From the creator of both the US version of The Office and Parks and Recreation – Greg Daniels – comes Upload, and not-too-far in the future sitcom dealing with the afterlife. In this future, we have (reliable) self-driving cars, 3-D printed meals (only the wealthy can afford real food), and the ability to upload your memories and your, well, essence into the cloud for some future day when you might be able to be downloaded and physically reunited with your loved ones.

So, instead of freezing your body, you can upload yourself to one of many clouds, where you exist much as a character in a video game, where you – as you remember yourself – is your avatar. It’s all virtual, but you can interact with live relatives via VR and so on.

Starring Robbie Amell (who is uploaded) and Andy Allo (his handler at the cloud company), the story is divided between what happens on earth (who is paying for his “storage”? What are the stresses of handling someone who does/doesn’t exist?) and what happens in what is essentially a video game but with your thoughts, memories and communications with those back on earth – and wondering what comes next.

Ah, and there’s a big difference between clouds – the rich, of course, get the best cloud with the best service.

Half comedy, half philosophy, the ten episodes force you to think about what it means to be human, what a “good life” really is, and the control technology has over your life. It even addresses heaven – what if you are a believer who has lost someone but is convinced that when you die, you’ll be reunited? If you upload, have you missed your shot at heaven and that reunion?

There is also a corporate-crime backstory and a bit of an unexpected connection between the main character and his handler. And I still swear that the main character’s fiance is based in Ivanka Trump.

So there’s a lot packed into the roughly 10 hours of the first season.

As he did in Parks and Recreation, Daniels handles tech issues in unique ways, such as new conglomerates (Oscar Meyer Intel), but he really takes it to the n^th degree. It’s a tech-based sitcom, after all. Those tech-based jokes are quick, understated and hilarious (drug store automatically measures you for condoms: “medium”).

On a sad note, the entire first (Amazon Prime) was dropped May 1, 2020 (after what I would expect to be a looong CGI and editing cycle). With the pandemic still raging, when will they even be able to film Season Two (already green-lighted)?

Better than I expected – weird, clever and profane. It also has one of the most diverse casts I’ve ever seen in a regular sitcom (one not focused on queer issues or an ethnic identity – think Fresh Off the Boat or black-ish). Andy Allo (female), who is the cloud company’s handler for the main character (Amell), is the breakout star of this show. Where has she been?

From CDC.gov

This is American, so of course everything is a competition.

So the question is, who is winning (and losing) this health care crisis?

Obviously, the virus itself is kicking everyone’s ass, but what’s the collateral wins and losses to date/to me?

(Yes, I am deliberately making light of a very serious situation. If you can’t occasionally laugh at your troubles…)

Winners

• Zoom: Once a Skype wanna-be, it has emerged – after some security issues – as the go-to video chat for stay at home workers. It’s even become a verb, which is a true sign of success (google it if you don’t believe me).
• Working from home: Depending on your inclinations/politics this could be a Loser, but the technical ability many now have to just fire up their computer and work from home is something that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago for most. Broadband, beefier laptops and – most importantly – the move to the cloud have allowed many workers to do much of what they used to do at work at home in their jammies.
• Reporting: The pandemic, overall, has been bungled big-time by the federal government, but has seen local leaders – governors, in particular – step up and create a plan on the fly. The media has covered both the failures and success with dogged perseverance, and it’s compelling reading.
• Some governors: (see above). And this is not a partisan issue. Democratic governors in CA, NY, IL and MI have shone, but so have Republican governors in OH, MD and MA. And kudos to the Republican governors in particular, because they have to get up there and complain about a Republican president (especially this one); that is easier for a Democrat.
• Amazon: Amazon really stepped up its game for the pandemic, and for many stuck at home, it was a godsend. If you weren’t an Amazon fan before, you might be now. Is this giving Amazon too much power and sway over retail? Fair question, but that’s not the point here. Amazon delivered.
• SNL: While doing skits from home to form a show was hit-and-miss, the winners were great in a way that would not have happened if the “social distancing” wasn’t in effect. Cast members had to stretch their legs and really get creative. It often paid off.
• Seth Meyers: Of all the late night hosts, Meyers bested the others by a long shot. His attic/crawlspace broadcasts, with tiny doors, tiny chairs, wasps and out of control Thorn Birds hit the right notes. Will we be able to stand it for another month or so? We’ll see. Runners-up: Stephen Colbert and, especially, John Oliver. Oliver, in particular, is set up for this: His show is normally just him behind a desk and usually one long story. If he does it at home instead of in a studio really doesn’t matter.

Losers

• Small businesses, especially restaurants: In the last few weeks, my work go-to Thai place shut down, the Indian restaurant next to it turned into a take-out Mexican place, and an interesting Indian place I had wanted to try just evaporated. The chains will remain (big bucks behind them), the the more inventive mom & pop places? Going to be rough.
• President Trump: From the moment he began leading the daily coronavirus briefings, it was clear that this was Trump’s rally alternative, and the briefings were light on pandemic info and heavy on how much the media was blaming the President. Not pretty.
• The Federal Government: (see President Trump, above.) If there is ever a time when the federal government should step in and – at least – set guidelines, a country-wide pandemic would be pretty high up that list. The federal response thus far has been: “states, you handle it.” Watergate chilled a generation on trust in government, the pandemic response (or lack thereof) will have a similar effect. The Federal Plan is no plan, months into the pandemic. Shameful.
• Protesters: Look, I get it – stay at home is a drag, and to some people, a deprivation of “liberty” or “freedom.” Whatever. We’re trying to save lives here. Surely that trumps (sic) the need to sit at a bar. Protesters, look at it this way: The same constitutional amendment that gives you the right to assemble is also the one that gives you the right to free speech (First Amendment). But free speech isn’t limitless – you can’t joke and yell “fire” in a movie theater, for example. Ditto for freedom to assemble – there are limits, and some governors are trying to limit – temporarily – some assembly to keep the pandemic in check. But at the end of all, you do have the right to free speech, so feel free to complain about the stay at home orders. I don’t agree with you, but I will defend your right to rant against this. But again, remember the saving lives part??
• Late night hosts not listed in the Winners list: Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and even Samantha Bee (though she had her moments).

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve upped my phone from an iPhone 4S to the 2020 version of the iPhone SE.

One upgrade that has been around since the iPhone 7, I believe, is wireless charging.

I’ve used it for one day and I am totally sold.

I got an Anker PowerWave changer, and it’s perfect for my use. I wanted something that would lie flat on my nightstand, because that’s the way I’ve always set my phone. Some people like a stand, so they can see a message if it comes in, but thrashing around at night runs the risk of setting that phone airborne.

If I hear a message or want to check the time, I can just lift the phone and it’ll turn on long enough to see what’s up.

Note: This is a slow charger – not a fast charger, but that’s fine: I’m charging overnight, so there is no hurry.

Also, this does not come with a power supply, just a USB cord (some units, especially the fast chargers, come with something to plug into an outlet). I just used the weenie charger that came with the iPhone. Bing bang done.

Now I wish my iPad supported this…

From the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Amazon – that mall in the sky behemoth – has said they would alter its deliveries to prioritize necessities.

Need medicine – stat; socket set – not so much.

I applaud this.

As a frequent Amazon shopper – and if I wasn’t before I sure would be now – I’ve noticed delivery dates pushed out past the normal Prime delivery windows, and that’s just fine.

At the same time, I’ve been getting deliveries well within the normal Prime windows.

Case in point – my last order was for some extra charging cords for my new iPhone SE 2020 – hardly a necessity. These are extra power cords (just the cord – Lighting to USB).

Ordered May 1 before 9am. Promised delivery by end of day Sunday May 3.

Received 3:30pm Saturday, May 2nd.

Wow. Amazon is really making the most of its moment. Kudos.

On the other hand – I feel that Amazon is blowing a huge opportunity to polish its image and lead the change in income inequality (which is going to be one of the many defining battles moving forward).

To put it simply, Amazon is filthy rich. Yet its workers, protesting for safer working conditions – as well as better pay/benefits – are getting fired for these actions. Especially in the age of COVID-19, and even noting that Amazon does seem to be trying to up their worker-safety marks, terminations for making noises about this seem chickenshit.

To put it simply, Amazon is acting like a modern-day Robber Baron.

With its enormous wealth, Amazon could effort to push some of those huge profits down from management/stockholders to a lot of the people doing the actual work. I’m not dinging logistics or whatever, but at the end of the day, it’s the folks in and around the warehouses that make this Prime magic happen.

Amazon – to paraphrase the First Lady: Be better. Pay and care more – and reap the PR benefits to keep that profitable machine that is Amazon going and growing.

Yeah, pie in the sky liberal claptrap, but I really think Amazon has an opportunity here. Depending on the day, Amazon chief (and visionary) Jeff Bezos is the world’s first or second richest person.

Would falling to third or fourth really be the end of everything? And the pressure he could bring to bear on other large corporations?

Update (later same day) – Tim Bray quits over Amazon firing whistleblowers:

Remaining an Amazon VP would have meant, in effect, signing off on actions I despised. So I resigned.
— Bray, in his 4/29/2020 blog entry

Bray – co-inventor of XML with an incredible résumé – was a VP earning $1 million+. His last day was May 1, 2020.

This is putting your money where your mouth is, big time. And it sends a loud message, as Bray is very well-known and seems the opposite of a tech jerk.

Good for Bray (whom I’ve followed on his blog for years).

Left to right: iPhone 4S (in a Mophie battery case), Romy’s iPhone SE, my iPhone SE 2020

I purchased my first smartphone – an Apple iPhone 4S – back in November, 2011. It replaced my trusty StarTAC flip phone, which I had purchased about a decade earlier.

I don’t rotate through phones like some folks do.

However, I recently took the plunge again and I am now running an Apple iPhone SE.

(As an aside – what’s the deal Apple? The original iPhone SE came out about four years ago, and only resembles the new version in ways the iPhone 8 resembles the iPhone 4 or 5. Why not the SE2? With the exception of phones, Apple is keeping most products unversioned: iPad Air, MacBook Pro, and now the iPhone SE. Come on….makes it confusing when buying a used version or accessories. It just seems lazy more than anything else.)

While the iPhone SE 2020 just came out, it is based in the iPhone 8 form factor, and does not have the fancier cameras or photo processing power of the iPhone Xs or iPhone 11s.

So why not “get the best”, especially since I may be with this one for a long time?

Pretty simple:

1. I like smaller phones – I want a phone I can slip in my jeans pocket and so on (see also No. 4, below).
2. I like the home button – Call me a Luddite or whatever, but I find it a highly functional mechanical feature.
3. The price is right – I still believe that the iPhone(s) that comes out either this or next fall will be a game-changer. Then I might be willing to do a quicker refresh – but not if my most recent phone was $1100 dollars. This one was $450 with the upgrade to 128G of storage (old phone had 32G).
4. I’m not a phone fanatic – I greatly appreciate my devices and all they can do, but I just don’t live on my devices as many do. I stream movies on my home TV, I still have a bitchin’ desktop computer with a large monitor, I read dead-tree books. And I do have an iPad to stream clips of this or that while we’re standing in the kitchen.

Add into the mix that the new iPhone SE runs the same chip (A13) that powers the very latest iPhones (11s), it’s a pretty good deal for someone like me, who needs a new phone but doesn’t need all the bells and whistles.

Do I wish it had a better camera (and more of them, like other models)? – of course.

Do I wish it had a sexy, full-front display (but somehow still have a home button)? Sure.

But remember – I had an iPhone 4S – I’m getting a way bigger screen, much better camera and vastly improved battery life and processing power.

I made the right choice, for me. No buyer’s remorse at all.

Postscript: This is the first time I’ve moved data from one phone to another. I’m good at doing backups, however. I was able to set up my new phone from a “last night” backup of my old phone with the greatest of ease. Everything, including app settings, were just sucked in auto-magically (not passwords, obviously – which is good). The most impressive part was the import pulled down the Google Chrome browser, and when I fired it up, it had the two tabs I had open on the old phone!

Well done, Apple!

The coronavirus death count keeps climbing in the US – over 1,000 were recorded yesterday, Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

One hit hard – John Prine.

While I was never a John Prine fanatic, I was aware of him almost from the beginning, playing the eponymous first album over and over again. There was something magical about this album – written, as Kris Kristofferson noted on the album’s liner notes, as an over-achiever: Twenty-four years old and he writes like he’s two-hundred and twenty.

Look at the songs on this one, first album by a 24-yearl old: Sam Stone, Angel from Montgomery (which Bonnie Raitt made her own), Paradise, and – last but certainly not least – Hello In There.

(NOTE: I usually have bad luck embedding YouTube videos on this blog – I put them up and YouTube seems to cancel them the next day. But here’s a brilliant version of Hello In There by Natalie Merchant, Michael Stipe and Billy Bragger performing the song is Glasgow, Scotland.)

Prine’s more recent work didn’t do as much for me, but the first hall-dozen or so albums are beauts.

I had a chance to see him in the late 1970s – around the time of the Steve Goodman produced Bruised Orange. I didn’t know the city (Chicago) that well at the time, and I can’t ever recall where he was playing, except it was a club – Earl of Old Town? Old Town School of Folk Music? Probably Amazing Grace, but I really don’t recall.

I do recall the music and, especially, the lyrics:

There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.
— Sam Stone

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
— Spanish Pipedream

If dreams were lightning, thunder were desire
This old house would have burnt down a long time ago
…
How the hell can a person go to work in the morning
And come home in the evening and have nothing to say?
— Angel From Montgomery

Dear Abby, dear Abby
Well I never thought
That me and my girlfriend would ever get caught
We were sitting in the back seat just shooting the breeze
With her hair up in curlers and her pants to her knees
Signed just married
— Dear Abby

Who is going to write with this wit, empathy and down-to-earth humor?

Who is going to fill the shoes of Maywood, IL’s most famous postal carrier?

Do you reember the one-hit wonder group called The Five Man Electrical Band?

They had only one hit that I can recall, “Signs”, released ~1971:

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery
Breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that
Can’t you read the sign?

I thought of this song as I have been building out a new photo gallery – Signs of the Time.

In other words, Signs in the Time of Coronavirus.

Stores, libraries, parks (parks!) closed until further notice.

Various venues listing limited hours.

Restaurants doing take-out only, and usually for limited hours.

Retail outlets posting rules about in-store population density, accepting no returns, and often offering hours dedicated to the elderly (the most susceptible to respitory illnesses, like coronavisurs).

Many signs have a “Stay Safe/Stay Home” message (often churches).

These are all good messages for a good reason: To flatten the curve and save as many lives as possible, we need a concerted effort to stay home and reduce to a bare minimum anything close to human contact. While this will not solve the problem, to not take these painful but necessary steps would be foolish and inhumane. To greatly simplify, these social distancing measures are to help delay a rapid spread of this disease – for which there is currently no cure or vaccine. By keeping the disease from spiking, this allows hospitals to treat those afflicted with COVID-19 – or a heart attack – in a less rushed, better-supplied manner. This will lenghten the infection period, but this is balanced by better care for those adversely affected.

But it’s kinda a bummer. Both because we are (were) living in an age of instant gratification (“Let’s go out for Thai!”; “Let’s pick up a [book/movie/faucet]!”), and because the reason for the self-isolation/shelter in place is so serious and unlike anything the US has seen since the Spanish Flu of 1918 (and that kind of stayed below the radar due to the heart-wrenching death toll of World War I).

Which is why I spent the time capturing a handful (and will continue) of such signs. These are the reality of today, and – hopefully – they will just be a snapshot of this period tomorrow. A remember when? gallery.

It was inevitable: The scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of unrequited love. [first lines]

There is a Chinese proverb/curse that goes something like the following:

May you live in interesting times.

Well, in many ways the last 20 years have been, in the USA, quite interesting.

There is the good, primarily the rise of the internet (which took off a few year before the 20-years back window) and the rise of personal devices, which goes back to the 2007 launch of Apple’s iPhone, which led to a torrent of other (mostly) good – and interesting – things: apps, remote work (as I’m doing today!), entirely new disruptive industries that would be difficult to conceive before the rise of devices: Uber, Lyft, DoorDash to name but a few.

But thre has been a lot of bad, including the following:

• Hanging Chads – Yes, the 2002 elections, which came down to Florida, a recount and determination of “valid” votes (and for whom) that was ultimately decided for George W. Bush (over Al Gore) by the Supreme Court. Like the decision or not, one branch of government (Judicial) deciding who is in charge of another branch (the Executive) – instead of the people – is a troubling precedent.
• 9/11, 2001 – Probably the darkest day in our history. Sophisticated – yet unbelievably low-tech – and simultaneous attacks on our mainland killed more that 3,000 and forever changed the way we, and the rest of the world, traveled. And to some degree, changed (for the worse) how we view other countries or other citizens who are “not like us.” Who is “not like us” changes with the situation and whomever is making the determination. Not pretty. The attacks/American’s response have thrown us into a perpetual War on Terror in which we are still mired. Also exceedingly unpretty (sic).
• Hurricane Katrina – I’ve only been to New Orleans once, but watching the terrible devastation to the city and entire Gulf area was difficult to see. Watching and reading about the bungled response to this tragedy was infuriating. If we had not been up to our necks in Middle East wars (“never change horses midstream”), I don’t think Bush II would have been re-elected, but…
• The Middle East wars – SIGH. The US’ first major response to the 9/11 attacks was to go into northern Afghanistan – with the Afghan government’s approval – and try to root out the terrorists responsible for 9/11 and any potential new threats. An accurate and justified response. But then the White House took its eye off the ball and decided that, somehow, Iraq was involved (it wasn’t). Troops poured into Iraq, “shock and awe” was deployed, and the efforts in Afghanistan were shifted to Iraq, which didn’t help the efforts in either country. Basically, America was lied to by the government. The country, just beginning to get over the corruption of Watergate 30 years earlier, was again reminded that with great power comes…the potential for great abuse.
• The Market Crash of 2008 – Remember bundled derivatives? Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)? Remember how the near-collapse of the banking industry (bailed out by Bush II) was the start of the dominoes that led to an auto-industry bailout and stimulus package (the later two under Obama)? Remember how these government interventions helped prevent precarious times from turning into a depression? Sure you do. Have we – especially the financial industry – learned the lessons of 2008? Nah.
• Hurricane Sandy (upper Atlantic states) and Hurricane Maria (that crippled Puerto Rico) – The first was devastating for no other reason that it hit very densely populated areas: New Jersey was especially hard hit, and the tunnels connecting New York with New Jersey compounded the scope of the storm’s effects. FEMA (under Obama) did a fairly good job getting food/water to affected individuals and federal funds to the states. In Puerto Rico, President Trump took a different approach, by escalating Twitter attacks on the female Mayor of San Juan (who was begging for federal help) and declaring – upon a visit to the territory – that only 14-16 deaths (official number at the time) wasn’t so bad. What a fount of empathy. The direct and indirect (road closures prevented medicine to get to patients, no running water led to disease etc.) death toll is now estimated to be at around 3,000.

All the bad things listed above have one thing in common: None really directly affect/affected me. Yes, we all have to go through enhanced security when traveling (especially flying). We all have to deal with a country which seems a little too willing, at times, to paint all Muslims as terrorists, which is disheartening.

But my house wasn’t washed away to sea, I didn’t lose a job in the Recession of 2008.

Yes, I’ve been lucky.

But now, with the rise of the coroonavisus, I am directly impacted.

There is a shelter-in-place decree from Governor Pritzker, which lays out the following:

• Don’t go to work if you can go work from home.
• Only essential stores/businesses are to be open: Health care, pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations and so on (my eye doctor is closed; emergencies only).
• Keep any and all gatherings to a minimum – 10 persons or less. Better yet, just skip any events for the next couple of weeks.
• Restaurants and bars are take-out only (I wonder if my Starbucks will be open – last week they were open to “grab and go” [their term], but I’ll bet they are closed for the next couple of weeks. Few customers.)
• We have a small office staff, and we are rotating so only one person is in each day (we rotate). Otherwise, work from home (we were already set up for this; Romy’s company had to scramble).
• People are panicking; buying dozen of rolls of toilet paper at a time

Now, for a lot of people this – altogether – is a pain in the ass.

Agreed.

But it’s for the best reasons: Let’s keep the impacts – economic & heath (sickness and death) – to a minimum. For a disease with no cure nor vaccine, keeping as few people infected/infectious is the only way to keep our health care system from melting down – look at Italy. Shelter-in-place rules don’t cure. anything, but they do slow the rate of infection. That allows us to test for those who may be sick and give quality care to those who are infected.

And it’s temporary (hopefully – it could be like the flu with a new flavor [COVID-45!] every X months/years).

Fortunately – for me – the impact on me is less than on others, simply because I’m so boring.

My reading/watching TV at home is not interrupted.

My going out to eat infrequently isn’t impacted like those who eat out a few times a week.

We rarely go to plays/concerts and other such events that are now on hold due to crowd size.

Finally, the bright side of being boring!

Final Note:

I an not in any way making light of the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic – it’s devastating for our world’s economies, social fabrics and overall well being. And it’s going to take some time to recover from this event. Maybe, like 9/11, it will change some things (what?) forever, even in a subtle manner. But in the meantime, there is going to be a lot of confusion, physical and financial pain, topped with a dumpster full of political rhetoric, some helpful, the vast majority missing the point (helping people, not your re-election campaign or the donor class).

I’m just noting that of the bad events of the last 20 years, I’ve pretty much been an observer, not a participant. With the coronavirus, I’m directly in the line of fire, but thus far have only been grazed.

In other words, I’ve been lucky.

And to paraphrase Joe Biden (speaking on hot mic during the ACA announcement), coronavirus is a big fucking deal. And not in a good way.

In the past, I’ve indicated some great Amazon Prime Originals (made-for TV or movies) I’ve enjoyed. These include the tremendous BBC series Catastrophe and the uber-impressive Fleabag (Season One: brilliant/eccentric; Season Two: perfect [drops microphone] ).

And I haven’t even weighed in on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – two seasons of sheer exhilaration, and Season Three drops next week – there goes that weekend….

However, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns on Amazon Prime – there are some other shows I’ve watched that have disappointed:

• Absentia – Starring Stana Katic (of Castle fame – Detective Kate Beckett). In this show, she’s an FBI agaent who has been missing for years and declared dead in absentia. From IMDB:
  

  She disappeared. No one heard from her for six years. No one knows what happened to her, not even her [FBI agent husband]. An FBI Agent tracking a Boston serial killer vanishes, and is declared dead. Six years later, she is found in a cabin in the woods, with no memory of what happened during the time she went missing. She comes back to a husband who has remarried, and whose wife is raising her son. She will have to navigate in her new reality, and she will soon find herself implicated in a new series of murders.

  Sounds like an interesting premise – and it is. But the show is just a dud. I watched all 10 episodes of Season One (it was a slough), and even watched a couple of episodes of Season Two. Sometimes a show does a reset after a first year, jettison this or that character/story line to make it more compelling. Nope, not here. I bailed after a few S2 episodes. As I understand it, it was renewed for Season 3, because, what else is there?? Very disappointing.

• Manhattan – A period piece that documents – in fictional form but with a few real-life characters (Oppenheimer etc.) – the Manhattan Project: The secretive project to produce the world’s first atomic bomb during World War II. The cast is exceptional (a pre-Mrs. Maisel Rachel Brosnahan highlights as one of the top scientist’s wife), and the plot has enough twists to keep you mildly engaged. But I just couldn’t get through the two season (23 episodes). I wanted to see more science and character development; instead, the show focused on constantly adding/rotating characters with a firm emphasis on the secrecy – everywhere, every episode: who’s the spy? That’s valid for a show about such a secretive project, but not for me. Like when legal shows focus on office politics (who gets to be partner, will they merge with a larger firm?) I lose interest – it’s more fun to see the approaches they take when trying to defend impossible cases.

  Again, just my taste.

• Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan – Seasons 1 & 2 – I watched both seasons, one recently, and I cannot really recall anything of interest about either season. I’ve seen many the Tom Clancy movies, including The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, A Clear and Present Danger, and I’ve enjoyed them. This TV series is just kinda “meh.” John Krasinski – as Jack Ryan – is an ill fit for the role, and even Wendell Pierce – who is usually great in everything – is just going through the motions here. Other characters help make the show interesting, especially in Season Two (the Black Ops squad, Michael Kelly as a CIA station chief), but I was just never really engaged. High production value, but I put it in the “never going to watch again” bucket.
  
  Thinking about it, one of my issues with this Jack Ryan is that he’s such a departure from the books/movies – that Jack Ryan was just a CIA intelligence Analyst who finds himself in situations where he has to be the hero, thwart the bad guys. This Jack Ryan is more Jack Bauer (from 24): No desk for him, actively seeking out the bad guys and is perpetually locked and loaded.

I think that is all the Amazon Prime Original Videos I’ve watched, so three good and three not-so-good. Not a bad percentage, especially considering the good was so good, and even the bad – in the case of Jack Ryan – was at least mildly entertaining.

Robert Frank died September 9, 2019 at 94.

Born in Zurich, Switzerland, the photographer emigrated to New York City in 1947. He quickly fell in with an influential – somewhat bohemian – crowd, including the renowned photographer Walker Evans, beat poet Allen Ginsberg (“Howl”) and abstract impressionist Willem de Kooning.

Unlike Evans, Frank was a street shooter, who would mill around the city with his Leica and just document what he saw. And unlike Frank’s European contemporary – Henri Cartier-Bresson – Frank’s emphasis was, well, more frank than Cartier-Bresson’s artsy “decisive moment” street shots.

With the help of Evans, Frank (somehow/how?) got a Guggenheim Foundation grant in 1955, and used the money to get out of NYC and see – and photograph – other parts of the US.

While Frank’s photographs are never political in nature – he’s just observing – the segregation in the South troubled Frank. Frank and his family were Jewish, and his father lost his German citizenship due to his religion when the Nazis came into power. So – while safe in Switzerland during the war – Frank understood institutionalized racism. Many American critics saw his photographs as accusations, and – while in a way some were – it was just Frank showing us what he saw. See the cover photo – a trolley in New Orleans: Whites in the front, blacks in the back. Frank didn’t stage the shot. He just shot what he saw.

The photos he took during this period resulted in a book that is part of the photographic canon: The Americans. An unflinching look at American – through the eyes of an immigrant – the book struck a chord with many (often in a negative way), and influenced an entire generation of photographers, including Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander.

The Americans, published in the US in 1959, is also noteable for its introduction, written by the patron saint of the Beats, Jack Kerouac. It’s a weird pairing, but it works (Note – errors in the original):

Anybody doesnt like these pitchers dont like potry, see? Anybody dont like potry go home see Television shots of big hatted cowboys being tolerated by kind horses. Robert Frank, Swiss, unobtrusive, nice, with that little camera that he raises and snaps with one hand he sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the tragic poets of the world.

Frank was also a fashion photographer and worked with the Rolling Stones on various projects, but his legacy is The Americans.