Proof reading

Proof reading is a lost skill. 

You know, occasionally I'll come across a typo in a novel, but not very often. I make typos and leave words out all the time! But I'm not paying someone to correct my work. And if you're getting paid to be an editor/proof reader and you miss something, you shouldn't get paid. How about that?! People should be held more accountable. There's more than just "showing up" you know. I'm not a grammar nazi or anything but some things make me crazy...there/their/they're, your/you're for example. You wouldn't believe how many times I see crap like that in a news article or story. Don't they have people to proof read?

But the winner of the 'lack of editing' goes to our local art museum. A couple weeks ago they posted a job opening on line for a new art director. Part of the job posting said they were seeking a director to "attract a broader and diverse audience while still maintaining the Museum's traditional, core, white art audience."

Did anybody read this before they posted it? Didn't ONE person think to say, ummm, you might want to change that wording? Holy wow! In today's climate? Come on people! I get what they were trying to say but geez!

Anyway, the president of the museum has since resigned over the backlash.  Maybe people did see the issue but they didn't like him so they didn't say anything. LOL. That's one way to get rid of somebody. Some people argued that that attitude is so ingrained in art culture that they just didn't see anything wrong with it. Who knows. But if a competent at their job person had actually proof read it first, I wouldn't be talking about it. 

Travel

Sometimes in the morning, while I'm having coffee and gearing up for the work day, we travel the world on YouTube. Do you every do that?

There are so many great YouTube videos, via drones, that travel all over world. It's pretty awesome. Especially if you're not a world traveler. Do you want to be a world traveler? I was probably a lot more adventurous when I was younger. Now I see all the people and think, ummm, no thank you! 

Yesterday for example, I watched part of a video taken over Italy. It was so visually interesting that later in the day I went to Italy, via Google and walked all around Venice. Venice is amazing! I don't want to go there though. Too many tourists. Tons and tons of tourist. But Google street view was fantastic! I also went to Greece. Greece looks beautiful from overhead. But when you really get into the cities and drive around, it's not really that great. I did go island hopping though and that was cool. 

Next up, Norway. Honestly, this is a really nice way to travel the world. No tourists. No pricey hotels. No weird food. Oh sure, I know it's not the same as 'being there.' But it is the next best thing!! :-)

10 questions

Did you ever watch Inside the Actor's Studio? I really liked that show. If you've never seen it, It was an hour long show with host James Lipton (who died last year) and an actor. It was filmed in front of acting/writing etc. students of NY's Actor's Studio. It was a great show because it was only about the guests craft. No gossipy or tabloid or personal crap. Just how they felt about their craft and some of the movies they did and what they learned. It was cool. 

At the end of every episode, James Lipton asked them 10 questions. It was always the same questions. The answers were always fun.

Here are the questions, and my answers :-)

1. What is your favorite word? yes

2. What is your least favorite word? hate

3. What turns you on? creativity

4. What turns you off? selfishness

5. What is your favorite curse word? dumb fucker

6. What sound or noise do you love? children laughing

7. What sound or noise do you hate? foil/cellophane bags crinkling!

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Zoo Keeper

9. What profession would you not like to do? mortician

10. If Heaven exists, what would yo like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Way to go dude? come on in!

Books to movies

 Have you ever seen a movie adapted from a book you loved, that you liked?

I thought Gone With the Wind was pretty good, even though they left a lot out. And To Kill a Mockingbird was excellent. Harry Potter, Great Expectations, Shawshank Redemption, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, In Cold Blood, all them were pretty good movies compared to their written form. I'm sure there are more. I've heard that The Color Purple was adapted to film very well. And Little Women. I've seen both those but never read the books.

I've yet to see a movie about Frankenstein that made me feel about the monster, the way I did in the book. Not too many Stephen King books have been good movies. I mean, look at The Shinning! That sucked. I loved The Time Traveler's Wife and I liked the movie but they were kind of separate for me. Also, I loved The Giver but the movie was just so much fluff compared to the anguish in the book! And one of Dean Koontz's best stories, Watchers, has had several film adaptions. They're so awful I've never watched one all the way through. This should be a no brainer...who doesn't love a great dog movie?!?! Why can't they get it right?

I bring this up because I just finished watching Stephen King's, The Stand. His best work. EPIC. The original mini series in 1994 wasn't bad, except for the actors. Only a couple of them were any good. I was really looking forward to the remake. It needed an update for sure. With the exception of Whoopie Goldburg (who was wrong for that part), I actually liked the other actors. I liked that 'new vegas' was SOOOOO bad. It needed to be. But all in all, I thought the remake was pretty disappointing. On many levels. 

Thank heavens the story I love is still alive and well in the pages of the book

Ad campaigns

Ads are SO annoying. That's part of what's great about not watching cable TV. Or at least having a DVR so you can record everything and then fast forward through all the commercials. It's also what I love about Sirius XM radio. NO ads! 

All of that being said, there have been some pretty great ad campaigns. How about, What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. That was brilliant! Budweiser has had some awesome ad campaigns too. Remember those frogs?! Or Spud McKenzie?! And who can forget the GEICO caveman ads!

Many years ago, I started hearing these radio ads about Michigan. They're FANTASTIC! Seriously. They make me want to go to Michigan. They made/make me smile every single time I hear one. If you've never heard one, pick a couple of these and listen to them. You won't be sorry.

https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=d58978cd-8a1241d2-d58d31cd-8630ffab37ab-0f2c7180fd988c91&q=1&e=cdbc15a1-5a6c-4469-b41d-8d96056bac49&u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F05FPzUCbMXQ

https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=df146838-808f512a-df102138-86b2e136ff17-723aecf3de204b83&q=1&e=e69784d9-cb7f-4c50-9f59-9736f786872f&u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FFqE3Wu4zmW8

https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=7693d906-2908e1f0-76979006-8681010e5614-01942e676f46a474&q=1&e=cd3cd316-0db2-49fb-9a4a-3d2b3a2460b3&u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FnLVZh-W6ue4

Now for the funny part...I suck at voices, picking them out. I'm also no good at knowing who sings the songs I love. I never pay attention to that. So last year I heard a new Michigan radio ad and decided I just had to know who the voice behind those ads is. If you've heard them, you probably already know...I'm so dense sometimes. But if you don't know, you would be completely surprised!

I'll tell you in the comments  :-)

What are you watching?

Well I guess we're all watching a lot more TV, except there's nothing on sooooo...

There's Netflix, Hulu, Disney, CBS All Access, The Peacock, Prime Video, Discovery +, Apple TV, Pluto, Sling, etc., etc., etc. So what do watch? 

We have a few of those channels, but not traditional cable. Why spend a couple hundred $$ on cable when you can get all this other stuff for 1/2 the cost! 

I've actually been trying to watch the old classics. Like Little Foxes with Bette Davis. That was pretty good. Rear Window, there's a classic! I watched it for the first time this year. Adams Rib, Citizen Kane, The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was a fun idea but not really my cup of tea. 

-We watched a movie on Hulu called Run. That was great. I was completely surprised by the ending.  

-On a free preview of HBO, we watched a Brad Pitt movie called Ad Astra. We enjoyed it. It's a good sci-fi movie but not an action movie. Captain Phillips was fantastic! Was Gemini Man, with Will Smith a remake? No matter. I hadn't seen either version before. It's a good guy movie :-) And that wildly popular horror movie Get Out! Whoa. The whole movie was so odd I just kept saying, what the hell is going on?! The horror part didn't happen until the last 10 minutes and they could've done without that. I liked it until then. The last 10 minutes was just a slasher movie. Oh! and have you seen the documentary, Free Solo?? It's about Alex Honnold, the young man who climbed the face of El Capitan, without ropes!!!! Whoa. It was pretty intense.

The next ones are all on Prime; 

-Midnight Sky. It stars George Clooney. It wanted to be a good movie...alas. The twist at the end was kind of cool and George did a good  job but the movie was just meh. 

-Winchester, mostly because we love Helen Mirren. It was just alright. 

-The Vast of Night-it was like a pretty typical 50's style alien movie so that made it kind of fun. Plus, sometimes a movie that's loaded with dialog instead of special effects is a nice break!

-Aeronauts was good. But the real story that it was based on, was better. Still a good adventure movie though. 

-Archive, was a little confusing so you have to pay attention, but it was a good sci-fi robot movie and the special effects were amazing. Also an ending I didn't see coming.

-the CORE. We tried to watch it but after about 20 minutes it was so predictable, we bailed. 

Pandemic life, 2021

Who would've thought, a year later and we're still living in this pandemic hell. There are still shortages of some things. Still online teaching. Still restrictions on restaurants. Still no concerts. Still no live sporting events. Still nothing on TV (except that's actually normal). Still people working at home. Still face masks everywhere you go. Still no movies at the theater. Still. 

That's why I haven't written anything. What is there to talk about?! 

Even the glory of year end lists was all about COVID or politics. I love year end lists! They just weren't any fun this time. Even the, 'most heartwarming' stories of the year were all about COVID, BLM or political events. Grrrr.

Well, at least there's a vaccine now. That should be great news...and it is...but they still just can't stop talking about the next possible surge and the new variants. #@!&%

I'm going to stop talking about it. Tomorrow is a new day. I'll be back and I won't be talking about the pandemic, dammit!!