Ghosted

 Rain is in the forecast for the next five days.  That's right.  The May showers have finally arrived.  It's not supposed to be steady soaking rains, but rather showers, here and there.  Spotty.  That's what they're calling for, spotty shower with the temps hovering constantly in the mid to upper 50s (F).  This is not the spring weather many were hoping for, however, if my memory serves me correctly, this is pretty much the same pattern we've had for the past 2 years.  Climate change is creeping upon us.

I changed the voice of my Alexa from female to male.  I didn't know you could do such a thing until yesterday.  Now when I ask Alexa something I get a baritone response.  That's nice.  

Apple + has a new Chris Evans movie that I watched the other night:  Ghosted.  It's bad.  If a movie gets produced and it goes right to Apple +, or Netflix, or Amazon Prime, or any one of the other streaming services, you can bet there are problems with it.  This movie had so many problems.  Evans comes across as a namby-pamby, rather spineless man who's a bit possessively toxic in relationships.   He has a one night stand with woman who turns out to be a spy.  There is zero chemistry between the characters which is terrible because this is supposed to be some sort of rom-com.  I'm so glad I didn't pay to rent this film, it would have been a waste of money.

As for yesterday?  I thought it was Saturday most of the day.  That's what happens when I don't work at least one day during the week.  Since it was raining, I didn't do any yardwork, and I'd already decided it was going to be a non--paint day which meant that I go bored.  What do I do when I'm bored?  Well, I did 2 miles on the treadmill in the morning and rode 8.5 miles 

There didn't seem to be a lot happening politically.  DeSantis is going to announce his candidacy for president sometime soon.  Asa Hutchinson (another old man) announced his.  Tim Scott, who announced his earlier, is making the rounds spitting out bullshit.  Let's see... Niki Haley criticized Ronnie D for his attack on Disney, saying governments should not try of control corporations.  A few more asswipes endorsed Trump rather than Meatball Ron.  That's not going to happen.  We will have to wait until the primaries to find out who's actually going to go against Biden.  This will be interesting.

70

It's 45 (F) outside, the high today is supposed to be 59 (F).

Today is my birthday.  Hold onto you seats, a little less than an hour ago, I turn 70.  Holy Shit!

My sister, my brother, and I cannot stop laughing.  Son of a bitch!  I can remember sitting in 3rd grade, and 4th grade, in fact most of my school years, thinking this day was so far into the future I would never see it happening.  Yet, here it is.  I laugh loudly, I'm very opinionated (usually right, but not always), and am eagerly looking forward to the next 70 years.  I am not kidding (did you know I'm a bit of a smartass?).

This morning I saw that People magazine has name Chris Evans the Sexiest Man in the world.  He's only 41.  Do you think he's too young?

In about 1/2 hour, I'm going to be driving down to the Lebanon VA for a physical.  Now, how's that for a birthday present to myself?

Yesterday, I cancelled my Sirius XM because my promotion ran out.  That $5.99 a month was suddenly replaced with $23.17, or about a little less for what I'd pay for 4 months.  Ouch.  You have to call to cancel, you can't do it over the internet because they want to try and use another promotion to keep you as a subscriber.  Of course, there would be another nasty surprise when that promotion ran out, so I cancelled.  I can still listen, but I'll have to deal with commercials.  I was beginning to have problems anyway, like with their Top 18 count down, which repeats several times daily.  It's a way for them to not have to pay a DJ.  Sirius is okay, but not worth the $$$ hassle.  It was through Sirius that I got introduced to Matt Maeson.  Take a listen.  This guy can sing.

It's also Election Day.  Will I get a nice Democratic birthday present?  I'm hoping so, covered with Blue paper, and topped with a Blue Ribbon electorate.  Vote.  Vote. Vote.  Democracy depends upon it.

Pricked

Okay, so today is Thursday... it seems like only yesterday it was... Thursday.  It is Thursday, isn't it?
My 2020 Roar calendar arrived yesterday.  Roar used to be Warwick Rowers.  They've grown.  Now there are coyly posed naked men from other rowing teams, as well as other sports, gracing the months, including Team Sky sports.  I was curious to see if there were any cyclists included, however this year they didn't identify the men.  At least not on the print copy.
And, speaking of cycling, I rode 20.23 miles yesterday as part of one of the challenges I need to complete to move up to Elite cyclist.  It took me 98 minutes.  My legs didn't bother me nearly as much as my butt.  Son of a bitch!  I could feel every stitch of fabric in my shorts when I was finished!
Last night I went to see "Knives Out."  It's a mystery with some serious comic overtones.  I enjoyed the film immensely.  The acting is top notch.  Don Johnson is in it.  I haven't seen him in anything for a long, long time.  He's aging well.  A clean shaven Chris Evans is here too, with really pink lips.  I'm glad to see he's getting roles outside of the 'superhero' genre.  Toni Collette is amazing as Joni, one of the siblings squabbling for a piece of the inheritance pie.  I love a good mystery, and this one's good.  There is a treasure trove of clues and red herrings which delightfully confuse and lead the viewer down the wrong garden path.  And dogs, of course, in fact, one of the first things you see are the dogs.

And I saw where Justin Timberlake made a public apology to his wife for holding hands with someone else.  Can you imagine that?  He found himself suddenly being attacked by all those social media knives.  They are now both judge and jury as to what he can and cannot do.  As I was reading that snippet, I began to wonder just who these people were, the one who dictate to Justin how he lives his life.  It took me all of about 2 minutes.  You see, right after seeing that headline, I went over to Amazon to look for a digital clock for the cycling room.  Lo and behold, they were advertising the Chris Pratt store on their Home Page.  The Chris Pratt store?  That's when I knew just who exactly Justin was afraid of... the same group who buy shit from the Chris Pratt store.  Not too smart, but easily influenced by celebrity.  The last thing their idols want is for them to pull out their sharp, little, vengeful knives.
Just like the Idiot Jerk in the White House, who for so many, many years enjoyed wielding the knife.  Now barely a minute goes by without him being pricked.

Over 12 miles on teeny weeny legs

Well, I went to see "Infinity War" last evening.  Some spoilers:  Chris Evans has a beard.  Thor gets a new eye.  One character says "no resurrections this time."  That's hokey pokey. This is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I liked "Infinity War."  My only complaint might be the levity.  A lot of the drama was offset by comic relief.  There's is nothing wrong with savoring the juices of drama, I don't see a need to sweeten them up with a laugh - there are times when that sounds forced.  What some people... well, maybe a lot of people didn't seem to understand is that this was Part 1.  Part 2 gets released in 2019.  Oh, and there's a cliffhanger.... a really, really big cliffhanger.  If that ending troubles you, don't worry - everything works out in the end.  Believe me.  In fact if you watch the film carefully, and listen to what is said, you will understand just how Part 2's happy ending will be achieved.
In fact, the only problem I had during the movie was with my legs.  I rode over 12 miles yesterday.  My lactic acid levels were high.  About halfway through the film my right quads started to cramp up.  Have you ever had a cramp in your foot?  Well, that's what was happening in my right leg and believe me, it's difficult straightening out your leg in a movie seat.  And then, a few minutes after the right quads stop cramping... you guessed it, the left started up.  Luckily there was no one sitting to my left so I ended up stretching both legs in that direction.  What I should have done was go stand by the wall, but that would have meant going past the rest of the people in the row.  In a way, you could say I was suffering for Pop Art.
Oh, and I took a snap after the ride.

Holy shit!  Don't my shapely legs look teeny weeny?

Trends

Well, here it is, Sunday.  Here on the East Coast we switched to Daylight Saving Time.  People complain because now it's going to get dark around 1730 in my neck of the woods.  Me?  No problem at all.  I'm one of those rare morning people.  That's when I get my household chores done, not after I get home from work.
And for once I'd like to thank the Idiot Jerk in the White House for being such a success.  That's right.  You have to admit, who else could rip of the masks off of Social Conservatives and prove them to be the racist creatures they are?  Without him people might think the Alt-Right was a sportswear company specializing in ultra-long, white hoodies.  He illustrates brilliantly how much presidents need to have weekly golf games in order to keep their Twitter minds healthy.  He demonstrates the necessity of bromancing enemy dictators.  In fact, I understand that his meeting with Putin at the end of his Asian trip will culminate in a golden.... moment.  How successful is he?  His disapproval rating has dropped a bit, down to 56 and his approval rating has climbed to 39... but that's only for today.  Six days ago his approval rating was at 33, and you have to remember, for the past 20 hours or so he's been on travel time. 
Now I know there are people out there who are saying things would be different if Hillary had won.  Nope, not at all.  The GOP has a majority in both houses.  They'd still be sitting on her cabinet nominations.  There would 3 new Benghazi investigations, 4 more email investigations, and the House would have most likely managed to wretch up another Whitewater investigation.  As  I said before, it was her Karma to lose and the Idiot Jerk's to win.
While the rest of the world watches, the Republican Party has entered into Revelations... alone.  This is their End of Days.  All we can do is shake our heads in disbelief as Social Conservatives bow done in praise to the Idiot Jerk.  This is a party that's been making their own noose for a long, long time and all we can do is stand back and watch them put their head through it.
On a brighter note, I'm going to see Thor on Tuesday, and as a little ray of sunshine, here's Chris... shirtless.

And here's Chris shirtless.

And here's Chris shirtless.

I guess this is what you might call a Chris trend.

The Idiot... and the Orb of Doom!

Well, it looks like the Idiot not only wants to have impressively low approval ratings, we find out that being President of the United States is only part of his ambition.  What he really wants to be, more than anything else, is Emperor of the World.  He'd originally set his sights on being 'King' of the World, but James Cameron already has his name plate on that door, so he's going to have to settle for Emperor.  This means (drum roll please) he's going to have to invade the Marvel Cinematic Universe!  And I understand Disney already has a working title:  "The Idiot... and the Orb of Doom!"

Which means the Idiot is going to have to fight, and lose, to The Avengers, as well as The Guardians of the Galaxy!  Stand back Conservatives!  Your evil plans will be foiled and smashed asunder by a shirtless Chris Evans and a shirtless Chris Platt!  Holy Crap!  The Idiot's going to get dunked by a double Chris, super charged, super hero, twin pack of six pack abs!  This is going to be huge!  really, really huge!  I can't even begin to imagine what ticket sales are going to be like.
Of course, this is all make believe, but then that's where the Idiot, as well as most Conservatives and Republicans live; out of touch, and out of mind, inhabiting a planet easily grasped in the Idiot's tiny, tiny hands.  Reality is a far flung universe to them.
Unfortunately, there will be no teaser to a sequel halfway through the credits at the end of this one.  This doesn't mean there isn't going to be a sequel, we're talking about the GOP here, they're going to keep repeating their same shitty message to an ever dwindling crowd, just like Michael Bay and his shitty Transformer movies.

The VP waste of time

Didn't watch the debate... never do.  But I suspect, from what I've been reading, the LA Times sums it up best.  Pence failed to defend Trump's lies and Kaine needled.  If you watched it, well, that's 90 minutes of your life you'll never get back.  Who's it going to help?  Neither will benefit - you don't vote for President hoping they'll be incapacitated and you get someone closer to you liking in the White House.
The next debate is going to be a Town Hall.  The only time Trump is good at that format is when he's the only one on stage... or if he's dealing with the rest of the clown parade.  I suspect Hillary is going to put her vehicle in reverse and back over him again, and again, and again.
Anyway. my new xbox slim arrives tomorrow.  Can't wait.  But I'm also having new windows installed so I probably will only be able to unpack it and not really explore it's functionality.
I did watch "Westworld."  Thought it interesting.  I don't pay for HBO and have a funny feeling that's not going to be enough of a reason for me to start.  Sure, there's a lot of nudity, but most of it was female, lots of tits, you know?
Heading off to work, and since I always like to include a picture in the post I'll leave you with:

an older picture of Chris Evans,  I think this is from the first Fantastic Four movie, where he ran around in a towel because hid hotness burned off all of his clothing.

The Teeny Weeny Truth (about male frontal nudity in films)

Recently there was a big commotion  about the possibility of seeing Ben Afleck's penis in "Gone Girl."  Of course, it was nothing but commotion.  At the same time there was an undercurrent of murmurings about the lack of frontal male nudity in films.  Why is it so many women do the money shots and men don't?  I would think the answer to be fairly obvious, (or maybe not).  Not all men are created equal, some are more equal then others.  Unfortunately a lot of things effect that equality, sometimes on a minute to minute basis.  Let me use women's breasts to make my point.  If you have an actress who wears a 38 D cup bra, and you put her in a cool room, she doesn't need to change to a 32 A cup.  However, if your average actor takes off his pants in a cool room, things minimize rather quickly.  And it's not just temperature which can effect these changes; all sorts of variables suddenly come in to play.  Even someone well endowed has times when all he seems to have are short comings.

Take Chris Evans, there are a lot of people who would love to see him doing full frontal on the silver screen.  Is it ever going to happen?  While 'never' is a terrible word to use, I'd say the possibilities of it happening are very, very unlikely. For him to do so, I suspect the scene would need to be the lynch pin of the film, that integral part holding it together.  Of course, then there is fan expectation.  What if it's a cold day on the set?  Would you really want fans to ask "is that all there is?"  In spite of what people may want, something like that can ruin a career, especially if that's the only reason they go see a film.  Sometimes the smartest move is not to give fans what they want.  If some things didn't seem to have a mind of their own, if they weren't fickle about the temperature, or who's looking at them.  If, in general, things were more equal, you might see more male frontal nudity.  As I said, however, there really are too many variables and, unfortunately, that is the teeny weeny truth.