The Golden Years?

It's not the way that it should be ..... people raising their grandchildren. I know several. Seems to be quite common among the people that I work with. Maybe it speaks to the lower level of formal education that many received and the resulting lack of importance given it with their own children. I hear their stories and am almost happy to be childless. Though I like to think that I would have stressed education and taking responsibility from an early age.

One person in particular is struggling with depression currently. Not only with her own children being irresponsible and bad decision makers but with her siblings as well. Being the oldest of the bunch, they come to her with all their problems. No one seems to be able to function independently and stay above water for very long. There are always two or three crises being dealt with and rarely very effectively. Drugs, jail, failed relationships, money problems being constant themes. I've been telling her for years that she needs to distance herself from the never ending chaos but I guess that's easier said than done. It's like televisions longest running soap opera.

Watching from a distance, it seems that many of the issues are just decisions made with no consideration to consequences. Or the attitude that they can get away with it. There's no stopping and thinking things through, just emotional instant reactions and choices made.

Something happened with either my generation or the parents of my generation. Certain ideals were not sufficiently passed along to the kids. It's not yet been reversed. It's not even been recognized by more than a handful. I wonder if it's too late for change?

A friend once told me that he always votes for education. Anything put up for a vote involving better education ..... he votes in favor of. It does appear to be the main difference maker. Show your children stability and responsibility. Don't wait until you feel the need to take charge of your grandchildren to begin stressing it. 

Small Minds

People piss me off at times. Especially insensitive, stupid, oblivious to everything around them people. ..... "Such a fun weekend. Despite the doings in Santa Barbara, we had a great time there." (There was a shooting and knifing in Santa Barbara where six people were killed.) This from a friend of a "friend" on facebook. Like she's just above being inconvienced by minor irritants in her life such as six people being killed and several others injured. The "friends" lack of an appropriate response pisses me off as well. I'm so glad that your weekend wasn't ruined. Just maybe it's not the proper moment in history to express your pleasure.

NBA Playoff Notes

NBA Playoff observations. After two rounds.

• There's quite a few players on the rosters of each team that can rise up occasionally and have a real impact on a given game making their team look unbeatable. Then the next game they return to earth and the team looks very beatable. What separates teams is not so much talent and ability but the ability of individual players to use their talents consistently.
• It must make a referee feel real good (sarcasm) to go check the video replay and have their calls overturned. Especially as often as it's been occurring. 
• Not an option. You just gotta get those rebounds and limit the turnovers!! Nothing is more frustrating than seeing your team struggle with either or both.
• I marvel at the energy and effort that it must take to win one game .... and even more so at the ability to come back two days later and starting from scratch, give that same effort. And then, to keep that up each game through a long series or extended playoff run.
• Sometimes it seems as if the referees have forgotten that flopping and defensive verticality were supposed to be a points of emphasis this season. But they've been focusing big-time on fouls on three point attempts.
• Ever since the early 1970's watching Ernie Digregorio with the ball in his hands for Providence, great passing has been what thrills the most. Still is!!!

TV Time

I'm lacking in much of pop television culture. I've never watched a moment of several TV series of recent years that people rave about. Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Sopranos and others .... I have no knowledge of. My one show has been 24. And I didn't discover it until halfway through Season 5 and then it was only because a friend was raving about it and it was coming on in ten minutes. Had it been an hour or longer, I might have never tuned it. Before that it was Seinfeld. Another that I didn't find until it was well in progress. I never did get into the first season or two .... just didn't think they were funny and tuned out during the final season as it seemed obvious to me that they had gone away from what made it so funny. Quick hitting scenes, switching back and forth often between each characters separate situations in favor of longer scenes that lost their humor. It went from funny to silly. Like they ran out of ideas for shows. I always thought that M.A.S.H. had the same problem. I imagine that's common with most shows that have a relatively long run of several seasons. After about five or six years, maybe less, they begin to slide downhill. There's a lack of fresh and interesting ideas. Original characters often depart and are replaced by other characters who if they had been there from the beginning might have been accepted but as replacements for beloved characters, just don't seem to work.

Most shows that I've taken a liking to, I didn't truly get into until they were cancelled and into syndication. Wings, NewsRadio ..... I'm sure that there's a few others. The 1980's ruined TV viewing for me. A horrible decade for television. Too much sugary sweet fluffy crap!! If it had not been for sports and music, I might have done away with cable completely. That was when MTV and VH-1 were actually about music.

Nap Time

It's so me!! I've been anxiously awaiting the return of "24" then the long wait finally ends, the day arrives and I fall asleep during the middle of the broadcast. It took great restraint not to scream upon awakening, three minutes after its conclusion.

Then tonight .... I nod off early in the third quarter of the Blazers playoff game. But that game was decided in the first five minutes. No regrets there. Happy to have missed "garbage time."