TV Shows!

I’m in the middle of watching several TV shows, some streaming, some weekly, some NetFlix, some Amazon, all of which I’m enjoying.  Only problem is not enough time to really keep up with all of them.  Seems like we’re in the middle of another golden age on the tube (or device if that’s your preference.)

Specifically:

“Billions”

“America Crime”

“The Americans”

“Sneaky Pete”

“Rectify”

“Blacklist”

“Fargo”

“Silicon Valley”

“Better Call Saul”

And I intend to check out:

“Bosch” (new season)

“Fortitude” (new season)

“Genius”

“Guerrilla”

“The Handmaid’s Tale”

And coming later this month:

“House of Cards” (new season)

“Twin Peaks”

And some unfinished business on DVDs:

“Homicide: Life on the Street” (Seasons 6 & 7)

“House M.D.” (Seasons 4 to 8)

Like I say, not enough time to watch them all!

Random Thoughts!

How wonderful it was that the Trump “armada” threatening North Korea was headed in the wrong direction.  Kind of says it all, methinks.

Arrogance sums up Bill O’Reilly and other guys like him who go after women who aren’t interested.  I can’t get my head around wanting to sleep with O’Reilly, but I’m sure there are many women who would be interested.  Why, then, go after the others?  Arrogance, an “I’m entitled” mentality, trumps (no pun) intelligence.

Fascism by any other name.  Erdogan claims that the new powers he has as a result of Sunday’s referendum are simply to improve Turkey’s democracy and have the government run smoother.  Sounds like Hitler when he was “elected” in 1933.  Fascism by any other name.

Protest, yes.  Protest violently, no.  Big mistake, and stupid, for anti-Trump or anti-Coulter or anti-any other right wing figure to allow their dissent to turn into violent demonstrations.  Gives ammunition (figuratively I hope) to the bad guys.  Free speech, in Berkeley or anyplace else, should be protected.

Be prepared for the current Supreme Court to rule on the wrong side of many issues as we go forward.  Civil rights, secularism, women’s rights, crime, etc. etc. will all be eroded, maybe temporarily, maybe forever.  I expect the worst.

Look around – stability is threatened and under siege all over the place.  In Venezuela, Indonesia, France, Nigeria, Kashmir, the Middle East, etc., etc., etc.  And here at home.  Good luck to us all.

What People Care About!

Congress has gone home for Easter – probably a good thing for the country given their inability to get anything done.  I hear that many of the people’s representatives are facing hostile questioning from their constituents – also a good thing given they spend too much time in the insulated comfort of Washington, D.C.

Interestingly, the questions these people’s representatives are getting rarely have to do with today’s headlines.  On the front pages are stories about our latest super bomb, bigger than anything since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and proof that we’re ready to flex our muscles again.  Of course, flexing our muscles also leads to more killing of innocent civilians (another front page story.)

That’s what news junkies and the elites care about.  But that’s not what most people really care about.  What most people care about is much closer to home.  What’s happening with my kid’s school?  How will health care changes affect my family?  My neighborhood isn’t as safe as it used to be.  Why can’t I rent out a bedroom to a tourist?  You said if I voted for you you’d do this and this and this.  When are you going to keep your promises?

A renewed aggressiveness and impatience on the part of constituents is a good thing.  Left or right, their participation in calling their representatives to account may be the only thing that will make a difference – help break the gridlock with which we have been plagued for years.

The threat of not being reelected is the only thing that in the end will cause these people to act.  It’d be nice if that weren’t the case, but this the world we live in.  So use the weapons at hand.  Revive Democracy!   

Big Little Lies!

Had I seen a preview of the TV show, “Big Little Lies,” and never heard of the book, I doubt I’d have been interested.  I would have thought it was a story about women, for women.  I would have been wrong.  Goes to show how limiting a narrow male view can be.

Once I began watching I was hooked.  Great writing and masterful acting transcend gender.  “Big Little Lies” quickly became my newest favorite show.  Usually in a seven episode series like this the quality will be uneven.  Not this time.  I am reminded of what a friend of mine once said about an actor we knew: “He’s not good or bad.  He just has varying degrees of excellence.”

That’s how it was with the lead actors in “Big Little Lies.”  Each in her own way was excellent.  If I had to choose a ‘best’ it would be Nicole Kidman.  But she would have only a narrow edge over all the others.  And hats off to David Kelley and Jean-Marc Vallée for brilliant writing and directing.

While I’m on the subject of brilliance I have to mention “Fences,” which I was late to see, but better late than never.  Denzel Washington and Viola Davis were outstanding.  The words of August Wilson were, as always, memorable.