Pheaturing Jane Fonda

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? It's Cyber Monday... not to be confused with Cyber Sex Monday. Okay, let's talk about "The Mandalorian" first thing... The latest episode was once again home to several OMG moments and overall, it was a fun episode that didn't disappoint. Now, we all know that the Child is the absolute star of the Star Wars spinoff show and even before the first season debuted, a lot of you have already been referring to him as Baby Yoda because of his striking resemblance to the legendary Jedi Master. Of course, we all know that he's a completely different creature and that has long been established. Chapter 13: "The Jedi" has finally revealed the Child's real name and you may have to stop referring to him as Baby Yoda moving forward after learning about this, as hard as that may seem. In the episode, Ahsoka calls the creature by his true name "Grogu" and boy, that alone was a jaw-dropping moment and I don't exactly know how to feel about it. Naturally, "The Mandalorian" fans were stunned by this new discovery and a lot of them aren't ready to let go of the Child's already iconic moniker. In fact, most fans refuse to refer to him as "Grogu." However, despite the fact that some fans refuse to accept his official name, there are still people who are willing to embrace Baby Yoda's true identity. Calling the Child "Grogu" will take a lot of getting used to, that's for sure but hey, we can't associate him with a different character forever. I gotta say though, Baby Yoda will always have a nice ring to it. Don't be surprised though it people continue referring to him as Baby Yoda 'cause, you know, I don't think that one will ever go away. 

Oh boy, this is why we can’t have nice things during the holiday season. It looks like social media is at it again, and have found an issue with a favorite cartoon, "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." Several controversies have surfaced about our favorite holiday special. The special was recently purchased by Apple +, to which they decided to make them unavailable on cable. But, creators quickly realized that they had severely messed up, and decided to then make a deal so it could air on PBS. But, as people were watching the special again, some seemed to forget about this so-called "cannibal" scene. In one scene of the Thanksgiving special, Snoopy begins to cut the turkey and hands out some slices to the Peanuts (Charlie Brown, Sally, Franklin, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie) around the table during their Thanksgiving meal. He then hands a plate to his friend Woodstock, who is an adorable little yellow bird. As Woodstock eats the turkey, it left people on social media wondering did a bird just eat another bird? Many viewers decided to go on Twitter to discuss whether or not this makes Woodstock a cannibal, because of course, if you have a problem you always take his social media. One user tweeted...

Honestly, I don’t see it like this. Let’s face it, this is just a cartoon. But, do you think that this is cannibalism? The creators probably didn’t even realize what was happening; they just wanted to give that traditional Thanksgiving feeling. But you know how people are, they, unfortunately, find something to hate. As long as they leave the adorable Linus and all of the other Peanuts gang alone, they can go back and forth all they want. As far as "A Charlie Brown Christmas," you can watch the Christmas special from December 11th to the 13th. If you are a lucky subscriber to Apple TV+, you can watch the special at any time.

A woman in Las Vegas, Nevada is urging people to check twice before entering any ride-sharing vehicles, after a man posing as an Uber driver allegedly abducted her. Elizabeth Suarez stated she saw a car that matched the description of the Uber she was waiting for, located on the Las Vegas Strip outside the Park MGM hotel-casino. She had received a text message saying her driver would be arriving soon. The driver waved her over, and without second-guessing, got inside the vehicle. Suarez didn’t think anything was wrong until she received a call from the real Uber driver who was looking for her outside the pickup location. Scared for her life, she immediately posted a side profile picture of the driver on her Snapchat hoping her friends would see she was in trouble, afraid he would hear her calling 911. Suarez asked the fake Uber driver to pull over, but the driver panicked when he saw she was taking a picture and began yelling at her to give him her wallet, phone, and other belongings. She threw her wallet at him, but kept her phone, hoping that would set her free. Instead of stopping, the Uber driver sped up, and Suarez did the only thing she could do. She unlocked the door and jumped out of the speeding vehicle, hoping it would save her life. The incident was captured by surveillance cameras outside Park MGM and Albertsons’ store, showing the woman jumping out and landing on the floor. She suffered a head injury, fractured wrists, and a badly broken ankle. After filing a police report, authorities stated they are currently looking for the driver, but have no lead as of yet. A crime and safety expert stated Suarez’s act of desperation was brave, but she should have called 911 while still in the car. The operator could have still listened to a one-sided conversation, and would likely able to figure out there was a crime in progress. He believes she could have also attempted to raise a red flag when the real Uber drive called, so he couldn’t potentially alert police. Suarez’ attorney Neal Hyman sent a written request for further investigation, noting multiple errors in the police narratives. The woman’s main concern was that the robbery is the only crime listed in the report. She believes kidnapping should also be mention after the Uber driver continued to drive, despite her giving him what he asked for. Uber urges all riders to follow their safety guidelines before getting into any vehicle. The company recommends making sure the license plate number matches the information on the app. Once inside the vehicle, one must also ask for the driver’s name and make sure the picture matches the person in the front seat. If the passenger is in the correct Uber, they can share their ride with friends and family in case of an emergency and track the ride. Suarez stated she decided to share her story to prevent the next predator under the guise of a rideshare driver. 

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex revealed that she was pregnant with her second child but suffered a miscarriage in July. In an opinion piece for The New York Times, the Duchess wrote that she felt a very sharp cramp while changing the diaper of her first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, whom she had with husband Prince Harry in 2019. According to Meghan Markle, “I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right. I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.” The member of the British royal family and former actress described the difficulty of losing her child after reflecting on the hardship of the past year. She continued, “I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal.” Markle referenced an interview she made during a royal tour back in 2019, in which she held back several tears after a journalist had asked her if she was okay. She noted how when she was in the hospital bed, she watched her husband’s heartbreak trying to hold on to her hand and stay strong for her. She quickly realized that the only way to begin to heal first is to ask herself is “she was okay.” She noted, “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few.” According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, around 10 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, which is a figure that the Duchess referred to in her article. But, several women are reluctant to talk about the experiences with people for fear of discrimination. Experts stated that almost eighty percent of miscarriages happen in the first trimester which is why women are encouraged by medical experts to keep their pregnancy private until they are at least 12 weeks along. Megan noted, “Despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning.” Earlier this year, Harry (Duke of Sussex) and Meghan both stepped back as members of the Royal Family, moving to North America after frequently challenging some intense coverage both on print and social media of their personal. In July, the couple decided to sue paparazzi over photographs of their son Archie, and Megan is suing the publisher of the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday newspaper after they shared a letter that the Duchess wrote to her father following her marriage to Harry.

A former barista from Hoboken, New Jersey, is filing a lawsuit against Starbucks after claiming her refusal to wear a rainbow Pride t-shirt led to her dismissal. Betsy Fresse worked at a Starbucks location in Glen Ridge. She claimed her manager reported her to Starbucks ethics and compliance helpline after she refused to wear a rainbow t-shirt as part of her uniform for Pride month last year. Fresse claims the establishment knew of her religious beliefs in advance. She asserts she was specifically targeted “because her religious beliefs prevented her” from wearing the shirt. She also alleges shortly thereafter, Starbucks contacted her to say “her comportment was not in compliance with Starbucks’ core values” and fired her. Fresse goes on to claim she “holds no enmity toward individuals who ascribe to the LGBTQ lifestyle.” In nearly the same sentence, she rejects the idea of gay marriage and sex between consenting homosexual adults. According to NBC News, Fresse harassed coworkers who opted to wear the rainbow t-shirt. She told fellow employees they “need Jesus” in concert with her own direct refusal to wear the rainbow shirt that was an optional part of all employees’ uniforms across the company. Starbucks said Fresse’s claim... which left out her repeated attempts to force her religion on coworkers... is inaccurate. “Starbucks does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation…” “No part of our dress code requires partners to wear any approved items [other than the green apron] that they have not personally selected.” Fresse’s lawsuit is “seeking compensation for emotional pain and suffering, punitive damages and back pay with interest.” Oh, lord. 

Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this album...

I bet it's funny actually. I was thinking of getting a new tattoo but some one had the same idea I had...

And I don't know who would get the word "lutely"put on their arm. Some NFL teams are changing their logos this season, like the Bucs did.

I think CNN had it with Trump and his bullshit... take a look at this.

Hahahaha. So, when I get bored I like to go on Twitter and look up certain words. One of those words is "Foghat" and this is something I saw back in March...

Hmmm... opposed to fucking to what? Okay, so, honoring your parents is an integral part of cultures worldwide. But are there limits? What if your relationship with your parents is not the best? One adult child of difficult parents wondered if they were wrong to not honor one of their parents’ requests. So they turned to the Phile for feedback. 

"Am I wrong for not letting my parents use my bed while they visit my house? My mom, stepdad, and I have a… troubled relationship. They’re a Karen and a Ken. If you’ve seen the movie Red Eye, they’re that obnoxious hotel couple. Regardless, they are visiting this week. They came in from out of town which is always stressful for me and my husband. My husband and I have a queen bed. We have a twin bed in one bedroom, a full bed in our main guest room. We put my parents in the full. The full bed is not some rickety old thing... it’s maybe five years old? My parents came to me this morning and told me they had just the worst night of sleep. They said the full bed isn’t big enough for them, they got no sleep, they are so grouchy today, and could we please give them our bed for the week? I said no. For me, it’s not just our bed... my parents would absolutely be the type to snoop around our bedroom. My parents have been complaining off and on all day. They had an extra cup of coffee because they’re so tired. They need Advil because their back is so sore. Stuff like that. My husband has ignored them for the most part. My stepdad tried to be all buddy buddy and hint at the bed swap to my husband. Am I wrong? Should I give my parents my bed? They are larger people. Not sure if this makes a difference!” You are not wrong. This is YOUR house and YOUR bed. I’m sure they don’t offer you their bed when you visit. They shouldn’t expect you to, but they are obviously entitled. Tell them they have three choices… 1. Deal with the full size bed. 2. One of them sleeps in the full and the other in the twin. 3. They pay for a hotel room. Of course, number 4 would be that they never bring their entitlement to your doorstep again. Or offer to get a queen size inflatable mattress, that’ll end the conversation really quickly. While it may not bring about a resolution with their parents, at least she knows I think she's right. It’s okay to set limits with your parents, even if your parents don’t agree. 

Hahahaha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, New York, shall we?

Looks like it's rainy there today like it is here in Central Florida. Speaking of Florida...

A pair of Florida men were filmed mid-brawl at a Wawa in South Florida and the video is going viral on social media thanks to both the colorful commentary and the fact that a combatant’s pants fall off during the fight. The video, which was trending on TikTok, is everything you want from a trashy convenience store fight. It takes place in North Lauderdale, Florida. Two dudes who have no idea how to actually fight and are clearly drunk and out of shape. There’s profanity. They’re way too old to be fighting. Everyone else is watching and laughing at them. It’s just wonderful. The only thing that could have made this better is if it had happened in Philly. But, of course, the best part of this video, by far, is the nudity... the dude’s pants coming off and it deterring neither of them. At all. Any uppercut the other guy throws has a high possibility of catching this guy’s ween but no one cares. Because there are neither rules nor shame in a Wawa fight. These brawlers know this. Where are your face masks guys? I mean obviously they’re not social distancing and we really shouldn’t expect face covering from a guy who isn’t even concerned with covering his junk. Sometimes you just have to chicken box in the middle of a convenience store, COVID be damned. When a man disrespects you you’ve got to untie the rope holding your pants up and throw down. This is the way. The way of 2 a.m. Wawa fistfights. These ancient rules do not bend to our fleeting whims.

Hush puppies

Quiet doggies

The moral of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is that no one likes you unless you’re useful.

David Prowse 

July 1st, 1935 — November 28th, 2020 

Later, Vader.  

Diego Maradona 

October 30th, 1960 — November 25th, 2020 

DEAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDD!!!!!

A young fellow was about to be married and was asking his grandfather about sex. He asked, "How often should you have it?" His grandfather told him that when you first get married, you want it all the time, and maybe do it several times a day. Later on, sex tapers off and you have it once a week or so. Then as you get older, you have sex maybe once a month. When you get really old, you are lucky to have it once a year, maybe on your anniversary. The young fellow then asked his grandfather, "Well how about you and grandma now?" His grandfather replied, "Oh, we just have oral sex now." "What's oral sex?" the young fellow asked. "Well," grandpa said, "she goes to bed in her room, and I go to bed in my room. And she yells, 'Fuck you', and I holler back, 'Fuck you too.'"

Today's guest is an American actress, political activist, environmentalist, and former fashion model. Her book What Can I Do?: The Truth About Climate Change and How to Fix It is the 140th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Please welcome to the Phile... Jane Fonda!

Me: Wow! Hello, Jane, welcome to the Phile. How are you? 

Jane: Hello, Jason. Thanks for having me here. 

Me: So, I have to ask... what's the deal with this pic from last year? Hahaha. 

Jane: Well, I wasn't entirely surprised that, not long after I reached my 80s, I landed in jail. 

Me: You weren't surprised? 

Jane: Well, I never imagined I'd live this long. I guess if I'd imagined I'd live this long I imagined I'd go to jail. Women get much feistier and braver when they're older. 

Me: You have a new book out called What Can I Do?: The Truth About Climate Change and How to Fix It which is the 140th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. What is the book about? 

Jane: I write about being the kid of person who walked the walk, I cut back on red meat, I got an electric car. Then something changed and convinced me to rev up my own climate activism. 

Me: What was that? 

Jane: A year ago I was in Big Sur with friends. I read a book by Naomi Klein, all of her books have a big impact on me and my life. But her last book is called On Fire: A Burning Case For a Green New Deal. That's what I needed to get me off my duff and into action. I knew that I needed to do more. I started reading the science and realizing the window of opportunity, its closing that window, we have to work real fast. Greta Thunberg inspired me by putting her life on the line. And so that made me realize what I wanted to do was put my body on the line. I'm a celebrity, I'll raise a lot of attention that way. 

Me: I think you've been protesting something all my life, Jane. When did you first start do get into the activism stuff? 

Jane: In 1970, the Indigenous people in North America, who were protesting a lot of things, including their salmon rights that were being damaged by dams being put in, and their cultural heritage and land being taken away. So that was my first arrest, with Native Americans up in Tacoma, Washington. That's when I really realized that I had a special responsibility because I was a celebrity, when I realized what it meant to have my presence there among all those tribal nations that were protesting. 

Me: I'm sure being the daughter of Henry Fonda there was a lot of expectations of you, Jane. How did the protests fit in with all that? 

Jane: Believing in standing up for the underdog, that was part of my upbringing. I mean, look at the films my father made. Grapes of Wrath, Twelve Angry Men, The Wrong Man, The Oxbow Incident, those were the films that he loved and they were about fairness and justice. 

Me: You were so against the Vietnam War, and had the nickname "Hanoi Jane," so that was a major deal for you to protest about, right? 

Jane: The thing about the Vietnam War it was a generational struggle. So there was a lot of generational clashing. 

Me: What did your dad think of your activism? 

Jane: I remember my dad went over to Vietnam with the USO, the entertainer who go over and entertain the troops, he was invited to do that and when he came back the thing he kept taking about was there were no battle lines. They didn't know where the enemy was. He was just flummoxed by that fact. But he was just worried that I was going to get in trouble, like celebrities had in the 50s, when they spoke out. I'm a person of privilege, and when I realized what I wanted to do with my life was to out my body out there on the line for issues that I thought was important that I could help with. The more that they attacked me the more I dug in my heels and moved forward with resolve. 

Me: You didn't just make speeches, right? Not that there is anything wrong with just making speeches, and you didn't just donate money, you really did put your life on the line. Am I right? 

Jane: Yes, I went to Hanoi. 

Me: When you did that what were you hoping to accomplish by going there? 

Jane: The only reason I went there was to prove that the United States was trying to destroy the earth and dykes of North Vietnam. It's like Holland, its below sea level, the Red River Delta is. If the dykes were destroyed, according to the Pentagon papers hundreds of thousands of people would have died from drowning or starvation. We were bombing the dykes, and it stopped about a month or two after I came back. I'm proud of that, but that's why I went. 

Me: There's a famous photo of you sitting atop a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during a visit to Hanoi. I will show it here... 

Me: That didn't go down to well, right? What were you thinking? 

Jane: The image happened after the soldiers sang me a song, led to the me being blacklisted from Hollywood, and deterred other celebrities from getting involved in anti-war efforts. 

Me: Yeah, but didn't you get bad press for it? 

Jane: Not only that when I first came back from Hanoi there was maybe one inch of news print in the New York Times about it. It was no big deal. It wasn't until a bit later that they decided to create this myth of "Hanoi Jane" that you mentioned, which would deter the future for anti-war activists from doing things as I did because "look what will happen to you." From which I say really, I'm still here, and where are you all? LOL. 

Me: You did apologize for it, right? 

Jane: Yeah! It was a terrible, thoughtless, irresponsible thing to do. I mean, it was not an active gun. There were no planes in the air. Nothing was happening. But I realized that the image belied everything that I am. I believe in non-violent civil disobedience. I don't believe in shooting evil and dropping bombs. So it was a terrible mistake and it was thoughtless. 

Me: Jane, in this current time there's a lot of conversations in activism about being perfect. You're allowed to make mistakes, right? You're allowed to apologize and still be an activist. Am I right? 

Jane: Yes. First of all, never let perfect get in the way of good. The fact that I went to Vietnam and brought back photographic evidence of the bombing and it attracted the attention to the bombing is more important than the bad which is I was photographed on the enemy air craft carrier. 

Me: If someone says to you why don't you stick to acting what do you say to these people? 

Jane: First of all I forget them, I don't pay any attention But here's the deal, do you know what a repeater is? 

Me: When someone says the same thing twice? 

Jane: No, these are the antennae on top of the mountains. Their purpose for being up there is to pick up weak signals down in the valley. They don't create the signals in the valley but they pick them up and repeat them, sending them out to a much wilder audience. That's what celebrities do. We're repeaters, we can lift the voices of people that don't get heard, who know the truth, who are on the front lines and allow the people to hear them. 

Me: Jane, Richard Nixon bad mouthed you when he was president. What did you think when you heard that for the first time? 

Jane: Well, I read it. I've been into the files when I wrote my memoirs, I got hold of all the tapes and the files so I knew he said it. 

Me: How were you arrested? 

Jane: I was arrested after entering the U.S. from Canada. According to the arresting officer he said, "I'm doing this from the order of the White House." I was carrying vitamins and they said they were drugs. 

Me: What was the after effect of that? 

Jane: My family feared for my safety, a lot of actors distanced themselves from me, the media treated me like a traitor. Their were protests with people holding up "Hanoi Jane" placards. 

Me: How did you make peace with the way you were treated and more importantly how did you come out of that situation not being cynical? 

Jane: Cynicism is what I hate the worst. I don't tolerate it in myself or anybody else. I'm not cynical. But here's the thing... you should never want to be an activist by yourself. You should always be imbedded in an organization or a movement, surrounded by people whom you share values and share goals. That was the case for me, I was part of movement. We didn't have very much money, I lived in a house with other activists. There were lot of us living in the same house. That's what we did in those days, we were in our 30s and we were relatively poor. And so I always had people around me, I was never alone. That's what made it possible to withstand the assaults that ere coming at me. I knew who I was. They couldn't tell me who I was. "They" being the administration and the Right wingers. As long as I was solid in who I was and why I had done what I had done and I was in the bosom of a movement I was fine. 

Me: How did you incorporate you activism and your values with your acting career? 

Jane: Well, I was for a number of the early years of my activism, my celebrity I found it problematic. This where I'm different than most of the celebrity activist, I was on the ground. I was on the ground a lot in different parts of the country. I was in the factory's in Detroit, talking to organizers. I was on Indian reservations and so forth. So the celebrity separated from the people that I was working with. I always felt like an outsider. One day I had a friend, he was a black lawyer out of Detroit, he was the head of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. Ken Cockrel was his name, he said to me, he was like my mentor at the time, and I said, "I think I'm going to quit Hollywood and become just a full time organizer." And he said, "Fonda, wait a minute, wait a minute. The movement has plenty of organizers. We don't have movie stars. Not only should you stay in the industry, you should pay more attention to your career. Be more intentional about your career." And that's where I decided to start making movies that were about things that I cared about. Fun with Dick and Jane and Coming Home, The China Syndrome, 9 to 5, et cetera. 

Me: 9 to 5? I saw that movie when I was a kid. That's a comedy so how does it fit into the same category? 

Jane: It tackles women issues like equal pay, and flexible work. 

Me: Okay, good point. Did you have an idea at that time that the film would be revolutionary? 

Jane: Yeah, absolutely. One of my best friends from the Anti-War Movement her day job was organizing secretaries. She would tell me stories about secretaries and that's when I said I got to make a movie about it. 

Me: So, you didn't just want to be an activist, but you wanted to do it in the movies as well? 

Jane: I wanted to do both. The reason those films worked is because I had spent time with the kind of people we were concerning ourselves with. Coming Home for example, I spent years talking to military wives. Women whose husbands had gone overseas and come back unrecognizable. I knew those men, I talked to hundreds of them. And the women who were married to the men, I could bring that to Coming Home. The same with the other movies, I was familiar with the people. 

Me: So, at the last Oscars you showed up wearing a 6 year old gown and you declared it was a bigger part to not to buy new clothes. Have you been able to hold yourself to that one? 

Jane: I have to say I have not changed shape so I can wear clothes that I wore 20 years ago. So I have lot of clothes and I'm never going to buy new clothes again. 

Me: That's bloody crazy. I buy t-shirts all the time, Jane. What spurred that decision? 

Jane: Consumerism. We have to walk our talk if we are against consumerist society, and that contributes to global warming. When I grew up it wasn't that way, consumerism wasn't what it is today. It just wasn't important to wearing a grand be wearing a band so on and so forth. I read that Greta Thunberg is part of Stop Shop, I never heard that word before. I looked into it and I decided I was going to do that too. 

Me: So, how do you stay hopeful and what keeps you hopeful? 

Jane: Getting older takes work. Getting older really helps because been there, done that, you know, things have been bleak before. We survived and got through. When I started to get depressed the best antidote to depression is activism, and when she puts herself on the line, the hopelessness disappears. I've been arrested for civil disobedience but this was very deliberate. This was the first time, this Fire Drill Friday for four months in D.C. before we went virtual. It was like my idea, I didn't rely on some guy to give me the narrative, I kind of owned it. The first day that I was standing on the steps with 15 other people holding our placards and chanting, I felt so good. It was like stepping into myself. When I'm putting your whole body on the line for something that I believe in, when I'm fully aligned with my deepest values, there is such a feeling of empowerment. And I realized that the other 14 people felt the same way. And on the last day, four months later, when there were 350 people standing on the steps. And I could see in their faces that they all felt that. It included a bunch of celebrities, Joaquin Phoenix and Martin Sheen and Susan Sarandon and a lot of others. 

Me: Okay. Jane, this was so cool to have you here. Thanks so much for being on the Phile. 

Jane: Thank you.

I have to say that was a lot better interview than I thought it would be. Thanks to Jane Fonda for being on the Phile. The Phile will be back on Friday with actor Loren Lester. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Kiss your brain.

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