NOWHERE NEAR AS DELICIOUS!

One of the many great series on PBS in past seasons was The Great British Bake Off. In this surprisingly entertaining competition, chefs from all over the British Isles were challenged to bake a variety of delicious pastries for the title of top chef.  The show was fantastic and the icing on the cake was that there were no commercials. Now it seems that ABC has copied this highly successful show including its celebrity moderator/chef Mary Berry in the new The Great American Baking Show.  Those of us who were fans of the show on PBS have no reason to rejoice. ABC, like all three major networks seems to insist on cramming at least 12-15 commercials into every program break. How pleasant will it be to ooh and aah at gloriously conceived, mouth-watering pastries followed by sudden and endless interruptions for laxatives, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, toilet paper, toothpaste, laundry detergent, quit-smoking aids, and other boring and oft-repeated pitches? My guess? Not at all. For some reason or other Americans are willing to be subjected to millions of superfluous commercials every year so that networks CEOs can accumulate extra millions of dollars. I'll never understand why. In the meantime I'll happily watch the superior, commercial-free programs, on PBS, Netflix, and Acorn—though I must admit any pastries I enjoy during these show will probably be store bought.

A GREAT, GREAT BOOK.

One of the best books I ever read was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This novel about Francie Nolan's childhood in Brooklyn reminded me so much of my own adventures growing up in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and probably has the same effect on all its readers. Since reading it I have always felt that every library in America should take a quote from this great novel and have it displayed in large letters on the wall of its children's reading room. I think the quote is one of the most significant comments about the discoveries of youth. But sadly, though I have been in dozens of libraries, I have never seen this wonderful line printed anywhere.

"Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words."

"WHATEVER YOU SAY, SIR."

I can see why a man might compromise his principles if he needed a job that allowed him to feed and care for his family. Naturally Bob Cratchit had to scrape and bow to Scrooge if he wanted his family to have a warm home and food on the table. And while I can't condone it, I can see why men with no principles at all ally themselves to powerful autocrats in order to enjoy some of their reflected glory. Obviously an obsequious cipher like Rudy Giuliani can't survive outside of at least a glimmer of limelight. And who can blame Kellyann Conley for being a sycophant to Donald Trump? I'm sure it pays well and her hillbilly harridan appearance won't put any sexual pressures on her. What I can't understand is why a multi-millionaire like Mitt Romney, who was so critical of Trump during the election, is now willing to eat humble pie, kowtow, and—yes—kiss Trump's ass in order to become Secretary of State. He doesn't need the money. He claims to love the woman which this position will certain prevent him for seeing as often.  If his character is that weak, and his integrity so easily sold we should be as grateful that he never won the presidency as we are terrified that Trump did.

FACING THE FUTURE.

Tonight a very good friend sent me a CNN article titled, "Trump is incredibly jealous of one person." While the author Rachel Sklar outlined all the cares of state that Donald will be faced with, and probably unable to face, she wisely suggested the person he is most envious of is Hillary Clinton. After all Clinton has the admiration and votes of the majority of Americans. And while she doesn't have the Oval Office she also doesn't have all the responsibilities and sleepless nights that go with it. But what I found most disturbing about the article was not Trump's stupidity and arrogance which we know all too well, it was this photo. True, there are many photos of Trump, that show him as puffy and wrinkled and dour. But this seem even more frightening, more Dorian Gray, more tight-lipped, cold-eyed, wispy-haired, determined and dictatorial. And, surprisingly, more absolutely adrift and alone.

APPLEBEE'S SERVES UP BIZARRE COMMERCIAL.

Apparently the new Applebee's commercial isn't on YouTube yet. That's a shame because it has one of the stupidest lines I've ever heard. It says, "They say that the best gifts come from the heart. But that isn't true. They come from the stomach." How did a copywriter get away with such a repulsive, illogical and idiotic line? What gift comes from the stomach? One hates to speculate. I suspect we won't see this Applebee's commercial on the air for very long.

MIXED MESSAGES.

I think this is one of the creepiest commercials on television. While it seems to is promoting Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, it seems to be doing it with children who are taking delight in killing numbers of sci-fi enemies, to the amusement of a hospital staff. At the end the young heroine of this joyous slaughter hands her rebellion robot to a bedridden child.  Promoting a hospital with a group of children with guns. What is the message here?

A VERY BORING POST

My front porch light has gone out. I would like to change the bulb. But I cannot figure out how to open it. There are no holes for screwdrivers: Phillips or regular. The globe does not turn for removal. The globe does not pull off. Someone out there must have this same light and some idea of how to open it.
I told you it was boring.

TWO DIFFERENT MONSTERS.

Just because Donald Trump is terrible choice for president, don't start giving George W. Bush a pass. So far Trump hasn't been responsible for anyone's deaths, at least not directly. Bush, on the other hand, is a war criminal and mass murderer. His vanity war resulted in the deaths of thousands and left countless soldiers and civilians maimed, crippled, blind, deaf and mentally incapacitated. Despite the fact that Obama hasn't prosecuted him and the media seems to think he's a sweet yet daffy old dear, there are thousands of Americans missing from Thanksgiving tables all over America yesterday because George is a amoral coward who signed, in essence, their death warrants. I don't doubt for a minute that Donald Trump will do irreparable damage to our country and our spirit, but that doesn't make Bush any less guilty of the crimes for which he should have been locked away years ago.

BRAVO!

When Mike Pence attended a performance of Hamilton, he was rightly booed by the audience and the cast, both made up mostly of the kind of people he is eager to crush. Later Donald Trump demanded an  apology, saying, "The Theater must always be a safe and special place. The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!"Wrong. Mike Pence is not a good man. A god man, a man of character, does not seek to withdraw freedom from persons he doesn't like. A good man does not abandon all his alleged religious principles for the opportunity to work for a man who shares none of them. A good man does good things.

Why does Jared Kushchner want control of the White House and why is Donald Trump so willing to provide it?

A KIND OF SORT OF INVITATION.

While we still have freedom of speech, feel free to share with me any comments you have about Donald Trump. Vent your anger about how he's a racist, a bigot, a xenophobe, a grifter, and any other nasty epithet. Rant about he's not fit to govern our country and his choice of cabinet members include racists, antisemites, and a wide range of incompetents. I'm happy to hear it all. HOWEVER, if you didn't vote for Hillary Clinton, I have no interest in anything you have to say. You got just what you deserved.

THERE ARE WITCHES IN WEST VIRGINIA.

You've got to hand it to Patricia Ramsey Taylor. She's the scold from West Virginia who wrote on Facebook "It will be so refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I'm tired of seeing  a Ape in heels." First of all she's willing to come right out and admit that she's a hateful racist. Bravo. Then she confesses she's maniacally jealous of Michelle Obama who is unquestionably  beautiful, classy and dignified. How nice to have a message so transparent. Then she praises a woman she knows nothing about, the desperate petty move of a complete bitch. And finally she reveals that she is totally uneducated by using an a before a noun with a vowel and a capital letter for a lower-case word. Bigoted. Jealous. Petty. And incredibly stupid. Oh, did I mention unemployed? This nasty little revelation of her vile soul cost her her job. And possibly the job of fellow racist, Beverly Whaling, the Mayor of Clay.

BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID.

Once again I seem to be the only person who thinks the election was, to use Donald's word, "Rigged".
How? I have no idea, but if the Russians can invade our e-mails why not our election machines? Things that bother me. Why was Donald so certain he would win when all the polls suggested otherwise? What did he know?  And how is it possible that the same nation who elected Barak Obama twice would do such an about-face? It isn't.  And how it is possible that so many rigid Christians would suddenly abandon all their moral scruples in favor of a thrice divorced, foul-mouthed assaulter of women? They wouldn't? And if James Comey could release such a damaging e-mail near the close of the election, what other powers did he and his FBI cronies possess?  It seems to me that everybody has accepted this as a reality. I'm not so sure there are that many bitter, unhappy Americans, who, seeing what a loose cannon Trump is are willing to gamble on their futures, the futures of their children, the respect of their country, and the word and promises of a proven pathological liar. Bigots, racists, losers and failures, yes. But the average hard-working American, no, a thousand times no. I think Trump was right. The election was rigged. And it was rigged for him.

"SORRY I ASKED."

I think even women-oriented ads are "created" by smart-assed copywriters and art directors. Take this one, for example. These two women are at a recital by their children. One woman asks the other, "Which one is yours?" She responds, "The one in white." Since they are all in white this can only be taken as a sarcastic, pain-in-the-ass response from a real bitch. I can't imagine why Tide thinks such a nasty commercial in any way reflects well on their product.

THE SADDEST DAY IN AMERICA.

The worst has happened. So much for polls and pundits, surveys and morality. The United States can no  longer refer to itself as a Christian nation. We have torn our history to shreds, spit on the Constitution, and no longer accept poor and huddled masses. We might as well remove the Statue of Liberty and sell her for scrap metal. How did we get here? And where exactly is here?

A TRULY TERRIFYING CABINET.

Friends tell me I'm crazy, but I still say that the broadcast media, notably MSNBC has been pushing for Trump. Even now they are reporting Trump's leads with white voters and non-college educated voters with enthusiasm. Why? From the beginning the networks have given far more coverage to Trump than Clinton, ignored many of his failings while putting all of hers under a microscope and through a loudspeaker. Some celebrities feel that any coverage is good coverage, and I'm sure Donald is one of them. And he's been getting it: day after day, hour after hour, his hair, his face, his voice has been Big Brothering us for endless months. We are shown his huge crowds; the unchallenged lies of his surrogates; his robotic family; Rudy, his modern-day Nosferatu; even supposedly sane Republicans who will not betray their Duce. It's still early in the evening and most of the networks, while trying to suggest a neck and neck horse race, are telling us that Hillary will win. But they've been so deceptive for so long, I wonder.

I wish I were James Comey's banker. I would love to see if a large sum of money was recently deposited into his account.

A SHAMEFUL CASE OF BORROWED INTEREST.

One of the most offensive promotions on TV is for a news program on HLN called On the Story with Erica Hill. Erica, as you can see, is very attractive and looks a bit like a young Mary Tyler Moore. This apparently inspired some unimaginative idiot or idiots to promote her show by stealing the iconic opening to the Mary Tyler Moore Show, using the same music and scenes right up to tossing her hat in he air. There is only one Mary Tyler Moore and the opening to her popular program has special meaning to millions of viewers. To copy it and replace her with a young newswoman, no matter how attractive, is blasphemous. If the owners of the copyright permitted this theft, I am disappointed to know they put such little value on this historic opening. If HLN didn't gain permission, I hope they are soon required to remove this obscene imitation from their schedule. I also hope that Erica Hill is wise enough to see just how offensive this promo will be to Ms. Moore's many, many fans,

HERE'S A POSSIBLE OCTOBER SURPRISE.

Samantha Bee just had a hilarious show in which she gave us many reasons to believe that Donald Trump can't read. Among them his hatred of teleprompters, his always talking from the hip, and the fact that he hasn't read a book in 20 years (maybe ever). But I have another theory to add to that. I think he's had a face lift. This is why he always has a thick head of hair, regardless of how shabby it looks, it hides the scars from his operation. Poor Donald: illiterate, amoral, untruthful, and hopelessly vain.