Monday, December 31, 2018

House of Flowers

Since I used my last post to bitch about Will and Grace, I'm using this one to praise the series House of Flowers. I've been watching episodes on Netflix during time off from my day job (thanks, Datalounge!) and I've thoroughly enjoyed the series. It's very much in the vein of movies from Pedro Almodovar and if you like his stuff, you'll probably enjoy the series. I do recommend watching it in Spanish with English subtitles if you don't speak the language (and I don't). Don't watch the English dubbed version. The show revolves around a high-income Mexican family and issues involving their children. I've got about four or five episodes to go and I intend to knock those out over the next two days. All I can say is "run, Diego, run from this hot mess!"

Happy New Year's Eve!

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Will and Grace

When I moved a few months ago, I decided against paying for cable on multiple TVs, so I only have it on the one in my living room. That means I'm stuck watching whatever channels I can pick up on my antenna in my bedroom. One of the free stations I get is Cozi and at night they show reruns of Will and Grace. (The old seasons, not the newer ones.) I never really watched Will and Grace when it ran (surprising, I know, given the kind of books I write). I'd seen a few episodes, but I didn't watch with any regularity, but watching the few reruns that I've seen over the past few months, I see why I wasn't a regular watcher. On an episode I watched last night that (thankfully) featured Bobby Cannavale as Will's boyfriend, the main story line revolved around Grace interfering in Will's relationship with his boyfriend. Grace's cockblocking was played for laughs, but I didn't find that tomfoolery funny at all. On top of that, you throw in a heap of nastiness from Jack and Karen and you've got a stew of ugliness. Why was this show a hit? Because it featured gay men in prime time? One who's neutered beyond belief and another who's a stereotypical nasty queen? Please. And don't get me started on how the Latina maid is treated. I can't believe Harry Connick, Jr. starred in several episodes of this hot mess of a show. The same can be said for Bobby Cannavale. I don't know if the newer episodes are any better, but I doubt I'll hunt those down to watch. I've had enough with the reruns. Thankfully Cozi will be changing its nightly lineup in the new year and start showing reruns of the American version of The Office. I doubt I'll watch that either. I remember watching the British series on DVD when my former supervisor loaned them to me. She loved the show, but I just found it depressing. Ricky Gervais was just awful and, for someone who's worked in an office for most of her life, I just found the series depressing. Once again, the "comedy" wasn't funny. Lest you think I'm a stick in the mud, I'm not. I'll laugh at anything, but watching people sling insults for laughs just doesn't work for me. Different strokes.

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Post-Christmas Greetings

I hope everyone had a great Christmas or, if you don't celebrate, I hope you enjoyed your day off. I certainly appreciated having some time to relax over the holidays. During this time, I finished two great books: A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne and Tin Man by Sarah Winman. I highly recommend them both. I'd been familiar with Boyne's writing, but not Winman's. I stumbled onto her book just through a random library search and I'm glad I did. It's very good. Whenever I read a really good book, I like to spread the word. Yes, I do my Goodreads reviews and Amazon (if I bought a Kindle book there), but I also like to blog about great books as an extra way to get the goods news out.

As 2018 winds down, I certainly hope 2019 brings me more hope and less pessimism. This year wasn't terrible for me, but it was mentally taxing. Too much stress and too much disappointment over things out of my control. But I'm going into 2019 trying to be hopeful. That's all I can do right now.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Christmas Break

I'm glad to have a few days off from my day job for the Christmas holiday. Most of us need a break and I am no exception. My sister and I did some Christmas cookie decorating yesterday at Chicago's City Winery and had a great time. Wine and cookies? That's a winning combination.




Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Hooray for Nunchucks (in NY)

I read today that a federal court ruled that a ban on nunchucks in New York from the 1970's was unconstitutional. I had no idea there WAS a ban on nunchucks in New York. (Not that I had nunchucks when I lived in NY, but it would have been good to know this if I'd had nunchucks.) As a fan of martial arts movies, I'm glad to hear the ban was overturned. I just wonder why it took so long. This law has been on the books since 1974, I read, and during that time I understand that law enforcement didn't want people copying karate moves they saw by Bruce Lee on their fellow citizens. However, Bruce Lee has been dead for a long time and I'm sure nunchucks haven't been the weapon of choice for some time now. Why did it take so long to get this law overturned?? Also, the guy who brought the suit was arrested in 2000 for possession of nunchucks, not 1977, not 1980, not even 1990...in 2000. Crazy! Aside from not breaking nunchucks out in public, you could be arrested for having nunchucks in the privacy of your own home, as the guy who brought the lawsuit was. Can you imagine going to Rikers for possession of nunchucks?
"What are you in for?"
"Possession of nunchucks."
"Seriously?"
Yeah, seriously. I wonder if brass knuckles are banned. A while back, I looked into whether you can buy brass knuckles from Amazon and the selection wasn't even worth the search. I guess I'll have to go old school if I ever want some by putting some rolls of quarters in a sock to use to smack someone with a la Charles Bronson in Death Wish.

Friday, December 14, 2018

RIP Nancy Wilson

I just saw today that jazz singer Nancy Wilson died. My late mother was a serious Nancy Wilson fan and my sister and I grew up listening to her music. She was a great singer and her loss is our loss. It's funny how the music your parents listened to can often influence your own listening habits. (Sometimes, but not always. I also grew up watching Hee Haw and listening to country music via that show because of my father, but I'm not a fan of that genre today!)

Sunday, December 9, 2018

This Is Why Donny Is POTUS

As much as I'd like to believe that the country will heal itself from the current state of affairs, I'm constantly let down by humanity when I read about bad decisions made by my fellow countrymen and women. The latest disappointment is with the folks in North Carolina who just gave their absentee ballots for the midterm election to a woman who showed up their front doors asking for them. Since when do election ballots get picked up at your door??? Uh...never? But the folks who handed their ballots over without ever questioning the woman who came to collect them are just another reason why Donny is POTUS. People aren't thinking about the decisions they're making, they're not educating themselves on how government works, or they're just plain apathetic. Why should I take my ballot to the mailbox or post office when there's a nice white woman here to collect it for me? It really is sad. There's such a wealth of information out there now, definitely more available to people via the Internet than we had access to when I was younger, yet people seem to be dumber than ever. The terrible writing skills that I read on a daily basis when people tweet or comment online are enough to make me shake my head in pity. Yes, I'm being harsh, but a little harshness is needed right now. We can't crawl out of the hole we've created for ourselves until we understand the problems at hand and work to rectify those problems. Believe what you want, but understand why you believe what you do and educate yourself on how the world works.

Monday, December 3, 2018

Widows

I saw the film Widows over the weekend and enjoyed it mainly for the backstory involving Chicago corruption. (The widows were good also and a shout out to Viola Davis's canine companion, Olivia, the Westie that stole every scene she was in, but I digress.) Although I'm not a native of the Chicago area, I've lived here for five years now after leaving Brooklyn and I've grown to understand more and more how the Chicago machine works. There's corruption and then there's Chicago-style corruption. There are too many people vying for power in this city. The whole story line in Widows that involved the white alderman going against a black candidate for control of a ward was good stuff to watch on screen and had more than a ring of truth to it. I remember during the primaries when I got a text from some Democratic organization asking if I'd support JB Pritzker for governor. I promptly texted back that I wouldn't because JB was part of the "machine" along with Rahm, Blago, and others. Not surprisingly, I didn't get a text back. I didn't vote for JB in the primary, but he ended up being the Democratic nominee anyway. (Enough already with the millionaire candidates.)