Tuesday\u2019s post generated a considerable amount of controversy, and I\u2019ve considered a follow-up, except that the issue has been hashed and rehashed in the comments. So I thought I\u2019d devote a post to several mini-controversies which are sure to generate all kinds of interest.<\/p>\n
I have a new iPhone. Yes, I like it \u2013 my wife thinks my affections for it are somewhat unnatural \u2013 but it\u2019s a little too user friendly. Which is to say, the less I know about what it does, the better. Every time I try to customize the settings \u2013 how often I retrieve email, for instance \u2013 I find it doesn\u2019t really have any interest in letting you do things your own way. I also find it maddening that it\u2019s impossible to cut and paste anything. Plus the keyboard is much harder to use than a Blackberry. I need real, tactile keys.<\/p>\n
American Idol <\/span>is awful this year. Simply awful. I like the new judge, but I\u2019m sure Paula doesn\u2019t, because it makes her look even dumber than she did before \u2013 no small feat, given her point of origin. But four judges, especially when two of them are completely useless, become too many cooks. Plus the performers stink.<\/p>\n 24<\/span> is much, much better than it was last year. That, too, is a pretty low threshold, but Season 7 is turning out to be one of the best 24<\/span> seasons ever. Agent Walker is the most interesting addition to the cast in many a moon, and moving the locale from LA to DC has been a refreshing change of pace, especially in terms of the ludicrous geographical nonsense 24<\/span> is so famous for.<\/p>\n The Office <\/span>has become something of a cartoon. That\u2019s OK; I like cartoons. But watching the British version of The Office <\/span>demonstrates how far the American version has strayed from reality. The British version is also very, very British, which makes it impossible for Mrs. Cornell to enjoy it, as she doesn\u2019t understand half of what\u2019s being said. The characters have a naturalistic cruelty about them that makes them funnier and more biting than Carell and Co. I think it may well have gotten as big and silly as the American version had it run for an equivalent amount of time.<\/p>\n I recently rewatched The Sunshine Boys<\/span> for the first time in over a decade. I remember it as one of my favorite all-time movies, and I discovered I liked it even more than I did back in the day. I\u2019m a huge Walter Matthau fan, and this is largely his movie, but for the first time, I came to appreciate the true brilliance of George Burns. His delivery is so unrelentingly dry that it should seem wooden; instead, it\u2019s a revelation. He plays an old, slightly dippy man, and he does so without a hint of irony or guile. A cynical person might say this was because he was old and dippy when he did it, but that would be foolish. You can\u2019t give a performance like that unless you\u2019re in full command of your faculties. His timing was impeccable, and he deserved the Oscar he won for this.<\/p>\n My Facebook status yesterday was \u201cStallion really likes Fritos. I defy anyone to come up with a counterargument.\u201d It got 97 responses. Who knew that Fritos were so topical?<\/p>\n Living in Utah, I now have to dial the area code as part of any phone number, even for local numbers. I hate this. I hate this almost as much as I hate my car beeping until I put my seat belt on. It\u2019s none of the car\u2019s business whether I wear my seat belt or not, dammit! Far too often, I engage in a battle of wills with my car, refusing to buckle up until after the beeping is done. (It beeps eight times slowly and then fifty times quickly and then it finally stops.) The problem is that my car is not sentient in a Herbie-like manner, so it doesn\u2019t know how many times I\u2019ve been able to tough it out to the end of the beeps. I\u2019m told that a wiser man would never engage in a battle of wills with an inanimate object. But the people who tell me that are just quitters.<\/p>\n I really like Fritos. I defy anyone to come up with a counterargument. (Plus Obama sucks.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tuesday\u2019spost generated a considerable amount of controversy, and I\u2019ve considered a follow-up, except that the issue has been hashed and rehashed in the comments. So I thought I\u2019d devote a post to several mini-controversies which are sure to generate all kinds of interest. I have a new iPhone. Yes, I like it \u2013 my wife ... 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