Really - Who Cares?

Since when is it something interesting to take a photo of the food you're eating? Even my Sainted wife does it for her sisters. I don't get it.

Why food? You eat it 3 times a day - it's not like it's a special occasion or something. More to the point - who the hell cares (besides you) what you're eating?

Curmudgeons come from an era when photos meant something. There was a determined amount of effort and cost associated with them, so they weren't frivolous. Today? Not so much. The more frivolous the merrier. I don't buy it - if it's clever? Grand. Memorable? Of course. Your meal? No. Just no.

Lost Smells

Last week, I bemoaned the loss of that indelibly fall smell, burning leaves. At a recent Curmudgeon Societé Generale meeting, my fellow curmudgeons started in on me about a world of lost smells.

To wit: Ditto machines, vacuum tube electronics, telephone books, chalk dust, Polaroid film, Magic Markers, cap gun caps, and the old "new car smell."  Even the morning coffee smells pale in comparison to the old days when coffee was perked and filled the house with the smell of coffee.

And these are just from OUR generation. Our noses weep for their loss...which is pretty gross.

Pool Sheds

My fellow curmudgeons taunt me - "Oh, you have a shed - hah, you can just TOSS your outdoor furniture in there, and you're done for the season." This scenario couldn't be further from the truth.

These are guys whose last "toss" was the crumpled piece of paper that missed the wastebasket. Putting expensive outdoor furniture away involves carrying and then arranging - quite carefully - a pile (10 large pieces, for you detail-oriented sorts) of furniture to a shed at at the back of the property. There is no "tossing."

There IS, however, a lot of sweating and cursing. And with each passing year, the latter has occupied much, much more of the adventure.

'Tis the Season

Yes, dear readers, I actually ventured out to do some Christmas shopping recently. I was expecting crowded parking lots, cold weather, and the usual hustle and bustle of the season.

I was not expecting this. Big brother. Looking VERY menacing. Here in a quiet Northern NJ suburban mall. Now, I realize that a lot of local police forces have acquired government surplus tanks, armored vehicles and such, but this is really over the top - actually literally so, seeing as how it looks down upon we mere mortals going about our meek existence.

This really changes the face of "getting in the Christmas spirit" -  even for curmudgeons.

More Movie Reviews

So I finally went to see Interstellar over the weekend. I never turn down the chance to go to a super outer space film in IMAX 3D - Avatar, Gravity, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.

So here I was, all pumped up for Interstellar in 3D. Except it WASN'T in 3D. The director "didn't believe in the medium." Well, the hell with him - I do. So 2D it was. And long it was. Really, really long. I left the house at 10am and got back at 3. That's no movie - that' s an entire day at the county college.

And it was just about as much fun. If you can't blow me away with science fiction - IN SPACE AND WITH IMAX no less - you've really blown it.

Interstellar blew it.