sad, sad,

several posts by friends on Facebook include discussions of the acquittal of the Police Officer in Minnesota who shot a man in a car---Bernie Sanders questioning of Minuchin about tax breaks for the wealthy----the need of the very bright to become an "elite" group; the aggressiveness of Amazon---what is one to do? Come back to earth. Can a coherent group that stands for the "right' thing come out of all this, More protests in Minneapolis---after the acquittal verdict---a very good thing. What can one say? One must hope to find ways to fight all of this
 As of next week I shall be helping support a candidate for City Council who is trying to unseat Council Person Cumbo--from Brooklyn. The latter is very development oriented and has only defied developers this year because it is an election year. Activists fear that once re-elected she will return to her pro-development stance. I would like to help stop this.
  Last nigh---after a sleepy day, visited the Bushwick Starr, one of my favorite theater places in the city to see an odd assortment of theater. Three short plays (actually one was a monologue) followed by a piece from an early performance piece by Elevator Repair Service. The latter sponsored the whole evening. Many ERS veterans participated, which made it an interesting evening. First piece was a "take" on Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf---it had some amazing acting by the four people in it, especially Annie McNamara--an incredibly inventive comedian. The piece seemed a little obvious to me at times---but it is a work in progress---I don't know where it will go. Second was a monologue on the virtues of alcohol with many quotes from famous writers about how important drinking was to their vision of life. A little bit too self involved---then a work in progress, a kind of strange dance-movement piece conceived by one of the ERS interns---inventive even if it was brief. The second part of the evening was the No Great Society debate between William Buckley and Jack Kerouac, with two others. This brought out the four amazing actors from ERS, Ben Williams, Vin Knight, Scott Shepherd, and finally the amazing Suzie Sokol. who was a Kerouac for the ages. For the most part it was wonderfully inventive---those four people are amazingly talented.Fun to see, and I am awed by Suzie's work.
Afterwards---not much, said hello to one or two people then ran across the street to Starr Bar to get a coke (it was hot at the Starr) --wanted some pizza so I took the L to Graham and stopped at the Pizza place slightly north of the station, opposite to Mothers. Had a nice piece of peppironi, then headed home, to get ready for the big day ( matinee and evening play) today.
  The agenda: Indecent this afternoon and Cindy Hopkins's piece this evening. Usually don't like seeing two in one, but everything is so compressed so I have to. Anyway, should be meaningful, also will check out the Water play tomorrow. sponsored by New Georges. Will probably not see anyone I know at Indecent, but should see a few people at tonight and tomorrow's outing. (Jeff Sugg, the co creator of Cindy's piece, and her husband is an old friend of mine).
It is dark outside---not much of a summer day--sort of echoes the feelings of sadness I expressed in the first part of today's entry. Well, here we go, will report soon.