Some Oddities in the World

Well, as injustices in the world go this one is pretty near the bottom of the list but while randomly surfing the net the other day I discovered that Gene Wilder does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. George Lopez has a star, but not Gene Wilder. Winona Ryder has a star, but not Gene Wilder. Ricky Martin, Kenny Loggins, Erik Estrada, and Ryan f'n Seacrest all have stars, but not Gene Wilder! Even the fictional characters Godzilla and Pee-Wee Herman have stars! Yes, that's right; Paul Reubens' fictional creation that was popular for about 4 years in the late 80s and hasn't been heard from since is enshrined for all posterity in the Walk of Fame. There's about 100 reasons why Wilder deserves one, but I think I only need to list 4: Willy Wonka, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. End of discussion. Well, Mel Brooks just got his 3 weeks ago, so maybe now some people will think "yeah, I remember all those funny movies Mel Brooks did. Who was that one guy that was in most of them that made them so good?"

So this morning while on my way to work I was offered a sample box of Oatmeal Squares by a sales rep on the corner of Michigan and Randolph. As she handed it to me and others she cheerfully informed us that it was "a healthy and crunchy way to start your day." Hmmm; yes there have been some days where I've woken up and thought "I want to start the day healthy; I think I'll go for a run." But I can't recall a day where I've thought "Gee, I'd sure love to start my day in a crunchy way!" In fact, the only times I can remember where I DID start my day in a crunchy way was back in college when I hadn't done laundry in about 3 weeks and had to put on well-used socks. Speaking of unusual places for descriptions, it reminds me of walking around the farmer's market in Madison and seeing cheese curds advertised as "Guaranteed to squeak!" Now usually when something is advertised as "guaranteed" it's something that is undeniably good, but up until that moment it had never occurred to me to judge food, in any form, by squeakiness. But of course once you see it advertised in that way a couple times, it quickly becomes "well hell yeah my curds better squeak! In fact I am gonna search this whole market till I find the squeakiest damn curds here!" Ah, the power of advertising. And for the uninitiated, yes good cheese curds really do squeak when you eat them and yes you do actually want that.

Something that makes me feel old: I just saw a headline that Survivor has now been on the air for 10 years. I'd still been thinking of it as "one of those new, annoying reality shows."

Something that makes me feel young: Jamie Moyer, who broke in with the Cubs in 1986 and who I remember watching pitch while growing up, is still pitching today. And actually pitching pretty well (he just pitched a complete game shutout two weeks ago). Seeing so many of the players I watched as a kid now become coaches and announcers, it's nice to know that there's still at least one out there who's still doing the same thing he's done for pretty much my whole life.

Something that I'm not sure if it makes me feel old or young: Vin Scully has been the announcer for the Dodgers since 1950. That's 60 years. In other words, he's been doing the same job since not only before I was born but before my parents were born.