(no subject)

1. The other night at dinner, I told my family that I really wasn't that surprised by Trump's rise to power, but was shut down by my brother and father, before I could explain my thoughts on the topic. The reason I wasn't that surprised was for the last two years, I've been reading various friends on lj write about the drift to the far right by Europe. At work, I've listened to people drift in a similar direction. One woman ranted in her office behind me for a full twenty minutes about the Governor passing a Civil Rights Law protecting the rights of Transgender People. It took everything I had, not to pop up and scream at her. This woman is a Trump supporter. She is 65, and just retired. She's also ill, and struggling with a type of cancer.

I see it daily. This drift. And it worries me. I try to ignore it, but it's there.

Anyhow...here's an interesting link:

Europe's Drift to the Right

2. On a brighter note, here's a lovely "pant-suit" flash mob in support of Hillary Clinton:

Watch on YouTube

(no subject)

1. My laptop's charger is on the fritz, so ordered new ones from Amazon. Hopefully that will help. I have to keep turning it off, and praying the charger works. Do not want to buy a new lap-top, although may not have a choice, my current one is close to ten years old.

2. Cousin ranted on her Facebook page about a Clinton ad that basically reiterated Trump's lewd comments about women, which her 6-year-old daughter accidentally saw. She's writes that she is now 100% undecided, mainly because she's decided she hates Clinton as much as she hates Trump. (Actually she has always hated Clinton, possibly because her husband hates Clinton - but he at least has an excuse, he's a conservative. I don't know any conservatives who like the Clintons -- Hillary is left of Obama.) I restrained myself from posting: "maybe consider not watching television or monitoring it until the election is over? And seriously, considering the sexual content of various billboards and ads on television, this annoyed you the most? Also, let's see, you have decided a woman who is posting an ad warning us all about a man who sees women as nothing but objects for his own sexual gratification and has been accused of rape, is as bad or worse than that man -- because you didn't want your 6-year-old daughter to see the ad? Alrighty then. "

Meanwhile, my other cousin has no problems with her six-year-old and eight-year-old kids watching Game of Thrones.

Weirdly, I have managed to avoid Trump's lewd audio tape and the ads reiterating it -- but I also don't watch commercial television that often and not without a finger pressed firmly on the fast-forward button.

3. My parents have decided to move in with my uncle and the Retired Catholic Priests until it is safe to go home to their house in Hilton Head. They may drive up to check things out, then flee again to see relatives in Chicago. (Their island was hit by Hurricane Matthew.) My mother is less than pleased. My father's original idea was to fly out to Vegas and watch the debate, but my mother nixed that plan right quick. "Why would I want to go to Vegas? Let alone watch a debate in person that I can't bear to watch on television?"

Right now there is no potable water or flushable water on the island. They are providing porta potties and urinals, and well buckets to residents for the time being. The hurricane put added stress on the plumbing, and with the weakened root system, well...the sewage system is backed up and can't be used for the time being.

Makes sense to just stay put for the time being. They drove down, so there's no real need to drive back. And a neighbor managed to get news to them about their house and is going to email them a video. He said that while there is some damage, it's not major and the house is intact. My mother is the sort of person who always envisions the worst, so in her head - this means a tree fell on the roof somewhere or the windows blew out. While in mine, it's probably just a few downed trees and broken windows.

I'm just glad I'm no longer down there with them -- they were driving me crazy with all their worries. And there was nothing I could do, except listen.

4. Seen two new series..no wait, three.

* No Tomorrow - a situation comedy about a young woman who supervises fork lifters in Seattle, who hooks up with a man who thinks the world will end in eight months. So he's living life as if it will end for everyone in eight months time. Together they cross various things off their bucket lists. It's rather charming and likable. Funny? Not so much. But who knows?

* Channel Zero: Candle Cove -- this is a new eight-part horror anthology series on Syfy. The first installment is about a creepy children's show that aired in the 1980s, went off the air, and now is suddenly airing again. But here's the thing -- it only aired for a brief period of time, when several children went missing. After they disappeared, it stopped. Also, it may never have aired at all -- except in their heads.

Creepy psychological thriller. Not sure I'll stick with it, it's the sort of thing that would give me nightmares.

* American Housewife - gave up after ten minutes. Too negative, and all the jokes are sort of whiny and stereotypical.

(no subject)

Saw the pilot of Timeless -- one of the two new time travel sci-fi series. This is the one written by Eric Kripke (Supernatural) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield). It's actually pretty good. Kept re-winding to rehear the dialogue, which was delivered quickly, and the plot is tight. They set up the rules fast, and with more show than tell.

Example:

Wyatt: I don't understand why we can't just go back to a few seconds before Flynn stole the time machine and stop him.
Rufus: You can't go back to a time in which you've already been.
Lucy: Why? What happens?
Rufus: Screws with the fabric of reality in a really bad way. We tried that once and the pilot didn't (shudders) come back right -
Wyatt: What happened to him?
Rufus: Not all of him came back.
Wyatt: Wait? What?

Also, it does show how messing with time can cause a ripple effect in the present. And, the characters don't save the day, exactly. There is a screw-up. Which to be honest was my problem with previous time travel series -- nothing happens, and the characters always save the day, with no real consequences. My other issues with time travel series - 1) they don't always respect the time periods, 2) they over-romanticize the past, 3) they get stuck in time and can't get back and keep changing stuff with no effect on the present (I mean come on) 4) they meet up with doubles of themselves with no consequences -- which just doesn't make sense, 5.) There's no rules or science to it or consequences.

It's one of the reasons I struggled with Outlander, and gave up on it. The Sarah Connor Chronicles on the other hand handled time travel well. As did Star Trek the Next Generation.

So far this show appears to as well. But it's just the pilot.

I guess it's a little cheesy, but no more so than anything else I've watched lately, with the exception of Westworld. Actually, Westworld is the only show I've watched that isn't a little cheesy.