The Grouchy Editor

State of the Disunion

I didn’t watch the entire State of the Union address. Even Trump can’t keep me glued to a 107-minute speech. But I heard (and later read) about enough of it to make me think, Trump still doesn’t get it. People don’t care about economic indicators or the Dow Jones average or tariffs or whatever. They care about how much they had to spend five or ten years ago, and how much they have now.

Inflation was largely Biden’s fault, not Trump’s. But people are justifiably angry and it makes them angrier to hear you talk about how “great” the economy is when they can no longer afford rent or fresh meat at the grocery store. It’s that simple.

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Erika Kirk really, really needs to stop with the handkerchief-to-her-eyes crying routine. I don’t think even her fans are buying it.

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Why isn’t Ilhan Omar already deported?

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Will any Big Shots in this country — whether because of the Epstein files, Minnesota fraud, or any number of other crimes — ever face justice?

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Yes, the controversy over the guy with Tourette syndrome at the BAFTA ceremony was unfortunate. But it was also hilarious. Also hilarious was this scene from a season 3 episode of Rescue Me, featuring another guy with Tourette syndrome.

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This is what I’ve been saying about Minnesota (I’m from there). “Minnesota Nice” is a misnomer; it’s actually “Minnesota Polite” covering some not-so-nice hostility.

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Note:  I just heard about the Iran event an hour ago. I’ll have to ruminate before I have a strong opinion. My initial thought: “Oh, no. Here we go again.”

Let’s hope I’m wrong about that.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

They found a fucking glove! That’s top-of-the-page news for the New York Post.

I am so fucking sick of this fucking story.

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“May you live in interesting times” — British phrase based on a Chinese adage. Maybe.

OK, but these last ten years have been ridiculous.

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Watching Europe destroy itself, I have to wonder if we Americans, across the pond, will learn anything from it. Or is it already too late?

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On a lighter note, here is what Netflix is recommending to me. I’ve watched at least part of them all, and added a few notes:

Bottom line: The good shows are all old. The more recent the show, the more likely it’s junk.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Dawson’s Creek

I know, I know. I was already too old to watch this show when it aired 25-30 years ago. 

My excuse for watching the teen drama, as I recall, was that I had learned it was created by Kevin Williamson, who was also responsible for writing Scream. I liked Scream, so I thought I’d check out his new show.

As fans know, Dawson’s Creek is soap opera. It features high school kids talking like adults. But I got hooked on it.

So I was sad to learn that James Van Der Beek (front-center above with the show’s main gang), who played Dawson, died earlier this week at age 48.

Maybe I’ll go back and watch an episode or two, see if I still like it — or if I should have had my head examined.

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Body Bitching

How and when did we allow the insulting word “skinny” to describe women who are slender or in good shape? Popeye’s Olive Oyl was skinny. Women like Melania Trump are not.

I’m old so I didn’t know who Nicki Minaj (above) is. She seems funny and OK. But her ass is too fat.

Notice I said fat; not “plus-size.”

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

TV Tidbits

Best Medicine

After a blah first episode, this new comedy-drama might be growing on me. It’s a redo of Doc Martin, a long-running British show that I adore. It airs on Fox. I can’t recall the last new network show that I liked. Episode one did not feel promising. However ….

Maybe it’s because I live just a few miles from where ICE and protestors are clashing on a daily basis, but I’ve been craving something old-fashioned and wholesome. I’ve seen three episodes of Best Medicine now and … it’s still not in Doc Martin’s league, but it is growing on me.

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The Rip

Perhaps it’s because I’m an old fart now, but what I liked and disliked about this Netflix movie are the inverse of what I would have liked and disliked about it 30 years ago. Or even 20 years ago. 

A coworker watched this Ben Affleck-Matt Damon action-drama and told me it gets better in the second half. This coworker is 20 years younger than me. He enjoyed the chases and shootouts in The Rip’s second half. I preferred the first half, which was more about tension and suspense.

Bottom line: I can recommend half of The Rip. Which half probably depends on your age.

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I had the Olympics on this morning, but the way I watch the Olympics these days is by not watching; it’s just background noise on the television while I do something else. But I suddenly heard something I did not expect: the name Lollobrigida.

If you’re male and old enough, the name probably rings a bell. Gina Lollobrigida, pictured above, sometimes called “the most beautiful woman in the world” (per Grok), was a famous Italian actress. Every teenage boy in the United States knew about her sixty years ago.

Gina’s great-grandniece Francesca Lollobrigida won the gold for Italy in speed skating today. I don’t care about that. I’m just surprised because I never expected to hear that name again. And isn’t it a great name?

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I am not a big fan of Lindsey Vonn. I think that’s because with her, everything seems to be about Lindsey Vonn.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

WTF Stories

“Hidden clues”? Aren’t footprints the most obvious — not to mention the oldest — clues in murder-mystery lore?

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What am I missing here? A “record” two games pitched and four games started?

I should have been a ballplayer.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

It’s 12 degrees and snowing outside, and a few miles from where I sit, protestors/insurgents/malcontents are battling with ICE. Again.

The news is relentlessly depressing here in Minnesota. 

So, please forgive me if I prefer to look at Sydney Sweeney’s ass in the trailer (above) for a new season of Euphoria.

I don’t watch the show, but I certainly watch the trailer.

By the way … that shooting water in the above GIF: Is it some sort of subliminal comment on what male viewers might be up to while gawking at Sydney’s jiggling ass? They wouldn’t do that, would they?

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Speaking of gratuitous nudity (or near-nudity), I wondered who the guest might be on Tim Pool’s podcast. I scrolled the YouTube menu and saw the thumbnail below:

Apparently guest Arynne Wexler is more than just a pair of tits, as I discovered when I saw the rest of her on the show (below):

I feel much better now — don’t you?

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

“We’re Not in Fargo Anymore”

I live ten miles (a 15-minute drive) from the shooting of Renee Good, from the epicenter of Somali daycare fraud, and from the scene of George Floyd’s death.

In other words, I don’t live in Salina, Kansas, and so my perspective might be a bit skewed. But from where I sit, it certainly feels as though “civil war” is not something to fear on the horizon; it’s already here.

What’s it like living in Minnesota? This is purely personal, but yesterday I had a performance review at my day job and, for the second year in a row, I was financially penalized because my “values don’t align” with those of the company. A manager told me this to my face. Translation: I am not a card-carrying Democrat. Also, I was terminated from a previous job because I refused to get the COVID shot. Again, I did not toe the leftist line.

Granted, none of my woes are anywhere near the level of the tragedies occurring with Floyd, Good, et al. But it does give an idea of life in the land of so-called Minnesota Nice.

It’s only nice if you lean left.

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Brits discussing recent events in Minnesota on The Podcast of the Lotus:

Host 1: “Minnesota’s reputation is in the absolute gutter.”

Host 2: “Being British I don’t have to think about Minnesota that often … the last time I did was when I watched the film Fargo. The next time I have to think about it, they’ve got Somalians everywhere. How am I not living in a simulation, if that follows from that?”

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Like most Americans, I have a Monday-Friday day job. I have hobbies (like this site), chores, and obligations. I also watch and read a lot of news.

But man, in the past ten years or so … it’s impossible to keep up with everything. To be “well-informed” citizens, we are expected to know about Ukraine, Israel, Russia, Palestine, China, inflation, economics, transgender issues, feminism, states’ rights, the legal system, and politics — local, national, and international. And now Venezuela. And don’t forget the looming threat of artificial intelligence. Good lord.

We are supposed to keep informed with the help of our media, which is supposed to provide objective news.

What is my point? I have no idea if what Trump is doing, nationally and internationally, oversteps the bounds of legality. But what I do know is that, in recent years (decades?) what the Democrats have been doing seems to routinely overstep the bounds of legality.

I’m not a lawyer. About all I can do is envision the kind of America I’d like to see and then hope that at least one side can get us there.

Have a happy new year. If you can.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Commercial Beefs

The world seems to be falling headlong into hell. The past, oh, 10-15 years have produced a cavalcade of novel nightmares.

But some things never change. One thing that was annoying as hell in 1975 is still plaguing us in 2025: the commercial.

My commercial beefs (if you don’t live in the Midwest, that’s a play on “beef commercial” … oh, never mind):

a. Cne of the attractions of YouTube, initially, was the refreshing lack of ads. When there were ads, you could easily skip them. Not anymore. You can still skip, but only after watching a minute — or more — of the irritating stuff. Even worse, content creators now have their own ads; at times, the YouTube ads interrupt the creator ads — or vice versa, I forget the order.

b. Israel begging for more money. I don’t understand why news channels, Fox News in particular, run so many ads from Israel begging us to help pay for its poor. Don’t we as taxpayers already give Israel billions in aid? Is the country so poor that, in addition to military aid, now it wants U.S. aid for its social-welfare programs? Should we also pay for their road repairs?

Screw you, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. We have enough problems of our own.

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Listen up, kids. This guy makes good points about geezer entertainment like old movies and The Beatles. It’s an explanation I make whenever kids wonder why I’m so fond of the original Black Christmas. Before that movie came along in 1974, the concept of young females terrorized by slashers, or the line, “the calls are coming from inside the house!” didn’t exist.

Guess you had to be there.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)