Causal Summer Observations

 

 

I don't have one topic for this post.   

I have what's called in this business, by which I mean the industry of blogging, a blog of several observations because I can string a sentence or two about a topic, but I can't string a bunch of sentences into a blog post.  By the way, I saw "A Bunch Of Sentences" open for Kajagoogoo in 1983.  

A Smart car always looks dumb when it is in the wrong lane.

Once you realize that most people act like they did in high school, you learn to accept them as they are and let them go on with their bad selves.

I like saying, "go on with your bad self."

The kids of Hawkins, Indiana, have learned to cuss pretty well.

Season Four of "Stranger Things" features lots of cussing and lots of bone-breaking.

This isn't a spoiler, but Max of "Stranger Things" reminds me of one of my nieces.

I'm not sure how "Stranger Things" is going to end.  Probably everyone gets trapped in The Upside-Down, and Michael Dukakis is elected President Of The United States.

Speaking of streaming shows, we've started watching "The Offer" about making the classic movie "The Godfather."

Here's what I've learned about mobsters from "The Godfather", "Goodfellas", and "The Sopranos."

One, mobsters spend most of their time eating.

When they are not eating, they are arguing with each other.

When they are not arguing with each other, they are trying to figure out how to whack somebody.

When they do whack somebody, they go out to eat afterwards.

The rest of the day is spent cussing and committing adultery.

One of the characters in "The Offer" is Joe Columbo, a Mafia big wig who is offended by the portrayal of Italian-Americans in "The Godfather."  He started an organization called "The Italian-American Civil Rights League" to combat negative stereotypes about Italian-Americans.

In reality, it was a PR group  to deny the existence of The Mafia and "improve the image of Mobsters." (Wikipedia)

Do you know what would have improved the image of mobsters?  Less whacking.

One of the things I find annoying is a little trick used by hoo-de-do millennial and Gen-Z writers to take a topic and take a view totally opposite from general consensus.

For example, a young writer for one of those New York magazines, which is supposed to signal what everybody should think, tweeted that "Seinfeld" was not funny.

She clarified that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was great (of course!) and Jason Alexander had his moments.  However, Jerry Seinfeld could not act, and Michael Richards is a horrible person who should never be forgiven.

"Seinfeld" is overrated in the sense that it was not the BEST SITCOM EVER.  It was merely one of the best sitcoms ever.

I noticed this tendency a decade or so ago when I saw Millennials say The Beatles were overrated.  So were The Stones and the Eagles. 

I think some of the young people just like having a different opinion because it sets them apart from the crowd.

But as Tom Petty once said, "It's just taste, man."  If someone doesn't like The Beatles, it is no skin off my nose.

I just don't remember my generation sitting around saying, "Beethoven, he's okay, I reckon. I mean, I get DA-DA-DA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, besides that, meh."

If something's good, it's good no matter when it was made.

Finally, we saw the new movie about Elvis Presley.  It is a good, flashy movie. Tom Hanks, despite what you might have read, did an excellent job as Col. Tom Parker.

My only comment about Elvis is one from George Harrison.  He said, "When Elvis was great, he was really great."