ratiocinations out of thin air/a blog about this that and the other thing
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TODAY’S QUESTION ON QUORA that caught my attention was, “How do music artists have such rich lifestyles if everybody pirates their music?” Since I had just finished my monster mug of Cafe Bustelo—and I tried honey instead of my usual light brown sugar as a sweetener, which I won’t be doing again—I thought I’d … READ MORE
A WHILE AGO, I responded to a post on my Facebook thread about going the movies these days, including the price of tickets and concessions, excessive sound systems, rude viewers, etc. I am now a senior, so the price of tickets seem too high, and I haven’t shelled out a cent for obscenely overpriced candy, … READ MORE
READING ABOUT MOVIES before the Internet, I often came across descriptions of Gary Cooper as being Hollywood’s most laconic actor. That’s not a common word, nor one that was taught in the classrooms of America in the ’60s. According to Merriam-Webster, Cooper was “using or involving the use of a minimum of words,” … READ MORE
IT’S NOT OFTEN that I am moved to write a piece about a movie based on a review of the movie instead of the movie itself. But last night I watched Auto Focus with Greg Kinnear playing actor Bob Crane. I knew very little about Crane’s life, except that he was the star of Hogan’s
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I FINALLY SAW IT—Dr. Strange, the movie. I say “finally” as I am one of the dying breed of guys who bought and collected Marvel comic books in the ’60s as the magic was happening. (And by the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, face facts: it was almost exclusively guys who read superhero comics at … READ MORE
BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO opened its first stores in the 1980s, renting movies as both Beta and VHS cassette tapes. Standard procedure then was to remove the cassette from the original cardboard box and insert the tape into a black plastic box. Blockbuster then wrapped their own covers around the box: the company name was on … READ MORE
ALIAS was a super-spy/CIA adventure series for ABC that ran five seasons (2001-2006) and was nominated for more than seventy awards—although not a single important nomination was made for the final season. Alias made Jennifer Garner a star, for which we should all be grateful. The first few seasons were loads of fun with … READ MORE
I LOGGED INTO my library account and in the Search field typed “alias.” I wanted to place a hold on the fourth and fifth seasons of the ABC television series Alias from earlier in this century, starring Jennifer Garner. Aside from the five DVDs for the series and perhaps a few books about the … READ MORE
WHO RECOMMENDED “WILD HOGS”? This furshlugginer film is poorly conceived and predictably pointless! It’s a biker-comedy (?) with an impressive if motley cast. There are four male leads, two roles filled by a couple of serious actors that I enjoy seeing in just about anything. Unfortunately, a pair of supposedly funny actors that I rarely … READ MORE
FOLLOWING MY POST on being bullied for merely being believed to be gay in high school with a nice bit of musing on attractive women seemed appropriate to reaffirm my status as a heterosexual of manly man. So, here I introduce the term Eminently Beddable (EB) and explain its origins and then very briefly discuss … READ MORE
“WOODY ALLEN IS A PREDATOR.” Or so screams out from the Salon website posted on March 26, 2015. The sub-title is “Why Mariel Hemingway’s new revelation matters,” and it is meant to grab my attention—and it has. It also send chills up my spine and should yours also, whether you’re in the “I … READ MORE
WHAT’S WITH THE DVD PACKAGING? A simple question, right? Why so many different boxes jackets sleeves whatever? Why no uniformity or user friendliness? And I don’t even want to start on the way DVDs begin: the various way-too-clever manners in which bored techs find to align the chapters or choices in the opening minutes … READ MORE
LAST NIGHT we watched Lee Daniels’ The Butler. It is based on the life of Eugene Allen, a butler in the White House for decades, where butlers are historically black. It stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, who witnesses the changing of the guard in the Oval Office through thirty-four years of service.
It … READ MORE
THE BRITISH SERIES Doc Martin has been recommended to Berni and me by several people with whom we share similar tastes in that form of entertainment. As we both tend to enjoy the better British programming and movies, we looked forward to the show. After I got home from work on Thursday evening, we sat … READ MORE
RECOMMENDED for home movie viewing: in this case, a triple-feature based on the works of a famous novelist whose name has been known to scare otherwise brave men. (And it may take a few nights to watch the three, as they take up more than six hours of time.) The three videos are The Jane … READ MORE
THE REDMOND BRANCH of the King County Library System (KCLS) is a couple of miles from our house. I headed there around two one afternoon last week to pick up the first season’s worth of The Blacklist, a television series that my sister Mary Alice had been encouraging me to see. It was a beautiful … READ MORE