Dave-El's Spinner Rack

It's been awhile since I posted about comic books so let's do that.

I'm getting the new Shazam series from writer Mark Waid and artist Dan Mora and if there's a team that can move this franchise viable for the 21st century but still acknowledge it's whimsical roots, it's Mark and Dan. 

Tawky Tawny, the talking tiger from the golden age of the erstwhile original Captain Marvel, is part of this series, helping out in the Vasquez foster home where Billy Batson lives.  Tawky cooks and cleans in exchange for room, board and belly rubs. 

There's even a nod to the golden age Billy Batson's career as a kid broadcaster as Billy hosts a sponsored podcast about his super heroic alter ego. 

In case you're wondering what we're calling that super heroic alter ego since we can't call him Captain Marvel, Billy's friends have taken to calling him "The Captain" after a seafaring rescue went a little pear shaped. Billy isn't happy with it but it seems to have stuck.

Between some more successful super deeds and Billy's podcast, the Captain has gained a rep as someone who extols the virtues of being kind and helping others. 

A rep which goes into the toilet when some sinister mystical entities get hold of the Captain's noggin and make him spout some angry and very insulting stuff about humans. 

Mark Waid has a pretty good handle on Billy Batson. He may be a bit immature and naive but he is still a kid after all. But he's a kid who has experienced things and understands the importance of trying to manage the power of Shazam for good. 

And Dan Mora's art is perfect for this Shazam series with clean lines and expressive faces, capturing the spirit of the classic series while still delivering a modern style of comic art. 

Superman Lost continues to explore the psychic trauma of being lost in the depths of space for 20 years while a single day passed on Earth.  

Christopher Priest examines some of the logistics of taking Superman away from Earth. Superman gets his powers from Earth's yellow sun. But what happens when Clark is under a sun that is not Earth's, a sun that may be smaller or larger or a different color. 

And communicating with aliens can be cumbersome. Superman may be super smart but even with that advantage, it's gonna take awhile to learn an alien tongue. Being bounced around space puts Clark in a constant swirl of different interstellar environments and encounters with different alien species.  It's a lot of deal with and we're only at the beginning of his 20 year sojourn. 

20 years later AND one day later, Lois is dealing with the aftermath, Clark curled up in a ball on the floor, forgetting to breathe. He spent so much time lost in the void of space holding his breath, he sometimes forgets to breathe.  

Superman maybe SUPER but the MAN has experienced trauma and needs time to re-learn life on Earth.

Carlo Pagulayan continues to deliver beautiful art in moments of humanity and cosmic epicness. 

Batman#135 (legacy numbering #900) delivers a multiverse shattering conclusion to Chip Zdarsky's "Bat-Man of Gotham" arc.  Trapped on an Earth where Gotham City is (believe it or not) even more fucked up than normal, Bruce Wayne has become that world's Batman and is in a cataclysmic confrontation with the Red Mask, that world's Joker.  

Batman loses a hand. Which does not slow him down.

Look, Chip had Batman survive a fall from space for crying out loud. Like a little thing like having his hand cut off would actually deter him. 

It seems Red Mask is aware that this Batman is not from around his neighborhood and is looking to cross the multiversal barriers to become the ultimate Joker. 

Or something. Dude's insane. Plot is insane. Leave it at that.

What we get is a wild chase as our one handed Batman pursues the Red Mask from alternate Earth to alternate Earth, encountering different versions of the Joker and different versions of the Batman as seen in various comics, movies and TV shows. 

For example, Batman encounters the Batman from the 1960's TV show where that Batman offers his utility belt to help our Batman on his epic quest. 

A few pages later, Batman runs into some sharks and rummages around in that utility belt to see if there is anything that might---

Shark repellant?!?! 

Wow!  I was geeking the hell out!  

Ultimately Batman stops Red Mask but is still lost in the multiverse. But as established in previous back up stories, Tim Drake with some help from Michael Holt (Mr. Terrific) has been traversing the multiverse himself to find and rescue Bruce Wayne.  

Mike Hawthorne's own hand for the alternate Earth at the start of the issue but is joined by Mikel Janin and Jorge Jiminez as Batman bounces from one Earth to another.

Jiminez does a great job adapting to different styles. For example when Bruce winds up on the Earth where Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns occurred, Jiminez is on point with Miller's style from that series.  

Next week, I'll post a Dave-El's Book Report on a book about the comic book industry.

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy

This week’s Tuesday TV Touchbase takes a look at the game shows Andrea and I follow.

We’re old people so that means Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. 

I remember when watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy was catching it if I was home and not doing anything else when it’s on. 

Now we DVR them every day. God forbid we miss one.

Andrea and I watched Jeopardy Masters, the prime time special series where 6 of Jeopardy’s greatest players went up against each other. 

It points out again that nobody how good you are, James Holzhauer is a buzz saw. As good as Andrew He, Matt Amodio and Amy Schneider are, James remains a bulldozing force of nature.

Although Mattea Roach came pretty damn close to beating James on two occasions and came within a whisker of winning the whole damn thing.

But James Holzhauer prevailed in the end as the first ever winner of Jeopardy Masters.  

There’s a loose camaraderie on Jeopardy Masters similar to Celebrity Jeopardy but the players on Masters are celebrities but their fame comes from being great on Jeopardy.  

Unlike other prime time specials hosted by Mayim Bialik, Ken Jennings was behind the lectern for the Masters series where he was a perfect fit for this sort of contest.  His experience as not just a player but a record breaking champion helped him connect with and relate to the players. 

And the players were having fun interacting with Ken.  Sam Buttrey’s insistence on calling Ken anything other than Ken (“K-Dog!”?) or James’ constant roasting of his former GOAT competitor made for some hilarious moments.   

Ken and Mayim shared the stage for a special Celebrity Wheel of Fortune with Vanna White as the 3rd celebrity guest.  Pat’s daughter Maggie ran the letter board. 

Despite 40 years of being on the show, the wheel kicked Vanna’s butt and she even made the mistake (twice!) of calling for letters already called… which in both cases, she realized her error immediately.  

Both Mayim and Ken made it to the bonus round in each half of the show and both them did not guess the puzzle in each case.  Mayim seemed very anxious during game play while Ken had his classic game face on. 

Wheel of Fortune brought back some "fan favorites" for a week of special games.  Some were contestants who won big in their previous outings and in 1 game, all 3 players had shut out their competition in their prior appearances. And some of the players brought back as "fan favorites" were players who just had the worst luck with the wheel and got completely shut out. 

Turning over to Jeopardy for the regular show, Mayim Bialik has been behind the lectern as host and was supposed to be to the end of the season. But with two weeks of shows still left to shoot and the Writer's Guild strike still underway, Mayim chose not to do those last shows and join the striking writers on the picket line. Ken Jennings will return to host those last shows of the season which has earned him the wrath of Wil Wheaton.  

What the hell? 

Wheaton takes issue with Jennings crossing the picket line to host these shows and says the Hollywood community will not forget this transgression.

OK, normally, I like Wil Wheaton but in this case, he really needs to shut the fuck up.

1) The clues written by Guild members have already been written through the end of the season. The show is not using scab labor to write the show.  

2) Ken Jennings is not to my knowledge a member of the Writer's Guild. Yeah, he's written books but he is not a writer for film or television. Mayiam Bialik is a Guild member for her work as a writer on the film As They Made Us.

3) The contestants on Jeopardy come out to make the show on their own dime. They miss time from work and pay for their travel and lodging for their chance to be on the show. It would be unfair to these people if the show shut down due to both hosts supporting the strike. 

Look, if the strike is still going on when season 40 is supposed to start and Ken crosses the picket line to work with scab writers, then we'll have beef with Mr. Jennings. Until that happens, I repeat, Wil Wheaton needs to shut the fuck up.

Well, that is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.  

Next week, we ponder the series finale of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.  

Stuff 'N' Junk In the News

The last time I posted about the what's going on in the world was last Monday, May 22nd and that story is still with us.  The United States' debt ceiling crisis is still a thing.  

OK, there may be a deal but....  more on that in a moment.  

Basically, the Republicans think we're borrowing too much money and that is not an unreasonable assessment. 

And the Republicans think we wouldn't have to borrow so much money is we spend less and that too is also a sensible assessment. 

But the only spending Republicans are proposing to cut involves programs that provide food and health care to poor people and well, that seems a bit... mean? 

What about the bloated military budget? Republicans are not gonna touch that. 

Reversing excessive tax cuts on the wealthy that significantly reduced income to the government that helped drive up the debt? Republican response to that: oh hell no. In fact, the House GOP are working on legislation for even more tax cuts when this debt ceiling mess is done. 

President Joe Biden is against screwing over poor people so good for him. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is all "fuck poor people" who didn't give him his job as Speaker of the House.  If McCarthy delivers any deal on the debt ceiling that even seems like the smallest of capitulations to Biden, his own party will oust him as Speaker. 

So it seems there's some kind of agreement between Biden & McCarthy and we'll see how that shakes out today.  Basically the news sources on Sunday all say what I expected:

The Democrats are pissed that Biden agreed to cuts that could hurt the poor.

The Republicans are pissed that McCarthy agreed to... anything. 

Last week, Ron DeSantis, die Führer und Florida, made it official he's running for President. There was a big roll out on Elon Musk's Twitter Space which went very badly with audio echoes, frozen screens and somehow a velociraptor got loose and ate some kids? I don't know, it was a mess.  

DeSantis' objective as President is to put us to sleep because he's still railing against things that are "woke".  

"Woke" is whatever offends the die Führer und Florida.

And as always Donald Trump was up to stupid shit. I'm tired and I don't feel like going into details. Quite frankly, I lose track.

And that is all for that for today.

Tomorrow we're back with the Tuesday TV Touchbase. 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.   

Cinema Sunday: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Last weekend for Cinema Sunday's Movie Musical May, I wrote about two movie musicals from the 1950's, one starring Marilyn Monroe and the other starring Jane Powell.  

Well, I like to mix things up here in these Cinema Sunday posts.

So today I am writing about two movie musicals from the 1950's, one starring Marilyn Monroe and the other starring Jane Powell.  

OK, seriously these are different movies. 

For starters, 1953's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has Marilyn Monroe in a lead role as Lorelei Lee who with her best friend Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell)  make a living as showgirls but their real occupation is having a good time with men. But these two friends have different tastes in men.  

Dorothy just wants guys who are hunky and gorgeous and could not care less about the size of their bank accounts. 

Lorelei likes a man to be wealthy to support her passion for diamonds, like her fiancé, Gus. Lorelei and Gus are planning to get married in France.  

Which presents a problem for Esmond, Gus's strict father, who just knows Lorelei is just out for his son's money.  So Esmond hires private detective Ernie Malone to spy on Lorelei.

Ernie sees some stuff that is not what it seems but makes Lorelei look to be as untrustworthy as Gus's dad suspects. Meanwhile, not knowing Ernie is spying on her best friend, Dorothy gets all hot and bothered over Ernie.

Stuff gets complicated. 

Don't worry. Everything works out and after the movie ends, Lorelei and Dorothy will both enjoy legally sanctioned marriage approved missionary positioned sex with the men of their choosing. 

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is the movie where Marilyn Monroe shimmies and coos through  "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in her iconic pink dress.  It is a performance homaged by Madonna in her "Material Girl" video back in the 1980's.  

In a scene where Lorelei needs to appear in court but can't, Dorothy arrives dressed as her friend and it's a major comedic performance as Jane Russell shimmies and coos her way through her testimony in a spot on Marilyn Monroe impression.  

One thing that might get overlooked about Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is the deep and abiding friendship between Dorothy and Lorelei. Whereas some movies might have put the two women in opposition over some man or some other damn thing, these two stay true to each and whatever problems they're having with men or money, it does not come between their friendship. They do have their occasional differences but they remain friends to the end.   

Our next movie musical may be a bit less progressive in it's treatment of women.  

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a 1954 musical directed by Stanley Donen with choreography by Michael Kidd. 

The choreography in this movie is amazing, energetic and inventive.   

The story of this movie is...

Sigh! 

Well, let's get to it.

In 1850, a backwoodsman named Adam (Howard Keel) arrives in an Oregon town to stock up on supplies.  A list of supplies that includes a wife.

The town folks are aghast that Adam thinks he can pick himself out a wife as easily as buying a sack of flour or a jug of molasses.

But damned if Milly (Jane Powell) ain't up for the gig and signs up to be Adam's wife.  

Wait until she gets to Adam's homestead and finds his six brothers waiting there: Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank, and Gideon. There are quite the uncouth and unwashed lot and Milly is pissed. 

She's not there to be a wife to one man but a servant to seven men.  

Did I mention the choreography in this movie is amazing? 

So Milly makes the best of the situation and with some time, patience and hard work, she gets the brothers to clean up and act like they got some sense.  She straightens them up enough that they are actually presentable to female women of the opposite sex so Adam and Milly take the 6 brothers into town. 

Rule #1: do not get into any fights.  

These young mountain men might be a bit rough around the edges and a little uncertain but they are courteous and polite and the only 6 available women in town take a liking to them. But the 6 available men from town don't take kindly to these rough neck interlopers and a fight breaks out. 

Which breaks rule #1. Yeah, the town boys started it but still.  Adam and Milly head back up the mountain with six sad and dejected men in tow.  

A quick reminder that  the choreography in this movie is amazing. 

As winter starts to set in, the boys are pining away for the women they fell in love with. So Adam rallies his brethren  that they should do whatever it takes to get their loves.

So the boys go into town under cover of darkness and kidnap the 6 women. 

Really, there is some outstanding choreography in this movie. 

OK, where were we? Oh yeah. Kidnapping. 

A snow avalanche blocks the mountain pass and the women cannot escape back to town. 

Milly is super pissed! Really? Kidnapping?  Milly separates everyone. The women can stay with her in the house and the boys can sleep in the god damn barn. 

Except for Adam who decides he's had enough of this bullshit and decides to ride out the winter in a hunter's cabin further up the mountain. And he's off. 

Too late for Milly to tell him she's pregnant.   

Man, that choreography just can't be beat! Awesome stuff!

Anyway, winter last about an entire year or something as the women kind of get used to their new living situation and they start to warm up to the six brothers again. 

Despite, you know, the whole kidnapping thing. 

So it's a whole Beauty & the Beast sort of thing.  

With amazing choreography. 

Milly gives birth, Adam returns and realizes he is a very stupid man. The snow finally melts as the menfolk come looking for their women and are distressed when they hear a baby crying. A minister who accompanied this rescue party demands of the 6 women, "Whose baby is that?" 

The six women reply in unison, "It's mine!" 

And the movie ends with a wedding and thus we end up with seven brides for seven brothers.  Hey, that's the name of the movie.  

Oh man! This movie....  what to say about this movie?

• Two of the three screenplay writers were women.
• The screenplay was based on a short story called "The Sobbin' Women" by Stephen Vincent Benét.
• That short story was based on the ancient Roman legend of the Rape of the Sabine Women. 

Somebody looked at this source material and thought, "You know, this would make for a really entertaining musical." 

With kick ass choreography. 

Seriously, the choreography is really good: the rapid fire movements of the dance at the social, the gymnastics on display during the barn raising scene that turns into a brawl and the slow, sad wood chopping scene as the brothers sadly reflect on their lonesome state. 

The film looks good too with beautiful scenery and colors. 

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers can be a fun movie if you can ignore that Adam gets his bride like a commodity to be bought and his brothers get their brides through kidnapping. 

Otherwise, it's all good.  

Blog Bidness: Knowing When To Give Up (At Least For Awhile)

Knowing when to give up. 

Well, at least for a little while.

I'm taking time off the blog to stand in solidarity with the Writer's Guild, to show the MAN he can't keep pushing us around! 

Although in the case of this blog, the MAN is me so...

That might present a problem. 

Anyway, no posts through Saturday.

We're back with a new Cinema Sunday on (checks notes) Sunday. And we're off and running after that. 

Until then, remember to be good to one another. 

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Night Court, Lucky Hank, Digman! and Young Sheldon

Today's Tuesday TV Touchbase looks at the season finales of 4 TV shows that I watch.  While all 4 shows have been renewed for subsequent seasons, it is unknown when those follow up seasons might appear.

At this writing, the strike by the Writer's Guild continues unabated and does not appear to anywhere near a resolution. Even if the strike ended today, production on new episodes has been impacted delaying when those series could actually start again.  

OK, let's cue up the Batman graphic and get this Tuesday TV Touchbase underway.  

This week's Tuesday TV Touchbase is brought to you by the letter "S" which stands for "season finale". 

Andrea and I watched the season finale of the revived Night Court a couple of weeks ago.  We came to this series out of nostalgia for the original series, the talent of the returning John Laroquette as Dan Fielding and a desire to support Big Bang Theory alum Melissa Rauch in her new endeavor. 

The revived Night Court is definitely old school sitcom stuff which can be a good thing; sometimes all one needs from TV is comfort food. It can also be a bad thing with the it's old style brightly lit shenanigans played out with bad jokes and broad performances.  Haven't our TV viewing habits evolved beyond such things? 

Night Court could be frustrating to me at times as it leaned so hard into it's classic sitcom roots. Who are these people and why do I care about what they are doing? Beyond Abby and Dan, it took me forever to remember that the D.A. is named Olivia and Abby's clerk is Neil. I just didn't care. 

The season finale did a bit to add some emotional heft to the otherwise lightweight confection. Abby has been arrested, Olivia's boss is determined to throw the book at Abby for a felony conviction that will stop Abby's career as a judge and Dan is leaving to become a judge in Louisiana?  

OK, we know Abby Stone is not going to jail and she'll be back on the bench and yes, the usual sitcom hi-jinks will ensue to get her back to the status quo. But with all the silliness, it felt like there was some effort to actually make us care.  

And the status quo does actually change. Abby and Rand break up, ending their engagement. And the last scene of the season finale episode does have Dan Fielding as a judge in Louisiana. Which also includes a cameo from Marsha Warfield who was Roz on the original series.    

No word yet on what John Laroquette's status is going into season 2. I guess we'll find out next season.

Whenever that might be.

I watched the season finale of Digman!, the animated series from Andy Samberg about a really weird archaeologist adventurer named Rip Digman. Both Rip and his erstwhile rival Quail are after the Holy Grail. Rip wants to bring back to life his wife Bella who died in the first episode. Quail wants to revive his dead dad to finally get him to say he’s proud of his son.  Plot twist: the Holy Grail is the UNHoly Grail which turns Bella’s dead body into the Anti-Christ and Quail’s dad becomes (wait for it!) the Uncle Christ.

OK, Digman! was exceedingly dumb and an excuse for Sandberg to show off different ways he can do Nicholas Cage’s voice. 

• Nicholas Cage as confused 
• Nicholas Cage as angry 
• Nicholas Cage as sad
• Nicholas Cage as confident
• Nicholas Cage as confused AND angry 

But the show does offer some flashes of some depth beyond it's more overt cartoon antics. I'll come back for season 2.  

Whenever that might be.   

Lucky Hank ended it’s first season with Hank Devereaux finally getting it through his thick head he’s pretty damn lucky. His issues with his father get a fresh perspective with the realization that even before the dementia starting setting in, his father was a fraud.  Hank also gets a good jab at that prick of a college president Dickie Pope who is pushing a $10 million budget cut just to make himself look good; the college’s board sends Pope packing and Hank doesn’t have to cut the English department.

Hank also realizes he doesn’t need to stay in the hell he’s made for himself at Railton College, quits his job and move to New York City to be with his wife Lily who took the really nice private school job there.

Except has Lily learned she’s happier without Hank than with him?  Has Hanky’s realization that he is indeed lucky come too late? I suppose we will find out in season 2.

Whenever that might be.  

Finally we wrapped up the season 6 finale of Young Sheldon which changes up the status quo in several ways. And also violate the alleged canon of Sheldon Cooper's youth as established in Big Bang Theory.  

A tornado hits Medford TX.  Sheldon on BBT related such an event occurred that knocked his family's mobile home off it's cinder blocks. In Young Sheldon, the Coopers do not live in a mobile home and it's not their home that gets targeted by the tornado. Instead, it's Mee Maw's house that gets demolished. It's an emotionally devastating scene as Connie Tucker views the ruins of her home.  

Also Connie's secret gambling den was exposed to the customers of her laundrymat.  Which includes Pastor Jeff. He later assures Connie he's not going to say or do anything about her illegal gambling operation. But I don't trust that self righteous judgmental prick so we'll have to see how that plays out.   

Sheldon is not in Medford for the tornado because he's in Germany with his mother. Thanks to the generosity of a lot of people who were more than happy to get Sheldon out of Texas for the summer, Sheldon was able to go to Germany for the physics program Dr. Sturgis got him into.  Again, this defies BBT wherein Sheldon relayed he was in Germany at age 15 as a visiting professor. In Young Sheldon, our prodigy is there at age 13 and as a student.   

Back to the tornado in Medford, George was driving Missy home when the storm struck. Missy's teen years have hit her hard; she 's angry a lot and lashed out at everyone. So what happens next puts her feelings in some perspective. When Missy sees a funnel cloud approaching the car, George stops and runs with Missy to a nearby ditch. After the storm passes, George and Missy clamber out of the ditch to find their car tossed and battered down the road. It's an emotional moment that hits Missy hard as she breaks down crying in her father's arms. 

Speaking of George, the infidelity that Sheldon on BBT said his father committed has still yet to occcur. The characterization of George Cooper in Young Sheldon has been at odds with Sheldon's recollections on BBT. 

The discrepancies between what was said on Big Bang Theory and what is happening may be resolved during 7th season.

Whenever that might be.  

Well, that is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.  As for our next installment....

Whenever that might be.  

OK, I know the answer to that one. We'll be back next Tuesday with a game show edition as we look at what's up with Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

Coming up in subsequent installments of the Touchbase:

• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Superman & Lois 
• Abbot Elementary   

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.  

The Debt Limit and A Game Of Chicken

Politicians in Washington DC are in a tizzy of a kerfuffle of a snit over the government's debt limit.

What is the debt limit? It is a promise Congress made to itself to not borrow more money that allowed in a prescribed limit. 

The debt limit becomes a problem when our obligations to pay for stuff can't be met unless the US government borrows more money.

The  promise Congress made to itself to not borrow more money also includes a "break glass in case of an emergency" promise to itself to raise the debt limit as needed. 

Which Congress as done regularly since the whole concept of a debt limit was first created. 

Doesn't that just make our debt problem worse? Well, yes! 

So why do we keep having to raise the debt limit? 

Well, it might help to understand why the US government is in debt. 

The US government is in debt for the same reason anyone else is debt: the government spends more money than it's taking in.

There are two ways to address this: 

1) Spend less money. But what spending do you cut?  As much as politicians might campaign on cutting wasteful spending, if it's spending in that politician's district, well, suddenly "wasteful" becomes "necessary". The self interests of politicians of holding on to their elected positions gets in the way of any meaningful spending cuts. 

2) Take in more money. Well, that's called raising taxes and let's have a show of hands of any politician who wants to go back home and tell their voters "I raised your taxes" and the answer to that is no one. The self interests of politicians of holding on to their elected positions gets in the way of any meaningful taxation. 

Now the reason everyone is in a tizzy of a kerfuffle of a snit over raising the government's debt limit is the Republicans in the House of Representatives are making the case that enough is enough and we just can't keep going further into debt.

Which is a fair point. 

But...

The Republicans in the House of Representatives only make this point when there is a Democrat in the White House. 

Republicans held the government hostage when the debt limit needed to be raised when Barack Obama was President and they are doing it again with Joe Biden in the White House.

When the debt limit needed to be raised while Donald Trump was stinking up the White House, the Republicans in the House did not say one god damn thing about the urgent need to control the debt.  

Controlling, reducing or eliminating the government's debt is a legitimate issue but it only seems to be an issue whenever there is a perceived political advantage to be gained against the opposition.  

What exactly are Republicans pushing for in spending cuts ahead of the United States reaching it's debt limit?   

They want to cut Medicaid and food stamp benefits by imposing work requirements. You might think that people might only need Medicaid or food stamp assistance because they can't work. Well, that's the whole point. 

You might also think don't even Republicans have people in their districts who need Medicaid or food stamp assistance. Aren't they imperiling their own self interests in keeping their elected positions? Well, that's where your culture war issues come in. As long as poor stupid people who might actually need Medicaid or food stamp assistance are convinced Republicans are all that stand up to rampant abortions and a socialist gay agenda, well, they will vote against their self interests.  

Challenging the debt limit is not an exercise in fiscal responsibility, of actually controlling, reducing or eliminating the government's debt. It's a chance for the Republicans to score points in a game of political chicken against their Democrat opponents.  

So what happens if the US government reaches it's debt limit and does not act raise the debt? The United States will not be able to meet it's financial obligations and we will go into default. 

The US government will become Sears.  

The effect would have world wide consequences that would make the Great Depression seems like a tea party. 

All because the Republican party thinks it can win a game of chicken against Joe Biden and the Democrats. 

Cinema Sunday: There's No Business Like Show Business and Small Town Girl

After last week's detour into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, our weekly Cinema Sunday posts returns to theme of Movie Musical May with not one but two musicals. 

Starting us off this week is There's No Business Like Show Business from 1954 starring Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Marilyn Monroe, Dan Dailey, Johnnie Ray, and Mitzi Gaynor.

The title is from the song made famous in Annie Get Your Gun. 

The story opens in 1919 and chronicles the ups and downs in the careers of Terence and Molly Donahue, a husband-and-wife vaudeville team. Throughout the years, their children, Steve, Katy and Tim, join the act, becoming known as The Five Donahues. 

But as the kids grow up, they have other plans that begin to fracture the act. 

Steve decides to become a priest. 

Katy gets married.

And Tim....

Well, Tim is a lot to deal with, flighty and immature, he falls in love with successful performer Vicky Parker but then they have a falling out, Tim begins acting even more rashly, getting into a car accident that nearly kills him. And then after a row with Daddy Donahue, Tim disappears.  

Everyone looks everywhere but nobody can find him and Mama Donahue is super stressed with her youngest son missing and World War II is happening. 

And they're closing down the famous Hippodrome Theatre in New York?   

Molly Donahue is booked for a benefit concert for the closing night of the Hippodrome where she performs "There's No Business Like Show Business" (Hey! That's the name of the movie!). With Terence and two of his kids watching backstage, they are joined by a third, little brother Steve in a sailor suit! He done gone joined the Navy!  

With no planning, rehearsal or nothing, the Five Donahues are back in business (Show business, baby!) for the first time in years for one last time, closing down the Hippodrome with an epic, elaborately costumed and choreographed performance.

Oh God! This movie...

There's No Business Like Show Business is not a bad movie, per se. There's a low bar here as one might expect for movie musicals made in the 1950's: a frothy, colorful concoction that bursts into song at certain intervals for purposes of entertainment and little more than that. And this movie clears that low bar of expectation. 

But barely. 

Even from the perspective of 1954, it feels like the tropes and cliches this movie leans really hard into feel tired and dated. It almost seems like a parody for the "we're gonna make it in show business" formula. 

A couple of saving graces for this movie are Marilyn Monroe who brings some desperately needed sex appeal as Vicky Parker and Donald O'Connor's energy and passion in the role of Steve.  

Donald O'Connor once described There's No Business Like Show Business as the best picture he ever made. Since this came from a guy who co-starred in Singin' In the Rain, I can only wonder just how much of an asshole was Gene Kelly that Donald O'Connor could look back on his career and think that There's No Business Like Show Business was the best picture he ever made.

Let's jump back one year to 1953 for another remarkably inoffensive movie musical,  Small Town Girl. 

Super spoiled trust fund dude Rick is in a real big hurry to elope with self-obsessed Broadway star Lisa.  So much of a hurry that he is caught speeding through a small town. 

The town judge, in a bit of a snit that this jackass speedster has interrupted his Sunday dinner sentences Rick to jail for a few days.

Rick informs the judge he is super rich, his mother is a great person of significant influence and he is above being put in some small town jail. 

By the time Rick is done, his sentence for speeding is now up to 30 days in jail.

OK, enough of all that. This movie is called Small Town Girl so who the heck is the "small town girl" the movie is named for? 

Cindy Kimbell, daughter of the judge who hurled Rick into jail. So Rick is objectively handsome in the generic way white guys were back in the 1950's and all the girls in town are in a tizzy that such a dream boat is going to be staying in their town. Cindy has seen this self serving twerp in person dig himself a hole that her father consigned him to, well, she's not so impressed.

Watching from his jail cell window, Rick watches a town box social where various young women have prepared various boxed meals that young men can bid on. Hey, it's the 1950's and it's something men and women had to do to hook up before anyone invented Tinder. 

Anyway, from his jail cell window, Rick wildly outbids everyone in town for Cindy's boxed lunch. It's step one in Rick's planned charm offensive on the judge's daughter.  

Cindy is not so easily swayed by Rick's obvious ploys at first but allows herself to wobble when Rick bemoans he will not be there for his "poor sick mother" on her birthday and actually convinces Cindy to help him get out of jail for one night. 

Yeah, Rick's working a con to hook up with Lisa.  

But things do not go exactly according to plan and while spending time together during a night on the town, Cindy is starting to really fall for Rick. And it seems, he is falling for her.

Rick isn't the only one who has eyes for Cindy.

There's Papa Schlemmer, the old man who runs the small town department store. 

OK, get your head out of the gutter! He's an old man, for crying out loud. No, he's angling to get his son Ludwig married off to Cindy.  

But Ludwig is gay. 

Hold on a minute, this is a movie made in 1954 and we don't KNOW he's gay. But Ludwig is a thin neat young man with an unbridled passion for musical theater and he doesn't really like girls. 

So you do the math. 

At his father's bidding, Ludwig proposes to Cindy, Cindy says "no" and Ludwig is so frickin' relieved, he skips and hops all over town in an extended dance sequence.  

And your math is confirmed. 

Anyway, both Schlemmer and Cindy's father are not happy about about this whole Cindy and Rick thing so the judge let's Rick out early, figuring the entitled jerk will skip town first thing and that is that for Cindy's infatuation. 

But the film ends with a scene in church with Cindy in the choir singing the Hallelujah chorus but who should wander in but Rick and his mom. 

And the end. 

There is a single scene with Nat King Cole singing a song in a nightclub, a scene that would be easy to excise for Southern audiences (which is something studios would do). Otherwise, this movie is so... so... white. 

A big loaf of Protestant small town white bread. 

Not that there's anything wrong with that.  White small town nostalgia might be hokum but if it's your hokum, well, enjoy the show. 

Jane Powell (Cindy) was reluctant to do Small Town Girl. Pushing her mid-20's, Powell was tired of playing the teenage ingenue and was trying to branch out into more mature roles. But she was still under contract with MGM and MGM really wanted her for this movie.   

Thank God for the leggy Ann Miller adding some much needed spice to this vanilla pudding of a movie as Lisa. Which is how we get this provocative movie poster.   

S. Z. Sakall is on hand as Papa Schlemmer. Sakall was a Jewish refugee who stayed just ahead of Hitler's advance through Europe. Sakall made his way to Hollywood where he became a frequent and beloved presence on many movie sets. He earned the nickname "Cuddles" because actors and stage hands found him so gosh darn loveable. 

(S. Z. Sakall played Papa Schlemmer as obviously Jewish but there he is in a Protestant church on a Sunday morning watching Cindy sing the Hallelujah chorus.)  

The It's That Person Who Was In That Thing Department

• Billie Burke was Mrs. Livingston, Rick's mom. Yep, that's  Glenda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz.  
• Mrs. Gordon Kimbell, Cindy's mom, was played by Fay Wray, perhaps best known for being the object of a giant ape's affection in King Kong. 

For next week's Cinema Sunday, I will double up again for another pair of movie musicals.    

Songs For Saturday: As Heard On TV with Dodie Stevens and Technotronic

 

This week's Songs For Saturday is another installment of As Heard On TV featuring songs heard in programs and commercials on TV. 

Here is Dodie Stevens with "Pink Shoe Laces" which inspired a dance sequence in an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and an infinite number of Tik Tok videos replicating that dance.  

Next is Technotronic with "Pump Up the Jam" from every single episode of Cunk On Earth.

And that is that for this week's Songs For Saturday.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.  

Your Friday Video Link: A Royal Recap

OK, a couple of weeks back, there was some history being made across the water in the United Kingdom with the coronation of King Charles III. 

And I did not post about it on this blog because quite frankly...

Who gives a fuck? 

OK, I did give some blog space to the wedding of Harry and Megan and we all saw how they hell that turned out. 

Anyway, the really big story out of the coronation of King Charles III was that someone landscaped a giant dick on the lawn.

For more on that, Your Friday Video Link is a royal recap from Chad the Bird.   

A Strange World We Live In

As part of what she called a “brain break” in between students’ standardized testing, fifth grade teacher Jenna Barbee screened the animated Disney  movie Strange World.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Because her students had been studying earth science and ecosystems, Strange World which is about a family of explorers navigating an alien world seemed like a good fit.  

What could possibly go wrong?

I should point out that Strange World does have a gay character in it. 

As  Barbee said, “Is a character in the movie LGBTQ? Absolutely. Is that why I showed it? No, I’m not pushing anything, just being accepting. Does that have anything to do with why I showed it? Not in the slightest. The LGBTQ aspect of the movie, they’re harmless, it’s just a talked-about crush and it’s only a couple lines.”

And I should also point out that Jenna Barbee is a teacher in Florida.

Which has that "Don't Say Gay" law.  

The inciting complaint has been tracked back to Shannon Rodriguez, who was elected to the school board last fall and was endorsed by the right-wing group Moms for Liberty who are virulently anti-LGBTQ+.  

Because of this complaint by Rodriguez, Jenna Barbee is being investigated by the Florida State Department of Education.

A state investigator is on site pulling students one by one out of Barbee's classroom to be interrogated about the offending incident.  

It's a strange world we live in.  

Someone in this movie is turning your frickin' kids GAY! 

Doctor Who Stuff: Titles

OK, some new Doctor Who stuff dropped this weekend with a new trailer for the 60th anniversary specials and their titles. 

Special #1: The Star Beast  

Well, now that sounds all science fictiony.  I can dig it. 

Special #2: Wild Blue Yonder  

A bit of a turn towards fantasy more than sci-fi. Seems like a cool title to me,

Special #3: The Giggle

The...  what now? 

Really? 

Russell T Davies got some 'splainin' to do, man! 

The Giggle?

Really? 

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Community, Cunk On Earth and Other Stuff That Starts With "C"

The writers of Sesame Street still have a hold on the Tuesday TV Touchbase

Today's Touchbase is brought to you by the letter "C".

"C" is for Call Me Kat which I did not watch but I'm bringing it up here because the show impacts another show that I do watch, Jeopardy. 

The idea of Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik sharing the hosting duties of Jeopardy went a little lopsided over the course of the current season.  Instead of a 50-50 split, we got something closer to an 80-20 split with Jennings doing the majority of time behind the lectern.  A lot of this was due to changes in the production schedule for Call Me Kat in the wake of co-star Leslie Jordan's death.  

Well, Mayim might have more time in her schedule for Jeopardy now that Fox has decided not to renew Call Me Kat for a 4th season.  Which is not a good thing.

Look, I'm not one of those Mayim haters. I find that she is a  perfectly good host. BUT... Ken Jennings feels so right as the host of Jeopardy and quite frankly the gig should be his and his alone. 

And we are getting more Ken as the current season wraps up. Mayim was supposed to host the show through the end of the season but with about 2 weeks of shows left to shoot, she will be bowing out to join the Writer's Guild strike picket line. 

I respect Mayim's choice here but I think it just underscores Ken's value as the host Jeopardy.

"C" is for CNN which pissed off a lot people last week by hosting a town hall in New Hampshire ahead of the Republican primary there later this year. A town hall that featured Donald Trump in front of a mostly Trump friendly audience who cheered and applauded Trump's gusher of lies. 

Basically, CNN hosted a god damn Trump rally.

The moderator of the town hall could barely keep up with fact checking Li'l Donnie's litany of lies and she got called out by Trump for being "nasty" (his favorite insult for women) when she tried.  

Despite all the criticism of having this lying, grifting, sexually assaulting, cheating, traitorous insurrectionist piece of shit on their network, be prepared for more of this fuckery on CNN. Current network owners Warner Brothers Discovery has a handful of conservative Trump supporting old dudes on the board now who have said out loud that they want CNN to be more "conservative friendly".  

"C" is for Community, the comedy series that aired on NBC a few years back. I missed it back in the day but over the years I have seen lots of clips of the show on You Tube and Tik Tok which I found incredibly funny. So I recently began catching up on the series proper on Netflix. 

Yes, Community is as funny as the clips suggest but what caught me off guard was how sincere and sweet the show could be. A group of community college students with absolutely nothing in common somehow form a bond of friendship despite their worst attributes.    

"C" is for Cunk On Earth, a  Netflix mockumentary series I finished a few weeks back. The series features Philomena Cunk (Diana Morgan), a "journalist" with an open mind and lots of really, really stupid questions. Cunk is doing the full David Attenborough as she covers the history of planet Earth, our species, and our culture. But while Attenborough seems to be intelligent and thoughtful, we wonder how did Cunk get here and will she be able to find her way out when she's done.  

Cunk does seem to make her way around this great big old planet of ours although unsurprisingly revealed in the 5th episode's last scene, Cunk was in one place the whole time being green screened into these locations around the world.  

Cunk wearing the same damn outfit for the entire series was a giveaway. Also the show likely did not have that kind of travel budget. 

OK, that is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase and enough of this "Sesame Street" style "letter is for something" shit.

Next week...

"S is for season finale." 

What the hell? 

Next week, we'll look at the season finales of Young Sheldon and Night Court. 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.  

Back To Madison

So last week during a visit home to Fortress of Ineptitude by my daughter Randie, I took a day off work and we made a road trip to our favorite destination, Madison NC.

Madison is a small town about a half hour north of Greensboro where Randie and I happened to stop during a random road excursion a few years ago. Determined not to have lunch in some generic fast food chain, we opted to try out the local cuisine and grabbed a bite to eat at a place in downtown Madison called Bob's Restaurant. 

Bob's is a hole in the wall diner with a varied menu but every time I eat there, I was get the same thing, a cheeseburger and fries. I also swear I'm going to do something different and then I get the cheeseburger and fries.  Bob's makes the best crinkle cut fries. 

Well, last week I actually did something different and ordered one of their lunch specials. I tried the meatloaf.

It was... good. It was not the best meatloaf I've ever had but it was far from the worst. But as I bogarted a couple of the crinkle fries Randie had with her grilled pimento cheese and bacon sandwich, I resolved that with my next visit to Bob's...

Cheeseburger and fries.

We indulged in dessert as I sampled their very delicious banana pudding and Randie had her favorite, lemon pie. 

And then it was off to the Eclectic Calico. We got Andrea some earrings there for Mother's Day. 

And we paid homage to Bella the Cat.

Bella only wants your total obedience

Bella is the owner and manager of the Eclectic Calico with technical support and operations being handled by her humans.

After conversing with one of the humans for a bit (Bella was her usual recalcitrant self, content in receiving pets), Randie and I ventured across the street to the Madison Dry Goods to discover some changes. Richard and Karen Miller opted to retire a few months back after running this store for  28 years.  

The new owner is Michael Smith, AKA "Smitty" who sports a handle bar mustache right out of the 1920's or something.  Smitty is keeping the classic "general store" feel of the place but he's made a couple of changes.  There's now a on site bakery so the bread stuff they sell at the store is made right there.  I bought some of their butter pecan pound cake for Andrea and myself and it was delicious.  

Lots of luck and best wishes to Smitty  as Madison Dry Goods enters its next chapter.   

Smitty in front of his "new" store 

After our time in Madison, we ventured west to Hanging Rock State Park where we spent some time by the lake there. It is a beautiful and restful spot and I always enjoy going there.  

Lakeside at Hanging Rock Park  

The rest of our road trip was meandering randomly across the North Carolina countryside as we discussed complex topics relating to religion, philosophy, politics and culture. 

And not once did I use the phrase "And that reminds me of a comic book."  

Our meandering brought us to Winston-Salem unintentionally.  Winston-Salem has the worst traffic and I hate driving through there. Which is why I rarely intentionally go to Winston-Salem. 

Other than that source of stress, it was a fun drive just hanging out with Randie and talking about stuff 'n' junk.

And a good day was had by all.