Putlizer Prize winner wallops wimp.

Every now and then there is a delicious and unexpected moment on television, like this one on Fox news this week. We all owe Tom Ricks, leading military expert and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist,  our gratitude for exposing Fox News to themselves. They have been so eager to hype this Benghazi story and they stupidly thought Tom would help them. Instead he told the truth and threw them into panic mode. You will note how quickly they end interviews that don't assist them in their "fair and balanced" news.

Three litle pigs. No wolf.

This is an excerpt from Today's Huffington Post (November 27)
Republican Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) said on Tuesday that their highly anticipated meeting with U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice about the Sept. 11 anniversary attack in Benghazi, Libya, hadn't allayed their concerns about either the administration's explanation of the attack or Rice's qualifications as a potential secretary of state.

"Bottom line, I'm more disturbed now than I was before that the 16th of September explanation about how Americans died in Benghazi, Libya, by Ambassador Rice I think does not do justice to the reality at the time and, in hindsight, clearly was completely wrong," Graham declared at a press conference after the meeting.
****************************************************
In short these three senators went into the meeting with false outrage and closed minds and emerged with minds just as closed and outrage just as false. McCain stomped in with all the anger and jealousy he feels about President Obama, eager to sabotage his presidency in whatever petulant way possible. Lindsey flounced in, thrilled for yet another opportunity to show his love, loyalty and devotion to his hero McCain. And Ayotte slinked in, oiled with all her Republican prejudices against Planned Parenthood, gay marriage and all those New Hampshire liberals she is forced to represent along with the worthy right-wingers.  Even before the meeting began they were rehearsing their speeches about how they were even more disturbed and how Rice, despite all the evidence to the contrary, was wrong, wrong, wrong. What sad examples of senators. 

A very depressing commercial.

This is the same type of bah-humbug commercial Buick did last year. If I understand it completely, I hate it. But not knowing anything about cars I'm not sure I get it. Is seems he bought her a small compact car for Christmas?  She is thrilled. But suddenly she sees a more costly Buick and she is utterly disappointed with the car he bought her. She doesn't even make an effort to hide her obvious  disappointment. Is that the message of this holiday commercial? If it is, I would take back the first car, dump her immediately and find someone less greedy. And what does the announcer mean by "to those who sacrificed one for the other"? What other? It doesn't track.

"Of all sad words of tongue and pen..."

One of the stupidest rules of our times is that no person can be elected to the presidency more than twice. If there could have been multiple terms of office, Clinton, I believe, would have served at
least four terms. Which means we probably never would have been cursed with moronic Bush and satanic Cheney. Which means we never would have gone to war in Iraq and may even have stopped 9-11 from happening. Gore, as Vice President, would have taken more steps again global warming, or whatever they call it these days, giving us a head start against the nightmare that we may not now be able to head off. We wouldn't have had the budget problem that Bush plunged us into. Not only would we not have had this unemployment crisis, but among those in the work force would be all the vital young men and women who didn't died in Iraq and all those able bodied young men and women who weren't crippled in the Bush's petulant war. But this is all irrelevant because after Clinton gave us two stellar terms, he had to move out of the white house to make room for a speeding car crammed with deadly clowns.

Moving day.

I don't get hunters. I don't see how someone—for fun (or as they call it, sport)—can go out in the woods,  see a defenseless animal grazing or just walking and put a bullet through its head. I don't want to be friends with people like that because I think they could just as easily do it to a person. Today I have to have a possum removed from under my house, maybe a whole family of them. Possums are the ugliest, most antisocial nocturnal creatures. They are absolutely repulsive. But I couldn't kill a possum What right do I have to take away it's only shot at existence?  I don't. I don't want it under my house, but I wouldn't kill it to remove it. Besides his or her babies don't think their parent is repulsive. The person removing it has absolutely assured me that he will take it to a distant wooded area and set it—or them—free.  I have to accept this as true, unless I go with him, which I may. I wish we could talk to animals. I'd tell this possum, "Look if you promise to stay of sight, not bother my cats, and not eat my electrical and cable cords, and do your business somewhere else, you can stay here. I'll even feed you, providing you don't invite all your relatives over." Unfortunately that's not possible, so today is moving day for this really ugly possum, though he or she doesn't know it.

Note: Over a week later. I turns out the possum was not ugly and mean like this one, but far cute and much more sedate. I caught him during the night and he spent most of the morning sitting or pacing in his trap. He never once hissed or acted panicky, but seemed to be waiting patiently for the Orkin man to come and take him away. I thought I'd feel relieved, but I felt really sad and, frankly, missed him when he was gone.

what? What? WHAAAAAAAAT!

This is a small complaint and I only mention it because it has happened to me several times lately. I get a phone call when I am out, so it is on my answering machine.The message often sounds like this: "Hello. Mr. Provost. This is gushmo from flughbac's office.  As soon as you get this message, it's very important that you call us back at 305-858-bleek, clack, two, shlump. So, not only haven't they clearly stated who is calling, but they have left a number I can't figure out no matter how often I replay it. Don't people know that you should state your phone number slowly and clearly and repeat it at least once?

Aging.

Being a seventy-year- old man is like having a twenty-five -year-old television. There's a good chance it will work perfectly for another ten years, but it's not likely. At the very least a few parts will need to replaced, if one wants to bother and if they still exist. It will be obvious to everyone that it is not a recent model.  And, of course, you always wish you had a more up-to-date features and that it was clearer, easier to hear, and more portable. Then one day when the picture starts to go everyone, except a few diehards, will agree it's not worth saving. That's when you have to remind yourself of all the years of pleasure it brought you and appreciate that nothing lasts forever.

Very funny, but I don't get it.

I like this commercial a lot, but I wish it were for another product. I just don't see the connection between all these people laughing contagiously and Volkwagen. I can see it being perfect for a camera, or healthcare or Hallmark Cards. But how the hell it relates to an automobile is absolutely beyond me. I suppose the line "It's not the miles, it's how you live them" is supposed to clarify the message. But frankly, I find this line trite, meaningless and imitative of other similarly trite and meaningless lines. So, anyway, VW, thanks for the charming collage of happy people.

Grammatical error?

Shouldn't this be, "But dad, you've got Allstate with accident forgiveness that guarantees....." They spend a ton of money on these commercials. They don't have that many words. It seems they could get them right. Or, am I wrong about the agreement?

Stop the music!

I confess I have never been a fan of rock music—none of it, ever. But I do accept that many of these bands are probably very talented people and many of the lyrics are thoughtful and well-conceived. However, I cannot under any circumstances understand or appreciate this new trend of taking a single lyric line—usually incredibly trite—and repeating it endlessly with an equally repetitive piece of music. Yet there it is, in every supermarket, department store, and fast-food restaurant. But what is especially annoying is these songs blasting at Barnes & Noble while I am trying to choose a book. Today, while attempting to browse, I was forced to listen to "Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen. Anything can happen." And when it was mercifully over, it was followed by, "Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees. Baby, I'm on my knees." If these songs are popular, what am I not getting? 

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow." Marco Rubio

Sorry, Marco, you're wrong again. The age of the universe has everything to do with how our economy is going to grow. If the earth is 4.54 billion years old, which most scientists believe, then there's every reason to believe that we have sent it on a downward spiral in the past two hundred years which is just a blip in time. How? With, among other things, global warming, you know that problem Republicans don't believe exists. So if man can do that much destruction in a nanosecond of time, imagine what we can keep doing the next few decades if we're not stopped. Do you really think out economy is going to grow if we promote more  polluted rivers, more fracking, more deforestation, more crop-destroying weather, more carbon emissions, more population growth, more faulty nuclear plants, more nuclear waste being buried near some unsuspecting town. Earth has survived for 4.54 billion years. And keep in mind that a billion is 1,000 million. If we want to keep the earth safe, we need politicians who believe in science—not Neanderthals like you. 

A cover story.

Today I recalled an interesting anecdote from my past. I can relate it, but unfortunately I cannot illustrate it, which may make reading this irrelevant. But what the hell I'm not doing anything else and obviously neither are you. So here's the story. When I was in my 30s, I read a book called Playing for Time by Fania Fenelon. It was a true story of how she survived at the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau and later at Bergen-Belsen by performing as a singer and musician in the camp's orchestra. It was a harrowing, disturbing, and important book.  However, I was very offended by the cover and wrote to the publisher to tell them so. What offended me was the visual of what was obviously the naked arm of a young and healthy woman resting on a highly polished violin.  Printed on the arm in an elegant typeface was what was supposed to be a concentration camp tattoo. I chided the publisher for having such a ridiculously glamorized image for such a nightmarish biography. The publisher wrote back politely telling me that my comments were greatly appreciated and that they were redoing the cover and would send me a free copy on completion, which they did. The new cover showed a young blonde woman in the foreground, with full makeup and windblown hair and behind her a handsome Nazi officer. The suggestion being that of romance which had nothing to do with the book and created a cover far more offensive than the one I had complained about. The point being that even people in power—in this case the publisher—can be raging a******s.

Note: The somber, and appropriate, cover above is what is being sold today. Despite a diligent search of the Internet I could not find either of the previous paperback covers. Maybe the publisher was wise enough to destroy any evidence.

"Golleee. Let me think about that."

In a GQ interview published this November, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was asked how old he thinks Earth is.  His Romneyesque answer is as follows:
"I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries. "
I'm not sure what offends me most.
1. The fact that he is another two-or-more-faced hedgehog trying to please the evangelicals.
2. That he is actually so badly educated that he dismisses all scientific evidence in favor of magical thinking.
Or 3. That he addressed the interviewer as "man". What is he 15  years old? 

Remembering Royal Dano.

I have not yet seen Spielberg's new film Lincoln. I am sure that Daniel Day Lewis is excellent in the role, though I question Spielberg's ability to make me like this movie any more than his other overblown films, notably the dull Amistad.I keep hearing reports of how brilliantly they came up with a voice for Lincoln, and, to me, it sounds just like Walter Brennan. But Lincoln is always an interesting subject, and he has had many brilliant portrayers, including Henry Fonda, Raymond Massey, John Carradine, John Anderson, Gerald Bestrom, Hal Holbrook and the actor whom I suspect I regard as the best Lincoln of all: Royal Dano. I say I suspect because I still recall his performance which I saw 60 years ago as a ten-year-old. Back then Dano portrayed Lincoln in a five-part mini-series in 1952-53 on Omnibus. I recall this laconic, lanky actor as giving a performance so believable that one could imagine the real Abraham Lincoln being no different Fortunately the series is available on the Internet. Unfortunately I haven't a clue how to access it. But if you do, I  it is well worth watching. 

Onward Pseudo-Christian Soldiers.

I just heard a report on NPR radio about the recent GOP Governors Conference in Las Vegas.  It seems, according to these clueless pols, the reason they were so soundly defeated in the recent elections had nothing to do with Obama's popularity or policies. Apparently the victory was only because Obama had a get-out-the-vote ground force that was far superior to Romney's. The voters weren't swayed by the issues they were entranced by the salesmanship. So, these governors determined that they didn't really have to change their message so much as how effectively they delivered it. For instance, they had to convince Latinos that they really liked them a lot without actually having to enact anything to prove it. Being convinced that Americans don't want Obamacare despite every statistic to the contrary, they are still determined to find a way to abolish it. How cute. How naive.  In short, other than agreeing that Romney was not a great candidate—while not admitting that he was beyond pathetic—they all happily agreed that they only faced losses because the Obama machine was so well oiled, so well run. They apparently have no idea how much they offended women and minorities, how deeply they alienated gays, and how greatly they frightened the elderly or those on any kind of entitlement program.  I found this NPR report to be very encouraging news. It means that these oblivious Republican governors will continue their stubborn lockstep march into total irrelevance.

A clearly bad choice.

I find it fascinating that I suddenly see so many commercials and promotions for Clear Choice dental implants. Most intriguing is that they promise a new smile in one day. I don't know who they are appealing to, but any reasonable person knows that is an impossibility. Are they suggesting that a surgeon can remove your natural teeth,  drill metal anchors in your bloody tissue and—bingo!—snap on radiant new smile and send you home  grinning like a Cheshire cat? And of course all this would be without pain, infection, poor fit or any problem at all, other than being thousands and thousands of dollars poorer. Obviously they're lying, and it must be working considering how many centers they have throughout the country. But I just spent time reading complaints from many of their customers who feel they were ripped off, lied to, and just plain bamboozled by this chain of charming grifters.  I doubt that anybody reading this is considering Clear Choice, but if you are I suggest you read the many negative reports of their clients before you make an appointment or disappointment.

Note: What is it with these attractive blonde women who are willing to lie through their natural, healthy teeth to push a product that could possibly damage people as well as leaving them broke. She's just another version of that amoral blonde who pushes oil and natural gas for EnergyTomorrow.

Minister of Hate.

While I mentioned this charlatan in a previous post, I think he deserves his own space. This creature is William Franklin Graham, son of Bible Billy, the most successful religious outlaw in American history. Franklin is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangeistic Association and the international relief organization Samaritan's Purse, purse being the operative word.  Like his father, he is a millionaire. Like his father, he hosts wildly popular crusades all over the world to hordes of fervent believers, none of whom seems able to recognize a con man much less a whole family of them. Franklin is a Republican, which means he is totally opposed to everything Jesus stood for. He is a bigot and, being a staunch enemy of the entire Muslin religion, he is not about to embrace Christ's "love your neighbor" tenet when he can spread hate and bigotry everywhere he goes.  He is another of the right-wing wackos who questioned President Obama's faith and continues to suggest that Barack sneaked into office when God wasn't looking.  Like his failed hero Romney, he is a businessman. His incredibly profitable business is religion, which offers far more riches than most corporations. I don't argue that his companies do some good work, but that's only a side product of a business totally devoted to an ego-driven family who need adoration as much as they need air.  I doubt that he has any true belief in God or either testament, otherwise he would be terrified of the fires of hell, which he knows he would be condemned to for a lifetime of deceit, egotism and greed. His son Will is the next antiChrist to take up control of the family business.

John McCain and Lindsey Graham have become the Statler and Waldorf of politics. Always at a loss for any positive comments, they carp constantly about the Democrats, notably President Obama. Their latest bitching has been directed at Susan Rice, whom they feel should have had absolute knowledge of what happened in Benghazi despite that she could only report what she was being told by the  CIA. Of course, they're completely idiotic to think such a thing, but they has never stopped them before. My theory is that the closeted Graham has been in love with McCain for years. (McCain was sort of attractive once.) This makes him the perfect echo to all of Sour Grape McCain's constant complaining. Or, as a pundit put it yesterday, "Sancho Panza to McCain's Don Quixote." Except McCain isn't quixotic as much as psychotic, and having lost so much prestige in recent years, he welcomes Graham's blind adoration. Poor John. His whole life changed with a single hideous error that could not be undone: choosing the inept Sarah Palin as his running mate. Now she's being ghost-written to appear intelligent while he's making a fool of himself on a daily basis with his loyal playmate Lindsey.

No question about it.

When Mitt Romney lost his bid for the presidency, he could have been a good sport, a gracious loser, and even volunteered his time and years of expertise to help President Obama in his second term. He could have held his head high and said that the best man won. If he had done anything like that, we might have said, "Hmmm. Maybe he would have made a good president." But, instead, Romney gave America the best possible gift. He showed them just how wise the were not to elect him. He has been petty, whiny and deceptive as usual. He is a peripatetic malcontent going from one group to another making excuses for his loss, blaming the 47% of Americans who elected Obama because he promised them "gifts".  He has proven himself to be the bullet a nation dodged, the disaster we avoided, the unctuous fraud we do not have to see on a daily basis for the next four years. He has given us a new standard for poor sportsmanship, become history's sorest of sore losers. And, for that, I will be eternally grateful to Mitt Romney.

Senile.

Series stars or sales staff?

One of my favorite tv series is Revenge. Loosely inspired by The Count of Monte Christo, it tells the story of a super-wealthy young woman out to revenge herself on the family that framed her father and were responsible for his execution.  The only problem with this exciting series as well as almost every other series is too many commercials. But last night's episode added a new annoyance as far as the commercials were concerned, an annoyance that could become a really distressing trend if it is successful. It seems like marketers thought it would be brilliant to put the actors from Revenge into a series of commercials promoting the odd partnership of Target and Neiman-Marcus. The commercials—themed as "The Gift of Revenge"—look so much like the show that one is temporarily unaware it is a commercial. Each little vignette seems more like a dream sequence, especially since one of the players is not an actual person from the show, but a close look-alike. In these sequences the Revenge characters receive elegantly wrapped fashion gifts from an anonymous source which they are encouraged to wear  that night. The final commercial of the evening has all the individual players from the previous commercials meeting at the evening's event in which a female entertainer (whom I wouldn't know) performs. I don't get the message unless it's to notify the viewers that affordable-for-everyone Target chain is in an ad partnership with the people that own the high-priced and exclusive Neiman-Marcus stores. And why would they want to do that? I suspect this will probably be a successful advertising gimmick. I personally think it shows a lack of respect for the show itself since it completely rips down the fourth wall, reminds the viewer that it's all fake anyway, and turns most of the characters into sales clerks.

Close encounters of the turd kind.

I was surprised to see this photo in the Huffington Post. It is very unusual for Martian Rick Scott to allow himself to be shot with the mother ship. What you can't see are the wires from the ship to his battery acid-filled dome. He tells people he shaves his head, but of course Martians don't have hair nor even eyebrows (Maybelline). Many people think that Scott has a naturally goofy grin, but this is the idiotic expression all of his fellow Martians sport. He can actually play songs on those theuromyanic teeth. Just as well the Republicans lost so big. There was a lot of trouble brewing in the Republican party. It seems that Romney was upset when Scott, who was born and raised on Mars, told him that Mormonism was all bullshit and there were no Latter Day planets floating around, ruled by deceased Mormons. Or as Scott so coldly put it, "Trust me Mitzie. Dead is dead." If Scott had feelings he would be upset to know he'll never serve another term, but apparently he's already stolen and embezzled enough money to purchase all the things his planet needs and get the hell off of Earth.  I doubt that he'll hold office on the Red Planet. Even Martians aren't that stupid.

The good is of course a second term for President Barack Obama, the election of Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, the defeat of misogynists Mourdock and Akin,  and the return of Allan Grayson to the Florida house.  The bad is the election or reelection of any Republican, Teapartier and Blue Dog Democrat who is sure to be as obstructionist as he or she has been for the past four years. And the ugly—the truly ugly—is the amazing reelection of one of the most insane pols in history: Michele Bachmann. That this rabid nutcase is allowed to hold political office is an embarrassment to her state and a sad comment on the mental stability of those who voted for her.

And yet another

I don't know how much Sheldon Adelson spent in his lame attempt to get Romney elected to the presidency. I do know he  vowed to spend as much as $100 million since he knew that Mittsy could get him some big tax cuts. But alas it was not to be. I wonder if Adelson, the Koch Brothers, and all the other belligerent billionaires are cursing the inept Romney this morning rather than themselves for being such fools for betting on a  horse that ran in so many directions. 

Another ugly American.

That hypocritical old bastard Billy Graham turns 94 today. I wonder if he has asked God why he chose Barack Obama over Mitt Romney when he and so many other pseudo-Christians has hoped otherwise? Maybe it's because there is no god, or, if there is, that he was so repulsed by the avarice and bigotry of Graham and millions of other "Christians" that he wanted to bitch slap them. Whichever the case, the rickety old evangelist did not have his prayers answered and being 94 will probably (and hopefully)  die during the administration of a man he so eagerly fought against.

Note: To paraphrase a popular expression, "The nut doesn't fall far from the tree." Today, Nov. 16, the seriously unChristian Franklin Fruitcake Graham, son of the evil evangelist Billy, said that with the election of Obama the only thing that can save America is complete collapse and redemption. Sorry to offend millions of worshippers worldwide, but if you think anybody in this family is truly religious and Christian then you deserve to be parted from all the money they have managed to talk out out of.

The unhappiest man in Washington.

One of the great pleasures of Obama's reelection is knowing how miserable it will make this vindictive old turkey. Does this ugly old man realize how much destruction he has done to America in his racist vendetta again one of our finest presidents. Worse, does Mitch McConnell intend to continue his evil antics and petulant behavior? Or is he ready to throw in the towel and see if he regain even a shred of decency and fairness? I doubt it. A face doesn't get like that by good deeds and harmonious compromise. Each line and crevice is carved by continual scowling and pouting. And the waddle? That is created by the constant negative shaking of the head.

Amnesia?

The day after the election I made the mistake of watching Joe Scarborough's morning show. His guest Chris Matthews and he both praised Romney's concession speech, which is fine, but in doing so they suggested that Romney was really a good person, a man of character, true to his religion and essentially decent. Bullshit! Romney ran a deceitful, repulsive, slimy campaign. Not the campaign any man of character would run. So as much as I admired Chris for being a leader in the battle for Obama's second term, I really dislike him for giving the despicable Mitt Romney a pass for his bald faced lies, smirking attitude and poor sportsmanship.

Not funny, McGee.

Every time I am critical of SNL on HuffPost, I get all kinds of vicious replies from fans who obviously don't know good comedy writing when they see it. Since nobody seems to know how to respond to my blog, or wants to, I'm in no danger. It's not that I don't think SNL is amusing at times, but generally it is high-school comedy writing that completely misses its mark by either being too obvious or far too over the top. All too often they try to satirize something that is already satire, like almost anything that Sarah Palin says. Compared to such British shows as Brilliant, The Big Train,  or French and Saunders SNL is pathetic. Its humor is sophomoric, it's imitations generally weak, and its so-called stars second-rate at best. Amy Poehler doesn't even come close to seeming anything like Hillary Clinton. Tina Fey was excellent as Palin because she looks like her, but her delivery was no more hysterical than that of Sarah herself. While I accept that most people seem to praise SNL, I find almost every skit sadly without true wit, subtlety or depth. In short,  I find SNL the most overrated show on television. You may not agree, but  at least you probably won't write me a nasty response.

Warning. Danger ahead.

America needs a Vice President, not an evangelist. This guy is bat crazy nuts. He's obsessed with Catholic propaganda and could never serve a country with diverse religions. He's sexually stunted, frighteningly misogynistic, emotionally immature, and as suited to serve in office as Pat Robertson. Also, as you can see from his attacks on Obama, he's unChristianly vicious and shamelessly dishonest. We are fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan but seem unable to recognize the insane proselytizers we have here.

I miss the movies..and the palaces.

I used to love going to the movies. Especially when I was a kid in Boston and most films were shown at so-called movie palaces. Theaters like the RKO Keith, the Metropolitan, and the Paramount were opulent settings to see the latest products of Hollywood. Boston, unlike a lot of cities, always had double features, plus, of course, previews of coming attractions (we didn't call them trailers) and possibly a cartoon. Seeing Spartacus at the Astor was a thrill because the theater was spectacular and spacious and there were two sets of curtains that parted dramatically as the film began. Seeing Cinerama at the Boston Theater was another thrill when Lowell Thomas—who had given a rather tedious opening speech on a small screen in black and white—suddenly said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Cinerama" at which point the red curtains parted to reveal the biggest movie screen any of us had ever seen using the new three-camera process that gave the viewer the added realism of peripheral vision. And on that screen, in glorious color,  the car of a roller coast suddenly rumbled out and took us for a close-to-real ride on a wooden roller coaster. But that was then, when movies were fun, the theaters were grand, and presentation was part of the experience. Not any more. For one thing there are no palaces. There are multiplexes where most theaters are good sized, but often you're condemned to a small screening room. And people no longer know how to behave at movies. They talk. They put their feet over the seat in front of them. They eat loudly, often of odorous treats like nachos. And, worst of all, they constantly check their cell phones so that at any given moment in the film, you are distracted by lighted screens to the left or right of you, in the next row or rows and rows and rows away. Like I say, no fun. Pity because this Christmas I would like to see Les Miserables on the big screen at the local multiplex. But I've only had pleasant experiences with this musical which I have seen four times. Why ruin it now. I think I'll wait till it's on television.

Note: Imagine this: The magnificent stairway above was the way we slum kids would ascend to the balcony of Boston's Metropolitan Theatre to see such films as The House of Wax. Even more amazing is that so many other theaters were equally impressive.

Just bought the 7-oz can of Edge Shaving Gel at Publix for 2.29 after pricing it at Walgreen's where it was 4.49. How do these thieves stay in business?

A rhyme for our time.

It seems there's no stopping

Mitt's flipping and flopping

And the jaw-dropping lies that he tells.

With every new whopper,

This flipper and flopper

Thinks it's a story that sells.

But each flip seems to flop

And each flop is so flip

That he constantly trips on each lie.

So while some people flip

And may vote for this flop,

Most voters just stop and ask, "Why?"