. But her social capital is destroyed, along with a good portion of her money, used to bail out Woodes Rogers with the various criminal elements he was indebted to. And with this new revelation of her less than legal exploits, it means that she's been let go from her position as well – not because she'd done anything they hadn't asked her to do for them, of course. But because they can't bear to have even a whiff of scandal or people might stop trusting in the sanctity of the British financial system. And we can't be having that.

At any rate, all of this means that Jack is able to move in the open again, which is good because he needs to start establishing himself as a quasi-legitimate member of polite society sooner rather than later. So that second month, in addition to playing tennis, Jack starts an Instagram account detailing the renovations on his house.

There's pictures of Jack choosing furniture and wallpaper and fabric swatches and rugs. There's pictures of the interior of the house, featuring Anne as Jack's PA, scowling and holding a clipboard menacingly. And Charles appears frequently as Jack's muse/boytoy, posed artfully shirtless and oiled up and muscular.

Mary, as his new social media manager, has had a lot of good ideas about how to sell Jack as a flirty and flighty and nearly terminally stupid fashion designer and she and Jack and Max have worked hard to make him appear harmless. Someone with money and influence but who was too wrapped up in pretty clothes and pretty boys to ever use it. Someone who could approach the counselor – and offer him valuable access into the upper echelons of society – without appearing threatening to him like Lord Hamilton had been.

And the bitch of it is is that it works.

Jack applies for and gets a membership to the councilor's exclusive health club – and the approval committee explicitly comments on the settee he'd had reupholstered in yellow silk for the upstairs sitting room in his induction hearing, so at least someone's looking at his Instagram. And he begins playing tennis there, familiarizing himself with the layout and the staff and the other patrons. So he can just ever so coincidentally grab the court opposite Councilor Featherstone during his weekly Saturday morning game.

They don't talk much during the game itself, but afterwards. Afterwards...

There's the usual handshakes and good games and shows of good sportsmanship from both sides. Jack had just narrowly, ever so narrowly, eked out a victory. But the councilor had more than made him work for it.

So Jack gets invited to a rematch next week – a rematch he'll make sure the councilor wins, just as narrowly. Because you've got to leave them wanting. You've got to leave them hungry for it. And they won't be if they win the first time. But they'll give up if they don't win the second and third. So you've got to walk that fine line of wins and losses until the whole thing's a habit and they couldn't walk away even if they wanted to.

That's what made Jack such a success as a pusher – not his product, but his approach. His way of knowing people. And the councilor is so very eager to be known.

Certainly he starts off with polite inquiries into how Jack's settling into London. Questions about the house and the neighborhood and the progress of the renovation.

But Jack is quick to talk about how difficult he's finding London to navigate, compared to the Bahamas, where they've decided he'll be from. How stand-offish people can be. How it feels like they snub him every time they hear him speak, or they find out that he doesn't know so-and-so from such-and-such school.

Oh, he doesn't come out and complain about it or anything. Just hints at it. Plants little seeds for Counselor Featherstone's own complaints to blossom forth.

And he has complaints aplenty. How it's such an Old School Chums crowd. How many incompetent idiots run various departments based on legacy rather than any actual ability. How put upon Featherstone is by all of them. How they all ask him for favors and expect to give nothing in return – because he should be overjoyed they're even deigning to talk to him and why wouldn't he want to do things for them, everyone wants to do things for them.

And Jack makes the appropriate noises of understanding and commiseration without actually volunteering very much about himself. Because that's the other half of the sell. Make the mark think that you're their friend. That they know you as well as they know themselves so they'll spill all the dark – or in Featherstone's case, mildly frustrated – parts of their soul. Make yourself their confidant, the one they can always turn to, because you think just alike on all the important points. So if you ever disagree, well, it must be my dear friend Jack in the right, he would never steer me wrong.

Of course, you can't do it all at once. It has to be done slowly and carefully, so that the mark never cottons on. But, as born out by Jack shaking Councilor Featherstone's sweaty hand and promising same time next week, he's certainly made a start on it. So that ought to make Max happy.

Jack wipes the sweat from his brow with an obscenely high threadcount towel provided by the club and goes off to assess Charles's progress on the other half of Max's request. Because while Jack has been honing his tennis game and scoping out the club, Charles has been there as well, spending mornings in the gym and afternoons sunbathing by the pool in the smallest bathing suit they'll allow him to wear. Which is quite small indeed. And it's therefore no surprise that Charles has accrued rather a crowd of rich bored socialites around his little flotilla of deck chairs, drawn like moths to a sexy, sexy flame.

Charles just dangerous enough to be interesting. But safe, because he's taken and (presumably) gay. Just a sexy backdrop to their boring, catty lives. Able to blend right into the scenery.

Meanwhile, Charles listens to - and dutifully recounts to Max – all the idle gossip he becomes privy to due to his position as living ornament. Because, to Max, information is worth its weight in gold. And you wouldn't believe what kind of things you can overhear simply by being ignorable.

Plus, Jack thinks as he sets his bag down next to Charles's deck chair and he looks up at Jack from behind his knock-off Coach sunglasses, Charles is having far, far too much fun playing Jack's boyfriend.

As evidenced by him sprawling his thighs even more obscenely open and practically purring, “Hello, darling.”

An obscene mockery of Jack's own favored greeting. And a slight that will not stand.

Jack kneels between Charles's spread legs. “Hello yourself, Chaz.” Jack tilts his chin up for a brief peck on the lips. “Have a good day, dear?”

Charles further escalates things by pulling Jack down onto his lap and nuzzling against his ear. “Better now that you're here, darling.”

And Jack's going to have to do something drastic if Charles keeps this shit up.

But before Jack can retaliate, escalate, they're interrupted by tittering laughter.

“Aren't they just the cutest?” one of the rich ladies coos.

There's general agreement amongst the ladies. “And so fashionable,” one of them says, giving Jack's tennis outfit a once-over.

“Perks of the job darling,” Jack says lightly.

And then one of them – the leader, if the obscene amount of designer and diamonds she's wearing – says, “You both simply must come to my bachelorette party.” She studies her nails faux casually. “It's going to be a real rager.”

This is exactly the kind of thing Charles has been waiting for since Max assigned him this stupid job. And getting on Max's good side is infinitely preferable to even her neutral regard. So Charles'll be damned if he lets it slip through his fingers  – even if he has to play some boring bitch's gay best friend for a whole night.

He tips his fruity umbrella drink in her direction and looks at her over the salted rim. “Sounds like my kind of party.”

Jack resigns himself to a night of drunken socialites vomiting in the back of a limo. “We'll be there, darling. Never fear.”

It'll be an opportunity to move some blow, if nothing else.

[beckzorz]

WORLD ON FIRE (2/12)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader; background skinny!Steve Rogers x Peggy Carter Warnings: Canon-typical violence; language; sexual content. Summary: Brooklyn, 1948. Bucky Barnes, war hero, lives three floors down, and the evenings he comes to watch the sunset with you on the fire escape are the best times in your shabby life. But reality is far uglier than it seems when swinging your legs six floors up with Bucky at your side. On top of a good-for-nothing brother and a poor family upstate, there’s a new mob hitman in town: the Winter Soldier. A/N: Written for @cametobuyplums Fizz’s 2000 Plums Writing Challenge—thanks Fizz! xoxo

2. Wednesday, May 28

Dawn comes too soon for your liking. The birds outside are making their usual early morning racket, and you grumble to yourself as you reach over to close the window. The touch of nighttime chill sends a shiver along your body. You yank your shawl around your shoulders as you wobble over to your galley kitchen and flip on the radio.

Quiet jazz pipes through your little apartment. You hum along as you fry up toast and eggs in the same pan you’ve been using for years. The handle is scuffed, the bottom blackened with use, and you sigh wistfully as you think of the day when you’ll have new things, nicer things. Like your friends, the lucky ones who still spend every Sunday afternoon with you in Prospect Park. Times like this, holed up with your old frying pan, you can’t help but wonder at it. Mary’s a typist for a fancy company in Manhattan; Goldie works for a bank, handling more money than you can imagine. Their pots and pans are shiny, bright enough to catch any man’s eye. Mary’s got a fellow, a nice one with a steady job; Goldie’s always had a string of jaw-dropped admirers at her beck and call. You… You don’t.

Would you even want a slew of suitors? You picture a long line of them, tall and suited and hatted, faces in shadow, and you shudder. No, men with fancy suits and fedoras aren’t your type. Your eyes have always fallen elsewhere. It’s gotten you nowhere, of course, but—well, you’re not so fickle as all that.

Loveless or not, fancy job or not, Mary and Goldie have stuck by you. You adore them for it. Beyond that, you like them. They’re lovely, and it’s nice to listen to them, too—nice to imagine yourself, one day, in their shoes.

And then there’s your brother. You grimace as you plate up your breakfast. Best not to think about him too early in the morning, or you’ll give yourself indigestion.

If nothing else, breakfast is good.

Your eyes drift around your apartment as you chew. You still have to make your bed. There’s a faded paisley tablecloth under your plate, the same one you remember from your faint memory of visiting your aunt with your mother as a toddler. There are still hints of your aunt here and there, but it’s your photo album on the shelf, your favorite books. Here, at least, you’ve made a mark on your own.

—

You slip in the side door to Dr. Simon’s house ten minutes early. His house is one of the nicest in the neighborhood—five stories all to himself. Well, himself and his live-in help.

“Morning, Alice,” you call as you bound down to the basement kitchen.

Alice, fifty-odd and pleasantly wrinkled, glances up from the pile of dishes at the sudsy sink as you burst out from the stairwell, a grin on your face.

“Nice to see you in early for a change,” Alice teases. She nods her head at a plate of warm biscuits. A just reward for a bad night’s sleep.

“Mmm, fank you,” you say around an unladylike chomp. You swallow. “And I’m almost always early!”

“Well, if you say so,” Alice says, laughing. She scrubs at a baking dish—it’s shiny, of course—and quirks her brow at you. “You know someone’s already here?”

“Whaa?!” You nearly spit out your second bite and stare dumbly at the clock. “But—I’m early!”

“It’s that Rogers boy,” Alice says. She shudders. “Poor thing.”

“Rogers boy?” you repeat. “He’s older than me! Don’t tell me I’m a girl.”

“To me, you’re both children,” Alice says. She scrubs harder at the baking dish. “And I can’t help feeling sorry for him. All those ailments, and his poor ma dead near ten years, and him still struggling to scrape along…”

You swallow the last of your biscuit and brush the crumbs off your fingers into the wastebasket. “Golly, Alice, he’s doing alright, isn’t he? Didn’t he meet a girl?”

“Well, but she’s English.”

A roll of your eyes as you pick up the plate to bring to the living-cum-waiting room. “Alright, Alice. See ya later.”

Alice waves goodbye, and you head upstairs. You push the basement door shut with your foot and wander through the dining room, glancing curiously at the curtained glass doors to Dr. Simon’s office. Steve Rogers has always fascinated you, if only because he’s friends with Bucky. Anyone, anything, attached to Bucky Barnes grabs your attention whether you care for it to or not.

You’ve met Steve in passing a few times. He’s always been polite, unassuming until someone did something stupid. You can’t help the twitch in your lips when you think of Steve Rogers, no taller than you and far skinnier, threatening any fool who dared do something he deemed wrong.

Strange, too, to consider how skinny artist Steve Rogers and boxing-champion-turned-war-hero Bucky Barnes grew to be such good friends. You don’t know how they met. Was Steve always so reckless? Was Bucky always so protective? A strange duo, but it seemed to work. At any rate, the few times you’d seen Bucky’s fond exasperation towards Steve, with his big soul and righteous indignation, your heart had melted a little more.

Steve’s low voice filters through the office doors, and you shake your head to clear your thoughts. He’s a patient, not your friend.

Biscuits go on the table in the waiting room, and you glide up the fancy staircase in the foyer as elegantly as you can manage. You settle at your desk in the upstairs office, ankles crossed as you check today’s roster of appointments. Old Ms. Flynn will be in at nine, Mrs. Barnett with her son Teddy around nine-thirty, and so on. Lunch at eleven-thirty; you’ll have to tell Alice to have it ready earlier than usual, but that can wait. First, to type up all of yesterday’s notes for their files.

The day passes in a hazy blur. It’s warm, almost sticky in the office. But there’s a fresh bouquet with lavender on your desk from the front garden, and lunch is delicious, and you get to leave a little early. All in all, a nice Wednesday.

—

… Or not.

When you turn the corner onto your street, you stop short. The woman behind you almost bowls you over, and your surprised gasp catches the attention of the young man sitting on your stoop.

Your brother.

“Sis!”

His babyish face breaks into a sunny grin as he pops to his feet. You sigh and walk over to him, your smile half forced.

“Hi, David.”

David bounds over and wraps you in a too-tight hug.

“I’ve gotta breathe, you goober,” you tell him crossly. You wriggle out of his grip and clutch your purse tightly against your side. “What’re you doing here?”

“Special delivery for my favorite big sister,” David says. “Aren’t you gonna invite me in?”

“Fine. Come in, I guess.” You pull out your key and open the door, glancing up and down the street. No one you know, not yet at least.

David whistles as he waits, seemingly oblivious to your obvious discomfort. But after weeks with no word from him, you’ve started to hear things. Things you don’t want to hear, things you wish you could refute.

But you can’t, because you don’t know anything anymore. The sweet eighteen-year old who went off to war came back at twenty with a bad streak. Your baby brother isn’t innocent anymore, whether you know the details or not.

And for the love of god, you really don’t want to know the details.

Five flights up pass in silence, save for his light, cheerful whistle. You’re used to the climb, and David’s never been a whiner. He’s a lot of things, but not that.

You lock the door behind you, glancing around your apartment for anything valuable you’ve left out. Well, not that you have much of value. Everything you do have is all stashed in the usual hiding spots.

Honking from the street has you hurrying to the window. You peer at the empty fire escape and yank the curtains closed.

One deep breath, and then you turn back to David with arms crossed. He’s already sprawled in one of your two rickety chairs, spinning a coin between his fingers. Neat trick, but you’re not impressed. He’s always been good with his hands.

“A delivery, huh?”

He rolls his eyes and pouts. “C’mon, sis, you can put in a little more effort. Aren’t you happy to see me? I came all this way…”

“From where? I don’t even know where you live anymore! Or where you’ve been—”

“Oh, don’t be a worrywart,” he says. “I’m doin’ peachy.” He tugs an envelope out of his pocket, eyes glinting as he holds it up. “And this is for the folks back home. Think you can send it over for me? I never did like the post office.”

The envelope sags a little in his grip. You step closer and take it, eyes widening at the weight. It’s not sealed—you peek inside.

You grip the edge of the table, knees weak. Bills. Twenty dollar bills, a hefty bunch. More than you’ve ever seen in a single place.

“David,” you gasp. “How do you have this?!”

He shrugs.

“David,” you repeat, “how?”

You sink into the other chair, heart hammering. A thousand guesses flash though your head, but you push them all aside as you wait for the truth. The truth, or whatever twisted version of it your brother will tell you.

“Found a good job,” he says. He looks hopeful, earnest, almost like that innocent eighteen-year old who sailed to war. “Ain’tcha proud of me, sis?”

Your heart breaks. You set the envelope aside and grab his hands.

“Oh David, they’ll be so happy. This’ll mean so much to them.”

“Grandma can get her medicine easy as pie,” David says, eyes bright. “And maybe even some good meat for a change.”

You nod, tears pricking at your eyes. You can’t tell him how disappointed you are, not when he’s so darn earnest, so happy to be doing his part to help the folks back home.

After months of nothing from him, you’ll take this, no questions asked. For your family, for those bright eyes, you’ll do it.

—

David teases you over dinner—food you bought, food you cooked—and drops a sloppy kiss on your cheek as he bounds out at twilight. His bright smile never dropped once he’d gotten your approval, and as you watch him go the first half-flight down, you can tell he’s still grinning.

It doesn’t matter that your approval is forced, or that he had to fudge the truth to get it. He’s happy. That’s what matters.

At least, that’s what you tell yourself. You don’t like to think of David as a liar. He’s your brother. You love him. If you don’t know what he is, what he does—well, it’s easier that way. For both of you.

[shawnjacksonsbs]

Who are you meant to be? And more importantly, do you know why???   7-18-21

 "Nobody else can live the life you live.  And even though no human being is perfect, we always have the chance to bring what's unique about us to live in a redeeming way." – Mr. Fred Rogers

 To be better at being kind, to be a better version of me

I have to just be me, but I have to be you too.

Empathy ends the war before the division can even begin.

Whether you are the right, or whether you are the wrong

The ability to see it and feel it like they do is what separates us. . . from them.

When I know better, I try and do better.

We can always be better.

Always.

 I heard someone say that the biggest haters of America are Americans. Which way does that hit you? I wonder why that is.

Which side are you on of (insert issue here)? Do you feel attacked?

Do you feel you’re attacked because of the side you chose, or did you choose the side because of the attack??

What was your first thought at reading that?

Was it "Fuck them. They can leave then"?

Or was it more like "I wonder what happened to them to make them feel that way"?

Walking each other home means more than protecting each other. It also means caring about them. You can absolutely disagree someone and still care.

Trust me I do it all the time, almost every day especially since I've moved back to the Midwest.

Hating someone before understanding their plight is such a terrible loss of love and education, and for what? I mean . . .why? What do you gain by not?

You have the ability to do so much for someone(s) else, even if it's just to listen and try and understand. Understanding from your neighbor’s perspective is the way back from the lost, divided state we as a people seem to be stagnated in. And have been for a while. Divided by more than our differences, we are divided because we fall for crap spread in propaganda fashion.

Want to know what’s real? Talk to more neighbors than just those who live in your local community.

Embrace our differences, and (or but) absolutely celebrate our similarities.

I am me, but I am you too, or I should be if I'm trying to succeed in this thing, we call . . . life.

It's a whole other level to actually feel a responsibility toward being my brother’s keeper.

If this makes you feel attacked ask yourself why, and let me know, please. I wonder.

Just no hate infused answers or comments. They are the only things that won't be tolerated.

 "Both sides go to war 'cause they don't respect it

Our social climate from the global tension

Turned to total violence and a whole depression

We could unify and then all go against them

But we let 'em divide us with votes and elections" - Tom Macdonald

 I love so many people with differing views. It can be hard at times, frustrating at other times, but easy sometimes too and absolutely worth it every time.

One of whom just so happens to be celebrating a birthday today.

Ex-mothers-in-laws, you wouldn't think of them like this but my relationship with her has changed my life for the better and she gets a lot of the credit for the way I love other people that I don't always see eye to eye with. I learned so much. Trust me. I owe her more than a million thank yous. Our relationship is proof that you can care about someone you don’t have a ton in common with.

It just makes the things you do have in common more precious and important! Focus on them. By the way, Happy Birthday if you're reading this.

Some people just need to be seen and heard.  That starts at home with the littles of our lives but should definitely carry on into their adult lives. Our voices are how we bridge the gaps of indifference. Shutting people down constantly, which I have seen firsthand my entire life hasn’t worked so maybe, something different is needed?!?!

And . . . And . . .I have a fucking dream too.

It is of a world where we all live as one people, focusing on love and pushing hate and indifference the fuck out of our way to do it. Always remembering to be kind until its time to stand up to bullies and letting civility be the rule of the land. It feels so-not like rocket science. We are not neanderthal anymore, for good reason. Our compassion separates us from the animals. How the fuck do you think we got here? Stop participating in our de-evolution. I mean god damn, we worked so hard to get here. Lol

This entry brought to you in part by continuing interruptions of my granddaughter. Worth it!

Until next week;

“Imagine what our neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.” - Mr Fred Rogers

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from A Reel of One’s Own by Andrea Thompson: Top Films Of 2019

By Andrea Thompson

I state that my list wasn’t too late, 2020 came too early. So here are my top 25 movies of 2019.

25. Avengers: Endgame

Walt Disney Studios

Fan service doesn’t have to be a bad thing. While “Avengers: Endgame” mostly gave fans what they wanted, it was also a fond farewell to an MCU that had been building for over a decade, one that would be greatly altered by the movie’s end. Making good use of its three hour runtime, “Endgame” takes it time wandering through its own universe in a way that’s both heartfelt and entertaining before getting the gang together in an absolutely jaw-dropping, action-packed climax that had the most jaded moviegoers cheering.

24. Knives Out

Lionsgate

Rian Johnson may have had a complicated year, but “Knives Out” has him on top of his game. Johnson has built a career around toying with audience expectations in the most enjoyable way possible, and he does so yet again in “Knives Out,” giving us a whodunit that seems to reveal who in fact dun it pretty early, only to provide even more layers to peel back. After wealthy patriarch Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) dies in an apparent suicide, gentleman detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is hired to investigate, only to discover some very combative family dynamics, with caregiver and audience surrogate Marta (Ana de Armas) caught in the middle. Anchored by an all-star cast that also includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette, and Chris Evans, Johnson keeps the mystery and the fun coming from start to finish.

23. Monos

IMDB

Just when you think the eight isolated teenage soldiers in “Monos” are treating the unnamed war they’re fighting in like a neverending slumber party, tragedy strikes, and they become very aware of what the consequences of failure are, and the life or death stakes they’re involved in. As they descend from their remote base in the mountains to the jungles below, their bond is torn and transformed into something far darker, as the beauty of their natural surroundings likewise becomes less of a contrast and more of a complement to humanity’s brutality. Moisés Arias is a standout as the group’s charismatic leader, who likewise leads his charges (and peers) into their own increasingly insular culture, as the bonds of adolescence enable them to surrender more and more of their humanity.

22. Toy Story 4

Walt Disney Studios

“Toy Story 4” certainly had no business being good. It was another sequel in a franchise that seemed to wrap everything up neatly in the last film, not only giving Woody (Tom Hanks) and his pals a happy ending, but reassurance that life would go on after their beloved Andy grew up and grew beyond them. So what else was left to stir any kind of conflict interesting enough to prevent one of the most creative and commercially successful film series ever made from devolving into one of the most cynical cash grabs of all time? Thankfully, quite a bit, and it mostly amounts to a case of white male anxiety. Woody had always been sure of his purpose, but when he runs into Bo Peep (Annie Potts), he’s inspired to rethink his life, as his former love has transformed from the demure, delicate toy who stayed behind on adventures to a capable leader who’s embraced life without a child, assists other discarded toys, and plans to see more of the world. It all amounts to a progressive message, that of being who you are right now. Life may change, and your place in it can become frighteningly precarious, but you should never be defined by your past, whether it was scarred by tragedy, or was the source of your happiest moments. Throughout it all, friendships, family, and love can last. To infinity and beyond.

21. Hustlers

STX Films

“Hustlers” is one of those films that could’ve just been a puritanical cautionary tale about the dangers of girls gone wild. Good thing writer-director Lorene Scafaria saves her anger for the patriarchy rather than the strippers who come up with a plan to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients after the recession hits. Even smarter, Scafaria anchors her story in the friendship between Ramona (Jennifer Lopez in a career-best performance), the originator of the scheme, and Destiny (Constance Wu). Before 2008, they and their co-workers are able to earn more than a good living, but after the financial crisis, their profession becomes less than viable. So they decide to drug wealthy Wall Street men and get them to spend ridiculous amounts of money, which they would then keep for themselves. By giving women who are normally sexualized furniture center stage, Scafaria allows us to share their delight in scamming the scammers, then their fear as their world inevitably unravels, resulting in an insightful, female-centric crime story that mostly unfolds sans judgment.

20. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

A24

Gentrification has been given the movie treatment before, but “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” doesn’t just show the scope of its horrors, it makes you feel them. In this world, it’s perfectly feasible for a little girl to happily skip down the street while men in hazard suits are cleaning up the water, as long as she resides in a neighborhood the rest of San Francisco is determined to leave behind in its mad rush for profit. Jimmie Fails (co-writer Jimmie Fails, who plays a fictionalized version of himself) has one thing to cling to though: a beautiful house in the heart of the city, which was built by his grandfather after he returned home from WWII, and is now occupied by an older white couple. When the couple departs, Jimmie and his friend Mont (Jonathan Majors) decide to move in as squatters in a desperate attempt to reclaim it. A tribute to a city that provokes love and despair in equal measure, “The Last Black Man” is a devastating indictment of an America that claims to reward hard work, yet often condemns those who are born with the most odds to overcome.

19. Ready Or Not

In-laws can be tough, but the clan in “Ready or Not” could probably teach the Lannisters a thing or two. Having grown up in foster care, Grace (Samara Weaving) is eager to bond with her new family, so she happily participates in their tradition of choosing a random game to play on her wedding night. But when she draws the card “Hide and Seek,” she discovers that her new relatives believe that if they are unable to find her and kill her before the night is over, they will lose their vast family fortune. In addition to making the honeymoon awkward, Grace must fight to stay alive in an environment where everyone now regards her as disposable, an acceptable sacrifice to keep the money flowing in. As wickedly funny as it is violently entertaining, “Ready or Not” is a surprisingly heartfelt tribute to humanism and the benefits of being an outsider…especially when insiders have murder on their minds.

18. 1917

IMDB

Sam Mendes has a reputation for intensity, but his harrowing war drama “1917” brings more suspense and terror than most horror movies. During WWI, two young British soldiers are given a seemingly impossible mission of going behind enemy lines to deliver a message. If they make it through, they’ll not only prevent a disastrous attack, but save quite a few lives, including the brother of one of the soldiers. Shot to give the effect of one continuous take, Mendes turns what might have been a gimmick and uses it to capture the horrors of war, and the humanity that often emerges in spite of it, all in a technically masterful work that showcases a filmmaker at the height of his storytelling abilities.

17. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Sony Pictures

Given that 2018 saw the release of the critically and commercially successful documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” did 2019 really need another film about Fred Rogers? Hold that thought, because “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” makes an enthusiastic case for yes. It’s probably no coincidence that the posters for both films also mention kindness, since Fred Rogers not only advocated it, he seemed to embody it, and not only to the children who were the target audience of his wildly successful show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Even if Tom Hanks doesn’t have much of a resemblance to Mr. Rogers, he nevertheless seems to channel him and the values he tirelessly championed to an uncanny degree, enough to make journalist Lloyd Vogel’s (Matthew Rhys) journey from cynic to believer feel fresh rather than tired. Director Marielle Heller also brings the same clear-eyed compassion that made “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” so heartfelt to this story of a budding friendship between two very different men.

16. Her Smell

Elisabeth Moss has long since proven she’s a force of nature, more recently on the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale.” So what more does she have to prove with the film “Her Smell?” Quite a lot it turns out. If “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a showcase for Moss’s powers of restrained passion, then “Her Smell” allows her to tear up the screen like a tornado, destroying all the mere mortals unfortunate enough to become swept into her path as the self-destructive punk rocker Becky Something. As Becky’s mood shifts with the rapidity of a deranged pinball, she can’t seem to latch on to anything resembling stability, despite the efforts of her bandmates, collaborators, and ex-husband to steer her towards a healthier direction. Or just anywhere other than the rock bottom she seems determined to hit with full force. If Becky’s downward spiral is difficult to watch, it’s even harder to look away, as Moss infuses her with a charismatic talent that makes the inescapable tragedy feel Shakespearean in scope.

15. Varda By Agnes

If the documentary “Varda By Agnès” is difficult to define, it’s because the late great filmmaker Agnès Varda herself defies anything resembling easy categorization. Like her other films, the premise of “Varda By Agnès” is deceptively simple, yet soon reveals layers of complexity which unfold throughout, as Varda looks back on her life and career while articulating her style of filmmaking. However, the doc is far more than a retrospective, and far less predictable, at one moment reminiscent of a casual chat with an old friend, the next an imaginative journey wherein a great artist instructs devoted cinephiles and neophytes alike on how she not only viewed, but interpreted the world. It’s a fitting end to a decades-long career and life, both of which 90-year-old Varda defined on her own terms to the end.

14. The Farewell

IMDB

A movie with a character who happens to be a terminally ill grandmother is a tough sell for a comedy. But the matriarch who receives a fatal cancer diagnosis isn’t just a side character in “The Farewell,” she’s the central plot point. After struggling New Yorker Billi’s (Awkwafina) beloved Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) is diagnosed, her family opt to keep her illness a secret and decide to throw a fake wedding to provide an excuse for them all to gather in China and celebrate Nai Nai one last time. And it’s…pretty funny, with not just the expected dark humor, but a wide spectrum of hilarity abounding alongside the touching moments of grief. Based in part on writer-director Lulu Wang’s own experiences, “The Farewell” is apt to make you laugh and cry not just in equal measure, but simultaneously.

13. Little Woods

IMDB

You can never have too much of Tessa Thompson, and “Little Woods” allows her to fully immerse herself into a role and world where a single wrong step could tear through a life with the force of a tornado. And she downright mesmerizes as Ollie, who finds herself in tight circumstances with a mere eight days left on her probation and the hope of a new life. Or rather, her somewhat estranged sister Deb (Lily James) does after their mother dies, and Deb and her son find themselves on the verge of homelessness and destitution. To help her family, Ollie decides to reenter the world of prescription drug smuggling, a dangerous but profitable business in their bleak rural North Dakota town. Remarkably, this is director Nia DaCosta’s feature debut, and the fact that she gives us a brilliantly realized modern Western with a feminist twist, where a drug run to Canada also doubles as an attempt to receive a safe and low-cost abortion, is hopefully indicative of much more to come. Thankfully, there are already hopeful signs of just that.

12. Dolemite is my Name

IMDB

Just when you think Eddie Murphy might be teetering on the edge of irrelevance, he reminds you why he’s a pop culture phenomenon by tearing up the screen as Blaxploitation legend Rudy Ray Moore, who became famous in the 70s for his portrayal of alter ego Dolemite in his film and stand-up career. Even if we’re aware of how this is going to end, with Moore investing – and risking – everything he’s built to make a film based on his Dolemite character, Murphy is astounding, radiating joy as he brings his larger-than-life energy and charisma to Moore, who was similarly magnetic. And it’s not just Moore, but the people he’s gathered around him who succeed as well, many of whom were just as underused by the mainstream entertainment industry. As they all revel in building and profiting off a film made on their own terms, it’s the kind of tender, inspirational tribute that earns every bit of its charm and intensity.

11. Queen & Slim

Universal Pictures

“Queen & Slim” kicks off with its title characters on a date that is only remarkable for its lack of spark, but things get heated in the worst way after a police offer pulls them over for a minor issue, and things escalate, with Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) getting shot and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) shooting the officer in self defense. The two then go on the run together, with their bond and their relationship blossoming as they drive south through a lush vision of Black Americana. That they both come off as deeply human while remaining symbolic of the tragic human cost of racism seems due in large part to the near symbiotic creative melding of director Melina Matsoukas, who also directed Beyonce’s “Lemonade,” and writer Lena Waithe, the creator of the series “The Chi” and who also wrote the acclaimed “Master of None” episode “Thanksgiving.” Their story is tragic, but it is also full of beauty and humor as Queen and Slim dare to hope for something better, even as they know the odds against such a thing are overwhelmingly stacked against them.

10. Fast Color

Lionsgate

It’s said that not all heroes wear capes, and certainly none of the women with superhuman abilities do in “Fast Color.” This criminally underseen gem has many of the beats, but almost none of the familiar tropes of typical superhero fare. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays a woman named Ruth, a fugitive on the run from authorities attempting to harness her abilities, and most critically, from herself, since those abilities have become a destructive force she’s unable to control. In this bleak dystopian future which is rapidly running low on resources, the key to Ruth’s future may just lie in the home she fled years ago, where her estranged mother (Lorraine Toussaint) and daughter (Saniyya Sidney) embody a past she tried to escape, and a more hopeful future they may be able to bring to fruition.

9. The Souvenir

IMDB

Joanna Hogg’s semi-autographical film “The Souvenir” is like a deceptively calm pond which conceals a raging torrent just beneath the surface. Honor Swinton Byrne, the woman responsible for the storm that’s eventually unleashed, may still be constantly referred to as Tilda Swinton’s daughter, but this film suggests that won’t be the case for long. Her performance as Julie, a young film student in the 80s whose dreams are nearly derailed by her involvement with an older man who is also a heroin addict, is the kind of on-screen arrival that the term breakout role was made for. With part two arriving next year, it’s hard to imagine how Hogg or Byrne will match the kind of urgency they brought to this film, but this creative pairing – which feels like a match made in cinematic heaven – could feasibly pull it off.

8. One Child Nation

One Child Nation

Director Nanfu Wang grew up in a time when China’s infamous one-child policy was at its height, with every facet of society extolling the virtues of having a smaller family…and the consequences of disobedience. After Wang had a son, she decided to investigate the policy she’d never given much thought to and its impact. When she uncovered was a complex and horrific hidden history of forced abortions, child abandonment, and infants who were literally torn from their arms of their families and given to American couples for adoption, who were tragically unaware that they were abetting kidnapping. Wang fearlessly confronts her own complicity and that of her family and community as she delves into the past, and how China is attempting to erase it from its future.

7. Uncut Gems

A24

If we’re our own worst enemies, then Adam Sandler’s New York City jeweler Howard Ratner will never have a worse one. A gambling addict who’s always in search of that next big score, his need for his drug of choice has wreaked havoc on his personal and professional life. He’s managed to get his hands on the titular gem that may finally change his luck…if he can somehow hold off on his on self-sabotaging impulses. Anchored by not only a career-best performance by Sandler, but a breakout one by Julia Fox as Howard’s mistress, the Safdie brothers immerse us into Howard’s world, then his mindset as he unravels, all the while clinging to the belief in that one big break that could still change everything.

6. Bedlam

Sundance Institute

In exploring the history of mental illness in America, director Kenneth Paul Rosenberg explores his own family, and how they reacted to his sister’s mental health struggles, then expands his scope into the personal and political ramifications of how we decide to treat a hidden social crisis of our time, one that is steadily worsening. As he travels to jails, Ers, and homeless camps, Rosenberg grounds his documentary with subjects who permit him a staggering amount of access to the highs and lows of their journeys to stability, and more often, how ill-equipped the system is to assist them. It will leave you emotionally gutted, but also with a much-needed greater understanding of a large population who are in desperate need of both compassion and assistance.

5. Luce

IMDB

No one escapes unscathed in “Luce,” including us, as director Julius Onah slowly but surely tightens his grip on our collective throats, forcing us to realize how even the most privileged among us are caught up in a system that ultimately demeans us all, with little doubt as to just who bears the brunt of the consequences. The titular Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) first seems to have it all and more. Adopted as a child from war-torn African county by suburban white couple Amy (Naomi Watts) and Peter (Tim Roth), Luce is a star athlete, a top student, and popular with students and teachers alike. It’s only when his teacher Harriet (Octavia Spencer) alerts his parents to a potentially disturbing essay by Luce that the cracks in the facade start to show, and Amy realizes just how little she may know the son she’s loved and raised, and perhaps also tokenized. Harrison’s masterful performance is equal parts chilling and heartbreaking as a young man who may be capable of great and terrible things. Just what will Luce become? The film has no answer.

4. Little Women

Sony Pictures

Greta Gerwig didn’t just write and direct Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 1868 novel, she brought it to life, with each of the four March sisters getting their due. Yes, even Amy. One of the most brilliant decisions Gerwig makes is to bring the book to the big screen in a nonlinear fashion, juxtaposing scenes from the sisters’ idyllic childhood with their darker adulthood. While the Civil War rages, depriving them of their father, the March family becomes a matriarchal worldutopia, wherein Meg (Emma Watson), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlen), and Amy (Florence Pugh) are free to explore their hopes and ambitions, guided by their beloved Marmee (Laura Dern), and befriended by their wealthy neighbor Laurie (Timothée Chalamet). As each sister struggles to find her way, Gerwig takes care to ensure that their lives not only feel familiar, but relevant as each wrestles with how to balance their dreams with the narrow expectations imposed on them.

3. Atlantics

IMDB

Mati Diop made history in more ways than one with her feature debut “Atlantics.” She was the first black woman to have a film in the main competition at Cannes, where “Atlantics” won the Grand Prix. The film more than lives up to the hype, with a touching love story that is also part supernatural fable and devastating indictment of modern exploitation and rampant poverty. Ada (Mama Bineta Sane) lives in a Senegalese suburb, and is promised to a wealthy man. But she is in love with Souleiman (Traore), a construction worker on a futuristic tower which is due to open soon. Souleiman and his co-workers haven’t been paid for their labor in months, so they decide to take their chances and depart by sea in search of something better. As Ada waits for news of him as she prepares to marry, she gradually learns that the spirits of Souleiman and the other young men are possessing the bodies of the living and demanding justice. As Ada slowly comes to accept the truth and take control of her own life and body (she’s forced to take a virginity test), Diop infuses her story with a beauty that never belies its sense of urgency for compassion in a world that can often seem short on it.

2. Parasite

IMDB

The word parasite conjures up images of a creature which takes from a victimized host without a thought of giving or the consequences thereof, but as Bong Joon-ho’s latest slice of brilliance unfolds, it’s unclear just whom is feeding on whom. But in the vicious capitalistic times we’ve arrived in, perhaps everyone is feeding on everyone, whether they know it or not. In the story of the impoverished Kim family, who manage to scam their way into various positions of employment with the wealthy Park family, Bong Joon-ho serves up a scathing indictment of the inequality which twists haves and have-nots alike. As one jaw-dropping development after another threatens to deprive the Kims of their newfound prosperity, both families suffer the horrific consequences. And even if you are able to free yourself from the dark obsession inherent in wanting a good life which remains tantalizingly out of reach, the vicious cycle, one borne out of a need that will never be quenched, continues.

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

IMDB

If Céline Sciamma had just wrote and directed a romance between two women who find the kind of love that leaves the screen burning from their mutual passion, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” would still have been one of the best films of the year. But Sciamma does so much more, making the case for an entire history that has mostly been unacknowledged by the art world. Not just of the female artists who managed to create in spite of the obstacles, but the lives of women in general, who are often not considered worthwhile subjects. (Times have sure changed, huh?) “Portrait” may take place in 18th century France, but its insights into the dynamics between artist and muse, how art is created, and how those who are silenced manage to find a voice, feels very much needed in our present moment.

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Video Killed The Radio Star

“We hear the playback 

and it seems so long ago

And you remember 

the jingles used to go”

- The Buggles

My mom asked me to help her set up an Apple TV a while back, and it made me realize how far we have come as far as entertainment options go.  I remember the day my dad came home and announced he saw that they were installing cable TV lines in the neighborhood.  He was about as excited as I have ever seen him.  It meant we increased our channel roster from about five to over thirty!  There was a network that played sports 24 hours a day!  We could watch movies at home uncut and uninterrupted.  I wanted my MTV and now I got it!  It may seem quaint to someone who wasn’t there at the time, but it was an incredibly cool and mind-blowing experience when you consider how our viewing experience exponentially changed with the installation of that little black cable.

As I was setting up the Apple TV, and all of the incredible options that come with it, I did not feel the same as that day in 1983 when I could now watch Nickelodeon and Australian rules football to my heart’s content.  Sure, the explosion of viewing options within cable and streaming services are just awesome, but sometimes it seems too much.  The immediate gratification of it all is disappointing as well.  The concept of binge watching seems to take away from the anticipation we used to have from the episode we waited all week for (or all summer for a cliffhanger).  That anticipation would start with the show’s theme song, which I feel is a real lost art.  Just the act of hearing that familiar tune along with credits and scenes of the stars of the show was almost as exciting as the show itself.  It may make me seem old and out-of-touch, but I really miss those days when we lived without DVRs and on demand viewing and got real theme songs to kick off your entertainment viewing experience.

But instead of rueing over days long lost, let’s celebrate some of those old shows (that ironically are all over Hulu and Netflix) that were not only great programs, but had the type of theme songs that really made you feel good when they came on.  It meant something that you waited for all week was about to arrive, and for an hour or two you could lose yourself in a world away from your own.  I now present to you my ten favorite tv theme songs and their shows, in no particular order:

1) All in the Family - In fall of 1973, CBS put forth what is considered the finest lineup on one night in television history. On Saturday nights, people stayed home for three straight hours of unparalleled entertainment. This was the start of it all at 7:00 (all times I give you are Central). There was no better lead off than Edith and Archie sitting at the piano singing “Those Were the Days”. How cool is it to have your lead actors sing the theme song live. All In the Family was so great it had a separate ending theme. You can read plenty elsewhere about the groundbreaking episodes that went on in between, but the theme music from this series gets us off and running.

2) Rockford Files - This show always opened with a unique montage of a client of Jim’s leaving a message on his answering machine. What followed was what I consider the best music composition on the list. Written by Mike Post, it is a funky, hard driving and timeless theme just like the Pontiac Firebird he drove. I like this song so much it is often in my normal rotation on many of my daily playlists. The program was great, for sure my favorite detective show of all time, but I would tune in just for this song.

3) Hill Street Blues - This is another Mike Poat theme, but couldn’t be more different than Rockford’s theme. Jazzy rather than funky and smooth versus hard driving, the piano of the song seemed to sum up everything this show was about. I recently caught up with some episodes on Hulu recently and forgot how ahead of its time this show was. Before Hill Street Blues, police dramas tended to tie things up neatly before the hour ended. This show, like life, didn’t always work out so well. The sadness of the lives in the people in the show is tinged throughout the theme. But, you also hear some hope in the final chords, and I think that what the show was all about. It told us that life could be a grind and full of despair, but there are also a lot of good people trying their best to ease suffering and make this world a better place. That’s a lot to pack into one theme song, but this one hits all the right notes.

4) M*A*S*H - This was in the 7:30 slot on the CBS Saturday lineup and was put there to boost its ratings in its second season. As hard as it is to believe in hindsight, the show struggled to find its audience in its first year. For many folks, the opening theme was their first introduction to this unique medical/war comedy/drama. Like the show, the theme (titled “Suicide is Painless”) was taken from the 1970 movie of the same name. The TV version dropped the lyrics and became one of the most instantly recognizable themes ever. The show that followed is very good too. I must confess that I am a bit of a M*A*S*H aficionado and the second season was one of their best (I’m partial to the McLean Stevenson/Wayne Rogers episodes). If you haven’t watched the show in a while, give a couple of episodes a spin (now on Hulu). I’ll bet dollars to donuts you are whistling the theme the rest of the day.

5) WKRP In Cincinnati - A terribly underrated show with an equally underrated theme, the quirky gang at WKRP were always good for some laughs and DJs spinning great records. While the theme song is fantastic (“...baby just think of me once in a while” is such a great line), the real soundtrack of the show was the late 70s/early 80s rock and roll in the background of each episode. Unfortunately, due to licensing issues, you don’t get those songs in the reruns, but the crazy storylines and big laughs that come with them still make this series worth your time. As a side note, the lyrics in the theme at the end are pure jibberish. The writer of the song used nonsense words as placeholders but the producers kept them in as a bit of an inside joke about how hard rock lyrics are to understand. I think that perfectly sums up what WKRP is all about.

6) Mary Tyler Moore Show - Who can turn the world on with a smile?  Mary no doubt did it every Saturday night at 8:00.  I have vague memories of this show the first time it came around as first run episodes, but found it later in reruns and discovered what a true gem it is.  The characters were quirky and unique without being oversimplified and the acting of the supporting cast was brilliant.  Any show with Ed Asner, Ted Knight and Betty White is going to end up being our gold.  As for the theme song, I think it is the most hopeful and happy on the surface, but it always struck a sad note with me.  There always seemed to be a back story with Mary in the show that we weren’t always getting that hinted of difficult times before she got to Minneapolis.  The song echos that and her throwing the hat up at the end seems to tell us that no matter how rough things were, or might end up, she’ll keep that smile on her face.  Not a bad lesson for all of us to follow.

7) Three’s Company - In the interest of full disclosure, I did not watch this show when it first aired.  It was banned from my house by my mother because it was “stupid”.  Once I left the house for college, I wanted to start trying new things and testing my independence in this world, so the first thing I did was devote every weeknight from 10:00 to 11:00 to the Three’s Company reruns on Channel 32.  What I saw was certainly a bit stupid but far from a  waste of time. Arguably, the show included some of the finest physical comedy of it’s day and was a great showcase for actors like John Ritter, Norman Fell (Mr. Roper) and Don Knotts.  Admittedly, the premise and some of the themes of the show have not aged well, but I never saw anything but an intent to have fun and provide a few laughs.  That was conveyed in the theme song which was as light and airy as the breeze coming off the Pacific while standing on the pier in Santa Monica.  For me, just the sound of that song brings back a memory of living in the college dorms and starting off an independent life full of promise and possibilities.  Each episode of this show felt the same even if each could have been solved in the first two minutes with a simple question or statement like “No, Mr. Furley, Jack is getting a Mexican pot to cook in, not the kind you smoke”.  I guess though, that wouldn’t have been all that funny.

8) Barney Miller - This one is on here purely for the bass line.  The notes are unmistakeable and leads into a full jazz combo with killer lead guitar.  The funk you hear in the theme follows along with the show.  The detectives at the precinct seemed to take what initially seemed to be mundane aspects of police work and turn every epsiode into a funky life lesson.  I read somewhere that real cops think this is the police show more true to life than any other they have seen.  I’m guessing it was because they drew up characters so real to the point where you would think of them as people first and not some exaggerated character as most police are drawn up on TV.  The whole thing just worked and really was quite funny.  The episodes hold up very well in reruns as well, so if you have never given it a try, I think you’ll find that it is as good as any other cop show you have seen recently.

9) Bob Newhart Show - Anchoring the CBS Saturday night 8:30 slot is another jazzy instrumental that is a great theme, but in this case the show behind it was the real gem.  Just like Barney Miller, The Bob Newhart Show took the fairly mundane aspects of life - whether it be at the office or at home - and mined them for laugh after laugh.  For those who are finds of Mr. Newhart (Loyola, Class of ‘52), this is no surprise.  Bob could literally turn a phone call into absolute hilarity.  His choice of profession on the show was perfect as well - for those who don’t know he played a psychologist. As someone who has spent a lot of time in the offices of mental health professionals, I can tell you first hand that the only portrayal that I have seen that is true-to-life is the one on this show.  The group therapy sessions are always the real gems and this show nails exactly what they are like.  I can’t it explain it much further, just go get a copy of the first season of this and watch it and you’ll know what I’m talking about.  Also, this show gets credit for one of the best wacky neighbors - Howard the pilot played by the incomparable Bill Daley.  Of all of the shows on this list, this is the one that I would recommend you check out before all others.  

10) The Love Boat - The show was pretty lame though I can be talked into watching anything that could have Sonny Bono, Vincent Price, and Chart as guest stars on the same night.  The theme, however, was a winner.  Sure it was cheesy, but it fit the series perfectly and always gave me the impression that I would know I made it in life if I could take a cruise on a boat like the Pacific Princess (I haven’t so I guess that I’m still waiting to make it).  Another reason that I love this show is that I have fond memories watching it with my Grandma when we would occasionally stay over at her house on Saturday nights.  Her smart comments about all of the washed up actors and how bad they looked or untalented they were was the real entertainment of the evening.  Plus, just the fact that she let us stay up late to watch it was a real treat in it of itself.  She would make us popcorn and let us have a soda and we could just live it up.  It’s funny how the most simple things in life end up being the most memorable.  I’d give anything right now for an hour again with her and that show.  Gosh, what fun.

Honorable mentions include the themes from Hawaii 5-0, The Golden Girls, Cheers, Sanford & Son, The Greatest America Hero, Good Times, The Odd Couple, Welcome Back Kotter, and Miami Vice

Now, I know that I’m being a real old-timer here by bringing out these ancient shows, but I will challenge you to a different binge-watching experience before passing judgment on my list.  Just You Tube the ten opening theme songs/credits that I list here and watch them in order.  You don’t even have to watch whole episodes of these shows (though if you the time you should). I guarantee that you will get a feel for what it was like when these shows were first on the tube.  Or, if that’s too much work, I made you a playlist with a few other favorites:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2J8rLlC3FIAvaCLmQg95vT?si=fpgJ8wYaSH-V0M0gP12rvA 

I am now at the ending point of this post.  It’s always hard for me to come up with a good finish to one of these.  I now realize that I need a good theme song.  I guess that is going to be hard to convey in written form and also because I don’t have one, but hum something catchy in your head and play it across images of the great times you just had reading this blog.  

Until next time....

Jim

P.S. - The last hour of “The Greatest Night in Television” on CBS was occupied by the Carol Burnett Show. A fantastic program, but not my favorite theme, so it did not make the list. Still worth checking out if you find it on somewhere if only to watch the cast crack up at Tim Conway’s antics.

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A Dog’s Way Home

We watched as a family the movie called A Dog’s Way Home, about a dog trying to find his long way home. The story is told from the perspective of the dog, which is often humorous, sometimes sad, and quite loving. My 11 year old liked it, but he only understood layer one of the movie. I was so happy about that fact, for the real undercurrent story was something else entirely.

Who doesn’t like a good story about a lovable dog right? I wish it was that easy, but that is not the world we live in today. We no longer live in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I remember the original Disney The Incredible Journey about 3 pets looking for their master. So innocent, but no longer. We live in a culture now completely saturated with leftist ideology and LGBTQ brainwashing. So much so, that these things happen in front of us on the screen and now in real life without the majority of us even knowing or understanding what is taking place.

The dog’s owner in the movie is a likeable young white guy that eventually falls in love with a beautiful black girl. No problem there. Towards the conclusion, they are shown as a happy married couple. But along our circuitous way in the story, we are served a sometimes subtle and sometimes blatant smorgasbord of Hollywood’s myopic version of leftist America.

The very wimpy dog catcher is called a racist by our young black heroine because he is upholding the law of Denver that says no pitbulls are allowed in the city limits, and that is apparently the breed from which our star dog is derived. We are later given, by a sympathetic lady dog pound employee, a graying of the lines of what a pitbull actually is in reality. This of course gives the audience a reason to ask why is our innocent doggie being chased by the mean old wimpy man.

Later, not to mention the virtue signaling by minority groups in the cast throughout the movie, the wimpy dog catcher is man-handled, or should I say woman-handled by the dog owner’s mother. He is completely overwhelmed by her simply holding his wrist tightly, and her speaking toughly. She tells him that he will allow the doggie to be loaded up in a car, that will take our star far away to the state of New Mexico, so she won’t be caught a second time and euthanized. Yes, by the way, our doggie is a girl, and by the way, most of the likeable people in the movie are females. White guys don’t rate in Hollywood anymore, unless they are LGBTQ or somehow repentant for being a tough guy. Yet, without tough guys there would be no freedom because they fight our wars. Think about that one for a minute.

Moving the dog away from her home, of course, sets up the long distance journey home. Meanwhile, the wimpy dog catcher guy keeps looking at his wrist as if to say to the woman, owe you’re hurting my arm. The tetesterone in me wants to shout out, REALLY? That is all it takes for a law enforcement officer who fights pitbulls for a living to be shaken up and demoralized? Give me a break Hollywood.

By the way, most of the law enforcement in the movie are presented in a negative light for upholding the law. Laws are so passé to the Hollywood left, it makes you wonder why we even have laws in our society. They don’t do anything anyway, but only save lives, protect our private property, provide for the common defense, and keep our country together and in order. Who needs mean old boundaries and borders anyway? We are good without them, right?

Then during the long journey home, we are introduced to the homosexual couple, a white guy and a black guy. We are slowly shown that they aren’t just skiing buddies, but live together; celebrate together with a new bottle of champagne as a gift from one to the other for their book being published; and then we finally see their shiny wedding rings twinkle in the sun. Such a happy couple. There is no touching between them, but the message is loud and clear that this is the new normal for all of us to accept and even to celebrate as we do the marriage of the dog owner and his new pretty wife.

From a Biblical standpoint, this is complete hogwash. I have to wonder though if Christians watching this movie even batted an eye at this Hollywood masterpiece? We have been served up this wrotten feast so often we have become calloused to its true meaning. Face it. Christians have grown up with Ellen Degeneris in their living rooms, and they apparently like it. But for the sake of our children and posterity, we absolutely should do more than bat an apathetic eye. We need a full WAKE UP call to the church!

People, hear me on this. Our choices in life do absolutely have consequences. God tells us in Paul’s letter to the Romans that the homosexual and lesbian relationships, and all things LGBTQ, will end in the utter wrath of God and finally death. We must never forget, but remember what occurred in Sodom and Gomorrah. Before Paul began his ministry to Rome, he laid the Biblical foundation in chapter one by stating the facts boldly. God will give over the homosexual and the lesbian, (and we could add, all the LGBTQ alphabet), to their lusts and passions. The result of this giving over by God, is that their chances of ever recovering from their sexual addictions are slim to none. That is why it is so all important we as Christians need to tow the line, know the Word, and preach the Word in season and out of season.

There are no gray areas here, no ambiguity in Scripture on this issue of LGBTQ. Did you hear that? None whatsoever, Ellen Degeneris not withstanding. I understand there are many so-called Christians today talking about gay orientations and transgender orientations and all the LGBTQ+ alhabet orientations. But it is completelly false, and not even close to what Scripture teaches. LGBTQ is sin period, and there will be no self-identifying LGBTQ person in Heaven. That is a sobering thought. Professing Christian, if you still identify with LGBTQ, you won’t be with the family of God in Heaven. Listen to the Apostle Paul. He is the Christian’s timeless authority on this subject as he was inspired by God to write without error. We don’t need any Scriptural updates from the APA (American Psychological Association), which is human wisdom inspired by doctrines of demons.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

We wouldn’t ever say there is an adulterer orientation. Or a thief orientation. Or a swindler orientation. Would we? Or any other kind of orientation on this list. Yet, we are being told that there is an exception when it comes to the effeminate and to the homosexual. That God created the LGBTQ person with that identity, even that God blesses them. If so, then we might as well say God created the thief and the swindler, and blesses them; and God will steal you blind when the offering plate is passed next Sunday morning. That is complete nonsense.

Look further on in the passage. Paul goes on to say, “Such were some of you.” Did you notice the past tense? You were once identified this way before you came to Christ, but you are not this anymore. He goes on, “but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

There is no doubt in the matter, that once Christ washes us from all these sins, that we identify with these sins NO MORE. Therefore, the current popular teaching of supposed LGBTQ orientation is completely false, and dangerous. That is emphatic teaching people. Paul goes on to state in another place.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So let’s put this LGBTQ orientation teaching to rest people. The only victory for homosexuality is conversion to Jesus Christ period. Remember, it is LGBTQ that are asking for special status, not the others. So they and those that give them theological sanctuary need to hear what Paul is preaching. By the way, some do want to be washed, but the church is now telling them, no you are ok the way you are; you were made by God that way. In California law 2943 was passed that makes conversion therapy for homosexuals illegal. That is completely unbelievable, and what is more unbelievable is so-called Christian conservatives were pushing for this law to be passed, and it did pass both houses.

It is neither right nor good to continue on this false track that will lead no where good, but to our complete demise. There is no LGBTQ orientation, only sin. We should resist both the false gospel of Hollywood, and the false teachers in the church. LGBTQ is in reality a tragic life that is a kind of living death. Yet, we are being brainwashed to believe the total opposite, that it is somehow beautiful with twinkling wedding rings. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our children absolutely deserve the church to be CRYSTAL CLEAR on our teaching on LGBTQ. Without the true church teaching boldly and courageously the time honored Word of God, our children are DOOMED!. Our children don’t stand a chance if we desert them now at their hour of utmost need. For them to grow up and believe that LGBTQ is normal in the movies and in real life; and being brainwashed to believe by those in the church that there are no consequences for sin, is calling God a liar, and inviting God’s judgment upon us and our nation.

When Abraham asked God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if there were just 10 righteous people, he discovered the stark truth when he rose early the next morning to observe the rising smoke of the cities, and their utter judgment and destruction.

Genesis 19:27-28 “Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.“

Tragically, there weren’t even 10 people who knew or cared about God’s Word, and even the children were swept up in the fire and brimstone and destroyed along with their wicked fathers and mothers.

What will we as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and parents of our dear little ones decide? Are the children precious to us enough to stand and fight against the tidal wave of luke warm and compromised Christianity? Or will Christ spew us out of His mouth because we were neither hot nor cold? I beg you to join the fight, and raise the banner of truth in front of an evil and perverse generation before it is too late, even when that means confronting a hostile world and a denomination given over to heresy. Wake up church!

[algarithmblognumber]

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks http://www.nature-business.com/nature-thousands-in-florida-may-not-get-electricity-back-for-weeks/

Nature

Image

Mayor Margo Anderson of Lynn Haven, Fla., made the rounds of her city on Sunday, notifying residents that electric service may not be restored for weeks.CreditCreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. — Mayor Margo Anderson drove through the neighborhoods of her small bayside city on Sunday to deliver some unwelcome news: The electric power knocked out nearly a week ago by Hurricane Michael might not be restored for two months.

Behind the wheel of a black golf cart, she made the rounds as shellshocked neighbors emerged from houses with busted windows and walls and front porches, the damage from the punches of fast wind, rushing waters and toppled trees.

“Just about every tree is down,” said Ms. Anderson, a fifth-generation citizen who was elected mayor of Lynn Haven, Fla., three years ago. “The power lines are destroyed. The transformers are destroyed. The power grid is destroyed. We have to start over.”

That is the dire reality in the necklace of rural towns and coastal communities across northwest Florida that Michael gutted. Residents already reeling from the storm’s unexpectedly brutal winds now face the prospect of spending weeks relying on generators burning expensive fuel, or depending on aid from emergency workers.

Ms. Anderson’s grim prediction of two months of darkness might be a bit pessimistic. Gulf Power, the main utility in the area, estimated on Sunday that electricity would be restored in Lynn Haven, downtown Panama City and neighboring communities by Oct. 24, two weeks after the hurricane made landfall. But Duke Energy, which serves another hard-hit swath of the Florida Panhandle, including Bay County and some parts of Gulf County, said it could not yet estimate how long it might take to get the lights back on in those areas.

“I just want to be realistic and warn people that for a while, it’s going to be pretty primitive living,” Ms. Anderson said.

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute, while more than 2.3 million customers who lost power in the storm have had it restored. The majority of customers still suffering from Michael-related blackouts — about 182,000 — were in Florida, according to the state’s emergency response team.

About 2,000 people remained in storm shelters on Sunday, and the storm’s confirmed national death toll rose to 19.

The power situation is worst in the Florida counties directly in the northward path traced by Michael’s destructive eye: 99 percent of customers remained in the dark on Sunday in Gulf County, 98 percent in Calhoun County and 91 percent in Jackson County. Neighboring counties were nearly as badly off.

Image

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute.CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times

“It’s almost like a huge bulldozer went down the middle of Panama City and straight up through,” said Jeff Rogers, a Gulf Power spokesman. “This is kind of the Super Bowl of all big storms.”

In Blountstown, the city manager, Traci Hall, said the city had 40 linemen working 16 hours a day, but even so, the municipal power grid would take weeks to piece back together.

“It’s a total rebuild of our system,” she said. “Almost every single light pole in this city is on the ground. There is hardly any wires left hanging, period.”

The city is in the process of getting the poles, cables and other supplies that its municipal electric utility needs so crews can keep working at full speed, Ms. Hall said. In the meantime, she has advised residents to prepare to be in the dark for 30 days.

“I think everybody’s pretty much staying put at this point,” Ms. Hall said. “There are many, many that do not have a generator and can’t afford to purchase a generator. But I think that neighbors are going to help neighbors.”

The biggest municipal utility in the storm-affected area is in Tallahassee, the state capital, which was spared the worst of the hurricane. But given the city’s dense tree cover, 96 percent of customers lost power anyway. Eighty-six percent had service restored by Sunday afternoon, according to Amy Zubaly, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which includes five public utilities affected by Michael.

In the Panama City region, amid destruction on almost every street corner, residents on Sunday continued to wait in long lines for hot food, bottled water, gasoline and prepaid cellphones that might get better reception than their own. The army of utility trucks in the area showed the scale of the recovery work underway, but they also clogged the region’s damaged roads.

Tony McClean, a cook at a Panama City restaurant, said the storm pounded his rental house with such ferocity that a pine tree punctured the roof, its jagged remains hovering over his bed.

“Hard not to look at that and not think about what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone to a friend’s house at the last minute,” said Mr. McClean, 40.

At first, he said, he thought about trying to live among the shredded remains, but with no running water and no power in the house, it did not make sense. Then he got the idea to try camping, something he had never done. He figured he could ride his trusty five-speed bike and set up on some quiet patch of the city.

“I figure I can stay with friends for a few nights, maybe hit the shelter, then I will be on my own,” he said. “Everything is gone. I am on zero. If you haven’t gone through something like this, I don’t think people understand how bad it is.”

In Lynn Haven, over the roar of chain saws, Mayor Anderson told residents living in a cluster of homes on the city’s east side to prepare for a long haul.

She estimated that more than half of the city’s roughly 20,000 residents do not have generators. Or, in some cases, they have one that does not work.

Starlia Jackson, 56, spent Sunday afternoon huddled outside her camper with her dogs, Romeo and Pooh. The old camper rocked from side to side during the storm’s afternoon assault but survived in the driveway of her late mother’s one-story brick house. The house took in water and wind after the French doors in the back shattered, so now the camper is home.

Since the storm, Ms. Jackson has lived on strawberry soda, canned tuna and bottled water. The camper has a stove, but Ms. Jackson is low on propane gas, and on money to buy more. The house has a generator, but it is sitting broken on a tarp in the driveway.

She cannot take her two pets with her to a shelter, so for now she plans to stay, dragging a grill she has not used in years next to the camper.

“No power for possibly two months? Are you serious?” she asked. “I have no idea what I am going to do for that kind of time. You survive a storm, and then there is all the stuff that comes afterward that can be just as devastating.”

Wanda Grigsby stepped among the downed trees and limbs to find a cleared spot to stand in her yard. She stood in the brutal heat wearing shorts, a T-shirt and rubber boots. Hurricane Michael had brought her to tears: It ripped off chunks of her house’s roof and dumped an impossibly thick layer of pink insulation all over the kitchen, living room and den. Even if she cleaned it up, the power will not be coming back soon, and neither will the running water that relies on it.

“I have my 6-year-old grandson with me — no way can we do this,” said Ms. Grigsby, 54, who used to own a day care center and now is a caretaker for her mother. “I am going to stay with family in Jacksonville for a while.”

At one point, Ms. Anderson eyed a large white Federal Emergency Management Agency vehicle that had arrived at a parking lot just behind the city’s heavily damaged police station. The lot had become an outdoor community center of sorts, where one of the local dentists was grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and residents could pick up free bottled water, diapers, canned goods and dog food.

Ms. Anderson jumped out of the golf cart and moved a portable street barrier to allow the FEMA bus into the lot.

“You have no idea how happy this makes me,” she said. “People need relief.”

Audra D. S. Burch reported from Lynn Haven, Fla., and Patricia Mazzei from Miramar Beach, Fla.

A version of this article appears in print on

, on Page

A

12

of the New York edition

with the headline:

Thousands May Wait For Many Weeks to Get Power Back in Florida

. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/us/hurricane-michael-florida-power-electricity.html |

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks, in 2018-10-15 03:42:25

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Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks http://www.nature-business.com/nature-thousands-in-florida-may-not-get-electricity-back-for-weeks/

Nature

Image

Mayor Margo Anderson of Lynn Haven, Fla., made the rounds of her city on Sunday, notifying residents that electric service may not be restored for weeks.CreditCreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. — Mayor Margo Anderson drove through the neighborhoods of her small bayside city on Sunday to deliver some unwelcome news: The electric power knocked out nearly a week ago by Hurricane Michael might not be restored for two months.

Behind the wheel of a black golf cart, she made the rounds as shellshocked neighbors emerged from houses with busted windows and walls and front porches, the damage from the punches of fast wind, rushing waters and toppled trees.

“Just about every tree is down,” said Ms. Anderson, a fifth-generation citizen who was elected mayor of Lynn Haven, Fla., three years ago. “The power lines are destroyed. The transformers are destroyed. The power grid is destroyed. We have to start over.”

That is the dire reality in the necklace of rural towns and coastal communities across northwest Florida that Michael gutted. Residents already reeling from the storm’s unexpectedly brutal winds now face the prospect of spending weeks relying on generators burning expensive fuel, or depending on aid from emergency workers.

Ms. Anderson’s grim prediction of two months of darkness might be a bit pessimistic. Gulf Power, the main utility in the area, estimated on Sunday that electricity would be restored in Lynn Haven, downtown Panama City and neighboring communities by Oct. 24, two weeks after the hurricane made landfall. But Duke Energy, which serves another hard-hit swath of the Florida Panhandle, including Bay County and some parts of Gulf County, said it could not yet estimate how long it might take to get the lights back on in those areas.

“I just want to be realistic and warn people that for a while, it’s going to be pretty primitive living,” Ms. Anderson said.

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute, while more than 2.3 million customers who lost power in the storm have had it restored. The majority of customers still suffering from Michael-related blackouts — about 182,000 — were in Florida, according to the state’s emergency response team.

About 2,000 people remained in storm shelters on Sunday, and the storm’s confirmed national death toll rose to 19.

The power situation is worst in the Florida counties directly in the northward path traced by Michael’s destructive eye: 99 percent of customers remained in the dark on Sunday in Gulf County, 98 percent in Calhoun County and 91 percent in Jackson County. Neighboring counties were nearly as badly off.

Image

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute.CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times

“It’s almost like a huge bulldozer went down the middle of Panama City and straight up through,” said Jeff Rogers, a Gulf Power spokesman. “This is kind of the Super Bowl of all big storms.”

In Blountstown, the city manager, Traci Hall, said the city had 40 linemen working 16 hours a day, but even so, the municipal power grid would take weeks to piece back together.

“It’s a total rebuild of our system,” she said. “Almost every single light pole in this city is on the ground. There is hardly any wires left hanging, period.”

The city is in the process of getting the poles, cables and other supplies that its municipal electric utility needs so crews can keep working at full speed, Ms. Hall said. In the meantime, she has advised residents to prepare to be in the dark for 30 days.

“I think everybody’s pretty much staying put at this point,” Ms. Hall said. “There are many, many that do not have a generator and can’t afford to purchase a generator. But I think that neighbors are going to help neighbors.”

The biggest municipal utility in the storm-affected area is in Tallahassee, the state capital, which was spared the worst of the hurricane. But given the city’s dense tree cover, 96 percent of customers lost power anyway. Eighty-six percent had service restored by Sunday afternoon, according to Amy Zubaly, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which includes five public utilities affected by Michael.

In the Panama City region, amid destruction on almost every street corner, residents on Sunday continued to wait in long lines for hot food, bottled water, gasoline and prepaid cellphones that might get better reception than their own. The army of utility trucks in the area showed the scale of the recovery work underway, but they also clogged the region’s damaged roads.

Tony McClean, a cook at a Panama City restaurant, said the storm pounded his rental house with such ferocity that a pine tree punctured the roof, its jagged remains hovering over his bed.

“Hard not to look at that and not think about what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone to a friend’s house at the last minute,” said Mr. McClean, 40.

At first, he said, he thought about trying to live among the shredded remains, but with no running water and no power in the house, it did not make sense. Then he got the idea to try camping, something he had never done. He figured he could ride his trusty five-speed bike and set up on some quiet patch of the city.

“I figure I can stay with friends for a few nights, maybe hit the shelter, then I will be on my own,” he said. “Everything is gone. I am on zero. If you haven’t gone through something like this, I don’t think people understand how bad it is.”

In Lynn Haven, over the roar of chain saws, Mayor Anderson told residents living in a cluster of homes on the city’s east side to prepare for a long haul.

She estimated that more than half of the city’s roughly 20,000 residents do not have generators. Or, in some cases, they have one that does not work.

Starlia Jackson, 56, spent Sunday afternoon huddled outside her camper with her dogs, Romeo and Pooh. The old camper rocked from side to side during the storm’s afternoon assault but survived in the driveway of her late mother’s one-story brick house. The house took in water and wind after the French doors in the back shattered, so now the camper is home.

Since the storm, Ms. Jackson has lived on strawberry soda, canned tuna and bottled water. The camper has a stove, but Ms. Jackson is low on propane gas, and on money to buy more. The house has a generator, but it is sitting broken on a tarp in the driveway.

She cannot take her two pets with her to a shelter, so for now she plans to stay, dragging a grill she has not used in years next to the camper.

“No power for possibly two months? Are you serious?” she asked. “I have no idea what I am going to do for that kind of time. You survive a storm, and then there is all the stuff that comes afterward that can be just as devastating.”

Wanda Grigsby stepped among the downed trees and limbs to find a cleared spot to stand in her yard. She stood in the brutal heat wearing shorts, a T-shirt and rubber boots. Hurricane Michael had brought her to tears: It ripped off chunks of her house’s roof and dumped an impossibly thick layer of pink insulation all over the kitchen, living room and den. Even if she cleaned it up, the power will not be coming back soon, and neither will the running water that relies on it.

“I have my 6-year-old grandson with me — no way can we do this,” said Ms. Grigsby, 54, who used to own a day care center and now is a caretaker for her mother. “I am going to stay with family in Jacksonville for a while.”

At one point, Ms. Anderson eyed a large white Federal Emergency Management Agency vehicle that had arrived at a parking lot just behind the city’s heavily damaged police station. The lot had become an outdoor community center of sorts, where one of the local dentists was grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and residents could pick up free bottled water, diapers, canned goods and dog food.

Ms. Anderson jumped out of the golf cart and moved a portable street barrier to allow the FEMA bus into the lot.

“You have no idea how happy this makes me,” she said. “People need relief.”

Audra D. S. Burch reported from Lynn Haven, Fla., and Patricia Mazzei from Miramar Beach, Fla.

A version of this article appears in print on

, on Page

A

12

of the New York edition

with the headline:

Thousands May Wait For Many Weeks to Get Power Back in Florida

. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/us/hurricane-michael-florida-power-electricity.html |

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks, in 2018-10-15 03:42:25

[blogwonderwebsites]

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks http://www.nature-business.com/nature-thousands-in-florida-may-not-get-electricity-back-for-weeks/

Nature

Image

Mayor Margo Anderson of Lynn Haven, Fla., made the rounds of her city on Sunday, notifying residents that electric service may not be restored for weeks.CreditCreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. — Mayor Margo Anderson drove through the neighborhoods of her small bayside city on Sunday to deliver some unwelcome news: The electric power knocked out nearly a week ago by Hurricane Michael might not be restored for two months.

Behind the wheel of a black golf cart, she made the rounds as shellshocked neighbors emerged from houses with busted windows and walls and front porches, the damage from the punches of fast wind, rushing waters and toppled trees.

“Just about every tree is down,” said Ms. Anderson, a fifth-generation citizen who was elected mayor of Lynn Haven, Fla., three years ago. “The power lines are destroyed. The transformers are destroyed. The power grid is destroyed. We have to start over.”

That is the dire reality in the necklace of rural towns and coastal communities across northwest Florida that Michael gutted. Residents already reeling from the storm’s unexpectedly brutal winds now face the prospect of spending weeks relying on generators burning expensive fuel, or depending on aid from emergency workers.

Ms. Anderson’s grim prediction of two months of darkness might be a bit pessimistic. Gulf Power, the main utility in the area, estimated on Sunday that electricity would be restored in Lynn Haven, downtown Panama City and neighboring communities by Oct. 24, two weeks after the hurricane made landfall. But Duke Energy, which serves another hard-hit swath of the Florida Panhandle, including Bay County and some parts of Gulf County, said it could not yet estimate how long it might take to get the lights back on in those areas.

“I just want to be realistic and warn people that for a while, it’s going to be pretty primitive living,” Ms. Anderson said.

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute, while more than 2.3 million customers who lost power in the storm have had it restored. The majority of customers still suffering from Michael-related blackouts — about 182,000 — were in Florida, according to the state’s emergency response team.

About 2,000 people remained in storm shelters on Sunday, and the storm’s confirmed national death toll rose to 19.

The power situation is worst in the Florida counties directly in the northward path traced by Michael’s destructive eye: 99 percent of customers remained in the dark on Sunday in Gulf County, 98 percent in Calhoun County and 91 percent in Jackson County. Neighboring counties were nearly as badly off.

Image

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute.CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times

“It’s almost like a huge bulldozer went down the middle of Panama City and straight up through,” said Jeff Rogers, a Gulf Power spokesman. “This is kind of the Super Bowl of all big storms.”

In Blountstown, the city manager, Traci Hall, said the city had 40 linemen working 16 hours a day, but even so, the municipal power grid would take weeks to piece back together.

“It’s a total rebuild of our system,” she said. “Almost every single light pole in this city is on the ground. There is hardly any wires left hanging, period.”

The city is in the process of getting the poles, cables and other supplies that its municipal electric utility needs so crews can keep working at full speed, Ms. Hall said. In the meantime, she has advised residents to prepare to be in the dark for 30 days.

“I think everybody’s pretty much staying put at this point,” Ms. Hall said. “There are many, many that do not have a generator and can’t afford to purchase a generator. But I think that neighbors are going to help neighbors.”

The biggest municipal utility in the storm-affected area is in Tallahassee, the state capital, which was spared the worst of the hurricane. But given the city’s dense tree cover, 96 percent of customers lost power anyway. Eighty-six percent had service restored by Sunday afternoon, according to Amy Zubaly, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which includes five public utilities affected by Michael.

In the Panama City region, amid destruction on almost every street corner, residents on Sunday continued to wait in long lines for hot food, bottled water, gasoline and prepaid cellphones that might get better reception than their own. The army of utility trucks in the area showed the scale of the recovery work underway, but they also clogged the region’s damaged roads.

Tony McClean, a cook at a Panama City restaurant, said the storm pounded his rental house with such ferocity that a pine tree punctured the roof, its jagged remains hovering over his bed.

“Hard not to look at that and not think about what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone to a friend’s house at the last minute,” said Mr. McClean, 40.

At first, he said, he thought about trying to live among the shredded remains, but with no running water and no power in the house, it did not make sense. Then he got the idea to try camping, something he had never done. He figured he could ride his trusty five-speed bike and set up on some quiet patch of the city.

“I figure I can stay with friends for a few nights, maybe hit the shelter, then I will be on my own,” he said. “Everything is gone. I am on zero. If you haven’t gone through something like this, I don’t think people understand how bad it is.”

In Lynn Haven, over the roar of chain saws, Mayor Anderson told residents living in a cluster of homes on the city’s east side to prepare for a long haul.

She estimated that more than half of the city’s roughly 20,000 residents do not have generators. Or, in some cases, they have one that does not work.

Starlia Jackson, 56, spent Sunday afternoon huddled outside her camper with her dogs, Romeo and Pooh. The old camper rocked from side to side during the storm’s afternoon assault but survived in the driveway of her late mother’s one-story brick house. The house took in water and wind after the French doors in the back shattered, so now the camper is home.

Since the storm, Ms. Jackson has lived on strawberry soda, canned tuna and bottled water. The camper has a stove, but Ms. Jackson is low on propane gas, and on money to buy more. The house has a generator, but it is sitting broken on a tarp in the driveway.

She cannot take her two pets with her to a shelter, so for now she plans to stay, dragging a grill she has not used in years next to the camper.

“No power for possibly two months? Are you serious?” she asked. “I have no idea what I am going to do for that kind of time. You survive a storm, and then there is all the stuff that comes afterward that can be just as devastating.”

Wanda Grigsby stepped among the downed trees and limbs to find a cleared spot to stand in her yard. She stood in the brutal heat wearing shorts, a T-shirt and rubber boots. Hurricane Michael had brought her to tears: It ripped off chunks of her house’s roof and dumped an impossibly thick layer of pink insulation all over the kitchen, living room and den. Even if she cleaned it up, the power will not be coming back soon, and neither will the running water that relies on it.

“I have my 6-year-old grandson with me — no way can we do this,” said Ms. Grigsby, 54, who used to own a day care center and now is a caretaker for her mother. “I am going to stay with family in Jacksonville for a while.”

At one point, Ms. Anderson eyed a large white Federal Emergency Management Agency vehicle that had arrived at a parking lot just behind the city’s heavily damaged police station. The lot had become an outdoor community center of sorts, where one of the local dentists was grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and residents could pick up free bottled water, diapers, canned goods and dog food.

Ms. Anderson jumped out of the golf cart and moved a portable street barrier to allow the FEMA bus into the lot.

“You have no idea how happy this makes me,” she said. “People need relief.”

Audra D. S. Burch reported from Lynn Haven, Fla., and Patricia Mazzei from Miramar Beach, Fla.

A version of this article appears in print on

, on Page

A

12

of the New York edition

with the headline:

Thousands May Wait For Many Weeks to Get Power Back in Florida

. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/us/hurricane-michael-florida-power-electricity.html |

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks, in 2018-10-15 03:42:25

[computacionalblog]

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks http://www.nature-business.com/nature-thousands-in-florida-may-not-get-electricity-back-for-weeks/

Nature

Image

Mayor Margo Anderson of Lynn Haven, Fla., made the rounds of her city on Sunday, notifying residents that electric service may not be restored for weeks.CreditCreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. — Mayor Margo Anderson drove through the neighborhoods of her small bayside city on Sunday to deliver some unwelcome news: The electric power knocked out nearly a week ago by Hurricane Michael might not be restored for two months.

Behind the wheel of a black golf cart, she made the rounds as shellshocked neighbors emerged from houses with busted windows and walls and front porches, the damage from the punches of fast wind, rushing waters and toppled trees.

“Just about every tree is down,” said Ms. Anderson, a fifth-generation citizen who was elected mayor of Lynn Haven, Fla., three years ago. “The power lines are destroyed. The transformers are destroyed. The power grid is destroyed. We have to start over.”

That is the dire reality in the necklace of rural towns and coastal communities across northwest Florida that Michael gutted. Residents already reeling from the storm’s unexpectedly brutal winds now face the prospect of spending weeks relying on generators burning expensive fuel, or depending on aid from emergency workers.

Ms. Anderson’s grim prediction of two months of darkness might be a bit pessimistic. Gulf Power, the main utility in the area, estimated on Sunday that electricity would be restored in Lynn Haven, downtown Panama City and neighboring communities by Oct. 24, two weeks after the hurricane made landfall. But Duke Energy, which serves another hard-hit swath of the Florida Panhandle, including Bay County and some parts of Gulf County, said it could not yet estimate how long it might take to get the lights back on in those areas.

“I just want to be realistic and warn people that for a while, it’s going to be pretty primitive living,” Ms. Anderson said.

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute, while more than 2.3 million customers who lost power in the storm have had it restored. The majority of customers still suffering from Michael-related blackouts — about 182,000 — were in Florida, according to the state’s emergency response team.

About 2,000 people remained in storm shelters on Sunday, and the storm’s confirmed national death toll rose to 19.

The power situation is worst in the Florida counties directly in the northward path traced by Michael’s destructive eye: 99 percent of customers remained in the dark on Sunday in Gulf County, 98 percent in Calhoun County and 91 percent in Jackson County. Neighboring counties were nearly as badly off.

Image

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute.CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times

“It’s almost like a huge bulldozer went down the middle of Panama City and straight up through,” said Jeff Rogers, a Gulf Power spokesman. “This is kind of the Super Bowl of all big storms.”

In Blountstown, the city manager, Traci Hall, said the city had 40 linemen working 16 hours a day, but even so, the municipal power grid would take weeks to piece back together.

“It’s a total rebuild of our system,” she said. “Almost every single light pole in this city is on the ground. There is hardly any wires left hanging, period.”

The city is in the process of getting the poles, cables and other supplies that its municipal electric utility needs so crews can keep working at full speed, Ms. Hall said. In the meantime, she has advised residents to prepare to be in the dark for 30 days.

“I think everybody’s pretty much staying put at this point,” Ms. Hall said. “There are many, many that do not have a generator and can’t afford to purchase a generator. But I think that neighbors are going to help neighbors.”

The biggest municipal utility in the storm-affected area is in Tallahassee, the state capital, which was spared the worst of the hurricane. But given the city’s dense tree cover, 96 percent of customers lost power anyway. Eighty-six percent had service restored by Sunday afternoon, according to Amy Zubaly, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which includes five public utilities affected by Michael.

In the Panama City region, amid destruction on almost every street corner, residents on Sunday continued to wait in long lines for hot food, bottled water, gasoline and prepaid cellphones that might get better reception than their own. The army of utility trucks in the area showed the scale of the recovery work underway, but they also clogged the region’s damaged roads.

Tony McClean, a cook at a Panama City restaurant, said the storm pounded his rental house with such ferocity that a pine tree punctured the roof, its jagged remains hovering over his bed.

“Hard not to look at that and not think about what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone to a friend’s house at the last minute,” said Mr. McClean, 40.

At first, he said, he thought about trying to live among the shredded remains, but with no running water and no power in the house, it did not make sense. Then he got the idea to try camping, something he had never done. He figured he could ride his trusty five-speed bike and set up on some quiet patch of the city.

“I figure I can stay with friends for a few nights, maybe hit the shelter, then I will be on my own,” he said. “Everything is gone. I am on zero. If you haven’t gone through something like this, I don’t think people understand how bad it is.”

In Lynn Haven, over the roar of chain saws, Mayor Anderson told residents living in a cluster of homes on the city’s east side to prepare for a long haul.

She estimated that more than half of the city’s roughly 20,000 residents do not have generators. Or, in some cases, they have one that does not work.

Starlia Jackson, 56, spent Sunday afternoon huddled outside her camper with her dogs, Romeo and Pooh. The old camper rocked from side to side during the storm’s afternoon assault but survived in the driveway of her late mother’s one-story brick house. The house took in water and wind after the French doors in the back shattered, so now the camper is home.

Since the storm, Ms. Jackson has lived on strawberry soda, canned tuna and bottled water. The camper has a stove, but Ms. Jackson is low on propane gas, and on money to buy more. The house has a generator, but it is sitting broken on a tarp in the driveway.

She cannot take her two pets with her to a shelter, so for now she plans to stay, dragging a grill she has not used in years next to the camper.

“No power for possibly two months? Are you serious?” she asked. “I have no idea what I am going to do for that kind of time. You survive a storm, and then there is all the stuff that comes afterward that can be just as devastating.”

Wanda Grigsby stepped among the downed trees and limbs to find a cleared spot to stand in her yard. She stood in the brutal heat wearing shorts, a T-shirt and rubber boots. Hurricane Michael had brought her to tears: It ripped off chunks of her house’s roof and dumped an impossibly thick layer of pink insulation all over the kitchen, living room and den. Even if she cleaned it up, the power will not be coming back soon, and neither will the running water that relies on it.

“I have my 6-year-old grandson with me — no way can we do this,” said Ms. Grigsby, 54, who used to own a day care center and now is a caretaker for her mother. “I am going to stay with family in Jacksonville for a while.”

At one point, Ms. Anderson eyed a large white Federal Emergency Management Agency vehicle that had arrived at a parking lot just behind the city’s heavily damaged police station. The lot had become an outdoor community center of sorts, where one of the local dentists was grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and residents could pick up free bottled water, diapers, canned goods and dog food.

Ms. Anderson jumped out of the golf cart and moved a portable street barrier to allow the FEMA bus into the lot.

“You have no idea how happy this makes me,” she said. “People need relief.”

Audra D. S. Burch reported from Lynn Haven, Fla., and Patricia Mazzei from Miramar Beach, Fla.

A version of this article appears in print on

, on Page

A

12

of the New York edition

with the headline:

Thousands May Wait For Many Weeks to Get Power Back in Florida

. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/us/hurricane-michael-florida-power-electricity.html |

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks, in 2018-10-15 03:42:25

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Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks http://www.nature-business.com/nature-thousands-in-florida-may-not-get-electricity-back-for-weeks/

Nature

Image

Mayor Margo Anderson of Lynn Haven, Fla., made the rounds of her city on Sunday, notifying residents that electric service may not be restored for weeks.CreditCreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. — Mayor Margo Anderson drove through the neighborhoods of her small bayside city on Sunday to deliver some unwelcome news: The electric power knocked out nearly a week ago by Hurricane Michael might not be restored for two months.

Behind the wheel of a black golf cart, she made the rounds as shellshocked neighbors emerged from houses with busted windows and walls and front porches, the damage from the punches of fast wind, rushing waters and toppled trees.

“Just about every tree is down,” said Ms. Anderson, a fifth-generation citizen who was elected mayor of Lynn Haven, Fla., three years ago. “The power lines are destroyed. The transformers are destroyed. The power grid is destroyed. We have to start over.”

That is the dire reality in the necklace of rural towns and coastal communities across northwest Florida that Michael gutted. Residents already reeling from the storm’s unexpectedly brutal winds now face the prospect of spending weeks relying on generators burning expensive fuel, or depending on aid from emergency workers.

Ms. Anderson’s grim prediction of two months of darkness might be a bit pessimistic. Gulf Power, the main utility in the area, estimated on Sunday that electricity would be restored in Lynn Haven, downtown Panama City and neighboring communities by Oct. 24, two weeks after the hurricane made landfall. But Duke Energy, which serves another hard-hit swath of the Florida Panhandle, including Bay County and some parts of Gulf County, said it could not yet estimate how long it might take to get the lights back on in those areas.

“I just want to be realistic and warn people that for a while, it’s going to be pretty primitive living,” Ms. Anderson said.

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute, while more than 2.3 million customers who lost power in the storm have had it restored. The majority of customers still suffering from Michael-related blackouts — about 182,000 — were in Florida, according to the state’s emergency response team.

About 2,000 people remained in storm shelters on Sunday, and the storm’s confirmed national death toll rose to 19.

The power situation is worst in the Florida counties directly in the northward path traced by Michael’s destructive eye: 99 percent of customers remained in the dark on Sunday in Gulf County, 98 percent in Calhoun County and 91 percent in Jackson County. Neighboring counties were nearly as badly off.

Image

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute.CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times

“It’s almost like a huge bulldozer went down the middle of Panama City and straight up through,” said Jeff Rogers, a Gulf Power spokesman. “This is kind of the Super Bowl of all big storms.”

In Blountstown, the city manager, Traci Hall, said the city had 40 linemen working 16 hours a day, but even so, the municipal power grid would take weeks to piece back together.

“It’s a total rebuild of our system,” she said. “Almost every single light pole in this city is on the ground. There is hardly any wires left hanging, period.”

The city is in the process of getting the poles, cables and other supplies that its municipal electric utility needs so crews can keep working at full speed, Ms. Hall said. In the meantime, she has advised residents to prepare to be in the dark for 30 days.

“I think everybody’s pretty much staying put at this point,” Ms. Hall said. “There are many, many that do not have a generator and can’t afford to purchase a generator. But I think that neighbors are going to help neighbors.”

The biggest municipal utility in the storm-affected area is in Tallahassee, the state capital, which was spared the worst of the hurricane. But given the city’s dense tree cover, 96 percent of customers lost power anyway. Eighty-six percent had service restored by Sunday afternoon, according to Amy Zubaly, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which includes five public utilities affected by Michael.

In the Panama City region, amid destruction on almost every street corner, residents on Sunday continued to wait in long lines for hot food, bottled water, gasoline and prepaid cellphones that might get better reception than their own. The army of utility trucks in the area showed the scale of the recovery work underway, but they also clogged the region’s damaged roads.

Tony McClean, a cook at a Panama City restaurant, said the storm pounded his rental house with such ferocity that a pine tree punctured the roof, its jagged remains hovering over his bed.

“Hard not to look at that and not think about what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone to a friend’s house at the last minute,” said Mr. McClean, 40.

At first, he said, he thought about trying to live among the shredded remains, but with no running water and no power in the house, it did not make sense. Then he got the idea to try camping, something he had never done. He figured he could ride his trusty five-speed bike and set up on some quiet patch of the city.

“I figure I can stay with friends for a few nights, maybe hit the shelter, then I will be on my own,” he said. “Everything is gone. I am on zero. If you haven’t gone through something like this, I don’t think people understand how bad it is.”

In Lynn Haven, over the roar of chain saws, Mayor Anderson told residents living in a cluster of homes on the city’s east side to prepare for a long haul.

She estimated that more than half of the city’s roughly 20,000 residents do not have generators. Or, in some cases, they have one that does not work.

Starlia Jackson, 56, spent Sunday afternoon huddled outside her camper with her dogs, Romeo and Pooh. The old camper rocked from side to side during the storm’s afternoon assault but survived in the driveway of her late mother’s one-story brick house. The house took in water and wind after the French doors in the back shattered, so now the camper is home.

Since the storm, Ms. Jackson has lived on strawberry soda, canned tuna and bottled water. The camper has a stove, but Ms. Jackson is low on propane gas, and on money to buy more. The house has a generator, but it is sitting broken on a tarp in the driveway.

She cannot take her two pets with her to a shelter, so for now she plans to stay, dragging a grill she has not used in years next to the camper.

“No power for possibly two months? Are you serious?” she asked. “I have no idea what I am going to do for that kind of time. You survive a storm, and then there is all the stuff that comes afterward that can be just as devastating.”

Wanda Grigsby stepped among the downed trees and limbs to find a cleared spot to stand in her yard. She stood in the brutal heat wearing shorts, a T-shirt and rubber boots. Hurricane Michael had brought her to tears: It ripped off chunks of her house’s roof and dumped an impossibly thick layer of pink insulation all over the kitchen, living room and den. Even if she cleaned it up, the power will not be coming back soon, and neither will the running water that relies on it.

“I have my 6-year-old grandson with me — no way can we do this,” said Ms. Grigsby, 54, who used to own a day care center and now is a caretaker for her mother. “I am going to stay with family in Jacksonville for a while.”

At one point, Ms. Anderson eyed a large white Federal Emergency Management Agency vehicle that had arrived at a parking lot just behind the city’s heavily damaged police station. The lot had become an outdoor community center of sorts, where one of the local dentists was grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and residents could pick up free bottled water, diapers, canned goods and dog food.

Ms. Anderson jumped out of the golf cart and moved a portable street barrier to allow the FEMA bus into the lot.

“You have no idea how happy this makes me,” she said. “People need relief.”

Audra D. S. Burch reported from Lynn Haven, Fla., and Patricia Mazzei from Miramar Beach, Fla.

A version of this article appears in print on

, on Page

A

12

of the New York edition

with the headline:

Thousands May Wait For Many Weeks to Get Power Back in Florida

. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/us/hurricane-michael-florida-power-electricity.html |

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks, in 2018-10-15 03:42:25

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Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks http://www.nature-business.com/nature-thousands-in-florida-may-not-get-electricity-back-for-weeks/

Nature

Image

Mayor Margo Anderson of Lynn Haven, Fla., made the rounds of her city on Sunday, notifying residents that electric service may not be restored for weeks.CreditCreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. — Mayor Margo Anderson drove through the neighborhoods of her small bayside city on Sunday to deliver some unwelcome news: The electric power knocked out nearly a week ago by Hurricane Michael might not be restored for two months.

Behind the wheel of a black golf cart, she made the rounds as shellshocked neighbors emerged from houses with busted windows and walls and front porches, the damage from the punches of fast wind, rushing waters and toppled trees.

“Just about every tree is down,” said Ms. Anderson, a fifth-generation citizen who was elected mayor of Lynn Haven, Fla., three years ago. “The power lines are destroyed. The transformers are destroyed. The power grid is destroyed. We have to start over.”

That is the dire reality in the necklace of rural towns and coastal communities across northwest Florida that Michael gutted. Residents already reeling from the storm’s unexpectedly brutal winds now face the prospect of spending weeks relying on generators burning expensive fuel, or depending on aid from emergency workers.

Ms. Anderson’s grim prediction of two months of darkness might be a bit pessimistic. Gulf Power, the main utility in the area, estimated on Sunday that electricity would be restored in Lynn Haven, downtown Panama City and neighboring communities by Oct. 24, two weeks after the hurricane made landfall. But Duke Energy, which serves another hard-hit swath of the Florida Panhandle, including Bay County and some parts of Gulf County, said it could not yet estimate how long it might take to get the lights back on in those areas.

“I just want to be realistic and warn people that for a while, it’s going to be pretty primitive living,” Ms. Anderson said.

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute, while more than 2.3 million customers who lost power in the storm have had it restored. The majority of customers still suffering from Michael-related blackouts — about 182,000 — were in Florida, according to the state’s emergency response team.

About 2,000 people remained in storm shelters on Sunday, and the storm’s confirmed national death toll rose to 19.

The power situation is worst in the Florida counties directly in the northward path traced by Michael’s destructive eye: 99 percent of customers remained in the dark on Sunday in Gulf County, 98 percent in Calhoun County and 91 percent in Jackson County. Neighboring counties were nearly as badly off.

Image

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute.CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times

“It’s almost like a huge bulldozer went down the middle of Panama City and straight up through,” said Jeff Rogers, a Gulf Power spokesman. “This is kind of the Super Bowl of all big storms.”

In Blountstown, the city manager, Traci Hall, said the city had 40 linemen working 16 hours a day, but even so, the municipal power grid would take weeks to piece back together.

“It’s a total rebuild of our system,” she said. “Almost every single light pole in this city is on the ground. There is hardly any wires left hanging, period.”

The city is in the process of getting the poles, cables and other supplies that its municipal electric utility needs so crews can keep working at full speed, Ms. Hall said. In the meantime, she has advised residents to prepare to be in the dark for 30 days.

“I think everybody’s pretty much staying put at this point,” Ms. Hall said. “There are many, many that do not have a generator and can’t afford to purchase a generator. But I think that neighbors are going to help neighbors.”

The biggest municipal utility in the storm-affected area is in Tallahassee, the state capital, which was spared the worst of the hurricane. But given the city’s dense tree cover, 96 percent of customers lost power anyway. Eighty-six percent had service restored by Sunday afternoon, according to Amy Zubaly, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which includes five public utilities affected by Michael.

In the Panama City region, amid destruction on almost every street corner, residents on Sunday continued to wait in long lines for hot food, bottled water, gasoline and prepaid cellphones that might get better reception than their own. The army of utility trucks in the area showed the scale of the recovery work underway, but they also clogged the region’s damaged roads.

Tony McClean, a cook at a Panama City restaurant, said the storm pounded his rental house with such ferocity that a pine tree punctured the roof, its jagged remains hovering over his bed.

“Hard not to look at that and not think about what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone to a friend’s house at the last minute,” said Mr. McClean, 40.

At first, he said, he thought about trying to live among the shredded remains, but with no running water and no power in the house, it did not make sense. Then he got the idea to try camping, something he had never done. He figured he could ride his trusty five-speed bike and set up on some quiet patch of the city.

“I figure I can stay with friends for a few nights, maybe hit the shelter, then I will be on my own,” he said. “Everything is gone. I am on zero. If you haven’t gone through something like this, I don’t think people understand how bad it is.”

In Lynn Haven, over the roar of chain saws, Mayor Anderson told residents living in a cluster of homes on the city’s east side to prepare for a long haul.

She estimated that more than half of the city’s roughly 20,000 residents do not have generators. Or, in some cases, they have one that does not work.

Starlia Jackson, 56, spent Sunday afternoon huddled outside her camper with her dogs, Romeo and Pooh. The old camper rocked from side to side during the storm’s afternoon assault but survived in the driveway of her late mother’s one-story brick house. The house took in water and wind after the French doors in the back shattered, so now the camper is home.

Since the storm, Ms. Jackson has lived on strawberry soda, canned tuna and bottled water. The camper has a stove, but Ms. Jackson is low on propane gas, and on money to buy more. The house has a generator, but it is sitting broken on a tarp in the driveway.

She cannot take her two pets with her to a shelter, so for now she plans to stay, dragging a grill she has not used in years next to the camper.

“No power for possibly two months? Are you serious?” she asked. “I have no idea what I am going to do for that kind of time. You survive a storm, and then there is all the stuff that comes afterward that can be just as devastating.”

Wanda Grigsby stepped among the downed trees and limbs to find a cleared spot to stand in her yard. She stood in the brutal heat wearing shorts, a T-shirt and rubber boots. Hurricane Michael had brought her to tears: It ripped off chunks of her house’s roof and dumped an impossibly thick layer of pink insulation all over the kitchen, living room and den. Even if she cleaned it up, the power will not be coming back soon, and neither will the running water that relies on it.

“I have my 6-year-old grandson with me — no way can we do this,” said Ms. Grigsby, 54, who used to own a day care center and now is a caretaker for her mother. “I am going to stay with family in Jacksonville for a while.”

At one point, Ms. Anderson eyed a large white Federal Emergency Management Agency vehicle that had arrived at a parking lot just behind the city’s heavily damaged police station. The lot had become an outdoor community center of sorts, where one of the local dentists was grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and residents could pick up free bottled water, diapers, canned goods and dog food.

Ms. Anderson jumped out of the golf cart and moved a portable street barrier to allow the FEMA bus into the lot.

“You have no idea how happy this makes me,” she said. “People need relief.”

Audra D. S. Burch reported from Lynn Haven, Fla., and Patricia Mazzei from Miramar Beach, Fla.

A version of this article appears in print on

, on Page

A

12

of the New York edition

with the headline:

Thousands May Wait For Many Weeks to Get Power Back in Florida

. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/us/hurricane-michael-florida-power-electricity.html |

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks, in 2018-10-15 03:42:25

[internetbasic9]

Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks

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Nature

Image

Mayor Margo Anderson of Lynn Haven, Fla., made the rounds of her city on Sunday, notifying residents that electric service may not be restored for weeks.CreditCreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. — Mayor Margo Anderson drove through the neighborhoods of her small bayside city on Sunday to deliver some unwelcome news: The electric power knocked out nearly a week ago by Hurricane Michael might not be restored for two months.

Behind the wheel of a black golf cart, she made the rounds as shellshocked neighbors emerged from houses with busted windows and walls and front porches, the damage from the punches of fast wind, rushing waters and toppled trees.

“Just about every tree is down,” said Ms. Anderson, a fifth-generation citizen who was elected mayor of Lynn Haven, Fla., three years ago. “The power lines are destroyed. The transformers are destroyed. The power grid is destroyed. We have to start over.”

That is the dire reality in the necklace of rural towns and coastal communities across northwest Florida that Michael gutted. Residents already reeling from the storm’s unexpectedly brutal winds now face the prospect of spending weeks relying on generators burning expensive fuel, or depending on aid from emergency workers.

Ms. Anderson’s grim prediction of two months of darkness might be a bit pessimistic. Gulf Power, the main utility in the area, estimated on Sunday that electricity would be restored in Lynn Haven, downtown Panama City and neighboring communities by Oct. 24, two weeks after the hurricane made landfall. But Duke Energy, which serves another hard-hit swath of the Florida Panhandle, including Bay County and some parts of Gulf County, said it could not yet estimate how long it might take to get the lights back on in those areas.

“I just want to be realistic and warn people that for a while, it’s going to be pretty primitive living,” Ms. Anderson said.

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute, while more than 2.3 million customers who lost power in the storm have had it restored. The majority of customers still suffering from Michael-related blackouts — about 182,000 — were in Florida, according to the state’s emergency response team.

About 2,000 people remained in storm shelters on Sunday, and the storm’s confirmed national death toll rose to 19.

The power situation is worst in the Florida counties directly in the northward path traced by Michael’s destructive eye: 99 percent of customers remained in the dark on Sunday in Gulf County, 98 percent in Calhoun County and 91 percent in Jackson County. Neighboring counties were nearly as badly off.

Image

Some 371,000 customers were still without electricity in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Edison Electric Institute.CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times

“It’s almost like a huge bulldozer went down the middle of Panama City and straight up through,” said Jeff Rogers, a Gulf Power spokesman. “This is kind of the Super Bowl of all big storms.”

In Blountstown, the city manager, Traci Hall, said the city had 40 linemen working 16 hours a day, but even so, the municipal power grid would take weeks to piece back together.

“It’s a total rebuild of our system,” she said. “Almost every single light pole in this city is on the ground. There is hardly any wires left hanging, period.”

The city is in the process of getting the poles, cables and other supplies that its municipal electric utility needs so crews can keep working at full speed, Ms. Hall said. In the meantime, she has advised residents to prepare to be in the dark for 30 days.

“I think everybody’s pretty much staying put at this point,” Ms. Hall said. “There are many, many that do not have a generator and can’t afford to purchase a generator. But I think that neighbors are going to help neighbors.”

The biggest municipal utility in the storm-affected area is in Tallahassee, the state capital, which was spared the worst of the hurricane. But given the city’s dense tree cover, 96 percent of customers lost power anyway. Eighty-six percent had service restored by Sunday afternoon, according to Amy Zubaly, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which includes five public utilities affected by Michael.

In the Panama City region, amid destruction on almost every street corner, residents on Sunday continued to wait in long lines for hot food, bottled water, gasoline and prepaid cellphones that might get better reception than their own. The army of utility trucks in the area showed the scale of the recovery work underway, but they also clogged the region’s damaged roads.

Tony McClean, a cook at a Panama City restaurant, said the storm pounded his rental house with such ferocity that a pine tree punctured the roof, its jagged remains hovering over his bed.

“Hard not to look at that and not think about what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone to a friend’s house at the last minute,” said Mr. McClean, 40.

At first, he said, he thought about trying to live among the shredded remains, but with no running water and no power in the house, it did not make sense. Then he got the idea to try camping, something he had never done. He figured he could ride his trusty five-speed bike and set up on some quiet patch of the city.

“I figure I can stay with friends for a few nights, maybe hit the shelter, then I will be on my own,” he said. “Everything is gone. I am on zero. If you haven’t gone through something like this, I don’t think people understand how bad it is.”

In Lynn Haven, over the roar of chain saws, Mayor Anderson told residents living in a cluster of homes on the city’s east side to prepare for a long haul.

She estimated that more than half of the city’s roughly 20,000 residents do not have generators. Or, in some cases, they have one that does not work.

Starlia Jackson, 56, spent Sunday afternoon huddled outside her camper with her dogs, Romeo and Pooh. The old camper rocked from side to side during the storm’s afternoon assault but survived in the driveway of her late mother’s one-story brick house. The house took in water and wind after the French doors in the back shattered, so now the camper is home.

Since the storm, Ms. Jackson has lived on strawberry soda, canned tuna and bottled water. The camper has a stove, but Ms. Jackson is low on propane gas, and on money to buy more. The house has a generator, but it is sitting broken on a tarp in the driveway.

She cannot take her two pets with her to a shelter, so for now she plans to stay, dragging a grill she has not used in years next to the camper.

“No power for possibly two months? Are you serious?” she asked. “I have no idea what I am going to do for that kind of time. You survive a storm, and then there is all the stuff that comes afterward that can be just as devastating.”

Wanda Grigsby stepped among the downed trees and limbs to find a cleared spot to stand in her yard. She stood in the brutal heat wearing shorts, a T-shirt and rubber boots. Hurricane Michael had brought her to tears: It ripped off chunks of her house’s roof and dumped an impossibly thick layer of pink insulation all over the kitchen, living room and den. Even if she cleaned it up, the power will not be coming back soon, and neither will the running water that relies on it.

“I have my 6-year-old grandson with me — no way can we do this,” said Ms. Grigsby, 54, who used to own a day care center and now is a caretaker for her mother. “I am going to stay with family in Jacksonville for a while.”

At one point, Ms. Anderson eyed a large white Federal Emergency Management Agency vehicle that had arrived at a parking lot just behind the city’s heavily damaged police station. The lot had become an outdoor community center of sorts, where one of the local dentists was grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and residents could pick up free bottled water, diapers, canned goods and dog food.

Ms. Anderson jumped out of the golf cart and moved a portable street barrier to allow the FEMA bus into the lot.

“You have no idea how happy this makes me,” she said. “People need relief.”

Audra D. S. Burch reported from Lynn Haven, Fla., and Patricia Mazzei from Miramar Beach, Fla.

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Nature Thousands in Florida May Not Get Electricity Back for Weeks, in 2018-10-15 03:42:25

[iamsoneurotic]

A Guide to Kid’s Shows

Parenting is a big deal - this is the understatement of the year, decade, century and of all measurable existence. With parenting there is a lot of knowledge to be gained. Some of that knowledge will come from experience, some will come from our own parental figures and the rest will be gained from the internet. Allow me to be a part of the latter source and impart to you one of the most crucial digital tomes of enlightenment you will ever come across…

A Guide to Kid’s Shows!

You think I’m being silly, but in all my years as a graphic designer, there’s one rule that always rings true and strangely enough, applies to what shows you let your kids watch: If you’re presenting a client with options, never give them an option that you hate - Because that is the one option they will love.

Now excluding all of your dumb friends on Facebook and Instagram who do nothing but brag about how their kids never have screen time and they’re always posting happy family pictures of them in parks and on hikes and eating granola out of troughs in some remote Vermont location, the rest of us know that screens are your only hope of keeping your wound up, bratty kids occupied long enough so you can take a 5 minute dump without having to run out of the bathroom mid-wipe with your pants around your ankles to yell at your little ‘angels’ who can’t agree on what color lego castle they’re going to build without slapping each other around like a couple of town drunks. Run-on sentence? Maybe, but it’s just what I’m used to listening to all day in a house where we’ve been attempting to reduce screen time.

Anyway, like I was saying - screens good, noise bad. But this approach can very quickly backfire on you if you’re not careful. Remember, the purpose of television is to keep your kids quiet, but what’s the point of your kids being quiet when you’ve hastily picked the first colorful show you could find and now you’re listening to 4 grown Australians singing about what it’s like to be a Jack-in-the-Box??

EDUCATE YOURSELF! Sanity is on the line!

Because there’s a million shows out there to get suckered into, I’ll just go over 2 for now, a bad one and a tolerable one. I might make this into a series I do… I’ve got 5 years worth of children’s programming eating away at my brain, I might as well write about it.

DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD

Remember all those fond memories you had watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood growing up? The soothing voice and welcoming face of a man everybody wished was their grandfather serenading you while he puts on a colorful sweater and brings you to a magical land of make-believe? … Yeah, he’s dead now and all we’re left with is this oversaturated, poorly animated bastardization of a children’s classic.

Daniel Tiger takes place in the infamous Land of Make-Believe and it stars the son of Daniel Stripéd Tiger (also named Daniel) as he learns how to not be such an obnoxious, spoiled twerp. The show takes some liberties with the classic content. Daniel Tiger’s dad, whom the show refers to as “Dad Tiger” is the grown up version of the Mr Rogers’ character Daniel Stripéd Tiger - who if any of us remember, was a shy, softly spoken kitten who lived in a handless clock tower. Evidently he’s gained some confidence, learned to talk like a man and got himself a wife and kid. Now he lives in an actual house and works at the clock tower doing who knows what – the clock has no hands, what could he possibly be doing in there? I can only imagine it involves lipstick and a skin-suit.

The majority of the other characters from Mr Rogers are all grown up now as well and have annoying kids of their own for Daniel to barely get along with… Except for the mailman who evidently never ages and is cursed to live alone for the rest of his immortal days. The only original character who I haven’t seen make an appearance is Lady Elaine Fairchild, and for what it’s worth, excluding her was probably a smart move - her puppet was made of tears and nightmares.

Why you should avoid: 🎶 Would you like to know why you shouldn’t watch?🎶

🎶 Would you like to know why you shouldn’t watch?🎶

🎶 Would you like to know why you shouldn’t watch?🎶

🎶 Would you like to know why you shouldn’t watch?🎶

Do you hate me yet? …

🎶 Do you hate me yet?🎶

🎶 Do you hate me yet?🎶

🎶 Do you hate me yet?🎶

Yeah, this is the number one reason you should NEVER PLAY THIS ON YOUR TV. They pick a crappy jingle about some common sense thing, like brushing your teeth, and then they sing it OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER AGAIN. I still have episodes burned into my brain from overexposure to that show. One song in particular was just a bold-faced lie. “Grown ups come back”... As in if you’re upset about your mom or dad leaving the house, don’t worry, grown ups always come back!

Except when they don’t.

In addition to the repetitiveness of poorly written songs, the main reason this show will get on your nerves is because Daniel Tiger is literally the cartoon equivalent of a real-life toddler. It sounds mean to say, but think about every cringe-worthy, obnoxious thing your kids do, now imagine having to watch an entire television show where your main character does exactly those things. The whole reason you’re letting them watch TV in the first place is to escape the harsh but undeniable reality that toddlers are the worst!

Now, granted, the point of the show is to teach your kids that everything they do is irritating and they should just stop, but would it kill the producers to use a hint of metaphor? Perhaps a whimsical, make-believe anecdote that teaches a similar lesson? This is the land of make-believe isn’t it?? Why is it so freaking real???

Luckily there’s another magical place that your kids can scramble their brains to that gets it right…

SUPER WHY!

I’m not going to pretend that Super Why! is a good show (children’s entertainment is rarely, if ever, capable of reaching that standard), but it is an incredibly harmless show - which is the most any burnt out parent can really hope for.

As I alluded to a moment ago, the show takes place in the magical land of Storybook Village, a place where all of our favorite fairytale characters live together in harmony. It exists behind some tiny door inside of a real-life children’s library on a shelf that I imagine kids can’t reach because you know if they found out about that door they’d burn that library to the ground to get at it. I always knew I’d find a way to write about kids burning books like a bunch of little fascists. Shark jumped.

Similar to Daniel Tiger, some of our main characters are relatives of more popular characters from children’s stories. Our title character, Whyatt Beanstalk (AKA Super Why) is the brother of Jack Beanstalk from Jack and the Beanstalk... who I’m pretty sure never actually had Beanstalk for a name. Our other characters consist of Princess Pea, who is the daughter of the princess from The Princess and the Pea (who must be a queen now?), Alpha Pig, who I think is one of the 3 little pigs, and Little Red Riding Hood.

Clearly somebody was drunk when they came up with this cast. Why have the brother of Jack and the daughter of Princess Pea, but then just throw in the actual characters of Little Red Riding Hood and one of the 3 Little Pigs? Just use Jack and the original Princess! It makes no sense, I don’t like it.

They eventually get a dog named Woofster who joins their little brat Justice League. He offers nothing to the show and his name is dumb. Let’s just get a cat on the show and name him Meowey while we’re at it.

… Come to think of it, if they could get a wisecracking cat named Meowey Mandel that’d be PHENOMENAL on so many levels. I’m writing to PBS after this.

Anyway, they all have special reading powers which they use to solve mysteries. The basic setup of every episode is one of them has a problem, they’re too dumb to figure out how to deal with said problem, so they transform into superheroes and journey into fairytale books where they solve a mystery and then apply what they learned to their insignificant real-life situation.

Super Why has the power to read, Princess Pea has spelling power, Red Hood has word power, Alpha Pig has Alphabet power and Woofster uses a dictionary. Based on those powers, it sounds to me like they all have the power to read. Why waste money animating 5 of these stupid characters? Scrap 4 of them and put that budget into better writers.

Why it’s tolerable Ignoring the fact I’ve done nothing but pick on this show, it actually won’t really bother you. Everything that annoys me is annoying because I’ve made the mistake of paying attention. You should NEVER pay attention to what your kids are watching. I see no flaws in that advice.

It's a cute show. The jingles are catchy enough, the characters don’t act like bratty kids, and from a visual perspective it’s not offensive to the eyes (I’m looking at you, Bo on the Go… I could write 50 blogs about that Canadian abomination). The show is mostly CG, but when they go into the storybooks, all the people and objects are flat like they were made out of paper. It’s actually pretty creative. Well played, Super Why.

It’s made by the people behind Blue’s Clues (Which I had hoped would have died horrible, embarrassing deaths by now, but alas, they’re still at it) and so there’s that element of characters talking to the viewers and asking them if they see items on the screen. I mean whatever, it engages your kids, but the adult in me is just like, “It’s right behind you. Turn around and look, you’ve got 4 other useless characters with the same superpowers wandering around the screen, why are you bothering my kids?” Before you know it my kids are yelling at the TV, I’m yelling at the TV and Super Why still isn’t turning the eff around! But while my boys are having a blast trying to help Super Why, I’m just getting ticked off and want to punch him in his little kid nuts.

I guess TV won’t give you any peace and quiet after all. Take your kids on a hike.

~ M.