Kicking off another week of job searching. Hopefully, todays the day, and something comes my way
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you”. Matthew 7:7
First things first, I think I got my Dropbox syncing set up, so here are some recent scans of cards in my collection that I have uploaded to the TCBB
I have some more scans to upload later today. It’s a slow process, but I hope to get images of all my cards uploaded to the site. Also won a cool card I needed from E-Bay which should be delivered today. Will post it and the set it belongs to tomorrow
Super Bowl 59 is set – It will be the Kansas City Chiefs vs the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9th. I really have no rooting interest in the game. Should be entertaining as both teams are very good and play exciting football. Also, another halftime show that I really don’t care about (This year’s performer is Kendrick Lamar). Here are the last 10 Half-Time performers. Interesting that there is not one big-time rock artist on this list. But got to a game and they blast rock music between every play. Dont understand what the NFL is thinking (Doest the halftime act actually bring in additional people who otherwise would care less about the Super Bowl). But it must be working for them. Oh Well.
2024 – Rihanna and Jay-Z 2023 – Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige, and Kendrick Lamar 2022 – The Weeknd 2021 – Shakira and Jennifer Lopez 2020 – Maroon 5 with special guests Travis Scott and Big Boi 2019 – Justin Timberlake 2018 – Lady Gaga 2017 – Coldplay with special guests Beyoncé and Bruno Mars 2016 – Katy Perry with special guests Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott 2015 – Bruno Mars with special guest Red Hot Chili Peppers
On my last walk, I listened to some ELP (Really good stuff), so Steely Dan (Aja is such a great album), and some newer Pink Floyd (Happy 81st birthday to Nick Mason). Everybody should find some time during the day to listen to some music (on a walk, in your car, streaming to your headphones). Such great stuff out there for everybody
I’m going to start putting together a daily checklist of things to get done. Need to get some structure into my daily routine, which will be helpful in getting the important things completed. Will try to note some of the things here (kind of like an online journal)
Before I forget, sad to see the passing of David Lynch a week ago. He was a visionary director, both in film and TV. He was the brains behind Twin Peaks, still regarded as one of the best TV series ever made. He was also a big proponent of Transadentiual Meditation (TM) and the David Lynch Foundation does great things to publicize the meditation technique to as may people as possible. I practice myself twice a day, and it has been a big help. RIP David Lynce – You will be missed
Some days time feels like it is flying along (usually when you are trying to get lots of things done). Other days it feels like time is crawling along at a snail’s pace (usually when you are in a hurry to get things done). In reality, time moves along at its own pace, and it’s up to us to manage it affectively.
I have been out of work since Friday, October 11th, 2024 (105 Days). Sometimes it feels like I have been off for years, while other times it feels like I was just let go. Some days are long, and some are short, but it’s up to me to manage my time while I continue looking for new opportunities.
*** I started to write this post and was cruising along when I hit some combination of keys on my laptop and everything just disappeared. I don’t know what I hit, and I tried many things to get back what I had typed, but it was just gone. Started again, and now I am nervous and keep hitting “Save Draft” just to make sure. Got to love Technology ***
Take 2
I have submitted 2 additional short Survivor Application Videos. No idea if this is allowed, but it can’t hurt to try. Just letting the Casting Directors know I am still interested. Also trying some different things like pointing them to this website, along with my daughter’s work website, where she promotes her work as a Film Major / Editor. Over the years she has helped me film some of my Application Videos and has even done a few small features on my quest to get on Survivor, as well as my hobby of Non-Sports Card Collecting. Give it a look if you are interested (http://www.katherinerupprecht.com)
As far as card collecting, I have been taking some time to update my collection on the Trading Card Database Site. It’s a great place to track your cards. Currently, I am going through my collection and uploading scans of cards that do not have images. It’s been lots of fun going back through older sets that I haven’t looked through in a while
** Thought that my scans were being uploaded to OneDrive and DropBox, but looks like there may be some issues. I will check when I get home later to make sure things are good, and then post some pictures of some of the recent cards I have scanned ***
Take 3
Will hold back any discussion on the NY Mets and Pete Alonso until things have been completed (either he resigns with the Mets or signs elsewhere)
Lehigh Basketball has fallen on some tough times. After winning their opening Patriot League Game against Bucknell, they have lost their last 6 league games. Hopefully, they can turn things around against rival Lafayette on Saturday. One of the good things about college basketball is the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament to the conference tournament winner. This means there is always something to play for. Hopefully, the Mountain Hawks can find some magic and make a run in the Patriot League Tournament
Really don’t care who wins the 2 NFL Championship Games this weekend. No feeling one way or another for all the team left.
Whatched a few decent movies and TV shows over the past few weeks.
Saw that Season 2 of The Night Agent was coming soon (Believe it premiers this weekend), So I decided to give Season 1 a try — It is really good, and I am enjoying it
Finished Season 2 of Silo. Just like the end of Season 1, they through us a curveball to think about until Season 3 is released. I never read the books the show is based on, so everything is new to me.
Also finished Season 2 of Squid Games (Should technically be called the 1st half of Season 2). It ended in the middle of the action, and hopefully, things will be continued in Season 3. I did enjoy the 2nd Season, and looking forward to Season 3 later this summer
It’s getting harder and harder to figure out the seasons of shows anymore (Not that it really matters). Take a look at Diners, Drive Inns and Dives (S39.E36). It premiered in 2006 and is now on Season 39. Makes no sense
As far as things going on in the world, I will hold judgment for a while and see what the new president tries to get done, what he actually gets done, and how the public reacts.
Been having some issues with getting myself motivated to write lately and was surprised I haven’t written anything here since January 2nd. Looking back, I was talking about all the bad things that were happening as we started off the new year. Fast forward 2 weeks and some of those things look pretty mild compared to the devastation in California due to the forest fires that have basically destroyed entire towns. The fires have forced people to have to walk away from their homes as the fires spread. A lifetime of memories destroyed in the blink of an eye. It is really hard to comprehend, so instead of watching and pretending to know how it feels, I just want to let everybody who is affected (The Rescue Workers, The Rich, the Poor, the Famous, the Homeless, Business owners, Government officials, ..) that most of Americans are heartbroken and wishing feeling your pain. There are always those who look at strategies as an opportunity to get their point or their thoughts out, claim that they are the victims, and just hate on everybody involved. It is just noise, so do your best to ignore it and remember the good outnumber the bad by a wide margin. PEACE to ALL
Switching directions, job searching has become a game that I really don’t want to play. First, you need to search job boards and company sites for job listings (hoping that they are actually available, and not just posted for corporate compliance reasons) Then you need to create a customized resume for each job you see posted. This is now done by pasting your base resume and the job description into an AI site and having AI quickly add and delete skills and experiences to your resume so it exactly matches what they are looking for. Then you do the same thing with AI to create a customized cover letter explaining why you would be a perfect fit for the job. Then submit your resume and hope that you were one of the lucky people whose AI resume was able to beat all the scanning software companies use, and actually have somebody take 3 – 5 seconds to look it over. Then, if the job is actually available, maybe you get an e-mail or call back. Then you need to make sure you have all your customized resumes, and cover letters available and ready so you know what the job is and be able to answer questions
Add to the fact that I am looking for jobs in IT, and I am at the upper end of the age scale (I am 58), and it gets harder and harder to keep up with all the new software/hardware/technologies that are out there. While there are lots of online training sites, most cost money, so you have to weigh that against the fact of how long I plan to be working (While I am not thinking of retiring, I am also not looking for a 10 – 15 year position. Also, at some point what I did 15 – 20 years ago really has no relevance in today’s world. Past experience with applications and Operating Systems that either no longer exist, or are so old they are past their time, makes it harder and harder.
I will get there but might have to think independently and come up with some unique ideas and thoughts to put myself in a position to find something that is enjoyable to get me through my remaining corporate working years. This was pretty much written from thoughts. I will re-read it and then make some updates and changes and try to be more focused — ** More to Come**
Quicky — Went to the Movies and saw “A Complete Unknown”. Thought it was really good. I have always liked Bob Dylan, and was very interesting to see some aspects of his early life. Was also interesting to see what the world was like back in the early 1960s. While it was probably a simmpiler time, there were still issues that people had to deal with like today. I am also a fan of Timothee Chalamet and like most of everything he has done (Although I am one of the few who really dis not like Dune 2, sorry). I give it 4 Bags
Note: Please check out Mediocre Movie Majors on YouTube – My daughter and her boyfriend are filmmakers and do a movie review podcast. (Here is the latest episode)
I also watched “A Den of Thieves” the other night – I saw a commercial for “A Den of Thieves II” and it looked good, so I figured I would give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it. It also looked great and was well-made. Another 4 Bags
Going to put together another short Survivor Application Video. Playing off of my rant on job searching above, I have some outside-of-the-box ideas and going to give them a try. Similar to looking for a job, a big part of submitting an application video is selling oneself. I already know I am not the best at this, but maybe writing about it and thinking about it will get me motivated to try some things
Finally, I tried watching “Deal or No Deal Island” — Even though I am a big reality show fan and enjoy seeing some old Survivor and Big Brother contestants come back and compete, the show was pretty bad. Any reality show where they need to explain the rules, and it still makes no sense, is not going to work for me. Same with “The Traitors” Great concept and fun to see old players, but once they are gone, the show in general is not good enough to hold my interest.
Survivor (#1) Who Wants to the A Millionaire (#2) The Amazing Race (#3) Big Brother (#4)
Despite the tragedy in New Orleans, along with the craziness of a Tesla full of fireworks catching on fire in Las Vegas, and a bunch of yahoos shooting people at the nightclub in Queens, NY., I hope everybody was able to find some peace, and celebrate the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025. These are crazy times, with lots of crazy things happening, but life goes on, and the best thing to do is embrace the good in people and wish peace and happiness to all.
One of my goals in 2025 is to do my best to focus on things I can control and not worry or get upset about things I can’t. I’m not saying to ignore everything and act like things are fine. There are lots of issues in the world, and it’s up to all individuals (including myself) to dig deep and do whatever you can to help make things better. Instead of complaining, you can run for public office, and put yourself in a position to make changes. You can join a non-profit group that is working on issues you are passionate about, or donate your time and money to charities you support.
Take some time to really educate yourself on things going on (Not just reading and reposting Twitter Posts). Take some time to read credible sources and not just scroll through social media for your news.(I would guess that at least 50% of social media is false, fake, manufactured propaganda designed to get you upset – most likley even higher).
Saw this on the RollingStone Website. Facebook and Instagram to Unleash AI-Generated ‘Users’ No One Asked For. Now you can create your own fake profiles, to interact with other fake profiles, while you scroll through all these fake profiles. Not much good can come from this. The article ends with this — If, in a few years, Instagram and Facebook are just places for AI bots to hang out, it stands to reason that the humans may find other ways to communicate.
Shifting gears, the NY Giants finish up a dreadful season on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Win or Lose, ownership has some tough decisions to make. As I have stated numerous times, they need to decide if they want to bring the GM and Coach back or let them go and take the team in another direction. My mind was not changed by last week’s win over the Indianapolis Colts. I would get rid of them and start over. Partially based on their track record the past 2 years (more than 1/2 of their games were not just bad, but uncompetitive. Add to that the foolishness shown on Hard Knocks before the season, where both the GM and Coach came across as being out of touch, and it is time to change the entire feeling of the team. If they stay, we will be stuck with another year of excuses (regardless if they draft a QB, or bring in a stop-gap QB). And while I want to be positive about next year no matter which way they go, the thought and chance of them getting blown out on opening night for the 3rd straight year is just not a risk they can afford to take.
As for the New York Mets and Pete Alonso, let’s get something done soon. I really want for him to come back to the Mets. He’s a perfect fit for this team, and it would also be great for him and the fans if he could return and continue his pursuit of numerous Mets records. While Juan Sote should be a great addition to the team, he showed with the Yankees that he is only about the money, and has no true allegiance to any team. Pete Alosno seems to be the opposite and really enjoys being a NY Met. Since you can have both, Steve Cohen needs to get a deal done. And sooner than later, as its been seen over and over that it take players who sign late and miss some of spring training extra time to get ready
As far as Non-Sport Card Collecting, going to spend some time uploading images of some of my older cards to the Trading Card Data Base. The site is great for tracking both Sports and Non-Sports Cards, including base sets, insert sets, autograph cards, and my specialty promos *** Photos to come ***. Its a lot of fun going through old sets and promo cards on the site, and uploading photos of older cards I haven’t looked at in a while. I will be a good distraction for the next few days. After this weekend, things in the job market should start to open up, and it is time to focus on finding a new job
** Updated with Photos of older promo cards **
Music
Had a great time playing Name That Tune with my wife and daughter over the Christmas break. I randomly play songs from our Apple Music account and see if they can name the songs. Since it’s a family account, the music is really all over the map. I have to skip a bunch of my songs when they come up (Prog Rock and Heavy Metal are not my wife or daughter’s cup of tea). Was really impressed with my daughter who can get most songs based on just a few notes (Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and others are no problem for her). Maybe we will try out for “Beat Shazam”
I also took an hour the other night to put on my headphones and listen to some random music. I cap things at 3 songs per artist.
John Denver / Scorpions / Grand Funk Railroad / Blues Image / Marshal Tucket Band / Led Zepplin and the Moody Blues.
TV Shows
Started watching Sqid Games 2 ( NetFlix) (So far really enjoying it)
Really enjoying Beast Games on Amazon (Mr. Beast knows how to entertain)
I finished Season 2 of Shrinking (Apple TV) (Really great show)
I finished Season 1 of Day of the Jackle (Paremont +) (Good news – looks like there will be a Season 2)
Enjoying Silo on Apple TV
Movies
Going to try and find some time to see “A Complete Unknown” in the next week
The time has come to wrap things up for today. Will upload some photos of some of the promo cards I have when I get home
Books
Started reading Familiaris – The follow-up book to “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle”
Hope everybody enjoyed their Christmas / Chanaka and got to spend some time with friends and family
Writing every day is much harder than I thought, especially if you throw in Christmas on a Wednesday. I’m going to try and remember the last weeks and write some of the highlights. I’m also going to try to find some time to get away for a day or two where I can write with no distractions. I may also have to skip Wordle, and Connections, and get free coins on the TOPPS Bunt and Star Wars Card Trader App.
Here is some good advice from Jia Jiang (Author / TED Talk Speaker). I have been following him for years = since he made videos for “Rejection Therapy” where he went 100 Days trying to get rejected to help him get over his fear of rejection.
The big thing from last week was the Survivor 47 Finale. Before digging into some of my thoughts, I would like to congratulate Rachel LaMont for winning the title of Sole Survivor and taking home the grand prize of $1,000,000.00. She played a great game and was a deserving winner
I was going to write earlier, but I wanted to gather my thoughts for a bit. I also saw there were a lot of discussions going on on Twitter / X and Facebook, and I wanted to let these die down so I wasn’t influenced by all the chatter.
While I really enjoyed this season, there wasn’t anybody who made me think they were one of the best of the best. I think it is just how the game is played now, compared to the past. Players seem to stay in their lane, never really looking to stir things up. They seem content just surviving from week to week and not trying too much to rock the boat. An example is Sue, who found an Immunity Idol early in the game and did nothing with it. She just held on to it, and finally played it last time it was good. Maybe she was thinking that by showing she could keep it a secret, the jury would give her credit. Looking at the final votes, it really had no effect. It seems to me, that once Survivor went to a final 3, there is always somebody who makes it to the end but then gets no votes, and is basically an afterthought. This shows you need to make a defining move at some point that makes you memorable.
Also, it seems that when they went from 39 to 26 days, there is less downtime, and therefore less long-term strategizing. Having to make quick decisions after each tribal counsel changes how you play. In the old game, you would have 2 to 3 days to try and change people’s minds after each Tribal Council, so if you blindsided somebody’s close friend, you had time to smooth things out and explain yourself. Now you need to almost play day-to-day, and hope you’re on the right side of the next vote
And this seems to affect the editing of the contestants as well. If you’re not actively looking for advantages, or discussing making a big move, there really is no time to show you on TV. So while the cast members get to know each other extremely well (by virtue of being stranded together with nowhere to hide), the TV audience does not see this. So when they mentioned what a great person and player Caroline was, I was like “Huh?, She didn’t do anything special, or do much that I saw.”
As for the overall game, I feel they need to bring back some of the older challenges, where people were forced to make decisions against each other. I liked the challenges where the contestants would have to break tiles by smashing them to see who could survive to the end. Having to choose between individuals including your closest allies makes things interesting. Not the same as when somebody winds a reward, and then has to choose who will go with them.
Still a fun watch, and looking forward to Survivor 48 in the Spring (“Survivor” Season 48 will premiere on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 for a two-hour special)
Survivor has been a big part of my life for the past 25 years and still fascinates me to this day. Still think its the best Reality Show on TV, due mostly to its simplicity. While there are times when things happen to people that are totally out of their control, for the most part, you will not be eliminated by shear luck, which forces the contestants to think and strategize to get to the end.
Still working on getting on the show, and hopefully, my name will be called, and after actually playing the game, I will be able to see things from the inside and truly reflect on all my posts over the years
Some other things that happened over the past week
I watched the first 2 episodes of “Beast Games” on Amazon. Hosted by Jimmy “Mr. Beast” Donaldson, it’s his take on Squid Games with a $5,000,000.00 Grand Prize. I really enjoyed the original Squid Games (Season 2 premiers today), as well as the Netflix reality show. I am a big fan of Mr. Beast, as well, and he did a great job with his show. It’s really interesting to see people put in situations regarding money. It reminded me of what goes through inexperience, or general low-stakes gamblers. They will win some money, and then usually lose it back. After losing it back, they justify things by saying, they just gamble for fun, or I started with nothing, so no big deal. But if you were to randomly hand somebody $1000.00 cash, let them hold it, and tell them it was theirs to do what they please, and then an hour later, told them to give it back, they would not be happy. “You gave it to me, and it’s mine. You cant take my money”
This brings me back to Beast Games. They started with 1000 players, and throughout the 1st two episodes, they offered people money to walk away and drop out of the game. Most of the people declined the offer and decided to hang around with the chance of winning the grand prize. Maybe I would decline a few hundred dollars for the experience, but once the offers started to go up to $10,000.00, $100,000.00, and even $1,000,000.00, it just seems crazy that people still turn it down. One of the crazy things is that a lot of the challenges so far, have included a lot of randomness, where as a player, you really had no input into the outcome. They divided the contestants into smaller groups and then said if anybody wanted to drop out, they would get some money, and everybody else in the team would be eliminated. All it takes is somebody to grab the money, and a bunch of players who were chosen at random are eliminated. So to me, there is no way I would not take the money. Will be interesting to see how things play out the rest of the way. Would you turn down 2 Million Dollars to have the opportunity to play against others for 5 Million? Also, if (and most likely when) they do a 2nd season, will you get a bunch of people applying who are looking for a quick grab. I think I will apply and then take the 1st amount they offer. $20,000.00 for 15 minutes of gameplay is not that bad.
Also looking forward to the new “Cheers” cards coming out in February by Rittenhouse Archives Hopefully this set does well, and we will see some more of these one-off sets. Looks like the card companies have realized they need to adapt their strategy to smaller popular titles, instead of putting out set after set of “Star Wars”, “Star Trek”, and “Game of Thrones” cards rehashing the same autograph cards. People are now looking to invest in new cards for a show or movie that they have fond memories of. Cryptozoic did well with their Ghostbusters set a few years back, and hopefully, they will continue thinking outside of the box
As for sports — The New York Giants have two games left in this miserable and disheartening season. Long since eliminated, the team has no spunk, no spark, and no direction. Everybody is waiting until the Monday after the season ends to see what owner John Mara decides to do. Will he stay the course with the current GM and Couch or will he clean house and look to go in a different direction. I have been saying for a while that I would get rid of the GM / Coach to try and bring a fresh attitude into the organization. Right now they are in NFL Hell — A bad team that is also boring
Hope the Mets make the decision to bring back Pete Alonso. If you can’t keep a homegrown talent who loves the team and wants to be here, then we are in a sad state of things. I understand that MLB Baseball (as well as all other professional and collegiate sports is a business), but we need to make sure to keep some fun and excitement in the games as well. Once sports become only a numbers game with players with no allegiance to where they play and are only concerned about how much they get paid (Which is happening in College), why should fans even care? Might as well get rid of the team names and affiliations, and just have a generic league or generic teams where players move at will between teams, and nobody really cares who wins or loses. Sad that kids these days will not be able to look back and say they saw Player A or Player B play for their college and made an impact on the University and gave them lots of special memories. Instead, Player A will play at 4 or 5 different colleges, sit out any bowl games due to transferring or fear of injury, and then go to the NFL Goos for him, but he will have no long-term impact on any of the schools he played at, and nobody remembering most of them after a few years.
Time for a break — Will be back soon (I promise) with some more thoughts, as well as a list of Movies, TV Shows, Books, and Music that I have been enjoying, and looking forward to
Regarding TV and music, here is Hozier performing “Fairytale of New York” on Saturday Night Live a few nights ago. I really like the performance. Hope you enjoy it as well
The Survivor 47 Season Finale is tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing who outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted everybody to claim the title of Sole Survivor
I practice Transcendental Meditation (TM). Below is some news and link for those who may be interested
Bestselling Author Bob Roth to Appear on Good Morning America Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 17
We’re thrilled to share the good news that Bob Roth, CEO of the David Lynch Foundation and bestselling author of Strength in Stillness, will appear on ABC’s Good Morning America this Tuesday, December 17, at 8:30 AM ET* along with co-anchors Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos.
Bob will talk about the benefits of Transcendental Meditation® and the exciting launch of Meditate America—a nationwide initiative aimed at making the TM® program accessible to everyone.
We invite you to share this news with friends and family who may be interested.
Wishing you a happy holiday season and a healthy New Year!
Finally, here is a poem from the group meditation from this morning. I found it very moving
The Mountain
If the mountain seems too big today then climb a hill instead; If morning brings you sadness it’s okay to stay in bed. If the day ahead feels heavy and your plans feel like a curse, There’s no shame in rearranging, don’t make yourself feel worse. If a shower stings like needles and a bath feels like you’ll drown; If you haven’t washed your hair for days, don’t throw away your crown! A day is not a lifetime. A rest is not defeat. Don’t think of it as failure, Just a quiet, kind retreat. It’s okay to take a moment From an anxious, fractured mind. The world will not stop turning While you get realigned! The mountain will still be there When you want to try again You can climb it in your own time, Just love yourself till then!
Where did the time go? As I wrote last Friday, I was on a role and was looking forward to continuing to write here each day of December. The next thing I know its Monday morning, and I have not written anything here the past 2 days. It’s not like I sat around all weekend trying to convince myself to go into my office and write. I went on a few walks (Listening to “Against The Rules”, Season 4, an interesting pod-cast on sports gambling), I watched a few movies (more on this below), went out to dinner, went grocery shopping, and went to Starbucks and Barnes & Nobel, where I spent some time reading my current book) I did spend some time watching the NJ Giants lose again (The lifelong fan in me makes me watch each week, even though they are awful and have lost 9 in a row. (They are now 2-12 on the season)
All this time, I am still working on finding a new job, which has been tough. Being an older white person (I’m 58 years old), I’m struggling to decide exactly how I want to spend the rest of my working years. Do I want to go back to the corporate world, and continue as an IT Specialist, or find a more enjoyable job, most likely for less pay). By the end of this week, I hope to have a solid plan and be able to relax and enjoy the Christmas Holiday Season before going full force to start the new year
Before I write, I want to acknowledge the passing of Roxanne Toser of Harrisburg PA. A pioneer in the Non-Sports Card Industry, Roxanne, her husband Marlon, and son Harris were responsible for running the Philly Non-Sports Card Show – The premier event for non-sport and entertainment trading card collectors for over 40 years. I enjoyed seeing and talking to her at the shows and the enthusiasm she brought to the hobby. RIP Roxanne – She will be missed #PEACE
On with the show
I watched the new Netflix film “Carry-On” on Friday night. I will say, that while most of these Netflix action movies are just OK, I really enjoyed a lot of this one and thought it was very good. Then near the end, it fell into the pattern of a lot of action movies, where the super smart, well-prepared bad guy and his partners all of a sudden become some of the dumbest people alive. They do things that feel like the complete opposite of what they were doing the entire movie. After showing no remorse, and simply killing people throughout the movie, when they then have the opportunity to kill the hero and his girlfriend, they hesitate and let them get away. Then they fall for the switched suitcase trick and are shocked when they go to finish their mission and the suitcase is empty. This could have been a really good movie, but they blew the ending. Ending these types of movies (as well as TV shows) is hard to do in a way that feels real.
On Saturday night, I ended up watching “This Ends With Us” which just became available for streaming. I liked this movie, but it felt kind of forced. I have not read the book, so maybe there was some things lost in translation. I never felt that the lead man was as bad a person as they portrayed him to be. The subject matter of abuse was understood, but I feel they needed to make him even more abusive for the movie to really work.
On Sunday night, I watched the final 2 episodes of “The Day of The Jackyl“. I really liked this series, although at some points they did go a little overboard and made the show feel like “24” where a guy can be shot, stabbed, and tortured in the morning, be chased as he flies from country to country in the afternoon, and then be totally fine with no issues by the evening. But Eddie Redmayne did such a great job that it wasn’t totally crazy. Without spoiling things, they set things up for a new season which should be a fun watch.
I also completed the NetFlix Original 6 Episode Thriller “Black Doves“. Starring Keira Knightley, it was a really good series. Liked the mix of action, suspense, and even some comedy. Another sereies that set things up for a 2nd season
Switching gears, not much to say about the New York Giants. They are in the worst spot a team can be. They are currently irrelevant to the local market and looked upon as being and inept and clueless organization
*** Lunch Break ***
Got a test that the latest episode of “Mediocre Movie Majors” was released. This is my daughter and boyfriends’ PodCast where they watch and rate movies. They both have Filmmaking Degrees and its interesting to see their perspective on movies. Give it a watch, a like, and a thumbs up
And finaly, here are some pictures I took over the last week. I like taking random photos (Wish I was better at it)I am going to try to take more as I see things that interest me (Think I am going to watch some YouTube Videos on iPhone Photography to see what cool things I can do)
Along the South Branch of the Raritan RiverAndy’s SoapMoonUp in the SkyThrough the TreesRound ValleyRound ValleyKeep OutKahn SoapWorlds best Goldfish GrahamsEifel tower made of Chocloate (Screen Shot)
In History – 74 years ago, one of the all-time great Bugs Bunny episodes “The Rabbit of Seville” was released. Still holds up after all these years
And as they end most Looney Tunes episodes, “Thats All Folks”
I owe you something from yesterday and today (Friday the 13th). I hope that by letting you know I plan to write every day, I can put pressure on myself to do it. I have missed a few days, but it’s annoying me, and hopefully, it forces me to find at least a few minutes to write
Here is a quick note for yesterday (Day 12)
Completed watching the NetFlix Series “Black Doves” starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw. Thought it was really good. It was the perfect length of 6 episodes to tell the story. They did leave things open for another season, but if not, It left me satasfied.
Also, I did find some time to meet a friend who was laid off along with me back in October. It was good to just hand out, and talk about how things are going with the job search.
As for today (Day 13)
I was kind of shocked listening to Boomer and Gio this morning while driving to the coffee shop. Though they purposely brought up politics and were leaning toward the right. To me, some of the stuff they were talking about felt a bit opinionated, which I had not heard before. I will check in next week to see if this was just a strange day, or if they are purposely making a decision to try and change the makeup of their audience. Hopefully not, and hopefully it is not a station mandate. Sports Radio is one of the places that kept politics out of the picture and was able to simply mostly focus on sports.
The world is getting more complicated each day, and it’s getting tougher and tougher to separate real and fake news and opinions. Everybody seems to have an opinion on everything. Throw in conspiracy theories and we are haading for so strange times
Here in New Jersey, we have people freaked out over large groups of drones flying around at night (So far nothing over my place). Nobody seems willing to talk about where they are coming from and who is flying them on the local, state, and federal levels. (Let the conspiracy theories fly)
Then there are people questioning everything about the cold-blooded shooting of CEO Brian Thompson. Did the police get the right guy? Did they plant evidence? (Again, let the conspiracy theories fly)
On top of this, we have a President-Elect who is hell-bent on letting everybody know how bad everyone and everything is
*** Note – I had seen a picture/post of a Trump post on his Truth Social Network. Was going to comment on it, but decided to check things 1st, and according to a quick search, the post may be fake, so no comments from me will be made ***
This is what really scares me. It’s getting tougher and tougher to trust anything, and it really starts playing on your mind and emotions. You basically need to ignore everything you read and hear or you will just drive yourself crazy
Have to run — Donating Blood to help those in need
May write again later today, but definalty will be back tomorrow
Thanks for reading
AverageAndy @AverageAndy2
#PEACE
#NeverToOldForSurvivor #GiveMeAChance #Season49
#Marillion — A Better Way of Life — Give them a listent
I just finished watching the first part of the 2-part Survivor Finale. Andy and Genevieve were voted off, leaving a final four of Rachel, Sam, Sue, and Teeny. It’s been an excellent season, and the 4 players left deserver to be there. Of them, I think Rachel has played the best game. She always seemed to be aware of what was going on. I know Sue was able to keep her Idol secret for most of the season (She found it before the merge), but I don’t feel she really did much with it, and wish she had used it to make a bold move. It would have been great if she played it on Genevieve at the end and sent Sam packing. That would have scored her mega points. Looking forward to next week’s finale (It is only 2 hours, so should be action-packed)
Lots of crazy stuff going on in the news these days. I like to stay informed and keep up with things, but I am getting overloaded, to the point where I’m ready to disconnect, stop watching, listening, and surfing the internet for a bit just to clear my head. Going to take some time to listen to music, watch some shows on Apple+ and NetFlix, and try to read a lot while avoiding anything mainstream
I might try to put together a short casting video for Survivor and submit it as a 2nd application. Every week Jeff comes on and asks “If your ready for an adventure, and think you can you handle Survivor, then go ahead apply“. I applied in August, but maybe after Jeff and the Producers see somebody like Sue make the final 4, they will realize older people can compete with the best of them and do well.
Finally, I have a folder of random pictures I have saved over the years (for lots of different reasons) I added a few new ones tonight, and here is a random selection just for fun
AirplaneOh GodHerman MunsterNed RyersonMcLovinMr Hand
AverageAndy 