#jimmy in saigon

[butchboromir]

heyyyyy girl. did you know. that. ummmm. I ate the last mango in Paris. Took the last plane out of Saigon. Took the first fast boat to China. And Jimmy, there's still so much to be done

[notahorseindisguise]

i ate the last mango in paris....... took the last plane out of saigon..... took the first fast boat to china....... and jimmy theres still so much to be done.................

[musical-treasures]

Jeremy Jordan at the Drury Lane – 29th August 2022 – London Set List

Act 1

·        Moving Too Fast – The Last Five Years

·        Drury Lane Medley – If I Loved You (Carousel), On The Street Where You Live (My Fair Lady), Joanna (Sweeney Todd), Why God Why (Miss Saigon)

·        Oh What A Beautiful Mornin’ (Oklahoma, R&H Goes Pop)

·        Bonnie and Clyde Medley – Bonnie, How ‘Bout a Dance, What Was Good Enough For You (ft. Frances Mayli McCann) ·         Too Late To Turn Back Now (ft. Frances Mayli McCann)

·        When We Were Young – Adele

·        Preaching to the Fire – Age of Madness

·        Hardinge Garden – Age of Madness

·        Come Together (The Beatles) – Age of Madness

Act 2

·        Broadway, Here I Come – Smash

·        What You Own – Rent (ft. Andy Mientus)

·        Wake Me Up – Avicii

·        The Middle – Jimmy Eats World

·        When You Say Nothing At All – Alison Krauss

·        Frozen II Medley – Into the Unknown, Show Yourself

·        Santa Fe – Newsies

Encore

·        Roles I Could Play In The West End Medley – You’ll Be Back (Hamilton), Meant To Be Yours (Heathers), Roxanne (Moulin Rouge), Let It Go (Frozen)

·        She Used To Be Mine (Waitress)

[silvercompassjournal]

“I ate the last mango in Paris Took the last plane out of Saigon Took the first fast boat to China And Jimmy, there’s still so much to be done” - Jimmy Buffett.

Captain Tony's Saloon. Key West, FL.

Fujifilm X-E3. 23mm f2. Classic Chrome.

New issue of the Newsletter this week. A tribute to Jimmy Buffett. Sing up here.

[gothicprep]

gf and i are discussing our better call saul ending theories.

my guess is that jimmy ends up in prison because gilligan or gould, one of the two, stated that the ending was something they've not done on the show before. so far, no major in either show has actually been caught. well, lalo, kind of, but not in a context where it actually mattered. and tuco had to be arrested so they could lay the groundwork for him and skinny pete to be cellmates – not that he's a major character anyway.

gf's prediction is "the episode is called 'saul gone'. so he calls the vacuum guy, but the vacuum guy tells him he has to relocate him overseas to ho chi minh city. saul gone, saigon"

i know she's joking but they don't make words for how annoyed with her i'd be if she's correct

[pienaud]

Apr 12th, 2024

today, i watched “18x2: Beyond youthful day”, again and alone, for sure.

i like that, alwaysss, go the movie theater n watch a movie by myself

the 1st time,

i just feel sad overall the movie and actually there is nothing stay in my mind expect an incomplete love as well sad ending. Yu know what, i remember how i got interested and happy and smileeeee when i saw Taiwan on the screen: sound of Chinese, motorbike on the street, peaceful alley, night market, local food store, Bao An station, mini basketball court in the yard and way to much thingsssss about Tainan.

i was thinking about how it gonna be in Taiwan on my next trip but also why the love story in the movie is so similar to yu and me. It was a mixing feeling and what I know is I didnt know actually…

the 2nd,

hhhhh there was tons of work need to be done but suddenly just want to watch the movie again, so here it is, iykyk.

wait, yu know what, the night before, we met, in my dream

yu were there, i was there, i remembered it all too well,

we traveled but not together, we knew but avoid to know, we met directly but treat indirectly, we were familiar but different, we were close but far, …

and things had been through hardly in that but why i also want to be there again, fck i can meet yu

Just a movie but why it is so similar…like us

I thought about Taiwan, about Tainan, about yu

I cried, i did cried, a lot and a lot

I hate that but I love that,

Vietnamese traveled to Taiwan

Taiwanese traveled to Vietnam

Taipei and Saigon

Tainan and Phu Quoc (Kien Giang)

The distance, the story, the feeling….

I got it all too well, too too well

“Traveling is fun because you never know what will happen”,

“Tainan?” - “Người Đài Nam?”,

“I want to see the town where she grew up” ,

… i want to see the town where he grew up

“I've always wanted to ride tandem on a scooter in Taiwan”,

“This feels so good! Just like in the Taiwanese movies!”,

“Sóng-lah?”,

“Jimmy”

…”Charlie”

“When travel, we will meet people who leave a special mark in our hearts, did I leave something in Ami's heart?”

… did i leave something in Charlie’s heart?

“How are you?” - “Có khoẻ không?”

“Those kinds of encounters don't happen often in life” - “Những cuộc gặp gỡ như thế không thường xuất hiện trong đời đâu”

“Boys from the south are mysterious grace” - “Con trai miền Nam dịu dàng một cách kỳ lạ”

“Tainan at last” - “Cuối cùng cũng đến Đài Nam”

hmm thats it

ayy i also saw “Vietnam at Taiwan” on the movie, i like that scene

…so just a little bit, kay?

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987, Barry Levinson)

26/03/2024

Good Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 film directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, J. T. Walsh and Bruno Kirby. It deals with the stay in Saigon, during the Vietnam War, of the air force disc jockey Adrian Cronauer, who was entrusted with the management of the radio, which gave him great popularity but also many detractors among his superiors.

Saigon, 1965: Adrian Cronauer is a United States Air Force airman who arrives in Vietnam after having worked as a disc jockey in Crete, enjoying great success, with the task of reviving the local radio of the army (AFRS). At the airport the first meeting is with Edward Garlick, who takes him to the radio station: during the journey Cronauer shows his liveliness by trying to approach Vietnamese girls, but the young soldier dissuades him, but is struck by the man's personality. Cronauer's irreverence contrasts, with the personalities of his two immediate superiors, Sergeant Major Phillip Dickerson and Lieutenant Steven Hauk, while the general in charge of the radio station, Taylor, is favorably impressed.

From the first broadcast Cronauer, who opens with a stentorian "Good Morning, Vietnam!", upsets the station's programs and rules: he abolished official press releases and traditional music, broadcasts only rock music between a sarcastic quip and a joke irreverent.

Adrian continues with his "animalous" conduct, and in a short time he becomes the favorite of the soldiers, who go crazy for his style, his imitations, his mockery. One day Cronauer notices a young Vietnamese woman, Trinh, with whom he falls in love at first sight. In order to be close to her he takes the position of English teacher in a Vietnamese school (mostly teaching slang and swear words), where he has the opportunity to come into contact with the local population, becoming famous here too for his style and liking him. In order to get to know the young Trinh better, Cronauer becomes friends with the young Tuan, the girl's brother: he also takes him to drink in Jimmy's bar, frequented mostly by soldiers.

[mwsa-member]

The Dog Soldier by Kim Kinrade

MWSA Review Pending  

Author's Synopsis

In bestselling author Kim Kinrade’s ninth book, The Dog Soldier, Jackie Benson, a seventeen-year-old runaway from Southern Alberta, leaves behind a shattered life to join the American army during the last throes of its involvement in the Vietnam War.

Impressed with Jackie’s heroism, his best friend, Jimmie Whitebull, teaches him the philosophy of the Dog Soldier clan of the Northern Cheyenne and tells Jackie of his forefather’s involvement in fighting Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. On a trip home, Jackie visits his friend’s family in Montana and, because of his heroism in staying behind to fight the enemy so that a helicopter of wounded comrades can escape, Jackie is given honorary status in the Dog Soldier clan.

After returning to Vietnam, Jackie uncovers a Chinese and Soviet connection to help the North Vietnamese army capture Saigon and end the war in North Vietnam’s favor. After capturing a Soviet colonel, he becomes embroiled in a political tug-of-war that goes directly to the White House.

Format(s) for review: Kindle Only

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 614

Word Count: 175,000

[neonjstr]

been purposefully going out of my way to watch more queer (romance) movies recently, and I've been looking for an mlm film that isn't about teenagers, or a teen and an adult, or fucked up, or depressing, or exclusively about white guys, and i found it its called Rag Tag its free on Tubi check it out (has a happy ending)

tubi also has quite a few queer movies / series / documentaries also, w a lot of them about POC (all free w minimal ads)

haven't watched more than a couple of them yet but looked through them and a lot of them seem good

some of them im watching rn/ on watchlist:

currently watching perfect cowboy and its so american lmfao

[chrancecriber]

Radio NET Bulgaria (December 09, 2022)

23:56 CAROL ALBERT - Angels Watching over Me 23:52 SERGEY CHIPENKO - All For You 23:47 ZOLBERT - Pacific Coast Highway 23:45 JOYCE COOLING - Snow Is Falling 23:40 OLI SILK - Every Single Way (feat. Holly Petrie) 23:37 THE SAX PACK - The Sax Pack 23:33 NAI SOUNDS - Can't Deal 23:29 JUSTIN YOUNG - The Christmas Song 23:26 TONY SAUNDERS - Push 23:21 BLAIR BRYANT - Spend the Night 23:17 KIM SCOTT - Block Party 23:13 MARION MEADOWS - What Child Is This 23:08 PAUL BROWN - More or Les Paul 23:03 EUGE GROOVE - Push It Forward 23:00 BOBBY WELLS - My Sweet Butterfly 22:56 DJ GROOVE - So Late 22:51 MAX MILLION - Do You Believe (Original Mix) 22:47 ANN GRACE - Moon In Love 22:42 MICHAEL ANGELO, MELISSA LORETTA - Hearts Unspoken (Christopher Breeze Chillout Mix) 22:34 LAB OF MUSIC - Angel Vibes (Original Mix) 22:30 VELVET DREAMER - Your Game My Love (Five Seasons Remix) 22:26 LIULA - Sweet Dreams 22:22 FLORITO - Saigon Morning 22:16 THE THRILLSEEKERS - Synaesthesia (Solarsoul Chilled Remix) 22:09 PROJECT BLUE SUN - Naked 22:04 DEEP MOTIONS - Memories 21:58 DASH BERLIN - Till The Sky Falls Down (Monokini Beach Mix) 21:55 BENYA, PENNY NIXON - Serendipity (After Meridian & Dave Costa Remix) 21:50 CHRISTIAN BURNS, MARCO V - Frozen Heart (Acoustic Version) 21:45 ADELE - Lovesong 21:40 CECILE BREDIE - Dreamland 21:38 INNA - Hot (Chill Out Remix) 21:33 ROGER SANCHEZ - Another Chance (Afterlife Mix) 21:30 JOHN DAHLBACK - Walking With Shadows (Acoustic Version) 21:26 CHAMBRE 7 - Rising To The Top (Original Mix) 21:21 DANITY KANE - Stay With Me (Van Immortal Remix) 21:17 ANDY MOOR, SUE McLAREN - Trespass (Masoud Chill Out Mix) 21:12 JOHN O'CALLAGHAN, AUDREY GALLAGHER - Big Sky (Acoustic Mix) 21:09 DEEJAY HOUSE PROJECT - Komodo (Stefy Martinez Lounge Mix) 21:04 JEROME ISMA-AE - Underwater Love 21:00 ANDY MOOR, HYSTERIA! - Leave Your World Behind (Album Mix) 20:56 KRAAK & SMAAK - Stumble (feat. Parcels) 20:52 DUBDIVER - Desert Land (Eternal Calling Mix) 20:49 FILO, PERI, FISHER - Closer Now (Chillout Mix) 20:43 GUENTER HAAS - Alone But Never Lonely 20:39 ALAN MORRIS, ENZO, JESS MORGAN - Tapestry Of Us (Piano Acoustic Mix) 20:35 IGOR PUMPHONIA - Air (Original Mix) 20:31 BLANK & JONES, ELLES - Mind Of The Wonderful (Acoustic Version) 20:27 ATB - I Was Wrong To Let You Go (Lounge Version) 20:23 LEO ROJAS - Farewell 20:19 JEAN HONEYMOON - Bang Bang (Lazy Hammock Chillout Remix) 20:15 HEAVN - Bright Lights 20:11 WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS - Psychasthenia 20:07 351 LAKE SHORE DRIVE - Rising Stars 20:04 C.CIL - Sunset 19:56 TORNIKE - Night Steps (Original Mix) 19:51 JAMES BRIGHT, HELEN WALFORD - Time 19:47 CARDINAL ZEN - Warmth 19:43 SUE MCLAREN - Haunted (Zetandel Chill Out Remix) 19:37 AK47, TRACY DIAMONDS - It's No Good 19:33 TOUCH & GO - Straight To...Number One (Dreamcatcher Mix) 19:29 YANNI - Can't Wait 19:25 SMOOTH STAB, AELYN - These Words Between Us (Incognet Chill Out Version) 19:21 FRAINBREEZE, ELLIE LAWSON - I Pray (Chill Out Mix) 19:15 BRIAN CULBERTSON - The Look 19:10 MIGUEL LARA - Oblivion 19:05 FUNKAGENDA - Breakwater (Violet Oversoul Mix) 19:02 YIRUMA, RUVIN - River Flows In You 18:57 HEIKO - Miles Away 18:53 SUSANA - A Million Memories (Acoustic Rework) 18:50 MAXIGROOVE - Alone (Wellski) 18:44 FEINT - Clockwork Hearts (Fetch Remix) 18:39 MARTINIQUE LE SOUFFLEUR - El Guapo 18:34 MARC PUIG, MARIA COLLADO - To Forget Me 18:27 KITARO - Matsuri 18:22 REUNITED - Sing It Back Shazz (Man Chill Mix) 18:17 MEDINA - You & I (DJ Petroff Remix) 18:13 OXYGENE - The Ocean (Goldtripp Remix) 18:09 JIMMY ROQSTA, THALYA HILL - Endless Summer Dance (El Gambrero Remix) 18:04 MO'JARDO - Sonador 18:00 EVANESCENCE - My Immortal (Acoustic Version) 17:56 SUNLOUNGER - In & Out (Chill Version) 17:52 IDENLINE - At Sunset (Original Mix) 17:49 MARIUS NEDELCU, RED HEAD - Rain (Acoustic Version) 17:44 BLUE STAHLI - Corner (Ad Astra Remix) 17:39 SHERRIE LEA - No Ordinary Love (Arnold T Chill Mix) 17:34 ABOVE & BEYOND, OCEANLAB - I Am What I Am (Original Mix) 17:27 351 LAKE SHORE DRIVE - Soiree Rouge (feat. Blueberry) 17:22 MARIE THERESE - Gin And Tonic (Pier-o Bossa Chill Mix) 17:19 JOHN DAHLBACK - Shivers (Acoustic Version) 17:14 LUSTRAL - Raven (Album Mix) 17:09 D-PULSE - Velocity Of Love (Original) 17:03 LOREEN - Euphoria (Cool Bill Seaside Mix) 17:00 NURKO, AUTREY - So Far Gone 16:56 KIM SCOTT - SHINE! (feat. Blake Aaron) 16:50 MAURIZIO GRONDONA GROUP - Looking At The Sea 16:46 OLI SILK - Slinky Malinki 16:42 RONNY SMITH - O Come All Ye Faithful 16:37 WAYMAN TISDALE - It's a Good Day (feat. Jeff Lorber and Tom Braxton) 16:33 JIM ADKINS - A Reason to Smile 16:30 JAMES BOWMAN III - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 16:26 GARY MEEK - Midnight Sky 16:22 DANIEL DOMENGE - Back to the Past 16:16 PEET PROJECT - Pink Spirit 16:13 DANIEL D. - This Christmas 16:09 CHAZZY GREEN - At My Place 16:04 BOB BALDWIN - Every Breath Is A Gift 16:00 NILS - Saturday Night 15:55 BLAIR BRYANT - Catamaran 15:51 SAM RUCKER - Redemption 15:47 TONY SAUNDERS - Forever Yours 15:44 SHARMOND SMITH - Joy To the World 15:39 PIECES OF A DREAM - In the Moment 15:35 AL DEGREGORIS - Sunnyside 15:32 SHAKATAK - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 15:27 DREAMING IN COLOUR - Back in the Day (feat. Michael Scherer) 15:23 EUGE GROOVE - Vinyl 15:17 LUKAS LEUTHOLD - His Love For You 15:13 PAUL EERHART - Making Room 15:08 GREGG KARUKAS - Silent Promise 15:04 JOHN NOVELLO - Love Affair 15:00 JAREZ - This Time Around (feat. Ragan Whiteside) 14:55 JEFF RYAN - Edge of Tomorrow 14:51 KIM WATERS - On The Streets 14:47 AL GOMEZ - Who's Right, Who's Wrong 14:42 PETER WHITE - Costa Rica 14:39 SYLVIA BENNETT - Winter Wonderland 14:35 MARION MEADOWS - Dreamin 14:32 PETER HEROLD - Praise The Lord 14:28 JODY MAYFIELD - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 14:24 VINCENT INGALA - Wish I Was There 14:20 BK JACKSON - Believe That 14:16 KIM SCOTT - Best Part 14:11 DAVE KOZ - The Christmas 14:07 STEVE OLIVER - She's Got The Way 14:03 PHIL DENNY - Urban Troubadour 14:00 FREDDIE FOX - Just 4 U 13:54 JEFFERY SMITH - Summers Melody 13:50 PATRICK BRADLEY - Shoreline (feat. Eric Marienthal) 13:46 ZOLBERT - Find the Light 13:42 BRIAN BROMBERG - Celebrate Me Home 13:38 POP'N BOSSA - When I Was Your Man 13:34 PEET PROJECT - Anything for You 13:31 CHRISTMAS CAROLS - E' Nate Il Redentore (Piva Piva) 13:25 BOB BALDWIN - Everybody Loves the Sunshine My Life 13:21 PAUL TUVMAN - Something 13:18 PAUL BROWN - French Connection 13:12 SHIN GIWON CHRISTMAS CAROL COLLECTION - The First Noel 13:08 SIMPLY RED - So Not Over You 13:04 PAT BELLIVEAU - Lakeview Drive 13:00 NELSON RANGELL - Send One Your Love 12:56 VINCENT INGALA - Free To Groove 12:51 JAZZ FUNK SOUL - Room W Vu 12:47 BOBBY WELLS - Oooh Baby 12:43 DIRK K - California 12:40 NATHAN WOODWARD - Sleigh Ride 12:35 PIECES OF A DREAM - For Real 12:31 GREGG KARUKAS - Chasing The Wind 12:27 COOL SPRING JAZZ QUARTET - Angels We Have Heard On High 12:24 DANNY LERMAN - No Words 12:20 GARY HONOR - Southern Exposure 12:16 PAUL HARDCASTLE - Coastline Crusader 12:12 BEN TANKARD - O Little Town Of Bethlehem 12:08 RON NING - Grasshopper 12:03 PETER WHITE - Song For Robin 12:00 RICK HABANA - Aqua 11:56 FOSTINA DIXON - Good Vibes 11:52 JONATHAN FRITZEN - Magical (feat. Boney James) 11:47 CHIELI MINUCCI - Big Sky Country 11:44 DREW DAVIDSEN - God Rest Ye 11:40 ROCCO VENTRELLA - Come Morning 11:35 BLAKE AARON - Riviera Nights 11:30 STEVE OLIVER - Deck The Halls 11:26 JACKIEM JOYNER - Share My Tears 11:22 OLI SILK - Ahead of the Weather 11:17 FRANK MCCOMB - Just Ride (For George Duke) 11:13 DAVE KOZ - Winter Wonderland 11:09 JAREZ - Mr. Sexy Saxy 11:04 VINCENT IOIA - All Day Music 11:00 MARK ETHEREDGE - Groove City (feat. Greg Vail) 10:56 CHILLAXING JAZZ KOLLEKTION - Send My Love 10:52 CHRIS GODBER - Without You 10:48 ANDREW NEU - Take It Home 10:45 CHRISTMAS CAROLS - Il Valzer Delle Candele 10:40 NILS - Red Wine & Sunsets 10:36 BRENDAN ROTHWELL - Tell Me 10:32 BRADLEY LEIGHTON - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 10:28 RICHARD ELLIOT - Snapshot 10:23 JODY MAYFIELD - Groove Park 10:18 LOUIE FITZGERALD - Watery Eyes 10:13 DR. SAXLOVE - Away In A Manger 10:09 CAROL ALBERT - Fly Away Butterfly (Reprise) 10:04 BRAD ALEXANDER - Morning Serenade 10:00 RICK BRAUN - Missing in Venice 09:55 JOYCE COOLING - Third Wish 09:52 BEN TANKARD - Thicker Than Water (Reality TV Mix) 09:48 JAKOB MAGNUSSON - Caption This 09:44 APPLETON - Christmas Song 09:40 NAJEE - Better 09:36 KEN NAVARRO - My Beautiful Girls 09:32 SHAKATAK - Happy Christmas To Ya! 09:27 PETER WHITE - For The Love Of You 09:23 JAMHUNTERS - Eurabian Fantasy 09:18 EUGE GROOVE - Homie Grown 09:14 SMOOTH SOUL HOLIDAY - Hark the Herald Angels SingSleighride Medley 09:10 ALEXANDER ZONJIC - Hipster 09:07 VINCENT INGALA - Somewhere In Time 09:00 KIRK WHALUM - Afterthought 08:56 PHIL DENNY - Around the Block 08:52 STEVE OLIVER - Barcelo 08:48 KIM SCOTT - Something Better 08:44 PAUL HARDCASTLE - Amber Skies 08:39 BRIAN BROMBERG - Feliz Navidad 08:35 GARY PALMER - Land of the Sun 08:32 EVAN CARYDAKIS - Movin On 08:29 JACK JEZZRO - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas 08:25 PEET PROJECT - 24 Hours 08:21 NICK COLIONNE - Morning Call 08:17 VINCENT IOIA - First Time (feat. Ricky Peterson & Gerey Johnson) 08:13 DAVE KOZ - Little Drummer Boy 08:08 BOB COATE - Super Smooth 08:04 JUSTIN KLUNK - Make It Real 08:00 ROB TARDIK - Get Up 07:56 DR. DAVE, THE HOUSECALL BAND - Almost Trinidad (Revisited Version) 07:51 JUSTIN KLUNK - Thunder 07:47 ROBERTO RESTUCCIA - 1985 07:44 TONY CRADDOCK JR. - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 07:39 RAINFOREST BAND - Just Before Sunrise 07:35 PHIL DENNY - Flutter 07:29 KIM WATERS - Christmas Time Is Here 07:24 NORMAN BROWN - Just Between Us 07:20 JIM ADKINS - Answered Prayers 07:16 JOYCE COOLING - Almost Home 07:12 MARCUS ANDERSON - Oh Christmas Tree 07:08 DANIEL DOMENGE - Latin Flavours 07:04 SPONTANEOUS GROOVIN' COMBUSTION - Soul Stirrer 07:00 NILS - Shine Your Light On Me 06:55 496 WEST - Boo'd Up 06:51 PETER WHITE - Deja Vu 06:47 ED CALLE - Where the Rainbow Ends 06:43 JESSY J - The Rhythm Method (feat. Paul Brown) 06:38 SHAKATAK - Merry Christmas In Summer 06:34 JEFF KASHIWA - Every Now and Then 06:30 BRETTINA - Bop Baiye 06:27 VINCENT INGALA - My Favorite Things 06:23 PAUL BROWN - Blues for Jeff 06:19 ELAN TROTMAN - Millie's Song (feat. Althea Rene & Nathan Mitchell) 06:15 DEE LUCAS - Hot Ice (feat. Gino Rosaria) 06:12 SMOOTH SOUL HOLIDAY - We Three Funky Kings 06:08 JONATHAN FRITZEN - Fingers On Fire 06:02 ROBERT HARRIS - Midnight Rendezvous Live 06:00 STEVE RAYBINE - Maui Blue 05:56 JEFF GOLKIN & FOREVER LOVE - We Have Love Tonight 05:51 MICHAEL ROSS - Hot in Brazil 05:48 DARREN MOTAMEDY - I'll Give You What You Want 05:43 DR. SAXLOVE - White Christmas 05:39 PAUL TAYLOR - Epic Dream 05:36 JACKIEM JOYNER - Stay With Me Tonight 05:30 MARK MAXWELL - Let It Snow 05:25 THE SMOOTH JAZZ ALLEY - EBF 05:20 THE SAX PACK - A Little Bit Closer 05:17 AL DEGREGORIS - South Shore 05:12 DAVE KOZ - Silent Night 05:08 MARCIA MIGET - Praise Him (Instrumental) 05:04 KIRK WHALUM - Big Ol' Shoes 05:00 PHILLIP DOC MARTIN - Her Touch 04:55 KIM SCOTT - Rite of Passage 04:51 RICK HABANA - Excursion 04:47 KIM WATERS - Walking On Air 04:43 ART FOUR SALE - Merry Merry Christmas 04:38 NELSON RANGELL - Mean Business 04:34 PATRICK YANDALL - Whats Cookin 04:29 KAYLA WATERS - O Come, O Come Emmanuel 04:25 NILS - Shake It 04:20 JAREZ - How I Feel 04:16 PHIL DENNY, NATE NARASIM - Push 04:13 SHIN GIWON CHRISTMAS CAROL COLLECTION - Winter Wonderland 04:08 PAUL BROWN - Moment by Moment 04:04 SKINNY HIGHTOWER - Bittersweet 04:00 ADAM HAWLEY - East Lake 03:56 CHRIS STANDRING - No Two Ways About It 03:51 BRETTINA - Low 03:47 RICK BRAUN - Brazz Street 03:42 MICHAEL LINGTON - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 03:37 J. WHITE - A New Jazz Swagger 03:33 ART RUPRECHT - Glorious Day 03:30 HERB ALPERT - Let It Snow - Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer 03:26 BONEY JAMES - On The Path 03:22 RICK HABANA - Paradise 03:18 JOY RIDE - What's Up 03:13 MARION MEADOWS - Little Shepherd Boy 03:09 DAVID BENOIT - Rejoyce 03:04 UNDER THE LAKE - Old Friends, New Grooves 03:00 MARK ETHEREDGE - Untethered (feat. Steve Oliver) 02:56 KENNY PORE - Siempre del Corazon 02:53 DANCING FANTASY - Bon Voyage 02:48 EVERETTE HARP - Old School 02:44 RANDY SCOTT - Mellow Flow 02:40 MARK MAXWELL - O Christmas Tree 02:36 ATTILA ZAVODI - River Waves 02:32 JEANETTE HARRIS - 2nd Nature 02:28 CHRISTMAS CAROLS - Happy Christmas 02:23 JAMES SAXSMO GATES - Together We Can Make It (feat. Freddie Fox) 02:19 LOWELL HOPPER - See the Light 02:15 SHAWN RAIFORD - In the Moment 02:11 DAVE KOZ - Eight Candles 02:07 PIECES OF A DREAM - Watch Your Step 02:04 LEBRON - Spotlight 02:00 OLI SILK - Chill or Be Chilled 01:56 GEREY JOHNSON - Silk Dress 01:51 NAJEE - Bella Vista 01:47 SHELEA - Don't Wanna Wait 'til Christmas 01:43 NILS - So Get on Up 01:39 PETER WHITE - What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) 01:36 GREGG KARUKAS - Passion Dance 01:32 ART MORRIS - Silent Night 01:27 BOB BALDWIN - Stand Tall 01:23 ERIC MARIENTHAL - 21 Ocean Front 01:18 RAY OBIEDO - A Thousand Reasons 01:14 BEN TANKARD - A Guitar for Christmas 01:09 CINDY BRADLEY - Exhale 01:05 PATRICK YANDALL - It's Our Time 01:00 ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY - Same Road, Same Reason 00:56 AL DEGREGORIS - Time Sensitive 00:51 TONY CRADDOCK JR. - O Little Town of Bethlehem 00:47 RICK HABANA - Poolside (feat. Blake Aaron) 00:43 BLAIR BRYANT - Kiss of Life 00:39 BE'NE MUSIC - Im Yours 00:33 BRIAN BROMBERG - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year 00:29 UNDER THE LAKE - Around The Block 00:25 RICHARD ELLIOT - Panamera 00:19 JOHN NOVELLO - Ivory Soul 00:14 MICHAEL LINGTON - Silver Bells 00:09 JOY RIDE - The First Time 00:05 VINCENT INGALA - Could This Be Real 00:00 DANIEL CHIA - In the Moment (feat. Paul Brown)

[oslofusion]

Trailer JIMMY IN SAIGON from oslo/fusion film fest on Vimeo.

Vega Scene, September 26 at 19:30 / 7:30 pm Tickets: vegascene.no/incoming/article1496934.ece

Director Peter McDowell chronicles the story of Jim, his eldest brother, and a Vietnam War veteran. In 1972, when Jim was 24 and Peter was only 5, Jim died under mysterious circumstances while living as a civilian in Saigon. Through over 200 of Jim’s letters, candid interviews with Jim’s friends and family, and filming of the truth-seeking journey that led him across the United States, Vietnam, and France, Peter creates an elegiac work that examines grief, family secrets, war, drug use, sexuality, and healing, amounting to a celebration of a short but powerful life.

USA, 2022, 89 min. Director: Peter McDowell

[gaymoviesworld]

JIMMY IN SAIGON - trailer

USA, 2022, 89 min documentary

Executive-produced by sex advice columnist Dan Savage, Jimmy in Saigon follows director Peter McDowell’s investigation into the mysterious death of his brother, Jimmy—a rebellious kid drafted into the Vietnam War, who stayed in Saigon after his tour of duty to enjoy “hedonistic pleasures.” Plotted like a terrific detective story, this intimate international odyssey speaks to the power of family secrets and the healing of old wounds.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Pygmalion Festival Preview: 9/24-9/26

BY JORDAN MAINZER

When it became clear in May that the beloved Champaign-Urbana festival Pygmalion wasn’t going to happen regularly, founder Seth Fein refused to simply do nothing. He also refused to settle for the same nostalgic, corporate-sponsored bullshit that other festivals have decided to do, usually a combination of “archival” material discoverable through a YouTube search and low-quality acoustic performances from basements. Instead, Fein took what he could from the more unusual aspects of the planned Pygmalion lineup and did what would have been unthinkable a year ago: curate a virtual festival with no live music. A mixture of timely roundtable discussions, podcasts, table readings, a hackathon, a virtual escape room, and a Zoom version of the festival’s Human Library (“checking out” a person to tell you a story), the pay-what-you-want festival will be unlike any other not only in Pygmalion’s history but in the history of streamed entertainment so far. The action kicks off today at 4 PM CST and runs through Saturday at midnight.

I spoke with Fein over the phone earlier this month to talk about this year’s festival: how it came to be, curating a socially conscious, diverse lineup, what he’s looking forward to, and the sustainability of the virtual festival model. Highlights for the weekend NOT mentioned in our conversation below include Dan Savage discussing the documentary film Jimmy in Saigon, Headlines We Would Have Written featuring writers from the newly-formed sports blog Defector, and as-yet-announced material with the likes of Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner and Algiers’ Franklin James Fisher. Read on, catch the fest, and if you can, donate to the fest, with proceeds going to charities like UNCF and NIVA.

Since I Left You: At what point did you decide to go the route you did with Pygmalion?

Seth Fein: I’d say the middle of May is when my partner Patrick [Singer] and I had enough discussions with sponsors and enough discussions with people in our creative space where we were like, “You know what? I think we should do something.” I’m just not good at doing nothing. I don’t do well with idle time at all. Because it became apparent that our sponsors--not all, but most--were willing to continue to support what we do, we were like, “Let’s do it! Let’s use this as a laboratory to experiment to see what we can create inside of this fucked up moment.” It was pretty inspiring. It’s ironic for me personally because we’ve always resisted doing an online streaming component of Pygmalion. I’m kind of a purist, partially because of my age, partially because of my historical pedigree as a performer in a band. I never wanted to do streaming anything. Every year, we’d just reject companies that would come to us offering to set up cameras and sell tickets all over the world. They’d be like, “It’s no cost to you, you’re just gonna make money!” I’d be like, “Nah. I don’t wanna do that.” I kind of want to preserve the idea of the moment. When you’re there for a show, you want to be able to think back and say, “I was at that show! I was with people and had a human moment.” 

The pandemic has forced me out of that space, and I’m glad. I think that as we get older, we become stuck in particular identities, and nobody is immune to that. Now, I have friends in L.A. and in Tokyo who are like, “I can’t wait!” They get to be a part of it. My best friend from 1st grade is super excited about the programming, and he lives in Tokyo. He’d never in a million years be able to come to Pygmalion. This year he gets to be a part of it, so that’s pretty exciting.

SILY: You’re also finding a way to stand out among the livestreams. There are zero traditional livestreamed performances in this fest. How did you come up with the components of the fest this year?

SF: A combination of recognizing that I already had stream fatigue and Zoom fatigue, even in the middle of May. In order for this to be a compelling program, we were gonna have to create new content you wouldn’t be able to Google search, where you can be like, “Okay, I wanna see this band perform these songs,” which generally you can do, by and large. Almost every band with any amount of popularity has something you can watch, whether that’s free or you can purchase it. It’s available to you. We didn’t want to replicate anything that was available. 

The other thing that was different from getting baked, staying up late, wondering about my life, envisioning a new future, I really just felt like as a promoter, I’m always very conscientious about what my role is in an artist’s professional engagement. How and why am I earning my percentage of the money? In a traditional sense, there are a lot of reasons: setting up personnel to create the show, hiring the correct sound engineer to be able to run a professional show. There is value in a promoter. But in this particular moment, I’m not so sure I’m needed for a band who is struggling to do a streaming set. They can do that themselves and retain 100% of those profits, and I want them to. If we’re gonna come to artists, authors, or speakers, we’re going to want to present something curated that’s unique and interesting and an opportunity for them to do something they haven’t otherwise thought of. That’s where the programming is coming from: What can we do as promoters to create space for new and unique content that fans and the audience will be interested in?

SILY: What percentage of people taking part in this were on the original planned lineup for this year?

SF: Not a ton. When COVID struck, we weren’t that deep, although what we had was awesome. [laughs] We were in such a good position. We’ve been doing this for quite a long time--it’s one of the oldest events in the country of this kind. Since 2005. Some years are better than others. Some years you just get lucky. It’s never been bad, but some years don’t hit. This year was gonna be fucking great. The artists we had confirmed for live music, we tried to incorporate them in some sort of meaningful way. The one we retained and were able to pivot on was working with the cast of Napoleon Dynamite [for a table reading], which we thought was a fun event we could incorporate in the livestream. We love the movie, we think it’s a wonderful anti-hero tale that speaks to a lot of Middle America. We were able to pivot with them pretty quickly and get them to agree to do a virtual thing. Outside of that, we had to reconstruct the entire thing: the programming, the identity. It actually surprisingly took a lot more work than we thought it was going to. But again: idle time, no good.

SILY: You decided the direction to take in May. Later that month, there were protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd and an awakening among people who weren’t really paying attention before to structural racism. A lot of that conscientiousness seems to be reflected in the programming. To what extent were you reactive to the moment in planning the fest?

SF: We’ve been pretty thoughtful about how we’re programming for a number of years now. If you go back and look at the scope of the programming over the course of 15 years, you’ll see it start to shift around 2015, 2016 in particular, and then a better and more diverse direction in 2017. Part of the problem I personally had as the founder and programmer of Pygmalion early on is I’ve always been a really big believer in presenting what you know and love so that you’re not caught trying to be a poser. I don’t know that I’m always the best person to present hip hop, jazz, or country music. I do like that music, but I was always a British rock and indie rock kid. My favorite bands are XTC and Tears For Fears, Pink Floyd, INXS...Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins. That’s what I was into. The music my bands played reflected those, and when I became a promoter, I was interested in promoting that type of music. I was passionate about it, and I wanted to share that with people. 

At some point, you have to stop thinking of yourself and start thinking about your audience. That’s a growing problem, and it’s painful to recognize you haven’t done right by what you should have been doing. You take it, and instead of pouting about it, you change your program. We’ve been doing that pretty significantly over the past 3-4 years. [Independent of] the re-inspired Black Lives Matters movement, as sad as the circumstances surrounding it are, we were always going to be booking a diverse lineup. But it’s a stark reminder. You hate for these things to be on display because somebody’s life was lost and communities were broken. It feels helpless. How is this still fucking happening? What is stopping people from affecting change? There are answers to that, individually, personally inside of our company. 

Now, we feel pretty enlightened that our festival has promoters inside of a community like Champaign-Urbana, or anywhere, to create a diverse and broad array of art. That’s my and Patrick’s personal take. You become a better listener when you start pushing what people want to see instead of what you’re passionate about promoting. That’s part of the growing process, and I’m grateful for anybody who’s ever challenged me in the past to be like, “Yo. These bands are cool, but it’s too fucking white!” You listen, and you either pay attention and respond or are stuck in a cyclical act of denial, and I didn’t want to be in that place.

SILY: What’s cool about the program is that there are things that have existed in the livestream format before that people are familiar with--roundtable discussions, talks, readings--but there are a few things that jump out as unique, like the virtual escape room with Sudan Archives.

SF: It’s still being built. One of the things we wanted to do was create new content and be playful with our programming. How can we be presenters and offer our audience an opportunity to engage and interact in a way they wouldn’t normally do? We have a lot of talented people in Champaign-Urbana, despite being a small city, due to the University of Illinois being here. Two people [we know] who were videographers and also had jobs at the University of Illinois, creative people, said, “Fuck it,” quit their jobs, and became escape room designers. Their escape rooms are just phenomenal. They’re mind-bending. I suck at this stuff. Every time I go, I go with people far smarter than me because I’d lose every time. But I’m always amazed by all these intricate ways they’ve been able to build in these puzzle pieces. It’s crazy!

We approached [the escape room designers]. We receive a grant from a public arts program for the festival, and traditionally, you have to spend that money on artists and production inside downtown Urbana in order to stimulate the economy. This year with the pandemic, we’re not doing anything live because we fundamentally don’t believe we’re in the position to be doing that. In discussion with the commission, we asked, “How can we spend money on a virtual event but still honor the spirit of the agreement?” We proposed the idea that we would hire a local downtown Urbana business to work with us, and [the commission] thought it was a great idea. [The escape room designers] are able to do some live escape rooms, but it’s truncated, so they accepted our proposal.

Our idea was then: How do we incorporate a music element or an author or someone with a significant pedigree to be part of the game? I had been speaking with my friend Ali Hedrick, who is an amazing agent who has been doing it for 25 years, and she proposed Sudan Archives, who I was familiar with and really liked. The game designers incorporated her music and her instrument, the violin, into the game. While I can’t speak to the specifics yet, because I haven’t played the game, I have a lot of faith in the two of them as creators, and I expect it to be really unique and engaging. It’ll be a situation where 6 people play on Zoom on teams that are randomly put together, so you’re not friends with everyone. You kind of have to have a new experience and work together with people you may not know. There will be a human avatar that will do the escape room for you in these different locations. You’ll be instructing them what to do.

One of the things I’ve been having to come to terms with is that people who are behaving properly, which is to say that you’re not spreading the virus, you’re doing a lot of staying at home and engaging with people through your computers and your phones. The way we’re entertained is different right now, and it will forever be different. This just accelerates where we were going. Now, we have to find a new space for artistic output to enjoy our lives. This is something that people already into this type of stuff will enjoy. The fact that it’s free will make it more enjoyable. The fact that we have sponsorship to pay for the production of this game to be able to offer to it for people for no cost is very exciting, and you hope that people who are of enough means see that it’s a free thing and donate to the charities we’re hoping to raise money for.

SILY: As much as something like a virtual festival is the logical accelerated next step, it’s not a replacement or designed to replace the live festival experience. That said, The Human Library intrigued me. After a Guided By Voices livestream earlier this year, my girlfriend and I were calling out into the Zoom void to see if anybody random wanted to hang out virtually. The Human Library seems to be a nice replacement for what we were looking for, which is randomly bumping into someone you don’t know at a show or festival and hitting it off with them.

SF: The Human Library is such a unique project. We’ve done it for 5-6 years now and have of course done it live in the past. We work with the University of Illinois University Library, who is the local partner. If you’ve ever done it, you’re essentially checking out a book, but the book is a human being. The human being sits down with another human being, and they tell you a story. You can ask questions. Some are choose your own adventure, some are a little more direct, but you walk away with a story. It’s remarkably engaging. There are things that don’t lend themselves well to the virtual space at all, and there are things that do. I think that this is one of the things that does. If I was to tell you a story, we could jump on Zoom together, and provided you weren’t clicking around the internet while I’m talking, we could focus on our Zoom conversation. It’s gonna be a pretty intimate discussion. It’s just me and you with headphones on, looking at each other, through the screen. It provides a lot of opportunities for intimacy and human connection. When we first started analyzing, “What can we take from what we’ve done in the past and try to create a new space for it in the virtual realm?” that was a no-brainer. In the end, people have been telling each other a lot of stories over Zoom in the pandemic era. This is just an extension of that.

SILY: Is there something in the program you’re most excited for?

SF: Quite a bit. I’m a huge fan of Ilana Glazer. I think Broad City is the best sitcom of the last decade. I think what she’s doing with civic engagement right now is important. We were really grateful for the opportunity to book and confirm here and have her do a Generator, where she speaks with people inside of politics to inspire people to not sit this one out. This is a pretty important election. I’m pretty excited to have her present inside the work we’re doing. I’m also excited with what we’re doing with Worst Show Ever, which is gonna be two episodes, 7 guests, and a moderator, my new friend Nabil Ayers, who is a journalist and U.S. label manager at 4AD. He really liked the idea, and the two of us have been working on this for a couple months now and finally have our 7-person collection of artists, authors, and musicians to tell each other about the worst show [they’ve ever played]. We just got done this week doing a pre-filming interview with each of them, and there are some great stories. It’ll be fun to watch them interact and engage. I’m excited to see how that works out. I’m also very excited about the Minecraft Open Pit thing. I don’t play it, but my nephews do, and I know enough that it reminds me of video games from my childhood. They’re going to build an upside-down version of our arena in Champaign-Urbana, Assembly Hall, which is a remarkable piece of architecture that was designed by Max Abramovitz, who is a University of Illinois graduate but one of the more well-known architects of the 20th century. That will be fun to see the virtual space come together.

SILY: To what extent do you see this virtual festival as a sustainable model going forward, whether instead of or in conjunction with in-person festivals?

SF: I don’t totally know. I think eventually, the digital realm will supplant the live experience. I don’t know that I’m going to live to see it totally, but I definitely think there’s going to be a hybridization, and I definitely think there will be room for both. The idea that you live in a different part of a country or different part of the world and there’s something you want to see but can’t afford to get there to see it, I think that has quite a bit of potential. But I don’t see them as the same thing. I think it’s like how you eat food. You can eat this or that, it’s the same item, but it’s done in a different way and served in a different space. I think there will be room for both.

For us, personally, I’m going to always default to doing live events because I believe in the power of being together and having shared experiences. I think it’s the only way we find commonalities. Humans are social creatures. Even the most introverted person in the world generally needs people--just not a lot. I think there will always be innovation that provides opportunity for artists and presenters to try to create something out of nothing. The augmented and virtual reality will continue to develop and become more commonplace and be a piece of the market that’s not so foreign to most people. I think that will be accelerated even further. The idea of an iPod used to be so crazy. Within a few years, everybody had music on their phones. That’ll happen too with virtual reality as technology becomes more affordable and ubiquitous. I think there will be a lot of movement once that becomes more common, whereas right now, looking into a two-dimensional stream and watching a concert is one thing. Putting on virtual or augmented reality equipment and stepping inside a virtual space is probably a much more compelling and sensational opportunity for a person. My experiences with virtual reality have been mesmerizing, and we’re certainly fairly new as to where that goes. It could go in a lot of different directions. There will be room for people to capitalize in it. 

I’m always hungry to get back into live rock and hip hop on stage and letting people dance, hopefully finding themselves in trouble, but not too much trouble, if you know what I mean.

[its-going-great]

Work Was Dead So Here is some Raw Data about the 2019 Jimmy Award Nominees

86 students are performing, representing 25 states. 

California, unsurprisingly, has the most nominees (10)

Three sets of two nominees were in the exact same production (Freaky Friday, 42nd Street, and Throughly Modern Millie)

This year’s nominees represent 83 productions of 50 different musicals

31 Nominees are performing the same role of at least one other person

Les Mis was the most performed show out of the nominees, with 5 productions. Little Shop and Mary Poppins tie for second place with 4 each.

And then I went crazy, and counted the number of nominees per role. 

It’s listed in order of show (god help me)..

9 TO 5 

Judy Bernly - 1

THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

Olive - 1

42nd STREET

Peggy Sawyer - 1

Billy Lawlor - 1

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Gomez Addams - 2

AIDA

Aida - 1

ANYTHING GOES

Lord Evelyn Oakleigh - 1

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Belle - 2

Beast - 1

BIG FISH

Will Bloom - 1

Edward Bloom - 1

BONNIE AND CLYDE

Clyde - 1

A BRONX TALE

Calogero - 1

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Carl Hanratty - 1

CINDERELLA

Ella - 1

CRAZY FOR YOU

Bobby Child - 2

CURTAINS

Lt. Frank Cioffi - 1

Georgia Hendricks - 1

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE

The Drowsy Chaperone- 2

THE FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

Tevye - 1

FOOTLOOSE

Ren McCormick - 1

FREAKY FRIDAY

Katherine - 1

Adam - 1

GUYS AND DOLLS

Sky Masterson - 1

HEATHERS: HIGH SCHOOL EDITION

Veronica Sawyer - 1

HELLO, DOLLY!

Horace Vandergelder - 1

Mrs. Irene Molloy - 2

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

Quasimodo - 1

IN THE HEIGHTS

Usnavi - 2

Nina - 1

INTO THE WOODS

Baker’s Wife - 1

Cinderella - 1

Baker - 1

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Jesus  - 1

KISS ME KATE

Fred Graham/ Petruchio - 1

LEGALLY BLONDE

Elle Woods - 1

Paulette - 1

LES MISERABLES

Jean Valjean - 2

Eponine - 2

Marius - 1

THE LITTLE MERMAID

Ariel - 2

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

Seymour - 3

Audrey - 1

LITTLE WOMEN

Jo March - 2

MAME

Mame Dennis - 1

MAMMA MIA!

Donna - 1

MARY POPPINS

Mary Poppins - 2

Bert - 2

MISS SAIGON

Chris - 1

MY FAIR LADY

Eliza Dootlittle - 1

NEWSIES

Jack Kelly - 1

Katherine Plumber- 1

OKLAHOMA!

Curly - 1

ROCK OF AGES

Drew - 1

SIDE SHOW

Terry Conor - 1

SISTER ACT

Deloris Van Cartier - 2

Eddie Souther - 1

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Maria - 1

Captain Von Trapp - 1

SUESSICAL

Gertrude McFuzz - 2

THROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

Millie Dillmount - 1

Trevor Graydon - 1

TITANIC

Alice Bean - 1

[TITLE OF SHOW]

Heidi - 1

TUCK EVERLASTING

Jesse Tuck - 1

The Man In the Yellow Suit - 1

URINETOWN

Hope Caldwell - 1

WEST SIDE STORY

Anita - 1

Tony - 1

WHITE CHRISTMAS

Betty Haynes - 1

[toscanoirriverente]

NEW YORK - "La volontà americana di promuovere una politica estera basata sui diritti umani non è più da tempo quella del dopoguerra. Joe Biden lo disse chiaro già nel 1975 quando, giovane sanatore, si schierò contro l'intervento umanitario in Vietnam dopo la caduta di Saigon: "C'è un punto in cui non si possono soddisfare oltre gli obblighi morali mondiali. Non abbiamo nessun dovere di evacuare stranieri, che sia uno o 100mila sudvietnamiti".

Oggi è coerente con quanto detto allora. E quella frase, d'altronde, riassume le posizioni di tutti i presidente approdati alla Casa Bianca dopo Jimmy Carter. Non è un caso che gli Stati Uniti, la più grande potenza del mondo, accoglie un numero di rifugiati percentualmente più basso di tanti paesi più piccoli". Ian Bremmer, considerato uno dei maggiori conoscitori americani della regione mediorientale, è l'analista politico fondatore di Eurasia Group: la società di consulenza sui rischi politici globali che influenza fortemente gli ambienti dem di Washington.         

Perché Biden ha respinto le pressioni degli alleati, mantenendo la deadline del 31 agosto? "Non coinvolgerli nella decisione del ritiro è stato un errore. E se dovessi dargli un consiglio, gli direi di prestare più attenzione agli alleati francesi, tedeschi e pure italiani. Gli europei stanno ormai articolando una loro strategia autonoma rispetto agli Stati Uniti, perché vedono quanto gli interessi americani sono ormai unilaterali. Focalizzati sulla partita asiatica, non convergono più con quelli del Vecchio Continente. Sì, la sua posizione sul ritiro ha infastidito molto i leader del G7. A torto, si aspettavano certe posizioni da Trump, ma non da Biden. Certo, il presidente è più interessato del predecessore alle relazioni atlantiche. E, diversamente da Trump, crede in un'Europa forte. Ma vede l'America come priorità proprio come The Donald. Il concetto di America First, insomma, non è cambiato".

Gli interessi degli americani prima di tutto... "Per gli Stati Uniti, in questo momento, i bisogni domestici sono prioritari. E pure la proverbiale empatia di Biden: è riservata agli americani. La sua dottrina è stata sintetizzata molto bene dal consigliere alla sicurezza nazionale Jack Sullivan: "Politica estera per la classe media statunitense". D'altronde, pure il Green New Deal, così sostenuto dalla sinistra è focalizzato su lavoratori ed energia americani, non è un piano Marshall verde. Stessa cosa i vaccini: prima agli americani, poi, forse, al mondo. Insomma l'interesse nazionale statunitense è sempre meno allineato con le sfide globali".

Come ci si è arrivati? "È sempre stato lì. Lo slogan "America First" amato da Trump era quello di chi voleva star fuori dalla seconda guerra mondiale. I nazisti minacciavano l'Europa e la democrazia, ma solo l'attacco di Pearl Harbour spinse gli Stati Uniti ad entrare in guerra. Poi la Guerra Fredda ha provocato una convergenza di interessi con gli europei. Ma quando l'Unione Sovietica è crollata, tutto è cambiato. E oggi ineguaglianza economica, cambiamenti demografici, politica polarizzata, spingono ancor più gli americani a guardare solo il loro ombelico".

Appoggeranno il ritiro anche dopo l'attentato di ieri a Kabul? Ci sono molti morti americani... "Di sicuro gli avversari lo useranno contro di lui. Ma Biden sta scommettendo sulla memoria corta degli elettori. Fa infuriare gli alleati e nella regione sarà un disastro. Ma alle urne potrebbe pagare. D'altronde proprio l'incapacità di garantire la sicurezza dei suoi ha pesato sulla scelta del ritiro. Sì, abbiamo assistito a un attacco terroristico drammatico, benché ampiamente annunciato. Ma non cambierà la decisione di lasciare il paese, anzi, la rafforza. Semmai la dice lunga sull'effettivo controllo che i talebani hanno sul territorio. Possono dire quel che vogliono su come governeranno, ma non sono in grado di gestire il paese. Di sicuro adesso riceveranno meno aiuti e riconoscimento di quanto speravano".