Funny I almost called this blog What About Raymond as that is what I often refer to it as. Perhaps that goes back to the movie What About Bob which I will have to write about someday when I see it again as that is a GREAT movie.
Everybody Loves Raymond was a very popular hot show on CBS in the late nineties through much of the last decade. Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton led a stellar cast that included the late Peter Boyle as Ray's father.
Something about this show works. Recently I have discovered that on Sunday nights when I have got the kids to bed and my wife is exhausted from her " time off " is sleeping soundly that on TVLAND Raymond is on for 5 episodes. And I watch. Each week. I might well have seen many of the episodes before but do not recall. This show makes me laugh.
My son tells me that I do not laugh out loud much. I chuckle but laughing out loud is not my common theme. This show at times makes me laugh out loud. Last night as I laughed in bed as my son watched ESPN in the living room I was so loud my son came in and asked what I was watching. Clearly I need to laugh out loud more.
Some shows work. Seinfeld makes me laugh as well. They are different shows certainly but in the end they both do the same thing---make me laugh out loud. Perhaps we should set up a scale of laughter for middle aged men who do not laugh enough.
This show would set the bar pretty high.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sad Song by The Cars
It is interesting that some bands have a sound that is their signature..that makes you recognize them before you even know the song.
U2 has that sound. Tom Petty has that sound as do The Rolling Stones. I can recall 20 or more years ago driving down the road and hearing the new single by The Stones called Mixed Emotions. The first notes made it clear who it was. The song was not introduced you just new.
This morning after dropping off my kids at school on the way home a song played. Instantly it was familiar but after twenty years it did take a moment to name the band. I ( at the next light ) used the Shazam copycat on my phone and soon found out it was indeed The Cars.
Ric Ocasek's voice is the same as always. He sounds great, the song could be off Candy O. Some might say that is not a good thing, that twenty years have passed and a band should not sound the same.
Signature sounds though are signature sounds. This is a nice reminder of The Cars music from my high school days.
U2 has that sound. Tom Petty has that sound as do The Rolling Stones. I can recall 20 or more years ago driving down the road and hearing the new single by The Stones called Mixed Emotions. The first notes made it clear who it was. The song was not introduced you just new.
This morning after dropping off my kids at school on the way home a song played. Instantly it was familiar but after twenty years it did take a moment to name the band. I ( at the next light ) used the Shazam copycat on my phone and soon found out it was indeed The Cars.
Ric Ocasek's voice is the same as always. He sounds great, the song could be off Candy O. Some might say that is not a good thing, that twenty years have passed and a band should not sound the same.
Signature sounds though are signature sounds. This is a nice reminder of The Cars music from my high school days.
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Secret Millionaire
This show debuted on ABC last night. The premise is a person who is wealthy goes undercover and associates with folks that are struggling or dealing with personal and financial crisis and hardship, She then gives away money to these people that are determined to be the most deserving.
The millionaire in the fist episode was a woman who grew up poor and was destitute at 21 but a millionaire by 23 after starting a business out of her car and having a payphone as her first business phone. I never really caught what she did to make all this money but now she appears to have written countless motivational books and has five kids and a great life.
These are good things. However I lasted about 10 minutes into the show as we kept hearing about how poor she was growing up and how seeing these folks in distress reminded her she had been on welfare. It was all a little too self congratulatory for me. Perhaps later and I am sure later the show did become more about the stories of those who needed help and she can certainly stop by and drop a check off here if she would like but the show was a miss for me.
We appear to have a new formula for a show. Undercover Boss is a better fit, we still hear much about the CEO's but the main focus is on the employees.
This show might get better. I will not be watching to see.
The millionaire in the fist episode was a woman who grew up poor and was destitute at 21 but a millionaire by 23 after starting a business out of her car and having a payphone as her first business phone. I never really caught what she did to make all this money but now she appears to have written countless motivational books and has five kids and a great life.
These are good things. However I lasted about 10 minutes into the show as we kept hearing about how poor she was growing up and how seeing these folks in distress reminded her she had been on welfare. It was all a little too self congratulatory for me. Perhaps later and I am sure later the show did become more about the stories of those who needed help and she can certainly stop by and drop a check off here if she would like but the show was a miss for me.
We appear to have a new formula for a show. Undercover Boss is a better fit, we still hear much about the CEO's but the main focus is on the employees.
This show might get better. I will not be watching to see.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The Bridge On the River Kwai
This movie from 1957 is a great story. One gets into the story with a great deal of respect for Colonel Nicholson ( played by Alec Guinness) who has at great risk to himself defied a Japanese commander of a POW camp in WWII. However later in the movie we see how even the best intentions can go wrong.
William Holden plays American POW Commander Shears who escapes from the camp and ends up against his will returning.
Guinness was masterful in this role. His voice slides like jelly on toast, the refined officer who wins his battle of wills and as a method of building moral for his troops builds a proper bridge perhaps losing sight of the correctness of this action.
The most telling storyline of the movie for me was that as the deadline for the bridge's completion gets closer Nicholson asks the junior officers to work on the bridge ( the very thing he fought against tooth and nail earlier in the movie) and even rousts soldiers of the sick bay to work to meet the deadline. In the end like Orwell's Animal Farm the Colonel becomes what he rebelled against.
The conclusion like the rest of the movie is excellent. This is a movie that makes you think, their is a smattering of violence and perhaps a few lessons on war to be learned along the way. You could do much worse than spend a Sunday afternoon if you are cooped up inside watching this movie.
William Holden plays American POW Commander Shears who escapes from the camp and ends up against his will returning.
Guinness was masterful in this role. His voice slides like jelly on toast, the refined officer who wins his battle of wills and as a method of building moral for his troops builds a proper bridge perhaps losing sight of the correctness of this action.
The most telling storyline of the movie for me was that as the deadline for the bridge's completion gets closer Nicholson asks the junior officers to work on the bridge ( the very thing he fought against tooth and nail earlier in the movie) and even rousts soldiers of the sick bay to work to meet the deadline. In the end like Orwell's Animal Farm the Colonel becomes what he rebelled against.
The conclusion like the rest of the movie is excellent. This is a movie that makes you think, their is a smattering of violence and perhaps a few lessons on war to be learned along the way. You could do much worse than spend a Sunday afternoon if you are cooped up inside watching this movie.
The Social Network
So would you like to go see a movie about a most unlikable person who apparently cheats everyone he meets, friends included, out of money, glory, and credit for accomplishment while at the same time claiming he cares not for any of those items. Or how about a person who is so jealous and insecure over clubs he could not join or girls who would not date him that it cripples him even as he becomes a billionare.
Welcome to The Social Network the movie version of the rise of Mark Zuckerburg and the Facebook empire. I guess I expected more from this movie. After all we had been told of it being the only thing that could keep The Kings Speech from being the Oscar winner.
Having now seen both I have to say I would have been sorely disappointed had this movie won. I am not naive enough to think a character has to be likable to make a movie a good one. Indeed some of the best movies have examined the darkest characters.
This movie is just not that good. It is talky, dark and whispery. I have not learned anything I did not know other than the fact that if the movie plays it straight that the fellow who invented Napster might be one of the few people who is less likable than is Zuckerberg.
There is not a likable character in this movie. Even the twin rowers who Zuckerberg may have well stolen their idea or at least delayed theirs intentionally to give his a head start are not that likable. The President of Harvard Larry Summers comes off as pompous and demeaning so perhaps they did get that right.
One funny line in the movie is when considering their options on how to handle Zuckerberg's stealing of their idea one of the Wink's when considering violence says of course he could kick his ass he is X high and Y weight and their are two of me ( being a twin), this is a clever line.
The movie lacks clever lines what it features is a man who needs a billion dollar empire to have not friends but sycophants and not girlfriends but users. Hey it works for Donald Trump, I am sure he is not concerned.
Jesse Eisenburg makes you dislike him and Justim Timberlake does the same so in that sense perhaps they did a good job in this movie.
As for me I will take my villians as villians and my heroes as heroes, I have no interest in a person that were he not heading Facebook would be down at the internet cafe talking about all the girls who will not give him the time of day.
Spare yourself the degradation of seeing this movie.
Welcome to The Social Network the movie version of the rise of Mark Zuckerburg and the Facebook empire. I guess I expected more from this movie. After all we had been told of it being the only thing that could keep The Kings Speech from being the Oscar winner.
Having now seen both I have to say I would have been sorely disappointed had this movie won. I am not naive enough to think a character has to be likable to make a movie a good one. Indeed some of the best movies have examined the darkest characters.
This movie is just not that good. It is talky, dark and whispery. I have not learned anything I did not know other than the fact that if the movie plays it straight that the fellow who invented Napster might be one of the few people who is less likable than is Zuckerberg.
There is not a likable character in this movie. Even the twin rowers who Zuckerberg may have well stolen their idea or at least delayed theirs intentionally to give his a head start are not that likable. The President of Harvard Larry Summers comes off as pompous and demeaning so perhaps they did get that right.
One funny line in the movie is when considering their options on how to handle Zuckerberg's stealing of their idea one of the Wink's when considering violence says of course he could kick his ass he is X high and Y weight and their are two of me ( being a twin), this is a clever line.
The movie lacks clever lines what it features is a man who needs a billion dollar empire to have not friends but sycophants and not girlfriends but users. Hey it works for Donald Trump, I am sure he is not concerned.
Jesse Eisenburg makes you dislike him and Justim Timberlake does the same so in that sense perhaps they did a good job in this movie.
As for me I will take my villians as villians and my heroes as heroes, I have no interest in a person that were he not heading Facebook would be down at the internet cafe talking about all the girls who will not give him the time of day.
Spare yourself the degradation of seeing this movie.
Brian Williams on Jmmy Fallon
So a couple days after I commented on Brian Williams on Dave he appears on Jimmy Fallon doing his regular feature " Slow Jamming the news." This is the sort of thing that Fallon excels at ..the bits and routines. I think he and Kimmel are far and above the best among the late night group at this. I love Dave but that is not his specialty anymore as these fellows have surpassed him.
Is it not interesting that in all the talk of late night and it is crowded and talented with Conan, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel and even the sometimes very funny Craig Ferguson all looking up to Dave that nobody, or at least nobody in my universe or in these hosts apparent universe has anything good to say about Jay.
However, back to slow jamming the news. It is a silly little idea but it plays because Fallon is funny and Williams plays it straight.
It looks like something Steve Allen would do were he still doing late night.
Nobody will ever touch Johnny Carson, but we are a niche audience now. The reason Jay is winning the ratings is only he does what he does. All of these others do what they all do in a sense. We are not in the same world with three networks. Were we however we would not have all these excellent, insomniac, late night choices.
Is it not interesting that in all the talk of late night and it is crowded and talented with Conan, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel and even the sometimes very funny Craig Ferguson all looking up to Dave that nobody, or at least nobody in my universe or in these hosts apparent universe has anything good to say about Jay.
However, back to slow jamming the news. It is a silly little idea but it plays because Fallon is funny and Williams plays it straight.
It looks like something Steve Allen would do were he still doing late night.
Nobody will ever touch Johnny Carson, but we are a niche audience now. The reason Jay is winning the ratings is only he does what he does. All of these others do what they all do in a sense. We are not in the same world with three networks. Were we however we would not have all these excellent, insomniac, late night choices.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Brian Williams on David Letterman
It is hard to imagine Walter Cronkite making the rounds of late night talk shows. I do not know if he ever appeared on The Johnny Carson show. In today's world however anchors are different.
I have seen Brian Williams on Jimmy Fallon and thought he was very funny their, doing a news reading skit.
On his last two appearances on Dave however I have gained that he has a great sense of humor and loves the interplay between himself and Dave.
Being a newsperson Dave of course asks Brian for his input on issues that are happening in the world. This week for example he talked about Wisconsin. Williams feigns discomfort and does not answer and offer opinions. In fact this week Williams said that his appearances often appear like hostage tapes as Dave hold him hostage by asking him questions he cannot answer.
It is an odd pairing and perhaps not all would find it enjoyable but I find it very interesting. Williams is bright, intellectual and funny. As Letterman peppers him with question after question about politics and he wryly asks Dave what he thought of the Oscars I find this funny.
I liked Tom Brokaw and regretted his retirement and now find that Brian Williams is my favorite network anchor both on the nightly news and on Letterman and other formats.
I have seen Brian Williams on Jimmy Fallon and thought he was very funny their, doing a news reading skit.
On his last two appearances on Dave however I have gained that he has a great sense of humor and loves the interplay between himself and Dave.
Being a newsperson Dave of course asks Brian for his input on issues that are happening in the world. This week for example he talked about Wisconsin. Williams feigns discomfort and does not answer and offer opinions. In fact this week Williams said that his appearances often appear like hostage tapes as Dave hold him hostage by asking him questions he cannot answer.
It is an odd pairing and perhaps not all would find it enjoyable but I find it very interesting. Williams is bright, intellectual and funny. As Letterman peppers him with question after question about politics and he wryly asks Dave what he thought of the Oscars I find this funny.
I liked Tom Brokaw and regretted his retirement and now find that Brian Williams is my favorite network anchor both on the nightly news and on Letterman and other formats.
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