entertainment

The frugal sybarite.

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(As promised during this no- or low-spend February, I have run a Throwback Thursday post to encourage frugal pursuits. This week’s choice is designed to remind us to take care of ourselves – without breaking the bank. The piece originally ran on July 15, 2015.)

Some habits that I consider opulent would make other people sneer. To each her own, I suppose. Myself, I happen to think taking a long, hot bath with a good book in (dry) hand is a tremendous luxury – especially if there’s a glass of iced tea or a Diet Coke handy.

(Hint: Even if the soft drink is already cold, put it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so before you run the bath. The contrast of the hot-as-you-can-stand water and the icy beverage is delightful.)

Hanging our laundry to dry in the sun leads to another luxury: falling asleep surrounded by the fragrance of the sun and the wind. Some people would say the sun has no odor. I beg to differ.

DF and I sometimes joke about being “frugal sybarites.” The fact is, a sumptuous lifestyle doesn’t necessarily require a lot of dollar signs.

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6 money lessons from “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”

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I didn’t expect “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” to be a cinematic classic. It was clear from the first preview that this would be a popcorn movie. What I did expect is that Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon would take the lead in supernatural heroism.

So I was pleasantly surprised when the middle-school nerd, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace, of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” among others) and her new (and only) friend, Podcast (Logan Kim) pretty much walked away with the movie. They – and especially Phoebe – are the film’s heart and mind.

And the scene where Podcast asks if she would be….

…wait for it…

his lab partner? That was one of the shyer, sweeter movie scenes I’ve encountered in ages.

The protagonists are the daughter and grandkids of one of the original Ghostbuster gang, and they’ve inherited his dilapidated house in Middle-of-Nowhere, Oklahoma. The mom, Callie, tells the kids they’re just going out there to sell the place, but we know before they do that they’re going to stay; after all, an early scene shows Callie begging the landlord not to evict them.

What could go wrong? Especially when teenaged son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard, of “Stranger Things”) and his new buddies start hanging around an abandoned mine? Or when Phoebe starts noticing some strange things of her own around their new home?

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” drags a bit here and there, and I could have done without the Hallmark-y denouement, but overall I had a pretty good time. Didn’t hurt a bit that I paid only $6 because it was cheap Tuesday, or that I had a $3-off coupon for the concessions stand. (Like I said: Popcorn movie.)

And, of course, I found money lessons therein. Don’t I always? 

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5 money lessons from “Wrath of Man.”

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Sometimes I want to watch art films, international cinema or documentaries. And sometimes I just want to see a whole lotta stuff get blowed up real good. “Wrath of Man,” a heist film starring Jason Statham, did not disappoint even though at times it was hard to follow.

Mostly that was due to the flashbacks. Lots of flashbacks. A couple of other scenes were absolutely mystifying until later, when they finally begin to make sense. Patience is needed, along with a tolerance for gunfire and roaring engines.

Now and then the story is a bit mystifying, as when H (Statham) gives a sub-par performance at a shooting range and isn’t the best at parking a truck. Another character basically confesses to being a bad guy, at which point I whispered to my great-nephew, “Why in the world would he tell him that?”

“Because he doesn’t want him to die,” great-nephew whispered back.

Again, it all made sense eventually. And the whispering was okay: We were two of only five people in the theater, and the only ones in our section. Besides, there was all that gunfire and roaring engines to provide cover.

How did I find personal finance lessons in all this? The way I always do: by looking for them. Here’s what I found. 

 

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Jerry Stiller and me: A minor celebrities story.

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The recent death of comedian and actor Jerry Stiller made me sad. Most people’s deaths make me sad. But I happen to know that in this case, the cliche everyone spouts is true: He’d had a great life.

How do I know? He told me.

Years ago he and his wife, Anne Meara, were guests of honor at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska. At that time I worked at the Anchorage Daily News, and was given the chance to interview them both before they got here.

Both of them were perfectly delightful. The conversation with Stiller went on for quite a while, and at the end of the interview he said he wanted to send me a copy of his autobiography, “Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara.” I thanked him and said that I appreciated the offer but that it wouldn’t be necessary.

 

 

He sent it anyway, with a personalized inscription, and I still have it.

At the end of the conference there’s always a tour from a glacier cruise company. Stiller saw me come aboard and waved me over. I spent the entire cruise sitting next to him and listening to him tell stories about his beautiful wife and his amazing children (actors Ben and Amy). He told me more than once how lucky he had been in his life, to have had such a wonderful marriage and incredible children plus the chance to do what he loved.

Sniffling yet? I am, too.

But that’s not the only point of this post.

 

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“The Walking Dead” and THAT SCENE.

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Spoiler alert: This post reveals crucial plot details from “The Walking Dead.” Read on at your own risk.

The Internet imploded last night with the winter opener of Season 10 of “The Walking Dead.” Not because a beloved character was killed (although two were put in dead-or-not?* peril), or because a villain got one over on the good guys (that had already happened, at the end of the fall season).

Much worse than that, apparently: Two arch villains (#NeganandAlpha) were shown about to have sex. Specifically, we were treated to a wide shot of the two, naked except for black socks, embracing in the woods.

Social media rang with screams of outrage:

“Whoever thought that last shot of Alpha and Negan would be a good idea should be fired.”

“My eyes. I will never recover.”

“And I thought the zombie in a well scene was nasty.”

“Negan and Alpha getting down and dirty was more disturbing and disgusting than Negan killing** Glenn.”

(The socks were mentioned, too, especially on the post-game wrapup on “The Talking Dead.” Hey, at least they weren’t wearing them with sandals.)

Here’s my admittedly biased theory: A bunch of these folks just can’t handle the idea of middle-aged, physically imperfect people getting it on. One Twitter commenter moaned, “It was like watching my parents have sex.”

Guess what, Kevin: Your parents probably do have sex. A lot of middle-aged (and older) people have sex.

And guess what again, Kevin: We’re probably better at it than you are.

 

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5 money lessons from “Terminator: Dark Fate.”

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Sometimes I go to the movies to be intrigued, uplifted and educated. And sometimes I go just to watch a whole lot of stuff get blowed up real good.

You can guess into which category “Terminator: Dark Fate” falls.

This entry in the “Terminator” franchise picks up right after “Terminator: Judgment Day,” and posits that Sarah Connor (a deliciously well-aged Linda Hamilton) and her son were able to prevent Skynet from taking over the world.

However, things still go very badly indeed for a young Mexican auto factory worker named Dani Ramos (Natalie Reyes), who’s targeted for seemingly no reason by a sinister new brand of Terminator called a Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna).

But there’s always a reason, right? And there’s always a protector. In this film it’s Grace (Mackenzie Davis), a seriously buff and butt-kicking warrior from the future. Eventually Arnold Schwarzenegger shows up again, too, and he’s given a couple of funny bits along with the flash-bang stuff. (His deadpan descriptions of why he’s a perfect mate and the difference that the right blinds can make to décor are extremely amusing.)

“Terminator: Dark Fate” isn’t perfect. In particular, I wish that director Tim Miller (“Deadpool”) had trimmed some of the fight scenes. We get it: The Rev-9 can be sliced and diced and shredded but he always comes back for more. Stahp with the CGI, already!

Still, I was absolutely entertained – and it’s nice to have a film in which three of the four badasses are women.

Now let’s talk about money.

 

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#GeekyThingsAboutMe.

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I saw the #GeekyThingsAboutMe hashtag on Twitter recently and identified pretty heavily.

Not that I’m into manga or Funko Pop figurines, or that I decorate the kitchen with comic-book themes, or that I organized a party for the 50th anniversary of “Doctor Who” (complete with Dalek bread), or that I was a regional spelling bee finalist* (to name a few examples).

However, I do have some geeky/nerdy tendencies. They say the difference between a geek and a nerd is that geeks or more social and nerds tend to be more introspective.

Both groups can be a bit insufferable, due to their encyclopedic knowledge of Harry Potter/DC Comics/whatever, and due to their frequent need to share that knowledge.

I try not to be too terribly insufferable. However, when someone shares an interesting story or fact, I do often want to say, “Ooohhh, and did you also know that (related fact)?” Sometimes that engenders even more conversation. Sometimes I just get blank stares.

For example, when my daughter was buying ginger beer to make Moscow Mules for a party, I mentioned that “ginger beer” was Cockney rhyming slang for “homosexual.” Blank stares for sure that time.

 

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Giveaway: “Sudsy Slim Rides Again.”

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Hello again, and sorry to have maintained radio silence for so long. Some day I’ll let you know what kept me elsewhere.

Today is not that day, though. Today is the day for promoting Chad and Darin Carpenter’s second film, “Sudsy Slim Rides Again.” Specifically, it’s a day for giving away a copy of the DVD.

Their first film, “Moose: The Movie,” was shot entirely in Alaska, with a tight budget and a loose grip on reality. That one made me laugh like a loon, filled as it was with the type of goofy humor familiar to fans of Chad Carpenter’s “Tundra” comics.

Their sophomore effort is, frankly, less sophomoric than the first. Don’t get me wrong: It’s rife with humor, but is definitely more of a semi-serious attempt at movie-making.

Want to win a copy of this “spaghetti Northwestern”? Of course you do.

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The dollar-an-hour rule.

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One of my blogging buddies, J. Money, recently published a post that bounced off a comment from yet another post.

(Blogging: Sometimes it’s a Ponzi scheme.)

That comment was from a guy who believes that entertainment should never cost more than a dollar an hour.

For example, a video game that costs $70 (!) needs to be played for at least 70 hours. A $60-a-month cable bill should mean your household watches a total of 60 hours of TV per month. And so on.

In “The ‘buck an hour’ rule,” J. Money noted that $1 was “a bit arbitrary and perhaps simplistic.” Just for fun, he took at look at some of his own ongoing expenses (only some of which were actual entertainment).

“It wasn’t pretty,” he admitted cheerfully.

Netflix yes, local newspaper no. Cellphone good, coffee not so much. Gasoline nope, currency collection nyet, historical society donation nein.

You never know when some “random thought” could affect a habit, J. Money concluded. So I decided to examine some of my own entertainment costs.

 

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Do kids still do these things?

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Happy Throwback Thursday! This piece originally ran on April 29, 2014. Given that so many of these pastimes were summer-oriented, I decided to post this because summer is nearly over. Sorry to be such a buzzkill.

Today I noticed a Facebook posting about talking into the fan “to hear my robot voice,” complete with a picture of a windblown little girl facing a fan and either talking or singing. That is, if robots sing.

“Admit it…we all did this,” the caption concludes.

Duly admitted. However, DF says he never did any such thing. Perhaps that’s because he grew up mostly in Alaska, where fans aren’t a common household appliance.

Do kids still do that – talk into a fan to hear their voices oscillate? Or is that too lame for words, given that they can download apps to make their voices sound like Darth Vader or, yes, a robot.

How about this one: Do kids still let the fan blow bubbles for them? Show of hands if you’ve ever held a dripping bubble-blowing wand in front of a running fan to watch bubbles shoot out.

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