Because it’s Tuesday, here’s a grab-bag of stuff that I find irritating to one degree or another. Feel free to add yours.
Facebook is not a force for good.
I like Instagram because it does a few small tasks extremely well: you take a picture, apply a filter or frame, and upload it on the fly. It’s very smooth, unlike the Facebook app. I don’t follow a lot of people with Instagram, but one of them is a professional photographer who gets some remarkable street shots with it. This guy probably has $100,000 in photo gear, and he’s out there every day shooting pics with his iPhone.
Now those photos will be the property of Facebook. I liked it better when my Instagram “content” was owned by a small company with less than a dozen employees. Facebook is too big. And I suspect it is slowly taking over the minds of my friends.
He can use the dough.
I doubt Zimmerman is at heart a violent racist, just as I doubt Trayvon Martin was either a saint or a thug. But the essential facts of the case — the guy with the gun is soliciting donations, while the guy with the Skittles is dead — are not in dispute. So this one will have to play out without my financial involvement. And for God’s sake, if you must have a web site, at least design the damned thing.
Don't worry. It didn't happen.
Once more: Dream sequences are a poor excuse for storytelling. They cheat the audience and they make writers lazy by erasing the need for subtlety. Since this is probably the last season of Mad Men, I suppose it was tempting to slip this one by. But man, what a disappointment.
As an aside, how about that Grandma Pauline? Sally is so lucky to have the guidance of such a thoughtful and caring woman while fat Betty is out on the town. “Here, have another Seconal while I describe some more serial slayings.” Sheesh. Makes Betty look like Mother Theresa.
Presidents matter. Popes, not so much.
Sympathy for the jammer
For Trump, it’s just another show
So long, Larry. Don’t forget your meds
Consider yourself permanently warned
On the subject of writing, my candidate for “laziest plot device” in the Sci-Fi category is time travel. In the Crime category, it’s serial killers. It’s gotten so when I see a plot summary containing either of those, I stop reading and move on to the next candidate.
And since you asked for stuff that irritates us, I’ll add one: “Big Bang Theory” used to be halfway intelligent and include some actual nerdy science jokes. Being a nerdy type with an interest in science, this made me like it quite a bit. For some reason (different writers? laziness again?), they’ve stopped writing it that way, and now all the plots are recycled from “Friends”.
I’ve surfed past a couple of later episodes of Big Bang Theory, and they did seem pretty fatuous. Sitcoms just don’t do it for me. Except for 30 Rock and, occasionally, Community.
BTW, Mad Men has at least 2 more full seasons.
What, really? I could have sworn … Oh well. I look forward to seeing Don with a mustache and really long sideburns.
You know, I liked Mad Men before Mad Men was cool. Just want to put that out there.
The Grandma Pauline storyline cracked me up. I loved how the condition of Sally’s hair was used to show how events were spiraling out of control. That was some finely acted dark comedy.
I really can’t think of anything that annoys me right now. Oh wait. Don’s dream scene annoyed me like the sleazy tabloid fodder it was.
Yep, I’ve always found Sally to be one of the more interesting characters in this show. I fear that Seconal portends trouble in future seasons (now that I learn there will be future seasons).