I have written this sentiment down somewhere a billion times over the years. I am not sure if I have recorded it in here, however. Even if I have, it bears repeating. Or maybe it doesn’t. I’m saying it anyway. I hate being alone…

I’ve seen a few movies lately. I keep forgetting to put my ratings for them somewhere. I say that as if that’s something I feel I need to do. I don’t know. 20 years ago, I envisioned there’d be somewhere I’d be able to record my ratings for every movie I’d ever seen. A dozen years ago or so, there was IMDB, and that was one of the first websites I had an account on. Now there’s Flixster on Facebook. But then I get bugged about movie quizzes 18 times a day. I occasionally have blogged movie ratings just as I’d journal them 20 years ago, but ratings are made for databases, says the geek in me. And then there’s the matter of my lack of desire to offer any commentary beyond a number, since I think my film critique skills are not at all refined.

Anyway, so here’s some movies I’ve seen lately. I’m mostly looking forward to breaking out the toast GIF (that would look cooler with a transparent background, but I’m lazy)…

The Queen 9/10

Hey, it’s Farmer Hoggett as Prince Phillip! (And from Six Feet Under and 24, and he has played Presidents George H.W. Bush and LBJ).

Burn After Reading 7/10

Hey, it’s Richard Jenkins from Six Feet Under. “This is not acceptable at Hardbodies!”

Michael Clayton 8/10

Hey, it’s Merritt Wever from Nurse Jackie!

Breaking Away 7/10

Her, it’s Paul Dooley. He’s been in everything!

There are no Americans who don’t have healthcare. Everybody in this country has access to healthcare. —Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)

(h/t Bob Cesca)

This is the same Virginia Foxx who said that the notion that Matthew Shepherd’s murder having been a hate crime was a hoax.

Can we please take out this nut in ‘10? By take out, I mean defeat at the polls, of course. Or with a tommy gun*.

_{* Playing too much Mafia Wars}

I don’t want to follow politics at all after I see shit like this. I don’t want to have anything to do with debates about what it means to be American and our shared American values. I’ll pay my taxes and vote, and please give me affordable healthcare so I might live a long life, and have some laws that lower the change that some gun nut doesn’t accidentally shoot me. Other than that, I just don’t think I can stand it.

No wonder most people I know don’t follow politics. It is not a healthy way to unwind at the end of the day. I need to go find my Match Game and Super Password reruns on the DVR…

So…this weekend…watched a lot of Walter Cronkite death coverage, in which it was obvious that the standards of TV journalism have eroded significantly since Cronkite signed off back in 1981.

I watched a lot of the British Open, hoping Tom Watson would pull off a miraculous feat only to see if come up achingly short.

I decided I didn’t like Stewart Cink simply because he has 500,000 Twitter followers. Several on-air referred to him as “one of the good guys” out there, but it just seems like anyone who is not The President, The Pope, or Someone Curing Cancer (let alone someone who hadn’t won a tournament until today) doesn’t warrant 500,000 “followers”.

It’s strange, because I think I discovered Twitter rather earlier, but it kinda made me queasy early on for many reasons, and then I’ve barely been on it over the past year or so, and it’s exploded in relevance.

I have found, particularly, with politicians and newspeople, that Twitterers embarrass themselves more often than they impress. I expect athletes and celebrities to make asses of themselves, because they’re not famous for their minds and communication skills.

Anyway…this weekend, I also got sucked into Mafia Wars on Facebook. Like many internet fads, I think I’ll probably be over it rather quickly. I have a feeling that the friend who recruited me was starting to feel limited by the size of his “Mafia family” (number of Facebook friends playing Mafia Wars), and that I’ll run into the same problem soon enough. For the longest time, I never thought I’d wade into one of the Facebook time-wasters that I see on other people’s profiles, but I did it this week. And I get it…

If you have nothing to do tomorrow morning, I suggest watching The Open (formerly known as The British Open) on ABC. I used to watch golf all the time growing up, and for whatever reason, Tom Watson was my favorite golfer. I know it wasn’t because of an impeccable character or anything like that. (My favorite baseball player was Darryl Strawberry). As I’ve gotten older, I’ve watched less and less of all sports, mostly because so many pro athletes come off as self-absorbed, greedy, and arrogant. I have barely watched any golf in the past decade. While Tiger Woods’ excellence in any event generally boosts ratings, and I have little doubt that he may be the best golfer in history, watching him win a major is no fun for me, because he’s always seemed like the biggest dick in the world. I could be wrong, but Tom Watson always seemed like a good guy, Polo attire and all. Maybe it’s the gap in his teeth.

Anyway, he’s 59 now. He’s 59, and he’s freaking leading The British Open after three rounds. And he’s always grinning like he’s actually enjoying himself. He doesn’t get all pissy in that jackass-ultra-competitive “it’s no fun unless I’m #1″ way like Tiger when he misses a putt.

The marriage of Match Game and Hollywood Squares in 1983 was the most dynamic union of two entertainment juggernauts in history until Michael married Lisa Marie.

I get really pissed when I see list-serv messages or flyers that express sentiments such as the following (and I’m paraphrasing):

We are about to move. Unfortunately, we have still not been able to find a good home for Lulu and Oogie. We’re not able to take our beloved doggies with us and I’ve been desperately trying to find a home for both of them ‘together’.

The owners never go into specifics as to why they’re “not able to” take their precious pets with them. I have often seen the excuse that the “new place doesn’t allow” pets, which always makes me wonder how hard the people looked for a place that would accept pets.

Have they lost significant income to the point that they will barely be able to feed themselves, which then would seem justifiable to let the pets go?

I am certain there are a fair number of legitimate cases when owners have to part with their pets. But I see so many of these listings, that I cannot help but think that there are just a lot of shitty pet owners out there who just had their pets as accessories and are ready to dump them when they become nuisances.

And I think, “Well, shit, now someone has to go adopt your awesome dogs, who seem to have been cared for very well…instead of going to the shelter to rescue a couple of dogs that truly don’t have homes”.

Or perhaps I am just very ignorant…is it really tough to find apartment and house rentals that accept pets? I always figured the ratio was about 50/50, and you pay a fair monthly fee and extra deposit for the privilege of keeping pets.

I suppose putting the ads out is not nearly as bad as the people I read about who leave their foreclosed homes with the pets left behind.

I suppose this is why pet adoptions are a bit of a catch-22. I have heard complaints about rescue organizations that seem very stringent in reviewing adoption applicants while it’s very easy to bring a pet home from certain shelters. On the other hand, a lot of people seem to adopt pets without the aim of making a lifetime commitment, as if they’ll just see how it works out. I just don’t get it…

swoopo.com

I just like saying it…SWOO-PO!

And if you’re so inclined as to try it, comment here so I can refer you, and I can get 5 free bids!