Smarter People

Has anyone else been noticing that Google and MSN and other browsers are throwing FOX and CBS News stories, but one has to look for other outlets?
Or is that just me? I have to keep steering clear of them.

Also Paramount is blacklisting various actors now - who it considers too liberal. Meanwhile I'm blacklisting/boycotting Paramount and CBS. I won't watch either. At all. I blacklisted Fox News when it popped into existence. It's not that hard? I don't like anything on either. I watch ABC only on cable at the moment - which makes me wonder why I still have cable? (Oh right, I can't figure out how to get rid of the equipment - and they'll refuse to pick it up. What I need to do is come up with a deal in which they gain something by reducing my equipment and it's in their interest to pick it up.) I kind of miss spectrum news - but I refuse to pay $169 a month for it.

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No news on the strike - outside of the fact that they are still negotiating. I honestly wish my vote mattered more than it does - because if it did, we wouldn't be even considering a strike. But alas, no one cares what I think. I want Universal Health Care, Affordable Housing, Rent Control, and Food for Everybody. They did put up a free grocery store or Polymarket in February, it was on 137 7th Avenue. I don't think it exists now. NY and NYC also have health care - entitled MetroPlus or HealthPlus, and if you are a NY Resident you can go to the CUNY and SUNY Colleges and Universites for free (these are the NY State Universities and City Universities.)

The problem with money - is people never have enough of it. They always want more, or what the other guy has.

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Been comforting myself at work - listening to Charisma Carpenter's Bitch is Back podcasts of all things. I'm as surprised as anyone by this news.

She says things like:
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And that she's not crazy about hugs, they make her uncomfortable, she's not sure why - maybe it's the breasts or previous trauma? I felt seen. Because I feel the same way. It's also kind of hard to hug folks when you are almost six foot with big breasts, and they are five foot two. It's just painful.
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Carpenter has also pointed out a few things that didn't occur to me previously? ( Read more... )

Another thing Carpenter says that is endearing? "It's hard to be a human being."

I'm by no means a fan? But I do like Carpenter and find her Bitch podcast comforting and entertaining

Not everyone does, and we should be mindful of the reasons some don't and show compassion in how we celebrate and talk about this day - I think?

I am forever grateful that I have a loving mother who is my best friend. And have been for the most surrounded by loving mothers, including my beloved maternal grandmother. While far from perfect, I am grateful for my mom. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not.

There but for the grace of god, go I - since I'm mindful that not everyone got that. And an insane amount of people did not.

Last year - I visited mother around this date, and took time off work. This year, I'm navigating doctor's appointments, work, and the fear of an impending strike over what amounts to pennies.

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Haven't been sleeping well this week for many reasons not worth going into. I swear the internet has a solution for everything, some of which seem to be competing with each other for my attention and use. Choose me! I can solve all your physical ills! Choose me! I'm the expert! (Sigh, the snake oil salesmen no longer have to go town to town, they have the internet. And they seem to multiply daily. They've even evolved to selling apps and weight scales that will solve all your problems. I kid you not, there is actually a weight scale that diagnoses what ails you and provides the solution. It's like something out of a bad 1980s sci-fi satire. Maybe it did originate from that - and someone out there got the bright idea to create one and sell it.)

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2026 is the year that folks have started writing and releasing "Protest Songs" again en mass. Not that they didn't do it off and on previously, they have. And there are some good ones from yesteryear...

( pre-2020s Protest Songs..or from yesteryear )

And here are some from 2026...
( newer protest songs )

Wasted time watching two movies today. One took way longer than it should have and ate up all of the afternoon.

* Remarkably Bright Creatures (Netflix) - adapted and directed by Olivia Wilde, and starring Sally Field, Lewis Pullman (who looks a lot like Bill Pullman), Colm Meany, and Kathy Baker along with Alfred Molina as the voice of the octopus. It's adapted from Shelby Van Pelt's novel of the same name. I remember enough of the novel - to see where they veered away from it (they excised a lot of the dead weight and fixed the pacing, also it ends on a happier note in some respects, the novel was more realistic and slower). [So, yes, I was completely spoiled - since the plot was more or less the same, just tighter. The book meanders all over the place, to the point that I had issues following it at times - because it unlike the movie, felt the need to be in every character's point of view. The movie is just in Tova's (Sally Field) and the Octopus's point of view for the most part.]

It's okay. It's a nice little sentimental film, with the oomph removed from it. The novel wasn't great? But it had a bit more going on?

Some books don't adapt well? Although I'm not sure I'd made it through a series. The interesting thing about Sally Field - is you can see her grow up and grow old on screen - if you watch enough of her films.

That said, the movie has a good line - said by the Octopus:

"With all their good points, humans have abysmal communication skills."

God, yes. We're all horrible communicators. Which is kind of ironic if you think about it? Only one species can manage to come up with a way to complicate language to such an extent that they can't understand what the majority of their species is actually saying.

* Marty Supreme (HBO MAX) starring Timothy Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa Azion, Fran Dreschler...and directed by Josh Safdie, has the distinction of not having any likable characters. It's loosely based on the story of Marty Reiseman who wanted to become the best pin pong player in the world. ( vague spoilers )

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Okay, I'm done with hyper-realism, I'm off to watch Daredevil and From next.

Meryl Streep stated that modern movies are marvelizing all the villains and making them one dimensional, and Miranda in Devil Wears Prada has more layers?

I'm guessing she's not actually seen any of the Marvel films? Because Killmonger in Black Panther, Thanos in the Avengers, not to mention King Pin, Magneto, Loki, Ultron, Scarlet Witch, and Agatha Harkness were far more developed than Miranda was in Devil Wears Prada. Miranda, I'm sorry, wasn't that developed and kind of two-dimensional. Devil Wears Prada is a fun flick, I enjoyed it for what it was, memorable cinema, it's not. Darth Vader had more layers.

I wish people wouldn't dis something they've not actually watched? This is a huge pet peeve of mine. It makes people look like nitwits? Film watching like all things is a subjective experience. It's okay to dislike something? But dissing a whole genre - which granted isn't to your taste and making the assumption films have been ruined by that genre? Is just stupid troll logic. Also, Meryl? You made both Mama Mia films? Great Cinema, it's not. Give your ego a rest.

Also on social media:

* Poster: The MET is just a Fashion Museum for Rich People
* New Yorkers on Threads: Eh, actually the MET is free for the most part, and pay what you can afford. It also is not a fashion museum. The Fashion exhibit is seasonal, lasts maybe two months, and is actually rather small. Blink and you miss it? You'd know this if you googled it on your phone. It's not hard to do. Just google - the Met.

[If you don't currently live in NYC, it's probably wise not to comment on NYC? Visiting it repeatedly as a tourist, doesn't count.]

Apparently the MAGA nitwits want to cancel Mark Hamill for supporting Obama. Folks say they missed the point of Star Wars. Not exactly, they interpreted it differently? Keep in mind that the villain doesn't see themselves as the villain - they see themselves as the hero. We're all villains and heroes depending on one's perspective. It's all a matter of perspective. [That said, cancelling Mark Hamil is akin to trying to cancel Big Bird or Santa Clause, people like him, I like him - he's not being cancelled. Any more than Obama is.]

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Union had a rally out on Long Island. My spy (Babs) texted me about it.
And showed a photo. It was near the railroad tracks out in Massapequa on a rainy dreary Saturday. I'm not sure if it has actually rained all day? But it's definitely threatened to. Eh, it's doing it now.

Everyone in the photo was male, mostly white, appeared to be over the age of 40, and wore caps and red and black shirts. It wasn't a bad turn out? But it wasn't that many people either.
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Book Instagram doesn't appear to like "This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Illona Andrews". (which is a best seller, so no worries there - and damn the writers are selling the bejesus out of it? They have pictures you can buy, stuffed animals, t-shirts, book marks, tea bags...when did writing a book become a massive marketing and cross-product merchandizing event? Also some of the merchandise spoils the book. So if you pick up a book now to read, you have to jump off of social media and not follow the writer at all until you are done reading it. And some people read at the speed of light, and then insist on spoiling everyone else.) As a result of this - I kind of figured out the plot twist early on.

I can understand why people are having issues with the book. ( Read more... )

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May Question a Day Meme

Catching up on the May Question a Day Meme - prior to making dinner, now that it is finally raining after spending most of the day pondering it. Honestly? The sky looked constipated. It's looking a bit better now.

4. Today is a holiday in many countries, either to celebrate Labour Day or May Day. If you have a day off today, what are your plans?

Well in the US it was May the Fourth Be With You - or Star Wars Day. Labor Day is the first Monday in September. Memorial Day is May 25, I think or the last Monday in May. We don't celebrate May Day - mainly because the US has issues with the Harvest Calendar, except of course for Halloween.

5. Do you like rhubarb?

Depends on how it is fixed? I like rhubarb pie. Ages ago, when I was kid, on one of our first trips to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, we discovered this out of the way little restaurant which had a to die for strawberry rhubarb pie. It was the best pie we ever had. We couldn't find the restaurant again and spent years trying to recreate experience. Had a similar thing happen with Key Lime Pie (discovered in the Keys) albeit better luck recreating it. Turns out, it's easier to make.

6. Have you ever completed a cryptic crossword, or do you stick to the easy ones?

I don't know what it is? Probably not. I suck at crosswords. My brain doesn't understand them - it's probably a dyslexic thing? My father hated them, yet he worked in cryptology or code breaking while in the army.

7. Do you take your phone everywhere, or sometimes leave it at home and not worry about it?

I take it everywhere now. Why? I wear a diabetic sensor and the damn thing is linked into my phone. I miss the days, I could leave it at home.

8. Henry Dunant was born today in 1828 – he was the co-founder of the Red Cross. Have you ever learned first aid? Could you resuscitate someone?

Yes. Ages ago. No, I can't resuscitate anyone. I learned first aid over thirty years ago. I've forgotten most of it.

9. In 1896, the first horseless carriage show in London featured ten models. Do you own a car? What kind of car is it?

No.

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I forgot about the Met Gala which happened on Monday night. I was admittedly distracted by personal health issues among other things. I'm watching it on youtube - "The Met Gala with Vogue". The theme is "Fashion is Art" or "Costume is Art" - with a focus on disabled bodies. Explicit and radical invitation for disabled, and accessibility in art and fashion. It's a fund-raiser for the Met's Costume Exhibition. The Met Museum is actually by donation, or pay what you will - when you visit. But the Gala? Requires an invitation to attend and costs $100,000 to attend, and up to over a million to dress for it. The cameras are only allowed in the entry up to the doors, inside there aren't any cameras. So the participants often have a change of clothes, and once they get inside - they have something more comfortable to wear. Also they get dressed a block away.

This is by far my favorite look for the women.
( favorite )

This is one of the hosts of the Gala, who is also a fashion designer, and fits the disabled or accessibility theme [Note: she used the word disabled, I'm quoting her.]:
( disabled or accessible outfits )
Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman came - but neither wore anything remotely interesting. Nor did Ben Stiller. Adrian Brody looked good but wasn't all that interesting.

A lot of folks had gowns with...hands on their body parts, which is odd. This was the best of those:
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This is among the oddest...
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Heidi Klum went for a Living Sculpture

And here they are next to their Costume Inspiration

Best Dressed Male Customes Ranked

All the Best, Weirdest, and worst celeb looks

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Still worried about the pending railroad strike which if it happens would be akin to dropping a neutron bomb on the Long Island economy.

ABC News on the Unions and the MTA and pending strike


Strike still looms as MTA and LIRR unions meet

They got a few things wrong in the article? There was no work rule discussed about the locomotive engineers in the PEB Report or Federal Mediation Board Report, and in reality the unions are asking for a 4-4.5% increase in the fourth year (this year) not a 5%. They've been without since 2023.

This could get political and could cost the Democrat's the Governor seat, if they don't resolve it. Ironically, the Republicans appear to be supporting the union and the Democrats don't appear to be (on the State level at least). Goes to show you, that both sides have their hypocrites.

Rail Strike could devastate Long Island Economy

Potential Rail Strike will Impact over 200,000 commuters