TV REVIEW: Ellen DeGeneres/For Your Approval

For reasons I don't understand, many people choose to watch depressing fictional stories as a way to unwind from the depressing factual events that occur in the world every day. This 70-minute Ellen DeGeneres stand-up comedy special streaming on Netflix delivers a welcome respite from the usual violence, drugs, gore and other assorted horrors that fill the airwaves and give you bad dreams. 

Filmed last August at the stunning Orpheus Theater in Minneapolis, the sold-out crowd in attendance reacts to Ellen's decidedly low-key humor with standing ovations and roars of approval worthy of a Beatles reunion including John, George and the Pope. While I laughed out loud quite a few times, it was mostly because I'm unfamiliar with DeGeneres and thus her comic style seemed refreshingly new to me. Still, it wasn't that funny. 

Mostly it offered DeGeneres a chance to explain herself and salvage her tarnished reputation after having been, as she put it, "kicked out of show business." Her expulsion stemmed from the allegations of many of her staff that her daytime talk show, Ellen, was a hostile workplace. Much of her material centered on that. As someone who never saw that show once in the 19 years it aired, I came away thinking she was a real sweetheart and flatly discounted rumors that she had ever been the "Queen of Mean."

When DeGeneres departed from that subject and focused strictly on comedy, her take on everyday life was a hoot. A fraction of the material dealt with her being openly gay, but not enough to be annoying. Mostly she was amusing, insightful, charming and decidedly un-mean. Watch it if you need a quick pick-me-up.

Picking Apart Racism

After my two last blog posts accusing pit bulls of having a vicious intrinsic nature, I received the following comment from a reader: "Regarding pit bulls, you are a racist. Also ignorant, you know nothing about them and only believe what you read in the media."  

I wondered -- how could my feelings about pit bulls be considered racist. Have the stories and statistics about pit bulls attacking and killing people all been that dreaded "misinformation" created by the media? And if so, for what purpose?

And if you follow that thinking, maybe Hamas isn't so bad. Maybe they didn't really rape and murder innocent Israelis one year ago. Perhaps my attitude is racist towards the Palestinian terrorists. 

I guess I am a racist since I do notice race, which you are not supposed to unless you are in the HR Department of any institution or corporation, at which point it becomes quite pertinent and you damn well better notice. 

The woke gospel is you are not supposed to even "see" race, and in fact should strive towards being "color blind." Except on every form you fill out for whatever petty reason, you are asked to identify your race. And when he ran for office,
Joe Biden promised he would appoint a "woman of color"'as his VP, which makes him both racist and sexist. 

Would anyone vote for Kamala Harris for President if she were white?

Pit Bulls On Parade

This being National Pit Bull Awareness Month, I thought it fitting to relate the following information. In the last week, three people have been attacked by pit bulls in separate incidents. A 1-year-old boy and a 59-year-old man died from being mauled by the ferocious dogs, and a 37-year-old woman had her arm ripped off by her very own pit bull!

Isn't it crazy that this breed, specifically bred to be killers, is still in existence? What does our government actually do to protect us?

Doggie Dos and Don'ts

This is an easy quiz -- only one question!  It should take no longer than a minute to complete. Your answer will clarify just how smart you are.

1. I would leave my 1-year-old child at the home of a babysitter who has:

     A.  1 pit bull

     B.  2 pit bulls

     C.  3 pit bulls

     D.  Zero pit bulls

If you chose D you are sane, not a danger to the gene pool and thus are free to procreate. If you chose any other answer, you are a big dummy and should wear a sign saying "Beware, I am a big dummy."

FYI, this post is in response to a news article about a woman who left her 1-year-old son with a babysitter who owned 4 pit bulls. The sitter went out and left the boy alone with her 13-year-old daughter and the pit bulls. During her absence the little boy was mauled by all the dogs and later died from his injuries.

Many people say that "pitties" are adorable and loving. I say Google how many deaths have been caused by, say, a cocker spaniel or a poodle, then do the same for a pit bull.

Stepping Stones to Stardom

How much does the average person need to know about a faraway situation that doesn't impact them directly? And should chasing down the details of dire events that are happening somewhere, to some people, in order to inform the public require life-threatening behavior by reporters? Honestly, are they being altruistic or are they just auditioning for a raise, a book deal or their own news show?

These questions came to mind while watching last night's desperate TV coverage of Hurricane Milton as it chugged onto the Florida coast, doing far less damage than was hoped for by the reporters, sound engineers and cameramen on the scene. The disappointment was palpable in the voices of the interviewers and interviewees, who said things like, "Milton is sparing us the worst," "This is not the worst-case scenario we had expected," "It's still very wet and windy out here but the storm surge will not be what we feared," and more like that. The Mayor of Tampa, who earlier in the day told residents of her city to "evacuate or you will die," seemed downright depressed as she admitted that the storm of the century gobsmacking her city was not to be, diminishing her 15 minutes of fame to about five. 

Poor Anderson Cooper of CNN flew down to Florida to stand in the rain and the wind, and for what purpose? Had he heard that FOX News anchor Bill Hemmer was going down there to do just that? Seriously guys, everyone knows what a hurricane looks like, you don't have to stand outside getting pummelled just to show off your station's logo glowing in the night. At least Anderson was rewarded by getting hit in the chest by some "flying debris" on camera, which made him say, "This is not good." No worries -- just a few minutes later it was reported that he was fine, and today there are news stories commending Anderson for "braving the storm," a.k.a. he was too dumb to come in from out in the rain.

On another front is Trey Yingst, the FOX News reporter stationed in Israel since the trouble began a year ago. Near my own son's age, I watch him with a loving mother's eye, frightened that he will be killed in action by a wayward missile or terrorist. But never fear: Yingst has already got a book out about his experiences, although one wonders when he had time to write it what with running around tunnels in Gaza and hiding in bomb shelters, all on camera. You can bet that if he makes it back here alive he'll pop up somewhere as a news anchor making big bucks. Or who knows, maybe he'll be appointed as a cabinet member or run for Senator, since all it takes these days to be a star is a name and a photogenic face. Heck, I might vote for him.

The Perils of A Long Life

When he was in the first grade, my son had an unusual assignment. The students, all 6 or 7 years old, were asked to write about what they considered the perfect age. He wrote the following: "I'd like to always be 18. Old enough to have a girlfriend but not so old to have those aching backs." (He always was a smart kid.)

I am fortunate to still be alive at the age of 78, and today my back is not aching, although it had been for the last week or so. Fortunately we have a hot tub and stock jugs of Tylenol and Advil, and so I made it through. Nevertheless, I expect something to hurt me every day and I'm usually right. 

Some of my former friends were not so lucky, dying in their 50s and 60s. And my own mother died at 62. But considering what's happening to the people I care about, growing older is no walk in the park, despite how Jane Fonda looks at 86. Without naming names, following is a list of some of my friends and their medical issues at the age they are right now:

70: Pancreatic cancer requiring chemo and possible surgery

71: In hospital with pancreatitis

70: Rare disease possibly requiring bone marrow transplant

75: Recovering from a double mastectomy after breast cancer diagnosis

81: Recovering from breast cancer radiation treatments

71: Diabetes and atrial fibrillation

70: Parkinson's Disease

I'm thankful to be relatively healthy compared to that bunch, although I did have a heart attack when I was 70 and I've got the stents to prove it. Still, as the saying goes, it's better to be on the top side of the grass. So if you're not on life-support and your biggest problem is what to make for dinner or how to pay the electric bill, thank your lucky stars and have a nice day!

DEI, KJP, and FEMA

If someone is bad at their job, should they be allowed keep it because they are the embodiment of DEI?  And what if that job is being the voice of the current administration -- essentially explaining the decisions and intentions of the alleged "leader of the free world? Shouldn't the qualifications go beyond skin color, gender and sexual orientation?

Obviously I'm talking about KJP, whose  actual name is needlessly long so she goes by her initials. But whatever she calls herself, she's always been Raggedy Ann* to me, which to be honest is sort of insulting to the beloved doll of the same name.

As Biden's press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre has it all. She's black, a descriptor that is necessary these days to achieve any type of success in a Democrat-led government. And she's female, also important; after all, women are the ones who have abortions and that's quite a popular subject among Democrats. Add the cherry on top -- she's gay!  -- and you've hit the trifecta for 50% of a phony-baloney, superficial society where nothing below the surface matters a whit. (Hence Kamala Harris for President.)

In her televised press conferences, KJP has steadfastly delivered the lies of the administration to the media with well-practiced ease. Her most recent one had to do with the allocation of FEMA funds, wherein she abruptly stormed out of a press briefing after insisting there was nothing fishy about a huge chunk of government aid going to Lebanon while the victims of Hurricane Helene, thousands of whom suffer from a lack of food, water, housing and electricity, are slated to receive a piddling $750 each to "get them started on rebuilding." 

A day later the whole thing has been debunked as disinformation, i.e. it's Trump's fault, as is so much of the news in these trying, lying times. I certainly don't know the truth, and neither do you. Thank KJP for the confusion.

* Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle nose. The character was created in 1915 as a doll, and introduced to the public in the 1918 book Raggedy Ann Stories.