1.04.2010

MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2009 — Gail Grabowski





THEME: LAW (59D: A kind of it begins the answers to starred clues)

How is it that a week later I am still jet-lagged? Not such that I feel bad; I'm just going to bed two hours later than usual and getting up two hours later as well. One consequence — I did this puzzle last night just after the NYT puzzle, and then wrote up the NYT puzzle at my other website, and now can't remember a damn thing about what it was like to solve this puzzle. I *do* remember that the LAT and NYT share many features today — prolific female constructors whose last names begin with "G," for one thing. Also at least one theme answer feature. OK, enough crossover talk. Back to trying to remember how I solved this. Well, first, I solved it in 2:59. That I know. I wrote it down in this little journal covered with monkeys that we got in Costa Rica last year with the idea of maybe giving to to someone as a present. That clearly never happened, so now it's my 2010 crossword journal. Its sole purpose is to record my solving times. I've never thought to keep track before, but I'm mildly curious. OK, enough about monkey journals. The puzzle...

I know that I got hung up in one place: BLUE ... I wanted BLUEDAY or BLUEOUT. Needed the crosses to see / remember BLUE FLU. Love that answer, and love JAM PACK (4D: Crowd to capacity). The REST was EASY (REST EASY! 40A: Quit worrying), but not terribly exciting. After BLUE FLU, I think only STRUDEL (25D: German dessert) caused me a moment's hesitation. There are a few weak short answers hanging around the margins of the grid, but nothing worth grousing about. Typical stuff.

Theme answers:

  • 17A: *Sound and practical judgment (COMMON SENSE)
  • 11D: *Iced tea garnish (LEMON PEEL)
  • 36A: *Cops' sickout (BLUE FLU)
  • 31D: *Analytical write-up (CASE STUDY) — I think I needed several crosses to make this evident.
  • 58A: *Karate and aikido (MARTIAL ARTS)




Crosswordese 101: EMU (16A: Outback sprinter) — how in the world have we gone 9+ months without covering EMU?! Big flightless birds of Australia. They are fast — often clued as sprinters. Their "cousins" are (typically) RHEA, ostriches, and cassowaries. For the record, if you ever see the clue [Ypsilanti sch.], EMU is the correct answer in that instance as well. Looks like Eastern Michigan University was late to the domain name grab, though — EMU.EDU appears to be taken by Eastern Mennonite University. FYI.

What else?

Well, nothing, actually.

See you Friday.

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Everything Else — 1A: Bluegrass instrument (BANJO); 6A: Tearoom biscuit (SCONE); 11A: Fellow (LAD); 14A: WWII threat (U-BOAT); 15A: Misleading moniker (ALIAS); 16A: Outback sprinter (EMU); 17A: *Sound and practical judgment (COMMON SENSE); 19A: Trio in a nursery rhyme tub (MEN); 20A: Jacket closer (SNAP); 21A: Honshu metropolis (OSAKA); 22A: Half-baked twice? (DONE); 23A: 1970s Mary Tyler Moore costar (ED ASNER); 25A: E-mails (SENDS); 26A: Pigeon patter (COOS); 27A: Ready in the keg (ON TAP); 29A: Hard to please (PICKY); 32A: Food preparers' headgear (HAIR NETS); 35A: Letters before a 15-Across (AKA); 36A: *Cops' sickout (BLUE FLU); 39A: Show fallibility (ERR); 40A: Quit worrying (REST EASY); 42A: Barely passing grade (D PLUS); 44A: Wipe clean (ERASE); 45A: Place to fish from (PIER); 47A: Fiery felony (ARSON); 49A: Like some lettuce (RED LEAF); 52A: Obligation (DUTY); 53A: Present, as one's case (STATE); 55A: Pirates roam them (SEAS); 57A: Part of a univ. URL (EDU); 58A: *Karate and aikido (MARTIAL ARTS); 60A: One on foot, in signs (PED); 61A: Clay pigeon sport (SKEET); 62A: Visitor from the stars (ALIEN); 63A: Give it a whirl (TRY); 64A: V-formation fliers (GEESE); 65A: Garden intruders (WEEDS); 1D: Tampa NFLers (BUCS); 2D: Dry as __ (A BONE); 3D: Drifter (NOMAD); 4D: Crowd to capacity (JAM PACK); 5D: Nebraska native (OTO); 6D: Talks back to (SASSES); 7D: Like a day with blue skies (CLEAR); 8D: Sound like a pig (OINK); 9D: "Apollo 13" gp. (NASA); 10D: Opposite of WNW (ESE); 11D: *Iced tea garnish (LEMON PEEL); 12D: Modify (AMEND); 13D: Mojave hills (DUNES); 18D: Verboten act (NO-NO); 22D: University VIP (DEAN); 24D: Protein-rich legume (SOYBEAN); 25D: German dessert (STRUDEL); 27D: Klutz (OAF); 28D: Zero (NIL); 29D: Itís two more than an eagle (PAR); 30D: 1950s White House nickname (IKE); 31D: *Analytical write-up (CASE STUDY); 32D: "You, over there!" ("HEY!"); 33D: Capote, familiarly (TRU); 34D: Fourth-yr. collegians (SRS.); 37D: __ Cruces, New Mexico (LAS); 38D: Purpose (USE); 41D: Homer chronicled its destruction (TROY); 43D: Event for special customers (PRESALE); 45D: Small size (PETITE); 46D: It might be half-baked (IDEA); 47D: Skilled (ADEPT); 48D: More boorish (RUDER); 49D: Lenders' charges (RATES); 50D: Lofty lair (AERIE); 51D: Destined (FATED); 53D: "For Pete's __!" (SAKE); 54D: Peach or beech (TREE); 56D: Nine-digit IDs (SSNS); 58D: Flavor-enhancing additive (MSG); 59D: A kind of it begins the answers to starred clues (LAW).

39 comments:

JOHNSNEVERHOME said...

Not a very exciting puzzle, but after a weekend of blockbusters, what else would we expect? IMO, the theme was rather lame, but the fill words were excellent… words like: JAM PACK STRUDEL, PRESALE, REST EASY, and HAIR NETS. I didn’t see any stumper words though and the clues were pretty straight-forward, so there was little challenge.

Fave words: BANJO, RED LEAF, SCONE, and OINK.
Unfave word: SSNS (worn out).
Fave clues: 22A “Half-baked twice” (DONE) and 46D “It might be half-baked” (IDEA).

Of Course, WEEDS caught my eye, not because I smoked them, but because I specialize in them at The Plant Clinic and in my weed ID book.

The other clue that caught my eye was “Mojave hills” (DUNES). In 2008, I spent a few days wandering around in the Mojave Desert… what a beautiful (and unsung) place. I especially liked photographing the KELSO DUNES

Who could forget those banters between ED ASNER (Lou Grant) and MARY TYLER-MOORE?
Sooo funny, and I especially liked her spunk and that she always stood up against the (well-played) office tyrant… a great great show!

Now if I could just find some “sapid” STRUDEL to go with this mocha-coffee. Guess I’ll just have to settle for a boring SCONE.

JOHNSNEVERHOME said...
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Anonymous said...

Liked this puzzle, to me it was cleaner and smoother than the NYT today as usual. I just do these things for fun, not speed. I don't think I'll ever break past Thursday. Not that anyone cares, and I do really appreciate this blog for its declared target ... I prefer the direction of LAT to where NYT has seemed to have gone over the last 5-6 years. It seems to me that the NYT has evolved into a series of puzzles geared towards those whose skills are evolving by reading the crossword blogs and the how to solve books and working on speed. That is, the emphasis is on trying to be more clever by often being obtuse.

The LAT seems to fill the gap between the horrid puzzles in your local papers, in-flight magazines and other odd places. My daughter is now working in Borders and gave me an NYT book of 100 puzzles for X-Mas, 50 really good rather old puzzles and 50 from the 90's.

There is a tremendous decrease in the level of I dunno, I call it snarkiness - obsfucation and sometimes almost a meanness for its own sake crossing into the not so clever in the time since the last of those puzzles from the late 1990's compared to now.

The LAT, while starting to go away from so much pop culture that gives it its brightness? generally has more fun to it especially when there is a puzzle theme - something I've still never quite been endeared to by doing more puzzles and learning more about them.

I guess because of the demand for more and more puzzles given the number of puzzlers who can do a puzzle such as today's in 2-5 minutes they have had to go that way.

Crosswords are more like skiing, I suppose, where one eventually gets bored and quite because one has learned all the tricks to maximize one's ability/skills and the joy goes out of it rather than golf where no one ever quit because they were too good, satisfying one for a lifetime.

Seems there's only so much time I want to put into something so sedentary this late in life, I realize that I should have put in the effort 10 years ago before the internet had such an effect.

Looking forward ...

Rex Parker said...

The NYT puzzles are the way they are (interesting, unusual) precisely to keep people from getting bored (golf bores me so much I can't even be bothered to start playing — different strokes ... !).

It seems that you can't Do the NYT puzzles easily, and that causes you frustration, so you think the puzzle is being mean (!?!?!). Millions of people do the NYT puzzle, and only tens of thousands read my (or other) blogs.

To me, the LAT is solid, but more conventional and generally less interesting than the NYT. This is not always true. NYT is more daring — sometimes the result is colossal failure, but at least it's Trying.

LAT is, in general, a comfort puzzle for people who are not that interested in what's happening in contemporary culture, esp. pop culture. This includes tons and tons and tons of older people. (I know, I get mail ... lots of it) It's good that both puzzles exist. But your criticism of the NYT puzzle seems really off the mark. SOUR GRAPES, to quote today's NYT puzzle.

rp

Sfingi said...

@John - O come on - One hit, but don't Bogart it.

This was easy, of course -only one sports 1D. I don't count martial arts in the hated team sports category, since it's more of an exercise. Didn't know OTO or REDLEAF lettuce, but it didn't matter.

BLUEFLU, which is encompassed by "working to the rule," is well-known to gov. workers who aren't allowed to strike.

I did last week's Sun. NYT puzzle yesterday. This appears in the local paper a week late, and I haven't been buying the Sun. NYT since the the magazine got skimpy.
Anyway, it seemed easy to me. This was the one with the Champagne theme. Is this a new trend?

It's too late to donate to Save the Skeets, unless you have a different fiscal year.

Now that we're shoveled out - 8", I'm off to buy the NYT and USA and do them at the Home. My local paper, which is delivered, has the LAT except Sun.

JOHNSNEVERHOME said...
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shrub5 said...

Who you calling old?

A grade of D PLUS is kind of laughable. I guess this would be a test or essay that was poor but had some tiny redeeming aspect?

@RP: LOL at EMU.edu. Wonder if either of these schools ever considered the emu for their sports mascot?
E Michigan U = Eagles, E Mennonite U = Royals.

Anonymous said...

Gee, Rex, no. It ought to be about knowledge and smarts. Definitely not about trash cultural references and how attentive you are to mind-numbing TV and movies. Casual interest is OK. Just don't spend so much time on the high horse. You could make a puzzle about it, too...

Parsan said...

@JNH--There is nothing boring about a good SCONE with butter and homemade peach jam! While in Britton, was told it is not pronounced "skown", but "skawn".

Agree about the collected wisdom (read trivia) of we "vintage" people. I'm always surprised when many of you youngsters don't know something that appears to be as obvious as the days of the week, but on the flip side, the things
you know (tech talk, rap artists(?), current TV facts, math and chem. stuff long forgotten, etc.)
usually leaves me flummoxed (a good old-fashioned word).

I liked this Monday puzzle and thought the theme with 6 clues was fun, if easy!

An uncle was a national SKEET champion. Back in the day when it wasn't PC for women to out-do men, I outshot a boyfriend -- so that was the end of that!

Liked JAM PACK, RED LEAF (tasty!), GEESE, and CLEAR. PETITE can mean small size but you can be petite (short) and huge.

So used to seeing TV clues that for a second I thought "Homer chronicled its destruction" had something to do with The Simpsons, a show I rarely see. Doh! Should have known TROY; I live here and have a grandson by that name.

Half baked twice?--DONE, best clue and answer.

Now I need to go shovel my walkway.

xyz said...

Very fun puzzle to me

liked

SKEET
GEESE

I found the vertical juxtaposition (Is there another more specific word than "stack"?) good for a laugh.

John of CW Avatar notoriety: You have NOT had my wife's awesome scones; those cardboard low-fat ones at Starbucks are, however just awful! Good SCONES need clotted cream and damn the LDL level, unless, haha, you got the good gene and then it matters not a whit. :-)

Carol said...

Easy Monday, not complaining. Decent start to the week.

@JNH - Hazlenut coffee this morning, but no scone - just Shredded Wheat!

Sometimes I wish I could go out & shovel snow instead of trying to drive in the California Central Valley fog. Pea-soupish this morning. Those of you outside California - it isn't always sunny!

Parsan said...

@Carol--You can come shovel my sidewalk anytime you want!

@redanman--best I ever had was at tea in the Palm Court at The Ritz in London; SCONES with clotted cream and fresh strawberry preserves!

Tinbeni said...

@Anon 7:37am
Check the copyrights, I have the corner on using "OBTUSE" and I only apply it when a clue lacks quickness of perception.
(also, if you are going to do a "write-up" please get a identifier).

@JNH..@Sfingi..@Parsan..@Shrub5
and @ Rex
I'm late and you all covered the good stuff in this enjoyable but easy puzzle. It is Monday so that's OK.

At the top we had the BUCS. AKA the yuks (their ALIAS) around here. At the bottom WEEDS where they played.
I don't want to be PICKY but 3-13 isn't even a D-PLUS (maybe a CASESTUDY in being DONE Nov.1st).
Not being ADEPT, they haunt me here. We did wrap up the 3rd draft pick.
I'll ERASE it from memory.
Maybe they will TRY and throw their fans A-BONE or throw the coach off the PIER.
(we have a great one, an up-side-down pyramid in St.Pete)

Time to get some beer, ON-TAP.
My IDEA is to do that with Scotch.

chefbea said...

Good puzzle today. Actually both puzzles were good and easy. I don't time myself but it took me a bit longer to do the this puzzle than the NYT. I then did the newsday puzzle. One of the clues was the same as one in the LAT.

Rex Parker said...

a. I can find so-called "historical" answers with google just as easily as I can find "pop culture" ones. But I never use google at all, so the distinction is largely irrelevant to me.

b. The equation of "pop" with "trash" is exactly the kind of simple-minded, mush-brained nonsense that I have no respect for. When people complain about "pop culture" it's usually got a "kids these days / in my day / get off my lawn" tone to it, and what the person really means is "YOUR pop culture is trash." People Love the pop culture *they* grew up with. ABIE's Irish Rose and what not ...

"It ought to be about knowledge and smarts." — I don't even know what this means, and I'm not sure you do either. I think "Watchmen," for instance, is one of the greatest pieces of writing of the 20th century. Many of you would squawk at such an assertion. I think that makes you ignorant. But YOU surely don't think that way. If a clue refers to "Watchmen," I would think it literary, and you (hypothetical you) would think it "trash." It's subjective.

Plenty of brilliant people couldn't solve a crossword to save their lives, and don't care. I don't look to crosswords to confirm my intelligence. I have a loving mother who does that just fine. Imagining that crosswords are a barometer of intelligence ... that's just sad. Tyler Hinman is a Very smart guy, but I doubt he's smarter than every other smart person by several orders of magnitude (the way his 5 consecutive xword championships would suggest).

I assume I'm good at puzzles bec. I do them a lot and enjoy them. I did them a lot and enjoyed them under old school / old-fashioned / arcana-loving editors like Maleska, and I do them a lot and enjoy them under a broader-minded but no less rigorous editor like W.S.

People who grouse about the NYT being "mean" or pop culture being "trash," just be honest — you don't respect what people read / watch / care about today. The world is going to hell. You wish it were some imaginary time when the world had a higher brow. That's nostalgia (a primary topic of "Watchmen," by the way) and — predicated as it is on a false image of the past — it is toxic.

I was supposed to be working on my book today. This post will have to count as some of that work :)

rp

mac said...

Pretty good puzzle. So there is the other lemon.

I've been so well trained that I too thought of Homer Simpson right away....

My first reaction to the biscuit/scone was: a scone is very different from a biscuit! Then I thought about it and a scone is not dissimilar in shape from the American biscuit (the one with baking soda, sometimes buttermilk), including the way they are cut out of the dough.
Excellent with clotted cream and good preserves. For breakfast I like crumpets, though, with little holes for the butter. They are fun to make on a griddle.

Sorry, I'm in a food mood. A huge pot of Dutch pea soup is simmering on the stove.

mac said...

Hear, hear, Rex!
Be a little more openminded, anonymouse. There is so much to learn about so many things, every day!

Tinbeni said...

@Rex
Soooo, how do you really feel about @Anon's discussion? I'm only kidding.

I recently started doing the NYT. I was able to complete 7 of 8 so far. But whereas it was a bit testier maybe, I didn't find it to be so far "out-there" to not being enjoyable.

It was the equivalence of being a Starter-v-Substitute on a Pro Baseball team. They both 'can-play' and play well.

Funny thing is, the NYT was easier than this LAT puzzle today (or should I say NEATO!).

As an oldster, I may have a harder time with some of the "pop" culture of today, but no more than my Father did with my Beatles/Vietnam era crap.

It is ALL GOOD!!!

Anonymous said...

A scone is not a biscuit - a biscuit to anyone from the UK or the colonies can be a Digestive Biscuit, shortbread,Hob Nobs, whatever. Scone is pronounced "skown?" in the south and "scone" north of the border ie Scotland.

In NZ we pronounce it scone.

chefwen said...

Good puzzle, but I managed to mess up early in the game. Had the P in place with ON TAP and without checking some of the crosses put in mint sprig for llD and men for 11A. Obviously, all that had to come out for me to proceed.

Sure do love a good SCONE loaded with lots of butter and jam. mmmm!

Tinbeni said...
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JOHNSNEVERHOME said...
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xyz said...

My wife's SCONEs are triangular, not round. Biscuits are only good if you load them with all sort of fat, that's what they have in common with SCONEs.

A biscuit is THE best thing you can buy at the Golden Arches. The highest level of cr*p at the cr*p store.

Scottish Oat Biscuits are good for the constipated, more fibre than pure sawdust and having worked as a Carpenter, I know of what I speak, much more tasty! Or..... should I say SAPID - that was definitely my word/bullet/point of note yesterday and at 1A to boot!

mmmmmmm SAPID SCONES

Sfingi said...

Frank Zappa (Sicilian) said "It is not necessary to imagine the world ending in either fire and ice. There are two other possibilities. One is paperwork, the other is nostalgia."

We all gravitate to our own personal nostalgia, but we should fight this. There is a lot of good new art out there, and much clever critiquing, political and artistic. There's nothing more pathetic than an old dude in the nursing home laying some of his own on everyone else, repeatedly.
I've known all my life that I have unusual tastes and am pleasantly surprised that one other person enjoys what I do; and I love to hear new weird stuff from others.

By the way, fellow geezers, the Simpsons don't suck, Stephen Colbert isn't half bad, Lady Gaga is adorable, for a start. The toys of today (cuddly or techno) are so much better than anything we had.

Rex - so what's your new book about?

Tinbeni said...

@Sfingi
I agree with almost everything you just said about the toys of today. I didn't play "kick the can" I had baseball & football and the beach.
When I went into acctg. we did all spreadsheets by hand (had to think!) now I can knock off in an hour what would have taken me 3 days (we have to think even more!).

But ...
Stephen Colbert is all good.
The Simpsons don't suck, they reek. Totally freshmen level humor.
Lady GaGa is average cute and obnoxious. So was Madonna. But they are marketed very well.
And ...
There are many more brands of Scotch!!!
The ganja is 1000% smooooother.

And ... IT's ALL GOOD!!!!

CrazyCat said...

Wow - all this SCONE talk is making me about to end my diet that I've been on since 6:00 this morning! I like the one's with chocolate in them.
@Parsan & Carol - here in SoCal it IS sunny everyday and I getting tired of it, I tell you. I want some weather damn it! Just kidding, kind of.
@Parsan as I was reading the posts I thought the same as you re: Vintage - like fine aged wines (or Scotch).

In regard to pop culture - It seems we are seeing a little less of it in the LAT than we were for a while. I don't mind it. If my kids are around they can help me with that, even though they don't have a clue who Adlai Stevenson was and what his middle initial is. I'm still working on Inside Dope 1 so I can do Inside Dope 2.

I did this puzzle at 2:00 a.m. in nine minutes which I think is my all time record. However, I was kind of bummed when I woke up in the morning and didn't have a puzzle to do.

I liked it a lot for a Monday. Liked CASE STUDY, PRESALE, MARTIAL ARTS, WEEDS, NOMAD, LEMON PEEL and JAM PACK.
JAM Hmmm - now I'm thinking about those SCONES again.

Tinbeni said...

@Crazycatlady
How could you ignore BUCS, AKA, ALAIS (yuks), WEEDS, PIER, DONE!!!

OK ... COMMON SENSE (the least common thing I have ever encountered) tells me I should just get ready for baseball season.

And my new invention, Scotch ON TAP!!!

... and a SCONE with JAM sounds yummy ...

Parsan said...

@Sfingi--Don't know if the Simpson's comment was aimed at me, but I'm watching NCIS when it's on and that comes down to this point: it's a matter of choices. Chosing to only watch old movies, reading only early 20th C. books, and talking only about the good-old-days will land you in a nursing home. Stephen Colbert can be hilarious and Lady Gaga is a modern day Cher, both ladies a la Carmen Miranda. Fun entertainment! Choices should be about talent. All eras have had performers who make you want to shout "The King wears no clothes". But maybe we are just out of the loop.

And we, whatever age we are, never totally "get" the culture that came before, or that which follows. We're not really supposed to. Each generation invents itself based on artistic evolution, technology, economic and political developments. A Cosa Nostra kind of "our thing". My Father always said "Don't judge what you don't understand. Investigate and then decide."

@Rex--We're not all old enough to remember Abie's Irish Rose: Broadway 1922-1927 and radio 1942-1944.

Parsan said...

Oh yes. I grew up in the 50's and most of our pop culture was just awful, but it was "our" awful pop culture!

CrazyCat said...

@Parsan Thank you for pointing out that some of us are not old enough to remember ABIE'S Irish Rose. All I could come up with on that recent clue was MY WILD Irish Rose and even that's before my time.

@Tinbeni - all those little words are what helped me solve the puzzle quickly, so they are my friends. I have actually, thanks to reading this blog, got to to the point where I can fill a lot of that stuff in atomatically. It is a dramatic change over where I was a year ago. Of course, there was that recent AT OZ blunder, I'm embarrassed to say.

I still think the best folk and rock music was in the 60's and 70's pre disco. But I enjoy current material as well. Again, that is thanks to my 20 something children (they are in their 20s, I don't have 20) who keep me on top of things.

CrazyCat said...

One cute moment I want to share regarding the generations and pop culture. My dad was 89, very ill in a nursing home. When I would travel back east, I would sit with him and read him the paper since he was almost blind. One day I was reading him an article about Shawn Combs and he looked at me and said "You mean Puff Daddy, P Diddy?" I nearly fell off my chair.

CrazyCat said...

Sorry SEAN Combs.

Tinbeni said...

@Crazycatlady
Where was the wizard?
AT OZ.
See you didn't miss the answer, the constructor miss the clue!

Those numerous little 3 letter words are used to assist the real clues we like to solve.
That is why complaining about EMU (that have green eggs), ERR, SSN(s),ETC is trite. The puzzles need them. The same can be said if the inevitable Roman Numeral clue pops up. No biggie, just fill it in, and get to the theme, the real words to un-clue.
And remember to have fun!!!

PS - 9 minutes, I'm impressed. I do these in ink, on paper. Someday I will do one on the computer.

CrazyCat said...

@Tinbeni - Thanks for adjusting the clue to fit my silly answer. I have only seen A TO Z a zillion times, so you would think I would get it. I do have fun doing the puzzles and I know the three letter fill is necessary. I sometimes solve in the paper but only with a mechanical pencil with an eraser. I'm too chicken to use ink. I like solving on line because visually things fall in to place easier for me. I always try to use the expert level unless I get totally messed up. My average time is about 12 to 15 early week and 40 to 60 by the end of the week. It's much better than the four hours I used to spend on a Sunday puzzle. That's the other thing about on line, you have a little clock going which you can pause if you want to go pour another cup of coffee.

Sfingi said...

@Parsan - I couldn't remember who didn't like the Simpsons. I don't watch them much, but they had one about the Rapture that was brilliant. On the other hand, I tried to watch the Family Guy again and it was disgusting in my estimation. The Disney-Pixar animations are actually beautiful.
Lady Gaga's created herself. Cher was Sonny Bono's Pygmalian.

Toys - I bought hubster (or maybe myself) a Snorelax - Japanese toy. You yell at it and it snores. It has a whole personality and several episodes in Pokemon lore.

In 1980 there was a movie called Atlantic City. (Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Robert Joy - also Wallace Shawn). That's in my adulthood but before some adults around now were born. I watched it 40+ times, obsessed with it. It told me so much about the people of my father's generation - what was exciting then compared to now.
Sex, music, are always new and always discovered.

I like P. Diddy, but guess what -he's old. He's over 40!

Oop - Jay Leno just mentioned The Squat and Gobble, a restaurant south of here on Route 20. Been there for decades.

We certainly are tangential today.

Tinbeni said...

@Sfingi
Hand up for not finding the Simpsons or Family Guy funny in the overall. Maybe they do have an episode worth watching now and then, but I would rather watch a M*A*S*H re-run.
Lady GaGa was on Leno the other night, the song sucked, the interview was unintelligible. That notwithstanding she apparently is the rage with a younger set. And I think that is great.
Just not my glass of Scotch, so to speak.
I also don't find "Rap Music" appealing. And I think that is OK, too.
Each generation has to make their own way in this journey.
Just because I don't have an iPod or need to text or twitter is accepable in my life.
Hell, when I came back from Zagreb I didn't get a cell phone for 3 years.
Atlantic City is also one of MY all-time favorite movies.

xyz said...

Had to F/U from yesterday

Love MALT WHISKY aka Scotch, think of terroir more than "brands" @Tinbeni Care for peat? Me not so much.

M*A*S*H is that show dead yet? ICK!Movie? Very good.

Simpsons funnier than Family Guy to this 58-year old

CURB funnier than SEINFELD

I for one like old & new culture, pop or otherwise although "performers" crying out for attention get old.

Lively day ...

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