NYT Crossword 05/05/17 (Friday)

Cruciverbalist: Patrick Berry
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 27:00

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Patrick Berry is always a thorn in my side. I find it difficult to solve his puzzles. This is one that I solved. Feels great!

Words I hadn't known until now:

DORAG - "Crown cover"
PITAS - "Scoopers for taramasalata" (Have no idea what "taramasalata" is)
UGG - "___ boots" (Sorta know 'Ugg," but didn't know they were boots, per se)

Trivia I didn't know:

OSOLEMIO - "Song whose opening lyric translates to 'What a beautiful thing is a sunny day'"
URAL - "River bisecting Orsk"
POUNDSTERLING - "World's oldest currency still in use"
NATURE - "'She understands her business better than we do,' per Montaigne"
RESIN - "Substance used in Egyptian mummification"
PINES - "Seven ___ (Civil War battle site)"
ALI - "Who said 'I'm so mean I make medicine sick'"

Junk clues:

SGT - "Squad cmdr."

Clever clues:

TIRES - "Golf cart foursome"
HOUSETRAINING - "Instructions on where to go?"
HEELS - "Grate catches?"
LIB - "End of a cause?"
ICECAP - "Pole topper"
OVERALLS - "Agricultural outfit"
SOUNDBITE - "Conversation piece?"
MARS - "Opportunity's on it"
DEMOTAPES - "Things mailed without a label?"
MEASURING - "Ruler's role"
ECOLI - "Things that take guts?"
BANGBANG - "Reports of gunfire?"

"No, Elvis is not dead...he just went home"

Saw Men in Black yesterday at the theater. What a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Another movie that still holds up after twenty years. The exception, of course, are the pop culture references. I do believe that decades down the road those jokes just won't fly. I'm talking about Anthony Robbins, Dennis Rodman, Al Roker, etc. But that's a minor quibble. Though the Elvis quote in the title of this post will certainly stand the test of time!

The many different aliens are still well appreciated. We can thank Rick Baker for that. He's definitely a grand master when it comes to makeup.

I had forgotten the Vincent D'Onofrio played the Bug Man. He was terrific! And, of course, an unknown Tony Shalhoub was also great as the alien who got his head blown off only to be grown back. I love K's departing line, "...or I'll shoot something that won't grow back!" Funny stuff!

Spoiler alert! If you haven't seen the movie and are intending to, don't read any further.

For the past few months for some reason, I've been contemplating the vast expanse of the universe. It is mind bogging just how big it is. Then there's the thought that if there is an end to the universe, what's on the other side of the ending? On the other hand, how can it be infinite?  What about multiverses?

The point of my thoughts is the ending of MiB shows that all the galaxies in our universe are just part of a marble in another universe. Director Barry Sonnenberg has a nice ending camera pull-away from a medium shot of our intrepid heroes, whizzing through our galaxies, to outside the marble being shot by an alien three-fingered hand, then finally deposited into a bag of marbles (Other universes!). Nicely done!

NYT Crossword 05/04/17 (Thursday)

Cruciverbalist: Loren Muse Smith and Tracy Gray
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 20:02

Puzzle uniqueness:

Four black squares utilized as the word "ICE" to connect words on either side of the squares.

Words I hadn't known until now:

HOLLA - "Shouted casual greeting"
ESSA - "She, in Italian"
CATARACT - "Waterfall"
AIWA - "Audio equipment brand"

Trivia I didn't know:

NEGEV - "Beersheba's region"
OREO - "Jell-O pudding flavor"
LENA - "Russian river to the Arctic Ocean"
LILABNER - "Comics character who was perpetually 19" (Didn't know that was his actual age!)
JOAN - "'Mad Men' femme fatal" (Never seen the show)

Junk Answers:

HOLLA - (See above)
SNO - "___-Caps (Nestle brand)"
YSHAPE - "What a dowsing rod or a slingshot has"

Clever clues: 0

NYT Crossword 05/03/17 (Wednesday)

Cruciverbalist: Alan Arbesfeld
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 7:40

Puzzle uniqueness:

A pun quote. I'm not a fan quotes in crosswords.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 0

Junk Answers:

AOUT - "Month after juillet"
CSA - "Stars and Bars org."
ELIHU - "Yale of Yale University"
RLS - "'Kidnapped' monogram"
EQUI - "Prefix with angular or lateral"
XSOUT - "Crosses off"
SPH - "Three-dimensional fig."
MRT - "Mohawk sporter on 'The A Team'"

Clever clues: 0

NYT Crossword 05/02/17 (Tuesday)

Cruciverbalist: David J. Kahn
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 10:13

Puzzle uniqueness:

Six two-word answers in which the first word is the one-word title of a Best Musical award.

Words I hadn't known until now:

LAPROBES - "Blankets for open-air travelers"

Trivia I didn't know:

HAMILTONBERMUDA - "Capital city with only about 1,000 residents (2016)"
NALDI - "Nita of silent films" (This is really reaching)
BIGME - "1996 Foo Fighters hit"

Junk Answers:

ATA - "___ crossroads"
EPI - "Prefix with center"
TRA - "___-la-la"abbr."
SSR - "70-Across, e.g., formerly" (ESTONIA)
ECO - "Prefix with tourism"

Clever clues:

OHM - "Law man"

EGO - "Massage target?"

LEI - "Ring on a string"

TBAR - "Means of avoiding an uphill climb"

NYT Crossword 05/01/17 (Monday)

Cruciverbalist: Ed Sessa
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 6:47

Puzzle uniqueness:

Four answers dealing with Marie Antoinette

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 0

Junk Answers:

ACUP - "Bra size smaller than a 'B'"
RES - "Hi-___ monitor"
LIS - "Fleur-de-___"
ONEK - ""Short race spec" (Really?)

Clever clues: 0

NYT Crossword 04/30/17 (Sunday)

Cruciverbalist: Alan Arbesfeld

Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 42:34

Theme Title: New England Chatter

Take "ar" sounding words and make them "ah" sounding. ("Spark" into "Spock")

Words I didn't know:

RACEME - "Flower arrangement"
EUTERPE - "Sister of Erato"
MOHEL - "Bris official"
KEL - "Kenan's former Nickelodeon pal"
THEA - "Mother of Helios" (I thought it was "Rhea")

Trivia I didn’t know:

ULM - "Where Einstein was born"

ADIA - "1998 Sarah McLachlan hit"

COOLIO - "'Gangsta Paradise' rapper"

MAU - "Egyptian ___ (spotted cat breed)"

UTAH - "Where I-15 meets I-70"

NEPAL - "Where 'ho' and 'hoina' mean 'yes' and 'no'"

SUMO - "Activity in a dohyo"

Junk answers:

INE - "Serpent's tail?"
STR - "Narrow passage"
NIK - "Suffix with beat"
NOU - ""___-turn"
CCL - "A quarter of M"
STAC - "Quick and detached, musically" Abbr."

Clever clues:

HALOES - "Head bands?"
TABS - "Things hat allow for jumping ahead in line?"

NYT Crossword 04/29/17 (Saturday)

Cruciverbalist: Martin Ashwood-Smith
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 23:08

Puzzle uniqueness: N/A

Words I hadn't known until now:

TIRANA - "Capital for King Zog" (Assume it's a monetary thing for some country)
EAUDEVIE - "Clear brandy"

Trivia I didn't know: 0

Junk Answers:

EHS - "Comments that lead people to repeat themselves"
ITSA - "____ joke"
BELG - "Like M. Poirot"
SDS - "New Left org."

Clever clues:

ASH -  "Result of a firing"
BBC - "English channel"
THEATEAM - "Hannibal's men"
CORE - "Middle Earth?"
ACNE - "Certain eruption"
EMOTED - "Made a big scene?"

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me."

I went to the theater and saw The Graduate Wednesday. Excellent film. Still holds up for me 50 years later.

The one exception could be that Benjamin's going after Elaine might be construed as stalking in this day and age.

One of the best times in film going is entering a theater and not having a clue as to what the movie is about, and then experiencing the unexpected greatness of it. Such is the case for me and The Graduate. I was 17 the year the movie came out. I received a screening invitation to this film starring someone named Dustin Hoffman. I remember thinking, "What a strange name...Dustin." On top of that, the title of the film didn't float my boat either. I had heard of Anne Bancroft. As I had nothing else to do, I attended the screening.

What a great surprise! It was an outstanding experience seeing this great film for the first time, not knowing anything about it as the plot unfolded. I mean, was Mrs. Robinson really trying to seduce him? I had no idea at that moment, just like our protagonist.

As I was watching the movie two days ago, it hit on me that the first time I saw it, Mrs. Robinson was 20-25 years older than me, and I, like many other young men, were lusting after this sexually experienced woman who could teach us the mysterious ways of sex. Now I'm 20-25 years older than the character. She looks way younger than me! I feel weird (and old!) about that. Time does fly...

I can now appreciate much more the character of Mrs. Robinson, and how she gave up her dreams and "settled" for the comfort and security of wealth and prestige.

I hadn't realized that Richard Dreyfuss had a small role in the film. He pokes his head out, looks through an open door and says something like, "Should I call the police? I'll call the police!"

If you haven't seen the film in a long time, I recommend that you check it out again. One thing I like to do is head over to the Internet Movie Database and check out the trivia page of a movie I'm about to see. It gives you a heads up on things to look for. The trivia link is about half-way down the page of the film's information, underneath the cast list.

I hope you enjoy seeing it again as much as I did!

Next week at the theater...Men in Black! I can hardly wait!

NYT Crossword 04/28/17 (Friday)

Cruciverbalist: David Steinberg
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 27:51

Puzzle uniqueness: N/A

Words I hadn't known until now:

TIC - "Part of XXX" (Don't have a clue what that means)
SUTRA - "Hindu aphorisms" (Didn't know "sutra" meant this)
FENDI - "Prada competitor"
CAIMAN - "Relative of an alligator"

Trivia I didn't know:

ZAK - "Drummer Starkey"
SEXYANDIKNOWIT - "2012 #1 hit by LMFAO" (I am horrible at current or recent pop culture)
AMARYLLIS - "Producer of red-and-white blooms"
SARTRE - "'The Flies' playwright"

Junk Answers:

BRR - "Sound that might be made while rubbing the arms"
ENTR - "Intermission starter?"
SSN - "Application fig."

Clever clues:

LET - "Court ruling"
PALATE - Oenophile's pride"
CODER - "Bug exterminator?"
HULL - "Bottom of the sea?"

NYT Crossword 04/27/17 (Thursday)

Cruciverbalist: Todd Gross
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 24:11

Puzzle uniqueness:

Treats center squares as Sudoku puzzle. I hate Sudoku! Nuff sed...

Words I hadn't known until now:

DIANE - "Steak _____" (Didn't know this type of steak)

Trivia I didn't know:

FANTASIA - "First commercial film with stereophonic sound, 1940"
RIC - "Wrestler Flair"

Junk Answers:

ATYA - "'Right back ____'"
PSSST - "'Hey, buddy!'" (Just how many S's are acceptable? one, two, three, more?)
COPA - "Legendary N.Y.C. club, with 'the'" (Only because it's the 3rd straight day with a friggin' NY clue)
EDU - "Lead-in to -tainment"
REQ - "Necessary: Abbr."
LDS - "Church inits."
EMS - "CPR offerer"

Clever clues:

ORCHARD - "Orange place"
MARSH - "Reed section?"
HAIRCUTS - "Tops off?"

NYT Crossword 04/26/17 (Wednesday)

Cruciverbalist: Trenton Charlson
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 11:04

Puzzle uniqueness:

"XX" anwers with "DOSEQUIS" being the hint (Dos Equis is a Spanish beer meaning two X's)

Words I hadn't known until now:

AGGRO - "Hostility, in British slang"
AMARNA - "Cuneiform discovery site"
NOHO - "Manhattan neighborhood next to the East Village" (Another New York answer? WTF?)

Trivia I didn't know:

FRESNO - "California city, whose name is Spanish for 'ash tree'"

Junk Answers:

AGGRO - (See above)
ORU - "Sch. in Tulsa"

Clever clues:

YESSIR - "General reply?"

NYT Crossword 04/25/17 (Tuesday)

Cruciverbalist: Gary J. Whitehead
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 17:03 (Way over my normal time due to two answers I did not know and a typo)

Puzzle uniqueness:

Six long, two-word answers in which the final answer (HOME) can be put in front of each of the words: HOMEBODY. GAMEBOY, COMPUTERPORT, ICELAND, MOVIETHEATER, FRONTPAGE.

Words I hadn't known until now:

CBGBS - "Legendary music club in Lower Manhattan, informally" (This is so bogus)
IBIZA - "Resort island near Majorca"

Trivia I didn't know:

SIENA - "Tuscan city"
ICELAND - "NATO's smallest member, populationwise" (Though makes sense)

Junk Answers: Many...the price you pay for so many theme answers (6)

CBGBS - Still bogus
MENT - "Suffix with refresh or replace
SEZ - "Utters, informally"
ZZZ - "Snoring sound" (Gee, how many Z's can be accepted?)
LII - "52, in old Rome"
REORG - "Corporate shuffle, for short"

Clever clues: 0

NYT Crossword 04/24/17 (Monday)

Cruciverbalist: Gary Cee
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 7:30 (Usually in 6-7 min. range, but a section held me up for some reason)

Puzzle uniqueness:

Four long answers form a meal (salad, burger, potatoes, and pie) with the last of two words.

Words I hadn't known until now: 0

Trivia I didn't know: 0

Junk Answers:

ALP - "Swiss peak" (Rarely used in the singular)
TWOAM - "Time in Manhattan when it's midnight in Montana"
MED - "Club ___"

Clever clues: 0

"Bosch" drops at Amazon

I binged on Bosch this weekend. Great series. The third season dropped on Friday at Amazon.

I've read all the books (written by Michael Connelly), and I think they are great as well. The TV series takes two or three of the books and creates a hard-nosed, gritty 10-episode season out of them.

It did take me a while in season one to accept Titus Welliver as our hero Hieronymus Bosch, L.A. detective, but now I think he's great. The rest of the cast is solid as well.

I love that they go to various locations in Los Angeles for scenes. I lived in L.A. for over two decades back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, and it's nice (and nostalgic) to see some of the old stomping grounds.

All in all, a fine series to get yourself into, if you're into police procedurals that is.

NYT Crossword 04/23/17 (Sunday)

Cruciverbalist: Olivia Mitra Framke

Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 37:26

Theme Title: A Century Of Song

A tribute to Ella Fitzgerald (One of my favorite singers!) born on April 25, 1817.

Words I hadn’t known until now:

ACETAL -  "Perfumer's liquid"
MOTETS - "Sacred choral works"
SATAY - "Skewered Asian dish"
CHAR - "Arctic food fish"

Trivia I didn’t know:

AMALFI - "______ Coast, scenic area near Capri"
SHEREE - "'Dallas' actress ______ J. Wilson" (If the clue was "North," I would've nailed it)
CABERNET - "Popular pairing with steak au poivre" (Not a gourmet)
ETSEQ - "And the following: Abbr."
SIC - "'___ parvis magna' ('Greatness from small beginnings"' Lat.)"
SPITZ - "Dog whose tail curls over the back"
ORSER - "Skating champ Brian"
RIEN - "Edith Piaf's 'Non, Je Ne Regrette ____'"
SIA - "One-named signer with the 2016 #1 hit 'Cheap Thrills'"
GOSPELS -  "Biblical quartet" (There are four of them?)
NENA - "Singer with the 1984 hit '99 Luftballoons'"
ZTILES -  "Tough draws in the game Bananagrams" (Never played the game)

Junk answers:

FFF - "Extremely loud in music"
ISH - "Suffix with sleep or hawk"
SRS - "H.S. big shots"
BFFS - "Close buds"

Clever clues:

HEIR - "One in line?"
OTOOLE - "Good name for an Irish carpenter?"

From sesquipedalian to hootamaganzy

Before the ubiquity of computers, I bet 90% of households had a dictionary. I may be optimistic on the percentage, but a goodly number of families had them. Think about the times you looked up a word. You grabbed the dictionary, found the definition and moved on. I know in my case, I never thought about all the work that went in to the precise wording of the definition, or how many people pored over the word before finally signing off on it.

Well, I just finished a new book that explores lexicography. "Word By Word" by Kory Stamper, a lexicographer at Merriam-Webster in Massachusetts, allows us to enter the world of definitions and the lexicographers who attend to such matters.

Along the way she discusses various interesting words and how the were finally defined, such as "irregardless" (she's a bit begrudging about that one),  "posh" (No, it's not Port Out., Starboard Home), "it's" vs. "its," etc.

One of the issues she brings up is the use of "however" at the beginning of a sentence. Apparently, in some circles, that's a Bozo no-no. I never knew that it was a problem. I've been starting sentences with "however" my entire life!

Here's a little tidbit:  The word "pumpernickel" comes from an earlier word meaning "fart goblin." How about that!

Another subject she addresses is that we all have favorite words. One of hers is in the title of this post, "hootamaganzy." It means "A hooded merganser." "Sesquipedalian" has been a favorite of mine my whole life. It means, "Having many syllables" (There's something meta about that) or "Given to or characterized by the use of long words." Ms. Stamper even mentions the word in her book! Somehow my life is complete. What's one of your favorite words?

One thing I learned that I will never forget is when the word is broken up with the dots, it's not the separating of the word by syllable, but the points where a word can be broken with a hyphen at the end of a line. I really had never thought about it.  The dashes you see in the word elsewhere are the syllable breaks.

The folks at Merriam-Webster will respond to the public's questions regarding words. They will answer if it's within their purview, and let you know if it's not.

I found the book to be very entertaining and full of interesting details about the world of lexicography. This is a must read for logophiles of all ages.

NYT Crossword 04/22/17 (Saturday)

Cruciverbalist: Adam Fromm
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 20:58

Puzzle uniqueness:

A themeless. Looked tough at the start, but after I got a few short answers, three of the four fifteen-letter answers were in my wheelhouse, which broke it open.

Words I hadn't known until now:

AXILLA - "Armpit, to a doctor"
PAPIER - "Le Monde material" (As I've said before, Spanish is more my thing than Fr. or It.)
ATALANTA - "Only woman aboard the Argo, it's said"

Trivia I didn't know:

HEBRIDES - "Skye, the Small Isles, etc.

Junk Answers:

AWS - "Sounds of pity"
ECCLES - "Book after Proverbs: Abbr."
TRAD - "Like many folk songs: Abbr."

Clever clues:

TAN - "Change one's tone?"
RODEO - "What may involve the calf muscles?"

NYT Crossword 04/21/17 (Friday)

Cruciverbalist: Damon Gulczynski
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 27:47

Puzzle uniqueness:

A themeless. I will make the comment that the Friday and Saturday puzzles are really something. A lot of them (for me) look impossible to solve at first blush. I go around slowly picking at the short answers trying to get a foothold. Then one answer here, another there, and it slowly starts to come together. When I finally solve it, it feels like I've climbed Mt. Everest! Really cool!

Words I hadn't known until now:

HAG - "Beldam" (I know the word, it's the clue I didn't know)
CREMA - "Thin layer of foam at the top of an espresso"
TOTUP - "Add, British-style"
AFROPOP - "Genre for Miriam Makeba and Ladysmith Black Mambazo"
ANNEE - "Year abroad"
ASIAGO - "Pungent cheese"
LINTEL - "Doorframe part"

Trivia I didn't know:

APSES - "Areas where clerics are seated"
OFT - "'Our remedies ___ in ourselves do lie': Shak."
HELLOKITTY - "Toon who wears a red hair bow"
EMU - "Producer of a deep drumming call"
ETHAN - "'_____ Brand' (Nathaniel Hawthorne tale)"

Junk Answers:

No real horrible ones

Clever clues:

PIECHARTS - "Business circles?"
LIDS - "They're open in the morning"
GRAMMARNAZI - "Type for who this clue will be annoying?"
USER - "One who might need an ID"
TOTALBASES - "A batter receives four for a grand slam" (So wanted this to be "runs batted in")

"As if..."

I love movies. Always have. I remember being enthralled with them as a kid. I can watch the old films any time.

I'm lucky in that Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) have teamed up to screen classic films in theaters. They come in six-film cycles.

Which brings me to my attending a screening of Clueless yesterday. Of course, being retired and all, this wasn't exactly my kind of film. However, I do believe that I should attend the screenings as much as possible in order to try to keep the program viable. Hopefully, there is enough of a turnout that TPTB will keep continuing the program.

I have to at admit this film won me over. It's a very cute high school movie with a winning cast. I'm somewhat jaded when it comes to comedies, but I have to admit there were some very funny lines.

The plot is based on Jane Austen's book, Emma, if any one cares. I've never read an Austen book. Apparently, it sticks pretty close to the novel's plot.

I was perusing the trivia page for the movie on IMDb and learned something interesting. This movie is considered one of the "1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," which is edited by Steven Schneider. Hmmm...not sure about that.

When I was checking out the bios of the actors, I was dismayed to find out about the tragic death of Brittany Murphy, who played Tai, in 2009. Very disturbing, I hope the truth will out.

All-in-all, I think this is worth one's time to see.

NYT Crossword 04/20/17 (Thursday)

Cruciverbalist: Jeffrey Wechsler
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 17:59

Puzzle uniqueness:

Trick Thursday: Takes one syllable words in phrases, treats them as two syllable words and has a screwy clue with a question mark. The last one is a bit shaky as it's a plural.

FORHEAVENSSAKE - "Why Japanese tipplers anticipate the afterlife?"
WHACKAMOLE - "Pound on some Mexican food?"
LAMEEXCUSE - "'I didn't know you disliked shiny fabrics,' e.g.,?"
RUNFORTHEROSES - "Quick trip to pick up white zinfandel and blush?"

Words I hadn't known until now:

YESHIVAS - "Places to study the Talmud"
TOPE - "Emulate a 2-Down (WINO)"

Trivia I didn't know:

ARS -  "___ longa, vita brevis"
FATAL - "'Travel is _____ to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness': Twain

Junk Answers:

ARS -  (See above)
RECTO - "Page 1, 3 or 5, usually"

Clever clues: 0

NYT Crossword 04/19/17 (Wednesday)

Cruciverbalist: Emanuel Ax and Brad Wilbur
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 11:00

Puzzle uniqueness:

The Times crossword is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and they are having celebrities collaborate with constructors. Emanuel Ax is a classical pianist so, of course, there is a musical theme to it. The center black squares form a musical note, plus the 52-Down answer NOTE can follow the ends of the long answers:

MONSTERMASH
SAWEDINHALF
WHISKEYSOUR
RUNNERSHIGH

Words I hadn't known until now:

MANGIA - "Trattoria order?" (Don't have a clue what this means)
QUAKERGUN - "Log painted deceptively to look like a cannon" (Never heard of it!)

Trivia I didn't know:

EREI - "'Fly ___ spurn thee ..." : Shelley
KERRI - "Olympic gymnast Strug"
SITKA - "Early capital of Alaska"
PLAYAREA - "What the keys are to a pianist" (Another answer with a musical bent)
RONS - "Hamilton biographer Chernow and others"
BARR - "Mystery writer Nevada ____" (Come on!)
LOKI - "Shape-shifter of Norse mythology" (Didn't know it, but easily deduced)
NORMARAE - "Best Picture loser to 'Kramer vs. Kramer'" (Didn't know it right off)
MALAWI - "Nyasaland, today"

Junk Answers:

ENE - "Suffix with acetyl"
PREV - "Earlier: Abbr."
SRS - "Some SAT takers: Abbr."
UVRAY - "Tanning element, informally" (Singular?? Normal speech it's UV rays)
NCAR - "Nascar Hall of Fame locale: Abbr."
ASTI - "Italian wine town"

Clever clues:

KOI - "Gold in a pond?"

NYT Crossword World Overview

Since I'm posting recaps of my solving the New York Times crossword puzzles, I thought I'd give an overview of the how the puzzle works.

The puzzles are posted each day online at 10pm Eastern (7pm Pacific), the day before the puzzle dates. On Saturday and Sunday the puzzles are posted at 6pm for the Sunday and Monday puzzles.

The Monday through Saturday puzzles are usually 15x15 grids. They get progressively harder each day. I've found that Monday and Tuesday are about the same (and very easy), along with Wednesday and Thursday being equally difficult. The Thursday puzzle (and on occasion Wednesday and Sunday) will have some kind of trick to it. It might be a rebus puzzle for example. A rebus is two or more letters in the same square. Another example is using a black square to represent the word "black." I'm not really a fan of trick puzzles, and if I don't get the trick quickly, I bail on the puzzle.

The Friday and Saturday puzzles are generally the toughest of the week. Many times the Monday through Thursday puzzles will have themes. Basically, they have three or more answers that are common in some way. The Friday and Saturday puzzles rarely have themes (called "Themeless"). Solving veterans prefer there not being themes within those puzzles.

Sunday's puzzle is usually a 21x21 grid. It always has a theme, and a title of the puzzle is included to give a hint to the theme. As I understand it, the Sunday puzzle difficulty is about the same as a Wednesday.

I consider myself decent solver. I am by no means an expert. For example, I can solve the Monday puzzles between six and seven minutes on average. Sometimes I dip below six minutes, but not often. There are those out there who can solve it in two minutes. I kid you not. I solve on an iPad, so I don't know if my time would improve if I solved on paper.

My patience on solving runs about 50 minutes. If I haven't finished by then, I will usually give up and get the answers. Sometimes it takes just one cheat, and I can blast through the rest of the puzzle. I will be honest, and when I can't solve the puzzle I will put a big, fat DNF (Did Not Finish) next to the solving time.

If you're interested, there are two sites I frequent for comments on the daily puzzles. The first is xwordinfo. They have an in with the NYT, because they publish the answers along with the grid and a detailed breakdown of the puzzle as soon as the puzzle is posted online. They have a huge database of all the words used in the puzzles dating back decades. Worth a look.

The other site I frequent is Rex Parker Does the NYT Puzzle. He solves the puzzle, then posts it. If he solves it near posting, he posts his results and comments at midnight Eastern. If he solves it in the morning, well, it will be early but no set time. He can be very critical of the puzzles.

You need a subscription to access the puzzles. It's $6.95 a month or $39.95 annually.

I live on the fringe of the crossword puzzle world, so if anyone reads this and finds fault with something I've written, please, be sure to let me know so I can fix it.

NYT Crossword 04/18/17 (Tuesday)

Cruciverbalist: Bruce Haight
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 9:51

Puzzle uniqueness:

The entire puzzle consisted of  seven letters - A, E, I, L, R, S, T. In  addition, there were four anagrams of the letters within the puzzle. Again, for the trivia minded, I'll let them figure it out.

Words I hadn't known until now:

ASSAI - "Very, in music" (Really?)

Trivia I didn't know:

ARIA - "Mozart's 'Se vuol ballare,' for one" (Though with four letters easily deduced)
ALTAIR - "Brightest 1-Down (STAR) in Aquila" (Knew the star, didn't know it was there!)
STEER - "Animals rounded up in a roundup" (Never knew this was plural! Silly me!)
ELEA - "Zeno's home" (Huh?!?)
REES - "Roger who played a part on 'Cheers'" (This seems a bit too obscure, IMO)

Junk Answers:

LAT - "One of  a pair of map coordinates: Abbr." (Please!)
ELLS - "The black square chunk in front of 55-, 60, and 63-Across, and others" (Whew!)
STER - "Suffix with prank or poll" (Really?)
SSTS - "Concord, for short" (This answer and its singular need to be retired!)
TAS - "See 6-Down," which is "Things graded by 7-Down (TESTS)"
IRAS - "Nest egg for the golden years" (Only because "IRA" was in yesterday's puzzle)

Clever clues:

None that floated my boat...

"The Fate of the Furious" a Fun Film

Went to see The Fate of the Furious today. I really enjoyed it. It's quite a ride. I've mentioned before that I'm an action/adventure movie guy, and this certainly fills the bill.

Of course, as in all the other Furious films, the laws of physics (and gravity, if that's not a redundancy) are thrown out the window.

Charlize Theron plays the big bad; however, she really didn't get to do all that much. Most of her screen time is in an airplane with an earpiece on barking out orders. One gets the impression she showed up for a week or two, shot all her scenes, collected her millions and went home. I also think that her master plan is a bit muddied.   

There are a few plot holes as well, but with all the action, those can be forgiven. The one beef I have are the fight scenes. They are well choreographed, but for me, the camera is way too close to the action, and the quick (I mean, superfast) edits are disconcerting. I have to admit that this seems to be the modus operandi for most action sequences in Hollywood, and it has been for a while now.

The opening action set piece located in Cuba was exciting. Also, according to the IMDb trivia page (take that for what you will), the producers reportedly set off the biggest explosion ever to occur in Iceland for the film.

A final note: This movie had the greatest weekend opening worldwide ever ($532 million), squeaking by previous champ Stars Wars: The Force Awakens by about $3 million.

I know that if the reader liked the previous Furious movies, you will enjoy this one as well. I recommend it to be seen in the IMAX format, if possible. One thing I love is when the IMAX intro (the countdown) is themed with the movie. I remember the fuse burning through the numbers counted down in the last Mission: Impossible movie as the MI theme music pounded. Quite thrilling...if you're an action fan, that is! 😉

NYT Crossword 04/17/17 (Monday)

Cruciverbalist: Peter Gordon
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 5:53

Words I hadn't known until now:

APBIO - "H.S. class for a future doctor, maybe" (This seems a bit shaky as an answer.)
LULULEMON - "Big name in athletic wear" (Not a shoe person)
PUPUPLATTER - "Assortment of appetizers at a Polynesian or Chinese restaurant"
BABA - "____ ghanouj" (Still don't know what it is, I'll look it up later)

Trivia I didn't know:

EDD -  "TV announcer Hall whose credits include 'The Tonight Show'""

Junk Answers:

WDS - "Dict. Entries"
APBIO - (See above)
ETDS - "Flight deck guesses about takeoff, for short"

Clever clues:

IRA - "Good name for a tax advisor?"

NYT Crossword 04/16/17 (Sunday)

Cruciverbalist: Timothy Polin

Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 31:56

Theme Title: Saddle Up!

Circled squares within answer are names of horses ridden by famous characters (on top of circled
squares). For those of a trivial bent, I’ll just name the rider answers:
ZORRO
CISCOKID
LONERANGER
ROYROGERS
SCOUT
DALEEVANS

Words I hadn’t known until now:

FRETSAW – “Woodworking tool” (I know a few saws…this is not one of them.)
LOCOMOTED – “Moved, jocularly” (This is a new one for me. Will start using it!)

Trivia I didn’t know:

THEHUMANTORNADO – “1976 blaxploitation film that was a sequel to ‘Dolemite’”
RIODIABLO – “Made-for-TV western co-starring Travis Tritt”
HUTU – “Native Rwandan”
ANNO – “365 giorni” (More of a Spanish guy)
EDNA - “’Hairspray’ matriarch”
ALOIS – “Arnold Schwarzenegger’s middle name”
DOLCE – “Sweetly, on a score”
STU – “’Rugrats’ father” (Never seen the series)

Junk answers:

PAH – “’Poppycock!’” (Really?)
ALA – “___ King”
AXHEAD – “Something getting stuck in a trunk?”
OMS – “Meditation syllables”

Clever clues:

EGGO – “They might pop up in the morning”
BSIDES – “Cuts on the back?”
PEALS – “Wedding rings?”
PATOIS – “Vernacular” (Not clever, just love the answer, not used enough)
LONGI – “Repeated part of a five-mile hike?” (A clue trick used occasionally by TPTB)

Movies, Movies, Movies!

I gotta say that my favorite movie this year is Get Out. Excellent film. Really, nothing has come close to it. It has a great, original perspective on racism. Jordan Peele, the director, has done well with his first effort. I recommend it highly.

Last year, my favorite film was Hell or High Water, with Arrival a very close second. I did see Moonlight and La La Land, but while they were both very good, they were not my cup of tea.

I’m sure other great films will be coming down the pike, but I really hope that Get Out gets some Academy Nomination love, especially the screenplay. Very well crafted.

I admit that as I’ve gotten older, I have gravitated strongly toward action/adventure films. For whatever reason, films strong on character and/or character development, or explore the human condition don’t really appeal to me anymore. I will go see those kinds of films that get great reviews or are very popular (hence, Moonlight and La La Land), but that’s about it for those genres.

I’m into the good ol’ fashioned shoot ‘em ups and chase movies. Some of the movies I’ve seen this year include XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, John Wick 2, The Wall, Logan, Kong: Skull Island and Life. Of those, I give the nod to Logan with John Wick 2 a close second. Uh, I just noticed, when did the colon become de rigueur in movie titles?

I’ve retired recently, thus I’ve had the opportunity to see lots of films, which is one of my passions. I’m within walking distance of two theaters, which is very nice. Another advantage is that the theaters have discount matinees on particular days. One theater I can see a current movie for $5, and the other has a $4 admission fee for seniors (with a free card).

If the reader is a movie buff you might check out your local theater for classic movies. Where I live, one screens great films on Sundays and Wednesdays. So far, I’ve had the opportunity to see North by Northwest and Clue this year. In the coming weeks, there will be screenings of Clueless, The Graduate and Casablanca to name a few.

NYT Crossword 04/15/17 (Saturday)

Cruciverbalist: Peter Wentz

Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 29:15

Words I hadn’t known until now: 0

Trivia I didn’t know:

• JAGR – “Hockey legend Jaromir”
• STPETER – “Metaphorical rock of Matthew 16:18
• ATEMPO – “Getting back to speed, musically”
• GRE – “Inits. on a master’s application”
• IAN - “Swimmer Thorpe with five Olympic gold medals”
• ESAISON – “1988 N.F.L. M.V.P. from the Cincinnati Bengals
• FAT – “Epithet for Louis VI, with ‘the’”

Junk answers:

• THORO – “Sweeping, for short”
• ATAD – “Slightly”
• YAYME – ”Man, I did good!”

Clever clues:

• THEJONESES – “Object of envious comparison”
• SPUD – “Chips, initially”
• PONYTAIL – “Women’s World Cup sight”
• DOTEDU – “School closing?”

An Outstanding Crossword Puzzle

I've been solving crossword puzzles all my life. Plus, I've been creating a crossword once a month for a local publication for several years as well. Here's your word for the day: cruciverbalist - a designer or aficionado of crossword puzzles.

 

I subscribe to the New York Times Crossword which gives me instant access to the daily puzzles. One can play on the computer or a mobile device such an iPhone or iPad. For those interested, it's only US$16.99 per year (or you can pay it monthly, if you wish).

 

The reason I bring this up is that last Thursday (March 25), the puzzle, constructed by Patrick Blindauer, was one of the smartest and cleverest ones I've ever seen. I'm going to explain the reason, so spoiler alert! If you love doing crosswords, I recommend you try the puzzle first before reading on. 

 

If you have access to the syndicated NY Times puzzles through various newspapers around the country, the Monday-Saturday puzzles come out six weeks after initial publications in the Times. That puts this particular puzzle coming out on September 5. If you newly subscribe to the crossword program, you will have access to all the back puzzles, and you can solve it that way as well.

 

Last chance...SPOILER ALERT!

 

What is brilliant about this particular puzzle is that it had two gimmicks instead of the usual one. The clue to both gimmicks was the center down answer "Double Feature." As Rex Parker, in his blog "Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle" puts it:

 

...the double-feature answers are movie titles of identical lengths that must be written in side-by-side, in the same single answer, for the Acrosses to make any sense...

I would ad that the letters "written side-by-side" are contained in single squares. The second gimmick is the across fills contained double letters in single squares as well so you see, for example, a clue that seems to be a five-word answer has only four squares! Then you had to figure out to read the two side by side movie titles downward (or...double features!). So, you had two movies in one square (a double feature) and two letters in single across-clued squares (another double feature!). Brilliant!

 

I know this may sound confusing, especially to the novice puzzle solver, but just click on the link and you can see the actual puzzle with the answer. Mr. Parker is a puzzle expert and has often competed in the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Here is his take on the puzzle:

Astonishing. I don't think I've solved a better puzzle this year. Imaginative concept, perfect execution. Any infelicities in the fill...are minimal and can easily be excused given how perfectly, neatly, delicately this puzzle comes together in the theme material. Like two perfectly functioning zippers, those DOUBLE FEATURE answers are. This Thursday puzzle did what a Thursday puzzle should do, at its best—go off book, make me work to figure out what's up, and then make me go "whoa..." when I figure it out. It helps that this puzzle was not exceedingly difficult.

A side note: The NYT puzzles go from relatively simple on Monday to quite challenging Friday and Saturday. The Thrusday puzzles tend to have some sort of gimmick (such as two letters in one square, or a special character representing practically anything). 

 

A wonderful puzzle, especially for a movie buff like me. Kudos to Patrick Blindauer!

 

I would also like to give a huge "attaboy" to Rex Parker. His daily breakdown of the NYT puzzles are a treat to read, and I love checking him out after I've solved (or given up on) the puzzle.

 

I love it!

 This is a truly amazing piece of sleight of hand by Yann Frisch. According to Gawker:

Frisch recently unveiled the latest iteration of "Baltass" at the 2012 Beijing International Magic Convention, and easily took home the title of Champion du monde.

I'm impressed!

Getting back into America's Pastime

After about, oh, thirty years, I decided to get back into baseball. I did so for a couple of reasons. First, I have to let you know that I've been a Dodger fan since the mid-sixties, when I first came to California. I lived with a family that bled Dodger Blue, and I absorbed their enthusiasm.

Previously, I was a Yankee fan. I'm talking Maris, Mantle, the whole magilla. I can remember when I was living in El Paso, Texas and the school I was attending would play the World Series over the PA system during lunch. Keep in mind that the games were played during the day at that time.

But I digress. Over the next few decades, I became a devoted Dodger fan. But Vin Scully was the game changer for me. Since I was a lover of words, nothing was greater than listening to Vinnie call the games on a warm summer's eve. Heck, when you went to a game his voice would be echoing all over the stadium because the fans would have their 8-transistor radios tuned into his discourse. Someone once said that high school students listening to Vinnie had a 50-point advantage on the SAT test (I'm paraphrasing).

The second reason I got back into the sport, is that at the beginning of this season I found out about MLB.tv, in which one could subscribe for the season and get the home and away feeds of all the baseball games around the country.

Now I know that Vinnie is about 84 and, sad to say, there aren't too many seasons left in him.  So with the opportunity to get all the Dodger games via MLB.tv, I decided that I just had to have at least one last hurrah with Vin and the "Boys of Summer."

So far, it's been excellent! The only drawback is that Vin is just calling the home games. But, hey, who can blame him. He is getting along in years, so that's totally acceptable. I had forgotten how mellifluous his voice is and just how magnificently he paints a picture describing the events of the game.

One of his recent gems that comes to mind is, "He tried to upper cut a very high fastball for a compound fracture." That is so brilliant!

It looks like I picked a good year to follow the Dodgers seeing as how Matt Kemp is tearing up the league, and so far the Dodgers have a great win/loss record.

A bonus I hadn't thought of when I decided to subscribe is that I can watch great moments of other games, such as the perfect game that was pitched by Philip Humber of the White Sox or the steal of home by rookie phenom Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals.

All in all, I'm having a great time getting back into baseball. If your interest is piqued by this post, I'll let you know that I paid $124.99 for MLB.tv, though it might be prorated now that the season is underway.

On a side note, I have to say that Los Angeles residents back in the late sixties, seventies and early eighties were blessed with having hall of fame announcers Scully, Chick Hearn (Los Angeles Lakers) and Dick Enberg (UCLA Bruins and California Angels) call games. Now there's a triumvirate!

Avengers a fun ride

So I saw The Avengers opening day. I loved it! As I wrote on my post regarding The Hunger Games, I am well north of the targeted demographic. But, I have to admit that as a kid I was a big comic book fan. I loved the DC Comics universe (I even had a Superman subscription) and was not particularly fond of the Marvel world. I didn't hate Marvel, just never got into it.

But I have to say that The Avengers is a terrific ride. I got exactly what I was expecting, so for that, I give it a rave. There are a couple of scenes that are gut-busting, downright funny! In my book, The Hulk steals the movie.

For the geek who might be reading this, here is an article whose writers timed how much screen time each Avenger got.

Also, Scott Mendelson has the skinny on the film's $207 million weekend opening.

Finally, I have to say that the Pepper Potts character portrayed by Gwenyth Paltrow is my personal ideal of a significant other. She's very pretty (to me at least, which is most important), very smart (enables her to rationally cope with just about anything in a relationship...one hopes) and is a great quipster (to keep one intellectually challenged). Now what more can you ask of a person, fictional though she may be? One should be so lucky to find the real thing.

The Hunger Games movie: What might have been

When I read that The Hunger Games was being made into a film about four to five months ago, the storyline intrigued me. I decided to read the novel before the film came out. I enjoyed the book (quick read of half a day) even though it's definitely targeted for the young adult crowd (as were the Twilight and Potter series). Twilight didn't float my boat; however, I found the Potter series engaging. I'm definitely NOT the targeted demographic (I'm so far north of the demographic I'm on the polar ice cap), but the storyline is really intriguing. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

Some of the set pieces in the book are really terrific! I would have loved to see the movie as R-rated, but since the demographic is under 18 for the most part, it came in at PG-13. It would be nice if they release an R-rated version when it comes out on DVD. Hey, maybe there will be a director's cut!

For me, the producers (and the author, Suzanne Collins - she gets writing credit) went for the rather sanitized violence (considering what it could have been) and romantic triangle. It's a good movie for what it is (and I'm sure the young adults are head over heels about this rendition), but there was so much more they could have done. Sociopolitical issues abound. I think that with the right treatment, it could have been this generation's Blade Runner.

However, after seeing the film, the first thing that came to my mind was that it reminded me of expecting an authentic, tasty, spicy Mexican dinner and getting Del Taco. OK, so I'm weird... :-)

The Hunger Games: Not bad!

Last night, I finished Suzanne Collin's terrific book, The Hunger Games. I must admit I liked it very much. Now I'm not anywhere near the demographic that the novel is targeting (the teenage crowd); however, for me it was a great read.

I'm aware that the movie coming out in March is geared for the young set, but I'm disappointed that the film will be a PG-13. It really deserves an "R" rating, though I know that would really limit the gross income of the movie.

Ms. Collins has some great rock 'em/sock 'em violent set pieces that, if handled correctly, will translate very well on the screen. Let's hope the director is up to the task.

And Hey! Stephen King liked it as well!

I'm definitely getting the next book of the trilogy, Catching Fire.

"Drive" - So-So film

So I saw "Drive." OK, film. I was disappointed in that it was more plot than action. Similar to the "action films" of the 70s. Almost all the action scenes are in the trailer.

After a nice opening, about the first third of the movie was plot development. I kept waiting for something to happen (I know I'm losing the movie when I start looking at my watch in the dark). Now the action scenes were pretty well directed when they occurred. And it does get a bit violent a few times.

I also liked Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman. They play great bad guys. I'm not a fan of Ryan Gosling, and as far as I was concerned his portrayal of a laconic, loner hero was lacking the star power of a Steve McQueen, et. al.

All in all, a good story, but not quite what I was looking for.

A film watcher's companion: IMDb

So I decided to watch Spartacus Saturday, and is my wont, I checked the trivia section of Internet Movie Database before viewing. I found a some very interesting pieces of trivia.

First, Kirk Douglas made the movie because he wasn't selected to play the title role in Ben-Hur (He was offered but turned down the role of Messala - now THAT would have been interesting!). Needless to say, he was miffed. His ego demanded that he make a biblical epic that he could be the lead, hence, Spartacus, of which he was Executive Producer. "June 2008 (it was) Ranked #5 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre 'Epic'".

And the "snails and oysters seduction attempt" dialog between Lawrence Olivier and Tony Curtis was not in the original release as "The Powers That Be" thought it was too suggestive. Homosexual inference and all that. When it was decided to put the dialog in the restored version, the soundtrack was lost, so they needed to have the dialog dubbed. Curtis was still alive, so he did his part. Unfortunately, Lord Larry had died. However, his wife, Joan Plowright, remembered that Anthony Hopkins did a great impression of Olivier so they asked him to do the dubbing, and he did!

Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted earlier during the McCarthy hearings, did the screenplay (Douglas insisted he be given full credit, much to the chagrin of uber right-winger John Wayne). Trumbo made a "sly dig" at the whole blacklisting thing with Olivier's line, "In every city and province, the list of the disloyal have been compiled."

In the restored version, they also added some more violent scenes that were left out of the original release. One is the lopping off of a Roman's arm by having an amputee put on a prosthetic device to be chopped off. The amputee actor was a man by the name of Bill Raisch. An just who is he? Two years later, he would be the one-armed man Dr. Richard Kimble hunted in The Fugitive TV series.

This last piece of trivia is great. The movie was George Kennedy's unbilled film debut. His role? He was one of the men who stood up and said "I'm Spartacus!" I was so looking forward to that moment as I watched the film, and it was great seeing George in a biblical garb, even though it was only about two seconds! Funny stuff...

I really enjoyed viewing it again, especially with the great bits of trivia I got from IMDb.

My all-time favorite movie scenes

I wrote this back in 2006 on the old TV Guide web site. They still are my all-time favorite, even five years later! I hope they get you thinking of those all-time scenes that are personal to you (Warning: some spoilers!):

What are my 10 favorite, best scenes of all time? The films may or may not be all-timers; however, most of them border on the great.

1. “West Side Story” – When Tony and Maria meet in the gym, the surrounding scene blurs and they begin to dance to a syncopated version of “Maria.” This chokes me up every time I see it. Now this is love at first sight!

2. “2001 – A Space Odyssey” – The Bone-Into-The-Space-Station transition. What a way to leap forward into the storyline. It just reeks of symbolism and all sorts of things.

3. “Alien” – The Chest Burst. I saw this on opening day in Westwood with a full crowd, and nobody, I mean nobody, knew that was coming. Everyone was screaming. They had to pry me off the ceiling!

4. “The Usual Suspects” – The shattered saucer/teacup. Then the cut to the notice board. Wham! I like to pride myself that I can figure endings out pretty well, but that one totally blind-sided me.

5. “Psycho” – The you-know-what. Janet Leigh was one of my first infatuations as a kid, and I was absolutely horrified and totally unprepared for it. This is the truth…I had a family friend who refused to take a shower for years after that film came out.

6. “Forbidden Planet” – The monster attacking the force field fence. I was young, but the combination of the animated creature and the roaring sound effect had me riveted to my seat. I still get chills when I see the scene remembering all those years ago.

7. “Dr. Strangelove, Or…” – Slim Pickens ridin’ the Highway to Hell. I was 14, the Cold War was at its height, and that image was so outrageous, and I would have never thought of that vision in a million years.

8. “It’s a Wonderful Life” – The ending when George realizes all the friends he has. The singing of “Auld Lang Syne” and George saying “Attaboy, Clarence!” gets me misty every time! This is my second favorite film of all time.

9. “Reservoir Dogs” – The torture scene – I will never hear “Stuck in the Middle with You” quite the same way again.

10. “Jaws” – “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” ‘Nuff said.

Cowboys and Aliens - a fun film

So...a quickie review. I saw Cowboys and Aliens on opening day. I love Science Fiction and Westerns. Sounds like a good combo to me!

I was glad it was a straightforward film. Not any kind of camp. It had most of the cliches that the two genres can produce. But I must admit it was fun seeing Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig playing it straight and having to fight the nasty aliens. Not a classic by any means. It entertained me, and that's all I ask.

Speaking of "camp," one of my biggest disappointments was the TV debut of Batman is the 1960s. I was a BIG DC comics fan (had a subscription to Superman), and I couldn't WAIT for the new Batman series to debut. Was I crestfallen when it turned out to be jumpy "campy fun," instead of a straightforward show. Holy Bummer, Batman!

Unfortunately, the big hit Batman became affected my other TV show at the time, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The first season was a great fun semi-serious rip off of the James Bond films that were floating around, but after Batman became a craze, the second and third seasons of U.N.C.L.E. jumped on the bandwagon. I was not amused...

Sadly, TV actors now shilling products in character

I was catching up on some of the TV series I watch, and yesterday I viewed last Sunday's "The Glades." Much to my amazement two characters were getting into a car, and one of the actors (I'll save him the embarrassment of naming him) said something to the effect of, "Oh, this is the new Kia Optima. I love this car! It's got a sun roof..." and so on. Unsurprisingly, the next commercial break had a Kia Optima spot. The episode was entitled "Gibtown" if you want to see it yourself.

Now I know we have to suffer through various types of product placements when watching a TV show (can of a certain soda brand on the table, Apple computer, etc.), but this really goes beyond the pale!

What scares me is that once something like this happens, it's just a matter of time when the actors will be shilling brands all through the show. I can see it now:

"Don't you DARE spritz me with that can of Reddi-Whip with real cream!"
"Care for a Bud Light, which has great taste but it's less filling?"
"Son, how's that iPad workin' for you with your school studies?"
"Damn, I missed my favorite show, 'Burn Notice'!"

You get the point. I do remember many years ago reading that the future will bring us the technology to point at various items on the TV screen during the show (possibly with some kind of laser pointer) such as a piece of furniture or character's clothing, a dialog balloon will popup with the details of the item and its price, and you can buy the item at that instant. Now that's impulse buying!

Of course, this is a corollary to my post regarding women who HAVE to buy Princess Kate's wedding dress. Sadly, the masses just need to have what the celebrities are either wearing or shilling.

I wonder how it goes when the purchaser talks with a friend or neighbor. "Look, Marge, I'm wearing what Piper Perabo wore in last week's episode of 'Covert Affairs'! Isn't it just DIVINE?!?!

Exactly what does a Hollywood/TV Producer do?

I was watching the season premier of "Leverage," and I was amazed at how many "Co-Executive Producers" there were. So, of course, it aroused my curiosity as to exactly what all these producer titles were about. I did a little digging and came up with these definitions from a How Stuff Works web article entitled How Movie Producers Work.

Executive Producer -- Supervises one or more producers as they perform their duties for one or more films. The executive producer may represent the film studio and keep watch over the producer to make sure the movie is within budget and being made the way the studio wants. Or the title may be given as a symbolic gesture or to give a movie visibility. George Clooney, for example, was listed as executive producer for "Far from Heaven" (2002) to generate publicity, but didn't spend any time on the set, according to the film's producer Christine Vachon.

Associate Producer -- Handles certain aspects of production, as assigned by the producer. Usually the associate producer has worked through all three stages of the production, from preproduction to post-production. Sometimes the associate producer title is given as a courtesy title to a key backer of the film who does not have a major role in producing the film.

Assistant Producer -- Works on tasks assigned by the associate producer.

Co-Producer -- Shares producer responsibilities as a team or group with other producers. One producer may take on creative responsibilities while another handles business functions. Or one of the producers may be a major investor who is not directly involved in the movie production. Or a co-producer may have brought the script or the film's star to the production.

Supervising Producer -- Oversees one or more producers as they perform some or all of their duties. The supervising producer may take the place of an executive producer or work for the executive producer.

Coordinating Producer -- Coordinates the work of several producers to create a unified end result. Coordinating producers are valuable when a studio produces several related films, as with "Spiderman," or particularly when two related films are being produced at the same time, as with the two sequels to "The Pirates of the Caribbean."

Line Producer -- Handles the physical aspects of a movie's production and usually is not involved in decision-making regarding creative issues. This is the person who oversees the budget and day-to-day activities during filming. In addition to making sure the movie stays on budget and on target, the line producer handles any crises that may occur.

Almost as many producers as Carter has pills! And if you remember where that phrase came from, you've been on this planet quite a while...

The article runs several pages, and I recommend it as a good way to start to understand what producers do, how the great ones got started, etc. If you're a TV or movie buff, this is a worthwhile read. Besides, it might pique your interest enough for you to become the next great producer!

Lord of the Rings Extended Edition: A great experience!

I just marathoned (if that's not a word, it should be) the new Lord of the Rings Extended Edition on Blu-ray. It was fantastic! I have a 47" HDTV 3D screen along with a high-end sound system. I can't say enough how great it was.

I watched "Fellowship" Friday night and spent the entire morning and early afternoon on Saturday viewing "Two Towers" and "Return." Tons of fun! It was really great getting lost in the world of Middle Earth.

I recommend you getting this fifteen(!) disc set if you're any kind of a movie buff. It's going for $69.99 on Amazon or at Best Buy. You can also download digital copies as well.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Why do women HAVE TO HAVE a celeb's dress?

I find it very odd that people are so wrapped up in...oh, I guess...for a lack of a better phrase..."Keeping up with the Jones's." I was watching Kira Phillips on CNN yesterday morning, and she was chatting with CNN London anchor Zain Verjee regarding Prince William and Kate Middleton's visit to the Wimbledon tennis championship.

Phillips mentioned that once Kate was shown on TV, her dress sold out in 30 minutes! Say what?!?! I just don't get it. Why do women around the world HAVE TO HAVE the same dress as a celebrity? Are they insecure, vapid, stupid or a combination of the three?

I remember channel surfing right after William and Kate's wedding and there was a news(?) piece about designer houses scrambling around, immediately creating (drawing and cutting) the same (I understand super secret) wedding dress that Middleton wore in order to sell them post haste. WTF? I wonder how many dresses were sold.

Don't these women have lives? They HAVE TO HAVE the same dress as Middleton?? Puh-Leeze...

TV Tubes? Say what?

I wrote this five years ago on the old TV Guide web site, where you could post your own personal thoughts. I thought I'd share it now on my own blog:

As a Baby Boomer, I get asked questions by those much younger than I that are quite bemusing. For example, where I work we have a few 18- and 19-year-olds around. One day, a group of us were talking about TV shows, and one of the 18-year-olds looked me directly in the eye, and, with all sincerity, asked me if there was TV way back when I was a young lad. Man…that one hurt! I pointed out to the “Whippersnapper” (not surprisingly, he didn’t understand that word) that not only did we have TV but we had the rotary telephone, too.

Now I admit that those early days could be considered the “Dark Ages” of TV viewing. If the reader of this Blog is over 40, the following adventure will be a trip down memory lane. If under 40 or thereabouts, keep in mind that we were the pioneers of this newfangled medium and please enjoy what we had to go through to watch our favorite programs. Also, this was very serious business back then…

There were two controls/knobs that were very important on the old black and white TVs. The first was the “Horizontal Hold.” Every now and then the picture would warp like you were looking at a person doing the hula in one direction through a Fun House Crazy Mirror. Bizarre! The “HH” would straighten it out with a little tweaking. The other knob was the “Vertical Hold.” The nightmare would begin with a solid black bar across the bottom of the screen slowly get fatter until suddenly it would flip up to the top of the screen. Soon it would flip faster and faster. This was known as the picture “rolling.” The “VH” helped stop that.

When neither knob would work, we had one last gasp to fix it before taking it to…“The TV Repairman.” We would have to check the tubes. That’s right…”tubes.” As in transparent glass cylinders of various sizes with weird wiring/plating inside and prongs poking out on the outside. Now tubes were used in TVs and Radios before integrated circuits and all sorts of other high tech electronics were even thought of. Unfortunately, they had this nasty tendency to burn out frequently. So when the TV began to appear as if looking through a Black and White kaleidoscope while peaking on one’s favorite drug, the family’s job was to find the “mysteriously malfunctioning tube.”

Our TV, like a lot of others, was a console as wide as a dresser and about thigh to waist high. To the right of the TV was the phonograph with our Frank Sinatra, Al Martino, Patty Page and Kaye Starr LP albums (large, plastic discs with a hole in the middle that played at 33 1/3 Revolutions per Minute) stored. To the left was the reel-to-reel tape player that had all our heavy (long hair) classical tapes. (A quick trivia question for the old-timers: how many grooves did the average LP have on one side? Answer below…)

So Dad and I lifted one side of the console and pulled it away from the wall. The back of the TV was covered with holed press-board secured by at least 100 screws. The butt of the picture tube protruded in the center.

After unscrewing all 100 screws, we then had access to the tubes seated on the socket board. Of course, the picture tube was also exposed. Now, all of us know thousands of words, but most of them we know not from where we learned them originally. There was one word, however, that every baby boomer first learned re the picture tube…and that word was “implode.” Dad would say, “Don’t mess with the picture tube, Dave, it might IMPLODE!”

“’Implode?’ What’s that?”
“Well, the picture tube has a vacuum…”
“Vacuum?? Isn’t that what Mom does to the fl-“
“Not that kind of vacuum. Oh, never mind. The tube collapses inward if broken or cracked.”
“I’m outta here! Later, Dad.”
“Yeah…right, son…Just don’t break the tube!”
“Oh…OK”
“Also, be especially careful not to touch the any of the wiring as it might electrocute you.”
“But it’s unplugged…do you mean if I –“
“DON’TTOUCHTHATITWILLKILLYOU!!!!!”
“Oh…ok.”

So now we have to pull all the tubes from the multi-socketed socket board (except the Picture Tube). If we were lucky, there was a diagram indicating which tube went to which socket. If not, we had to mark each socket with the number of the tube that went there.

So I had my White Owl cigar box of TV tubes and went to the Rexall’s Drug Store with Dad. Now back in those days you would enter the drug store and there was a counter in which the back wall was a huge multitude of boxes of new Sylvania TV tubes for sale. At the end of the counter was the dreaded “Tube Tester.” It was about chest high and had at least 7,239 different sized sockets on it.

In the back center was this speedometer-like needle with the left side all red and the right side all green. The trick was to look at the chart containing a list of thousands of tubes above the device for the number of the tube you were testing. It would then tell you which socket number to put it in. Once seated, you had to wait while the tube warmed up and then watch the needle s-l-o-w-l-y going from left to right, red to green. If it ended in the green area the tube was good, if it stayed in the red, it was bad. Of course, most of the time the needle landed right in the white in-between area so Dad and I would have endless debates on the tubes being good or bad.

So I put one tube in after another until finally, Murphy’s Law took over and, sure enough, I put the next to the last tube (the one that looked liked it had been tied on the end of a stick at a marshmallow roast) in socket #5,491, and, lo and behold, it didn’t get out of the red. Eureka! Bad, Bad Tube! Tube number S2485U. The clerk pulled the new tube out of the “Great Wall of Tubes” at the back of the counter, we paid for it and merrily went our way home.

We inserted all the tubes back in the socket board, carefully avoiding touching the “dreaded” TV Tube, and put the press-board backing on with only two screws (for quicker removal next burn out). We held our breath…and…Whoopee! “Bonanza” in all its pristine glory!

So I learned two things that day…the definition of “implode,” and electricity somehow leaps from the wall socket to the plug on the floor to electrocute you. Oh, and Little Joe’s mother died…

The trivia answer:

The average number of grooves on one side of an LP record is…..

One!

Lakers destroyed the "Magic" I felt for them

On Len Berman's "Top 5 Sports Stories" today, his number two, sadly, was something I unfortunately agree with:

2. Classless

Maybe the most embarrassing performance in Lakers history. Not only didn't they show up for game four against Dallas, then they turned into thugs. Back to back ejections in the fourth quarter. For years you always used the words Lakers and class in the same sentence. But I guess that only applies when a team is winning. There's such a thing as being a graceful loser. Not this bunch. They're just a bunch of losers. Good riddance.

I've been a Laker fan since the 60s. I've always loved them as the great players have come and gone. Yesterday's despicable performances by Lamar Odom and especially Andrew Bynum were absolutely mind-numbing for me.

Bynum's explanation?

"We were getting embarrassed, they were breaking us down. So I just fouled somebody," Bynum said after the game. "I was just kind of salty about being embarrassed. ... For me, it was embarrassing to have the smallest guy on the court keep running down the lane and making shots."

So he was being "salty." Great. He could have destroyed J.J. Barea's career with that shot to the ribs. Oh, right, he was just being "salty." Pathetic.

Some of the Magic (pun intended) has been taken out of me re the Lakers. I'm not sure I'll ever appreciate the Lakers the way I had until yesterday. From class to classless. They say one major screw up will take away 20 "attaboys." The Lakers have a lot of "attaboys" (definitely more than twenty!) to get me back to the way I appreciated them before this egregious game.

They better trade Bynum and Odom pronto. Ron Artest can accompany them as well. I don't want thugs on my Laker team. I'd rather see them lose than play the game like yesterday. I want a team with class.

Whatever happened to that quaint word "Sportsmanship"?

Battle: Los Angeles - a quick review

I saw "Battle: Los Angeles" last Friday. I have only three things to say about it:

1. Great Marine recruiting tool (I would love to see what kind of a bump in Marine recruits that will occur in the next couple of weeks). Hoorah!

2. I HATE extreme closeups and the "shaky camera" technique throughout a movie. Is that supposed to be some kind of auteur film experience? For me, this definitely gets in the way of my film enjoyment. Bleh!

3. Too much haziness (i.e., smoke-filled scenes).

What with the unending "shake-and-haze," I felt I was being subjected to artsy-fartsy film making rather than a straightforward, fun SciFi movie.

Aging male stars get the young women

So I went to the first showing of Unknown starring Liam Neeson on Friday. Now I'm not here to give a review, though I did like it, but not as much as Neeson's Taken. I confess that my main interest in films these days is action/adventure, SciFi and the like, so I'm sure that I favor these types of films probably a lot more than the average film-goer.

What I want to bring up is the age difference between the male and female actors. I couldn't help but notice that both female leads were a lot younger than their male counterparts. I even went to the Internet Movie Database to check it out.

The top five male actors were all born earlier than 1963 ( Neeson - 1952, Aidan Quinn - 1959, Bruno Ganz - 1941, Frank Langella - 1948, and Sebastian Koch - 1962.

Both female leads were born in the 70s: Diane Kruger - 1976 and January Jones - 1978.

If ever this was an example of age discrimination for women, this is it. I mean really. 58-year-old Neeson "married" to 33-year-old Jones? That's a 25-year difference in age. You mean to tell me that there are no actresses much nearer to Neeson's age that could have played the role? I don't think so.

It seems the "ideal" lead roles are mid- to late-50s male actors and early to mid-30s females. Let me guess: the younger men will go to see the hottie 30s babes and the females will go to see the "rugged" manly males. If I looked hard enough (which I won't - it's too depressing), I would find movies in which the male leads are in their forties and the females in their mid 20s. Really sad.

Now I realize that this age discrimination has been around the movie industry practically since its inception. One can go back to Bogart (born 1899) and Bacall (born 1922), a difference of 23 years.

I'm sure one can go even further back, but I'll let the reader of this post research it, if he or she is of a mind.

I realize that in real life there are relationships that have such age differences. But I would bet that it's not the norm (which it is in Hollywood films). I would also hazard an educated guess that the percentage of the December/May "romances" are directly proportional to how wealthy the male is (Think Hugh Hefner, for example).

The sad part is I just don't see this going away. I really feel bad for those women actors who have cracked the forty years of age barrier. I can sure understand their fear of being marginalized in the film industry.

I'm rooting (vainly, I know) for "Inception"

Of the ten Best Picture nominees, I have seen “Inception,” “The King’s Speech,” “The Social Network,” “True Grit” and “Winter’s Bone.” I have to say that the one I enjoyed most and believe to be the best is “Inception.”

For me, “Inception” had it all. It made me think, and I had to pay attention to the film just to keep the plot right in my head. Not too many films do that these days. I loved the special effects as well. I also enjoyed being kept off balance as to what is or is not reality. I plead guilty to being a Science Fiction fan as well.

Of the supposedly two frontrunners, “The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network,” I preferred the latter. I had a chance to see both within a 24-hour period, and I must say that I was enthralled with “The Social Network.” “The King’s Speech” is a terrific film, but I really got off on the snappy dialog and music in “The Social Network.” I really hope that Aaron Sorkin wins for Best Writing.

I am not weighing in on the historical accuracy of either production. I’m just looking at it from what I experienced. I do admit that my vocation is in computers so I did like the modest computer geek speak that “The Social Network” presented.

I liked "True Grit," but I didn’t see anything that warranted a Best Picture nomination. It’s a good film and I would recommend anyone to see it, but it just didn’t float my boat. I also enjoyed "Winter’s Bone," but that kind of story isn’t really my cup of tea.

I’m now down to seeing no-brainer action/chase films (“Red,” “The Mechanic,” “Taken,” etc.). I went through the serious film viewer stage many, many moons ago, but now I just want to go see a movie and forgo the serious stuff.

Believe me; I only went to see “Inception” because of the SciFi angle, and I do like Christopher Nolan’s earlier stuff (“The Prestige,” “The Dark Knight” and “Memento”).

What with “The King’s Speech” raking in the Producers Guild and Screen Actors Guild awards, one has to believe that the “Best Picture” award is in the can.

Miniseries "State of Play" a keeper

I am currently in the middle of a terrific 2003 British TV series entitled "State of Play." I realize that in 2009 an American film was made, but I usually go to the source when remakes are created ("La Femme Nikita" over the American version "Point of No Return," same with Sweden's "Let the Right One In" in lieu of the "Let Me In" American remake). I inevitably watch the remakes, and I'm usually disappointed. But I digress...

This is one excellent political thriller! I just finished the first three episodes on DVD via Netflix and am mailing it back today. The bummer is I'm going out of town for the next two weeks, so I'm going to have to wait until the third of January to see the remaining three episodes.

Unfortunately, the series isn't available for streaming via Netflix. Ugh!

Oh, well...At least I have something to look forward to when I get back from Las Vegas. Anybody reading this, please check it out. Maybe make it a stocking stuffer for someone who loves political thrillers.

A fun Thanksgiving

Just got back from Las Vegas. I spent the week there with family. I finally got to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. That was a very enjoyable time. I really liked the music and the actors involved. There certainly were a lot of pyrotechnics involved. There was one blast of about five flames that rocketed about ten feet in the air. I was around fifteen rows from the stage, and I could definitely feel the heat emanating when those "geysers" went off. The presentation is an abridged version of the actual play. It runs under two hours and does not have an intermission.

I also saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in IMAX as well. Great sound! It is my favorite of the Potter series. Of course, it's the only one I saw at the theater, so that may have been a factor. :-) Next up in the movie world is December 17 when Tron: Legacy premiers (in IMAX and 3D!). There was a trailer for it before the IMAX Potter movie, and it looks terrific!

The Tday feast included a "turducken" that was created by my cousin-in-law's gourmet chef brother. Now that was a treat! It's certainly a bit rich, and high in calories, but, boy, was it tasty!

All in all, a week of fun and frivolity. I hope everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving holiday as well.