RAISING HOPE – “Cheaters” episode from Fox – April 19, 9 pm to 9:30 pm

Come on, you guys! Watch this show! I just previewed this episode and found it to be about the funniest one I’ve seen yet. It’s all about cheating. It starts with MawMaw going to Dead Tooth’s home day care where Shelley takes care of little kids like Hope and also old people. There may be dogs there too. Anyway, MawMaw falls for a man there who is just as crazy as she. Shellie offers them drinks, one of which is called “A long, slow comfortable poop” which they take. That night at home she is happy and chipper – not her usual self. She’s usually out of it and living back in the old days with her husband who is actually dead and in a container in the living room. He was cremated – that’s why the container. Virginia tells her she looks like the cat that swallowed the canary at which time she spits something out which may be the canary. A yellow feather is left sticking out of her mouth.

Virginia and Burt become worried that MawMaw is cheating because of her dead husband. So the next day they keep her home from day care until Burt takes pity on her and takes her back. Virginia then goes after her and brings her home which ends up in a big mix-up.

Meanwhile, Jimmy takes Sabrina to college to spy on Wyatt to see if he’s having an affair with another girl. Wyatt is supposedly her boyfriend but never comes home to visit her. That turns into a big mess also. Jimmy was told that the boyfriend was probably cheating as long-distance relationships never work out. But Jimmy finds another girl and takes her to a movie.

Virginia decides to take MawMaw over to the old man’s house for a booty call to make up for taking her away from him at the day care center. But upon arriving, they find he has already brought a Korean woman home with him and doesn’t want to see MawMaw. He thinks he’s back in the Korean War. MawMaw and Virginia leave saying, “Seniors in love – it’s like a goat rodeo!”

The entire show had so many funny lines and circumstances. It was a good one!

Elizabeth Taylor – 1932 – 2011

When I saw that come across the television screen, I was shocked and saddened. I always felt I had grown up with Elizabeth. I didn’t see all of her films, but kept track of her through magazines, radio, television, etc. She was the most breathtakingly beautiful woman there ever was or ever will be as far as I’m concerned. I remember seeing her in “National Velvet” when she was so young and yet so beautiful. She fell off her horse in that movie and injured her back – an injury that would stay with her for the rest of her life. That was the movie that made her a star. From there she went on to make many movies for MGM and is considered the last major star to come out of the old Hollywood system where you’re stuck with one studio. MGM was the top one at that time.

I didn’t see all of her movies, but some stood out for me. “Suddenly Last Summer” with Montgomery Clift and “A Place in the Sun” with him again were a couple of the ones that really got to me. Also there were “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Butterfield 8” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” that were excellent. She won two academy awards for Butterfield and Virginia Woolf. She made many others but I didn’t see them all. She was a delight to watch. She was so gorgeous with those beautiful eyes and face; she could have made any type of movie and would have you enthralled from the moment she was on the screen.

Her personal life was a sort of mess. She had many love affairs, eight marriages and many medical emergencies. Her life was far more exciting and dramatic than any movie she ever made. She started AMFAR, the foundation for AIDS research and had been involved with that for years. She organized “A Commitment to Life”, a celebrity event to benefit AIDS research after her friend and co-star Rock Hudson became sick in 1985 which raised more than $1.3 million. Her AIDS organization AMFAR raised $83 million in the twelve years following its creation in 1985. She had bigger, more valuable diamonds than anyone else and wore them whenever she could. She created her own perfume, “White Diamonds” which she advertised on television. She said to Barbara Walters in an interview in 1990 that she’d still like to act but no one would insure her because of her medical problems. She had broken her back four times which made it painful to walk or even stand and she’d had a benign brain tumor removed. She also had pneumonia several times, congestive heart failure and a tracheotomy to save her life. As the story goes, some thought she was given the academy award for “Butterfield 8” because of her near fatal illness and tracheotomy. And some thought it was because she had lost out in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” with her portrayal of Maggie the Cat. Who knows?

Elizabeth kept acting and making appearances as long as she could. I didn’t think she would ever die; it wasn’t supposed to happen. I read that her obituary published in The New York Times was written by theater critic and cultural reporter Mel Gussow, who had died in 2005. The paper’s obituary editor said the piece was “too good to throw away.” How strange that famous people have obituaries already written for them, just waiting years until they can be published. And then to have the person who wrote it die before the person about whom he is writing.

Elizabeth will never be forgotten. I think there is already a movie in the works about her, but I hope it doesn’t come to fruition. No actress could do her justice. I don’t think there will ever be an actor as beautiful, exciting, talented and dramatic as Elizabeth Taylor.

“Spaghetti and Meatballs” episode of BOB’S BURGERS – this will be on Sunday 3/27, 8:30-9 PM on Fox

This show is such a goofy little show that probably appeals to goofy little people – like me! I love the characters in it and especially like Tina, the big sister who is played by Dan Mintz’s voice. He originally was going to be the voice of a boy who had itchy balls, but they changed him to Tina who had crotch itch. That was probably more acceptable for the television audience. Louise, Tina’s little sister, says Tina has autism, but she’s no doctor so what does she know?

This week they get involved in watching spaghetti westerns which really irritates Louise. Gene, the brother, studies the films and learns how to deal with his school rival. Tina gets involved with a conflict resolution program to help her deal with her aggression.

This all sounds crazy, but that’s usual for this show. Watch it this Sunday!

Earthquake, Tsunami, War or a Drunk Driver?

Do you ever wonder how you will leave this world? I do. I try not to dwell on it. I’ve stopped watching the news as much as I used to as there is nothing uplifting from the reporters. The mess in Japan is horrific and it makes me cry to see all the devastation and the proud people searching through what’s left for loved ones or just anyone. You wonder if they can come back from such ruin, but I’m sure they will in time with help from all of us.

I wonder about where I live which is right smack on a subduction zone that goes up the entire west coast. When is it our turn? I’m not ready for anything to happen and probably won’t be when it does happen.

And what about all the bad things happening in the Middle East. Everyone is revolting (that word can be used both ways) and nothing good is coming from it. All that seemed to start when we set our feet in Iraq which was a horrible mistake. No one knows how all this mess is going to end. I wish someone would shoot Gaddafi which would take care of some of the problems, but we don’t seem to operate that way.

Things aren’t good in this country either. We have so many homeless and hungry people, and the numbers just seem to be growing. We can’t seem to generate many new jobs which we desperately need. The few jobs that are added are fast food or seasonal-type jobs which never pay benefits. They pay a little but not the important part which is health benefits.

I’m wondering if the Mayans really knew what they were talking about in that the world would end December 21, 2012. I’m beginning to wonder if we can hold out until then!

I wonder about all the children who have no idea what is going on in this country, let alone all over the world. They are the lucky ones who don’t have to worry about finding a place to live and something to eat. They’ll just keep on being happy and having birthday parties. They should as every child should. It’s a disgrace everything is in such a mess. Hopefully, we’ll find our way and things will get better, and the happy kids will just go on being happy and unaware of what went on. And, hopefully, the kids with no food or homes will finally have both. But I’m probably just dreaming as I’m prone to do in these times.

I flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest . . . and stayed several hours

I had an appointment at my hospital the other day for an EEG. I’ve been having leg problems and no one can find the cause. So earlier I stepped into my neurologist’s office where I’d been several years ago. I found that the physician’s assistant was pregnant and would be leaving – I really liked her – and my neurologist was actually leaving the state! I was given an appointment for an EEG at the hospital and was assigned another neurologist for my next visit. I really know how to clear a room! So I ended up at the hospital.

As I was walking down the long corridor in the hospital, I expected to see a little boy, furiously pedaling his tricycle down the hall in front of me. This sent chills up my spine until I realized I was in the wrong movie. I was visualizing “The Shining” with Jack Nicholson at Timberline Lodge whereas I was actually in “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with Jack Nicholson. I finally got myself composed and found the room reserved for my procedure. I expected to see Nurse Ratched, but there was a nice gentleman waiting there who was going to do me . . . the procedure. He pasted electrodes all over my head and then one on each ankle and each wrist. The electrodes were placed on my body in the path that the electric currents would travel to my brain from my wrist or foot. When he turned it on, all my fingers would tingle and my thumb would bounce up and down. The same happened with the feet only then my big toe would do the bouncing. This was done four times for each hand and each foot. I asked the technician if people minded being electrocuted, and he said some people couldn’t stand it and just left! It didn’t bother me except for the fact that I would rather have been doing something else and it made my hair all sticky. This all took about 2 hours and then we were done. I won’t know results until they are sent to my neurologist, my primary care doctor, my cardiologist, my oncologist, my dentist, my shrink (I don’t have one yet), my mechanic and anyone else they can think of. Hopefully, someday I’ll find out if there’s anything wrong with me.

I asked him if he could take a picture of my head with all the electrodes on it and he said he didn’t have a camera. So I told him I did! Of course I did. So he took the picture, but the electrodes and the wires from them don’t really show up much. I pulled up the blanket so just about half of my face shows. I hate having my picture taken but I like this one. I guess I’ve found the secret to getting a photo I like of myself. And then I wonder if something is wrong with me! At least I got out of the cuckoo’s nest without a lobotomy!

“Motel Generation” children – “60 Minutes” and Scott Pelley, 3/6/11

I watched Scott Pelley describing our country’s Motel Generation children or the Hardtime Generation last Sunday. I had tears in my eyes as I saw his interview of the children in question. There are a record number of children going into poverty and the number will soon reach 25%. That will be the largest since the Great Depression. Fourteen million children were in poverty before the recent Great Recession, and now the U.S. Census says it is 16 million – up two million in two years. That’s the fastest fall for the middle class since the government started counting 51 years ago. I think the middle class is rapidly disappearing as we lose our jobs and slip into the lower class, leaving just two classes of people in this country.

Scott did his investigation in Seminole County in Florida which is one of the worst for the kids. The area around Disney World is full of cheap, sleazy motels where many of these impoverished families are forced to live. Homeless shelters want to split up the families, so the motels are the only answer. The area around them is scary as the kids say - shootings, muggings, etc. so they mostly stay inside. There are 67 motels housing around 1,000 kids who have lost their homes. The film showed a school bus stopping in front of a motel and kids coming out to board the bus. One little girl was embarrassed because she said everyone knew where she lived. Her clothes were not like regular school kids – bits and pieces thrown together. The kids interviewed said they are hungry most of the time. One said he goes to school and asks the other kids if they’re going to eat what they have, and if not, maybe he could have it. One family lived in a car for a while with three kids. The car was parked at Wal Mart and they cleaned up in the bathroom there every morning before going to school. Scott talked to many of the kids, and it was simply heartbreaking to hear what they said. Most were sad because their parents were having such a hard time. One little girl felt like it was her fault for having to have her parents buy her clothes. Most of them talked of being hungry and how that felt. One boy – 14 – said “I’ve gotten very mature in a very short time.” I think it was the family that lived in their van at Wal Mart that was able to move back into a cheap motel. The father had looked and looked for work and finally did something he never thought he would do. He made a sign that said, “Family of five, please help. Thank you.” He stood by the road and many trucks and cars flew by, but one woman got his phone number and said she might have something for him. She called in a couple of days with a job as a parking attendant for $10 an hour. That was enough to get them back in a cheap motel for a while. As all these children talked to Scott, many had tears running down their cheeks. It was not an easy thing to watch.

It got me to thinking . . . I had just watched the Oscars, and got to wondering just how much money goes into that big bash. They gave gift bags to each of the winners worth $75,000, and to the losers who had worked so hard to win and made a bunch of money on their movies, they gave $20,000 gift bags. Nice! So no one was left out except for kids and families who have no gift bags, let alone food or shelter. And I wonder how much the Vanity Fair dinner cost with Wolfgang Puck as the chef. That certainly doesn’t come cheaply. I know people donate to different funds and it’s not always reported as they don’t like to make a big thing of it. But some of the functions that are thrown for this and that could be stopped. I think people could do without the Oscars; they could read the winners’ names in the papers and, hopefully, that money could be utilized where it really mattered. With so many foreclosures and no jobs, the homeless numbers will just keep rising. And the CEOs of the banks who screwed so many people will keep on getting their golden parachutes and spending no time in jail, hungry or homeless. Everyone is trying to cut back now and live within their means . . . at least that’s what they say. But you know not everyone is doing that. The lower middle class is definitely doing that because there’s no other way to live. How do I know that? Because that’s where I am with a lot of my friends.

When I think about all those children I saw Sunday night, I realize they are the future of our country. They should be well fed and well schooled, not hungry and homeless. They need a good foundation for the future. Without that, I think we all are in a lot of trouble.