cactuswatcher: (Default)
( Aug. 6th, 2013 07:56 am)
Johnny Depp blames critics for 'Lone Ranger' flop

Let me say as someone who truly loved the Lone Ranger show as a kid, two things would instantly make me decide not to watch a Lone Ranger movie:
1) Johnny Depp as the Lone Ranger.
2) Johnny Depp as Tonto.

Now granted, Robin Williams, back in the day, would have been a worse idea, and generally I think Johnny Depp is an okey-dokey actor. But I can't for the life of me understand why redoing past successes in a totally different style is a great idea. Yes, I know there are a lot of folks who like the Star Trek Movie reboots. but they don't appeal to many fans of the older versions precisely because they couldn't leave the original stories alone. They are successes, but not the successes they once hoped for. Would fans of the old Lone Ranger accept a bigger, more equal role for Tonto? Well, actually I always did like it when Tonto got to do heroics. Would it be all right if Tonto didn't talk like a nincompoop anymore? Sure. Would it be all right if Tonto were made to look ridiculous in some new way. Heck, no! Look at the picture in that link. Do you think Grampa is just itching to take his grandkids to a Lone Ranger movie that shows Tonto like that? Nobody is going to care if New!Tonto is, in fact, cool and fun, if they don't want to see the movie in the first place.

Plus if you get $175 million worth just off ticket sales despite the lack of critical approval, don't come crying to me if you haven't made a profit yet.
Geeky funny means you probably won't think it's funny at all. But I've been laughing to myself for most of the morning over it.

I watched a video on a serious math channel on Youtube which explained why the number one is not actually a prime number. I was expecting some clever proof why this is certainly true. Instead I saw a lame excuse. It seems mathematicians are too lazy, too obstinate or quarrelsome to come up with a name for a new set of numbers which would be the same as the primes without the number one, thereby preserving the definition of prime numbers that was accepted for thousands of years. You probably don't care and why should you? It's just that for someone like me who'd been indoctrinated on how careful and rigorous mathematicians are with their proofs, the whole thing is totally aggravating or hilarious depending on the state of mind.

At the grocery store.
As I'm approaching the milk case to get the very last thing in my shopping cart, I notice a skinny six or seven-year boy and his mom moving in from the side. It's one of those times you just know there is going to be a problem with the kid, so I stop where I am. The kid rushes to the zero fat milk and opens the door. Mom quickly shuts the door, indicating this isn't it. Without waiting for her to finish the kid rushes to the 1% milk and opens the door. Mom quickly shuts that door and wants to mention to her son that someone (me) is waiting for him to be out of the way. But the kid is too fast, zips ahead and opens the door to the 2% milk directly where my cart is pointed. It's the right one. So the boy struggles, then struggles some more and finally gets a gallon jug out by himself. Mom sees me smiling, and whispers, 'Thank you' to me as she starts away. Suddenly the helpful, macho boy notices how heavy a jug of milk is. "Mom, could you carry this for me?" Of course, she will (she wanted to in the first place).

At check out they have one of those revolving plastic bag holders to speed packing your items. The down side is you have to be very careful you get everything you pay for. There is a guy halfway checked out when I get in line. As the cashier turns to check me out the guy in front of me asks, "Is this all of them?" meaning the bags he has in his cart. "Yean," comes the answer. However when I get home, I have a half gallon of chocolate milk, that I know I didn't pick up at the milk case and that my receipt says I didn't pay for. Since I've lost an item or two to this same process over the years at this very store, I'm going to keep it.
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