The Grouchy Editor

Timcast IRL is my favorite podcast. I came to this conclusion after suffering through Joe Rogan’s softball interview with Mark Zuckerberg. When it comes to his guests, Rogan is clearly more comfortable discussing jujitsu with Zuckerberg, or professional wrestling with Donald Trump, than more substantial topics.

Tim Pool and company eschew the softballs for more hard-hitting stuff. The downside for Pool is his location. He streams the podcast from somewhere in the boonies of West Virginia, which reduces the availability of good guests. Too often, the show features some no-name, local politician. But when he gets a meatier guest (like Nancy Mace, above), Pool is often must-watch.

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Two pearls of wisdom this week from Mary Morgan on “Pop Culture Crisis”:

On bitter, whining celebrities — “That’s what you would think about people in Hollywood, though: that they were bullied in high school, or they were uncool theater kids, and then they got rich and famous, so it’s fine. But no, they’re still filled with resentment from it. So, it just never goes away.”

On short haircuts for women — “You will always look better with long hair, no matter what. No woman looks better with short hair.”

I agree about the haircuts … to a point. Once a woman reaches, perhaps her 50s, long hair begins to make her look desperate to retain her fading youth.

Later in the week, Morgan popped up on Tim Pool’s podcast and warned leftists gloating over Trump’s “convicted felon” designation that it could backfire. Just as Trump’s infamous mugshot added to his “cool” status, so might the term “convicted felon.”

I imagine beer mugs and t-shirts are already in the works.

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I am happy to report that season three of the U.S. version of The Traitors is off to a good start.

But I am upset with Peacock. Try as I might, I am unable to find out when the new seasons of Traitors Australia and England will debut. A.I., unsurprisingly, was unable to find this information for me.

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I think Trump should consider doing to wealthy California residents what Biden’s FEMA did to poor North Carolina hurricane victims: withhold financial aid from anyone who voted for Democrats. I’m just kidding. Sort of.

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I am still waiting for an apology from boy wonder Zuckerberg for Facebook’s role in censoring conservatives during and before recent elections.

I watched about an hour of his interview on Rogan’s podcast and, after hearing Zuckerberg’s excuses about how difficult his job is and how much “pressure” he was under to censor right-leaning voices, I’d had enough.

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I finally watched A Quiet Place: Day One. I am pleased to report that it checks most of the necessary boxes:

→  The heroine is a dying black woman. She wants nothing more than a slice of pizza before cancer or the aliens get her.

→  The main straight-white-male character sobs a lot, regularly announces that he’s “afraid,” and — spoiler alert! — is saved at the end by our brave heroine, who sacrifices herself for his sake.

→  There are no cute dogs in the movie. Dogs presumably share too many traits with toxic males. Instead, there is a feline for the childless cat ladies in the audience.

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She’s back …

Good Asian-related News:

Squid Game season 2 is pretty good. It’s not as good as the original. This time around, the emphasis is on players’ personal dramas and relationships. That’s fine, but the selling point of Squid Game is the games. The games were better in season one.

The new season does bring back the opening challenge, in which players must outwit/outrun a giant girl-doll (above), but there is nothing to rival the first show’s best game, in which contestants play a deadly game of hopscotch over a bottomless pit.

Bad Asian-related News:

I’m not sure where to place the blame for this one, but it’s among anime distributors Funimation, Crunchyroll, and Sony. 

In December, I discovered that my Funimation library of movies and TV shows had been erased — poof! Gone without a trace.

Despite my providing them with a screen capture of my digital library (below), the jerks at Crunchyroll were less than helpful. They demanded receipts. From shows that I acquired years ago. Do you keep receipts from movies you bought three years ago?

That seems like theft, to me.  If you are considering purchases from Crunchyroll (Funimation is, apparently, defunct), be warned.

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I watched La Palma on Netflix. It was a routine disaster show about a volcano. The only thing I am likely to remember is actress Alma Gunther (on the left, below):

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If you recognize the above shot from the opening scene of a Christmas classic, then we can possibly be friends.

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Holiday Harangues

Ramaswamy’s take on foreign workers vs. American workers might be correct. He feels that too many of us are unmotivated. I’m just a stupid American, so what do I know?

But I do know this: Ramaswamy’s timing is terrible.

We need to focus first on worker IDs, and on illegal immigration. Only then should we discuss these visas. Trump supporters are not in the mood to talk about special exceptions to immigration — yet.

Also, Ramaswamy’s and Musk’s take is music to the ears of big corporations, and that can’t be good for the rest of us.

Stop sending money and weapons to Ukraine. Only then can we discuss other ways to help Ukrainians.

I have nothing against Kentucky, South Carolina, or California (well, nothing against the first two), but until the awful politicians pictured below are gone and forgotten (and possibly prosecuted), I don’t want to forgive anyone from those states who imposed them on the rest of us.

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I used to think that young women were probably the best thing about America. Young men went to war and died for “the girl back home.”

Now I think too many Western females are entitled brats: selfish, promiscuous and possibly the worst thing about America.

This woman’s YouTube video addresses the situation well — to me, anyway.

It’s no longer about “women’s rights.” It’s about “women’s privileges.”

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Ricky Gervais liked my reply to his post:

It’s nice to be recognized by a comic genius.

Twice.

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Quiet Before the Storm

Twas the week before Christmas

and all through the land,

Redsters and Bluesters

were taking a stand …

Before all hell breaks loose

Enjoy the holidays, because next year could make 2024 feel like a bridge tournament.

The election was merely a battle; the war begins next month, methinks.

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Season two of Wednesday will premiere sometime next year. I did a search for information and this photo popped up:

Turns out there is a whole industry dedicated to deep-faking our favorite movies and TV shows. For example, I’ve seen Crocodile Dundee and Alien, but I don’t recall these two scenes:

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This guy Kirby is a great government spokesman for the mysterious-drones issue.

I am being sarcastic.

I mean, at this point does anyone believe a single word out of his mouth?

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If I had to cite a movie that these bizarre drone sightings remind me of, I’d say Netflix’s Leave the World Behind.

That movie was produced by the Obamas.

Just a coincidence?

(Cue Twilight Zone music.)

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I recently got back on Twitter and was quickly bombarded by two types of followers: AI-generated attractive “girls,” and real-life hookers.

Occasionally one of these chicks has an amusing post. Like this one:

Overall, I am happy to be back on the X:

As for the people I reply to, I couldn’t say.

© 2010-2025 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Lots of nasty rumors about Tom Hanks floating around the Internet. I hope they are just that: rumors.

But this is 2024, so who knows?

We need to rip off the Band-Aid, find out who’s on the Epstein and Diddy lists, and get it over with.

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With these pardons, Biden seems hellbent on cementing his legacy as one of the worst presidents in American history.

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I’ve been watching a lot of horror movies lately.

Pretty Good:  Speak No Evil

Average:  Afraid

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Look out, world. Guess who’s back on Twitter (X)?

© 2010-2025 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

I haven’t seen Wicked the movie. Apparently, it’s pretty good. But I already have an issue with the film that has nothing to do with “wokeness” or the stars’ obnoxious press interviews.

Here’s my thing about musicals, in general: I like them — if the music is good. Rodgers and Hammerstein cranked out one great play/movie after another largely because their tunes were so memorable. Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady (not Rodgers and Hammerstein, but you get the point) — those 1940s-‘50s shows included tunes that I still enjoy.

I watched some Wicked videos on YouTube and there was nothing special that I heard. “Defying Gravity,” for example, spotlights what I dislike most about musicals: actors belting out some gaudy, generic number that doesn’t say “catchy tune,” but rather “Look at me! Listen to me! I’m singing!”

Theater kids may dig that shit, but it bores me.

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The Helicopter Heist

This is one of those foreign shows (Sweden) that fly under the radar on Netflix, which is sometimes justified, sometimes a shame. The title sounds like a rip-off of Money Heist; the plot synopsis also seems “been there, done that.”

But damned if this miniseries didn’t hook me. I liked it for three main reasons: The lead characters were compelling; the plot had me alternately rooting for the bad guys and the good guys; the heist itself was magnificent. Oh, and I really dug the musical score.

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Tier lists are all the rage on YouTube. I thought I’d make my own. It’s a subjective ranking of horror movies, from Universal classics to recent offerings. It’s how I feel about them. If you don’t like my rankings, tough titties. Click on the image for a larger view. If you still can’t read the titles in the images, it’s because Tiermaker sucks. Tough titties.

© 2010-2025 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

There’s much gloating by MAGA over the results of the election, which is understandable.

The right is tickled pink** over America’s decision to spank the libtards and to “save democracy.” The left is in despair over its failed attempt to “save democracy.”

But the fun is over, or should be over, for the right. The media isn’t going to give Trump a honeymoon, and the left isn’t going away. The Dems have two months left to squeeze in as much (more) damage as possible.

Time to stop celebrating and get to work.

** My online editor informs me that “tickled pink” is an overused phrase. But is it? It used to be cliche, but I don’t hear it anymore. Time to bring back “tickled pink.” 

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Heavy sigh. The Grouchy Editor website was attacked, again. This time, images were affected.

We are working to clean up old posts, but there’s a lot of work to do. Thank you for your patience, and for saving democracy.

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Is there anything to this list, which is making the rounds on Twitter?

If so, it might explain quite a bit of the recent, suspicious behavior by our beloved celebrities.

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We sometimes wonder if our site gets targeted for attacks because of our penchant for posting naked (or near-naked) ladies.

We won’t let that deter us. The girl below clearly wants everyone to enjoy her tits. Who are we to object?

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Who’s the Mole?

In his first term, Donald Trump appointed numerous people to high-level positions who wound up stabbing him in the back.

Odds are, at least one or two of his new appointments will work to undermine his agenda, again, in his second term.

But who will it be?

Who’s the mole?

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Best Thing About the Election

It’s nice that Trump won, but to me there’s something better:

David beat Goliath.

Despite all odds, the “little people” took on Big Media, Big Pharmacy, movie stars, colleges, corporations, and global “elites” … and kicked their ass.

Democrats claim to be for “marginalized people,” but every institution in the country was against the Trump voters … and the institutions lost.

Big win for The Deplorables … and democracy.

© 2010-2025 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Get ready for more of this. See below.

Post-election Musings

In the early 1960s, television went through a period when it was dominated by “hillbilly chic.” The most popular sitcoms were shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres, fish-out-of-water comedies in which rural and urban cultures clashed.

The most important show of that ilk was The Andy Griffith Show. I don’t recall it as being overly religious; I do recall its message of the importance of strong community. (If there were few people of color on the show, it’s because that demographic reflected reality: there were few minorities in many small towns.)

I know this because I grew up in my own version of Mayberry, North Carolina: a small town in Minnesota. When I say small, I mean 1,300 residents — small. Not what you’d call cosmopolitan, but there was a strong sense of community.

After the 1960s, I did what so many young people did and moved to the big cities: Dallas-Ft. Worth for 20 years, then Minneapolis for 25 years.

I am currently reading a book of Kurt Vonnegut speeches, which he delivered in the 1970s. In the speeches, Vonnegut laments the lack of community and epidemic of loneliness in America — 50 years ago. Sounds similar to 2024, does it not?

One thing Vonnegut does not recommend to people seeking a replacement for old-fashioned community values: turning to government.

My unsolicited advice to young people on the left and the right: If you are unhappy with your life, consider moving to a smaller city. Not so small as Mayberry or where I grew up; that’s too small. But perhaps towns in the 10,000-50,000 range. You know, big enough to have some of the creature comforts we’ve grown accustomed to, but not so big that you can’t make friends.

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Call me wicked, if you must, but this picture makes me smile:

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If you’re old enough, you probably recognize the photo at the top of this post. It’s from the 1999-2000 saga of Elian Gonzalez, a Cuban boy at the center of an international custody dispute. After his mother drowned while transporting her boy to the United States, relatives fought to keep Elian in Florida while his father sought to have him returned to Cuba. The famous picture shown above was taken when INS agents stormed the house and seized young Elian, who was later returned to his father.

If Trump follows through on his promise to begin mass deportations, get ready to see a lot more pictures like this one. The media are salivating at the prospect.

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And we are told that Trump is the intolerant fascist?

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Bill Maher is making more and more sense these days.

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I’ve noticed this twice now, while I was watching YouTube promos for the upcoming season of Wednesday. At the very end (or beginning) of the video short, in an almost-subliminal, blink-and-you-miss-it moment, images of Jenna Ortega in sexy Wednesday mode appear on the screen.  What’s up with that? Are they deep fakes?

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