It's all Ron Howard's fault.
"Parenthood" is one of those films I can watch everytime it's on. If you don't like Steve Martin, don't worry - it's got Tom Hulce. Don't like Mary Steenburgen? The next scene has Dianne Wiest. Can't relate to the "perfect yuppy" family? Wait 'til you see what one of the kids finds during a blackout and you'll realize that NONE of these families have it all together. Just like real life.
So when I heard that "Parenthood" was gonna be made into a TV show a few years ago, I was ready to watch. Sure the families were different and the actors and characters had been changed but Ron Howard was still involved. I've been watching since the pilot and, while not every storyline is a home run, if you just wait a few minutes, it will change ... just like in the movie. Just like in real life.
Well, last week I got worried. It felt like one of the characters was being given a storyline that was gonna feel false and cheap. A lead character was given breast cancer. She already has plenty on her plate - a child who just left for college, another with Asperger's, an infant, a very distracted husband - and this new story could've gone horribly wrong.
Instead, as the Awesome Fiance and I watched, I found myself pausing the show and saying "she's feeling like no one is listening", "he should just let her vent and not say anything", "the doctor she sees isn't a debate she wants to have". And, over the course of the show, the Awesome Fiance started asking me "what's she thinking about now" or "how is she feeling" and, just like the movie did so long ago, it reflected real life.
But - fair warning - if anyone gets Parkinson's, I'm removing "Parenthood" from our TiVo.
Showing posts with label Guilty Pleasure Shows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guilty Pleasure Shows. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Games We Play
When I was a child at home from school (either because of another broken arm or just not feeling well), there were things I'd do to stay busy. Read. Play with our animals. Bake. Watch TV.
When I was a YOUNG child at home from school, it was mostly that last one. Oh the countless hours of mindless crap that I'd waste my day watching. Avoiding at all cost any kind of news program (because if I wanted to learn something, I'd go to school ... DUH!), I'd try to find either predictable sitcoms or game shows. Tic Tac Dough, $25,000 Pyramid, and the Gong Show were alright ... but if I were really lucky, I'd come across The Match Game.
Oh I just loved The Match Game. I didn't always get the wackiness of the responses but I loved watching it. Folks really seemed to enjoy themselves there. I couldn't play along, most of the time, because some of the blanks that needed filling in were over my head, but it was fun anyway.
I could ... and did ... play along with Pyramid. I was really quite good, too. Not as good as my parents were with Name That Tune, but I probably could have done alright. I was never a good receiver of clues, but as a giver? Well, in my not-at-all humble 8+year old head, I just rocked the clue-giver category.
So as a preview for a future blog entry, let's play Pyramid. I'll give the clues, and you guess the category.
Sneezing.
Twins.
Echo.
Footwear.
Team.
Flock.
Waves.
There. That should do it.
When I was a YOUNG child at home from school, it was mostly that last one. Oh the countless hours of mindless crap that I'd waste my day watching. Avoiding at all cost any kind of news program (because if I wanted to learn something, I'd go to school ... DUH!), I'd try to find either predictable sitcoms or game shows. Tic Tac Dough, $25,000 Pyramid, and the Gong Show were alright ... but if I were really lucky, I'd come across The Match Game.
Oh I just loved The Match Game. I didn't always get the wackiness of the responses but I loved watching it. Folks really seemed to enjoy themselves there. I couldn't play along, most of the time, because some of the blanks that needed filling in were over my head, but it was fun anyway.
I could ... and did ... play along with Pyramid. I was really quite good, too. Not as good as my parents were with Name That Tune, but I probably could have done alright. I was never a good receiver of clues, but as a giver? Well, in my not-at-all humble 8+year old head, I just rocked the clue-giver category.
So as a preview for a future blog entry, let's play Pyramid. I'll give the clues, and you guess the category.
Sneezing.
Twins.
Echo.
Footwear.
Team.
Flock.
Waves.
There. That should do it.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A Place For My Stuff
The Awesome Boyfriend and I have taken to watching "American Pickers" on The History Channel. It's pretty entertaining as we, the viewing audience, are introduced to folks and neighborhoods and sheds and buildings as the two main hosts wade through piles and piles of "stuff" looking for things they can sell or restore or add to THEIR collections.
There are various shows like this - "Pawn Stars" springs to mind, as does "Antique Road Show" - but this one is different in that we see the owners of said "stuff" in their own environment. Sometimes it's a very neat, very orderly collection (which the hosts don't tend to enjoy much because the chances for buying things from a neat collection tends to be slim) but more often than not, it's the back building with the door that doesn't quite really open and the lock that rusted off during that snowstorm in '73 and, when the camera is finally able to get through, it looks like what it is ... a bunch of crap that was maybe at one time a treasured collection that has since gone neglected.
Which, in a strange route of thinking, lead me to think of this space. I use this space for a number of things but, first and foremost, it's entertainment for me. That's why there are music videos and pictures of cats and memories of cars and stories of dogs and descriptions of food and random news stories ... and that's just what I've hit the "Publish Post" button on. In the "Drafts" area, I have dribs and drabs, rants and ravings, stories half-written and memories semi-described ... all sitting waiting to be discarded or finished.
And, like those folks we meet in "American Pickers", I'm faced with the question of "why don't you finish this or discard it now?" Sometimes it's in draft stage because the topic isn't fully-formed in my head, sometimes the stuff I've written isn't clear enough as I re-read it to make much sense, sometimes the appropriate moment has passed, and a lot of times I just wanted to write it out so that I didn't have to think on it anymore. (That last one tends to be mostly of the "rant" category.)
I think that a lot of the population does something like this, either with ideas or memories or lessons learned or actual, physical things. We hold onto those pieces ... to our "stuff" ... because we're not done with our collection yet, in one way or another. And, at some point, there will be a time, a place, a person, or an event that lets us know we need to decide if we're keeping it or letting it go.
There are various shows like this - "Pawn Stars" springs to mind, as does "Antique Road Show" - but this one is different in that we see the owners of said "stuff" in their own environment. Sometimes it's a very neat, very orderly collection (which the hosts don't tend to enjoy much because the chances for buying things from a neat collection tends to be slim) but more often than not, it's the back building with the door that doesn't quite really open and the lock that rusted off during that snowstorm in '73 and, when the camera is finally able to get through, it looks like what it is ... a bunch of crap that was maybe at one time a treasured collection that has since gone neglected.
Which, in a strange route of thinking, lead me to think of this space. I use this space for a number of things but, first and foremost, it's entertainment for me. That's why there are music videos and pictures of cats and memories of cars and stories of dogs and descriptions of food and random news stories ... and that's just what I've hit the "Publish Post" button on. In the "Drafts" area, I have dribs and drabs, rants and ravings, stories half-written and memories semi-described ... all sitting waiting to be discarded or finished.
And, like those folks we meet in "American Pickers", I'm faced with the question of "why don't you finish this or discard it now?" Sometimes it's in draft stage because the topic isn't fully-formed in my head, sometimes the stuff I've written isn't clear enough as I re-read it to make much sense, sometimes the appropriate moment has passed, and a lot of times I just wanted to write it out so that I didn't have to think on it anymore. (That last one tends to be mostly of the "rant" category.)
I think that a lot of the population does something like this, either with ideas or memories or lessons learned or actual, physical things. We hold onto those pieces ... to our "stuff" ... because we're not done with our collection yet, in one way or another. And, at some point, there will be a time, a place, a person, or an event that lets us know we need to decide if we're keeping it or letting it go.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Tradition!
(and now you have "Fiddler On The Roof" playing in your head)
I come from a family of few traditions. Oh sure - there's the traditional Ramos Fizz on Easter Sunday before service, Black Russians on Christmas Eve, Champagne if it is on sale ... hmmm, quite a few alcohol-based traditions there. *shrug* What can I say - my family of few traditions IS, after all, Irish.
There is one tradition that is just for my mother and I. Entertainment Awards Shows. The real ones, 'tho - not the "best same-sex kiss in worst teenage movie" ones. I'm talking Oscar and his gal-pal Emmy.
I used to see a LOT of movies when I was in my teens and twenties. It was good entertainment, it was fairly inexpensive at just $5.50 for the latest blockbuster, and it was something that I really enjoyed doing. I know a lot of folks go to the movies to escape or to avoid doing something else - but I really liked just being entertained for a few hours. NOW when ya' go, it's about a $40 payment, the multiplex has paper-thin walls so you get to hear all the other movies around you, parking is impossible and if you haven't seen the previous four movies that this one follow and haven't bothered to read the book, the interviews, aren't reading the tweets and haven't "friended" the movie crew, screw it - you'd never understand the plot here either.
My movie-going came to a trickle for a lot of years, when there was no one would could go to the movies with me. (This is what happens when everyone you're friends with starts having a family.) So my mother and I started going together. We'd typically see either the latest Harry Potter (which, in fairness, we HAD read) or something fun and weightless - aka "the chick flick". Plus - as a bonus to seeing the current releases, we'd have someone to root for during the Oscar broadcast.
Ahhhh the Oscars. We'd been watching it together for yeaaaars ... long before Joan Rivers' kid was broadcasting. We'd discuss the dresses, the dates, the teases, the bad sketches, the host - oh, and the winners and losers. It was great fun.
When the movie-going slowed down, the show to watch became the Emmys. It was easier to watch the Emmys and to root for people because you didn't have to remember back in March which God-awful movie Ben Affleck had been in. These folks on TV - on the shows we'd watch - came into our homes each week. If the series was REALLY good, I'd even have the DVDs of the seasons - so yeah, watching the Emmys worked really well.
Tonight I was startled to see something about "2010 Emmy Fashion" online. I guess it had escaped my attention that the broadcast was tonight. I've already called my folks once today so I don't want to bother them with a stupid call to say "hey Mom - Emmy's are tonight". But watching them together was what we did. And since last years ceremony was broadcast in mid-September, I guess this is the first year we really won't watch and comment to each other.
It's a tradition I will miss.
(I still can't believe that Johnny Galecki isn't nominated. Jim Parsons had BETTER win.)
I come from a family of few traditions. Oh sure - there's the traditional Ramos Fizz on Easter Sunday before service, Black Russians on Christmas Eve, Champagne if it is on sale ... hmmm, quite a few alcohol-based traditions there. *shrug* What can I say - my family of few traditions IS, after all, Irish.
There is one tradition that is just for my mother and I. Entertainment Awards Shows. The real ones, 'tho - not the "best same-sex kiss in worst teenage movie" ones. I'm talking Oscar and his gal-pal Emmy.
I used to see a LOT of movies when I was in my teens and twenties. It was good entertainment, it was fairly inexpensive at just $5.50 for the latest blockbuster, and it was something that I really enjoyed doing. I know a lot of folks go to the movies to escape or to avoid doing something else - but I really liked just being entertained for a few hours. NOW when ya' go, it's about a $40 payment, the multiplex has paper-thin walls so you get to hear all the other movies around you, parking is impossible and if you haven't seen the previous four movies that this one follow and haven't bothered to read the book, the interviews, aren't reading the tweets and haven't "friended" the movie crew, screw it - you'd never understand the plot here either.
My movie-going came to a trickle for a lot of years, when there was no one would could go to the movies with me. (This is what happens when everyone you're friends with starts having a family.) So my mother and I started going together. We'd typically see either the latest Harry Potter (which, in fairness, we HAD read) or something fun and weightless - aka "the chick flick". Plus - as a bonus to seeing the current releases, we'd have someone to root for during the Oscar broadcast.
Ahhhh the Oscars. We'd been watching it together for yeaaaars ... long before Joan Rivers' kid was broadcasting. We'd discuss the dresses, the dates, the teases, the bad sketches, the host - oh, and the winners and losers. It was great fun.
When the movie-going slowed down, the show to watch became the Emmys. It was easier to watch the Emmys and to root for people because you didn't have to remember back in March which God-awful movie Ben Affleck had been in. These folks on TV - on the shows we'd watch - came into our homes each week. If the series was REALLY good, I'd even have the DVDs of the seasons - so yeah, watching the Emmys worked really well.
Tonight I was startled to see something about "2010 Emmy Fashion" online. I guess it had escaped my attention that the broadcast was tonight. I've already called my folks once today so I don't want to bother them with a stupid call to say "hey Mom - Emmy's are tonight". But watching them together was what we did. And since last years ceremony was broadcast in mid-September, I guess this is the first year we really won't watch and comment to each other.
It's a tradition I will miss.
(I still can't believe that Johnny Galecki isn't nominated. Jim Parsons had BETTER win.)
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Bwoof? Broowf? Brollwof??
I can't seem to be able to just narrow down the clip below to the relevant area, so instead I'll have to leave it as is and say that the action that occurs between 2:11 and 2:23 illustrates pretty accurately how I feel currently.
(I'll also share that if you aren't familiar with this clip, it comes from a show from the late 1980s. This short story was so popular that they spun an entire series with it which ... well, it was a poor substitute from the original. I highly recommend watching parts 1 and 3, so you get the full effect - but yeah, sitting in one position from feeling soooo full ..... I can relate to that.)
(I'll also share that if you aren't familiar with this clip, it comes from a show from the late 1980s. This short story was so popular that they spun an entire series with it which ... well, it was a poor substitute from the original. I highly recommend watching parts 1 and 3, so you get the full effect - but yeah, sitting in one position from feeling soooo full ..... I can relate to that.)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Geniuses or Geeks?
First off - geeks. All the way. No question. All the brains and NONE of the superior, condescending, smarmy attitude. Give me a geek every day of the week. (Ok if the genius in question also happens to be a geek - ala Johnny Galecki's Dr. Leonard Hofstadter? Oh yeeeeah, I'd bend the rules for Johnn ... I mean for Leonard.)
Secondly - a pondering that I've been chewing on. If you created a customer-facing product, and you wanted it to seem accessible and friendly to your average consumer, why would you then tell said potential customer "oh and if you need help, talk to one of our Geniuses?" I mean - doesn't that make it seem like the product is so confusing and befuddling that it takes a GENIUS to make it work? Or am I just being slow here? After all, I'm no genius.
Here's what's going on:
I have three products from the company that makes the portable music devices - so clearly, I'm a fan. All three products are used in various ways and none of them have ever given me a lick of trouble. Until now. See - I have a new home laptop and wanted to have the same musical library on my portable devices live on this new laptop. And it WAS working on it too, for a while ... but I noticed that my purchased file wasn't matching up. One of my devices said I had 297 purchased songs, while the laptop says that I have 93. So there's a significant chunk of music that's gone missing. Now rounding up by one whole penny, that's $204 worth of missing music ... and seeing as how I have only legally purchased music (heck - I fully admit I'm not smart enough to know how I'd go about downloading anything illegally), that's $204 I'd rather not spend again.
I gathered up my three portable music devices and my laptop and headed to the store that solely represents the company behind the devices. I was greeted immediately at the front of their door and barely started to explain my issue when Trevor, the bouncer at the door, asked if I had an appointment with one of their Geniuses. "No", I said. "I KNOW this is user error and I'm hoping that if I could just be shown the steps I'm not doing correctly, I'll be able to fix the problem on my own." I then went into a Readers-digest version of what was going wrong but barely got into the problem when Trevor interrupted "oh - yeaaaah - we can't help you. You see - while you're clearly NOT stealing music, what you're describing is how one WOULD do that and so we are legally not supposed to assist. However, if you go online and download this freeware product called notgonnanameithere.com, you should be fine." "Really?" I said, incredulously. "Because I'd have NO problem being charged for a fix - I'm just not all that comfortable and this IS your product after all."
After realizing that Trevor wasn't gonna let me anywhere near his precious geniuses no matter what the cost, I walked out of the store and I'll admit - I was feeling a little bit more comfortable with trying to troubleshoot the problem on my own. After all, while they wouldn't do it for me, I had been given a lead for a fix.
That feeling lasted right up until the VERY FIRST window from stillnotgonnanameithere.com popped up. "You have too many libraries and we cannot tell which device maps to which computer. Please type in the correct mapping justification in the next 8 seconds but be careful - if you get it wrong, we'll erase your devices, reformat your laptop and you'll be marked forever as a failure" said the window. (No, not really, but it may as WELL have said that.) Sooooooo I shut down and decided to sleep on it for a night. Perhaps I'd have a stroke of ... well, genius in my sleep.
Alas, I did not.
The next day, I again gathered up my toys and headed to the local "1st-place Purchase" store. I was greeted at the customer help desk by Kevin, who listened and - get this - TOOK NOTES!! - as I explained my problem. He then said "so fixing this would mean that your three devices and your laptop all had the same music on them, right?" "Exactly!" I said. Kevin and Tanya then spent 40 minutes - with me right there with them - as we three tried things we could think of. After that time, Tanya said "Yanno, I think we should open a ticket for you. Can you leave these items with us?" "Sure", I said. "Take your time . Heck - clearly I've been dealing with this for months now so there's no rush. I just want it to work." Kevin said he'd call me before his day ended to let me know what they'd done and what they could recommend. He also asked if a $30 charge could be added to the ticket, because he had a suspicion that they had a software package that could help with the problem. (Kevin would call, as he promised, to say that the software cannot work with my "bit size" and has already credited my account.)
I've had a day or two to think about this:
The place that CREATED the items in question would not let me talk to anyone significantly knowledgeable without an appointment, pointed me to a freeware product that isn't even connected to their company to fix the issue, and sent me on my way without ever even turning on my laptop.
The place that I purchased the laptop from, however, took my issue as a personal challenge - something almost fun for them to track down and solve, and they even offered to give me a loaner laptop while they trouble-shoot the issue. I'm typing this on my new laptop and have all my musical devices back with me. The problem still exists but I now hear from Kevin and Tanya at least twice a day as they continue to try to think of solutions. It's incredible customer service - especially when you consider that they've each spent several hours of their time pondering and surfing and researching and thus have charged me a total of 30 minutes of labor hours, which I'm more than happy to pay.
So Geeks or Geniuses?
The geeks shall inherit the Earth. (And, let's face it, it'll be a friendlier place when they do.)
**************
*Note: No real products or stores have been named in this rant but I think ya' should be able to figure out the cast of characters anyway.
Secondly - a pondering that I've been chewing on. If you created a customer-facing product, and you wanted it to seem accessible and friendly to your average consumer, why would you then tell said potential customer "oh and if you need help, talk to one of our Geniuses?" I mean - doesn't that make it seem like the product is so confusing and befuddling that it takes a GENIUS to make it work? Or am I just being slow here? After all, I'm no genius.
Here's what's going on:
I have three products from the company that makes the portable music devices - so clearly, I'm a fan. All three products are used in various ways and none of them have ever given me a lick of trouble. Until now. See - I have a new home laptop and wanted to have the same musical library on my portable devices live on this new laptop. And it WAS working on it too, for a while ... but I noticed that my purchased file wasn't matching up. One of my devices said I had 297 purchased songs, while the laptop says that I have 93. So there's a significant chunk of music that's gone missing. Now rounding up by one whole penny, that's $204 worth of missing music ... and seeing as how I have only legally purchased music (heck - I fully admit I'm not smart enough to know how I'd go about downloading anything illegally), that's $204 I'd rather not spend again.
I gathered up my three portable music devices and my laptop and headed to the store that solely represents the company behind the devices. I was greeted immediately at the front of their door and barely started to explain my issue when Trevor, the bouncer at the door, asked if I had an appointment with one of their Geniuses. "No", I said. "I KNOW this is user error and I'm hoping that if I could just be shown the steps I'm not doing correctly, I'll be able to fix the problem on my own." I then went into a Readers-digest version of what was going wrong but barely got into the problem when Trevor interrupted "oh - yeaaaah - we can't help you. You see - while you're clearly NOT stealing music, what you're describing is how one WOULD do that and so we are legally not supposed to assist. However, if you go online and download this freeware product called notgonnanameithere.com, you should be fine." "Really?" I said, incredulously. "Because I'd have NO problem being charged for a fix - I'm just not all that comfortable and this IS your product after all."
After realizing that Trevor wasn't gonna let me anywhere near his precious geniuses no matter what the cost, I walked out of the store and I'll admit - I was feeling a little bit more comfortable with trying to troubleshoot the problem on my own. After all, while they wouldn't do it for me, I had been given a lead for a fix.
That feeling lasted right up until the VERY FIRST window from stillnotgonnanameithere.com popped up. "You have too many libraries and we cannot tell which device maps to which computer. Please type in the correct mapping justification in the next 8 seconds but be careful - if you get it wrong, we'll erase your devices, reformat your laptop and you'll be marked forever as a failure" said the window. (No, not really, but it may as WELL have said that.) Sooooooo I shut down and decided to sleep on it for a night. Perhaps I'd have a stroke of ... well, genius in my sleep.
Alas, I did not.
The next day, I again gathered up my toys and headed to the local "1st-place Purchase" store. I was greeted at the customer help desk by Kevin, who listened and - get this - TOOK NOTES!! - as I explained my problem. He then said "so fixing this would mean that your three devices and your laptop all had the same music on them, right?" "Exactly!" I said. Kevin and Tanya then spent 40 minutes - with me right there with them - as we three tried things we could think of. After that time, Tanya said "Yanno, I think we should open a ticket for you. Can you leave these items with us?" "Sure", I said. "Take your time . Heck - clearly I've been dealing with this for months now so there's no rush. I just want it to work." Kevin said he'd call me before his day ended to let me know what they'd done and what they could recommend. He also asked if a $30 charge could be added to the ticket, because he had a suspicion that they had a software package that could help with the problem. (Kevin would call, as he promised, to say that the software cannot work with my "bit size" and has already credited my account.)
I've had a day or two to think about this:
The place that CREATED the items in question would not let me talk to anyone significantly knowledgeable without an appointment, pointed me to a freeware product that isn't even connected to their company to fix the issue, and sent me on my way without ever even turning on my laptop.
The place that I purchased the laptop from, however, took my issue as a personal challenge - something almost fun for them to track down and solve, and they even offered to give me a loaner laptop while they trouble-shoot the issue. I'm typing this on my new laptop and have all my musical devices back with me. The problem still exists but I now hear from Kevin and Tanya at least twice a day as they continue to try to think of solutions. It's incredible customer service - especially when you consider that they've each spent several hours of their time pondering and surfing and researching and thus have charged me a total of 30 minutes of labor hours, which I'm more than happy to pay.
So Geeks or Geniuses?
The geeks shall inherit the Earth. (And, let's face it, it'll be a friendlier place when they do.)
**************
*Note: No real products or stores have been named in this rant but I think ya' should be able to figure out the cast of characters anyway.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The Sexiest Nerds On TV
Our whole universe was in a hot, dense state.
Then, nearly fourteen billion years ago, expansion started – wait!
The Earth began to cool.
The autotrophs began to drool.
Neanderthals developed tools.
We built a wall.
We built the pyramids.
Math. Science. History.
Unraveling the mystery that all started with
Then, nearly fourteen billion years ago, expansion started – wait!
The Earth began to cool.
The autotrophs began to drool.
Neanderthals developed tools.
We built a wall.
We built the pyramids.
Math. Science. History.
Unraveling the mystery that all started with
Thursday, March 12, 2009
"I'm a nerd, and I'm pretty proud of it"
I have a label option for these brain dumps of mine - it's a standard Blogger feature and I've created some *very specific* ones ("Classic Cars", "KitchenAid", "Scharffenberger") and some pretty general ones ("Brain Barf", "Cats", "Fun and games").
Most times, I use a very general label ... "life". I figure "life" pretty much always covers things. I don't have a "health" label - and probably never will - 'cause all things health fall under "life". If I'm getting specific, I add to it ... so "life, rant" may be me channeling Dennis Miller and "life, gratitude" will likely be me at my Polly-Annish best.
No one would argue that, more often than not, writing a blog is a very ... well bold, outgoing, ego-centric kind of thing to do. Pre-blogs, we had diaries or journals (some of us still do) and those were typically private. (My first diary had a lock that, apparently, was useless ... but then, it's not like I'd written anything that private anyway. I knew my sister would read it.) But blogs are - for the most part - public domain.
I'm getting to the point ... be patient.
I have one label I haven't used much ... "Guilty Pleasure Shows". Given my sparse TV watching habits, it makes sense that this hasn't been used much. But, in the interest of using it and, with this being a blog and not a diary, here we go ...
Last weekend, there was a movie being shown on TV that is on my guilty pleasure movie list and I had to watch it. Had to. I love the music. I love the storyline. I love the stupid, extremely predictable dialogue and the oh-so-very-dated soundtrack (filled with songs that I'm also admitting to knowing most the lyrics to). I love the beyond-obvious outcome and resolution to the film. I sat there - transfixed - the moment I saw the familiar face of one of the main characters (an actor who probably wishes he'd never done the film) and hardly moved until the final copyright line scrolled beyond the screen.
Yes ... last weekend, I gleefully and happily spent 90 minutes of my life watching "Revenge of the Nerds" ... and I'm pretty proud of it.
Most times, I use a very general label ... "life". I figure "life" pretty much always covers things. I don't have a "health" label - and probably never will - 'cause all things health fall under "life". If I'm getting specific, I add to it ... so "life, rant" may be me channeling Dennis Miller and "life, gratitude" will likely be me at my Polly-Annish best.
No one would argue that, more often than not, writing a blog is a very ... well bold, outgoing, ego-centric kind of thing to do. Pre-blogs, we had diaries or journals (some of us still do) and those were typically private. (My first diary had a lock that, apparently, was useless ... but then, it's not like I'd written anything that private anyway. I knew my sister would read it.) But blogs are - for the most part - public domain.
I'm getting to the point ... be patient.
I have one label I haven't used much ... "Guilty Pleasure Shows". Given my sparse TV watching habits, it makes sense that this hasn't been used much. But, in the interest of using it and, with this being a blog and not a diary, here we go ...
Last weekend, there was a movie being shown on TV that is on my guilty pleasure movie list and I had to watch it. Had to. I love the music. I love the storyline. I love the stupid, extremely predictable dialogue and the oh-so-very-dated soundtrack (filled with songs that I'm also admitting to knowing most the lyrics to). I love the beyond-obvious outcome and resolution to the film. I sat there - transfixed - the moment I saw the familiar face of one of the main characters (an actor who probably wishes he'd never done the film) and hardly moved until the final copyright line scrolled beyond the screen.
Yes ... last weekend, I gleefully and happily spent 90 minutes of my life watching "Revenge of the Nerds" ... and I'm pretty proud of it.
Monday, March 9, 2009
"Because We Can"
Here's what I don't get ...
I consistently cook a damn good risotto in 24 minutes.
Contrary to what some authors and chefs would have you believe, you do not need a specific pot to cook risotto in ('tho I have one, which hangs on my wall in the kitchen, 'cause it's pretty and shiny), you do not need a specific spoon with which to stir the risotto, you do not need to stir the risotto un-endingly, *and* I don't think I could make it a longer process than the aforementioned 24 minutes. Honest - that 24 minutes is really as long as I could stretch things out - and that includes preheating the broth prior to adding it into the aborio rice. (The only hard and fast rule that the cookbooks and I agree on is that risotto is made with aborio rice. I've even cheated before and not preheated the broth and the results were still a very lovely risotto - creamy and tasty.)
So I guess when I read about the various cheats available that remove the unending stirring, the 45 minute cooking time, etc - I wonder - why? Why would I change to a process that takes "only" 30 minutes when that would ADD time to my current process? Isn't that the same as someone advising me to an "easier" commute that adds 12 minutes to my current time? Is it that far off to changing to a newer, revised product simply because such an item is available, even if the now older product worked just fine? Am I cheating myself out of a "better experience" if I continue to use a cell phone that is more than a decade old? One of my cars was made more than 10 years ago ... as long as the safety measures and the ecology still measures up against today's standards, am I being somehow untrue by not rushing out to upgrade immediately?
"New and improved" can make a person wonder if what they have is now somehow "old and inferior" simply by the label. And, while our economy could use the boost of thousands of Americans rushing out to buy the latest model vehicle (with "new and improved" cup holders), I guess I'm of the mindset that the value is in the eye of the beholder.
As an example, I present the following:
Oh and PS ... Johnny Galecki is a hottie.
I consistently cook a damn good risotto in 24 minutes.
Contrary to what some authors and chefs would have you believe, you do not need a specific pot to cook risotto in ('tho I have one, which hangs on my wall in the kitchen, 'cause it's pretty and shiny), you do not need a specific spoon with which to stir the risotto, you do not need to stir the risotto un-endingly, *and* I don't think I could make it a longer process than the aforementioned 24 minutes. Honest - that 24 minutes is really as long as I could stretch things out - and that includes preheating the broth prior to adding it into the aborio rice. (The only hard and fast rule that the cookbooks and I agree on is that risotto is made with aborio rice. I've even cheated before and not preheated the broth and the results were still a very lovely risotto - creamy and tasty.)
So I guess when I read about the various cheats available that remove the unending stirring, the 45 minute cooking time, etc - I wonder - why? Why would I change to a process that takes "only" 30 minutes when that would ADD time to my current process? Isn't that the same as someone advising me to an "easier" commute that adds 12 minutes to my current time? Is it that far off to changing to a newer, revised product simply because such an item is available, even if the now older product worked just fine? Am I cheating myself out of a "better experience" if I continue to use a cell phone that is more than a decade old? One of my cars was made more than 10 years ago ... as long as the safety measures and the ecology still measures up against today's standards, am I being somehow untrue by not rushing out to upgrade immediately?
"New and improved" can make a person wonder if what they have is now somehow "old and inferior" simply by the label. And, while our economy could use the boost of thousands of Americans rushing out to buy the latest model vehicle (with "new and improved" cup holders), I guess I'm of the mindset that the value is in the eye of the beholder.
As an example, I present the following:
Oh and PS ... Johnny Galecki is a hottie.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Dear Mr. Lorre,
Thank you for making "The Big Bang Theory" so damn good that I can watch the Season 1 DVD's over and over (and over and over) and still laugh. Simon Helberg as "Howard Wolowitz" is, as you accurately stated, Pepe Le Pew in human form ... and it's possible that my first love was the character you've named "Leonard". (Ya' coulda' kept his original name, yanno - it was just as ... nerd-aful.)
Although Season 2 is just now being aired, please note that I've already asked www.tvshowsondvd.com to alert me when the current season DVD's will be released.
PS: I've also been a fan of your vanity cards since "Dharma and Greg" (even after that show fell deeply into the crapper). Keep up the rants on those cards, especially the censored ones (typically found on "Two and a Half Men".)
Although Season 2 is just now being aired, please note that I've already asked www.tvshowsondvd.com to alert me when the current season DVD's will be released.
PS: I've also been a fan of your vanity cards since "Dharma and Greg" (even after that show fell deeply into the crapper). Keep up the rants on those cards, especially the censored ones (typically found on "Two and a Half Men".)
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