THANKS EASTER BUNNY

Wishing you a Happy Easter. 

TO VIEW OR NOT TO VIEW

The wide variety of talk shows available to the American public is overwhelming.  Political shows, sports talk, entertainment, educational, cooking, home repair and on and on.  THE VIEW is a panel made up of all women with Barbara Walters at the helm.  She brings with her years of interviewing everyone of note on planet earth and being a topnotch newsperson who led the way for women and broke the barrier to the all male news anchor club.  Next is Whoopi Goldberg, comedian who sports an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony.  Joy Behar is an ex-school teacher turned comedian late in life and has her own talk show on HLN.  Sherri Shepherd, Emmy winner, actress, comedian, and single mother who also is raising a handicapped child.  That leaves the youngest, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Survivor contestant, clothing designer, mother of three and wife to professional football quarterback, Tim Hasselbeck and the Views staunch conservative.

They are diverse, empowered, serious, funny and have a neverending source of opinions.  The heated exchanges make the show hypnotic in the way watching a NASCAR race keeps us glued to set waiting for the crash.  There have been many infamous heated exchanges that made U Tube videos, network newscasts and entertainment programs.  There have been tears, shouting, cutaways, bloopers and swearing.  The heated exchanges between Rosie O'Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck were legendary and led  O'Donnell to leave the show.

The range of topics discussed cannot be found anywhere else on television.  One minute they can be discussing sexual perversions and the next segment be decorating cookies.  It reminds me of the Will Rogers quote "if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes".  The same is true of this show.  It can be very aggravating at times because the women get so excited they talk over one another so that it becomes difficult to understand anything they are saying.  Most of us (women) have been in groups and experienced this same phenomenon.  Come to my house any time during a holiday.  That's what makes this show appealing to women because we can identify with one or more of the personalities on the panel and more often than not they are expressing opinions and posing questions we would like to express or ask.

During the presential campaign, John McCain bravely came on the show.  To be fair, he went on everyone's show (Saturday Night Live) in an all out effort to get elected.  Joy Behar asked him point blank "There are ads running from your campaign... Now we know that those two ads are untrue, they are lies. And yet, you at the end of it say you approve these messages. Do you really approve these?"  Yikes, calling a presedential candidate a liar on daytime television.  You can't write moments like these.

Since 1999, the show's hosts have received Emmy nominations every year, and in 2009 they won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host. None of the co-hosts were in attendance to accept the award.  They used to attend knowing they were going to lose to Ellen or Oprah and would sit in the audience and make funny faces when they lost.  I always got a kick out of that. 

Now I know many of you will say I can't stand them, and I have to agree they get real annoying but there is something about not knowing whats just around the corner.  Television started out live many years ago and there is tons of material showing the bloopers from back in the day.  You have to give it up to a show that continues the live (albeit with the 7 second delay button for swearing) format in an age when everything is taped and editted. 

They showcase celebrities from all walks of life,  from world leaders, Oscar winning actors to ordinary citizens that have extraordinary stories.  Something for everyone.

So, I have to recommend this one but I understand its not everyone's cup of tea.  It can be a fun ride if you don't take it too seriously.  It is my one of my guilty pleasures along with my "stories" that I have been watching since 1970 but that's a blog for another day. :)

MODERN FAMILY

Television has come a long way.  There is instant news, limitless channels and programming, game playing even internet capabilities.   When I was a child in the fifties, if you had a television set you were among the few on the block.  We had three channels, ABC, NBC and CBS.  There were no remote controls, cable, DVRs, movies, color, or flat screens and you would need to spend half a day dusting the console.  I loved television and waited with great anticipation for the few childrens shows like Howdy Doodie, Captain Kangaroo, The Mickey Mouse Club and a variety of cartoons like:  Popeye, Mickey Mouse, Felix the Cat, Mighty Mouse and later Rocky and Bullwinkle.  The family gathered around to watch dramas like Rin Tin Tin, The Lone Ranger, Fury, Superman, Lassie, Bonanza, Gunsmoke and Wagon Train .  Ed Sullivan was a must on Sunday nights and I saw the Beatles for the first time along with most of America in their debut.  Very exciting stuff although my parents didn't match my enthusiam for the Beatles.  I watched anything with a horse in it and wanted to be a cowgirl when I grew up.  I brandished a holster with guns, cowboy boots a hat and rode a horse (which was the neighborhood mailbox) on the corner of my block for hours. 

The programming was light, inspirational, entertaining and the bad guys always lost.  The news was delivered without bias and would be behind the actual event by about eight to twelve hours.  There was no hint of "sexy time" as all married couples had to be fully clothed in pjs and slept in separate twin beds. 

Todays televison is a much different story.  I am always searching for well written, entertaining shows.  With the overrun of reality programming, traditional drama and sitcom programming are much harder to find.  Some of the best dramas, comedies are now available on the premium channels if you are lucky enough to pay the premium price to have them.

I have found a new show this season that warrants the anticipation I felt as a child.  Modern Family  on ABC on Wednesdays at 9:00pm PST is really worth 30 minutes out of your life.  It is one program that I can't wait to watch so I don't even DVR it first so I can play it back without commercials.  Modern Family is composed of three families that interconnect with one another through the family patriarc played by Ed O'Neil.  You have a gay couple with an adopted asian baby girl  (Cameron, Mitchell and Lily).  The older, divorced man married to a beautiful, trophy second wife with her son from a first marriage (Jay, Gloria and Manny) and the traditional nuclear family with three children (Phil, Claire, Haley, Alex and Luke).  The first episode made me a loyal viewer when after just adopting their new baby girl, Cameron invites Mitchell's family to meet the new baby.  The family doesn't exactly know why they are being summoned but once they are gathered Cameron presents new baby Lily from the background with Lion King music blaring holding the new cub under spotlights.  Seriously, one of the funnier moments in the last five years.

They tackle everyday subjects like teen driving, furburizing (letting a baby cry themselves to sleep), birthday parties, step-dad issues, discriminaton and forgotten anniversaries all with wit, sensitivity and most of all fun.  We all know someone like them and they are all brilliantly portrayed. 

Do yourself a favor turn off the reality crap (anything with Housewife or Bachelor in the title) and turn on Modern Family.  The beauty of it is the whole family can gather around to watch and enjoy and you won't feel like you need to take a shower afterward.

NOTE:  Use the U Tube tool (type in Modern Family in the Search box).  This will bring up video snipets of the show.  Be sure to check out the Lion King one.  :)

BEING GOOD AT SOMETHING

I can't say I have ever done anything earth shattering or even come close. I am, however, good at little things. I don't have a four-year college degree, but do have some college. I was a mother at an early age and have worked many jobs over the years. My husband is the accomplished one in our family and I have basically supported him throughout our marriage by being a good wife and mother. Not attaining a certain status can bring a lot of people down when they get to be my age because you start to look back and realize you haven't really accomplished anything that looks good on paper.

I prefer to think about the little things that I am good at. The people who know me will say I am a very good shopper. I can find the best deals and bargains and feel satisfied knowing I saved my husband a great deal of money. He may argue that I am not saving him money because I am always shopping.

Secondly, I am good at decorating, doing hair (to be fair I am a licensed hairdresser but haven't worked at it in over 35 years) and reviewing new television shows and knowing which shows will make it and be hits. One example: "The Office" watched it when it was BBC "The Office" with Ricky Gervais and knew when NBC got it it would be huge.

I can cook a few traditional dishes that I have perfected over the years. My daughter-in-law, Jen always wants beef stroganoff and linguine with clam sauce. My husband wants my meatballs and traditional Italian red sauce and pasta. My mother and my father-in-law love my scrambled eggs. My son has become a better cook than me so I just sit back when he is around and enjoy his cooking. He is very accomplished, self taught and intimidates me.

My garden always has roses in bloom even though I'm not sure how to trim them. They have been flourishing for over thirty years.

For the last four years I have taken up playing poker fairly seriously. I have played in the World Series of Poker for the last three years and will do so again in June. I have not cashed YET! I have had several cashes in other tournaments some big, some small. I am having a ball playing and feel like it is keeping my brain lubed up.

Did I tell you I am also a closet crafter. I can glue anything. I make jewelry from antique or costume jewelry by taking them apart and putting them together in new ways. I sold many pieces at craft fairs and in boutiques. I love to have some sort of project that involves paint or glue. One cool project that involved both was making bird baths out of clay pottery painted with custom finishes.

I will try to review in subsequent blogs television shows, movies, and other things (shopping finds) that may be of interest to others with simular interests.

My point in writing this is to say to others that have reached the AARP age, don't beat yourself up because you haven't accomplished the big thing you are supposed to by this age, but be content in knowing that everyone has things that they are good at. More to the point, there are a lot of accomplished people but they can be GOOD FOR NOTHING.