It's time to do away with live award-shows

I had a feeling Moonlight would win the Academy Award for Best Picture this year. I was surprised when it didn’t. I was surprised again when it did.

Can it be true that we spent yet another Monday discussing yet another award-show blunder? This is becoming routine. Once again, with cameras rolling, America was treated to a most awkward moment when winners, faux-winners, presenters, hosts, and spectators were captured live looking left and then right trying to figure out how to get back on script when the script itself had apparently become part of the problem—at least for the presenters who incorrectly read them. Certainly, we remember choking on our drinks when Steve Harvey crowned the wrong contestant in the 2015 Miss Universe pageant. And we did the same this past Sunday night when Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and the Academy boldly ushered the folks from La La Land to the stage only to politely nudge them aside so the staff of Moonlight could accept the best picture award instead, how ever contrived the moment now was. And then let us not forget the other incidents: Kanye West humiliating Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Awards (not to mention his numerous other on-air meltdowns) and Adele having not one but two on-air mishaps at consecutive Grammy Awards ceremonies. Plain and simple folks, it’s time to do away with live award-shows. The inevitability of human error necessitates the option of doing a thing over and getting it right. We do this in every other area of life where real-time performance is not essential. So why not in these cases? It would certainly be preferable to the on-air shipwrecks we’ve been witnessing lately.

But the most important thing is that while we enjoy making light of these mishaps, they’re not funny at all. At least they shouldn’t be. Although they spice up the drama for the gossips and provide punch lines to hack comedians, these blunders do more than tarnish the moment. They flat-out humiliate the faux-winners and at the same time break their hearts (imagine winning the lottery only to learn you shouldn’t have quit your day job so fast). These blunders also sully the triumph of the actual victors, whose “glory moment” now lacks all magic.

The real danger, though, is that our award programs are going to start losing credibility, which will hurt their respective industries and ruin an important part of American cultural expression, namely the celebration of our nation’s most beloved and talented artists. At this point, I can only hope the Academy and its presenters got all of the other awards right Sunday night. Because I have to be honest, I was kind of surprised when Denzel didn’t win.

It's been a busy few months...

I haven’t blogged in quite a while. Needless to say, it’s been a busy few months. I spent most of the fall and early winter hammering away at my dissertation. And now that I’ve submitted a full draft to my advisor, the waiting begins. Hopefully I’ll hear something within the next several weeks, and then I can move forward with any revisions necessary to get me closer to the all-important final oral hearing. Hopefully by the summer this seven-year journey will finally reach its end.

As one can imagine there hasn’t been much spare time. The little I had, however, I spent promoting the book. Since October, I’ve accepted a number of invitations to appear at book club meetings throughout Western New York. It began with a visit to a meeting of the Sista Chat Book Club in Buffalo. It was their anniversary, and I was honored to be a part of the celebration. Not only did I participate in a robust discussion with them, I was asked to say the grace before dinner, which I did. Of course, I don’t have to tell you how good the food was. In any language, the term “Buffalo” means “delicious food.” I can thank Buffalo School Board member Sharon B. Cottman for the invitation. Ironically, the meeting took place on Brunswick Boulevard, on the same block where my family used to live when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I enjoyed that impromptu trip down memory lane.

Sista Chat Book Club

Four days later, I was back in Buffalo for a meeting with the Oh Calamity Book Club, which took place at Shango’s Restaurant on Main Street in the University Heights district. This invitation came from Donald Stephans, a teacher in the Sweet Home school district of Amherst (a suburb of Buffalo). During the discussion, I was asked by one of the members, “How does it feel to have people talking about your characters like they’re real people?” I chuckled and said it was kind of cool. Truth is, it was quite humbling. When you’re a first-time author, you appreciate any attention you get for your work. And for people to take it seriously and actually express appreciation for it is immensely gratifying. Naturally, I don’t like wearing my emotions on my sleeve in public, so I kept that part to myself. What was also interesting about that night was that across town, at the same time, there was another book club hosting a discussion of my book. I didn’t learn about this until afterward, when I was notified via Facebook by one of their members. Had they told me in advance I would have tried to make an appearance, but I guess they were fine without me.

Oh Calamity Book Club

In November, I was invited to a meeting of the Bistro Bookers, an event co-sponsored by the Buffalo Public Library. This took place at Chef’s Restaurant, an Italian eatery on Seneca Street in South Buffalo (by now, it must be clear that one of the perks of being an author is getting treated to lots of good food and drinks!). This event was a bit more formal than the others. There were between 80-100 people in attendance, and I stood at a lectern and delivered a prepared speech about Garden and the lengthy process of writing it. I also talked about my feelings on the use of corporal punishment and how I hope my novel can help amplify the message of practicing non-violence in the home. For this invitation, I am indebted to Olga Karman, a poet and former professor at D’Youville College.

In January, I was invited to speak with the seniors at Canopy of Neighbors. The event was scheduled for 10am. But I actually showed up a few minutes late, because I had had a terribly bad morning. I woke in my hotel around 6am and spent three hours vomiting all over the place. Maybe my blood sugar. Maybe food poisoning. Who knows? In any case, I dragged myself (nauseated and dizzy) to Temple Beth Zion in downtown Buffalo, where a crowd of over thirty people were waiting. I did some reading, and we discussed ideas from a wide range of topics related to the main themes of the story. To be honest, I had never imagined that the message of my novel would resonate with so many different audiences. I enjoyed the exchanges so much that before long I had forgotten about how bad I had felt earlier. For this honor, I am grateful to Sasha Yerkovich and the Board of Directors, who invited me.

Canopy of Neighbors

At the moment now, I’m taking it easy, although things will begin to pick up again very soon. I have an event scheduled for late February, then another one after that. And my advisor will most likely be getting back to me during this time, which means I’ll probably have to venture back underground for a while. I'll keep you guys posted. In the meantime, feel free to like my Facebook author page to get more regular updates on what's going on with Garden.