Daily Verse | 2 Samuel 15:30
But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot.

Friday’s Reading: 2 Samuel 19-20
Saturday’s Reading: 2 Samuel 21-24

It’s Friday, April 1, 2022 and I’m going to keep it on the lighter side today.

Do any of you play April Fool’s Jokes on anyone? You know, salt-in-the-sugar-bowl kinda stuff? Cling wrap under the toilet seat? I don’t, but I get a laugh from those who do.

Today also marks the start of Year Three for this blogging venture. I started on April 1 back in 2020, just as we arrived at the end of two weeks to flatten the curve. On April 2 that year, Tony Faux Chi told us, ““If we get to the part of the curve where it goes down to essentially no new cases, no deaths for a period of time, I think it makes sense that you have to relax social distancing.” We all know how that worked out.

He didn’t flatten the curve but he flattened the economy and people’s lives because he is The Science.

Are we done with this charade yet? No? Should we get ready to have Big Government crush us again?

Apparently.

Anyhoo. Weird that the primary cultural context out of the chute for this blog has been the Chinese Lung Pox.

I plan to complete year three and then evaluate whether this is something I will continue to pursue—basically because I got three years of web hosting at a ridiculous rate.

At the end of the three years, I have to decide if I’ll make more of a financial investment in keeping it going. It’s been fun, I’ve settled into a format that I like – – but, really, how much of a difference is it making? That’s the big question.

Feel free to let me know in the comments if you find it valuable or not.

Two pop-culture icons from my youth are bowing out of their respective entertainment fields. Phil Collins, 71, played his last show with Genesis this last week, and is retiring from performing. His daughter, Lily, shared some pictures from the last-ever Genesis show.

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A post shared by Lily Collins (@lilyjcollins)

I’ve been a fan of Phil Collins’ music, especially his solo work. When I say I’m a “fan,” I don’t mean that I buy his music, that I go to his concerts, or that I sought out his autograph. What I mean is that when I heard his songs on the radio, I enjoyed them.

I particularly enjoyed In the Air Tonight, Sussudio, and his collaboration with Philip Bailey on Easy Lover. His work with Genesis also produced some great songs including That’s All, No Reply At All, Follow You Follow Me, and Mama.

I learned during a documentary years ago that as a thirteen-year-old child actor, he was an extra in The Beatles’ movie A Hard Day’s Night. He didn’t make the final cut of the film, but you can find outtakes of his appearance on YouTube.

Here’s an outtake played during an interview with a young(er) Conan O’Brien:

The second icon is Bruce Willis, 67, who announced he has retired from making movies.

I used to watch Willis and Cybill Shepherd in “Moonlighting,” the comedy-drama TV series. Willis was that wry-humored, self-confident renegade who frustrated the chic Shepherd, the two detectives always pulling off the perfect resolution in the end.

He’s got a condition called aphasia, a communication disorder, which affects cognition and memory.

Ex-wife Demi Moore released a statement announcing his retirement at age 67.

“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities,” Moore, 59, shared on Instagram. “As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”

The announcement provided no further details as to the type or cause of the “Die Hard” star’s condition.

However, recent reports allege that Willis’ cognitive issues are not necessarily a new development. An insider told Page Six that the actor had recently used “earpieces, hearing things, for them to feed him the lines” on sets, and that “it was increasingly difficult to have him on screen.”

“He was having cognitive problems, they all knew Bruce was having problems,” the insider added. “Everybody knew, the cast and crew. His family has stepped in, they moved in to take care of him.”

[…]

Aphasia is outwardly marked by difficulty with speaking and comprehending language conversation. It occurs due to injury at the brain’s speech center — usually a result of neurological disease, stroke, a brain tumor or bleeding. The diagnosis is confirmed with MRI or CT scans, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Reports in another article said that one production made extensive use of a body double for Willis, “not just for action [sequences], but for maximizing his screen time.”

It’s tough getting old.

I’m not a huge Bruce Willis fan, although I liked the original Die Hard movie (which, yes, is a Christmas movie).

The reason I notice these two guys retiring—both because of physical ailments that won’t get better—is because Phil Collins and Bruce Willis were part of the cultural milieu I grew up in. They were two famous icons, touchstones, of my generation.

Now they’re old and creaky and because they’re old and creaky they confront me with my own age and creakiness.

Yippee-ki-yay.

Plenty of my generation’s cultural icons have already disappeared from this life: David Bowie, Michael Landon, Eddie Van Halen, Carrie Fisher, Andy Warhol, Peter Sellers, Ted Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Fred Rogers, Liberace, Billy Graham, Lucille Ball and Michael Jackson, to name a few.

The retirements of Phil Collins and Bruce Willis are a blessing because they remind me of “how fleeting my life is.” That prompts me to pay attention to what’s important and to what will ultimately last—and it ain’t pop culture.

Have a good weekend.