'SNL' celebrates Mother's Day with the cast's and guests' moms

Happy Mother's Day! I'm beginning today's post the same way "Saturday Night Live" did last night, with Mother’s Day Message Cold Open.



Miley Cyrus helps the cast pay tribute to their amazing mothers.
The writers intended that to be both funny and moving and I think they succeeded.

I was not planning on posting anything about Elon Musk on the show today, instead saving it for tomorrow's entry, but he brought his mom out at the end of his monologue.

First-time host Elon Musk talks about why he loves Saturday Night Live and shares what he was like as a kid.

It may be a joke, but it wouldn't surprise me if Musk really did give his mom Dogecoin for a present. On a more serious note, while I found his admission that he has Asperger's to be brave and admirable, I also know that, as The Wrap pointed out, Elon Musk Isn’t the First Host With Asperger’s.

Unfortunately, this isn’t actually true. Because original “Saturday Night Live” cast member Dan Aykroyd disclosed in 2013 that he has Asperger’s — and he hosted SNL in 2003. Sorry, Elon.

Now, strictly speaking Asperger’s syndrome isn’t necessarily a recognized condition anymore. In 2012, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders removed the diagnosis of Asperger’s, as it was being applied to several dissimilar kinds of high functioning people on the autism spectrum. Instead, the American Psychiatric Association uses the term Autism Spectrum Disorder to describe people like Aykroyd and, apparently, Musk.

Incidentally, Musk’s statement during his monologue was apparently the first time he has publicly disclosed this information about himself.

So, it was still a first, just not the first Musk claimed it was.

Now I remember why I didn't want to mention Musk today; he takes over everything and makes it about himself. Enough of him today; I might give him his own post about space and technology tomorrow to dominate.

I close with SNL's take on Disneyland reopening, Weekend Update: A Weary Mother in Her Darkest Hour on Disney's Reopening.

A Weary Mother in Her Darkest Hour (Ego Nwodim) stops by Weekend Update to discuss Disney reopening their parks.

Her complaint about "sitting in an inch of foul Disney water" that smells like bromine is a universal one about Splash Mountain. She could have said much worse about the ride that's about to be rethemed.

Once again, happy Mother's Day!

'Birds of Prey' and 'The Flash' lead comic-book and superhero movies and television nominees — DCEU and Arrowverse at the Saturn Awards

In the previous installment of this series, I told my readers to "Stay tuned for...the next installment about the Saturn Awards, which will be about either comic book movies or action/adventure movies." I decided to cover comic book movies because I could also tackle superhero television series. It helps that the leading nominees in both fields use DC properties, which I've historically liked more than Marvel, although that's changing as my wife and I started watching "Wandavision" and "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" followed by watching or re-watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Next year's television nominees will be very interesting, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to this year's nominees from the Saturn Awards website.

Best Comic-to-Motion Picture Release:
Birds of Prey (And the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Bloodshot
Joker
The New Mutants
The Old Guard

While I expect a lot of the other Saturn Awards voters will cast their ballots for "Birds of Prey (And the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)," I think "Joker" was the superior movie, having won two Oscars and been nominated for nine more, including Best Picture, so I'm voting for it. I hope the plurality of the electorate does, too.

Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series:
Batwoman
The Boys
The Flash
Stargirl
Supergirl
The Umbrella Academy
Watchmen

With the combining of the new media categories into the rest of the television categories, the fields may be fewer, but the competition is stiffer. This is particularly true of the superhero nominees, where the range of quality is much closer than for the movies. In a normal year, I'd be voting for "The Boys," but this isn't a normal year, so I'm voting for "Watchmen." I don't have much confidence that the rest of the Saturn electorate will vote for the professional/critical choise. They might vote for "The Flash" with four nominations, the most of any superhero series, or "Supergirl" with three nominations, tied with "Stargirl," again. They might even vote for "Stargirl," which would be my fourth choice behind "Watchmen," "The Boys," and "The Umbrella Academy." Yikes!

Best Action/Thriller Television Series:
Better Call Saul
Castle Rock
The Outpost
Pennyworth
Riverdale
Snowpiercer
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

I'm including this category in today's installment because both "Pennyworth" and "Riverdale" are both comic-book adaptations. Since "Pennyworth" is about Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred before he entered the Wayne Family's service, it's superhero-adjacent. Neither will win. "Better Call Saul" has won this award two years in a row and has five total nominations, so I'm voting for it and I expect the plurality of other voters will as well for a three-peat.

Follow over the jump for the acting nominations on the big and small screens and the behind the camera nominations for movies.

Seeker and CNBC examine the hidden environmental costs of electric cars and how to reduce them by recycling

When I told my readers to "Stay tuned for a retrospective about the highlights of Crazy Eddie's Motie News on Pinterest" yesterday, I didn't know how I was going to to connect my top pins to current events. Last year, I didn't even try. Once I found out that Driving update for June 2017: Pearl plus Tesla worth more than GM or Ford was the most saved pin during the tenth year of this blog, I knew; it was either going to be pirates or electric cars, because the post associated with that pin is about my car Pearl the Prius, named after The Black Pearl from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films. I'm choosing electric cars; the pirate fans will have to wait until Talk Like A Pirate Day or my next driving update, whichever comes first.

I begin today's coverage of electric vehicles with an overview of The Hidden Environmental Costs of Electric Cars from Seeker, formerly DNews.

As green technologies become more common, scientists are trying to 'green' the lithium-ion batteries that power them. One question being: can we innovate ways to reuse and recycle these complicated batteries?

Welcome to another example of two of Commoner's Laws, "there is no free lunch" and "everything must go somewhere." While electric vehicles reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the car itself, they create other environmental problems. As Seeker points out, recycling would reduce those costs, but there are technological and economic obstacles to achieving these reductions. CNBC's How Tesla’s Battery Mastermind Is Tackling EV's Biggest Problem reports on how one company is working on clearing those obstacles, not only to reduce waste, but to increase supply to meet the expected demand.

Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere — in phones, laptops, tablets, cameras and increasingly cars. Demand for lithium-ion batteries has risen sharply in the past five years and is expected to grow from a $44.2 billion market in 2020 to a $94.4 billion market by 2025, mostly due to the boom in electric cars. And a shortage of lithium-ion batteries is looming in the U.S.

Former Tesla CTO and Elon Musk's right-hand man, JB Straubel, started Redwood Materials in 2017 to help address the need for more raw materials and to solve the problem of e-waste. The company recycles end-of-life batteries and then supplies battery makers and auto companies with materials in short supply as EV production surges around the world. Straubel gave CNBC an inside look at its first recycling facility in Carson City, Nevada. Watch the video to learn why battery recycling will be an essential part in making EV production more sustainable.

This video illustrates two more of Commoner's Laws, "everything is connected to everything else" through the movement of materials through the global supply chain and "nature knows best" through recycling, which mimics natural chemical cycling in the environment. That connects to "everything must go somewhere" not only through "there is no away" but also because "there is no waste in nature." All of those, plus its optimistic tone, makes it a video I can mention to my students. Welcome again to blogging as professional development.

That's it for today's update on automotive energy technology. Follow over the jump for the most saved pins during the tenth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

'Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood' and the fantasy and animated movie nominees at the Saturn Awards for Flashback Friday

Moving on from science fiction and horror, the genre at this year's Saturn Awards with the nominee boasting the most nominations is fantasy as "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood" ended up with seven total nominations, including one for Best Fantasy Film Release. Like all Tarantino films, it takes place in an alternate reality, one that diverged from ours when the Allies killed Hitler in "Inglourious Basterds" and where the Manson Family fails to kill Sharon Tate, so it qualifies as fantasy, if just barely.


Like my previous posts, I begin with the nominees from the Saturn Awards website.

Best Fantasy Film Release:
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Jumanji: The Next Level
The Lion King
Maleficent: The Mistress of Evil
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood
Sonic the Hedgehog
The Witches

The best film in this field is definitely "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" and I suppose I'll vote for it. On the other hand, the film that best depicts a conventional fantasy world with magic and monsters is "Maleficent: The Mistress of Evil" with three nominations. If I wanted to protest the categorization of "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" as fantasy, I could vote for it or "The Lion King," which also has three nominations. I won't, but some of the voters might, or they could vote for "Bill & Ted Face the Music" to show their love of nostalgic entertainment. I think "Maleficent" is more likely to be the popular choice.


Since I don't know of a better place to put them and most of them qualify as fantasies as well, I'm examining animated movies next.

Best Animated Film Release:
Abominable
The Addams Family
Frozen II
Onward
Spies in Disguise
Trolls: World Tour

The only film in this field nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the Oscars was "Onward," while the only other Oscar nominated entry was "Frozen II," which earned a nod for Original Song. I suppose the professional choice would be "Onward" while the popular choice would be "Frozen II." The latter was the highest grossing animated movie and the fourth highest grossing movie overall in 2019. I think I'm going with the popular choice, "Frozen II." I would like to think the Saturn electorate would, too, because that would be a way of telling off the Hollywood professionals and insiders, but they could surprise me.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations for fantasy films.

Brad Parscale working with Caitlyn Jenner updates the Trump Campaign's 'Death Star' for the Revenge of the Sixth on Throwback Thursday

Beware the Revenge of the Sixth, the dark side of Star Wars Day! For today's celebration, I'm revisiting Brad Parscale calling the Trump digital campaign the "Death Star" in a tweet, the most active link from this blog on Twitter during Crazy Eddie's Motie News during its tenth year. Think of it as a serious Star Wars political self-parody.

I'll cover the blog's year on Twitter over the jump. First, I'm sharing Inside Edition's Caitlyn Jenner Will Run for Governor of California.

Caitlyn Jenner has announced that she’s running for governor of California. The reality star and former Olympian kick started her first bid for public office on social media, tweeting, “I’m in,” with a link to her campaign website. She’s assembling a high-powered campaign team including Brad Parscale, who was Donald Trump’s campaign manager until he was arrested last year. Jenner is running against current governor Gavin Newsome, who is facing a recall because of his handling of the pandemic.

It looks like I'll be blogging about Newsome's recall election, a consequence of how he handled the pandemic, from today until November 2nd. It also looks like Inside Edition, not the hardest news source, compressed two events in Parscale's timeline, Parscale's demotion from campaign manager and his arrest, and likely reversed cause and effect. CNN reported on both, beginning with Brad Parscale out as President Trump's campaign manage on July 15, 2020.

President Donald Trump shook up his campaign leadership announcing he was promoting Bill Stepien to be his campaign manager and demoting Brad Parscale, who had been serving in that role.

There is no mention of any arrest, which came more than two months later on September 28, 2020. Watch CNN's Video showing Trump's former campaign manager arrested by police.

Fort Lauderdale Police released segments of bodycam video showing officers handcuffing former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. It is not clear what occurred in the moments not shown in the edited three-minute compilation provided by FLPD.

CNN did not speculate on what prompted Parscale's meltdown, but People summarized a Fox News interview of him and a statement he and his wife made to Politico in which he explained what happened.

Brad told MacCallum in his interview Tuesday that he and his wife "went through a very stressful time" in recent years, amid the back-to-back presidential campaigns.

He said he and Candice "lost two children during the election," suggesting she miscarried, and he said he had deteriorated over time.

“We were completely attacked by the left, the right, the media. And I got to a bad place. My wife was worried about me, and she helped," Brad said. "And she was there every day, by my side, and I love her for it.”
...
He resigned shortly after the incident, having been demoted from his role as captain of the campaign earlier in the summer.

“I am stepping away from my company and any role in the campaign for the immediate future,” Brad said in his Sept. 30 statement to Politico, adding that he intended “to focus on my family and get help dealing with the overwhelming stress.”

The stress of the campaign got to him causing him to leave the campaign. I think that's true as far as it goes, but blaming the media and opposition doesn't tell the whole story. For that, read Amanda Marcotte's article Death Star blows itself up: Trump ran his campaign finances like his businesses — into the ground in Salon.

Life rarely plays out like a children's sci-fi movie, but I am happy to say that the people who made Death Star jokes turned out to be right. The Trump campaign's Death Star had its own version of the ray-shielded particle exhaust vent that allowed the Rebel Alliance to fly directly into its reactor core to blow up the entire apparatus: The greed and incompetence that defines Trump and everyone around him.

On Monday night, the New York Times published an article so satisfying that it felt almost pornographic, about how the Trump campaign has burned through most of that Death Star cash, with little to show for it — except, of course, when it comes to the bank accounts of the Trump family and their ancillary leeches.

It appears much of the problem was the way that Trump himself, along with Parscale, the Trump's family and other associates, treated the campaign as a personal piggybank. Trump paid his family's enormous legal bills with campaign cash. Money was routinely spent to fluff Trump's ego, as with the reported $11 million spent on Super Bowl ads. Nearly a third of the cash was routed through "a single limited liability company linked to Trump campaign officials." The partners of Trump's two sons are literally on the payroll. Trump's own incompetence is also a factor, leading to massive losses as he impulsively switched the Republican convention from Charlotte to Jacksonville to and then, effectively, to Washington. And the campaign spent far more money on fundraising than is typical, suggesting that Parscale was more interested in bragging about his Death Star than making it run efficiently.

Say what you will about Darth Vader, but at least he didn't destroy the Empire by greedily sucking all its resources dry so nothing was left to fight the rebels.

LOL, Darth Trump and Moff Brad did it to themselves. Jenner better hope she doesn't allow that to happen to her campaign although I wouldn't mind if it did, just as long as Parscale doesn't harm himself or pose a physical threat to others. Once was enough.

Follow over the jump for a retrospective about the highlights of Crazy Eddie's Motie News on Twitter.

'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' on Cinco De Mayo plus the horror, independent, and international film nominees at the 2021 Saturn Awards

Once again, ¡Feliz Cinco De Mayo! I'm continuing the celebration by examining this year's Saturn Awards Horror Film nominees because Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro produced nominee "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark," connecting the awards to the holiday like I did three years ago for "Coco." It's a tenuous connection, but it works as a MacGuffin to blog about leading horror film "Doctor Sleep," the third most nominated at this year's ceremony with eight nominations. Since I already covered "Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker" and "Tenet," the two films ahead of it yesterday, it makes sense to write about it and the other horror film nominees today.


I begin with the nominees for Best Horror Film Release from the Saturn Awards website.

Doctor Sleep
Freaky
The Invisible Man
It Chapter Two
Midsommar
Ready or Not
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

As I've already mentioned, "Doctor Sleep" has eight nominations, ranking third among all films at these awards, so it would be the nominal favorite by that criterion. However, I suspect the two horror films with three nominations, "The Invisible Man" and "It Chapter Two," have good chances to upset it. The professional choice would be "The Invisible Man," winner of Best Horror Movie at the Critics Choice Super Awards. The popular choice would be "It Chapter Two," which earned $211,593,228 to rank eleventh at the box office in 2019, while "Doctor Sleep" lagged behind at 79th with $31,581,712 the same year. Even "The Invisible Man" outgrossed "Doctor Sleep", earning $70,410,000 in 2020 to rank fifth for the pandemic-interrupted year. The dark horse would be "Midsommar," definitely a critical choice, but not a popular one. I would be very surprised if it won. Based on the above, I expect "It Chapter Two" to win this because the Saturn Awards are about entertainment more than art and they like spectacular, not subtle. Electorates matter. As for my vote, I'm waiting until my wife I watch "The Invisible Man" before deciding between it and "Doctor Sleep," which we enjoyed and think was underappreciated by the horror movie audience, who vastly preferred the other Stephen King adaptation.

Two other categories included horror films, Best Independent Film Release and Best International Film Release. Here are the nominees for Best Independent Film Release.

Angel of Mine
Encounter
The Aeronauts
Color Out of Space
Freaks
Palm Springs
Possessor

The obvious horror movies are "Color Out of Space," an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story, and "Possessor," whose title gives it away, even though it's as much science fiction as horror. I think "Color Out of Space" is definitely the favorite, but I'm voting for science fiction comedy "Palm Springs" even though I think "The Aeronauts" would be the professional choice as an artistic action/adventure film. I'm justifying my vote by recycling my mini-rant from 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' has two Oscar nominations plus two Golden Globes and awards from the Critics Choice Association and WGA.

Before I move on, as much as Grace dumps on "Palm Springs," I want to stand up for it. Not only was it a decent comedy, but it won the Critics Choice Super Awards for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie, Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie (Andy Samberg), and Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie (Cristin Milioti). Given the other nominees in these categories, I would agree with those wins.

"Palm Springs" managed to win Best Comedy at the Critics Choice Awards, so the critics generally like it, even if Grace Randolph doesn't. It also earned a nomination at the Saturn Awards for Best Independent Film Release. I might even vote for it.

Next, the nominees for Best International Film Release.

Jojo Rabbit
The Nightingale
Official Secrets
Parasite
Sputnik
The Whistlers

Both "The Nightingale" and "Sputnik" have horror listed at their IMDB entries. I think "The Nightingale" is the better of the two, as it was the best Australian film of 2019. That doesn't mean I'll vote for it. Instead, my top two films in this category are "Jojo Rabbit" and "Parasite" with four nominations each. I'm voting for "Parasite," but the rest of the Saturn voters might vote for "Jojo Rabbit" instead.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the horror movie nominees.

ABC News and NBC News explain Cinco De Mayo, a holiday more celebrated in the U.S. than Mexico

¡Feliz Cinco De Mayo! Like I did two years ago, I'm sharing a video explaining the actual history behind the holiday. Watch ABC News' Cinco de Mayo: A Brief History.

George Stephanopoulos brings you the amazing true story behind America’s favorite Mexican holiday.

To emphasize the holiday's historical importance to the U.S., I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling an excerpt from David Von Drehle of The Washington Post about Americans misunderstanding of today — We get Cinco de Mayo wrong. But we’re not wrong to celebrate it.

[I]t’s entirely appropriate that Cinco de Mayo matters more in the United States. The event commemorated on this holiday was a triumph of Mexican spirit and courage. For us, though, it just might have saved our nation.
...
As it happened, the tide of the Civil War was just about to swing away from the North. In the summer of 1862, a Union campaign against the Confederate capital of Richmond fell to pieces and the rebels advanced on all fronts. Pressure for European intervention reached the boiling point.

Had a triumphant French army been raising the flag in Mexico City that summer, it might have made all the difference. The wavering Napoleon might have been emboldened to recognize the Confederacy, pulling the British along with him. Instead, the French army was licking its wounds, mangled by a smaller force of Mexican irregulars, and the emperor was momentarily chastened. Though France managed to topple the Mexican government the following year, its brief reign there came too late to help the South. The North had regained its momentum, and Lincoln was on his way to saving the Union.

That's right; Cinco De Mayo may have helped preserve two countries, the U.S. and Mexico.

NBC News has the story of the holiday's current commercial importance, What Cinco de Mayo Is All About.

For some, Cinco de Mayo is just an excuse to drink margaritas. So, we clear up some of the misconceptions about the holiday.

I grew up in Los Angeles, so I became aware of Cinco De Mayo decades before the distributors of Mexican beer jumped on the holiday. Still, I'm not surprised they're the ones who promoted it.

I close this entry with Tipsy Bartender's most recent upload, Cinco de Mayo Margarita Fishbowl YOUTUBE.


It may be cliche, but it beats a bunch of recipes that use Corona!

Stay tuned for another entry about the Saturn Awards, whether it's today, in which case I'll be looking at Horror Film nominees because Guillermo del Toro produced nominee "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark," connecting the awards to the holiday like I did three years ago for "Coco," or tomorrow, when I will have something for the Revenge of the Sixth, the dark side of Star Wars Day.

Star Wars at the 2021 Saturn Awards for Star Wars Day

Happy Star Wars Day and May the Fourth be with you! For today's cosmic cinematic celebration, I am returning to a theme I have been unable to explore since 2018, nominations for the "Star Wars" franchise at the Saturn Awards. Three different properties earned nominations, "Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker" with twelve, "The Mandalorian" with two, and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" with one.

As Deadline noted, the dozen nominations for "Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker" leads all movies at the Saturn Awards. "Tenet" follows in second with nine, while "Doctor Sleep" sits in third with eight. Since "The Rise of Skywalker" and "Tenet" are competing against each other in seven categories, including Best Science Fiction Release, I am framing today's entry as a head-to-head contest between the two as well as my usual angle of examining fantastic and futuristic politics and government in film and television.

I begin with the nominees for Best Science Fiction Release from the Saturn Awards website.

Ad Astra
Gemini Man
Lucy in the Sky
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
Tenet
Terminator: Dark Fate

Before the pandemic delayed all the awards shows except the Emmys, I was expecting a matchup between "Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker" and "Ad Astra." The latter is a more realistic depiction of futuristic politics and government than anything in the "Star Wars" universe, but it isn't as good a movie as either "The Rise of Skywalker" or "Tenet." I was planning on voting for the last installment in the literal trilogy of trilogies in this category last year and I'm still planning on voting for it this year. I also expect the Saturn electorate to vote for "The Rise of Skywalker" as well. I don't think they'll do to the culmination of the Skywalker Saga what they did to "Solo" two years ago and to "The Last Jedi" three years ago by voting for a movie not in the franchise. Remember, electorates matter and so does the field of nominees.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations and my opinions, including my likely vote and whether the rest of the Saturn Awards electorate will agree with me.

Anthony Mackie interviewed about playing Captain America by Colbert, Noah, and Entertainment Tonight

I closed Disneyland reopens as more than 100 million Americans are fully vaccinated, a pandemic update with a footnote about today's post.

My other choice for today's topic was Anthony Mackie as the new Captain America. My wife liked that idea better than this one, so stay tuned to see if I write about tomorrow.

As I promised my wife, I'm blogging about it today. Watch "Humbling And Exciting" - Anthony Mackie On Becoming Captain America from "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

Anthony Mackie, star of "Falcon and The Winter Soldier," talks about the significance of becoming the first Black Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Get used to seeing the clip of Mackie making his first appearance as the new Captain America and to hearing Mackie talk about his sons and praising the show's writers and director.

While Trevor Noah also mentioned Mackie being the last guest on his show before the pandemic lockdown and Mackie's workout regimen to achieve and maintain his physique, Trevor went into far more depth about the shows' social commentary in Anthony Mackie - Becoming the First Black Captain America.

Anthony Mackie talks about his experience becoming Captain America, explains how “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” tackled the turbulent relationship between Black men and America, and shares his love for New Orleans.

This segment shows the importance of the interviewer, as Trevor was willing to ask questions about the social issues in the show and eliciting answers about how the writers and actors handled them. In particular, Mackie saying "As a Black man, you're in an abusive relationship with America" was a hard truth. The good news is that Mackie is getting more positive feedback from fans about becoming Captain America than he expected and that bodes well for the country. I hope he's right.

Follow over the jump for two interviews of the creators of "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" from Entertainment Tonight.

Disneyland reopens as more than 100 million Americans are fully vaccinated, a pandemic update

I changed my mind about today's topic since Wednesday. Instead of integrating clips of the acceptance speeches and interviews for "Nomadland" into a final Oscar post for the Sunday Entertainment feature, I'm updating California theme parks may reopen as early as April 1, no fooling! A pandemic update. I felt it was less work and more fun.*

I begin with Disneyland Reopens Amid Signs Of A COVID-19 Recovery from NBC's Today Show.

Thousands of fans descended on Disneyland for the first time in more than a year as the California theme park reopened with capacity capped at 25 percent. Yet amid signs of the U.S. returning to normal, there is growing concern as the demand for COVID-19 vaccines declines. NBC’s Guad Venegas reports for Weekend TODAY.

After seeing all those happy park-goers run in at rope drop, I found it sobering to see and hear all the reminders that the pandemic is still raging in the U.S. and that half of the country is not yet vaccinated. My wife and I are not among them; we received our second shots two weeks ago, so we're among the 100 million fully vaccinated. As for the rest of you, if you can get vaccinated, please do so!

While Today opened its segment with the park reopening while shifting to and emphasizing the pandemic, MSNBC reversed the order, beginning with vaccination news before reporting on the reopening, including interviewing an attendee in Disneyland Welcomes Back Guests For First Time Today.

Disneyland welcomes back guests for first time today. NBC News Correspondent Simone Boyce joins Katy Tur with more.

Yes, it does feel like returning back to normal. Just be aware that we're not there yet.

Also, I can tell I haven't been watching as much MSNBC as I used to, because this is the first I've heard that Katy Tur is expecting another child. No congratulations yet, instead I'm wishing her an uneventful pregnancy and a healthy daughter later this month.

It's not just visitors who are thrilled to have Disneyland reopen. CBS News reported on the economic effects outside the parks in Disneyland reopens and nearby small businesses rejoice as customers return.

One Anaheim, California, business owner said it will take him two years to recoup the losses associated with Disneyland's COVID-19 closure. He's grateful for any amount of foot traffic as the famed theme park reopens to visitors, even at partial capacity.

I'm glad the two small business owners interviewed were able to survive the shutdown. As the report mentions, many others were not so fortunate.

The owner of the Castle Inn & Suites said that business would improve when out of state residents could visit the parks. The Los Angeles Times mentioned that restriction in Disneyland reopens. What to expect.

Disneyland has reopened after more than a yearlong closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. Los Angeles Times reporter Todd Martens details what visitors can expect as the park adheres to COVID policies.

As I expected last June, visiting the parks "will...be a much more careful and much less crowded experience than it was before the pandemic."

Speaking of last June, I'll be a good environmentalist and recycle what I wrote then with additional commentary from this March.

Both news items tie into what I first wrote in 2011, "America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­. My experience has convinced me that the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent." I elaborated on that in both Possibly (not) the last Detroit Fireworks Show and Christmas music from the Cadets and Crazy Eddie's Motie News, adding "Americans want their entertainment, and will do just about anything to keep it going." The pandemic keeping the parks closed is definitely messing with Americans' entertainment.

Once again, many Americans are being clear about their priorities. They've had enough of the pandemic messing with their entertainment and are happy to have it back, regardless of the public health consequences. Sigh. As I wrote last month, "My friend Nebris thinks this is one of my great insights. I'm sure it is, but, like Jimmy [Kimmel], I wish it weren't true."

*My other choice for today's topic was Anthony Mackie as the new Captain America. My wife liked that idea better than this one, so stay tuned to see if I write about tomorrow.