Father’s Day – The Best Holiday of the Year

No offense, Mother’s Day, but Father’s Day is the best holiday of the year for me. It is the one day when I can rest easy and not have to worry about anything.

Most other holidays require me to do something. The most salient issue is I cannot forget Mother’s Day, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Easter, birthdays, and anniversaries. They all need to be remembered; therefore, I have to write down these dates and keep that list handy every year.

The other problem is getting cards, flowers, and presents and not waiting until the day before to go shopping. Invariably, this occurs every year despite taking the precaution of making a list and putting reminders on my phone, causing me to run out to the store like a crazy tourist trying to find souvenirs.

Besides the obvious issue of looking for the right gift and card, it is the pressure of knowing that I have to do this. That is why I cannot enjoy those other holidays, but Father’s Day is mine! I don’t have to worry about anything. I don’t have to remember to get presents or flowers or cards. Also, I don’t have to worry about people not liking what I got them – which inevitably happens because, even after all these years, I’m not a good shopper – I get wrong sizes and colors or the whole gift is not appreciated. My Mom used to say, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” but apparently no one in my house has ever heard that one before.

A few years ago, I tried gift cards, but later on someone told me that gift cards are the worst gift ever because people throw them into a drawer and never use them. This happened to be a person to whom I gave a gift card who I suppose never heard of that gift horse either.

I’m not going to be thinking of any of those worries today. No, today is my day to get up a little later (which I didn’t because my son wanted breakfast), do nothing (which I can’t do because someone in this house is always asking me to do something), and sit back and relax (not going to happen because we are going to dinner in a crowded, noisy restaurant).

Still, I got a great card from my son that he made in school, and he used “smart” twice as an adjective to describe me, which really surprises me because I can’t count how many times his response to something I have said has been  “That's just dumb, Dad.”  

I got other cards and presents as well, and this is my day and I’m not going to ruin it by complaining about yet another necktie and bottle of cologne in the gift horse’s mouth. My Mom taught me better.

Happy Father’s Day to all! 

Celebrity Suicides – We Think We Know Them But We Don’t

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head.

-      Edwin Arlington Robinson

When I was in high school I read “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson for the first time. I recall being shocked as I read the last stanza (see above) because the previous stanzas of the poem painted such a vibrant portrait of a wealthy man who happened to be kind, friendly, and humble. “How can a person of such wealth with seemingly everything to live for take his own life?” I kept asking myself. My teacher quickly started a discussion that to some extent I am still having inside my head to this day.

The key thing about the poem is that the poor townspeople who admire Cory so much don’t know him. They think they know him. They want to believe they know him from seeing him every day as he walks through the town dressed up in a fancy suit and shining like a god who has graced them with his presence, but they don’t have a clue about him really. They don’t know what is going on inside him, and then they find out that their idealized conception of this fellow is all an illusion when he goes home and kills himself.

Years later Paul Simon would tackle Cory in a song that he performed with Art Garfunkel. The song’s lyrics go deeper into Cory and paint a bit of a different picture of the man who has orgies on his yacht but still is philanthropic and idealized by a person who works in his factory. It again depicts Cory as someone who is believed to be known but nothing could be farther from the truth.

This week death by suicide claimed two very famous people – fashion designer Kate Spade and TV personality and chef Anthony Bourdain. In Spade’s case, I only knew of her through my wife and daughter who like her handbags and accessories. I have heard her name mentioned over the years and know that they both have acquired some of her products as gifts.

Both my wife and daughter seemed devastated to hear the news of Kate Spade’s death by her own hand. They couldn’t understand how this wealthy woman with so much to live for – including a 13-year-old daughter – could end things like this. Of course, they only knew her through products and had no idea what was going on in her life. Even after voraciously reading articles about her – with many people painting a picture of a kind and generous personality something like Richard Cory – there are no answers and maybe there never will be.

I felt the loss of Anthony Bourdain more than other members of my family because I was a loyal fan of his CNN series Parts Unknown. It was a brilliant show due to its sheer simplicity – Bourdain would travel the world sampling cuisine in countries I had once visited or wished that I had. The concept of the series proved the old notion that breaking bread with people is the best way to get to know them and, in this case, their country.

The problem I had is familiar – I felt like I knew Bourdain. TV shows have that tricky tendency to lull viewers into this misconception. I am, after all, in some way inviting Bourdain into my home each week, and although it is not interactive – I am not actually sitting across from him at a table eating some exotic cuisine – damn if it doesn’t feel as if I am. That is the somewhat confusing paradox and yet magical spell that television has for its viewers.

I am stunned that this man whom I admired and enjoyed watching would kill himself. The world is so big and there are so many cuisines yet to taste, delicious drinks to savor, and sights to see. How could Bourdain come to this decision that none of that mattered? How could he not care about seeing his 11-year-old daughter ever again? What could bring him to this choice?

I have seen reports and stories online about suicide becoming rampant in our society – there were approximately 45,000 suicides in the U.S. last year – meaning that there are many people reaching this horrific decision that are not celebrities. The question of “why” is not always easily answered for those who remain behind, not that the answers will necessarily make anyone feel much better.

When actor and comedian Robin Williams took his own life, I felt shaken. I admired and liked him for so long, going back to his early days on the sitcom Mork and Mindy and then in his stand-up comedy and roles in films. He even affected my life with his role as a teacher in the film Dead Poet’s Society. I was at a crossroads in my life and thought about not being a teacher anymore and doing something else, and then I saw that film and it reaffirmed my passion for my profession.

Once again, the problem was I thought I knew Robin Williams but I didn’t. I saw him as a shooting star, a mercurial talent to be sure, but he seemed at once not containable and yet intimate. He could whisper in your ear one minute and make you believe that he was talking just to you, and then in the next minute he could be make the rafters shake from everyone laughing so hard.

As I learned more about the months and years leading up to his suicide, it seemed that a long, quiet battle with Lewy body dementia drove Williams to kill himself. Here there was answer but it did not provide a way to make me feel better about his loss. I can realize what drove him to kill himself but understanding and accepting it still feels complicated. Perhaps that is the impetuous that I (and we all) need to do more to learn about why someone would take this last, desperate step.

People who are at such depths of despair need help, and there are options for them, but everyone needs to be aware about resources for those contemplating suicide and should learn more about this topic because last year a government survey indicated that around 9.4 million people had contemplated or “had serious thoughts” about committing suicide. That is evidence enough that should motivate people to do research and then become careful observers.

In the coming days we may learn more about what drove Spade and Bourdain to throw away their greatest gift – their own lives – but even if we learn more that does nothing to take away the loss of these people. Perhaps the public should not get so invested in celebrities and the seemingly glamorous lifestyles they live, but the availability of information online and the faux intimacy that TV and films provide only facilitate the connection.

The most important thing to remember is that Spade and Bourdain have family members who are suffering now, and they have real intimate friends who are also grieving. The public should show these people respect and give them the dignity that they deserve, but the media makes that almost impossible by keeping these stories in the news. Even in death Spade and Bourdain cannot escape scrutiny of their lives, and that is probably the cruelest ending of all. 

Forget the Pen – Twitter is Now Mightier Than the Sword

Let’s make it official – Twitter is now the most important social media site in the world. With over 500 million users worldwide, it outshines the competition with its immediacy and relevance, and its reach seems nearly unlimited (approximately 135,000 new users sign up each day). Forget the pen – Twitter is now mightier than the sword, and it may be a hell of a lot more lethal than any other weapon out there as well and, make no mistake, in the wrong hands it is that dangerous.

Whoever would have thought that what amounts to a glorified text message – usually sent out via a handheld device (most often a cellular phone) – would subsume all media as the premier source for news and information? Twitter is not only the place to go to find out what is happening in the world, but it is also the number one place to tap into the public’s reaction to that news.

The President of the United States utilizes Twitter as a way to make news before it gets to the media. You can argue that this is either an extremely clever tactic or one that is fraught with peril, but Donald Trump’s millions of followers are waiting for his next message or what they hope will be another frenzied tweetstorm. His detractors are equally eager for him to text, hoping that he will stumble – as has often been the case – and say something upon which they can pounce with glee.

A majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s use of Twitter. According to a recent poll, 62% pf U.S. voters see the president’s use of the service as a “bad thing,” with 72% indicating he uses Twitter too often. Only 20% of the voters polled think Trump’s Twitter habit is positive. While these numbers seem rather telling, Trump isn’t going to stop tweeting anytime soon because he feels that it is his way to circumvent the media and go directly to the people.

This past week saw Twitter bring down another tweeting addict – Roseanne Barr. Roseanne’s recent reboot of her ABC comedy series Roseanne was a huge ratings winner, but a racist tweet about Valerie Jarret, a former aide to President Obama, showed the power of Twitter and the dangerous side of using it, especially early in the morning while impaired by some intoxicating substance – in Barr’s case she claims it was Ambien.

Within hours of the vulgar tweet Roseanne lost her sitcom because ABC canceled it, destroyed her reputation – some will argue that she has done this before – and ruined the lives of all the people employed on her show who are now out of work. Roseanne tried to apologize saying, “I’m not racist, just an idiot,” but nothing could stop the deluge once Roseanne opened the floodgates on Twitter. 

This story is a vivid example of Twitter’s overwhelming power, but it is one that is predicated upon the user’s input – a case of the little Twitter Bird that doth mock the hand that feeds it. Twitter’s power is then within the tweeter’s control until it no longer isn’t. Once the person hits that blue Tweet button, all control is lost and the power is now in the hands of others – in the case of Barr, the president, and other celebrities, many others.

The truth is that sites like Twitter make career suicide – which is exactly what Barr has committed – all too easy. There are groups like AA who help people addicted to substances, but where is the help for those addicted to tweeting or using other social media sites? Friends can try to stage an intervention – apparently there were people in Barr’s inner circle who attempted to take her phone away with no success – but there is little recourse for those who cannot help themselves on social media.

This is not to say Twitter is a bad thing; in fact, I use Twitter to promote my writing and follow people including some celebrities, and that seems a healthy way to use it. Many other people use Twitter in positive ways, so it is not the service itself that is dangerous but rather how people intend to use (or abuse) it.

Still, I think we need to start thinking about ways to help those who cannot help themselves on Twitter and other sites. It is one thing to take a cellular phone away from a minor – as a parent I can say “been there and done that” – but it is another thing to try to do so with an adult. He or she has freedom to use the phone and has a right to free speech, so the waters get a little murky here.

The problem is that something that is so good can be bad when used in the wrong way. An automobile is a wonderful thing when used properly, but when an inebriated person gets behind the wheel and drives, that person can potentially kill others or him or herself. This changes the equation and then that person’s right to drive a car can be taken away or may even end up in jail.

Roseanne’s despicable tweet didn’t put anyone in danger, but that is not to say that she didn’t harm anyone. Her hurtful words about Ms. Jarret upset many of her followers on Twitter, became news beyond the service, and caused people on her show to lose their jobs, including nine-year old Jayden Rey who plays Mary Conner, Roseanne’s biracial granddaughter. How does one explain this to a child in any way? There is no apology or explanation that makes it understandable.

We live in a time where the virtual is subsuming the actual, and people are becoming more involved in staring at a little device than looking someone in the eyes. There is an isolating factor to it, making us retreat from our fellow humans rather than embrace them. It also makes saying things that we would never say in person all too easy to write and send.

Everyone from the rich and famous to the anonymous among us finds comfort in being able to speak their minds, but totally frank or honest dialogue can descend pretty quickly into an ugly quagmire. The ramifications of hitting “Tweet” do not usually become clear until after the fact, and by then it is too late. Twitter has cornered the market on this sad facet of modern life, and in doing so it has become the great equalizer, an opportunity for us all to either soar or crash and burn.    

So, Twitter, you now rule the world or close to it. The president uses you to announce everything from foreign policy to his opinions about opponents. Celebrities tweet messages of support to one another or snarky ones meant to cut deep, and the reach of Twitter seems limitless, or as Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear says, “To infinity and beyond.”

The key to Twitter’s success and its importance is not the celebrities or politicians who use it. The power lies in its users – the hundreds of millions of everyday people who follow the big names and let their fingers do the talking in response to the tweets. The public is what makes Twitter a powerhouse because so many people are watching the tweeters and reacting, changing the course of people’s lives in the process.

Perhaps one day Twitter will go the way of My Space, though it seems doubtful. Right now, it is the most powerful social media site around and either makes or breaks the people who use or abuse it. So, go ahead and tweet, but you better think twice before you hit that little blue button because that Twitter Bird has a sharp beak.  

Memorial Day – A Day to Honor the Lost!

There are many things Memorial Day is not but with which it has become associated – the unofficial start of summer, a reason to have big parties and barbecues, a time to visit beaches or jump in swimming pools, and an excuse for all sorts of retail sales and promotions. These things have become American traditions, but they ignore the true meaning of the holiday.

The most important part of celebrating Memorial Day is honoring those lost serving their country in the military. We are remembering their service and sacrifice. That is the most necessary and compelling reason to observe this day.

I remember the parades I attended with my parents and grandparents when I was a child. My father (dressed as Uncle Sam), uncle, and grandfather would march in the parade, and I would stand on the sidelines holding my mother’s hand while waving a flag in my other hand. The thumping drums of the marching bands still pound in my heart; the gleam of the sunshine on the uniform brass and buttons still flashes in my mind.

My grandfather always called Memorial Day “Decoration Day,” and when I got a little older I asked him why, and he said, “Because it was the day we had to decorate the graves of our family and friends lost in the war.”

I saw some of his old pictures from those Memorial Days after the Great War (World War I) – they are now sadly disintegrated – and every house on the street had American flags flying and bunting hung on the windows. Those buildings were in the background as the focus of the photos was on the soldiers marching down the avenue in their Doughboy uniforms.

One time when I was about nine or ten I made the mistake of saying “Happy Memorial Day” to my family members as they arrived at our house to go to the parade. My father took me aside and said, “Son, Memorial Day is not a happy holiday.”

“It’s not?” I asked. “But we always celebrate it.”

He sat me down and said, “Look, remember when Uncle John died last year.” I nodded my head sadly. “Well, on the day he died this year, we wouldn’t go up to Aunt Julia and say ‘Happy Anniversary of John’s passing’ now would we?”

“No, I guess not,” I remember saying. “That’s not a happy day at all.”

Over the years after that my Dad told me other stories from when he was in the war and about the friends that he lost. One was his neighbor Johnny, whom he had known since he was a little boy.

My grandmother wrote to him and had an unusual request for my father. Johnny’s mother asked if my father could find out where Johnny was buried in France and take a picture of the grave. Dad was deployed in the Bomb Disposal unit working out of the chateau in Fontainebleau, and he was able to discover where the grave was located – Les Gonards Cemetery near Versailles.

Dad and a buddy got in a Jeep and drove to the cemetery. When he saw Johnny’s grave he felt compelled to kneel down and say a prayer, and his friend took a photograph of the moment. A month later my grandmother wrote back that the photograph meant so much to Johnny’s mother.

Now, so many years later, grand parades are filled with pomp and circumstance, and they are a tangible way to honor those lost. I have taken my own children to our local Memorial Day parade, and they are fascinated by the marchers and the bands just as I had been as a boy, but I need to keep reminding them of the significance of this day.

Thinking back, I do recall returning to the Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge after watching the parade each year, and as everyone gathered to eat and drink and talk, I remember seeing the reverence on the faces of those who were remembering their lost friends. This was not a festive party but rather one where people reflected upon their own brushes with death as well as on those who were gone.

One time I remember a visiting retired Army colonel coming to the reception after the parade. A rather large and muscular man, he sat at our table to eat because my father was the post commander at that time. He had a chest full of ribbons and medals on his uniform. He said that it was nice to meet all of us and

I said, “Same here; you are a real hero.”

This big fellow’s lips quivered a bit, and he leaned forward and whispered to me, “No, son, I’m not a hero. The heroes are the guys we left over there. The ones who never came home. They are the real heroes!”

I have never forgotten those words, and I think that encapsulates what Memorial Day is more than anything else – the men and women who served their country and made the ultimate sacrifice.

If you can do so, attend a parade or other event such as an airshow or wreath-laying ceremony that celebrates those whom we have lost as they served in the military. Your appearance supports those men and women who returned home and it honors the memories of those they have lost.

If you cannot manage to do any of those things this weekend – whether you are swimming in a pool, attending a barbecue, sitting on a beach, shopping in a store, or driving for a weekend getaway – try to remember the real reason why we have this holiday at the end of every month of May.

Perhaps you can think about a kid from Queens, New York, named Johnny, who left to fight for his country and now lies in a cemetery in France. All his mother had left was a picture of his grave, a place she could never visit to place flowers there and cry her tears. All she had was that photo and sweet memories of her boy. That truly is what Memorial Day is all about!

Students Need Enough Time To Eat Lunch and Enjoy Recess

A recent post on Facebook revealed a person’s dismay over her child not having enough time to eat lunch in school. Many people chimed in (including yours truly) to concur with the poster and add their own stories. Mine was that on many days my son comes home with part of his lunch uneaten in the lunchbox. The reason he gives is always the same – there wasn’t enough time to finish eating. It did bother me when he used to tell me this, but the Facebook post got me thinking more deeply about the situation.

During my years as a school teacher and administrator, I spent enough time in school lunchrooms. One thing I noted was that kids spend two thirds of their lunch period talking. That is a good thing – a very good thing – because socialization should be part of the lunch period. It gives kids a place free from the constraints of the classroom to interact, and that is essential. Students need to be able to talk, laugh, and let off some steam during their lunch period.

The problem is when a lunch period is too short. In some of the cases reported in the Facebook post, parents noted that their children got fifteen or twenty minutes for lunch. Based on my school experience, that is not enough time for the kids to converse and eat. Some kids are slow eaters and talking will slow them down even more. Even the fast eaters will find fifteen or twenty minutes is not enough time to eat and socialize.

The ideal time for a lunch period is 30 minutes, with an additional 30 minutes allotted for outdoor recess. While I can understand why some schools are trying to cut the minutes to add more instruction, the outdoor recess is just as necessary as the lunch period. Students are sedentary during the school day, mostly sitting at a desk or in front of a computer. They need to get outside in the fresh air, throw a ball, and run around the schoolyard.

What is being served for lunch can also be a problem. Due to the limitations of some school lunch menus, parents – myself included – are forced to make lunch on more days than not. Most of the time this is because of a lack of healthy choices on the school menu. My son usually buys lunch one or two days a week because the choices on those other days are not even satisfactory.

School lunches tend to resemble fast food selections that kids love – burgers, French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, and pizza. Unfortunately, these things are high in fat and sodium, not what many parents want their kids consuming. I will allow him to get a school lunch that is healthy – like on taco day when he can add grilled chicken, cheese, and lettuce to his taco.

Another problem even with a healthy choice like the taco is that kids have to wait on line to get their lunches. After queuing for ten minutes, by the time they sit down at their tables to eat that would leave only five minutes in a fifteen-minute lunch period or ten minutes during a twenty-minute lunch period.

The overriding issue is the way Americans perceive lunch and eating in general – as something to get done quickly. The whole notion of “fast food” arose from this mentality. Eating quickly is the antithesis of eating healthy. Food is one of life’s pleasures and should be consumed at a pace that allows a person to enjoy it fully.

Having traveled to many other countries over the years, I have witnessed the difference in people’s eating habits. In these places lunch is not seen as something to get done quickly, but rather something to enjoy at a leisurely pace, and it usually involves other people. American’s tend to eat alone and fast during some or all meals, but lunch seems particularly rushed because everyone feels a need to get back to the office – except the growing number of individuals who eat at their desks because there is not enough time to go out for lunch.

I did a little research into school lunches in other countries, and it is really astounding how different they are from the unhealthy American school lunches. Not only are there better choices – whole grain breads, not fried proteins like lean chicken and fish, and more offerings of fruits and vegetables – but lunch is viewed as a time to be appreciated and not rushed through.

A really interesting case involves school lunches in Japan. In the video (see below article) you will see how school lunches involve the students not just as consumers but as preparers of the daily feast. For some of the selections the students even use vegetables from the school garden in their menus. The students learn about the nutritional value of the foods they are preparing; they actually make the food themselves, and later they even clean the cafeteria.

While this may seem excessive to some Americans, the reality is that these Japanese school lunch periods are lessons in and of themselves. The whole notion of getting lunch over with quickly is dispatched, and the students are involved in the entire process. They are not only eating healthy foods but they are learning skills that they will use when they are adults.

Many Americans have a love-hate relationship with food, no doubt stemming from the school lunches they ate as kids. The "eat fast" or "fast food" mentality is extremely unhealthy, and it is time that we start examining not just what we eat but how we eat. In that contemplation we will see that the process of eating has been rendered not enjoyable in many situations, and that has to change from Kindergarten up to the corporate level.

As for now, parents must make a stand and insist that change comes to their schools in how lunch and recess are handled. They need to let schools know that they expect students to have sufficient time to eat and play during each school day. These times are just as important to children’s overall scholastic experience as math, ELA, science, and history.

School lunch menus need to provide daily healthy choices, but there also has to be enough time provided for the students to savor that food and engage in conversations with their classmates. In this way lunch periods can be seen as moments that promote socialization and well-being, and there is something of great educative value in this – teaching kids a lesson that will last a lifetime.   

TV Review: Lost in Space – More Danger, Will Robinson!

Like many of young boys in my generation, I grew up watching the original Lost in Space TV series and identified with Billy Mumy who played Will Robinson. I also wished I had a friend like the bubbleheaded Robot and could get to bounce around with him in outer space. Admittedly, I had a crush on Penny (Angela Cartwright) and found Dr. Zachary Smith (the late great Jonathan Harris) to be the comic relief the show needed.

I looked forward to the Netflix series reboot gleefully, with all my warm memories still vivid about the old show. I watched the reboot with my son who is a bit older than I was when the original series had its initial run, and I did describe what happened on the old series in order for him to have some background, but as he noted after seeing the first episode, “This is really different than your show, Dad.”

The good news is that the new Lost in Space is indeed quite different than the old series. There is a darker tone throughout the ten episodes now streaming on Netflix, yet there are also dashes of humor here and there, mostly provided by Ignacio Serricchio’s Don West and Mina Sunwall’s Penny. West is no longer the straight arrow played Mark Goddard in the old series, and Penny gets the funniest lines and Sunwall is a bright young star on the rise if this series is any indication of things to come for her.

The rest of the Robinsons are back too. Toby Stephens is the dad John, who has been deployed in the Special Forces too long overseas and is back to try to make things right with his family. Molly Parker plays wife and mom Maureen as a tough, brilliant scientist who became head of the household when John left and remains in charge. Judy Robinson (Taylor Russel) is now the biracial daughter from Maureen’s first marriage who has a deep bond with her adoptive father John and a possible romantic interest in Don, and Maxwell Jenkins plays youngest sibling Will Robinson in a strong, emotional portrayal that evokes Billy Mumy’s importance in the original series but imbues the character with a new, dramatic depth that is most welcome.   

After having watched the ten episodes of season one, I found one constant throughout – one member of the Robinson family is always in danger. This is reminiscent of the old series in some ways, but the feeling here is much more palpable. Credit this to circumstances that seem increasingly dire for this Robinson clan, but also to Parker Posey for her creepy portrayal of Dr. Smith. Unlike Harris who initially played the role as diabolical but quickly became a humorous character, Posey’s Smith becomes increasingly pernicious and duplicitous. It takes a few episodes to see where her character arc is going, but once we do she undermines our protagonists every step of the way.

Of course, the Robot (Brian Steele) was an essential part of the original series, and the same holds true now. This new version is not human made as was the original; rather, it is from some alien species and its initial mission is destroy the larger mothership The Resolute and all humans aboard. The Robinson’s Jupiter 2 and other Jupiter ships detach from the mothership after the Robot attacks it. All the ships crash or land on a nearby world as does the Robot’s ship. Through strange circumstances Will saves the Robot, and due to the crash, it gets reprogrammed and the boy and machine become friends.

As a futuristic take on a boy and his dog, the relationship between Will and the Robot quickly becomes complicated. Since he has been disconnected from his Dad for so long, Will wants and needs a friend as well as a father, and the Robot becomes both in some sense for a time. A scene of Will playing catch with the Robot is emotional and heartbreaking.

They form a bond and a sort of intuitive connection, thus the Robot shows Will the terrible things it did on The Resolute, but the boy is so convinced that the Robot is now benevolent – it saves his sister Judy’s life – that he keeps this information to himself because he knows that his father will want to destroy the Robot if he finds out.

While Stephens and Parker do good work here, it is the young actors who particularly shine brightest. The series creators Matt Sazama and Burt Sharpless have taken legendary original series creator Irwin Allen’s characters in new directions. Now, Judy is a medical doctor in training and quickly must put her skills to the test when Maureen gets injured. Penny is a wisecracking teenager who, while seeing the humor in things, also has a sensitive side and wants to be a girlfriend to Vijay Dhar (Ajay Friese), another crash survivor who has a secret of his own. As in the original series, Will goes off with the Robot and has various adventures, and sometimes gets into trouble thanks to Dr. Smith – but here it feels as if Will’s life is really on the line.

The series is a visual delight thanks to cinematographers Sam McCurdy and Joel Ransom. One truly stunning landscape after another is successfully realized, and they manage to capture the mercurial climate of this strange new world in vivid detail. Sazama and Sharpless share writing credits with seven other writers, but there is cohesion in the story line throughout the ten episodes and notable character development and change. Christopher Lennertz’s musical score more than meets the challenge of the material and captures the essence of scenes and adds to the wonder and awe of the visuals, including the awesome CGI that makes me wince when I think about the poor quality of the original series’ effects, especially the space scenes.

Netflix’s Lost in Space has flashbacks that provide key background information worthy of Lost, plenty of weird creatures reminiscent of Star Wars, and a family unit that is nothing like the old series – another good thing. It also contains Easter eggs such as a Bill Mumy cameo and elements like the chariot vehicle (but not my beloved space pod) and the Jupiter 2 itself – a revved up version of the old series’ flying saucer ship. There are so many good things here that they help you overlook some little inconsistencies in the script and the seemingly forced cliffhangers at the end of each episode.

While the old humor is not here – oh to hear the Harris's Dr. Smith say, “the pain-the pain” or “bobble-headed booby” to the Robot one more time – there is much to admire about this series and an ending to episode 10 that almost demands that Netflix provide a season 2. There is plenty of danger ahead for Will Robinson and the rest, and I can’t wait.

Mr. Zuckerberg Goes to Washington

Hoping that Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg would go to the Capitol Hill hearings in his signature gray T-shirt, I was disappointed to see him wearing a suit and tie. It would have made a statement that would have been as simple as it would have been profound – his social media empire is about people in their pajamas interacting with each other not about people wearing suits. That is why Zuckerberg’s plain T-shirt is as sublime a uniform as it can be for the CEO, and he should wear it proudly even in the halls of Congress.  

The Congress people grilling Zuckerberg at times seemed like groupies, while others were like pit bulls with no teeth. All of those hours and all those questions did nothing to rattle Zuckerberg; rather, they only enhanced his stature to the public and caused Facebook stock to rise. 

While some of the senators and representatives earnestly showed concern about people’s private information being exposed, Zuckerberg’s responses were calm if not reassuring. I don’t know how many times that he said, “I didn’t know” as a response (it seemed like at least ten times) but it was not what people want to hear – especially the up to 87 million Facebook users whose information may have been compromised; however, Zuckerberg also said that he would “follow up with my team” at least as many times as he said that he didn’t know, if that provides any more comfort.

Many people are rightfully upset that Facebook shared data with other companies for profit, especially the

political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. A sense of trust that Facebook was a safe place for seeking entertainment and connecting with relatives and friends has been eroded now. Besides outrage and disappointment, some people like actor Jim Carrey are dumping their Facebook stock and deleting their accounts. Carrey also contributed a grim painting to enhance his argument.

The truth is that many people who worry about privacy online and do all the complaining sadly do nothing much about it, thinking that they can have their cake and eat it too. This cavalier attitude makes the Internet (Facebook, Twitter, Google, et al) sneer like a virtual Marie Antoinette and say, “Let them eat cake,” while rubbings it hands together and savoring its profits. Those users of these sites who sign up without reading terms of service or even caring about them until something like this happens are as much to blame as the people who run these sites.

This week saw Zuckerberg suit-up and answer questions in a voice that reminded me of the character Eddie Haskell from the TV show Leave it to Beaver. Now I am not suggesting that Zuckerberg is just like Haskell, who would be nice in front of adults and then show his true colors with other kids, but it did seem as if Zuckerberg was answering as expected only to go back to Menlo Park and start doing things his way again.

I would like to believe that Zuckerberg meant it when he said, “We didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm.” I hope that when he said, “We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I'm sorry” that he was sincere and that was not a royal “we” but alluded to him and his team.

In the end Zuckerberg took responsibility, but what does that mean in the big picture? Will this change how Facebook operates? Can we expect all the other social media sites to do the same? Or perhaps we can expect more of the same when we are online and be prepared for it and try to use whatever privacy controls are available to protect our accounts. After all, that is what responsible people are supposed to do.

I am not quitting Facebook or other social media sites – though my inner voice says that I should – because they are a guilty pleasure. I believe that the Facebook users who watched Zuckerberg testify saw nothing that would cause them to go out and delete their accounts; however, I am not certain that they feel like Zuckerberg has their best interests at heart either.

Will Zuckerberg and his team make big changes or will the illusion of privacy online remain forever shattered? There are no easy answers at this point and certainly none that will give us peace of mind.

I am not sure what we take away from Mr. Zuckerberg going to Washington. To me it seemed like a farce, a charade that was meant to prove our elected officials are looking out for us and that Zuckerberg came to town in earnest to apologize and vow to change the way he does business. When it was all over, I felt disappointed. It seemed like Zuckerberg was saying, “Privacy online is an illusion” without saying it and that Congress was nodding its head in tacit approval, making all those hours of testimony a good deal of sound and fury that signified nothing.