Most of my friends know that I'm more or less a creature of habit. While it's true that you never know what I'm going to say or do next, there are occasions where you can bet good money that I will do a certain thing, buy a certain thing, eat a certain thing, say a certain thing, and you'll be right. Even at fast food places, the clerks who know me have said, "You always get the same thing!" To which I have replied, "If I didn't get the same thing, it would be different. And different just isn't the same..." Laughs a-plenty. Tee hee and haw haw!
But life can get pretty boring if you do the same thing over and over. There comes a time when you need to change things up a bit. Funny how I know that, but never seem to do anything about it. Well, actually, sometimes I do. And sometimes it's on purpose. Last Saturday evening was a good example.
I took myself to the thee-a-tuh. (That's the hoity-toity way of saying "theatre.") I went not to see a movie, but to see an actual, live bunch of actors performing on a stage in front of a group of actual people keeping the chairs warm in anticipation of the entertainment they had paid for. And this wasn't any old performance. I carefully selected this show because one of the actors is a friend of mine. Chris is just getting into acting, and this was his first gig.
The show is a collection of short plays called Taboo! and was playing at the Actors Workout Studio (AWS) in North Hollywood, CA. I grew up in North Hollywood, and these days I go there to visit my family. We even eat at Little Toni's a couple of doors up from AWS. For whatever reason, I never even knew AWS was there.
But it's Saturday night and time to go out on the town. I put on some business casual clothes and headed on down. Lately I haven't gone many places or anywhere too far because my two front tires were worn to the wear bars. Luckily, I recently managed to get two new tires to replace them. Now I can go just about anywhere. All I have to do is point my car to wherever I want to go and...zoom!
It isn't a night at the theater unless you eat a gourmet meal before the show. There happens to be a Habit location right across the street, and that's gourmet enough for me.
After dinner, I set out to look for a place to park, which can be frustrating in the NoHo district. As I drove down Lankershim Blvd, I had to stop for a pedestrian crossing the street, headed toward the theater. And whaddaya know, that pedestrian was none other than my afore-mentioned friend Chris Higgins himself! Funny thing...he didn't recognize my car or me! But we did get to hang out for awhile after the show.
No matter...I had my ticket and went into the lobby at AWS to check in. The guy working was pretty cool and we chatted a bit. About 7:45, we were allowed to go into the theater and sit down. Right about 8, the lights went down, the people behind me kicked my seat (normal for me—long story), and the show got started.
I'm not going to give the show a big, long, detailed review because that isn't the point of this post. But I will say that it was a fun show and well done. For a couple of hours' worth of entertainment, Taboo! is a good choice.
It's hard to get out when you're not feeling well, which is the case for me much of the time anymore. I won't get into the hows, whys, whatnots, whatevers and wherefores now. An evening out is fun, even if it's only an occasional thing.
Monday, September 24, 2018
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Major air disasters in the U.S.—a vanishing species?
This is sort out in left field for my blog, but it's something that I've been thinking about for awhile. After reading this post, you may well have a little food for thought. And the food could even be from McDonald's. That's where I ate tonight, and notice that I'm still here, fully coherent. Well, mostly coherent. As coherent as I get. Coherent-ish?
Anyway, I'll bet that not many people think of things like this, but remember that I'm not like regular people. Things in my world are a bit...different. But that's what keeps things fun around here. What's going to happen next? You never know...
Before I jump into the meat of this post, let me say a few things. (Yes, there's meat here on the Planet, and it meets all health and manufacturing standards.) This post is about air travel, something I haven't done since May 2008 when I stepped off of a Southwest Airlines 737 at Burbank Airport. At the rate I'm going, the 2010s may be the third decade of my life during which I never flew anywhere. (The '50s and the '70s are the other two.) I'd better come up with a trip of some kind if I want to be consistent. There's only one more year left of this decade.
Occasionally, my mind wanders and some pretty random things sneak into it. Here's one and it's the subject of this post. Most of us can remember when it was fairly common to pick up a newspaper or turn on the news and learn that yet another airliner fell from the sky either because of weather, colliding with another plane, mechanical failure, or who knows what. Up to several hundred people lost their lives as a result, as well as neighborhoods decimated as the aircraft or what was left of it rained down. Horrible images filled our TV screens and pages of photos filled the papers.
Then came 9/11. Four planes were hijacked by pilots whose sole intent was to crash the planes and kill everyone aboard along with taking out a major building. Both 110-story towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were lost, and another plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon. One other was headed to an still-unknown destination, but passengers aboard that plane managed to take over and stop the suspected terrorists from reaching their intended target. That plane was brought down in a field in Pennsylvania. Everyone aboard was lost, but the passengers were given a posthumous honor for thwarting the loss of another target.
Later that day, all American planes were grounded until further notice. No flights could be made until things were sorted out. Eventually, a new government agency was created to assure the safety of people flying to their destinations. Known simply as "the TSA," it actually stands for the Transportation Security Administration. Boarding planes went from a simple pass through a metal detector to a more thorough screening of both passengers and luggage. Tight restrictions were put into place as to what could be packed into checked luggage as well as what can be brought aboard the plane by passengers.
Now that I've told you a bunch of stuff that you probably already know, let me get into what popped into my mind back in the fourth paragraph. All of those air disasters I mentioned in the '70s, '80s and '90s—why are there fewer air disasters in the U.S. today? Don't get me wrong; I'm plenty thankful for that. But it does makes me wonder...now that the TSA has stepped up screening passengers, could things that passengers used to bring aboard or pack into their checked luggage have contributed to bringing down some of those planes over the years? You have to wonder if, for example, an aerosol can of hairspray exploded inside someone's suitcase, ignited that bag, causing a fire that spread, burning wires or destroyed mechanical parts or systems that rendered the aircraft uncontrollable. Few, if any, were alive and able to tell the tale.
And yet, we still read about foreign airlines whose planes go down in other parts of the world.
Lots of questions, and there's room for a discussion or two. To me, increased scrutiny on the part of the TSA at the same time as a decrease in disasters involving large jetliners seems like more than just a coincidence. This is definitely something to think about—and be thankful for.
Anyway, I'll bet that not many people think of things like this, but remember that I'm not like regular people. Things in my world are a bit...different. But that's what keeps things fun around here. What's going to happen next? You never know...
Before I jump into the meat of this post, let me say a few things. (Yes, there's meat here on the Planet, and it meets all health and manufacturing standards.) This post is about air travel, something I haven't done since May 2008 when I stepped off of a Southwest Airlines 737 at Burbank Airport. At the rate I'm going, the 2010s may be the third decade of my life during which I never flew anywhere. (The '50s and the '70s are the other two.) I'd better come up with a trip of some kind if I want to be consistent. There's only one more year left of this decade.
Occasionally, my mind wanders and some pretty random things sneak into it. Here's one and it's the subject of this post. Most of us can remember when it was fairly common to pick up a newspaper or turn on the news and learn that yet another airliner fell from the sky either because of weather, colliding with another plane, mechanical failure, or who knows what. Up to several hundred people lost their lives as a result, as well as neighborhoods decimated as the aircraft or what was left of it rained down. Horrible images filled our TV screens and pages of photos filled the papers.
Then came 9/11. Four planes were hijacked by pilots whose sole intent was to crash the planes and kill everyone aboard along with taking out a major building. Both 110-story towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were lost, and another plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon. One other was headed to an still-unknown destination, but passengers aboard that plane managed to take over and stop the suspected terrorists from reaching their intended target. That plane was brought down in a field in Pennsylvania. Everyone aboard was lost, but the passengers were given a posthumous honor for thwarting the loss of another target.
Later that day, all American planes were grounded until further notice. No flights could be made until things were sorted out. Eventually, a new government agency was created to assure the safety of people flying to their destinations. Known simply as "the TSA," it actually stands for the Transportation Security Administration. Boarding planes went from a simple pass through a metal detector to a more thorough screening of both passengers and luggage. Tight restrictions were put into place as to what could be packed into checked luggage as well as what can be brought aboard the plane by passengers.
Now that I've told you a bunch of stuff that you probably already know, let me get into what popped into my mind back in the fourth paragraph. All of those air disasters I mentioned in the '70s, '80s and '90s—why are there fewer air disasters in the U.S. today? Don't get me wrong; I'm plenty thankful for that. But it does makes me wonder...now that the TSA has stepped up screening passengers, could things that passengers used to bring aboard or pack into their checked luggage have contributed to bringing down some of those planes over the years? You have to wonder if, for example, an aerosol can of hairspray exploded inside someone's suitcase, ignited that bag, causing a fire that spread, burning wires or destroyed mechanical parts or systems that rendered the aircraft uncontrollable. Few, if any, were alive and able to tell the tale.
And yet, we still read about foreign airlines whose planes go down in other parts of the world.
Lots of questions, and there's room for a discussion or two. To me, increased scrutiny on the part of the TSA at the same time as a decrease in disasters involving large jetliners seems like more than just a coincidence. This is definitely something to think about—and be thankful for.
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Why the profanity?
One of my friends posted an article on her Facebook page. The subject was something about why we hate Costco shoppers. If you want to read it, click here. I started to read it, but after a paragraph or two just sort of muddled through the rest of the article because my interest was no longer there. This article was one that could have been very funny if it weren't for the ridiculous amount of needless profanity spread through it. There are too many other words and phrases that could make a written piece humorous and interesting to read without resorting to the nasty variety.
"What a prude!" some people would say of me. Fine, whatever flips your pancakes. I choose to keep things clean and on a more adult level rather than open the floodgates and release a torrent of verbiage more appropriate for the high school crowd.
One exception to what I'm spewing about this time is what are known as "dirty jokes." Get it? Dirty joke. Those are supposed to be filled with profanity and suggestive language. That's the point of them.
When I decided to write this post, I gave some thought to writing something vile and laden with profanity—partly for the shock value and partly to make my point. But I decided to merely address the subject straight on and keep it clean. It's what all both of my readers expect of me, and I'm not going to let them down.
"What a prude!" some people would say of me. Fine, whatever flips your pancakes. I choose to keep things clean and on a more adult level rather than open the floodgates and release a torrent of verbiage more appropriate for the high school crowd.
One exception to what I'm spewing about this time is what are known as "dirty jokes." Get it? Dirty joke. Those are supposed to be filled with profanity and suggestive language. That's the point of them.
When I decided to write this post, I gave some thought to writing something vile and laden with profanity—partly for the shock value and partly to make my point. But I decided to merely address the subject straight on and keep it clean. It's what all both of my readers expect of me, and I'm not going to let them down.
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