Like It Was

Gil Noble was the host of Like It Is a community based talk show that was created in response to the 1960s racial turmoil. Today Mr. Noble died at the age of 80.

Everyone in New York City growing up would run to their TV on Saturday or Sunday morning looking for cartoons instead got this talk show. It was not until I was older that I really got to appreciate this unique show. Noble would talk to those who did great things and got little recognition on the nightly news shows.

One of the best episodes was a tribute to Paul Robeson that showed how one intelligent man went through so much for recognition and yet many people still got his motives wrong.

Gil Noble will be greatly missed and sadly many people will never get the chance to see a man who tried to show the complete history of America.

Why is this funny?

Bridesmaids was an okay movie I had about two or three chuckles. What I do not get is why so much hype? I remember laughing so hard at the second Austin Powers film that I could hardly breath. But Bridesmaids went to the Oscars and it had a few smile moments and a nice message but that is it.

Luckily I did not spend a dime to watch it in theaters instead I waited for my cable to show it. Reminded me of There's Something About Mary which also was much hyped and did not even get me to laugh once.

Yes I know humor is subjective and I watch lots of comedies like The Big C which have few laugh-out-loud moments but I get the humor. With the exception of Wiig and McCarthy doing SNL skits I saw little attempt at being funny.

At first I felt I am getting old. These kids today and there slapstick comedies and YouTube are not as good as in my day. Yet there were a slew of years in the late 1970s-1980s where the movies were horrid too, thanks to reruns I saw most of them. Somewhere in the mid-1980s Steven Spielberg changed it all and great movies like those in the 1940s came back.

Then came Titanic and I found nothing great about that movie yet everyone else was entranced. That ushered a teen driven mess of unwatchable hits. All the Harry Potters, Twilights, and Dark Knight movies  are among the worst movies ever yet no one seems to notice. Christian Bale is great in Empire of the Sun but in the Dark Knight he is completely not believable and The Joker is ridiculous.

Not that the past two decades have been lost but most of the entertaining movies have been romantic comedies. Honestly I know my taste are unique but in the past ten years I went from watching 20 great movies a year to less than 2 great movies a year, and these few are not even hits. I just went through the list of 2009-2010 top 50 movies according to Moviefone and I only found 2 were good.


Here is what I enjoyed recently:
Something Borrowed
Vanishing on 7th Street
The Hurt Locker
Up

Please any other recommendations will be appreciated.

Preparing for Nothing

Doomsday Preppers

This National Geographic Channel series documents people who live in constant fear of everything. They choose not to address their own paranoid schizophrenic behavior and instead they prepare for the alleged upcoming chaos.

Since mankind first tried to predict the future there has been cries of "the end of the world". While people should be prepared in case of emergency these folks take it to extremes.

Preston White
A seed collector fears the radioactive fallout from Fukushima-Japan disaster will poison our food supply. Ignoring all science and reasoning he hoarded seeds and began growing plants in tents, his neighbors must be thrilled. He is also looking to form a collective. Granted when he tried it devolved into a desert shootout that had no legal actions as everyone involved had wacky versions of what happened. No psychiatrists were involved although they should be.

Becky Brown
This lady believes the government will set up Martial Law throughout the land because of high unemployment and debt within the next 2 years. She has an apartment next to the Salt Lake City capital building and has a ton of long lasting food with her at all times. Again she ignores the fact that it has been over 100 years since the U.S. used Martial Law within the U.S. borders. Not to mention that if the government was that powerful that she would be hauled away in a flash and all her supplies confiscated before she can taze anyone.

I do enjoy the engineering and science used to make all these shelters and supplies. The problem is the reasoning behind their actions is completely flawed. Whatever global disaster that is powerful to need a doomsday shelter will leave most preppers dead. Were they to survive even a fifty year supply would eventually run out. Disease and dental problems are so common but with a society it can be fixed. Without a society simple infections will kill you and cancer with a 90% recovery rate will become fatal.

Then there is the gun aspect. These people know that they will be targets but again the wrongly think that they can defend their homes and shelters. If a large organized group attacks them they will have missile and tech that can slice through any bunker within seconds. Unorganized and non-preppers will overwhelm them like it was The Walking Dead. Seriously in Los Angeles gang members of 10,000+ per gang have held feuds for 50+ years. Do you think one family with guns who shoots at them will win?

The show is entertaining for the bits of information that you can pick up and use in real life. Also staring at these characters is scary because these are the types who will cause problems in your neighborhood not the ones who will save it. I lived in New York City through several terrorists attacks, several blackouts, government shutdowns,and poverty & wealth rates that rival any other place. But guess what most people survived and thrived despite the headlines. Reminds me of this book where the abusive father hoarded coins and gold while his paranoia about the end of days got worse. He died and the family left the property never finding the hoard and needing therapy to live day by day.

Note: I did learn that Heirloom seeds means they will grow fruits and vegetables that will bear seeds like the original.

Find Our Missing

Find Our Missing

This docu-drama series on TV One is shedding light on people of color who go missing with little press or legal recourse. Hosted by the great actress S. Epatha Merkerson each episode is a mix of real life interviews and re-enactments.

Watching five episodes in a row was quite depressing. How can adult Americans with varying backgrounds can just disappear without a clue is amazing.

The particular problem with these missing people is the cultural racism in America. The first 24 hours that a person goes missing is important but local and federal authorities tend to label missing people of color as "runaways". Once this term is used priority shifts to more important cases.

Second is media bias which tends not to show missing people of color since they are not as considered photogenic. Third is the years of prejudice faced by people of color make a portion of them reluctant to "see something and say something". The term snitching is what is often used. Snitching is what criminals label people who help their communities in order to intimidate and continue their criminal ways. If you ever here someone say "no snitching" they are criminals or support criminal activities.

All this combined makes Find Our Missing a very important show. Hopefully this show will find a national audience. It is well done and the stories are very moving. I know I will keep an eye out and hope others do as well.