GET VACCINATED!

If you follow this blog it’s no surprise to you I follow the theater.   Which means I pay attention to the Tony Awards®, which are coming back, finally, on September 26, 2021.  One of the main reasons I pay attention to the Tony’s is the grand-slam of awards is the EGOT, when a single person has won an Emmy (television), a Grammy (recording), an Oscar (movies), and the Tony (theater). 

Since the first Grammy was awarded in 1959, all the other awards are older, only 16 people have competitively won all four awards.  There are five other individuals who have won all four awards but by what they call “non-competitively,” meaning they won at least one of the awards honorarily, like Barbra Streisand who won an honorary Tony, but competitively won the other three.  Although, Streisand is the youngest to have completed the quartet at age 28, and she also did it the quickest with only six years separating her Grammy in 1964 and her Tony in 1970.

The Tony seems to be the most elusive of the four.  There are many people who have the EGO (ironic acronym, isn’t it?), as there is a lot of cross-over from television to movie to music, all on the west coast.  Another interesting point of the list of 16 who have achieved this status is that the majority of them are not actors.  That is to say they’re composers, writers, directors, etc.  People whose names you know, but faces you might not recognize. 

This is why it’s always important to be kind to everybody.  Not just the meeting planner who booked you, but the sound person, the lighting person, and the assistant who gets you your coffee.  They are the ones who make things happen, and rightly so, deserve the awards that come with it. 

There’s been a lot of talk about passports lately.  One of my favorite episodes of I Love Lucy revolves around the gang getting their “pass-a-ports” (as Ricky Ricardo would say) to go to Europe with the band.  However, it is not the Season 5, Episode 11, which is titled The Passports, rather I really enjoy the next episode, titled Staten Island Ferry, which ends in the passport office.  You see, the episode originally aired on January 2, 1956, and the modern passport as we know it today only came into existence in the 1920’s.

Although the League of Nations failed as a global governing body, it did pass some lasting resolutions during its 26 years in operation.  One such resolution was from the 1920, 1926, and 1927 “Paris Conference on Passports & Customs Formalities and Through Tickets,” which gave us standardized internationally recognized passports.  However, it wasn’t until as recently as 1980 when the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) set guidelines for machine readable passports.

Passports have been issued as far back as recorded history.  The earliest one on record dates back from approximately 450 BC, and is referenced in the Bible.  Most early passports served as an ambassador to guarantee safe passage to the bearer, rather than the proof of citizenship and inoculation that they do today. 

However, even passports have their limitations.  Having a valid passport does not guarantee the bearer entry into the country of their choosing, sometimes not even their own.  Many countries also require a VISA to enter.  The standards for VISA’s are still varied from country to country.  The usual guidelines are in place to make sure the visitor doesn’t become a public charge for financial, health, or other reasons; and especially that the bearer hasn’t been convicted of a crime or considered likely to commit one.

This week, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York is releasing her new book, Her Heart For A Compass.  This is her first romance novel, but it is not her first book.  In fact, it’s not even the first book for a member of the Royal Family.

The Duchess has several auto-biographies (one was released specifically as a promotional piece while she was a spokesperson for Weight Watchers), and has written children’s books both as stand-alone stories and as part of the Helping Hands series.

In her immediate (former) family, authors include the next King (probably), Charles, Prince of Wales.  He writes mainly about gardens, art (including a book of his own paintings and drawings), architecture and the environment. His most recent offering is on climate change. 

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, son of Princess Margaret, nephew to Queen Elizabeth II, has authored books on the great houses of England and their furniture.  As 24^th in line for the throne, and the first on the list that is not a direct descendant of the Queen, he uses his books as many non-fiction authors do, as a basis for his speaking career.

Another former member of the Royal Family, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, contributed the foreword to a book of international cuisine recipes compiled from the women who volunteer at a community kitchen in London at which the Duchess has also volunteered.

And, not just the British Royal family have put pen to paper.  Other ranking royals with Amazon Author pages include: Queen Rania of Jordan, the author of four children’s books focusing on female empowerment and the importance of acceptance; Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, a mother of five and author of a book that offers advice on etiquette, table manners, party conversations and raising children.

You know the old adages about age:

“You’re not getting older, you’re getting better.”

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“Age is just a number.”

Yes, age is just a number, and it’s usually a number that only goes up.  However, if it’s the average age of an Olympic gymnast, the number was up, then came down, but is now going back up!

A report from FiveThirtyEight shows that the teeny-boppers who now dominate the sport of Olympic Women’s Gymnastics weren’t always so young.  This year’s team, with an average age of 22, is the first one in a number of years that doesn’t have a member under the age of 18. 

At the 1968 Mexico City Games, the median age was 20 years, 1 month. It dropped to 18 years, 2 months, in 1972. Then it was in the 16’s or 17’s from 1976 through 2000. It was in the 18’s in 2004 and 2008, then the 19’s in 2012 and 2016. 

And, it’s not just the American teams, the last time any nation with a full team roster had no teens was at the 1964 Tokyo Games. Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina, 46, will break her record for most Olympic gymnastics appearances (Tokyo will be her eighth) as she sets the new record for oldest Olympic female gymnast, one that previously stood since 1928.

Some experts have said that the reason the average age got younger was a shift in the sport away from graceful dance routines and into the flashier tumbling and flips.  Could the drive for ratings of Olympic broadcasts and thus ultimately sponsorships and endorsements have driven this swing?

I think Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee said it very well, “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” 

As always, best wishes for the continued health of our all our USA Olympic Athletes.