Man, oh man, this is by far one of the best things I have seen this year. This dude is seriously having the worst year of his life, and this just proves it.
People at a lake in Berlin, where visitors are known to bask and bathe in the nude, got quite the view that day. Teufelssee is a popular bathing spot in Germany where people celebrate Freikörperkultur, translated to “free body culture.” So, out of nowhere, a middle-aged nude man was seen literally chasing down a wild boar while yes, completely naked for the world to see his private parts. My gosh, I would have killed to be there because that must have been a well good laugh.
Apparently of boar and her two piglets had been pursuing the area in search of food. So after reportedly consuming some leftover pizza that was sitting on the ground from the backpack of another naked sunbather, who was swimming in the lake at the time, the pig then moved on to a bright yellow bag. Basically, the little piggies thought that there must have been some sort of food inside, and took advantage that no one was watching it.
But, what happened next is surely out of a horror movie, or a comedy, I guess it’s up to you to decide that. Thanks to a visitor who was there that day, Adele Landauer, we have pictures of the whole “wild boar hunt." She wrote on Facebook, “nature strikes back,” along with several photos showing the naked man running several smiling onlookers watching. Because well, there was no way to help that man, this bag was a goner.
The Facebook post, (which was approved by the nudist, don’t worry) noted, “In the yellow bag is the man’s laptop, so he gave it his all in Adam’s costume. All of us adored him for how focused he stayed and when he came back with his yellow bag in hand we all clapped and congratulated him for his success. This happens when you’re focused on your goals.”
Apparently the cheeky boar had finally contained by a cardboard box that was on the ground, and the man clapped his hands and hit the ground with a stick which prompted the bore to drop the laptop bag. Apparently, when he returned from the forest everyone started to cheer him on, because well he had won his battle.
If I was there, I would definitely applaud him too. But hey, if you see someone running around the street naked while chasing an animal that has something in his mouth that you know is not his, try and help that person out. It’s tiring trying to chase a dog around your house, imagine chasing a pig into a forest. Come on people, let’s help each other out a little bit. I will say, this man has a good sense of humor for allowing the Internet to look at him in all his glory.
I simply don’t understand why this McDonald’s made this situation so much more complicated than it actually ever needed to be. Nevertheless, this is an important lesson for everyone to learn, and I applaud this couple for sharing their experience to spread awareness.
Sign Duo is a YouTuber couple named Ryan and Ellen. They’re high school sweethearts who have been together since 2011 and also have a wonderful story. Ryan is deaf, so when they were only 13-years-old, he taught Ellen, a hearing person, sign language so they could communicate. Now entering their late 20s, they’ve grown through life together and now live happily together with their dog Java. Under the name Sign Duo, they’ve become quite popular on social media and the Internet for their efforts in making the rest of the world more aware of what life’s like for deaf people. And unfortunately, it’s way harder than many would’ve thought.
The couple released a YouTube video called, “Deaf Man vs. Drive-Thru: They Threw Away My Food,” over their experience at a McDonald’s drive-thru, and it’s horrifying, to say the least. It almost seems like the McDonald’s employees who are working the drive-thru are quite literally freaking out that Ryan is deaf. Even to the point where one employee is heard saying that he thinks Ryan is “faking it.” In frustration, instead of just reading his phone, where Ryan had typed out his order (which, in my opinion, is more bulletproof in making sure you get the order right since you’re literally copying it down), they ask him to pull up to the front of the restaurant.
Another employee re-takes their order. When the employee comes back out to give them their order (this one was nicer and more understanding), he explained that the previous order had been thrown away and that he had to re-put Ryan and Ellen’s order in. He apologized and gave them their food. But it didn’t end there. They still got the wrong order, much to their dismay.
Ryan explains that this is what he goes through every day, while Ellen expresses her frustration and empathy over something as simple as fast food. The couple makes these types of videos in hopes to encourage more people to learn ASL, otherwise known as American Sign Language. The couple represents the deaf community in explaining why it’s so beneficial to learn even just a few basics of ASL so that deaf customers won’t go through what Ryan highlighted in their video.
It’s simple guys. Even if you don’t know anything about ASL, it’s not difficult at all to just read what was on the phone screen and put the order in exactly that way. Also, it’s always more harmful to assume. I hope our society becomes more educated about things like this. And Ryan, I hope McDonald’s gives you free Big Macs for life.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is currently trying to clarify some remarks he made suggesting a lack of diversity in the black community by comparing African-American and Latino communities during an interview. Biden was asked about normalizing relations with Cuba he went on to explain his beliefs on the difference of opinion between the two communities. Telling a panel of journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists-National Association of Hispanic Journalists 2020 virtual convention, he noted,
“And by the way, what you all know but most people don’t know, unlike the African-American community with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things. When you go to Florida you find a very different attitude about immigration in certain places than you do when you’re in Arizona. So it’s a very different, very diverse community.”
On Thursday night, the former vice president tweeted a clarification. He stated that he did not mean to suggest that African-American communities are a monolith, not by identity, and not on issues. He noted that through his career he has witnessed the diversity of background, though, and sentiment within the African-American community. He noted, “it’s this diversity that makes our workplaces, communities, and country a better place.”
The Democratic presidential candidate then made it a point to reiterate his commitment to the United States, saying that he will always listen and won’t stop fighting for the African-American community in order to find a more “equitable future.” President Donald Trump quickly jumped on the topic, telling reporters that the remarks were “incredible.” He stated, “I just watched a clip and Joe Biden this morning totally disparaged and insulted the black community. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but it was a very insulting statement he made.”
The Biden campaign also attempted to clarify Biden’s comment stressing that the former Vice President was referring to a diversity of outlook on immigration policy within this community. Symone Sanders, who is the senior advisor to Biden, told ABC News that the video circulating on social media is conveniently cut to make his remarks about racial diversity, which is not the case.
Despite the campaign’s comment, the former Vice President one again compared the diversity of African-American and Latino communities geographically during remarks he made at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference. Biden stated,
“We can build a new administration that reflects the full diversity of our nation. The full diversity of Latino communities. And when I mean full diversity, unlike the African American community and many other communities, you’re from everywhere. From Europe, from the tip of South America, all the way to our border and Mexico and in the Caribbean. And different backgrounds, different ethnicities, but all Latinos, we’re gonna get a chance to do that if we win in November.”
Biden has expressed his support in the African-American community for a while now, which helped him in a way by claiming victory in the South Carolina Democratic primary which jump-started his campaign to become the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Actress Alyssa Milano has revealed that she had tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies after receiving several coronavirus negative test results. The actress stated she had fallen ill back in March and experienced basically every coronavirus symptom. Milano posted a picture of herself on Instagram along with her antibody results. She captured the photo, “I have never been this kind of sick. Everything hurts. Loss of smell. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t keep food in me.”
After experiencing coronavirus symptoms for nearly two weeks, Milano stated that she tested negative for the virus twice. The actress also took a finger prick test for COVID-19 antibodies after the symptoms started to subside. Despite the symptoms, the results came back negative so she took it one step further. Milano stated, “After living the last 4 months with lingering symptoms like, vertigo, stomach abnormalities, irregular periods, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, zero short term memory, and general malaise, I went and got an antibody test from a blood draw (not the finger prick) from a lab. I am positive for COVID antibodies. I had COVID-19.”
The 47-year-old activist and actress stated that the testing system is flawed and we “don’t know the real numbers.” She noted that she will donate her plasma in the hopes that it will help others who are battling the virus. She told the public she wanted them to know that the illness is not a hoax after she felt like she was dying.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, a positive test result for antibodies shows one may have antibodies from an infection with the virus that can cause COVID-19. That said, there is still a slight chance that a positive result means you have antibodies from an infection with a virus from the same family of viruses, which is called coronavirus, such as the one that can cause a common cold.
Last week, the actress announced a reboot of the 1980s sitcom "Who’s the Boss" is currently in the works. In the original, Milano played Tony Danza’s daughter, Samantha Micelli, for 8 Seasons from 1984 to 1992. She stated, “I’ve wanted to share this for so long and now I can! We feel the time is right to tell the story of where these amazing characters are today. Can’t wait to share their stories with you. So happy.”
Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this album...
Ummm... maybe not. Sorry, Gary. If I had a TARDIS I would probably try and meet Pope Saint John Paul II, but knowing my luck he'd be meeting with Mehmet Agca, the man who attempted to assassinate him.
Agca shot John Paul II two years prior to this photo, but fortunately the Pope survived. He met with Agca, who was still in prison, to forgive him in person and to talk. Agca was deeply sorry and visited the late Pope’s grave in 2010, putting flowers on it. He was apart of a Turkish mafia group that was operating in Bulgaria. He had at least one accomplice who ran away and didn’t fire any shots or detonate a bomb he brought (happened in St. Peter’s Square). Also, the assassination was rumored to be masterminded by the KGB who were pissed off that the Pope was supporting labor movements in Poland (this is featured in a Tom Clancy novel Red Rabbit). He was released from prison in Italy in 2000 and deported to Turkey where they put him in prison for some robberies and a previous assassination he committed. He ended up being paroled on January 12th, 2006, re-jailed on January 20th 2006 (because the court said they made a mistake). So, did you see the new potato chips flavor that just came out?
So, if your little girl... or boy, I won't judge, likes Barbie there's a brand new one that just came out...
Makes sense. There's one thing I didn't know about Trump and that is he likes merry-go-rounds.
He looks like he's having a blast, right? Hahahaha. Here's another Amazon reviews for "explosive" Haribo sugar-free gummy bears...
Okay, I have to mention this... thank you to Isabelsbookpromos for plugging my book on Instagram. She also did the same on Twitter.
If you haven't purchased the book yet what are you waiting for? Hahaha. Lately there's been a trend where parents who need to hire someone to help them care for their children expect the people who work from them to provide free labor simply out of the kindness of their heart...
Just because you're paying someone to help you with your debatably adorable child doesn't mean they should ever have to work for free. Ideally, everyone enjoys their job and there are always some things people are willing to do to help out their employers, but taking advantage of someone's time and generosity is inexcusable. As a parent hiring a babysitter or nanny, you should agree upon a fair rate and pay overtime for holidays, late nights, last minute-plans, or any other special event that is outside of planned work hours.
So, when a frustrated mom decided to consult my moral compass over a financial disagreement with her babysitter I thought I would help.
"Am I wrong for not paying the babysitter what she demanded?
Throwaway bc family could see.
I have one son, 3-years-old. He’s very sweet, calm, low-maintenance, and a great kid. I lucked out with him. We asked one of his daycare providers, B, to watch him for 5 hours, from 1-6 since I had to work. B knows he’s an easy kid and she knows him well, so she went with a lower charge, and we agreed on 50 dollars for the whole time. It wasn’t discussed in terms of hours, rather we agreed that 50 dollars for the time she was there was sufficient.
Well, there ended up being a situation at work that prevented me from getting home at 6, so I wasn’t able to relieve her until around 6:45. My husband works from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. so him relieving her was out of the question.
When I got there, she seem to be in a hurry to get out of the house. I understand that I was late, but as a person who works with kids and their parents, she is well aware that things come up. I handed her a 50 dollar bill and she thanked me, but asked for 7 dollars more. I told her that she got the 50 she agreed on, but she said that since I was 45 mins late and I was paying her 10 dollars an hour, she had earned 7 more for an extra 45 mins. I told her that’s not what we agreed on. We agreed on 50, and it shouldn’t matter that I was late because we didn’t discuss it in terms of hours. She argued that I agreed I would be home at six and didn’t adhere to that either, but it’s an entirely different story.
I ended up only giving her 50 and showing her out of the house. I’ll admit that she did a great job with my son. But in my opinion she had no right to ask for more. My husband and mother both think that I was being an asshole. I don’t agree. Am I wrong?" You were late. People deserve to be paid for their time. If you were asked to work overtime at a job, wouldn't you expect to be paid? It doesn't matter what a little angel your son is. Pay people for their time. She did you a favor. And she didn’t take much payment for it, 50 dollars for that amount of time is less than minimum wage.
Also think of it this way: your kid should be one of the most important things in your life, right? So why is his wellbeing while you’re gone worth so little to you? "We asked one of his daycare providers, B, to watch him... B knows he’s an easy kid and she knows him well, so she went with a lower charge"
This is a bit of a repeat from #1, but for emphasis, please read the above back to yourself as many times as necessary for it to sink in that someone who regularly takes care of your child was already giving you a break on her time and talents... and you decided to fight her over SEVEN dollars. Yes, watching children is a talent, especially for one who does it professionally. Daycare providers are heroes without the capes. You’re lucky she agreed to 50 dollars. In addition, you did not show up on time. You can’t try to justify it as “she is a person who works with parents and kids and knows that things come up.” She is an adult human being with other commitments, responsibilities, and a life of her own. You should have paid her for the additional time she worked. You should also gather some more respect for babysitters and daycare workers in general. So, there you have it!
You're out of line and entitled for not wanting to give her very understanding babysitter an extra seven dollars. Imagine being so ridiculously cheap and callous over an issue of your child's safety and wellbeing? I also would be willing to bet a whole lot of money that her child is not "easy." If you have a problem and would like my opinion then email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com.
If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, here's a crazy story from...
Florida woman Debra Hunter has been charged with assault for purposely coughing in the face of an immunocompromised cancer patient while going off on a tirade at a Pier 1 store in Jacksonville, Florida.
Karen Sprague, the cancer patient in question, filmed the suspect’s tantrum on June 26th when the woman saw her, took none too kindly to Sprague’s actions, flipped her the double birds, and then decided to cough on her documentarian. After Sprague posted the altercation the video went viral and has been viewed 4 million times. Nearly a month later, Hunter was finally identified and arrested on July 22nd. Sprague’s Facebook post details the incident in full.
After the incident, Sprague, who is being treated for a brain tumor, said she felt unwell.
The charge Hunter is facing is a misdemeanor. I hate people sometimes. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, New York shall we?
Looks like a nice uneventful morning there. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson here is...
Top Phive Things Said About The Pandemic Last Week
5. I just got kicked out of a flat Earth datebook group because I asked if the 6 foot social distancing guideline had pushed anyone over the edge yet.
4. Every "safety plan" I've seen that would allow public schools to reopen requires that kids behave in ways that no child had ever behaved in the history of children.
3. After 4 months of social distancing I feel like Jack in The Shining could have kept to together a little better. He had THREE people to talk to and a HUGE HOUSE with LOTS OF GHOST FRIENDS.
2. I am at the stage of quarantine where the Instagram ads are working.
And the number one things said about the pandemic last week is...
1. Damn COVID didn't get one Emmy nomination and it went viral more than anybody.
The 133rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...
Debbie Harry will be on the Phile on Wednesday. Now for some...
Phact 1. John Snow, an anesthesiologist in 19th century London, gave Queen Victoria chloroform for child labor and discovered the germ etiology of London’s cholera epidemic. A book was written about him and a guy named Henry Whitehead is called The Ghost Map.
Phact 2. The Catholic Church specifically taught that indulgences do not affect whether or not a person goes to heaven. However, greedy “pardoners” lied about this and promised things like eternal salvation in return for money to increase donations. This led to Martin Luther’s 95 Theses.
Phact 3. Photographer Mathew Brady captured over 7000 photos of the U.S. Civil War (including the portrait of Lincoln that would be used for the 5 dollar bill), which have become the most important visual documentation of the period. He died in debt after the U.S. government did not buy his master-copies after the war.
Phact 4. The U.S. provides GPS service worldwide for free, while U.S. taxpayers pay 2 million dollars a day to keep it operating.
Phact 5. The Twin Stars Diner in Moscow, Russia is staffed entirely by identical twins.
Today's guest is an American actor and singer. His latest album "Children and Art" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Mandy Patinkin.
Me: Hey there, Mandy, welcome to the Phile. How are you, sir?
Mandy: Hello, Jason, thank you so much.
Me: So, I really like your new album "Children and Art." How did you chose which songs to be on the album?
Mandy: Well, I love these songs. They are songs that talk to me right now at this point. It's not some retrospective of my life from many years ago. It's whats talking to me right now. Me right now, this moment, this time.
Me: I love your singing voice, Mandy. Does it feel great to be singing again?
Mandy: It's so great to be singing again.
Me: When did you first start singing?
Mandy: I started singing in choir's when I was about 7 or something. I joined the boys choir at a South Side Chicago synagogue. Mrs. Goldberg was the cantors wife and she put me as a soloist in the boys choir on Saturday Shabbat morning. I had a great time and did it until I was 14 or 15 after a lucky year or two after my Bar Mitzvah and it defined my life. I heard all those old men praying and crying in their voice when they sang and that's where I sort of learned the feeling.
Me: What about that music did you like?
Mandy: It had a mystery to it. Because I listened to these men, I say old men but they were younger than me. I would listen to them pray and sing these beautiful melodies which are in my bones. There was a cry in their voice and there was a mystery to that cry and they would get lost in it. They'd close their eyes and it was just sort of magical and just down;t pay attention, but it just came a part of me I realized later on in life.
Me: Was there a moment where you remember thinking now you understood what they were hearing and feeling?
Mandy: I do. Because I think whether it's funny, sad, meaningful, collective, they're all like little remembrances or prayers to me, or recollections. One of my favorite lines in all of literature is from a musical Oscar Hammerstein wrote. It's a line that's in a lot of cultures. "As long as there's one person on Earth who remembers you, it isn't over." A lot of these songs make me remember a lot of things. Others make me WISH for other things. Others make me celebrate a lot of things. But I guess more than anything they're about finding the light to me. Some of them are very ironical and it's easy to go down the dark road with some of these songs. I looked at it one day and I went no, no, no and I hit the light switch. And I just flicked that light switch and said make them all the opposite of that. No matter how much they're dragging me down that rabbit hole force my way out.
Me: Bruce Cockburn said, "Kick the darkness until it bleeds daylight." What do you think of that?
Mandy: There you go.
Me: I didn't know you were in Evita on Broadway, sir. What do you think when you think back to those songs?
Mandy: Oh, my lord. I remember we were at 20th Century Fox Studios where we recorded the soundtrack. I remember eating in the commissary with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. I remember my wife who was my fiancé I just met and I remember that I was 25-years-old and it was a fun thing to do that day and it was many life times ago.
Me: Do you think that's the time that your life changed?
Mandy: It's funny, I'd never think of that as the time my life changed but it was certain the moment it brought me out to a larger audience. But the moments for me when my life changed was when I met my wife, Kathryn Grody, 40 years ago, April 16th first date in 1978. And when I saw my first son Isaac, I saw him first when he came in to this world and my second son Gideon. Those are the life changing moments for me.
Me: April 16th was my dads birthday, and I was the first one to see my son Logan when he was born.
Mandy: When my father passed away I was sitting by his bed waiting for hours for his final breath and it was magical. It was a resting. I'm not one of these hoo-hoo people but there as an energy in that room and my Aunt Ida was there who died at a 103 years later. But I thought my Grandpa Max who I was named after, I swear I never met him but I was the first one born after he died. I thought he was in the room and the room was so charged and so I never experienced such electricity in one place and it bounced my Aunt Ida and me forever so those were life changing moments for me. Those were just songs. Ha ha ha.
Me: Ha! So, how did you learn to play music?
Mandy: The way I learned music or words is I go over them hundred and hundreds of times for hours and days and weeks. I listened to them and they have no meaning initially. Little by little everything just starts, my body just starts to memorize the words. Then later I begin to have thoughts with them. It's the way I rehearse and choose. Then I have a thought that marries itself and connects it whatever the songwriter wrote or the scriptwriter wrote to something that I'm connected to in my life, vizual or my imagination, or in my wishes or in my dreams. My game is to marry my imaginationative connective tissue thoughts to that the writers wrote, that's close enough that it makes me alive and makes me connected. And so that's how I learn music and because of that rehearing and that repetition, as I begin to final that idea... I don't like this one, I like this one, that's a better idea or I can't believe I didn't think of that idea oh my God, that's what it is. Then days and weeks later I go in front of the camera with the idea because I've done all the homework, now I can forget about them. My wife always said when we talk to younger people, she gave the greatest note to me once. She said, "Mandy..." I was ready to go out on opening night on Secret Garden in New York on Broadway and I was so nervous. She said, "Mandy, you know this guy, just forget about it. Go out there and listen to the words and see where they take you." I think that's the most difficult thing to do, but I can do it if I'm a workaholic or a nervousaholic like me.
Me: Hmmm... that's really deep and complex, Mandy. So, what's a "nervousaholic"?
Mandy: It means I rehearse so much that I've gone through the possibilities and therefore I could say forget about it, and be with them my fellow actor who that day happened in my life, their life, the world that day. We say those words that we've been rehearsing or doing for months, and in some cases years, which are called classical songs that I sing hundreds and hundreds of times. Why today does it connect to me? Because I'm listening to it. And because it's usually written so simply it has a life that's endless.
Me: I love your version of Randy Newman's song "So Long Dad" from your new album. Were you thinking about your dad when you chose that song?
Mandy: This is a song where I'm with my dad and bringing him back and making him be there forever. I love that song.
Me: I was kinda moved when I listened to that song, I went through something similar with my dad. It's hard watching them pass away, right?
Mandy: Yeah, I'm always hoping for an opportunity to dream about him. I'm hoping he'd show up. They do show up, Like I said before, if there's one person who remembers you it isn't over. So if you talk about your dad, he's there. I remember my dad died when I was 18, pancreatic cancer and 6 years or so went by and I hadn't had a dream. Then one day I had this dream, I was playing a heart surgeon and I was picked up by a real surgeon in this movie The Doctor that Bill Hurt and I did. He was taking me to this sports event and I just had this dream and I said, "I just had this dream about my father, I've been waiting for 6 years..." And it was so real, I literally went to this place and thought who is going to prove to me that my dream is any less real than this conversation that I'm having with you. Why can't that be just as real, it as real vivid in my dream. There was something else I wanted to tell you, I know what it was... I was doing a play, it was called Rebel Women, I went across the street to the cafe and this was about, I hadn't met my wife yet, so I'm 20, 1, 2, 3 and a guy walks up to me after the play and I had this scene with Peter Weller, it was a father and son play but it was during the Civil War and Peter and I had this scene together and it was about loss and this guy walks up to me and I'm 20something and he's in his 50s. He says, "I saw the play, can I ask you something? Is your father alive?" I said no and he said, "How long ago did you lose your father?" I said, "About 6 years ago." There was a pause and I looked at this much older man and I said, "Is your father alive?" "No." "How long ago did you lose your father?" "Six days ago." And I said wow, and told him this story about the dream I had and how I've been waiting 6 years to have this dream and I felt so robbed because I was such this crazy kid, so manic and energetic and self-oriented and didn't listen enough and didn't take time. I was robbed of the time with my dad. I was 18 and didn't get to know him the way I wanted. He said, "Let me tell you something. I'm 55, I just lost my dad. You'll feel that way when you're 55 or 65, 75 or 85." I said, "Thank you. We do the best we can." Jason, how old were you when your dad passed away?
Me: Let's see, I was born in '68 and he passed in 2000... 32. I'm so lucky that there's tons of videos, pictures and audio of my dad. He was the lead singer in Foghat, so I feel that he'll never go away because of that stuff. Is that weird?
Mandy: That's the gift of imagination. If you believe. My connection to God, and I'm a spiritual guy, science is my connection so Einstein's theory of relativity I get. Meaning everyone never dies. Back to what I said in the beginning when my dad died, the spirit and the energy in that room, I believe that you can be in the space of the air that you breathe, that is exists because it isn't the energy we're looking at or what we're listening to, it's a different form. That energy exists forever, just like light does and just like sound does. So therefore if you want to breathe in Jesus or Buddha or Moses or your dad or my dad or anybody you knew they're available. They are all around us. That to me is science, others would say that's religion. I go fine, I can't literally define either one of them or can I define "love." Which is everything: religion, love, science, is everything I don't understand.
Me: I'm gonna need a bloody nap after this interview by the way.
Mandy: When you go through some of these singer songwriter things with guys like Irving Berlin, Oscar Hammerstein or Randy Newman, I'm just the mailman. These guys are the geniuses. They are plugged in to a kind of simplistic poetry that is so available and timeless it's undeniable.
Me: But you are also "in" that music, right?
Mandy: My favorite word is "connect." If someone is connected to the woman they meet or the man they meet, the child they have, the friend, the student, the world, they're alive. They're just alive.
Me: When you sing these songs on the new album, do you still feel like you're praying?
Mandy: It's funny thing music, I guess. That's why Shakespeare said, "If the music be the food of love play on." It's the universal language and it's the air going in and out of us if we're a singer and I can't help to feel better than when I started. It just recovers me. I always liked playing characters that have accents because it's easier to hide behind the accent. therefore its like a mask and therefore I feel freer to express. That's what music is. Singing is a step from reality and that's a mask. Therefore I find it freeing to be true to what I know and what I have no idea what's coming. We're all coming to the theater, including me, to get away from it for a few minutes. To go to somewhere else that's big more comforting. That's the reason I love doing these concerts more than anything in the world. It's because these songs, these stories, these lyrics, they speak to me. It's really comforting to feel that I'm not alone. That other people like to listen to them along with me. So I don't feel alone.
Me: I can't let you go without mentioning The Princess Bride. I do not like that movie, I have to be honest, but soooo many people I know love it. What do you think of it? Are you tired of talking about it?
Mandy: No, I can never get over when people bring it up that I got to be that guy in that movie. I love that people love that film and I loved and I just had the best time. With Andre all that time was just beautiful.
Me: Do people come up to you and quote that film to you?
Mandy: Every day almost. Every day of my life and I'm always stunned that I'm the guy and I'm always thrilled that people love it. For generations...
Me: I'm surprised. Why do you think people that have famous roles or songs don't like it when people come up to them and say they like it?
Mandy: They don't know what they're talking about. We're here for 5 seconds, and if we get lucky and something good happen to us in any area in our minuscule life enjoy it. I say that to myself as much as I say it to anybody. My best friend stayed alive so he could say good-bye to my wife and myself. He knew us, he knew we were nuts and he lifted himself out of that bed, took himself one spoonful of morphine and he looked at us with wide eyes and he said, "The hardest thing in the world to do is have fun."
Me: I like that. Mandy, this was a great interview. Please, please come back. Take care.
Mandy: Nice to talk to you. Thank you.
That about does it for this entry. Thanks to Mandy Patinkin for a great interview... very different. The Phile will be back on Wednesday with Debbie Harry. Spread the word, not the turd... or virus. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.
I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon
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