The Kitchen

We went to see The Kitchen this week. It was a middle of the week matinee. We had the entire auditorium to ourselves. Apparently, this movie is no longer a hot ticket, if it ever was.

The movie stars Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elizabeth Moss as the wives of three members of the Irish mob in Hell's Kitchen. Common plays an FBI agent. The movie takes place in the '70s before much of that area got cleaned up and gentrified. The husbands get busted for an armed robbery and are sent to prison. This leaves the women without any income. The head of the Irish mob promises to take care of them, but his stipend comes up woefully short. Of course, their only solution is to go into competition with the mob.

This movie has three well-known and capable actresses heading the cast. Unfortunately, it had a below-average script. Most of the characters are pretty one dimensional. The women have a way too easy time going into business skimming clients from the Irish mob. Almost instantly, they are taking in thousands of dollars. The mob guys are slow to respond and then with mild threats. 

Before long, the women hook up with an Italian mob boss from Brooklyn. From here, the conflict with the Irish mob escalates. It becomes violent and deadly. There are several gruesome killings and lots of funerals. Despite all the killings, not once are the police around. Apparently, gunfire was a normal sound in Hell's Kitchen apartment buildings. 

My problems with the movie are the unrealistic ease which with the women become successful mobsters and the 180° personality changes of the women. They start as subservient wives and wind up as violent, tough, hardened, murdering mob bosses. This personality change is particularly noticeable in the McCarthy character. She appears to be a loving wife and mother at the start.  

There are a couple of minor surprises in the movie that I won't give away. The end of the movie gives the impression that they all live happily ever after in their new mob life. 

The movie is rated R for violence and language. I rate it a C-. It's OK as a mostly mindless girl-power shoot em up providing you don't have high expectations. 

wjh

Chromebooks

I've been a professional computer guy since the late '60s. Obviously, I have seen a ton of changes. What used to cost millions of dollars and take up thousands of square feet of air-conditioned space now fits in your pocket. I've worked or played with most iterations of these technical advances. Even though I'm now retired from the IT industry, I still play around with technology. I have a couple of laptops, a couple of tablets, numerous smartphones and smart home stuff. 

This post is about my latest technology purchase, a Chromebook. For the average home user who wants a real keyboard and a decent size screen, this is the way to go. A Chromebook looks like a standard laptop. For the most part, Chromebooks are cheaper, often faster, and simpler than a Windows or Mac PC. Software and security updates are automatic, seamless, and current. They typically have better battery life. The one I bought (on sale) was $199, has a 10-hour battery and weighs about 2¹⁄₂ lbs. Yes, a Chromebook is a niche device but all technology fits a niche. There are no devices that fit every need or everyone. The Chromebook's niche is pretty big. 

The simple explanation of a Chromebook is a laptop that only runs the Chrome browser. That was never completely accurate and it becomes less accurate as time goes by.  Chromebooks run ChromeOS instead of Windows or macOS or Linux. Because ChromeOS is a lightweight operating system, a Chromebook can provide good performance on less powerful, cheaper hardware than Microsoft or Apple. Because most of the computing happens on the web or cloud, there is also no need for a big local disk or SSD on the devices. 

Here is the bottom line question. If you fire up your PC or Mac then immediately open a browser like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or some other, then stay in that browser almost all day or session, a Chromebook may be for you. Even if you leave your internet browser on occasion to run a native Windows or Mac program, a Chromebook may still be for you. Many of those native PC or Mac programs have a web or Android app versions or equivalents. If not that, maybe a Linux program. ChromeOS can run all of those. The Linux stuff is slightly more complicated but not too daunting especially if you have a techie friend or family member to set it up. 

There are some industry-specific or niche software products that only run on Windows, macOS, or Linux but most home users don't need them.  

While I've only been using my Chromebook for a couple of weeks, I have found zero times I needed to fire up my Windows laptop to perform a task. Like most of you, I stay in the Chrome browser most of the day. I'm typing this in the Blogger web application. I have installed a couple of Android apps which ChromeOS uses by default in place of the web version. I have also turned on Linux and downloaded one app so far. That app is GIMP, mostly to test Linux and also because I have used GIMP to edit photos in the past. I suspect 95% of ChromeOS home users will never need to mess with the Linux option. 

While I can do most of my daily tasks on a phone or tablet, I also need a real keyboard. Partly because I do a fair amount of writing, like this blog, and partly because I grew up with real keyboards. First with typewriters (kids, ask your grandparents what a typewriter is), then on keypunch machines and computer consoles, then on computer terminals, later on, PCs and laptops, and finally on my new Chromebook. There are also times when a bigger screen is preferable. 

If you are in the market for a new PC, you owe it to yourself to check out Chromebooks. You may be able to get a cheaper, faster, lighter device that meets your needs. Do a little research, check with friends, run by a Best Buy and test drive one. 

wjh

Music

I have been a music fan since before I hit double digits in age. I remember my Mom playing Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra records on the giant console record player. It was the biggest piece of furniture in our living room. Of course, that is completely understandable since the console also played 78, 33 & 45 rpm vinyl plus had a built-in radio. I'll confess, I don't remember if it had FM radio, I would guess not. But not to worry, it did have built-in storage for maybe 10 or 15 LP albums. I also don't remember if it had stereo capabilities. I again guess not. 

That old hunk of furniture, AM radio, a 45rpm record player, and jukeboxes were my instruments of music in my youth. I did get a transistor radio, AM only, in my early teens. It had a one ear earphone which was fine in the pre-stereo days. A battery-powered, small, portable radio was quite a breakthrough in the early '60s. That transistor radio lasted well over 10 years. My dad used it for years after I left home for college and work. 

OK, those real early years of music were probably the Elvis years. I was never a big fan. He was OK but I liked many of the early rock no-white artists more. Of course, I was also exposed to the Sinatra, Como, Crosby stuff my folks listened to. In the early '60s, it was all Beach Boys and surf music. That was mixed with the folk revival somewhat. A shoutout to the Kingston Trio and the local Coachmen. Again I was not a huge Beatles fan although I did enjoy much of the British invasion. The Zombies, Stones, Animals, Dave Clark 5, etc. more than the Beatles. There were also some American bands besides the Beach Boys at that time. A couple that stick out are Jan & Dean, The Sir Douglas Quintet, and a great Mississippi garage band, the Gants.  Motown had a few stars too. 

I didn't listen to a lot of music during my college days at USF. I don't think I even had a radio plus I was busy with other activities. We did have campus concerts and frat parties so some music seeped in. Pet Sounds during the first year or so sticks in my feeble brain. 

When I left college and moved to Atlanta, my only music came via radio. Atlanta had a couple of great new FM stations. This was at the infancy of FM and there were few if any commercials. The DJs were laid back and low keyed and would play whole albums, deep cuts, and very long songs. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was played every night when the DJ needed a break. Those were the mellow psychedelic music years.

After that, I was caught up in work, marriage, and parenthood. That pattern pretty much continued for 10 or 15 years. Hardly any proactive music consumption, just what I heard passively on the car radio, TV, or a few live events. 

In the mid-'80s, I found myself single and living alone. I also discovered CDs. I bought a good CD player and then spent a couple of thousand dollars on music. There were reissue CDs of much of the music of the past. I bought the music of my youth, the surf stuff, the British Invasion, the folk revival stuff, plus some old classics like Nat King Cole, Dave Brubeck, and others. Whenever I was home, the music was playing. I listened to enough music outside my home to find other stuff I liked and would add those CDs. 

Somewhere in the early '90s, I found a partner who was also a music fan. We combined our music libraries, homes, and a few other things. We wound up with hundreds of CDs which were almost always playing. We took CDs and a player when we traveled. Our tastes were not identical but we could mostly at least tolerate the other's music. 

After that, I went through another fallow music period when I took care of my elderly parents. I spent a lot of time at their place and they had no music equipment. They did have a TV and faithfully watched The Lawrence Welk Show. 

After Mom died and dad moved in with me, I still didn't have much free time. When dad passed, I began to rebuild my music library and listening habits. 

I have ripped all my old CDs plus those of my Ex to MP3s It was a pile of Cds consisting of hundreds of songs, I loaded them to Google Play Music and/or USB drives for the interested parties. I just checked I have over 13,000 songs uploaded to Google. I also have A YouTube Music subscription plus Pandora, Spotify, and Amazon Prime Music accounts. I can listen to almost anything. 

For the last several years, I have my music playing almost constantly. I watch sports with the sound muted and music playing. I listen to music on my phone when I walk and sometimes when I bike ride. Tom Petty is playing right now as I write this. 

So, what kind of music do I like? The answer is probably yes. Mostly '60s stuff is at the top. You can't beat the Beach Boys, Motown, and British Invasion. But, I also like the early '60s folk stuff, some of the big hair/glam rock of the '70s and '80s. Think Journey, Heart, and Fleetwood Mac. The Eagles were pretty good too. Being raised in the South .and living in Texas, I have to like at least some country. I'm a big fan of Dwight Yokum. 

Bottom line is I like good music. Good songs and good singers come in all genres, Good musicians too. I can appreciate good stuff from the big band era through today. I'll admit, I do have somewhat of a disconnect with Hip Hop and Rap. Some are OK, much is not. I also have a problem with the overuse of  Auto-Tune. It was originally intended to smooth out a few rough spots. Now singers completely depend on it and purposely use it to change their sound. Think horrible singers like Taylor Swift. 

What is your music preference?

That is how I got to my current eclectic music taste. Glad I did, because it sure is enjoyable. 

wjh

Very Random Thoughts - July 2019

• A bug flew into my beverage the other day. It died immediately. Hopefully, it died happily.
• Gillette is recalling razors because they are too sharp. 
• How much great talent have we lost to drugs and alcohol? The answer is too many.
• Musicians who really play jazz are artists. Some who play classical music are technicians. The greats are both. 
• You can be almost 100% sure that any event, behavior, activity or speech will offend somebody. 
• If Steve Perry isn't in your band, maybe you should skip Don't Stop Believing. 
• People will eat almost anything if it is battered and deep-fried. Add bacon and it's a sure thing.
• Miller Lite has an ad that touts "No Sugar" as a selling point. No beer has sugar, the yeast converts it all to alcohol. More marketing BS.
• If Jesus rose from the dead, did he really die for our sins? A little confusing and ambiguous. 
• Is there a good reason to have short-sleeved hoodies?
• If Scotland is the home of golf, shouldn't the Scottish Open be the premiere golf tournament? 
• I wonder how rich I would be now if I hadn't smoked for about 45 years and never started drinking? 
• I'm a straight white old Europen descendant male. I can't help that but often I feel that I should apologize for my demographic. 
• Hardly any racists actually think they are racist. 
• What's with all these ads by TV networks and cable providers scaring viewers that programs will disappear unless their dispute is settled? Do your damn business negotiations in private.
• When a Texas weatherperson says a cold front is coming in July or August, take it with a block of salt. It really means that instead of 99° it will be only 96°. 
• Why do food companies make the Best By or Use By date so hard to find and read? Tiny print, black ink on a dark surface, smeared characters, etc. 
• How did the phrases "no, yeah" or "yeah, no" become a thing? It is often used as in introduction to a statement in a conversation. 
• I'm starting to figure out some of this old-age stuff. The instant something pops into my mind I need to take action. Otherwise, that thought is probably gone forever.
• Commas (,) can be very confusing. Do I need one or don't I? Even grammarians differ. The Oxford comma or not?
• You can be pretty sure that the guy playing the acoustic guitar in a rock or country band is the worst guitarist in the group.  
• It doesn't matter what you believe or don't believe; it only matters how you behave.
• I apparently have nothing near a normal 24 hour circadian internal clock. I bounce from early morning to a very late night creature. Neither is bad and both have their advantages. If I'm up at five AM, it could be either just up or still up. 
• Do you have a problem with some consumable in the fridge or pantry that you can't finish? Seems there is always just a smidgen too much to completely empty the container. 

wjh