Pheaturing Phile Alum Steven Page

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Tuesday. How are you? So, I was thinking... maybe 2020 is that stage when you're deep cleaning and the room is way messier than when you started. A white woman and event hall owner in Booneville, Mississippi who, based on this incident, has for sure read the New Testament roughly as few times as she’s read a physics textbook, was captured on video telling a black woman that her event hall would not host an interracial wedding “because of our Christian beliefs.” The white woman in the video actually at first said “because of our Christian race” but quickly corrected to “Christian beliefs” because she didn’t feel like getting into how she had figured out that the Creator of an impossible to comprehend, infinite existence prefers Swedes to Nigerians. The black woman she was speaking to, LaKambria Welch, asked the owner of Boone’s Camp Events Hall what part of the Bible she was basing this specific belief on but the woman declined to provide the passage, instead saying he preferred not to argue her faith. Which is incredibly Christian of her. If there’s one person who never questioned a blind following of religious traditions and establishments it’s… Jesus? Wait… It’s extremely unclear where this Christian woman got her ideas on marriage from, though it definitely wasn’t from Jesus Christ. It wouldn’t be shocking if there was some Old Testament verse that could vaguely sound against interracial marriage if a bad enough actor felt inclined to twist it for their own nefarious purposes. Either way, this woman was clearly more interested in using her “faith” to justify her fake Christianity than listening to things Jesus himself suggested, like, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The woman didn’t even seem to care that the interracial couple are Christians themselves, as was also pointed by Welch in the video. The town of Booneville responded with a Facebook post of their own after the video went viral. According to Welch the event hall has since apologized to the family.
Two parents have been charged with murder after going on a four-day lockdown drinking binge, leaving their 16-week old twins alone without food. Their baby son was in a coma and later died in the hospital after their “gravely emaciated” children were found by their grandmother. The couple’s daughter is now fighting for her life at a hospital in Russia’s Kamchatka region. The 23-year-old mother, Margarita Yanayeva, lied to her friends saying the babies were in the hospital due to the coronavirus. But, she and her partner Alexey, 35, decided to leave the twins at home for four days. According to authorities, their son died from starvation and his twin sister is desperately weak in intensive care. According to the investigators, “in the course of four days, they were not feeding the children and did not arrange alternative care for them.” Instead, the couples subjected both kids to hunger, did not ensure any hygiene, and left the minors in a socially dangerous state. Luckily, the twin babies were found by their grandmother who became concerned after not being able to reach the couple by phone, despite their region being under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When she found the babies, she immediately called the police. If convicted of the helpless twin boy, the couple could face up to 20 years in jail. The couple also faces charges over failing in the parental duties and subjecting their children to danger. Honestly, these two should just be convicted immediately and be left to rot in jail. In what mentality do you think it’s okay to leave two children, who can’t even walk or talk, alone while you’re out partying? These poor babies must have been so scared. This exactly why some people shouldn’t be parents. I get that you want to have fun, but this is not the way, selfish bastards. Have fun in jail.
What is up with these weird, over the top, unnecessary social media trends? I mean, I get it, you want to stand out and be different to show off you’re cool, but this, this conch removal trend is just too much. It’s pretty gross too. Oh, what is a conch removal? Well, it’s a new body modification trend where people are getting the inside of their ears removed. Yes, their whole inside, and I’m not really sure what the point of it is. Chai Maibert, who owns the Calm Body Modification Studio in Stockholm shared photos of the removal, saying he thought this was a trend that people will eventually catch up to. Which I’m really hoping they don’t, but hey, people can surprise you from one day to the next. The procedure involves taking out the concha which is the middle bit of the outer ear. It is also known as the pinna and the auricle. Now, I know I’m not wrong when I say that body modifications aren’t exactly a new phenomenon, I get it, I’ve seen worse. But this man went an extra mile, flying all the way to Australia, just for the sole purpose of getting the inside of his ears cut out. The image was clearly taken right after the removal took place because you can still his the man’s ears burning red and a bit of blood residue. By the way, if you want to see the pic of it I'm saving it for Throw-Up Thursday. My question here is, didn’t it hurt? Also… how are you going to protect your ears from bacteria? You’re just begging for multiple ear infections, my friend. Safe to say people have quite a bit to say about the removal, many showing their thoughts on Maibert’s page. The artist (should we call him an artist?) did address the obvious question that the removal could affect your hearing, saying, “It might impair your ability to hear the direction of sound for the first week or two until your mind has adjusted to your new ears. Hearing from behind will in fact improve.” Albert also stated that our ears don’t necessary catch sound as it did years ago, which is why we need to make our ears bigger. How? By cupping your hand around it. Yes, seriously. So this will help us hear better in a way. That sounds very scientific to me, and honestly, I really don’t believe it because this man clearly didn’t go to medical school. Can you blame me? Any audiologist out there that want to confirm this? I’m all ears!
States are rolling back lockdowns, but the coronavirus isn’t done with the U.S. Cases are rising in nearly half the states, according to an Associated Press analysis, a worrying trend that could intensify as people return to work and venture out during the summer. In Arizona, hospitals have been told to prepare for the worst. Texas has more hospitalized COVID-19 patients than at any time before. And the governor of North Carolina said recent jumps caused him to rethink plans to reopen schools or businesses. There is no single reason for the surges. In some cases, more testing has revealed more cases. In others, local outbreaks are big enough to push statewide tallies higher. But experts think at least some are due to lifting stay-at-home orders, school and business closures, and other restrictions put in place during the spring to stem the virus’s spread. The virus is also gradually fanning out. “It is a disaster that spreads,” said Dr. Jay Butler, who oversees coronavirus response work at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It’s not like there’s an entire continental seismic shift and everyone feels the shaking all at once.” That is also happening globally. Places that suffered early on such as China, Italy and Spain have calmed down but Brazil, India and other countries that were spared initially are seeing large increases. The world is seeing more than 100,000 newly-confirmed cases every day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The virus first landed on the U.S. coasts, carried by international travelers infected abroad. For months, the epicenter was in northeastern states. More recently, the biggest increases have been in the South and the West. The AP analyzed data compiled by The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer organization that collects coronavirus testing data in the United States. The analysis found that in 21 states as of Monday, the rolling seven-day average of new cases per capita was higher than the average seven days earlier. Some worry the situation may get worse as social distancing restrictions lift and more people gather. One concern is that large recent racial justice protests across the country might spark at least some spread of the virus. Another: President Donald Trump this week said he’s planning to hold rallies that may draw thousands of people. He will hold them in four states... Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas. All of them are among the states with rising cases identified in the AP analysis.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney declined again last Monday to endorse President Donald Trump’s reelection, saying he would “stay quiet” about whom he’ll be supporting in November. Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, told reporters on Capitol Hill, “I’m not going to be describing who I’ll be voting for.” His open acknowledgment that he would not support Trump comes after former Trump defense secretary Gen. James Mattis and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski aired criticism of the president’s handling of ongoing protests against the police killings of black Americans. In 2016, Romney said publicly that he would support neither Trump nor Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He later said he had cast his vote for his wife, Ann. He told The Atlantic in February that he wouldn’t vote for Trump in November and would “probably” choose his wife again. Retired Gen. Colin Powell, who served as President George W. Bush’s secretary of state, took a stronger step away from Trump, telling CNN that he would support presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden this November. Powell had said he voted for Clinton in 2016. The relationship between Trump and Romney is acrimonious. Romney was the only GOP senator to support removing Trump from office after the president’s impeachment trial earlier this year. Trump has derided him as a “fool” and a “failed presidential candidate.” After the senator attended a march for racial justice on Sunday, declaring that “black lives matter,” Trump tweeted sarcastically about Romney’s “sincerity.” Romney shrugged off that dig, saying that Trump has “got time to do whatever he feels is appropriate” and that “I would presume” the president would consider supporting a police reform measure, given his public expressions of concern about the killing of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man, by a white officer in Minneapolis.
You know, if 2020 was a watermelon it'll look like this...

Trump went back across the street to St. John's again, I wonder what he's holding this time...

Hahaha. That's fitting. Some celebrities are tone-deaf when they post about the protest of George Floyd's death. Katie Couric was called tone-deaf for pitching this bipartisan summit. This is what Katie posted...

And this is what the comeback was...

Large crowds all over the world have gathered to protest police brutality and stand with Black Lives Matter. People are standing up for the safety and dignity of black people whether or not its popular in their town. Anti-racist demonstrators are hosting their own protests in small towns and cities. While they may be the only people standing, they're not standing alone. Like this guy in Chapel Hill, North Carolina...

I'm told if I go to Walmart I'd see some odd sights. I didn't believe it until I saw this...

Father's Day is Sunday so if you're looking for a cool card to get your dad how about this one?

Okay, I have to mention something really quick. ICYMI, yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that federal law makes it illegal to fire people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Supremes voted 6-3 that LGBTQ+ are people are entitled to equal protection under the law, and the majority opinion was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative Trump appointee. The Gorsuch of it all is proving to be a massive shock, as is the fact that 2020 is giving humanity any good news at all. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Said About The Supreme Court's Ruling To Protect LGBTQ People From Workplace Discrimination
5. I've never been fired for being gay, but I've been fired for not wearing make-up which is the same thing.
4. Being a Supreme Court Justice is easy as fuck. Waking up in the morning, wearing a big fucking robe then saying gay people shouldn't be fired. Easy as shit to be honest, give me something hard.

3. To all you cretins who voted for Trump despite knowing he's an incompetent balloon animal because he was your last hope to appoint a Supreme Court full of bigots to hurt gay people... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAGAIDJJFDIVYOVUK!!
2. The Supreme Court has decided that nobody can fire you because you're gay, they can only fire you for sleeping under your desk and signing off emails with "keep it sleazy" like our Founding Fathers intended.
And the number one thing said about the Supreme Court's ruling to protect LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination is...
1. It's a good day to no longer be a fireable offense.

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, you know I live in Florida, right? Well, here's another story from this state...

A Florida man who has the primary and extremely rad occupation of killing pythons for a living nearly got taken down by his mightiest foe yet. Snake Hunter and, really, freedom fighter Mike Kimmel found the beast around 11:00 a.m. and carefully walked alongside it to gauge its length. State-contracted python hunters like Kimmel sometimes get bonuses for the length of their kill. According to Kimmel, the monstrous python, which he called 150 pounds of solid muscle, was 17 feet long and wasn’t scared by the hunter in the slightest. Kimmel took to his Instagram, where he goes by @PythonCowboy (a name that somehow wasn’t taken by a porn star), to detail his battle with a python so huge it could get you a first down on 3rd and 4 just by falling forward.

You’re doing God’s work, Python Cowboy. “I had to control my breathing to carry the 17-foot, 150-pound apex predator I captured through the swamp so that I didn’t pass out from blood loss because it bit through my artery while I was wrestling it into submission” is a level of badass I really cannot even begin to comprehend.

This person who thinks these orphans need to get to work.

Their kids just faced a terrible loss but should forget that and get jobs.

President Donald Trump said yesterday he is ordering a major reduction in U.S. troop strength in Germany, a move widely criticized by members of his own party as a gift to Russia and a threat to U.S. national security. “We’re putting the number down to 25,000 soldiers,” Trump said at the White House. The U.S. currently has about 34,500 troops in Germany... far fewer than during the Cold War, when Germany was the central focus of American and NATO efforts to deter invasion by the former Soviet Union. In recent decades, Germany has hosted key American military facilities and provided a transit point for troops deploying to and from the Middle East, including during years of conflict in Iraq. Trump faulted Germany for failing to pay enough for its own defense, calling the long-time NATO ally “delinquent.” “We’re protecting Germany and they’re delinquent. That doesn’t make sense,” the president said, referring to Germany’s failure thus far to attain a goal set by all NATO members in 2014 to spend at least 2% of gross national product on defense by 2024. Germany says it hopes to reach 2% by 2031. “Until they pay, we’re removing our soldiers, a number of our soldiers,” Trump said. His plan, however, did not sound fully defined. “When we get down to 25,000 we’ll see where we’re going,” he said. Since his election in 2016, Trump has pushed for the 2% as a hard target, and he has repeatedly singled out Germany as a major offender, though many others are also below the goal. In his White House remarks to reporters, Trump suggested his troop withdrawal decision was intended to punish Germany, noting that the presence of American troops is a boost to local economies. “Those are well-paid soldiers,” he said. “They live in Germany. They spend vast amounts of money in Germany. Everywhere around those bases is very prosperous for Germany. So Germany takes, and then on top of it they treat us very badly on trade.” In addition to the 34,500 U.S. troops in Germany, there also are approximately 17,500 Defense Department civilians. The administration has contemplated a partial troop withdrawal from Germany since last year, and in recent weeks it became apparent that Trump was ready to move forward, although no decision had been announced. The decision was not discussed in advance with Germany or other NATO members, and Congress was not officially informed... prompting a letter from 22 Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee urging a rethink. “The threats posed by Russia have not lessened, and we believe that signs of a weakened U.S. commitment to NATO will encourage further Russian aggression and opportunism,” Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas wrote in a letter to Trump with his colleagues. Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed Trump’s move as “another favor” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, said last week that Trump appeared to be making a serious mistake. “America’s forward presence has never been more important than it is today, as our nation confronts the threats to freedom and security around the world posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the Chinese Communist Party,” Cheney said. “Our presence abroad is critical to deterring these adversaries, bolstering alliances, maintaining peace through strength, and preserving American leadership. Withdrawing our forces and abandoning our allies would have grave consequences, emboldening our adversaries and making war more... not less... likely.” American facilities include Ramstein Air Base, a critical hub for operations in the Mideast and Africa and headquarters to the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa; the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, which has saved the lives of countless Americans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the Stuttgart headquarters of both the U.S. European Command and the U.S. Africa Command. There’s also the Wiesbaden headquarters of U.S. Army Europe, the Spangdahlem F-16 fighter base and the Grafenwoehr Training Area, NATO’s largest training facility in Europe. Trump indicated last summer that he was thinking of moving some troops from Germany to Poland, telling Poland’s President Andrzej Duda during an Oval Office meeting, “Germany is not living up to what they’re supposed to be doing with respect to NATO, and Poland is.” Duda has been trying to woo more American forces, even suggesting Poland would contribute over $2 billion to create a permanent U.S. base... which he said could be named “Fort Trump.” In the current plan, at least some Germany-based troops are expected to be shifted to Poland.

The 128th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Isla Fisher will be on the Phile tomorrow. Okay, let's see what's going on in Port Jeff live shall we?

Hmmm... I think I see some new big yachts there. Let's take a closer look...

Yup. They seem pretty big.

A cat dies and goes to Heaven. God meets him at the gate and says, "You have been a good cat all of these years. Anything you desire is yours, all you have to do is ask." The cat says, "Well, I lived all my life with a poor family on a farm and had to sleep on hardwood floors." God says, "Say no more." And instantly, a fluffy pillow appears. A few days later, six mice are killed in a tragic accident and they go to Heaven. God meets them at the gate with the same offer that he made the cat. The mice said, "All our lives we've had to run. Cats, dogs and even women with brooms have chased us. If we could only have a pair of roller skates, we wouldn't have to run anymore." God says, "Say no more." And instantly, each mouse is fitted with a beautiful pair of tiny roller skates. About a week later, God decides to check and see how the cat is doing. The cat is sound asleep on his new pillow. God gently wakes him and asks, "How are you doing? Are you happy here?" The cat yawns and stretches and says, "Oh, I've never been happier in my life. And those Meals on Wheels you've been sending over are the best!"

Today's guest is a Phile Alum and a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Along with Ed Robertson, he was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies. His latest single "Isolation" is available on iTunes and Bandcamp. Please welcome back to the Phile one of my favorite singers of all time... Steven Page!

Me: Hello, Steven, welcome back to the Phile. How are you?

Steven: Hello, Jason, great to be back. I'm hanging on, it;s not how I imagined my spring to be, but it's not how anyone imagined spring to be except for people in the public health community.

Me: Are you able to stay creative and write music?

Steven: It's been a weird series of emotional waves for me. When this first happened, when things started to shut down I was in Stratford and rehearsing for the opening of Here's What It Takes and they sent us home. The first thing I did when I was waiting up there in Canada was spending a lot of time on social media, news apps and whatever else and panic. I very quickly wrote this song, I wrote this song called "Isolation" that I put up on YouTube, and then did a studio version by myself at home and put that up on all the services. I was kind of hocking that for a while because I thought, "Hey, I'm being productive. I have to be productive. I have to do stuff." And then I got home from Stratford and I just kind of collapsed for a couple weeks. I emptied Netflix. There's nothing left. Like shake Netflix and nothing comes out.

Me: Yeah, I've been watching a lot of Netflix myself. How was it?

Steven: It was a total disappointment. I was like, oh, I knew I played this before. But I got to the very end when I realized that. Then I started seeing people doing on-line streaming shows which at first I thought was exciting. But the more I saw people doing this it was less I wanted to do it. I kinda just got super low energy, but I still was waking up at like 4:30 in the morning. It was this mix of anxiety and depression meeting in the worst way.

Me: You've been doing the live from home concerts though. How did that come about?

Steven: I was using Side Door, Dan Mangan's company to do these live concerts every Saturday and it's been awesome. All of a sudden, I have all this energy. I'm getting all this stuff done and I'm playing old songs I haven't played maybe ever,, and I'm also taking requests from fans. A thousand people come into my living room every Saturday and I can see them on my computer screen, and it's like we have a little community. So right now I'm getting stuff done. 

Me: So, are you writing then?

Steven: Writing not so much because I'm preparing for my concerts every week.

Me: Does it give you energy for the rest of the day?

Steven: No, not the day. I'm done after I do that. I finish these shows, I do like an hour and a half concert.

Me: Okay, so, a lot of people are doing concerts through Facebook Live, so why are you doing yours on Zoom and on Side Door?

Steven: Because I literally have a thousand different computer screens around the world watching and they paid to be there. It's not an expensive ticket but it's something. It's like an event for them, as opposed to background. It can be background, but most people are invested in it, they make requests all week. So I spend all week learning these requests Then I do like an hour and half or a two hour show I'm like soaking wet with sweat by the end of it. That was the weirdest thing after there first one, going upstairs thinking this is what it's like doing a live gig at a theatre. That's exhilarating but so exhausting. But the rest of the week, because I have that to look forward to I'm planning and I'm working and I'm way more engaged with fans on social media too because I got really cynical about that I think over there last bunch of years.

Me: Why is that?

Steven: Because I get a lot of trolls and a lot of negative energy. Now I feel a lot of positivity from people when it comes to talk about music and stuff. I think there's a lot of negativity out there and music seems like a safe place and I'm really honoured to be part of that.

Me: So, I have to ask, who are the Odds?

Steven: My favourite rock and roll band. I have to tell you they are my dream favourite rock and roll band and now I get to play with them all the time. I get to play with them in their set, they play as my backing band, they play on my records, ands we've been great friends for almost thirty years now. To be a bunch of old guys, rocking and rolling together, and laughing and loving each others songs is pretty much a great place to be when I'm here.

Me: So, they're a better band than Foghat? Hahahahaha.

Steven: Well, Foghat was a great band, your dad was a true rock star, Jason.

Me: Thanks. They are still a great band. So, how far were you in the process with your show when you got the word it wasn't going to happen because of COVID-19?

Steven: Well, we were a few weeks into rehearsal and that meant the cast knew all the songs. We started with the music first, so they knew all the songs. Many of the cast have been in earlier workshop ilitartions of the musical. But this is the first time we've been all together, there's about thirty people in the cast. Then we've all the creative team, myself, Daniel MacIvor who wrote the book for the show, the director, the music director, the band, we were getting ready for band rehearsal. Choreographers, designers, and all that stuff were starting to come in. This show was supposed to be one of the first in the brand new Tom Patterson Theatre, which was set to open this season. We were looking forward to getting up on that stage which would've happened by the end of March. Now fingers crossed, hopefully it'll happen next year.

Me: So, is there any word it's going to happen in the next Stratford season?

Steven: Well, first of all they don't know what's going to happen next year. We don't know if there's going to be a second wave to stop people. We don't know if people will want to go see theatre, if it's going to be financially feasible for them. One thing I didn't know about Stratford is they have single digit percentage of government funding, of which I had no idea. I assumed they were government funded to the teeth but only about 8% comes from government funding and the rest comes from ticket sales and personal donations and that kind of thing. So they have no idea. If people don't come they could be cutting their season back, or having less shows. I'm just hoping that it goes forward. It's super exciting for me, but the other thing about something like Stratford, a festival like that, a whole city benefits from that festival, whether it's a combination of restaurants or services or whatever else. So they're all hurting when the festival is not up and running.

Me: So, when touring and concerts start up again what do you think it'll be like?

Steven: Who knows if that will be in the fall, or early next year, there's going to be such a log jam of artists trying to get into venues. The way they book clubs and theatres now is they put a hold on that and they're like 15, 16, 18 bands deep trying to get priority on a certain date in a club. So all the artists or bands that had shows canceled or postponed will be rescheduled, everybody who put a new record out who struggled through the crisis and needs to get out there to earn a living, they have difficulty to even get into places. So things like house concerts and on-line stuff is a way to get things going again too.

Me: So, what is Here's What It Takes about?

Steven: The show is about a band. It's about two guys that start a band, but it's not the two guys you're thinking of. Obviously it's informed by my own experience, but it's written by Daniel MacIvor, based on both our experiences about collaboration, about partnership, about friendship, and love. It's really about what is enough. What is enough admiration from outside? What is enough of a connection between us and somebody else.

Me: So, why is it called Here's What It Takes?

Steven: We called the show Here's What It Takes, which I like, because on its surface, it kind of sounds like "here's what it takes, kid, to make it." But it's really more about here's what it takes from us. When we chose this kind of life, here's what it takes sometimes. And about the joy that it can bring and the magic that happens in collaboration. But it's also about the distraction that it can lead behind us too.

Me: You're right, when you described it I thought of you and Ed starting Barenaked Ladies. Do you think most people will think that?

Steven: I know most everyone's minds going to think that.

Me: And your personal experience did inform this in some way?

Steven: Oh, sure, this band started about ten years older than us, a lot of it takes place in the 80s, which was fun for me, to do music that was of that time. It starts in 1982 and goes to the present. There are certain things like going to awards shows or doing TV shoots, or what it's like to collaborate with somebody on a song. Or the magic what one partner brings that the other partner can't bring. The kind of general story between the characters is not me and Ed, it's Ernie and Bert, it's Simon and Garfunkel, but it's influenced by all of them.

Me: So, there's no songs called "Mike Love" and "The New Apartment"?

Steven: Yeah, "If I Had 10,000 Dollars." "Two Weeks." Ha ha ha.

Me: "What a Bad Boy." Hahahahaha. So, I love the song "No Song Left to Save Me" from the show. What can you say about it?

Steven: Well, this is a song that's pretty important in the show. It's actually the finale of the show and makes appearances earlier as well. I think in a way it's what I like about my own songs. In a sense that it's uplifting and catchy and danceable but there's levels of darkness to it as well. It's a song about not giving up. I know myself a lot of times I think what does it matter if I write anything else? Am I just doing this for myself now? What is good about that? Is it selfish of me to continue to write songs, especially if I feel nobody is ever going to hear it? When I got to my age I don't have necessarily the kind of audience I want to have, who is hungry for new music. I kind of cope with that. And the song says, has other people saying to the songwriter, keep going because who are you to say that the next song you write isn't going to save somebody's life? Songs have saved my life multiple times. It's not arrogant to believe that I can do it. It's allowing the chance to happen. Putting that positivity out there is worth it and worth sticking around for.

Me: Very cool. Steven, thanks for being back on the Phile. Please come back again soon. Stay well.

Steven: Thanks, Jason. You too.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Steven Page for a great interview. The Phile will be back tomorrow with actress and author Isla Fisher. Spread the word, not the turd... or virus or hatred. 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

Pheaturing Linda Cardellini From "Dead To Me"

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. Man, 2020 has been the car on a highway with its liners on going 20 miles under the speed limit and still won't get up out of the left lane. The world would be an infinitely better place if we could go days, weeks, months, or even years without another viral story of a "Karen" flexing her white privilege in the most destructive way. Unfortunately, we aren't there yet, so for now... people keep their phone cameras strapped and ready to document the Central Park Karens (aka Amy Cooper) of the world so they can no longer throw their fits without consequences. The most recent white woman who went viral for racist harassment attempted to file a police report after calling a woman named Jen the N-word. The video made the rounds on Twitter on Thursday and shows the Karen storm from her car into the police station to make a report. At the start of the video, Jen pans the camera to reveal the Karen's license plate, and says "here's the idiot who thought it was okay to call me a nigga, come on let's file a hate crime." "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for the looting, I'm sorry for everything, what do you want from me? You passed me," the Karen responded emphatically. When Jen asked the Karen why she thought it was okay to call her the N-word, the Karen responded, "Because I'm so fed up with this shit." Jen followed her into the police station, asking the Karen what exactly she was going to report. "I can't take this anymore, I'm trying to move out," the Karen screamed, before turning to the desk clerk. "She passed me on the left, and I witnessed the lootings, I can't take it anymore," the Karen yelled. When Jen asked why any of this justified using the N-word and going to the cops, the Karen yelled, "You guys call each other that all the time!" The video ended with the white woman crying because she was called out, and storming out "to get her purse." Luckily, no actual police report was filed. It wasn't long before the video spread across Twitter, with people roasting the Karen, but also pointing out how horrifying her logic was. A few pointed out how bizarre it was that Karen used slurs and got mad at Jen for "passing her on the left" when that's the legal way to pass someone. More than that, people pointed out how ugly it is to have racism jump out during a regular moment in traffic. While others focused on the portion of the exchange where Karen said she was "tired," and Jen responded by saying that black people have been tired for 400 years. In general, people found it satisfying to watch this woman crumple into herself. A lot of people really respected the fact that Jen followed through on confronting the Karen, and in doing so, protected herself from a fabricated police report. It's a good thing Jen documented everything, because this story could have ended very differently if the Karen had lied to the police and sent them after Jen. This is one of the many reasons it's so important to call out racism, it's not just a matter of some people being mean or ignorant, it's often a matter of life and death.
Seattle officers hold down a protester, and one repeatedly punches him in the face. In another run-in, officers handcuff a looting suspect on the ground, one pressing a knee into his neck... the same tactic used on George Floyd. The officers were captured on videos appearing to violate policies on how to use force just days after Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police, setting off nationwide protests. With calls for police reforms across the U.S., instructors and researchers say officers lack sufficient training on how and when to use force, leaving them unprepared to handle tense situations. Better training can’t fix all the issues facing the nation’s police departments, but experts believe it would have a big impact. “The skills are not taught well enough to be retained and now the officer is scrambling to find something that works,” said William Lewinski, executive director at Minnesota-based Force Science Institute, which provides research, training and consulting to law enforcement agencies. Its two-year study of three large U.S. police academies says skills like using a baton or taking down an aggressive offender deteriorate dramatically within two weeks. A recent Associated Press investigation found that a lack of firearms training has resulted in unintentional shootings by law enforcement. It’s the same problem with use-of-force techniques, Lewinski said. “Police officers across the country are woefully undertrained,” said Sean Hendrickson, an instructor at Washington state’s police academy in suburban Seattle. The AP was invited to the facility to see use-of-force training, a component of a 2012 federal agreement to reform the Seattle Police Department after officers were found to routinely use excessive force. The academy is considered one of the more progressive in the country for trying to mirror what officers will face on the streets. There’s classroom work, and cadets learn to combine skills by play-acting scenarios. In an old building decorated to look like an apartment, one officer plays the offender and others try to deescalate tensions, take away his weapon and put him in handcuffs. In a parking lot, officers pair off. One wears padding on their shins and the other practices swinging a baton, hitting low on the legs. They also learn to arrest someone who’s fighting back. An instructor plays the suspect, with one officer bear-hugging his legs and another wrapping his arms around him to take him to the ground. That officer presses against him chest to chest until he “wears himself out,” instructor Rich Lee said. Then they flip him over, still holding his legs, with an officer’s knee in the center of his back as they handcuff him. Police in the Seattle videos didn’t use those techniques. No one held the suspects’ legs and one officer had his knee on a suspect’s neck until his partner pushed it off. In Washington state, cadets must complete 720 hours of training, “but those skills start to degrade immediately,” Hendrickson said. Some states only require 400 to 500 hours of academy training and require 24 hours or less of training once they’re on the job. Often, follow-up training is online, not hands-on. “There’s no profession that trains so little but expects so much,” Lewinski said. But not all officers can be taught, he acknowledged. When it came to Derek Chauvin, the officer charged in Floyd’s death, “I’m not sure that training would have made a difference,” Lewinski said. “What he did was definitely criminal.” Protesters are demanding reforms ranging from cutting funding to banning chokeholds. There’s been success in some states, such as California, where the governor ordered the police training program to stop teaching a neck hold that blocks blood flowing to the brain. A measure introduced this week in Congress would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force incidents and address training. “A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession where you have highly trained officers that are accountable to the public,” U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat and chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told reporters. Reforming police use-of-force training was a major issue in 2014 and 2015, following the deaths of several black men at the hands of police, including Eric Garner, Michael Brown and others. In New York City, where Garner died, the nation’s largest police department retrained all patrol officers, dismantled how beat cops did their jobs and moved to a community policing model where officers were encouraged get to know their precincts and focus on deescalation. It looked like police reform was gaining traction nationwide, but as the 2016 election took the spotlight, the effort faded, especially after the Justice Department shifted its civil rights priorities. Most academies bombard officers with one subject, like communication, and then move to the next topic, like use of force, without integrating those skills, making them easy to forget, Force Science studies say. An example of successfully using training can be seen in a video of a security guard who took two stolen AR-15’s from some young men during the Seattle protests. The guard with military training hired to protect several journalists secured one gun and then calmly walked up to the second suspect, took the firearm out of his hands and unloaded it. “His movements were very deliberate, even under those stressful circumstances,” Hendrickson said. “When you’ve done it enough times, that’s going to dictate how smooth you’re able to take control. He didn’t have to think about those skills.” Lacking skills leads to bad reactions, Hendrickson said. “I’ve been in situations where I’m frantic and the other officer is cool, calm and collected,” he said. “How did they do that without screaming? It all comes back to training. When we lack confidence, a lot of times we raise our voice, start swearing. It’s all about fear.” Jerrell Wills, manager of the applied-skills division at the Washington academy, said racial tension is a reason he wants to improve how officers are taught. A black man who’s been in law enforcement for 30 years, Wills said he’s been racially profiled and had people threaten to call the police for no good reason. Now, he worries about his sons. “That’s why the work we do is so important,” Wills said. “Because I care about this industry, my community and my African American community.”
Two South Carolina National Guardsmen deployed to Washington D.C. to respond to civil unrest found several shards of glass in the pizza they ordered while staying in an area hotel. The soldiers found broken glass in the dough and cheese mixed in the pizza, according to a defense department report. The soldiers did not eat the pizza and were not injured. Capt. Jessica Donnely, a spokeswoman for S.C. National Guard stated, “What a man says is that the soldiers are okay and that this is the only incident to their knowledge.” She noted the soldiers were advised to file a police report of the incident, but the D.C. Metro Police Department stated no report was filed at the time. The incident occurred in the deployment of National Guard Units from various states to respond to destructive actions following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd was killed while in police custody, as officer Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck for a total of 8 minutes. His death sparked several protests spreading worldwide. Protests spread to Washington D.C. where rioting and looting occurred, which prompted the deployment of National Guard units from Indiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Utah, and New Jersey. National Guard units were also brought in to help reinforce security measures around the White House. According to American Military News, more than 60 Secret Service agents were injured between the first weekend of D.C. protests. Demonstrators were reportedly throwing bricks, bottles, fireworks, rocks, and other items reportedly kicking and punching members of the president’s Protective Service. The following weekend there was reportedly less severe protest action, and President Donald Trump ordered the drawdown of all National Guard units from Washington D.C. Members of S.C. The National Guard faced little confrontation from protesters, according to the Post Courier, but two Guardsmen were hospitalized after lightning struck near where they were stationed in support of White House security measures at Lafayette Park.
Jesus Christ, Nebraska. This is the type of thing you’d expect to hear about Alabama. If you were watching a really mean-spirited cartoon about the state written by someone who hates it. Or listening to a deposition about Roy Moore. Even the guy in the trailer park who sells stolen porn website passwords and secret videos he took in the showers at a nearby campsite is creeped out by this father-daughter relationship. Fortunately for 21-year-old Samantha Kershner, at least she avoided jail time for her incestuous marriage to her dad, Travis Fieldgrove. Kershner was initially charged with incest but pleaded no contest and had her charge reduced to misdemeanor false reporting, which got her nine months of probation from Hall County Court. So how did such an Appalachian arrangement come to pass? It’s simple, really. The Nebraska woman reportedly had a heated sibling rivalry with her half-sister, and because they are both insane, they ended up having a “jealous competition” over their dad’s penis. It’s a tale as old as time, really... insomuch that it’s probably the plot to an extremely uncomfortable ancient Greek tragedy or an Egyptian deity origin story. Obviously Kershner won the competition (hard pass on finding out whatever the silver medal for that race was) and started doing her dad in September of 2018. Because Kershner and Fieldgrove were apparently two of the only three people within of a 200-mile radius of themselves, the pair quickly fell in love and got hitched at the Adams County Courthouse in Hastings, Nebraska. And she was still married to her dad, who didn’t actually believe he was Kershner’s father, despite her mother saying he was. A DNA test very much backed up Kershner’s mother’s claim, saying there is a 99.999% chance Fieldgrove is Kershner’s dad. Despite that mountain of cockblocking evidence, Fieldgrove was still 100% having sex with and married to his daughter. For his part, Fieldgrove doesn’t believe he’s Kershner’s dad despite overwhelming scientific and exculpatory evidence because she has a different last name than him. And that sounds about right for this whole situation. Fieldgrove himself faced a whole litany of charges stemming from his gross life. He was ordered not to contact his daughter-wife, and was sentenced to serve one year of supervised release (which was reduced from an initial sentence of two years behind bars). He was also wanted on incest charges and making false statements under oath in Adams County, where the pair got married. Now feel free to drink until everything you’ve just learned is erased from your brain or causes a brain injury to make you forget.
The deepest person you know is about to get a whole lot more insufferable. The hottest new tattoo trend for people who are “spiritual but not religious” is called AstroFrecks and it involves exactly what the title says. People are getting the constellations their astrological signs are based on tattooed on their faces. People are getting Virgo, Pisces, Cancer, etc. sprinkled across their face in permanent ink to let everyone they see know that they are in touch with the cosmos. One with the universe. A little crazy. But maybe in a fun way, it depends on the sign. The Michigan based tattoo artist who dreamt up the idea, Jessica Knapik, has had a ton of customers for it so far. Her clients aren’t just getting their own signs though. Some get the signs of loved ones, both alive and deceased, in order to honor and remember them. If we’re being honest with ourselves this sort of dumb and hilarious but it’s also a massive improvement over, say, getting the Chinese symbol for love tattooed on your lower back or arm or wherever. At least people have a connection to astrology. It’s not like they’re just randomly picking foreign symbols out of a hat until they find one that looks cool and think vaguely describes who they are or want to be as a person. And also if we as a society are cool with teardrop tattoos then there’s no reason to point and laugh at AstroFrecks for very long. They’re also way better than ornate, outrageous neck tattoos that basically bleed up onto the face anyway. If the wing on your butterfly tattoo runs all the way to right under your earlobe then it’s a face tattoo Sherlene, and you’re not going to convince me otherwise.
Have you heard of the new band K.W.A.? No? Here's the album cover...

I bet they have really good songs on it. So, there's big Black Lives Matter protests going on and there's small Black Lives Matter protests going on, like this one in Acklam, England. Yes, England.

Trump went across the street to St. John's church again, wonder what he's up to this time...

Yeah, I see that really happening. Ever see those panhandlers with their signs? Some of them get very creative...

Hahaha. Some celebrities are tone-deaf when it comes to posting about the George Floyd protests. I don't know who Jake Paul but he and his friends were spotted at the protests in Arizona, and were allegedly seen looting the mall.

If I had a TARDIS I'd probably find this dog and want to bring it back with me...

A German dog is dressed up to look like an aircraft spotter by by 88 mm anti-aircraft gun during World War II in 1943. Speaking of dogs, this should make you laugh... a pic of "dog food."

Haha. So, this past weekend I got sunburnt a little bit but nothing like this guy...

That's funny. So, most of you know my wardrobe is pretty much t-shirts, shorts and either sneakers or flip-flops. Well, this summer I might go for a new look. How would I look wearing this?

Nah. Never mind. Father's Day is right around the corner and if you're looking for a perfect card to get how about this one?

Now I'm thirsty. Great. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Said About Protesters Toppling Statues Of Christopher Columbus And Confederate Generals
5. Throw every Christopher Columbus statue in the ocean and let that dizzy bitch think he discovered Atlantis.
4. So just to clarify... these “all lives matter” people have a problem with statues of slave traders and racist figures being taken down but not the fact that innocent people are being killed daily purely because of their skin color?? Hmmm... anywho.
3. Antifa beheaded the Christopher Columbus statue... what's next are they going to destroy the penis on the Statue of David?
2. I'd say there's some tension between the Republican arguments that Democrats were the pro-slavery traitors and their insistence on honoring them with statues.
And the number one thing said about protestors topping statues of Columbus and Confederate generals was...
1. The only ones who should be mad that racist statues are being removed are pigeons because their toilets are suddenly gone.

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, you know I live in Florida, right? Well, here's another story from this crazy state...

A Fort Meyers, Florida woman awoke to find two murderous lizards fighting each other on her front porch because apparently living in Florida is essentially the same thing as living in "The Land of the Lost." Susan Geshel said she heard a loud pounding on her front porch and when she went to investigate she found the pair of gators going at each other. She captured the alligator death match on video and posted it to her Facebook. In the video, one of the gators appears to be trying to walk away, as if to say, “it’s chill bro it’s chill, my bad my bad” when the other gator, not yet finished teaching this first gator a lesson, opens its mouth and then suddenly clamps down on its foe’s midsection. Geshel said she called wildlife officials to come handle the incident but by the time they arrived, the gators had both retreated to a pond across the street. I love that the gators slinking back to the pond across the street from the woman’s house is the end of the story. “Oh good, they walked fifty feet over that way so they can lay in wait for someone’s cat or toddler to come along and become their dinner. Problem solved! Good job everyone.” Gators are definitely not the problem some people (me!) make them out to be in Florida, but it’s still absolutely surreal to see prehistoric lizards wandering around a condo. It does not seem like it should be a thing.

In the future, imagine how many Go-Pros will be found in snow mountains containing the last moments of people’s lives.

This person who is anti-vax but not anti-injecting disinfectant.

Shoot 'er up my veins.

FAMILY PLANNING
The art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster.

The 128th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Isla will be on the Phile on Wednesday. Okay, let's see what is going on live in Port Jeff, shall we?

Hmmm... what is that guy doing with his truck on the walkway there? Let's get a closer look...

Oh, some kinda landscaping and it's not a truck but a cargo. I think he's digging a hole. Maybe if I remember after the interview I'll check back to see if he's still there.

Today's guest is an American actress. In television, she is known for her leading roles in the teen drama "Freaks and Geeks," the medical drama "ER," the drama thriller "Bloodline," and now recently in Netflix's "Dead to Me" which the second season is now streaming. Please welcome to the Phile... Linda Cardellini.

Me: Linda, welcome to the Phile. I've been a big fan of yours for years. How are you?

Linda: Hello, I'm good.

Me: So, I am a big fan of "Dead to Me," I binged watched the first season last year and this new season this year. So, what drew you to the character of Judy, your character?

Linda: Because how early, something that could have ended the series comes out at the end of the first episode.

Me: What do you mean? That Judy killed her best friends husband?

Linda: Yeah, because imagine on another show that would be the whole arc of the first season at least or perhaps the entire series. The idea that we find out in the first episode was really fun to play because I'm balancing in between what the audience knows and what the other character, Christina's character Jen knows. That for me was really fun and enabled for a lot of comedy too. Two things happening at once all of the time.

Me: How did you feel when you first took on the role?

Linda: I had trepidations at first.

Me: For real? Why is that?

Linda: Absolutely. Up until that point I was the sort of "straight man" in comedy and the more logical person. I gratefully bounce back and forth between drama and comedy and I have done a lot of drama as of late, and period piece drama. So, it was such a departure which was the exciting thing about it but it was also the scary thing jumping into something that was so completely different. I felt that I was very different than Judy, but it turns out as time goes on I have a lot of similarities too.

Me: So, I love Judy, as a character. Can you describe her in one sentence?

Linda: Judy is a glass half full type of person.

Me: Was it a challenging role to play?

Linda: Yes, it is. It's very challenging, one of the most challenging roles I ever had.

Me: Why do you say that?

Linda: She has this buoyancy about her and in reality everything is very, very heavy. She has her heart in the right place but tends to do the wrong things. She can't keep her mouth shut about certain things and yet she's the person who is keeping all of these secrets. It's really fun but really different from everything I've played because she's very present. She overthink things, she's not very logical, she doesn't make the best decisions so it keeps me going.

Me: So, how do you and Christina Applegate have such great chemistry on the show?

Linda: Christina and I have this fun relationship on screen and off and the characters are so well drawn and they are different from each other. We always call Judy "Judy Sunshine" because when the reality hits a little bit too much I get told. "We need a little bit more of Judy Sunshine." Just doesn't act like normal people. But my great challenge and my great joy is making people believe that the incredulous things she does are absolutely natural to her.

Me: So, for my readers who haven't seen "Dead to Me," how would you describe it?

Linda: It's a show that deals with grief and loss. My character miscarries, my character lost her partner.

Me: Do you think or real life losses when you play that part?

Linda: Yes, absolutely and real life goes on while we're shooting and things happen in my real life. I can lose people in real life then show up on set the next day and talk about it. It's interesting.

Me: Has that happened to you?

Linda: Yes, I had something similar happen to me. It's interesting because I go to work to sort of forget then I also source a lot of things that happened to me. The show, although is a comedy, hits a lot of resonate notes of life and death and trying to survive. Mining the comedy out of that is sometimes easy and sometimes really dark.

Me: That's how I process loss, I try to laugh more. Are you like that?

Linda: Yeah, I actually laughed at a funeral because I was remembering good things about a person. In order to survive I have to be resilient and it helps the system, and benefits us. There's been studies about what laugher does to the human body and it's necessary I think or we just get swallowed up by the grief.

Me: Yeah, a few years ago I was gonna quit doing this blog but when Trump became President I thought we need humor, and if I can be just a speck of someones day to make them laugh or smile for a second then I'll keep it going. It sounds really stupid, but it's true. I was posting for two days until the pandemic hit and for a few months I was mostly posting five days a week, while I was out of work, just to give people something to read and enjoy. Next year is the Phile's 15th anniversary, and that could be the last year I do this, but then again if people like it... I have no idea where I am going with this, Linda. What I want to ask is do you think humor is important?

Linda: Jason, humor is vital, and to me it's also one of those things that bonds us to somebody so the idea that Jen and Judy have this relationship that is at times very dark and at other times is very silly I think grief is the kind of thing that bonds us to people we wouldn't necessarily be friends with and so could laughter.

Me: Did you and Christina know each other before the show?

Linda: No, not at all.

Me: Oh, because back then you were on "Freaks and Geeks" and she was on "Married, With Children" so wondered if you ever crossed paths.

Linda: No, we never crossed paths.

Me: So, when you first met each other how was it?

Linda: We're so lucky, because the second we met each other we really loved each other, and trusted each other. I think we're both similar people about doing our work and by being a real person. I was very fun and open to be around her. I think our working relationship is so much fun, I never had a chance to go head to head with another woman like that so often on screen and really it's a partnership. We give and take for each other and have each others back, she makes me better and it's so much fun.

Me: Do you think acting is competitive? 

Linda: I try not to let that happen because I've been in it really long time and always thought of it as a team sport. We may see one person on screen for a majority of the time or two people ensemble but in reality there's hundreds of people working to put that project out. I often had choices and chosen to do ensemble work over solo work at times because I love the feeling of that kind of community.

Me: Yeah, "Freaks and Geeks" was an ensemble, "ER" was, even Scooby-Doo was. So, you do love it. Haha.

Linda: Yeah, I just love it. With acting we get to have this pop up community. It started when I was young and found the theater and the idea that all these people work so hard together for so many hours and putting something on, putting on the show was a bonding event. It wasn't just about one person, it was about many, many people and many personalities working in tandem and that to me is so much fun. So, I enjoy being on set, I don't know when we'll be able to do that again, but I really love the community of it.

Me: So, do you miss the days of being on "Freaks and Geeks?" 

Linda: Yeah, I loved all those people.

Me: Were you surprised when that show was canceled?

Linda: Yeah, I couldn't understand why it still wasn't on the air. Being on this critically acclaimed show became more critically. We were on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and people were yelling they didn't know who we were and were flipping us off. LOL.

Me: What? They were flipping you off?

Linda: Yeah, yeah, being in a parade is not an easy job. It's a long time to wave and smile. I had no idea.

Me: I would think being on this great show to only last one season would have made you cynical to the industry, right?

Linda: I think we have our moments. The industry is not easy. I always think if it were everyone would want to do it but it's hard and it weeds us out if we are not resilient and persistent and passionate about what we do. But that ebbs and flows, its'e never 100% easy. I could have some ups but inevitably I could have something that hits me or knocks me down. Whereas it's criticism or its cancellation or any of that stuff but all in all it's my dream job. I look at athletes and I look at actors and musicians and think this is all the stuff we wanted to do as a kid, and if we're lucky we get to do it as an adult. And we get to get paid for it.

Me: That's a good perspective, Linda, not everyone has that, am I right?

Linda: Well, I've been in he business a real long time. I had my chance to gather perspective. I try to stay positive and to be honest it doesn't serve me to go out and talk about all my bumps and bruises all the time. I try to stay positive. Especially in these times, I try to look for the good things because it's easy to concentrate on the bad. Believe me, I cry, I get depressed, all of those things. I want to give up for sure.

Me: You wanted to give up acting?

Linda: Yeah, there's many times I wanted to give up but I don't know what on earth I'd be able to do other than this. I truly do love it but I think if we love something or somebody our hearts can easily break and there's a lot of heartbreak. That goes with anything we care about. It's tricky as an actor and I'm sure for other people in their field, but as an actor it demands for me to be vulnerable but at the same time I am fielding a lot of rejection, so to keep myself vulnerable is a trick. Not a trick, it's a skill, I have to earn how to allow myself to really care and then at the same time to not care if people don't like it.

Me: So, when you did "Freaks and Geeks" did you know that a lot of people were into the show?

Linda: When I first read "Freaks and Geeks" I knew, I could feel it was special. There are times when I read something I think wow, this is unlike anything, this is really beautiful. Then in the translation of it, because it goes through so many people and so many different things, performance, production, directing and editing, all the different things whereas it turns out like you imagined or not that always remains to be seen. For "Freaks and Geeks" we all felt like it was special while we were there so we were all shocked that it was unseen by so many people and sort of unloved. And then we always joked that we were the freaks and geeks of television at the time and on the network at the time. But it did feel different and special. I was up for other things that year and nine of them had the resonance that script had with me because I truly felt like it felt like what it was to be in between a child and an adult.

Me: That's cool. Its on Netflix so I need to watch it again. Linda, thanks so much for being on the Phile. I hope it was fun. Stay well, and come back again soon.

Linda: It was fun. Thanks so much for the interview, stay safe everybody and lots of love and health for everybody.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Let's see if the landscaper is still working in Port Jeff...

Nope, he's gone. Haha. I'm ridiculous. Thanks to Linda Cardellini for a good interview. I hope to have her back again soon. The Phile will be back tomorrow with Phile Alum Steven Page. Spread the word, not the turd... or the virus or the hate. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Mask it or casket.

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