No Winners Here

Oy vey, what a week! Is it me or is there an extra level of crazy in the air? Allow me to discuss some of the media hot topics this week.

1. Elon Musk/Twitter Deal: People are losing it over Elon Musk buying Twitter. Someone I worked with asked me about this deal and I told him what I'll tell you: I don't have a dog in this fight. I don't use Twitter. I had an account for 3 days back in 2010 and quickly shut that down. Every time I've thought about creating an account again, I've managed to convince myself that it's not a good idea. Now with Musk taking over, I'm even more convinced that rejoining Twitter won't ever happen for me. Musk checks a lot of suspect boxes on my list: billionaire, odd behavior, white South African, discriminatory behavior at his company, etc. Nah, bruh, I'm good.

2. Johnny Depp/Amber Heard Court Case: I have not been keeping up with the defamation suits between Johnny and Amber, but I have read what's been going on in court. What's up with Johnny's pseudo-British accent? People keep noting that he's from Kentucky. Granted, he hasn't lived there in a long time, but still. British? Is he playing Captain Jack on the stand? He and Amber's marriage sounds like it was a hot mess. Team no one (and that's a shame because I liked Johnny Depp back in the day).

3. James Corden: So Corden is packing it in next year and taking it back to the UK. Don't let the door hit ya on the way out, bloke! This guy is insufferable. I have no idea how he acquired the fan base that he did. Everything about him makes me cringe. He's fake, he's not funny, he's annoying. Even his Weight Watchers commercials bother me, especially the one when he's in the grocery store and the woman who asks about signing up is thin and doesn't need to lose weight! If you're going to have people in a commercial who want to lose weight, then at least show people who are actually overweight! And Corden doesn't look like he's lost any. He's like Oprah as a spokesperson for WW: not convincing. Sorry, not sorry!

Bad Numbers

Like many folks, I read about the fall of Netflix subscribers and how their revenue projections fell short due to this. I can't say I'm surprised. Every few months, I flirt with dropping Netflix. For every entertaining Bad Vegan/Tinder Swindler/Squid Game series there are 10 other series on Netflix that I wouldn't watch if you paid me. (Bridgerton, anyone? I know I'm in the minority here, but ugh. Sorry...not sorry.) Part of the problem with Netflix is that they threw too much money at people like Ryan Murphy who didn't produce hits. Say what you will about Shonda Rhimes, but she reels in a big audience for her shows. And, when you look at the numbers, she brought more viewers to Netflix for the shows she produced than Ryan Murphy did and she was paid a lot less than he was by the company. But, given the difficulties Netflix is facing now, I doubt anyone will see the kind of deals Murphy and Rhimes got anymore. Those days are over! 

My main issue with Netflix isn't the cost. I only pay for streaming on one device and I feel it's reasonable. My problem is with the content. So much of the stuff they actually produce is just awful. I'm sorry, but it is. Bad movies, series that are stretched to 5 episodes when 3 would have sufficed, and general garbage that should be on a free streaming service rather than on Netflix, that you're paying for. I read Netflix is considering adding advertising to its streaming service. That would probably be the nail in the coffin for me. One of the things that's great about Netflix is the fact that there aren't any commercials to watch. I pay for the privilege of not having to sit through commercials. If I want to see commercials, I'll watch a free streaming service like Tubi or Pluto. And, speaking of free streaming services, my Roku died this week. It just stopped connecting to my WiFi for no reason so I went out and got an Amazon Fire stick. So far, so good with that. I just got it today. I hope it doesn't die on me like the Roku service did after a year. 

Speed Trap!

I got a letter in the mail from the City of Chicago's Department of Finance informing me that my car had been clocked going over the speed limit on Western Ave in Chicago last month. The letter provided a link so I could see the video of my car so I logged on to check it out. There I was, speeding away past a Honda dealership. I moved around a slower car, hit the gas, and the speed trap camera got me! Thankfully, since I don't have any other traffic violations, I was just given a warning and not a ticket. However, if it happens again, I'll be ticketed. If I had been ticketed, I wouldn't have even fought it. I was guilty and I would have paid my fine and moved on. Hey, if I messed up, I own up to it. When I moved to Illinois, my sister warned me that Western Avenue is the 7 Mile of Chicago. (Detroiters will understand what this means.) Big sis was right! Western Avenue is the devil, but I should have slowed down. I'll do better the next time I'm on that street.

The letter from the city put a cap on the end of a horrible week. Pretty much every day this week, something happened that pissed me off. People were coming for me at work, I was humiliated by my boss's boss, and then I got this lousy speed trap letter in the mail. Is there a cloud hanging over my head right now? Possibly. Actually, the speed trap letter was probably one of the better things that happened to me this week since I didn't get a ticket. Maybe things are looking up! I certainly hope so. 

Instant Hotel

I've been watching Instant Hotel on Netflix and I've been enjoying it. I just started the second season today. Watching Australians compete for best Airbnb is entertaining. As someone who will probably never get to see Australia in person (because I can't take that flight), I enjoy seeing the different cities shown on the show. There's the usual reality show foolishness with mean competitors and backstabbing, but at least there's an actual competition going on around all of that and you get to see what kind of accommodations are offered in different Australian locations. The first part of the first season featured a "fussy" gay couple who, to me, were Datalounge posters personified. Hilarious, but so judgmental and bitchy about almost everything. They make for good TV.  

In the second season, I had to shake my head at a married couple where the husband is about 30 years older than his wife. He's in his 70s and she's in her 40s. She caters to this guy and waits on him like a nursemaid. She serves him breakfast in bed, she prepares his meals, she does everything for him. (And it's not like he's disabled or too elderly to do these things himself.) Watching them reminded me of a time I was at a McDonald's one time during a road trip either to or from Michigan. I watched this old guy sit down at a table and wait for his wife to bring their food from the counter. When the wife came, the husband sat there and waited for her to wipe the table down and put his food in front of him before he ate. Why couldn't he have wiped the table down himself while his wife was at the counter getting the food? Because, apparently, that's her job, not his. Whatever, folks. Your marriage, your rules, I guess. 

Read What You Want to Read

I read an article in the NY Times this morning about the expanding market of LGBTQ romance books. The article didn't really bring any new insights for me, but why, oh why, did I wander into the comments section? Too bad they closed the comments before I could put one in. There were the usual complaints about a lot of M/M romance books being written by and for women. Hey, that's where the market is, kids! But one comment that made me roll my eyes was someone who mentioned the book Loss by Andrew Sean Greer and recommended this book as a gay romance book written by a gay man. Now I loved Loss and I was a Greer reader before Loss won the Pulitzer. What annoyed me about the reader's comment was that Greer also wrote a book called The Story of a Marriage some years ago and the main character is a straight black woman. (Also a great book, I should add.) Should he not have written this book because he's a gay white man? Did the reader happen to mention this book in his praise for Greer? Of course not. (Had the comments not closed by the time I read the article, I would have mentioned it!) My point is that Greer is a great writer and I will continue to read his work because he IS a great writer. 

I don't pigeonhole the writers I read based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, whatever. I read writers whose work I like. It's as simple as that. It's a shame some people can't do the same. People should certainly read what they want to read, but I hate to see writers dismissed because they write about people who are different from themselves. Isn't that what fiction is about anyway? The last time I checked JK Rowling wasn't a little wizard boy!