Sure, It's Cinco de Mayo But What Else Is It??

Stay safe out there, folks. Be well. Stay home. Hang on. Hold on.

Entertainment Overnight -- I Have Nothing

Thank Goodness for KCPT's Lily White Weekly Talk Shows!

I saw a late edition of KCPT's "Week in Review" last night and as I said, thank goodness we have KCPT and their 2 very usually lily white and nearly completely all male talk shows, "Ruckus" and "Week in Review."

On last night's show, it was, yet one more time, all men--except one token woman--and all bleached white.

Ain't it great?

I mean, who else is going to tell us how things are? Who else should tell us how things should be?

Well, middle-aged and elderly white, largely Right Wing--at least on "Ruckus"--males, men, of course!

It's just the way it should be, isn't it?

Heck, on "Week in Review" they even imported the panel leader from England! How fantastic is that?

None of those pesky "people of color" or minorities!

Ain't nobody got time for that!

Besides, there was that one segment last evening toward the end of the show where they squeezed in a very brief story and mentioned now-deceased Royals player Yordana Ventura.

Who says they don't have minorities on KCPT's news programs?

Kansas City's Secret Santa Gets Great Exposure Today

Kansas City's Secret Santa got some fantastic national coverage this morning. He was on KCTV-5 and CBS Sunday Morning just a bit ago. You can find the video here, below.

Elves in blue help Secret Santa 

spread holiday green

Happy holidays, everyone.

Entertainment Overnight -- Hallowe'en Flashback

Great, old flashback. Talk about a whole 'nother era. Look how squeaky clean Dick Clark is. (For you kids, Dick Clark is the host, at the beginning of the video. He used to have a TV show. Google it).  Also, what kills me is how formally dressed the singer, Bobby Pickett is for this song. A full, dark suit and tie. How odd. If this were done in the late 60s or early 70s or after, I think we can pretty well assume he would be far less formal and more in appropriate costume for it.



Happy Hallowe'en , y'all. Have a great, safe, fun, maybe productive weekend.

On Donald Trump

Happy Thanksgiving

A couple flashbacks.



With this next one, I realized Homer Simpson, of "The Simpsons" is the same character as the father in "The Munsters", Herman Munster. Same guy, same gag. Both work.



Have a great day and weekend, y'all.

Two of the best scenes from TV, possibly ever

First from now gone "West Wing":



And then, more recently, from HBO's "Newsroom":

Why America isn't the greatest country in the world anymore from nrcbtnue on Vimeo.

Both written, rather no surprise, by Aaron Sorkin.

Entertainment Overnight -- Budweiser hits it out of the ballpark

I don't think I'm the only one that thinks Budweiser made a rare, terrific commercial here.

"I'm back. I'm back."

Things that will change--greatly--with the next generations

I've noticed a few things about the preferences of the next, younger generations, that are different--vastly different--from the way America and Americans are now. There will be big changes with the coming younger people. Whole economies will be turned upside down, if not eliminated entirely:

First thing I noticed is that they have vastly, vastly different preferences for ways to spend their time. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to computers and television.

The younger the person, the less likely they are to watch TV, period. At least, they don't watch it on a television set.  Instead, they spend far more of their time--frequently all their spare time--on their computers.

That's a big change in and of itself.

A second part of that is that they don't need or want "cable TV." They wouldn't even think of paying for a TV subscription, let alone what it costs at present.

Those factors alone will bode hugely in change and changes for TV providers like Cox, Time Warner Cable®, Comcast, AT&T® and the like. They will have to transform themselves greatly in just a few short years. Big changes are going to come.

Second, or, in a way, thirdly, a big change is that younger people want and own fewer cars. As in none, in many cases. That will mean huge changes in transportation for our country, certainly.  Maybe more car poolers?  Mass transportation?  It seems likely.

Third, not only will entire industries be racked by change, with some, lots, maybe, even likely, entire cities and towns will also be racked by change. One city right now is going through such a change, with no optimistic outcome in sight.

That city is Branson, Missouri.

Formerly, millions of dollars were made, rather famously, on the idea of people driving or busing into that city in order to see the various shows, performers, singers and other acts at this Northwest Arkansas hamlet.

No longer.

Last Summer, the again famous "Shepherd of the Hills" show closed after decades of performances.

Branson seems to be next.

The senior citizens that formerly used to stream through the city have either seen enough of the shows or, worse, they're literally dying. From what I understand, the theaters down there are quietly for sale, behind the scenes. It seems they can be bought for fractions of what they were once worth. It stands to reason. The younger people don't want to and will not be going there for their entertainment. It's in no way their style entertainment.

Side note:  If the Walton family, of the Walmart fortune, know what's good for them and Northwest Arkansas, they would step up, pony in some big money---they can easily and well afford---and try to get set up an artist's colony-type arrangement in the town and area, much like Asheville, North Carolina has now. I think it could help the burg and that area transition to a better, newer, functioning, surviving, even thriving area and economy. If they don't or someone doesn't, I'd look for Branson, one day, and possibly, very likely one day very soon, to be a rather hollowed-out, sad and run down place of yesteryear unless they or someone very like them--Tyson Foods? someone--steps in.

We shall see, of course, on all.

True then, truer now

Bill Maher, President Obama, the NFL and Socialism

Yes, the NFL:

Here's your good old days for you

I'm so old...

...I know what this references, in all aspects.

Enjoy your beautiful Sunday, y'all.

What will no doubt be a great, funny fundraiser tonight

Jon Stewart is having his "Night of Too Many Stars" fundraiser to benefit New York Collaborates for Autism and to help contribute to the development of autism schools, services and programs across the country. Tune in to "Night of Too Many Stars" live on Comedy Central and CC.com, tonight at 7 pm Central Time.

Night of Too Many Stars
Get More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows

One out of every 110 children was diagnosed as autistic in 2010. This year, as Mr. Stewart says, "...just two years later, it's one in every 88."

Please watch, laugh and support, if you can.

Links: http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/night-of-too-many-stars/celebrity-auction?xrs=eml_stars

What I've always thought

Army Medical Examiner: 'At last! The perfect soldier!', political cartoon by Carl Sandburg in "The Masses."

What a shame.

This is what I've thought for years--at least since I was 16 and in high school and the Vietnam War was taking place.

I saw this, briefly, last evening on the PBS "American Masters" special "The Day Carl Sandburg Died."

It was excellent. I'd recommend you see it, if you can. Really wonderful.

Link: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/carl-sandburg/homepage-the-day-carl-sandburg-died/2267/

Broke?

These are the two actresses who play, reputedly, "2 Broke Girls" on the CBS television show.

I ask you, do these two look broke to you?

It looks to me as if they only either sold or didn't buy their makeup and hair care products alone they wouldn't be broke.

That's not any "broke" I ever knew.

Just saying.

Link: http://www.cbs.com/shows/2_broke_girls/

Quote of the day

“America…is being lost through television. Because in advertising, mendacity and manipulation are raised to the level of internal values for the advertisers. Interruption is seen as a necessary concomitant to marketing. It used to be that a seven- or eight-year old could read consecutively for an hour or two. But they don’t do that much anymore. The habit has been lost. Every seven to ten minutes, a child is interrupted by a commercial on TV> Kids get used to the idea that their interest is there to be broken into. In consequence, they are no longer able to study as well. Their powers of concentration have been reduced by systematic interruption.”

―-Norman Mailer

Blow up the TV, indeed.

Entertainment overnight

The blatant racism on network TV

I know the racism on TV has declined a great deal in the last few decades and it's not nearly as bad as it once was, by any means, but every once in a while, it just slaps you on the face.

Yet another strong example of this was shown to me last evening when I was rather "forced" to watch a couple hours of the somewhat new program "Revenge."

It's mostly about very wealthy people--who also happen to be either very beautiful or very handsome, thanks very much--but what struck me is that on all the time I watched, I saw a total of 3--count 'em, 3--black people or "people of color." And of those 3, two were insignificant, very briefly shown characters. They were two service people. The third, a woman, was a possible female love interest of one of the main male characters. Get this--she was shown only for a very short time toward the end of the show and entire evening, too.

So racism, you're still alive on network programming, it seems, even if you are dying, thank goodness.

We have a way to go yet.

We can do better than this.

Link: http://abc.go.com/watch/revenge/SH55126554