Friday, January 21, 2022

"Matrix reboot is a better pill to swallow for some"/ "Time for the red pill"/ My The Matrix essay

Mar. 20, 2017 "Matrix reboot is a better pill to swallow for some": Today I found this article by Jake Coyle in the Globe and Mail:


A reboot of The Matrix is said to be in the works, but many fans would rather see Warner Bros. choose a different pill.

The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday reported that Warner Bros. is developing a relaunch of the 1999 film, which spawned two far less beloved sequels. Any new Matrix film is in such an early stage that it may never amount to anything. Warner Bros. declined to share any details on its plans on Wednesday. But the report was enough to stoke a backlash on social media over any tampering with the Wachowskis’ science-fiction creation.

On one hand, the dystopian vision of The Matrix would seem ideal for today. After all, many have recently suggested the world has tipped into a simulated reality of its own. 

Also, initially wounded fan feelings have been known to soften under the right conditions. Get the right talent involved, secure the necessary blessings, and you could have a Matrix version of the The Force Awakens on your hands.

But there’s also reason to believe moviegoers are increasingly saying no to cash-grab reboots. The reasons for their demises were various, but last summer was a graveyard of underwhelming redos, including Alice Through the Looking Glass, Independence Day: Resurgence and Ghostbusters. Still, remakes and sequels remain, overwhelmingly, the biggest box-office hits.

So why is the prospect of more Matrix particularly jarring? Here are a few reasons why: No Wachowskis. Though they could, of course, get involved in some capacity in the future, they aren’t currently attached as directors for the new project. 

For many, a Matrix without Lana and Lilly Wachowski – the writers and directors of all three films – is anathema. Keanu Reeves has said their involvement is necessary for his participation in any new Matrix movie. 

Originality was the main thrill of The Matrix. The disappointing sequels notwithstanding, The Matrix was exhilaratingly current, even futuristic, in its special effects innovation, distinctive visuals and philosophical underpinnings. A remake goes against the movie’s defining quality. 

It’s too soon. Though quick reboots have happened before, The Matrix doesn’t yet feel especially dated at 18 years old. But as Hollywood begins veering into the nineties for remake-ready intellectual property, Generation X is beginning to experience what has long been a constant for baby boomers. As Hollywood edges closer to plunder evermore recent remakes, it might need Neo to find some kind of time warp, too.




Mar. 22, 2017 
"Time for the red pill": Today I found this article by Alyssa Rosenberg in the Edmonton Journal:


The utter creative bankruptcy represented by the news that Warner Brothers is developing a reboot of “The Matrix,” the wildly original 1999 blockbuster film about the last stand in a war between humanity and the machines that have surpassed them, is too obvious — and honestly, too depressing — to dwell on for long. 

It was deadening enough to watch Hollywood repeat the same story beats over and over again in genres like superhero movies that were designed to repeat and reset: Seeing the industry prepare to cannibalize its own most creative blockbusters makes me wonder whether mass culture wouldn’t be better off if the San Andreas Fault just opened up and swallowed the 30-mile zone.

And the idea of going back into “The Matrix” isn’t just bad because it so destroys my hope for the future of original action movies that I’m tempted to give all this up to go study illuminated manuscripts in a vault somewhere. 

From a financial perspective, the virtue of remaking an existing property is that it comes with high “pre-awareness” baked in: Warner Brothers can trust that viewers are basically familiar with the essential concept behind “The Matrix,” so the company doesn’t have to waste time explaining it and can just get around to selling the new version. 

And on this score, the strength of “The Matrix” also represents a risk for Warner Brothers: “The Matrix” comes with a kind of pre-awareness that may prevent a reboot from truly standing on its own.

One of the most enduring conceits of “The Matrix,” and one of the film’s strongest visuals, is the choice between a red or blue pill that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), a leader of the anti-machine resistance, offers to hacker Neo (Keanu Reeves), who has been exploring elements of the world that seem to have a certain wrongness. 

The red pill will offer Neo a chance to see and understand the reality of his existence, but at the risk that he will be shaken to his core, perhaps even shattered. 

The blue pill will return him to a relatively comforting existence without answers to any of the questions that have been dogging him, but with his equanimity and sanity intact. Neo chooses the red pill, of course, and our adventure begins.

But even if a rebooted version of “The Matrix” were to take us in a radically different direction, what would the red pill reveal to the next main character, and to us? And what would it mean?

Even if he or she doesn’t use the red pill at all, what would audiences perceive the movie’s real messages to be?

I ask this, because in the years since “The Matrix” hit theaters, that scene has been repurposed as a device for various factions of the alt-right, most famously so-called men’s rights activists. In this parlance, taking the red pill reveals not that humans are being kept alive by robots who essentially farm them for the electrical impulses in their bodies, but that women actually run the world, exploiting men with our demonic sexuality, denying men custody, shortening their life expectancy and making false charges of rape.

As Aja Romano argued in Vox, “The Matrix metaphor works for just about every conceivable social system you might hate; but the alt-right movement has explicitly used it to construct a protective feedback loop around its misogyny and white supremacy. 

In other words, if you disagree or offer an opposing viewpoint, to the alt-right, it’s because you’re still living within the Matrix — you’ve taken the blue pill, you’re a mindless sheep, a weak cuck, or a shill for the insidious threat of progressive identity politics.”

None of which is to say that Warner Brothers and writer Zak Penn, who is involved in the project, would lean into this interpretation of “The Matrix.” If nothing else, I can’t imagine that directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the directors of the original movie and its sequels, who are both transgender women and have emphasized the value of diversity and female leadership in their work, would support or even be minimally neutral in the face of such a repurposing of their concepts.

Any new version of “The Matrix” would arrive to an audience that is not merely pre-aware of the franchise’s foundational ideas, but is also in circumstances where at least some discussion and debate about the movie is pre-determined. 

Remaking “The Matrix” means not only are the artists who work on it walking a pre-trod path, but also their ability to say anything new and fresh will be further constrained by the environment in which the movie’s released.

It’s awful to think about artists being asked to repeat the same old story over and over again.

It’s worse to think that they might try to say something original, but in conditions in which no one will be able to hear or absorb the message.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2017/03/17/rebooting-the-matrix-is-an-even-worse-idea-than-hollywoods-usual-self-cannibalism/?utm_term=.2ab0a6ccb857

Dec. 14, 2021 My opinion: I first saw this movie when I was 14 yrs old at my friend Leslie's house.  I love the action, fight scenes, and special effects.  This was in 1999.

I also like the philosophy:

Mouse: To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human.

When I first read the articles above that the movie was going to rebooted, I lowered my expectations.  There are a lot of TV shows and movies that are announced, but then are changed or cancelled.  

2gether: There is a TV movie and I showed this to Leslie in fall 2001.  

Cut to the manager Bob talking to Mickey.

Bob: You'll be the bad boy, the rebel.
Mickey: Yeah, a rebel- like that dude in The Matrix!

I knew Leslie would laugh at that part because it made a reference to her favorite movie. 





Dec. 23, 2021 My The Matrix essay: This is something I wrote for my Psych 20 class in high school.  I was in gr. 11.  This was also taught by my Social Studies 23 teacher Mr. Smith.  The assignment was to write about one of the most happiest moments of your life.  I will have to type it up by hand:

One of the most wonderful experiences in my life was when I saw the movie The Matrix for the first time.  The Matrix introduced me to many new ideas about philosophy and life.  A philosophy was "The body can not live without the mind" (Morpheus) and I got an epiphany that your mind is everything.  It doesn't matter how you look like or what you are, your mind defines who you are.

Another quote from the movie was, "To deny our own impulses, is to deny the very thing that makes us human" (Mouse).  I understand then that would mean you would be repressing emotions, thoughts, and instincts.  Usually I'm more of a think than a doer, but this quote is telling you to do what comes natural to you.  I started to think differently on how you shouldn't deny who you are.  It's about being yourself and taking in your strengths and weaknesses.

The paper house scene where Morpheus is fighting Neo had a good lesson.  Morpheus says to him, "Your weakness is not your technique."  I then felt that you must always use your strengths and apply it whenever you can to achieve.

One of the most significant scenes in the movie I learned from is when Morpheus is talking to Neo when they're leaping from building to building.  Neo didn't make it to the next building and Morpheus told him he didn't because he didn't think he could.  I always knew a positive attitude and thinking is important, but this accentuated how big it is on achieving what you're set out to do.  The basis of everything you and the outcome of it is your thinking.



Mr. Smith gave this 8/10: "It is good/ interesting that you can take so much from this movie."  



This week's theme is about movies:


"Rough Night as rough draft"/ "Oh Henry, you could have been so much better" (The Book of Henry)






My week:


Fri. Jan. 14, 2022 Table Topic Dailies: After that, I attended this Edmonton Toastmasters meeting.  I met 1 new woman.  There were 3 of us.

We were talking about careers about why I chose to be a TV writer and producer, because I wanted to entertain people and make them happy.

The woman did work part- time in an office job and gradually to full-time.  I have done that working at the Soup place and my Hotel Restaurant job.


Sat. Jan. 15, 2022 Arthur's Perfect Christmas: I used to read these books in elementary school and I did watch the show when it came in 1996.  I was 11 yrs old and in gr. 6.  I watched it with my little brother.  P recorded this Christmas special and I decided to watch this on New Year's Eve.

I only saw this once when it first aired.  I remember DW not getting the toy she wants for Christmas and Francine celebrating Hanukkah.

Cut to dinner and I was talking to my little brother P.

Tracy: If Francine celebrates Hanukkah, then who celebrates Kwanzaa?
P: Brain.
The character's nickname is Brain, and his real name is Alan.


"Arthur, D.W., and their family and friends prepare to make the best Christmas ever in Elwood City - but obstacles get in their way."



Call Me Kat: I recorded a TV show and I saw the tale end of this show and the episode "Call Me Kerfuffled."  The Blossom cast came by for a reunion.  I used to watch Blossom when I was 9-11 yrs old.  The show was on syndication.

Hours later, I wanted to watch the show and watched on Telus on Demand.  I was watching this as I was going through a folder of physical news articles looking for certain topics.

I found the episode mediocre.  I don't really like sitcoms.


Mon. Jan. 17, 2022 Edmonton Become a Person of Influence! Meetup: Today I went to this Meetup.  There was one two weeks ago, but I couldn't get into the Zoom meeting on my tablet.  I tried a few times, like closing the windows and opening again.  Today I tried on my tablet, and then I went onto my desktop.

I got into the meeting on the desktop, but my camera and microphone wasn't working.  I had to type into the chat.  This was about synthetic imagination and creative imagination. This is from the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.  On the page is about organized planning, but that is for next meeting.

"Organized Planning: The Crystallization of Desire Into Action

To put your plan into action, Hill recommends following these four Think and Grow Rich steps:

1. Ally yourself with a Master Mind group that consists of people who will help you carry out your plan.

2. However, before assembling the group, be sure to ascertain what it is you can offer each of the members in return for their work.

3. Meet with the group at least twice a week, or more if possible, until a solid plan has been created.

4. Maintain good relations between you and the group at all times.

To obtain your fortune, you will need to collaborate with others. No individual can make it entirely on their own. If your plans fail, go back to the drawing board and keep trying until a plan works. 

Thomas Edison made 10,000 failed plans before he perfected the incandescent light bulb. His key to success was that he never gave up and kept formulating new plans when the previous ones had failed. To plan intelligently is the key to securing your fortune."



My opinion: The meeting was average.  I met 8 new people.  I like self- development so that's why I went there.

Table Topic Dailies: After that, I attended this Edmonton Toastmasters meeting.  I met 1 new woman.  There were 5 of us.

Tues. Jan. 18, 2022 Jose Moreno Brooks: I have been watching the TV show Queens, and this actor stood out to me.  He plays the music video director Rodrigo who dates Naomi (Brandy Norwood).  He's good looking in the handsome way.


"Kiss U Right Now by Duckwrth: In the episode "Who shot ya", they kiss.  This song was playing and I had to look it up.

I really like this R&B song.


Cleaning: Yesterday, my grandma and I wiped the living room and kitchen windows, and kitchen cabinets for 1 hr and 45 min.



"Woman takes selfie on top of her car as it sinks into icy river and rescuers rush to save her in Canada": Today I found this article by Arpan Rai on Yahoo news:


A Canadian woman who was rescued after her car sank through an iced river this weekend is facing severe criticism for taking a smiling selfie while her life was in danger.

Residents near Ottawa’s Rideau River used kayaks and ropes to pull the woman out of the river – but not before she took a picture on top of her sinking car.

Ottawa police officials said the car went through the ice in the south end of the river in the suburb of Manotick around 4.30pm on Sunday.

The car was being driven on the frozen river, according to witnesses, who said that it went through the ice and cold water, reported CTV News.

“Thankfully no injuries and an amazing job by local residents saving the driver by using a kayak and quick safe thinking. Another reminder that ‘No Ice Is Safe Ice’. Please use extreme caution this winter season!” the police department said in a tweet.

The woman driving the car has been charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle under the Criminal Code of Canada, the police said.

Woman takes selfie on top of her car as it sinks into icy river and rescuers rush to save her in Canada (yahoo.com)

My opinion: I don't have a smartphone, and I wouldn't be taking a selfie if I had one.  I would be calling to them: "Hi, should I try to gently jump onto the ice?  I am light in weight."  However, I could still fall into the ice and it breaks.


"Boy's quick thinking saves neighbour stuck in snow": Today I found this article by Stu Mills on CBC news:

Ottawa paramedics say an eight-year-old boy may have saved the life of a neighbour Monday morning.

As snow piled up around his Donald Street home, Clayton McGuire's grandmother told him to look outside the window.

To Barb Dodge's experienced eye, it was winter event to behold — a storm against which future blizzards would be compared.

But it was the boy, and not his Nan, whose gaze settled on a familiar but unexpected shape crumpled in the snowbank outside the family duplex. 

It was a man, only partly visible and disappearing fast.

"Oh oh," said Dodge when Clayton gasped and jabbed his finger at the shape in the snow.

Clayton swiftly ran to tell his mother and father.

Once roused by his son, Joey McGuire rushed outside to assist the man, whom paramedics said was in his 70s.

McGuire guessed, by the thickness of the white blanket covering him, the pedestrian had been lying face down in the cold for 20 or more dangerous minutes.

While the McGuires helped the man to his feet and to their front steps to rest and Clayton fetched a hot drink and a blanket, paramedics arrived. 

Though grateful the storm had delayed his return to class so that he might be home to spot his stricken neighbour in a time of need, Clayton McGuire was not leaping for recognition.

"I helped a guy," Clayton offered tentatively when asked how he would describe his morning to friends back in school.

"I saved someone," he added, finally, after some encouragement from his grandmother.

"I'm very proud of him," McGuire said of his son.

911 call can make 'whole difference', paramedics say

The boy's heroics caught the attention of the mayor, with Jim Watson tweeting, "Way to go Clayton! Thank you for helping this man in your community. You are an amazing and very kind person."

Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesperson Andre Mollema pointed out that Clayton's sharp eyes may have saved the man. 

"Anyone who makes the call to 911 when help is required can be considered a hero," said Mollema.

"You made the whole difference."

Mollema said paramedics treated the man on site and that he declined to be transported to hospital.

Clayton acknowledged his new role as "the neighbourhood watch guy," and vowed to keep an eye out for people in need of assistance.

Boy's quick thinking saves neighbour stuck in snow | CBC News

My opinion: This safety tip is for everybody walking in the winter time, but mainly for seniors: Please be careful walking on icy and snowy sidewalks.


"'Congratulations, it's a girl': Canadian doctor helps deliver baby mid-flight": Today I found this article by Adina Bresge, (The Canadian Press) on Yahoo news:





TORONTO — Dr. Aisha Khatib was hoping to catch some shut-eye on the final leg of her multi-stop plane voyage from Toronto to Entebbe, Uganda.

But the Canadian doctor says those plans were dashed when a little bundle of joy decided to arrive mid-flight.

About an hour after taking off from Doha, Qatar, last month, Khatib said she was settling into her seat when she was roused by an announcement asking if there were any medical personnel on board.

The University of Toronto professor, who specializes in travel medicine, said she flagged down a flight attendant who ushered her through rows of sleeping passengers toward the back of the plane.

Thankfully, the rest of the delivery went smoothly, said Khatib, and once she was confident both the woman and her baby were stable, she told the new mother: "Congratulations, it's a girl."

"The entire plane erupted with clapping and started cheering," said Khatib, who estimates the medical emergency lasted about 20 minutes. "I totally forgot I was on a plane and everyone's watching this."

"I was babysitting very happily and cuddling the baby," she said, adding that the flight attendants were very attentive to the extra passenger. "That baby definitely got a lot of love on that flight."

Khatib said the mother told her she would name the baby "Miracle Aisha" in her honour, and in return, she gifted the newborn a gold necklace with her first name written in Arabic.

"I had to give it to my namesake, so that down the road, she knows where she came from," said Khatib. "Dr. Aisha delivered her 35,000 feet in the air."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2022.

Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press

'Congratulations, it's a girl': Canadian doctor helps deliver baby mid-flight (yahoo.com)


"Home fires fizzling"/ "Like mother, like daughter" (Home Again)

 Sept. 8,2017 "Home fires fizzling": Today I found this movie review by Chris Knight in the Edmonton Journal:


There’s a world of difference between a film that gets under your skin and one that just gets on your nerves. Home Again, a mostly inoffensive rom-com, strives mightily to be the former, but time and again I found it bugging me by degrees. If this movie were a first date it would have spinach in its teeth and be constantly checking its phone.

Reese Witherspoon is in full-on Mom mode as Alice Kinney, who has split from her husband (Michael Sheen) and is raising two adorable kids in what used to be her parents’ rambling L.A. mansion. At the urging of friends, she parties heartily on her 40th birthday, and winds up in the arms of 27-year-old Harry (Pico Alexander).

Harry is a filmmaker. So are his two tag-along best friends (Nat Wolff and Jon Rudnitsky). In fact, everyone in this movie seems to be connected with the business – no surprise when you consider that first-time writer-director Hallie Meyers-Shyer is the daughter of five-timer Nancy Meyers (The Holiday, It’s Complicated) and too-many-to-count Charles Shyer (Father of the Bride).

So that would explain Home Again’s fetishization of the film world; Alice’s childhood home contains a room full of her late father’s notebooks, original screenplays and Oscar statues. And her mother is Lillian Stewart, a renowned beauty and actress much younger than her late husband – or in other words, Candice Bergen playing herself.

After that one crazy night – and with a little prodding from Lillian – Alice decides to let Harry and his friends stay in her guest house. One of the pals is a tech wizard, while the other bonds with Alice’s daughter, helping the kid come out of her shell and become a writer, because really, what other career options are available in this film? Alice tries to be responsible and keep Harry at arm’s length, while on the other side of the country, Sheen’s character frets and wonders whether he and Alice should reconcile.

Meyers-Shyer deserves credit for creating an older-woman-younger-man romantic entanglement and making it both warm and believable, but she squanders this good will on some lazy screenwriting. 

To wit; I counted at least five scenes in which characters are clearly speaking to one another, but rather than hear what they have to say and learning more about them, we are treated to a blanket of anodyne pop music instead.

By the third use of this technique, the film started to feel more like a beer commercial than a comedy. And in one instance, though we can’t hear what’s he saying, Harry is clearly talking over a movie the characters are watching projected on a sheet in the backyard. How would you feel if I treated you this way, Home Again?

Thus grumpified, I was less than forgiving when the film introduces a parody of a movie producer only to have one of the characters shake his head and say: “He was a parody of a movie producer.” Well, of course he was! 

And this after we get Lake Bell as the parody of an annoying home-dĂ©cor client, and a scene in which Alice has a parody of a bad dinner date. Not to mention the parody rendition of “will X make it to Y’s school recital on time?”

Meyers-Shyer must have spent a lot of time on film sets growing up – her credits include bit parts in her parents’ movies – but the movie moments in this one feel like someone who only knows the business from afar.

I’m reminded of a scene in the 2008 film Rachel Getting Married, in which two men square off over who’s better at loading the dishwasher. It’s a memorable bit, but it’s also drawn from real life; writer Jenny Lumet is the daughter of director Sidney Lumet, and as a child witnessed her dad and choreographer Bob Fosse having a dish-off during a dinner party. The closest that Home Again comes to that kind of personal touch is a parody of a personal touch. The audience deserves better.


http://nationalpost.com/entertainment/movies/if-home-again-were-a-first-date-it-would-have-spinach-in-its-teeth-and-be-constantly-checking-its-phone

"Like mother, like daughter": Today I found this interview by Michael O' Sullivan in the Edmonton Journal:


With her filmmaking debut, "Home Again," a romantic comedy about a 40ish single mom who embarks on a fling with a much younger man, Hallie Meyers-Shyer proves that she's her mother's daughter.

Mom, in this case, is filmmaker Nancy Meyers, a cinematic powerhouse with a track record of hit rom-coms that includes "What Women Want," "Something's Gotta Give," "The Holiday," "It's Complicated" and "The Intern" — along with a reputation for luxe production values that has earned her the sobriquet of "queen of interior design porn." 

No slouch in the romantic comedy biz himself, Hallie's father, and Nancy's ex, is writer-director-producer Charles Shyer ("Father of the Bride").

In "Home Again," there's no mistaking the influence of Meyers, who was a producer on the new film. The story centers on interior decorator Alice Kinney (Reese Witherspoon), who, after an ugly breakup, has moved from New York to the comfortable Los Angeles home she grew up in with her late filmmaker father and retired actress mother (Candice Bergen). 

True to the values of a Nancy Meyers movie, that house — which is sure to inspire design lust — takes center stage. It's there that Alice takes in three 20-something filmmakers as lodgers: a sensitive writer (Jon Rudnitzky), a tech-savvy actor (Nat Wolff), and a sexy director (Pico Alexander). The latter becomes, briefly, Alice's boy toy.

Meyers-Shyer, 30, spoke by phone from Los Angeles about her debt to her parents and her desire to make her own way in the Hollywood jungle.

Q: Your mother's influence is apparent, particularly in your film's attention to meticulously curated domestic interiors. I was struck by one scene around the breakfast table that featured platters of bacon on blue-and-white china. It was so mouthwatering and pretty, it was almost distracting. How important is production design to you?

A: Of all possible things I learned about from my mom, food on the table is just the smallest possible thing that she could have taught me. The larger lessons — about having great heroines and great stories, about how warm and inviting her films are and how feminine they are — are the themes I hope I carry on from her, more than anything having to do with set design or food. That said, my film does take place largely in a home — and many of her films do as well — where the house is a big character. I really hope that "Home Again" reflects me and my sensibilities.

Q: After graduating from the New School in Manhattan, you spent a year studying film at USC. But you've said your real education came on your parents' film sets growing up. If you're trying to cut the apron strings, why work with your mother?

A: Carrying on the family business is a hard thing. As a debut filmmaker, you want to feel like you are paving your own way. But there was nobody better to have with me than someone who has been making, for so many years, romantic comedies with strong female characters. The thing I learned most from my mom was about layering my characters and making them nuanced, and not just types.

Q: Alice's parents, like yours, are filmmakers. They seem to have been based on director John Cassavetes and his actress wife, Gena Rowlands. Is that deliberate?

A: You're absolutely right. The character of (Alice's father) is an amalgam of several 1970s filmmakers: Cassavettes; (Peter) Bogdanovich; (Paul) Mazursky. They were my influences while writing the film. The way in which I wanted to portray Los Angeles was inspired a lot by '70s films. I wanted to find a way to infuse that into the story, so I made him a '70s filmmaker. I wanted him to be someone who these three boys — who are true lovers of cinema — would be excited about to thumb through his scripts and photo albums. I consider the movie a love letter to film and Hollywood.

Q: Are you a particular fan of '70s American cinema?

A: Yes, I am. It's my favorite era. I watched a lot of movies from that period for research.

Q: You weren't even born until 1987. How did you fall in love with that period?

A: I went to film school for a bit. 

Mostly, though, I watched a lot of movies with my parents. Movies of the '70s feel very grounded and character-driven to me. I love Jack Nicholson. I love Warren Beatty in "Heaven Can Wait" and "Shampoo."

Q: Who do you relate to most in this film?

A: I find a little of myself in every character. I relate to Alice, of course, but also to the three boys trying to make it in Hollywood. I relate to Alice's anxious older daughter, but also to the youngest daughter, because I also have an older sister. I can even relate to Alice's ex, Michael Sheen, back in New York City. I put myself in every character.

Q: Do you perceive a decline — or, as some have said, a crisis — in romantic comedy?

A: It used to be a more commercial genre for studios, for sure, one in which big actors would star, going back to Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. It had great actors, major studios, big budgets. But it's not just romantic comedies that have declined, as I see it. 

Movies about human beings are not being made as often. They've been replaced by superhero movies, action films. It's not as easy to get a romantic comedy made, but there is an audience for it. "The Big Sick" was a great example, and it showed that people want to embrace the genre.

Q: Is there a gender divide in the audience? Is there something about rom-coms that has ghettoized them as women's films?

A: "Home Again" is a woman's story, through and through. Women do like romantic comedies, but in my experience, men love them, too. I'm excited that an underserved audience is being served in this film.

Q: And that underserved audience is ...?

A: Women.

Q: ... or simply people who don't want to see another movie about space aliens?

A: Absolutely, that, too. One hundred percent.

Q: There's a great line in the film about how, between the three guys who are living in Alice's pool house, she has managed to combine the package into one perfect man: One's her baby sitter, one's her tech-support guru and the other is her lover.

A: I can't take credit for that line. The reference to the brains, the heart and the nerve is from "The Wizard of Oz."

Q: It's a sad commentary on the male gender that it takes three of us to make one whole person.

A: I think "Home Again" is a really empowering movie for men. These are three passionate men who have real interests. It shows men in a really positive way.

Q: There's another funny line, where a sleazy Hollywood movie producer tries to get the "boys" to change their vision for their first movie from a black-and-white art-house drama to a "found-footage love story." Sounds like that one might come from personal experience.

A: Yes. When you're writing, you get to make a little bit of snide commentary. I definitely drew from past meetings with producers.

Q: The guy and the girl don't end up happily ever after. Are you trying to rewrite the rules with your first movie?

A: That's just how the rom-com genre has been characterized. "Home Again" looks and feels like a romantic comedy, but ultimately that's not what this movie is about. It's not about a woman finding a man. It's about a woman finding herself.

http://newsok.com/article/5562972


My opinion: I don't really like romantic comedies.  However, I did like the review and the interview because I learned about screenwriting and storytelling.

"Rough Night as rough draft"/ "Oh Henry, you could have been so much better" (The Book of Henry)

 Jun. 16, 2017 "Rough Night as rough draft": Today I found this movie review by Chris Knight in the Edmonton Journal:


You’ve got to hand it to Kate McKinnon. The Saturday Night Live cast member is determined to take back the inflection, turning the tables on legions of Aussie actors who regularly pretend to be American in movies. The fact that her own Australian dialect ranges from Perth to Canberra and occasionally into New York is just part of the fun.

But that kind of doing-it-badly-for-laughs can only take you so far. Rough Night, the feature writing/directing debut of Lucia Aniello (TV’s Broad City), tries to be a little Bridesmaids, a little Weekend at Bernie’s, and comes off as a collection of hits and misses. There are laughs, but I would hesitate to add the adjective “aplenty.”

As an example of a miss, take the scene in which the bachelorette party, headed up by Senatorial hopeful and bride-to-be Jess (Scarlett Johansson), tries to smuggle a dead stripper out of the house they’ve borrowed for their wild weekend. Of course, the only vehicle they can access is a tiny Smart car. But there’s no explanation as to why all five women feel the need to pile in together, thus requiring Mr. Dead Guy to poke out of the sunroof. I like an overstuffed-vehicle gag as much as the next critic, but give me a reason to buy in.

Much funnier is the scene where we first see what Jess’s fiancĂ© (Paul W. Downs, the film’s co-writer and one of the many Broad City alumni in the cast) is up to at his stag night. Let’s just say there will not be a Hangover-style sequel to Rough Night. And there’s a throwaway Rob Lowe joke that might be the funniest thing I’ve heard in a movie this year.

But all too often the screenplay grabs for the lowest common clichĂ©. Jess and her posse – they include Jillian Bell, ZoĂ« Kravitz and Ilana Glazer – arrive in Miami? Cue Gloria Estefan’s Conga song from 1985, laid over a montage seemingly borrowed from the local tourism board. They’re walking down the sidewalk? Let’s put them five abreast and in slow motion!

Or how about the ol’ “I am not doing that!” line, followed by a cut to the speaker doing that.

The movie also spends scant time on the emotional lives of its characters. We first meet them tearing up a college campus in 2006, before moving to the present day to find they’ve drifted professionally while remaining in touch. Bell’s character is clingy, Glazer’s anti-establishment, Kravitz’s all-too-establishment. And Johansson’s fledging politician is worried about what a night of drugs and strippers will do to her campaign chances – though not worried enough to put a stop to it.

It’s all kept pretty light, which is quite a feat when the death-of-a-male-stripper is the central plot point. But it needs a little more for its cast to do. 

Ty Burrell and Demi Moore pop up as horny neighbours who horn in at several inconvenient moments, but conveniently disappear the rest of the time. Rough Night feels like a rough draft, one that could have used at least one more pass by its writers before committing it to the screen.

http://news.nationalpost.com/entertainment/movies/with-the-hilarious-exception-of-kate-mckinnon-rough-night-feels-more-like-a-rough-draft

My opinion: I'm probably not going to watch this movie because I don't like comedy.



"Oh Henry, you could have been so much better": Today I found this article by Tina Hassannia in the Edmonton Journal

The Book of Henry is about a boy, his mom, his little brother and the girl next door. That’s what Henry (Jaeden Lieberher) says through voice-over narration, but only at the end of the film.

There’s no purpose to such a contrived line other than screenwriter Gregg Hurwitz (a comic book and crime-novel writer) and director Colin Trevorrow (director of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX) believing that their audience is stupid. 

The film’s premise is even dumber: Henry’s mother Susan (Naomi Watts) plans to kill child-abusing neighbour Glenn (Dean Norris) through a methodically planned sniper mission that her 11-year old genius son laid out through comprehensive notes and voice memos.

But wait, isn’t this supposed to be a feel-good family drama? The look and feel sure spell it out: Henry’s tree house looks like something out a Roald Dahl novel, chock full of Rube Goldberg contraptions, intended to endear us to the world-weary 11-yearold; the younger, bespectacled adorable brother Peter (Jacob Tremblay) needs Henry’s help from school bullies; their mom’s corny bedtime routine features a lullaby and toy ukulele. 

But Hurwitz and Trevorrow don’t have the patience for a single genre, so they mash up a variety that include traumatic medical drama and a taking-justice-into-your-own-hands thriller. Such Frankenstein movie magic leads to a tone-deaf, ghoulish, campy and overwrought film.

The film makes no sense. Henry is the adult of the house, managing the finances, while Susan blows off steam from her waitressing job through video games and carousing with her floozie co-worker (Sarah Silverman, working far below what she deserves, but then again, the same goes for everyone cast in this movie). 

If that’s slightly believable, Henry’s stock trading acumen that has resulted in $700,000 in a bank account, is not. Susan shrugs off Henry’s practical suggestions to quit or buy a new car for no reason, making her sound silly, yet we somehow are to believe she can carry out murder.

Would it kill the screenwriter to maybe flesh out a character past the nanosecond devoted to each story element? 

Hurwitz and Trevorrow don’t have such patience, though, they’ve already fast-forwarded to the traumatizing medical issue that lands a huge bomb in the middle of the movie, tonally shifting it with the abruptness of an earthquake. 

Without spoiling anything, let’s just say it accomplishes little more than giving Susan a reason to start “adulting” again and gives Lee Pace a useless role as a handsome doctor to suggest what this movie might have been if Hurwitz and Trevorrow liked rom-coms.

About Henry’s murder plan, by the way: His titular book, which plots out every conceivable detail, also includes rationales on why killing Glenn, a well respected community man, is the only way to save his victim. 

Yet Henry’s efforts to expose the abuse are half-assed at best. He never once tries asking an adult like Susan to voice the complaint, for example. Getting away with murder, the film suggests, is easier than reporting child abuse.

The film’s convenient ending confirms that The Book of Henry is uninterested in exploring the idea that powerful men can be infallible. 

In fact, there are no ideas at all here, just one contrived plot element set up to trigger off another. 

Think of The Book of Henry as a broken Rube Goldberg machine — all the cutesy steampunk doodads are for naught without proper planning to make it function.



My opinion: I'm probably not going to watch this movie.  I read this review and I saw the trailer and it doesn't look very good.

Friday, January 7, 2022

"Tidying Up with Marie Kondo"/ "The rise of the cleanfluencer"

 I'm posting these articles because usually at the end of the year or the beginning of the year, a lot of people are decluttering or organizing their homes.  You can do that any time of the year, but it's common to do that now. 

Jan. 12, 2019 "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo": Today I found this article by Hank Stuever in the Edmonton Journal:

The war on clutter continues. In previous reality-TV skirmishes with America's junk-filled closets and overstuffed garages, shows about clear-cut cleaning tried to sass and snark people into a state of tidiness.

Before she found her way as an actress, Niecy Nash came to people's homes a decade ago on the former Style network's "Clean House" and decried their "foolishness" before unleashing a trio of helpers to pare down the mess and redecorate rooms to minimalist perfection.
Viewers later became transfixed by the tragedies seen on A&E's "Hoarders," a tough-love approach to a form of mental illness, in which troubled homeowners and renters living amid unsafe piles of belongings and filth were forced to part with however much of it would return them to a semblance of sanity - or appease the enforcers of some local ordinance who had declared their homes uninhabitable.

Despite its sincere intentions, "Hoarders" (which last aired in 2017) was a sad and occasionally intrusive wallow. It allowed us to cloak our morbid curiosity in safe-distance empathy.
Now it's Marie Kondo to the rescue in Netflix's happily engaging new reality series, "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" (available for streaming Tuesday).
The show isn't all that revelatory, but it certainly qualifies as a fine New Year's Day binge for people who intend to drag the Christmas tree to the curb sometime before Easter.
If you haven't heard of Kondo, a successful Japanese home organizer, then you've probably been buried under a mound of still-tagged bargains from T.J. Maxx and Kohl's.
The rest of us already know (and perhaps adhere to) the principles detailed in Kondo's international bestseller, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up," which advocates a five-step "KonMari" approach to evaluating one's belongings on an emotional level.
If an object does not "spark joy" (in Kondo's terms), it probably needs to go.
"Tidying Up" puts Kondo's methods to the test in eight different Los Angeles-area homes, starting with that of Kevin and Rachel, whose situation seems most common: Two married adults with busy careers and two small children, not enough space and not enough time or energy left at the end of the day to stay ahead of the stuff they own.
Kondo, who is in her early 30s and also has two young children, arrives at her clients' houses (accompanied by her translator, Marie Iida) full of squeaky, irresistibly cute enthusiasm, greeting their engorged closets and chaotic junk drawers with giddy discovery. "I love mess," she declares.
Unlike her TV predecessors, Kondo brings a calming influence to the surroundings - even asking the owners if she may take a moment to kneel in a particular spot and silently greet their homes.
Sometimes she asks the homeowners to join in and offer unspoken thanks to their home for the shelter it has thus far provided.
This is a noble and overdue concept for the home makeover and real estate genre - a chance to express gratitude for any home, rather than the perfect home. Years of HGTV's programming have placed homeowners and home-seekers on a narcissistic pedestal of entitled complaint (our house is too small, too ugly, too outdated) and criticisms.
How many couples, by now, have we seen walk through homes for sale and disparage the countertops, bathroom tiling and size of the backyard?
Where's the reminder that we should be so lucky as to have lived in a state of acquisition rather than sacrifice?
The gratitude extends to Kondo's lessons in culling.
Once Rachel has dragged a few closets' worth of her massive, mostly casual wardrobe and piled everything on the bed, per Kondo's instructions, she is asked to "thank" an item of clothing before discarding it.
It's a long process, topped off with Kondo's insistence that the remaining T-shirts, underwear and socks be folded into consistent rectangular shapes that line up in drawers like cute, obedient children.
Herein lies the happiness. You might not run to your dresser to immediately duplicate it, but you'll at least be tempted.
Kondo's journey continues to other families and couples facing various anxieties about their mess.
Margie, recently widowed, confronts a closet full of her late husband's clothes. ("Creepy!" her daughter callously declares later, when Margie attempts to show off the hard-won progress of its emptiness.)
A male couple, Frank and Matt, seek Kondo's help tidying their shared L.A. apartment as a way of asserting their adulthood, especially for family members who still think of them as young slobs.
Clarissa and Mario are expecting their first baby and must reckon with a surfeit of clothes, especially his stacks of collectible sneakers and athletic shoes, many of which he bought with no intention of wearing.
And Ron and Wendy, empty-nesters married 42 years, must tackle layers of accumulation, including the dreaded Christmas decorations and decades' worth of baseball cards.
The vicarious, lookie-loo factor can be appealing on its own. Other viewers may watch to get the inspiration to tackle some of their own closets and drawers. 
Kondo's methods make good sense, dividing the work into categories - clothes first, then books, then papers, followed by a catchall category, "komono" (miscellaneous), which includes the kitchen, bathrooms, garage and miscellaneous spots where stuff accumulates.
She saves sentimental objects for last, and it's here where the owners must really buckle down and assess whether they are keeping something out of a sense of duty or true joy.
To her credit, Kondo is not a makeover artist. She effuses over any form of progress, happy to overlook matters of taste and decor. As such, "Tidying Up" isn't filled with the sort of visually appealing reveals that viewers expect from other home-improvement shows.
It's also worth noting that "Tidying Up" is so relentlessly encouraging that it cannot bring itself to feature a failure, such as a homeowner who gives up in the middle of the process, even with the promise of inner peace. It can sometimes feel as if Kondo and her producers settle for small victories without addressing some of the homeowners' personal issues that still simmer just beneath the surface.
She's here to tidy up and spark joy, which ultimately includes a bit of glossing-over. The joyless, Judgey McJudgerson stuff is left to viewers like you and me, and Lord knows, we've watched enough reality TV to easily pick up that slack.
My opinion: I used to go to the Edmonton Decluttering and Organizing Meetup group in 2019.  I went to a few meetings.  A woman said that she watches an episode of Hoarders, and that inspires her to declutter and organize.

I like reading and watching about feng shui to inspire me.



Apr. 13, 2019 "The rise of the cleanfluencer": Today I found this article by Matthew Hague in the Globe and Mail:

It’s spring-cleaning time. To our Victorian ancestors, this was the moment to fling open the windows and let all the accumulated winter dust fly out with the newly warm breeze. But to us, the better weather might not even be perceptible, with those same windows covered by too much mildew, grime or accumulated clutter to even see the unfurling green leaves.

After all, who has time to clean any more? According to Statistics Canada, not many of us. Both the percentage of Canadians who actively tidy indoors and the number of hours spent on such chores declined between 1986 and 2015. About 50 per cent of the population used to spend five hours a week on housekeeping. These days it’s closer to 40 per cent and four hours and 54 minutes. A six-minute drop might not sound like much, but that adds up to more than five hours a year in lost dusting, vacuuming and organizing opportunities.

This might explain why miraculously immaculate spaces are to our home lives what Kylie Jenner is to fashion and beauty – a collective, aspirational obsession, something that’s somehow everywhere yet still seemingly unattainable. Or, as a recent Guardian article stated: “Bleach is the new black.” And the trend is fuelling a boom in bestselling organizational books, popular TV shows and social-media stars.

In some ways, this isn’t a new occurrence. “Cleaning seems to be the cockroach of businesses,” says Toronto-based YouTuber Melissa Maker, whose Clean My Space channel has more than 1.1 million subscribers. “AI, recessions, whatever – it seems resilient.” 

That’s because despite what’s going on in the world, most of us still desire an orderly abode. What’s singular now, though, is the confluence of uniquely contemporary trends driving the movement – a rising zeal for self-help, wellness and social-media perfection, all mixed with a lack of time to realistically achieve any of the above without professional gurus or the kind of one-on-one help once exclusively available to the ultrawealthy, now more readily accessible in the gig economy.

Marie Kondo might be the most famous of the so-called cleanfluencers – her tomes have sold more than 10 million copies around the world and her recent Netflix series, Tidying Up, was devoured by millions of fans as soon as it came out in January of this year. But she’s hardly the only one. Canada has its own group of neatness gurus, some of whom are acolytes of the Japanese phenomenon, while others predate her rise entirely.


Toronto’s Ivanka Siolkowsky started her career as a primary-school teacher. But in 2015, when a co-worker gave her a copy of Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Upas a gag secret-Santa gift, she realized she had a different calling. “I was always the one with the notoriously clean classroom,” she says. “At the time, Marie Kondo was just starting her KonMari training workshops. I registered immediately.”

Siolkowsky left teaching shortly thereafter to become a full-time KonMari consultant, someone who charges an average of $100 an hour to handhold someone through Kondo’s approach of eliminating anything that doesn’t “spark joy” from their home. To some, that might seem like a highly risky bet – giving up a government-backed dental plan for the vagaries of self-employment.

But since starting her business, called the Tidy Moose, in 2016, Siolkowsky has amassed more than 20,000 Instagram followers (“I get 90 per cent of my clients through Instagram,” she says) and penned her own Amazon bestselling book called Declutter Your Way to Health, Wealth and Freedom. 

She’s also Canada’s only platinum-certified KonMari consultant, a distinction granted to those who have not only completed the $1,500 training workshop, but who have amassed a certain amount of experience. Siolkowsky has done more than 900 hours working with at least 30 clients using Kondo’s methods.

Lisa Orr is one such client. She owns a Toronto-based, eponymous protocol consultancy and has three kids. “As an entrepreneur with a busy young family, keeping things organized and clutter-free tended to fall to the bottom of the to-do list,” she says. “I really needed some professional help to put systems in place that my family and I could maintain.”

Orr and her family worked with Siolkowsky over the course of five months. “It was an incredibly positive experience,” she says. “We tackled the master bedroom, the kids’ rooms, the kitchen, my home office and our storage room, so really the whole house. Six months later, the spaces look very similar to how they looked after the declutter. Sometimes a pair of shoes might be in the wrong spot, but the great thing is that those things stand out now and are easy to fix.”

As with Siolkowsky, Halifax’s Jane Veldhoven had a previous career (“I was a terrible salesperson,” she says) and an innate knack for space planning. “I was a naturally organized child,” she says. “I always had the ability to look at a mess and know exactly how to improve it.” But unlike Siolkowsky, Veldhoven started establishing herself as a cleanfluencer in 2002, long before “spark joy” was a common phrase.

Back then, being a professional organizer was relatively unheard of. The Professional Organizers of Canada (POC), a national group promoting neateners-for-hire, was only a year old with about 100 members (it now has 700). 

“My friends and family thought I had lost my mind,” says Veldhoven, the first POC member in Atlantic Canada. “They told me: ‘People won’t pay you to do that.'”

Seventeen years later, not only is there so much demand for her services that she often has to refer would-be clients to other POC members, but Veldhoven was recently the subject of a five-part docuseries on Vision TV. Called The Big Downsize, the show followed her as she helped two families weed through all the excess stuff in their lives, including four siblings cleaning out the junk-rammed house where their deceased parents had lived for 50 years.

The show has the predictable heated emotions and flowing tears that come with purging a lifetime of possessions. But Veldhoven’s infectious optimism more than balances out the drama. “I’m really passionate about helping people let go of what they don’t need,” she said recently on a promo stop in Toronto. 

“In my own experience, I’ve found that whenever I let go of what I no longer need, something wonderful comes along to replace it.”

Melissa Maker also predates the Kondo craze. She launched her video channel, Clean My Space, in 2010. It has more than 100 videos demonstrating how to scrub everything from tubs and tiles to salt-stained winter boots.

A major part of Maker’s appeal is that, unlike overly earnest perfectionists such as Martha Stewart, she has the casual tone of a friend who, like you, would ultimately rather be doing something more fun. That get-it-done-and-over-with attitude is genuine. Maker was the kind of teenager who refused to unload the dishwasher or wipe down the bathroom, often resulting in yelling matches with her mom. Even now, at 36, her resistance is resolute. “I still hate cleaning,” she says.


The aversion might be ironic, but it also inspired Maker’s business idea. At 24, while working as a server at the Keg, she realized that if other people disdained cleaning as much as she did, there must be demand for outsourced solutions. So she started a pay-by-the-hour cleaning service (also called Clean My Space). 

She taught herself the time-consuming, pre-social-media way: taking books out from the library. At first, she hired herself out as the maid. Now, she has a team of between 20 and 30 cleaners.

Which is not surprising considering that during the big downturn 10 years ago, Maker was initially worried for her then-new startup. The economic contraction, though, proved to be a springboard. “We grew five-fold in 2008,” she says. “We went from five-figure to six-figure revenues that year. … People might not love cleaning, but they love being in a clean space. It smells good, it feels good. During the recession, people were so stressed-out, the last thing they wanted to do, or even had time for, was to clean for themselves.”

The need has stayed strong since. In addition to starting the YouTube channel shortly after (which led to sponsorship deals with Tide, Dawn, OxyClean and others), she’s since launched additional ventures, including a how-to book published by Penguin Random House, a line of microfibre cloths and towels and an online training course to teach others who want to start and run their own Clean My Space-style enterprises. More than 10,000 people signed up before the course went live in February.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-design/article-neatness-gurus-the-rise-of-the-so-called-cleanfluencer/





Dec. 30, 2021 "Tracy giving away her magazine clippings": I was giving all these clippings of celebrities to my friends.  They are so happy and excited to receive them.  The clippings really "sparked joy."

Tracy's blog: Quickbooks/ How to make decisions/ Tracy giving away her magazine clippings (Work from Home Part 1) (badcb.blogspot.com)




Dec. 28, 2021 Discmans: I'm going to recycle 2 old discmans at Staples:

Panasonic SL-S160- My sister got this as a gift in 2000 and used this for years. I then used this.

1. The lid is broken.
2. You have to press hard on the head phone jack so you can listen to music.  This will cramp your hand.

Panasonic SL- SX320: My little brother won this in a draw in 2003.  In jr. high school, your name is put in a draw if you don't get tutorials (as in you finished your homework for the week for like a whole semester).  He used this and I used this for years.

1. This doesn't work.  I tried this with 3 cds and the discman says "no disc."

I haven't used this in years and it sits there.  Well at least we used this for a long time.

My sister got one as a gift in like 2001 or 2002.  She then got an iPod by 2007 and I gave that discman to my friend Sherry because I already had 2 discmans.  

You can buy discmans on Amazon, but I'm sure a lot of people are listening to music on iPods or their smart phones.

Dec. 31, 2021 iPod mini: In 2018, I got this 6GB iPod from my mom and she got this from the lost and found at her work.  This iPod is from like 2004, judging from the music on it.

I charged it for 18 hrs, and they play the music for 10 seconds, and it says low battery.  It's not the charger cable because I tried it on another iPod and it charges.

I called the Apple store and the tech guy says they don't make batteries for this.  I will recycle this at Apple.





The other 2 blog posts are:


"The unintended consequences of working from home will be multifold and worrisome for Canadians"/ "Remote work's loyalty problem: Risk of 'culture crisis' rises with employees isolated at home"



"Here's what Canada's business leaders think about heading back to the office"/ "If the way we work is going to change, offices are going to change, too"




My week:


Dec. 28, 2021 "99-year-old Betty White says the secret to her long life is that she tries to avoid eating 'anything green'": Today I found this article by Yasmin Garaad on Yahoo news:

"I'm so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age," she said. "It's amazing."

White said she believed being "born a cockeyed optimist" was also essential to her nature. "I got it from my mom, and that never changed," she said. "I always find the positive."

In 2018, she said it was important to "enjoy life" in an interview with Parade"Accentuate the positive, not the negative," she said at the time.

She added: "It sounds so trite, but a lot of people will pick out something to complain about, rather than say, 'Hey, that was great!' It's not hard to find great stuff if you look."

In that same 2018 interview, she said she still loved vodka and hot dogs, "probably in that order."

99-year-old Betty White says the secret to her long life is that she tries to avoid eating 'anything green' (yahoo.com)

Dec. 31, 2021 "Beloved TV Funny Lady Betty White, Star of The Golden Girls, Dead at 99": Today I found this article Charles Mason on Yahoo news: 


Legendary actress, producer, animal-rights activist and all-around sweetheart Betty White died Friday at the age of 99.

“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” said Jeff Witjas, White’s agent and friend, in a statement to People on Friday. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”

Throughout her life and career, White — who had no children (but was stepmother to Ludden’s three kids from his first marriage) — was a staunch animal-rights activist. Not only was she a sponsor of both the Farm Animal Reform Movement and Friends of Animals, but she wrote Betty White’s Pet-Love: How Pets Take Care of Us, and donated all the proceeds from her clothing line and 2011 calendar to animal charities.

Beloved TV Funny Lady Betty White, Star of The Golden Girls, Dead at 99 (yahoo.com)

My opinion: That's sad to hear.  She always seemed so happy and positive.  I liked when she was on The Simpsons episode "Missionary Impossible":


"The Simpsons" Missionary: Impossible (TV Episode 2000) - IMDb

The Simpsons - Betty White PBS Pledge Drive HD - YouTube


"Ellen DeGeneres: Kristopher and Antwain surprised their classmate, and I wanted to surprise them with Will Smith": Today I found this on Facebook, but it was dated Sept. 20, 2019.

Kristopher laughed at his classmate Michael.  Later he felt bad about it and he told his friend Antwain and they wanted to make it up to him by apologizing and giving him brand new clothes.  One of their friends was always filming things and decided to film this.  This was on put on Facebook and there were a lot of views.

Antwain: I wanted it to make a difference, to make people stop bullying.

Will Smith came and hugged them.  He gave them all free gear like sneakers and socks.  He will also give the school and all 600 students something from his line.

Shutterfly (a American company) each gave them $10,000.


Facebook

"94-Year-Old Woman Crochets Thousands Of Hats Each Year For Those In Need": Today I found this article by Anastasia Arellano through Facebook: 


Just like no one is ever too young to make a difference, someone is also never too old to make a difference.

94-year-old Rose Valdez took up a new hobby of crocheting when she was 90, and after that, she taught herself how to make woolen hats. Once she taught herself how to make hats, there was so stopping her – she has crocheted thousands of very cozy beanies for her local community of Pueblo, Colorado.

This incredible lady suffers from carpal tunnel and macular degeneration, as well as glaucoma – something that causes her to experience some vision issues. While this doesn’t stop her from crafting, Rose does prefer to crochet in sunny weather, as the natural light helps her to better see the crochet holes.

“I don’t do nothing else, so I might as well do something for somebody,” she said. “I make one a day or two. If I go steady, I make two in one day.”

Shirley Homer, one of Rose’s daughters says, “I bet we’ve done an easy 2,000.”

This kind lady donates her crafted creations to various charity organizations, schools, and hospitals. Recently, Rose delivered more than 100 of her wooly hats to the Pueblo Cooperative Care Center, who were beyond grateful for her kindness.

https://www.facebook.com/PuebloCooperativeCareCenter/posts/2396572400672779

The organization thanked her, writing on their Facebook, “Thank you, Rose Valdez for the beautiful hats you crocheted. You are truly a blessing to our community.”


94-Year-Old Woman Crochets Thousands Of Hats Each Year For Those In Need - The Hunger Site News (greatergood.com)

Jan. 4, 2022 "Still using a classic BlackBerry? It's going to stop working today, company says": Today I found this article by Pete Evans on CBC news:


The end of the line has finally come for a lot of the old reliable BlackBerry smartphones still out there. 

The Waterloo, Ont.-based company has officially pulled the plug on the software and infrastructure that powers its legacy smartphones and handheld devices — which means they will stop working today.

Devices running on the BB10 or BlackBerry OS platform "will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 911 calls," the company says. Internet access via a Wi-Fi connection will also cease service, which means today is the end of the line for the devices that ushered in the era of smartphones before being left behind by iPhones and Google-powered Android devices more than a decade ago.

"We have been holding off on decommissioning the BlackBerry service out of loyalty to our customers for a long time," CEO John Chen said in a blog post published today. "So, it stirs mixed emotions today, as I write this ... telling you that era has finally come to a close."

Still using a classic BlackBerry? It's going to stop working today, company says | CBC News

Flaxseed: Today I finally finished eating and drinking this.  My mom bought like this 1.2 kg bag of this because it's healthy.  She bought this like in early 2020.  She mainly put this in my water for one cup a day.  I don't like this, and I tried to offload this to my friends who are a married couple, but one of them is allergic.

Tracy: If you want to buy something new, you should buy a small sample to try it.

Mom: There are no small samples at Costco.

Tracy: Go to Bulk Barn.

I read on some blog post about buying a small sample from Bulk Barn when she/ writer wants to try something new.   

The Cleaning Lady: 

"A whip-smart Cambodian doctor comes to the U.S. for a medical treatment to save her son, but when the system fails and pushes her into hiding, she uses her cunning and intelligence to fight back, breaking the law for all the right reasons."


The Cleaning Lady (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb

My opinion: Today I saw the pilot.  I predicted I would like it and I did.  This stars Elodie Yung as Thony/ the cleaning lady.  She's good in this role, and I have never seen her before.

I like the mob boss Arman (Adan Canto).  At first, I didn't recognize him, and then I looked at his credits.  He was on the TV show I liked Second Chance.


There is lots of action.  I will record the series and watch this all in a week.

This show is on Mon. at 9pm on Fox, or 10pm on CTV.

Jan. 5, 2022 "Mom captures touching moment when son, 2, identifies with 'Encanto' character: 'Black and brown children are getting to see themselves'": Today I found this article by Terri Peters on Yahoo news:




We may not talk about Bruno, but thanks to one mom's viral post, everyone's noticing the Encanto character's animated nephew, Antonio.

Kah Brand says during a family movie night last week, her 2-year-old son, Kenzo, made an adorable discovery, realizing he bore an uncanny resemblance to the character from the Disney film, which released in Nov. 2021.

"When Antonio popped up on the screen Kenzo was just staring," Brand tells Yahoo Life. "He was in awe. At some point he turned around to his dad and I sitting on the couch and was smiling: I think he truly thought it was him because there is such a strong resemblance."

In the film Antonio Madrigal is the 5-year-old cousin of main character Mirabel, who receives the magical gift of being able to talk to animals. Antonio is voiced by Ravi Cabot-Conyers, a 10-year-old who also appears in the show #BlackAF on Netflix. In a YouTube video discussing his role in the film, Ravi called voicing Antonio alongside actors like John Leguizamo and Wilmer Valderrama a "dream come true."

Now, Brand says she's the one getting her heart's desire — seeing her child feel represented by an on-screen character.

"It makes my heart happy," says the New York City mom, "As a mom I'm always trying to capture these special moments. Growing up there wasn't much diversity in the way characters looked — that's changing. Black and brown children are getting to see themselves in positive images through characters like the ones on Encanto."

Brand shared images of Kenzo watching the film on @katchingupwithkenzo, an Instagram account she manages for the 2-year-old, using the hashtags #RepresentationMatters and #ThankYouDisney. 

"My son saw himself and it made him happy and this made me happy," says Brand, who works in the airline industry. "Representation truly does matter."

Mom shares photos of son twinning with 'Encanto' character (yahoo.com)

My opinion: Aww... that's so cute. I have written about his before.

The stand- up comedian Nathan Macintosh.  He has red spikey hair and pale skin.

Macintosh: Before you guys come up to me after the show, and tell me who I look like, I want to say this: Yeah, I know.  I look Fry from Futurama