Back to the 70s

So Presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee wants to bring the metric system to the United States so our primary system of measurement will be the same as most of the rest of the world. Didn't Carter and Reagan try that in the 70s and 80s? And how'd that work out for them? I remember being in school in the 1970s and 80s and having the whose Eurasia thing pushed on us. Europe and Asia were going to become one continent called Eurasia. Yeah. Okay. That didn't happen either, did it? I saw Jon Stewart talking about the Chafee/metric system idea on The Daily Show last week and he pretty much summed it up by saying that Chafee wouldn't be President because he didn't understand the basic premise that Americans don't care what other countries are doing. So what if Europe, Asia, Australia, etc. are all using the metric system. We do want over here in the USA. The rest of the world refers to soccer as football too, but does that mean we should change also just so we fit in? Ha! I don't see that happening, at least not in my lifetime. Football for us will always be the Lions, Bears, Cowboys, etc. not Manchester United.

Enough Already

Can I turn on the television or get on the Internet this week without having to see anything about people whose last names are Jenner or Duggar? Enough already. The media on these folks has reached its saturation point. I had to placate myself by watching pygmy goat videos on You Tube just to drown out that noise.

In other news, so EL James is pumping out another book for her 50 Shades series. I know I read some time ago that she was working on something new that wasn't related at all to the series, but I guess she scrapped that so she could keep milking the Christian Grey cash cow. I can understand wanting to squeeze another book out since the others were so popular, but why basically rewrite the first book from a different point of view? Why not pick up where the last book left off or write a prequel?

No Night Is Too Long

I'm reading Barbara Vine's mystery No Night Is Too Long after watching the movie version a few weeks ago. It's the story of a college student, Tim, who gets involved with a professor, Ivo, and then the student kills the professor (or does he?). The book is quite good. The movie was good also, but I felt the main characters were miscast. I'm only about a third of the way through the book, but I really like the way Vine deals with the relationship (sexual and otherwise) between Tim and Ivo. These guys are a hot mess and I love it. I saw the made-for-TV miniseries of Vine's A Dark Adapted Eye some time ago and I'd like to see it again (and read the book) because I remember the miniseries being quite good. I've been reading a lot of mysteries lately with gay characters and many of them have been really good. I'm not usually a mystery reader, but that may change.

Stevie Wonder

I'm glad this week is coming to an end because it hasn't been the greatest. Listening to my Stevie Wonder box set has certainly helped to improve my mood. Stevie is such a phenom and you can just hear the progression of his music from "Fingertips" to "Sir Duke." Even his schlocky stuff like "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is better than a lot of the pop music in the market now. (Yes, I'm showing my age. Get off my lawn!) 

Long Lost Weekend

As this long holiday weekend comes to an end, I can't say I spent it productively. (The weather in and around Chicago also sucked for a large part of the weekend, but I digress.) I spent a lot of time this weekend watching past seasons of "Suits" on DVD since my new TV boyfriend, Gabriel Macht, is the star of the series. As much as I enjoy seeing Macht (aka Harvey Specter) curse someone out, the more I watch this show, the more I see little things that annoy me.

1. There's no way a white shoe NY law firm like the one on "Suits" would knowingly keep a fake lawyer on the staff. The firm's managing partner and one senior partner know Mike isn't a Harvard graduate and didn't even go to law school, yet they keep him around because he does a good job? Ridiculous.
2. The whole Mike Ross story line (including his relationship with Rachel) was interesting for about one season, but should have been put to bed after that.
3. I'm also annoyed with seeing shots of Toronto standing in for New York. I saw a Bank of Montreal sign in the background during one of the scenes! It's unfortunate USA doesn't want to put out the cash to film this show entirely in New York as they did with "White Collar." I understand a lot of the show takes place in offices, so why spend money filming in NY, right? Still, seeing clearly Canadian streets and skyscrapers in "Suits" is distracting (at least for me).
4. And can we talk about the theme song? Terrible. Thankfully, I can fast forward through it on the DVD.

Despite these issues, I'm all in because I enjoy the show, I think it's largely well-written, and the acting is good. I'm up to Season 2 now and I'm watching Season 4 on On Demand.

I'll Never Love This Way Again

I was talking with my hairdresser about songs kids sing for various school events like graduations, black history month programs, etc. and I mentioned that when I graduated from high school many moons ago, the harp and vocal musicians and singers did a beautiful rendition of "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again." The performance really was lovely, but I couldn't help thinking, This isn't how I feel about high school. I'll never love this way again? Really? I couldn't wait to get out of there and move on with my life. Not that my high school years were traumatic, but they weren't awesome either and I certainly didn't love them. I remember having a discussion with someone I worked with about songs we sang in school when we were children and this guy told me he was forced to sing John Lennon's "Woman" as a grade school child in Boston in the 1970s. That takes the cake.

From Mad Men to Suits

Mad Men has finally come to an end and not a minute too soon. I thought the finale was boring. Don going off to a hippie commune? Really? I wish Matthew Weiner had come up with a more exciting exit for Don/Dick. Whatever. It's over and now I can focus my attention on Suits. I know I'm late to the party with this show but I like the lead guy, Gabriel Macht, so I'm playing catchup now in watching the first four seasons. Hopefully I can get through everything before the new season starts in June. I had to read up on Mr. Macht because he snuck up on me and I really didn't know anything about him. He's very alpha on Suits and I like that. I also like that he's got moles on his face. I'm surprised his agent didn't talk him into having them removed.