Wednesday, July 10, 2013

When is long too long and short too short?

I'm not talking about hair, although I find pictures of myself from my junior high days frightening at how long my hair was then.  I'm talking about the length of movies. 

I saw "The Long Ranger"....er "The Lone Ranger" this past weekend.  I also saw a film I can't yet discuss at a screening last night.  It's official run-time is under 90 minutes.  "The Lone Ranger" has a runtime of 149 minutes.  The restored version of my favorite movie of all time, "Lawrence of Arabia" has a runtime of 227 minutes.  I never look at my watch during Lawrence, while I checked the time four times last night.

Time is a relative thing.  It moves at two speeds.  Very quickly and very slowly.  When we're doing something we enjoy, it seems to go by in the blink of an eye.  When we're doing something we loathe, it seems to go on forever.  I think back to an old job and remember that doing one task was always fun and easy and seemed to take only a minute, while another task was one I hated, put off until the last minute and then seemed to take all day.  Both took the same amount of "real" time, but it is perceived time where we experience lengths of time one way or the other.

That is why the last couple of months have seemed to go on forever, while January through April 15th went by in an instant.

* * *

There's a video of Dustin Hoffman from 2012 that is only now going viral.  In it he's discussing why he did the film "Tootsie" and how he feels bad that he was "brainwashed" into not paying more attention to women who he didn't find physically attractive.  He also says the movie was never a comedy to him.

Fair enough.  He has a valid point.  My father tried to brainwash me into only paying attention to and pursuing the really good looking women.  It didn't take.  I find a woman's intellect to be much more important than her looks.  I know I'm in the minority.

What's not clear from someone viewing the video of Dustin is that in the search for equality in our society, this is a position being taken by women about men much more openly.  I suspect women always had the same bias, "snubbing" (to use the word in an article I read accompanying the video) men that might have been really interesting because they weren't great or even good looking.

There were women I've dated who were simply amazing looking.  When I was young, had a full head of hair, and was in good shape, I guess I looked good enough.  It helped that I'm funny, articulate and can be charming when I want to be.  I also dated women who weren't so good looking.  Both of my ex-wives were somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, but they were both very bright women.  Smart.  Thought fast on their feet.  That's much more of a magnet for me than just pure looks.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Would someone please tell Brandi Glanville that she shouldn't wear black lingerie (especially the skimpiest of panties) underneath sheer white clothing?  It's just way too easy to see (and not a mental image I want to carry around)?

Do prisoners in CA prisons really believe that not eating the meals they're protesting will lead to improvement in that food?

Will someone please convince Justin Bieber to hire a full-time handler or two to escort him around, so all this crap doesn't keep happening?  Pissing in a bucket at a restaurant, stepping on a team logo in their locker room, not getting the importance of Anne Frank and so on.

Sarah Palin says people are asking her to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate, from her home state of Alaska.  What I want to know is if anyone besides her relatives is asking her?

This is excerpted from a document that Target provided to management employees to "note differences among Hispanic employees:"

"a. Food: not everyone eats tacos and burritos;
b. Music: not everyone dances to salsa;
c. Dress: not everyone wears a sombrero;
d. Mexicans (lower education level, some may be undocumented);
e. Cubans (Political refugees, legal status, higher education level); and
f. They may say ‘OK, OK’ and pretend to understand, when they do not, just to save face."


Is there really someone dumb enough that's gone that high up in the Target management chain to put out such an ignorant memo?  Apparently so.  How long will they continue to be employed by Target?

Am I the only one who doesn't appreciate how snack makers are making their snacks more and more "spicy"?   Then again, I am allergic to pepper in all forms.

Did the Seattle woman who found that the teen who'd broken into her car and ransacked it do the right thing?  She found the thief's cellphone in her car and called his mother.  All items were returned and no one is in trouble with the cops.

Would someone please tell Pat Robertson that his fifteen minutes were up long ago?  Now he's wanting a "vomit" button on Facebook to hit when he or a member of the flock he's shearing with great regularity sees a photo posted of a same-sex couple.

This Date In History:

On this date in 138, Hadrian died.
On this date in 1553, Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England.
On this date in 1821, the U.S. takes possession of Florida, newly purchased from Spain.
On this date in 1831, President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would have created the Second Bank of the United States.
On this date in 1890, Wyoming is admitted as the 44th state.
On this date in 1951, armistice talks to bring about the end of the Korean War begin at Kaesong.
On this date in 1962, Telstar, the first communications satellite is launched.
On this date in 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., leads the Chicago Freedom Movement rally.  Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson and Peter Paul and Mary appear.
On this date in 1973, John Paul Getty III is kidnapped in Rome.
On this date in 1978, World News Tonight premieres on the ABC network.
On this date in 2002, a painting is sold at an auction by Sotheby's for $76.2 million.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

Nikola Tesla
Marcel Proust
Jack "Legs" Diamond
Blind Boy Fuller
Reg Smythe
David Brinkley
Jake LaMotta
Suzanne Cloutier
Earl Hamner, Jr.
Fred Gwynne
David Dinkins
Jerry Nelson
Arthur Ashe
Ron Glass
Virginia Wade
Greg Kihn
Andre Dawson
Tom McClintock
Cindy Sheehan
Sofia Vergara

Movie quotes today come from "The Lords of Dogtown" because Sofia Vergara was in it:

Jay: [the Z-Boys want to drain and skate Sid's pool, Sid comes out of his house] What did he say?
Sid: "Sid, are you high? The pool's for swimming!"
Jay: Tell him we'll fill it back up when we're done.
Sid: He said if you got hurt, you'll sue him.
Jay: We're not gonna sue him.
Sid: He said your parents would.
Stacy: Our parents can't even afford lawyers.
Tony: Hey, let me talk to him.
Sid: Hey, the only Mexicans my dad talks to push lawnmowers.
[Tony grabs him playfully]

#2

Sid: [smoking medicinal marijuana] The, uh, doctor prescribes it now.
[hands him the joint]
Sid: Heard you were sick, too.
Jay: Hell, yeah.

#3

Tony: I just wanted Dad to see the stupid trophy.
Kathy Alva: Who gives a shit about Dad?
Skip: Yeah, hey, man, listen. You stood up for your friend. We're proud of you.
Tony: [yelling at the judges] This contest don't mean shit to me anyway!