No News May Not Be Good News...But It Can Be Healthier For You

Listening to negativity, and bad news, will affect your mindset.  When you keep hearing that the sky is falling, eventually you can't help but glance up once in a while to check.  Thirty years or so ago, I stopped watching the local news shows.  And yes, for my younger audience, there was TV back then...and it was in color.  

Even way back then though, there was a growing tendency to deliver nothing but bad news.  Accidents, violence, disasters.  Bad news sells!  Very little good news, other than the occasional 'human interest' story...which I think was some sort of news code phrase for something that will keep people from throwing themselves out fifth story windows.

The fact is though, that's what people want to watch.  I'm not a psychologist, so I really don't know why exactly...and I'm sure there are any number of people who would be happy to tell me precisely why that is.  Another fact is, that watching this sort of news is depressing!  I mean it makes you feel bad...feel sad...and makes you afraid to go out or leave your kids outdoors unwatched.

So I started thinking about it then and asking myself why I watched.  I realize that we all have this fascination with 'dramatic' events, whatever they are.  Why we can't not look at a car accident when we drive by.  Then I asked myself....what was I getting out of this?  Was there anything on the local news that was going to make me happier....safer....better informed about something important in my life?  Surprisingly (to me), the answer was a resounding NO!  

Granted, occasionally there might be something I needed to know.  But that rare event was not worth the psychological damage the vast majority of the news was doing to me.  And to be fair, I did (and do) get my news....just not from these local stations anymore.  I didn't go into hermit-mode.  I just found ways of finding out what I really needed to know from other sources.  

The bottom line though, is that whether it's news or the people you surround yourself with, it's best to make them as positive as possible.  Being positive doesn't mean you can't hear constructive criticism or real news.  Some of it is bound to be bad.  It just should be news that helps you make your life better, safer, more informed of things that do matter to you.  Keeping a positive outlook these days can be a challenge...don't make it harder by letting the 'bearers of bad news'  poison your well.

The Top 10 Things Wrong With Orphan Black!

First, before the hate mail and death threats begin, I love the Orphan Black series.  I only get into one or two TV series a year.  Mostly I'm watching movies...and college football when it's in season....but hey, don't hold that against me!  I'm not exactly sure when or how I found this show.  Most likely a commercial came on during Dr Who.  Whatever it was, I started catching up on the first shows and never looked back.

The problem for me though, is that I really...really...expect my shows to be as realistic as possible.  I don't mean that it can't stretch the envelope or 'go where no man has gone before".  It just needs to make sense in some way or another.  So when Orphan Black strayed off the path, I did my best to look the other way and hope it wasn't there when I looked back. Unfortunately, they seem to have this penchant for going to that dark place for me.

I'm not talking about plot twists or new mystery characters either.  Game of Thrones has nothing on Orphan Black in that category! (disclosure - until I lost my HBO, GoT was another show I watched WAY too much of).  No, my problem is much more basic than that.  So, here are the top 10 things in Orphan Black that are like nails scratching on a chalk board for me (do they still make caulk boards...TBT??!!):

1) Why doesn't anybody move...or even try to hide?!!  Right from the beginning, with the police, drug-dealing boyfriends, Dyad and god knows who else looking for them nobody moves!!  What...I mean...what??!!  And every week it's the same thing.  Someone from some not-so-nice faction shows up on the same doorsteps trying to kill someone, kidnap someone or steal something.

2) Why is Sarah in charge?  She gives loose cannons a bad name.  'Reactionary' should have her picture next to it in the dictionary.  I mean, do any of her plans/strategies last longer than the commercial breaks?!

3) Does anyone else think that Helena should maybe NOT be wandering loose in the world?  This woman has issues...like the Sahara has sand.  Somehow part of her therapy is playing with everyone's kids??!!...and passed around the family like their old aunt.  Did we forget that just a few episodes back she was a murderous psychopath? [6-13-2015 update...I rest my case...but you gotta just love her direct approach to solving problems! Like riding a bike...you never really forget how.]

4) What's with that kid anyway?  I assume at some point we're going to actually get some explanation as to why this kid can see the future...read minds...and whatever other magic powers she seems to have.

5) Doesn't anybody actually finish investigating murders?  If I remember right, there have been at least three or four murders/suicides on the show.  Yet, even after Art and Sarah were out of the picture, no one seems interested in figuring out why they keep finding bodies with identical DNA.  Or maybe that just gets boring for the cops too after a while...same old thing and all.

6)  They don't move! (See #1....yeah, this is just f**king stupid)

7)  How many different times can you "coincidentally" have to impersonate each other?  Can you say 'jump the shark'?  Seriously....this is probably the most annoying part of the show for me.  It reminds me of every bad 50's movie or TV show that tried to use the old mistaken identity ploy.  One more of these and I'm going to ruin a perfectly good TV. 

8) Where are these new clones coming from? Didn't anybody keep track of these damn things?!...or were they just too busy killing off the scientists to be bothered back then?  And if Dyad couldn't locate them back at the beginning, and hasn't been able to track them down in all these years, how are they popping up now?  Another mystery......although, maybe if she does play, like a thousand roles, she'll at least get nominated for an Emmy...

9) Can someone please explain to me just who the hell is Delphine...or whatever the hell her name is? She seems to have gone from exchange-student/lover to Dyad spy to Queen of everything Dyad...with no explanation as to the miracle metamorphosis.

10) Yes, you may have guessed it...THEY DON'T MOVE!! (See #1...again)  I mean come-on guys...hide or something...for god's sake!!

So, having said that, I'll be watching...and recording...the last two episodes of this season.  Realizing also that they're either going to have to come through with the secrets and connections with all these clones in the next season or two.  Otherwise, we're likely to see a regular shark jumping fiesta in the not too distant future. [6-13-2015 update - well, I didn't see THAT coming...can't even imagine what the finale will be like!]

Why We Miss the Boat By Counting Calories

Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day!  When I read this story  [Congressman mocks calorie counting]  I'm not sure what was more disturbing.  Listening to Rep. John Shimkus mocking the idea of counting calories or the fact that he's right...but for all the wrong reasons.

Now I'm not saying he's an idiot.  Although, who am I to judge really...after all, he is a congressman.  The problem is that he's right about the idea that calories are not the key to healthy eating and weight loss.  Look at diet soda for instance.  Some have no calories at all.  We all know that a calorie is a measure of the energy in food.  Something the body can break down and use.  However, the fact that it has no calories doesn't mean it's somehow good for you.  Dirt doesn't have calories (that I know of) but we don't (generally) eat dirt.  Although, the be honest...given some unavoidable choice...I'll go with the dirt every time.  Chances are that any rat piss or bear shit that might be in it is better for me than most of the concocted crap in diet soda!

So the point is, instead of worrying about reporting calories...which is only half the story...how about just telling me what's in the fucking food!  Yes, Congressmen, unlike the people you obviously associate with, I do want to know.  Not that I'm any sort of food genius or health fanatic. But if there are more things in it that end in -mine or -trate, than things I can identify as food, I'll probably pass.

And by the way, mister genius congressman, labels and disclosures help keep food companies honest.  Not that they're afraid of the government (we all know where you guys stand....wink-wink).  However, they should, and do, fear being "outed" by their competitors for putting shit in their food that the competitor's are even too afraid to use.  So please, stop worrying so much about what people are doing behind closed doors and start worrying more about what these companies are trying to do to our health...and the health of our kids.

Growing Up Facebook

In this Internet Age, so much is made of the need for protecting our identity and personal information.  Doing everything you can to ensure that you won't be a victim of identity theft.  Today you even have the options of controlling who sees your information on social media sites...including Facebook.

So you would think we would be as concerned about protecting the personal information of others too.  Our friends and family...even co-workers 

But what about the kids?  One of the main purposes of social sites is to be...well, social.  To share what's been going on in your personal life with those people in your circle.  And for many people, that involves kids.  Your kids....your nieces and nephews....your best friend's kids...etc, etc, etc.

Our kids (or in my case grand-kids, great-nieces and nephews) have had no choice and no say in the matter.  We are proud of their achievements and accomplishments.  We're also quick to post the amusing mistakes and out-takes (uhhh...amusing to us anyway...I know one particular grandson that would tear out my windpipe if he knew I shared one of his embarrassing moments!)

Then we fast forward 5...10...15 years into the future.  Those kids have grown up.  Maybe have their own Facebook page now.  And their entire lives are already on display for anyone clever enough to know where to look...and you don't have to be all that clever really.

It's a new world I know.  A completely different set of rules for interacting with their friends and family...something every generation says the next generation is doing wrong!  And in those same 5...10...15 years who knows what technological changes and software enhancements will take place.  But with the way college recruitment and even careers can be impacted by social media these days, it's certainly worth having the conversation and thinking hard about what we put out their about our kids....for the world to see!