More Ridiculousness

In this week's tale of ridiculousness, California's power company PG&E decided to cut power for a huge amount of people to avoid forest fires. And what are people supposed to do instead? Light candles? Yeah, that will help to avoid fires. What a terrible business decision and this is something you know wouldn't happen in a place like New York or Los Angeles. Can you imagine power being cut in New York because Con Ed ordered it? No subways. No lights. No nothing. Yeah, I can't see it either. The powers that be wouldn't allow it to happen.

In more ridiculousness, I keep reading about people lamenting Shepard Smith's departure from Fox News. Cry me a river. This guy stayed with that network for many years and made a lot of money from Fox and its foolishness, lies, and sheer ridiculousness, yet I'm supposed to be upset that he left (or was pushed out) of his job? Please. The same goes for those blondes (Kelly and Carlson) who filed lawsuits against the company. How long did they suckle on the Fox teat before finally growing a spine? Too long. The same goes for the folks at NBC who covered up for Matt Lauer and Lauer himself. F all these folks. Don't tell me no one knew what was going on there. I'd have more respect for people who were honest and said they didn't speak up because they needed their own jobs and feared retaliation.

The Politician

I watched the first episode of Ryan Murphy's Netflix series "The Politician" over the weekend and now I'm hooked! Six more episodes to go! The main thing I'm enjoying is the relationship between Payton and River. There's so much going on there. I wish the show focused primarily on that, but I'm sure they wouldn't be able to squeeze eight episodes out of their relationship alone. (I'm not that enthusiastic about the other plot involving Infinity's illness and her crazy "Nana.") The actor playing River (David Corenswet) looks like a young Rupert Everett (way before he went crazy with the plastic surgery). He's adorable and very good with Ben Platt. Even though I can't stand watching Goop, I have enjoyed the scenes involving her and her awful twin sons on the show. Those guys are great. You get a double dose of douche!

I don't always gel with Murphy's stuff. I only made it through two seasons of American Horror Story (the first one, that I thought was the best, and the one involving the 2016 election that started good, but fizzled out). I couldn't get through the first season of "Pose" either. It just wasn't working for me. (Sorry, Billy Porter!)

Big Mouth Strikes Again

In the latest hot mess orchestrated by Donny T. and the Funky Bunch, Donny shoots off his big mouth (again) and says something he shouldn't have and wants to blame others for exposing the stupid stuff he said. The words came out of his big mouth, yet he's angry because someone told on him. This guy is such a disaster. He wants to be the Godfather of politics, I guess. It's amazing that we have a POTUS who truly doesn't understand (or care to understand) how our government works. This isn't a dictatorship. This is a democracy. Do you know what that means, Donny? Can you even spell democracy? (Probably not.) 

I saw the documentary Where's My Roy Cohn last weekend and found it very interesting. Cohn really did lay the groundwork for the behavior that we see exhibited by Donny. Deny everything. Never admit guilt. Blame someone else. Wash, rinse, repeat. Cohn was a person who hated himself and, therefore, was hateful towards others. And, when he was near death, the people he defended (including Donny) weren't there for him. They abandoned him. But you reap what you sow. 

A/An

What is going on with people no longer using "an" before a vowel (or a word that starts with a vowel sound)? I just heard a news caster say something was "a unprecedented" whatever. Shouldn't that be "an unprecedented" whatever? I hear "a" being used when "an" should be used more and more. This former English major finds the trend annoying. It's bad enough that people can't write or spell very well anymore, but spoken language is also biting the dust, apparently. Oy!

In other news, I went to NY earlier this week for my day job. (No pictures this time!) The trip was short and not sweet. The last few times I've been to NY, I've been disturbed by the homeless situation. It seems to get worse each time I visit. During this week's visit, I walked past the huge post office on 8th Avenue near Penn Station about dusk one night and noticed many homeless folks getting ready to bunk down for the night on the stairs. I noticed a lot of young people on the streets during this visit also and more than a few of them looked like they were on drugs (and they probably were). It's a sad situation and I hope something is done to help these folks and get them off the street.

RIP, Eddie Money

I was sad to hear about Eddie Money's passing this weekend. I knew he had been ill, but the news still surprised me. I figured he had a little longer to hang around. It's time to break out my greatest hits CD The Sound of Money in tribute. I did a blog post some time ago where I said "Baby, Hold On to Me" is a great song and would make a great book title. If I ever write something where this title would actually work, I'd use it in a heartbeat. RIP, Eddie.

Prada? Nada!

I've been wearing glasses since the third grade. My parents both wore glasses so it was inevitable that their children would be visually challenged also. I'm comfortable wearing glasses. What I'm not comfortable is paying so much for them. It's not the actual frames that are all that expensive, it's the lenses. Because I'm now wearing progressive bifocals, I pay an arm and a leg for them. No lines, thin sized, scratch-coating...these things are expensive! I went to have my eyes examined this past weekend and was told I might end up with cataracts. (Great.) But when I went to pick out a new pair of frames for myself after the eye exam, the employee helping me unlocked a display case that held Prada frames. I told her she could lock that case back up because I can't afford Prada glasses. Prada glasses are for people who don't need progressive, no line, thin sized, scratch-coated lenses. Prada glasses are for people who don't need lenses that cost more than your frames. Prada glasses are not for those seriously visually challenged like myself. Prada? Nada!

Labor Day Greetings

The unofficial end of summer is here with the arrival of Labor Day. Fall is coming and winter will follow. But, for now, I hope you're able to enjoy a day off if you get one and relax. I went to see Steely Dan at Ravinia Park last night. The show was good, but not great. Donald Fagen and the band sounded great, but he didn't do a lot of songs I wanted to hear, so that's why I was a little disappointed. He did do "I Got the News" and that was unexpected. Of course he did the hits "Peg" and "Reelin' in the Years" and "My Old School" in addition to "Sign in Stranger" and "Third World Man" and "The Goodbye Look" from his solo album The Nightfly. (I would have liked to have heard "IGY" or "Green Flower Street" myself.) But we can't always get what we want, can we?

Ravinia Park is a great place to see a show, but you have to deal with people drinking for 5+ hours on the lawn. People can bring their own alcohol (and they do) so there's no one to regulate how much they drink. Riding home on the train last night with man of these multi-hour drinkers was a challenge. If you enjoy seeing middle-aged people sloppy drunk, then the Metra train from Ravinia after a Steely Dan show is the train for you!

Happy Labor Day!