I just looked at all I have to get done today and decided to declare today another of those days when I might not be blogging at the usual pace. Also, I have a ton of these soup can graphics I made up so why the hell not? This one has, for no particular reason, a background of jelly beans. You like it?
I woke up about 90 minutes ago and my iPhone was giving me a headline about the terrorist attack at Brussels Airport. In my dazed state, I thought, "I think I'll go back to sleep until a majority of the people running for president explain how this would never happen on their watch. I got up ten minutes later.
Could someone invent a plug-in for my browser that will filter out ads that feature photos of human deformities? I really don't need to see most of those. A few years ago, there was a commercial that ran incessantly on TV — a public service spot to get people to quit smoking. It showed diseased lungs and tracheotomy scars and people who could no longer speak without one of those freakish artificial speech aids…and I get it. Yes, yes…some folks might be repulsed enough and rattled to stop. But why should I, who has never smoked, have to view this stuff?
Also, one of these days when I click on a headline that says "Smith destroys Johnson in Debate," I would like it to take me to a video wherein Smith does more than land just one glancing blow that causes Johnson to look slightly annoyed.
I watched The Daily Show with Trevor Noah last night, wondering all the time why this show is no longer "must" viewing for me the way it was under Jon Stewart. That it isn't is proven by the fact that I have twelve unwatched episodes on my TiVo and when I watch one, it's kind of with the attitude that since it's The Daily Show and it's already recorded, I should watch it. Some of the writing is as sharp as anything that appeared on Mr. Stewart's version and Mr. Noah is quite professional and appealing. But the new correspondents haven't impressed me and the whole program just feels like a knock-off of the old show, not a continuation.
Some of it, I know is that there are so many others out there now: Colbert's still doing smart political humor on his show and so at times is Seth Meyers. You've got your John Oliver and your Samantha Bee (both great) and of course Bill Maher. When something happened in politics, I was eager to see what Jon Stewart would do with it. I'm not so eager to catch Trevor Noah's take even though it will probably concur with and reinforce mine. I think I'd be more likely to care about Noah's if it didn't.
I may or may not be back here later today. Depends how this script goes and how many times the phone rings. And it began ringing even as I typed that…