The Friday Fives

Gut punch week.
I need to surround my self in all the comforts

1. what is your “comfort movie” when you need a lift?

Finding Forester. I guess as an English major in college it resonates and what is wrong with Sean Connery and F. Murray Abraham.

2. What is your go to comfort food?

Mac and Cheese – the home made kind not that crap from a box at the store – and better yet my sister’s homemade mac and cheese. The secret ingredient is cream cheese.

3. What is your go to comfort watch on the telly?

British crime dramas. I can get sucked into to some old BBC crime detective binges in a heartbeat.

4. What is your best way to clear the head and calm the nerves?

Talk a long walk or in more conducive weather a bike trek.

5. What fictional characters would you surround yourself with whan you find your self stressed and depressed.

Well, none of the Avengers for sure that just seems too stressful. Maybe just hanging out a the coffee shop with the cast of Friends – but being careful around Ross because he really is a terrible person.

The Friday Fives

1. In conference call bingo, where you check off business words that will inevitably show up on the call, what word/term do you despise the most?

Synchronizing synergies (I actually heard this week, but I don’t even know what it means)

2. In journalism/political speaking, what is a term/word people get wrong all the time?

The role and powers of the US Vice President. The constitution does not provide detailed roles and responsibilities for this person, so they kind of roll their own.

3. What’s an emerging technology that will probably make the world a worse place to live in once it’s perfected?

Encrypted data chain tech like that behind BitCurrency is probably the best option. So many people really want it to work, but it is nebulous and prone to fraud and scams. I’ve read a few books and dozens of articles on the tech, and it scares me.

4. What is something you detested as a child but like now as an adult?

Asparagus. To be fair, growing up in the sixties and seventies, most vegetables were overcooked, canned, or frozen and flavorless. But while traveling in France, I ordered an asparagus omelet at a truck stop diner (or the French version therein), and it was so delightful and yummy that it changed my entire world order.

5. How would you spend $50,000 in 1 hour?

Buy a car. Go to the car leasing agent and tell him, “Hi, here is $50,000. Get me something nice.”

The Friday Fives

Myrna Loy and William Powell (and a wire-haired terrier) starred as Nick and Nora Charles (and Asta) in the 1934 film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man.

1. What’s a place that’s romanticized in movies or TV shows but is actually awful?

The midwest in the summer time – swelterin heat and humidity. It is truly awful. Movies don’t even begin to portray its awfulness.

2. What is a movie that you’ve seen hundreds of times but still enjoy watching it?

“The Thin Man” A comedic genius.

3. What’s the most overrated movie everyone seems to love?

“Gone With the Wind.” Really it is a terrible film.

4. Who’s your favorite female actor of all time?

Myrna Loy (See #2 above – she steals every scene.)

5. What kinds of movies just never interest you?

Horror films. They just seem like such a waste of time.

The Friday Fives

1. What album did your parents introduce you to that you love?

My dad had a box set of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and I still dig those songs.

2. Without mentioning the song title, what lyric can you post that will trigger the song in someone’s head?

Got a wife and kid in Baltimore, Jack.

3. What food/menu item should never be ordered from a home delivery service?

Raw oysters. I can’t imagine anyone can get those delivered with any kind of trustworthy quality.

4. What deceased musician would still be making amazing music if they were alive today?

John Lennon.

5. Who played the greatest movie villain?

Alan Richman in Die Hard

The Friday Fives

  1. If you could patent one thing in your life, what would it be?
    My patience. I am a very patient person. (Can that actually be patented? Well, we will wait and see. )
  2. What is the one kitchen gadget you absolutely will never let go of?
    My knife sharpener.
  3. What is an essential phone app?
    Text messaging is probably one of my top ten apps, but it’s an absolute must-have. There are chat apps streaming music and social media apps I use all the time but can praobably live without, but the texting app will never go away.
  4. What is the essential add-on for your car?
    Well, I don’t have a car, but on my bicycle, I have this little media remote control to handle the volume, start, stop, fast-forward, and rewind on my phone’s streaming app. So while cruising down with the tunes jamming on my phone, I don’t have to worry about negotiating the phone lock screen to manage my tunes—just a finger on the buttons on the handlebar, and bam, music.
  5. Before the smartphone, what was an essential device?
    Caller ID, I suppose. It is hard to think of anything quite as ubiquitous as the smartphone, but in its short time, caller ID was an essential telephone upgrade.