There are words from my youth (when dinosaurs roamed the Earth) that you rarely hear anymore. For example, people don't quarrel anymore. Nor do they bicker. No one is ever cross with you. You don't meet people who are bashful. Children don't engage in rough housing or horseplay. No one is told to beat it or to scram. And people don't ever seem to be lonesome.
I don't like rap music. It in no way shape or form appeals to me. I also don't like punk rock, heavy metal or country and western. For some reason a lot of white people are afraid to say that they don't like rap. Silly.
Here are sentences you only ever hear in movies: "I don't want any trouble." "I'm afraid I'll have to insist." "You'll learn to love me." "This is bigger than the both of us."
People who deny that climate change is real and man made are, in my opinion, just as stupid as people who believe that the Earth is flat or that golf is a sport.
I kind of miss the variety shows that were so prominent when I was a kid. Shows where there was a host, various acts performed, like a singer or a musical group and a comic and there were skits. Why don't we have those? SNL is sort of like one, but I could do with the old fashioned variety.
MSNBC isn't really a news channel. My wife watches and enjoys it as do many people and there is a lot of good content. However I was on the treadmill last night for over an hour and one of the TVs had MSNBC on. Their entire programming was dedicated to Trump -- as it often is. Not a word about Yemen, Syria, Brazil's new incoming president, the strife in Paris, the trouble with Brexit the rapist who got no jail time, the incoming congress, poverty in America, climate change or the space program. Ridiculous.
Just wondering. Is there a bigger idiot than Betty Devos (not counting the current president?).
So the NFL is happy to employ wife beaters but draws the line at someone who started a peaceful protest. So very American.
Is it wrong that I love to look at pictures of Rihanna? They make me happy. Mind you I'm happily married and would much prefer a romantic evening with my wife than with Rihanna. But I still like how Rihanna looks.
How come Santa Claus has never been Time Magazine's Person of the Year? Name someone who brings more joy to people's lives, particularly children. You can't do it.
Ya know what was great? When you didn't have to listen to people talk on their telephones. You can't escape it anymore. People will jabber on their mobile phones anyplace, anytime. It used to be you had to be in someone's house to hear a phone conversation, or if you walked by someone on a public phone. I'll never get used to it.
When I was growing up we had five TV stations, now there are hundreds plus streaming services, so there's a helluva lot more to choose from and shows that aren't on regular broadcast channels aren't encumbered by censorship rules. Despite that I find the vast majority of TV shows that I've had any exposure to at all, to be garbage. But there were some excellent shows on TV in 2018. The best, in my opinion, being Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. I also enjoyed: Better Call Saul, The Deuce, The Good Place, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Orange is the New Black, Brooklyn 99, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Barry.
Speaking of TV shows, The Simpsons has deteriorated a lot these past few years. The show's heyday was during its first seven or so seasons and the quality remained fairly good for another 11 or 12 years, but in the last decade it has become a pale reflection of its former greatness. Might be time to hang 'em up.
If you follow college football one thing you know for a fact is there are way too many bowl games. When I was a kid (and dinosaurs roamed the Earth) there were about ten. That was too few. Now the pendulum has swung too far and there are four times that amount. The product is diluted when you have too much.
Sometimes I look around when I'm riding a bus or on the subway and I'll be the only person reading a book. Most people are looking at their phones and getting info bytes. There's a lot to be said for narratives. I worry about what's happening to reading habits (as in they'e vanishing).
On MUNI yesterday the transit cops, as they occasionally and quite randomly do, boarded to check everyone on my bus for either a transfer receipt or to see that they used their Clipper card. As far as I could tell they checked everybody, except me, the old white guy wearing a tie. Second time that's happened. Who says white privilege isn't real?
How many books over how many decades is it going to take to sort out the mess that is the current administration? There was a helluva lot written, and still being penned, about Nixon and Watergate but that was child's play next to this. It's going to be a lot for historian's to wade through.
As Christmas approaches it is once again evident that the Republicans are the party of Scrooge (before the ghostly visitations). They hate poor people, preferring to lower taxes for the rich and keep the minimum wage as low as they can. They don't give a fig about gun violence, global warming, asylum seekers, immigrants or people of color. They have no conscience as evidenced by their refusal to stand up to the Moron-in-Chief. Bah humbug to them!
To all my fellow progressives: Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, whatever floats your boat.
No comments:
Post a Comment