The Grouchy Editor

 

 

When I was in high school (back in the Dark Ages), the announcement that we would be viewing a documentary was a mixed blessing. Watching a movie — any movie — was always preferable to watching a teacher at the blackboard. But the films themselves were often dry and dull. You had to decide whether to learn about the migration patterns of geese — or take a surreptitious nap when the lights went off.

I thought of this yesterday after I watched The Saint of Second Chances on Netflix, about St. Paul Saints founder and owner Mike Veeck. The film was entertaining … but entertaining to a fault?

Documentaries these days, unlike those long-ago docs about migrating geese, are often more watchable than most fiction offerings on Netflix. But I don’t trust them. (See, for example, the popular-but-tainted Making of a Murderer from 2015.)

Saint borders on hagiography, with many unanswered questions about Veeck’s life, and lots of sugar-coating. At one point, we learn about the rehabilitation and redemption of baseball star Darryl Strawberry, who, we are told, rediscovered his “love of the game” after a short stint with the Saints. I later checked Strawberry’s bio and learned that a few years after his return to Major League Baseball, he was again suspended for drug violations.

I guess he forgot about his love for the game. No mention of his relapse in the movie.

Veeck himself is portrayed as a fun-loving hustler who wanted nothing more than to bring joy to the world. The facts that he was apparently a heavy drinker and, for much of his adult life, an absentee father, are glossed over.

It is an entertaining movie; critics and regular folk alike seem to love it. But is it a “documentary”?

I think we need a new genre description. Perhaps “docufantasy”?

 

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The Upside of A.I.

 

Now that artificial intelligence has entered the picture, I’d just like to say this: If I manage to offend you with my opinions on this site, just remember that it might not be my ramblings. It could be the opinions of some trouble-making robot.

On the other hand, if you enjoy what you read here, the scribblings were no doubt penned by me.

 

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Am going to add a new category to Reviews in Short: “Would I Watch It Again?”

Now you know.

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

 

 

 

Rough Week for Political Babes

 

I once got banned from Twitter for commenting that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has “nice tits.” Little did I know that Corey Lewandowski was telling people that Noem has a “nice ass.”

Now they’re both getting cancelled for not being nice. (Noem and Lewandowski, that is, not the tits and ass.)

Also this week, A.O.C. got booed and Lauren Boebert got groped in a theater (above). It was a tough week to be a babe in politics.

 

 

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Several years ago I was Web surfing and saw a picture of an actor from some TV show or movie, and I thought she looked familiar. I read the caption and learned that “she” was actually Hal Holbrook:

 

 

I thought of this yesterday when I stumbled across a 15-year-old Web page titled “Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians.” This tickled me, so I thought I would share some of the (dated) pictures. Here you go:

 

 

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Good to know I’m not the only one getting “shadow banned” on X.

 

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Uhhh … your guess is as good as mine.

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

 

 

Trump or death?

OK, I guess.

Why not?

 

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When I’ve had it with politics, culture wars, and any other noise, I gravitate to this YouTube channel, wherein a young woman and her boyfriend describe life in Svalbard, Norway.

Her videos are scenic, peaceful, and addictive. I highly recommend them.

 

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Remember George Will?

Yeah, I don’t either.

 

Why is it that these bitter old men (looking at you, too, Stephen King) are such big fans of baseball?

 

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I can’t believe that I used to watch this idiot on MSNBC. I should have been warned about his mental instability during those bizarre James Thurber segments he used to air.

 

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Where have you gone, Siskel and Ebert?

 

From Vulture:

 

 

From Rotten Tomatoes:

 

 

In the name of “diversity and inclusion,” Rotten Tomatoes critic consensuses are watered down and unreliable.

Bottom line: The scores you see on RT are increasingly reflective of the opinions of snot-nosed college grads who write for politically correct blogs.

 

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Disturbing Trend on Twitter – er, “X”

 

 

Once upon a time, pundits would post provocative comments and hope to generate views and comments. Maybe they would get 75 comments.

Now that X is monetizing “engagement” (reader comments), the pundits have learned that it pays to ask questions, instead. Simple “yes or no” questions are best. With any luck, your 75 comments could triple, or quadruple.

 

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Look at those eyes. Look at that sneer. Now tell me that Dick Cheney isn’t evil personified.

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

 

 

Hey, I’m no spring chicken myself. But this is getting ridiculous:

 

 

On the other hand …

 

Young, Fresh, and Vital!

 

 

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Nothing “old” about Blue on this season’s Big Brother:

 

 

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Hey, you voted for this:

 

 

I’m sure they are weeping for you in Texas.

 

 

 

Again, Hawaii voted for this “leadership.”

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

 

 

OK, OK, I was never in Kim Kardashian’s league when it comes to “impressions” on Twitter (or X). But this is ridiculous.

Not that long ago, I would get actual replies and “likes” for the same kind of comments I make today. As you can see above, that’s no longer the case.

And so once again, screw you, Elon Musk. Your so-called “free-speech” platform is still under the thumb of woke censors.

I might as well post only on Gab.

 

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Sorry, ladies, but I’ve had it with your irrational hatred of Donald Trump. Because you would prefer to support the far-left over anything Trump-related, the country is going down the shitter.

So yes, I blame a lot of this on you.

 

(Is this the kind of sentiment that got me shadow-banned on Twitter?)

 

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Heavy sigh. More anti-straight-white-male bias

 

 

This Decider story is about the cancellation of A League of Their Own. I didn’t see the series, but I loved the movie.

But you know, God forbid that Amazon give the audience what it wants.

 

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Heavy sigh. Swamp creature Kevin McCarthy

 

 

Kevin McCarthy “threatens.” McCarthy “warns.” McCarthy actually does … nothing.

 

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In lighter, irrelevant, trivial news, The Grouch is disappointed with timid Big Brother:

 

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

I am back from Ft. Lauderdale. I am happy to no longer be staying next to an alligator swamp and I am thrilled to escape the humidity.

 

On the other hand, I am not happy to be away from the thong bikinis.

 

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Neil Howe, surviving author of The Fourth Turning, has a new book and a slew (OK, at least a couple) of new YouTube videos. I could listen to this guy all day.

 

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This is old news, but I’ve been on vacation and cannot leave this story without comment.

Hopefully, this jock-idiot will not follow in the footsteps of fellow jock-idiot Colin Kaepernick and will instead fade out of the public eye.

 

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I guess if you are a conservative big-shot, you no longer have to worry about being suspended or “shadow-banned” on Twitter (X). Good for you.

If, however, you are a “little guy” (like me), you can expect no such luck. Thanks to this Yaccarino woman, apparently. And “free-speech hero” Elon Musk is either unaware or uncaring about this.

Screw you, Elon.

 

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Too many people get this wrong:

 

 

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These are the first two hamsters to get the boot on this season’s Big Brother:

 

 

 

What the hell is wrong with you people?

 

Last but not least, because I am missing Florida beach bums, here is more Reilly (click on pics for a larger view):

 

 

 

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

 

Gone to Florida 

 

 

Be Back Soon!

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

 

Gone to Florida 

 

 

Be Back Soon!

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

 

Whatever happened to the term “androgynous”? I don’t hear it anymore. I guess it’s not a part of LGBT-blah-blah-blah, which is much too difficult to remember:

 

 

That’s ridiculous. It’s surpassed only by “undocumented worker” (illegal alien) and “they” used as a singular pronoun on my Annoying Scale.

 

I’m going to shorten the term to BLT, which includes a few of the groups and is much easier to remember. Especially if I’m hungry.

 

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There’s nothing funnier than a misunderstanding. The funniest misunderstandings occur when two sharp cookies get together for a YouTube video, and something happens which reveals that they are not always such sharp cookies.

Such was the case when Bill Maher had Jordan Peterson on his podcast:

 

 

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Power must be one hell of an aphrodisiac. How else to explain why so many of these half-human, half-corpse politicians cling so tenaciously to it?

McConnell, Feinstein, Pelosi, Biden, Fauci, Schumer — all of them are too damned old and need to go.

Except for Trump, who is an ageless wonder.

 

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Letter From the Social Security Administration to Yours Truly:

 

“We need updated information about your work to make sure that we pay you the right amount of Social Security benefits.

“For the following months in 2022, you previously told us you would not earn over (number here) and would not work over 45 hours in self-employment.”

They then asked me to report my earnings for each month in 2022. Don’t they already have this information?

This is the second such letter I’ve received from the kids at Social Security in the past, oh, nine months or so.

 

It boggles the mind that our government devotes so much time and effort to little old me, while on a daily basis we read about hotshots and bigshots ripping off the system for millions or billions of dollars and, when caught, skating by with a wrist slap.

 

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I am so over these “bombshell” UFO stories.

Unless you have something tangible to offer — and not just what someone says he witnessed, or grainy, tiny images from radar or security cameras — then please just go away.

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

 

#redpilled

 

 

 

I’ve never been a soccer fan.

So why am I enthusiastically cheering for any country that plays the U.S. women’s team?

 

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I haven’t been a churchgoer in nearly 50 years.

So why am I suddenly so supportive of this movie?

 

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I’ve never been a fan of country music.

So why am I now a booster of Jason Aldean and his latest hit song?

 

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I’ve been calling Oprah Winfrey a smarmy fake for years. Could I have been right about her?

 

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Meanwhile, as the country burns, Sleepy Joe does his thing:

 

 

© 2010-2024 grouchyeditor.com (text only)