Fun and Games Dept

High Society.

After watching a couple episodes of the new series “Hacks” on HBO Max, I was reminded of a mid 1990s sitcom starring Mary McDonnell and Jean Smart. More of a response instead of a take-off of the U.K.’s “Absolutely Fabulous”, the two ladies starred in a short-lived CBS sitcom called “High Society”.

Mary McDonnell played Dott, a wealthy socialite that inherited her husband’s book publishing company. Jean Smart played Elle, her best friend and one of the leading authors in the company; her specialty is trashy romance novels. Hilarity ensues as the two trade quips about fashion, high brow living, and the like. It really pushed the envelope for the time; Jean Smart had works with CBS executives over how many times she would say “bitch” per episode. CBS eventually caved in confidence and despite decent ratings for the show, cancelled the series after 13 episodes.

The jokes push the limits of 1995-1996 television. This was a couple of years before TV episode ratings were introduced to the masses. There ranks everywhere from “Michael Jackson and George Hamilton passing each other on the color wheel” to “She died when a masseuse dislodged a blood clot in that poor old woman’s stovepipe legs and killed her” to Jean Smart’s Elle coming onto Dott’s 17-year old Young Republicans (and very hot) son.

There are VHS copies of copies quality episodes (usually hacked into three pieces) on YouTube, but the Internet Archive has all 13 episodes in decent quality. It’s high camp and the series becomes a little uneven as the episodes go on as CBS tweaked and tried to “soften” the series a little bit. Things to look for: Mary McDonnell occasionally turning away from the camera laughing, Doris Roberts playing a mom in a later episode, and Jean Smart camping it up to 500%.

A fun little escape, sweetie.

4 June 2021 by Fun and Games Dept Gayish. 0

21.

9:21 PM

It is the 21st minute

of the 21st hour

of the 21st day

in the 21st week

of the 21st year

of the 21st century

21 May 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Names.

The kitchen in our new home has two of many appliances, presumably because one of the owners in the history of this house had a Kosher kitchen. While we don’t share in this need, we are grateful for having two ovens and two dishwashers. It makes prep (which I’m not a part of) and clean up (which I’m definitely a part of) much easier.

Because we have one or two graphic artist types in our family, our dishwashers are named and marked so we know which is which.

Presenting, Fred and Ethel.

15 May 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Unmasked.

So the five of us, along with visiting friend Richie, went out to dinner in a restaurant for the first time in well over a year. We all have had our vaccine shots, and as of May 19 we will all be officially, fully vaccinated. We’re almost there, and since Richie was headed back to Chicago on Saturday morning we thought we’d celebrate with sushi in an actual restaurant.

Because I guess Desert Sushi is a thing.

The restaurant had just opened up a day or two ago (they’ve been take-out or delivery only all this time) and pandemic things were handled well. One door is marked for entrance, another for exit. There are blue arrows marked on the floor indicating which way you should walk if you’re moving about. Our temperature was taken upon entry and we were required to wear masks when not at our table. We kept our masks on when the server and like visited.

It’s not this difficult to do and I don’t have any issue with this.

I know the CDC announced that vaccinated folks don’t have to wear a mask anymore, aside from high capacity, crowded situations, but I feel like I should still be wearing my mask when in a public setting. While at this point I really no longer care what happens to people who decide to skip getting vaccinated, I still want to do my part in not spreading the virus around. As a fully vaccinated individual, I know I can still get COVID-19 and that the immunization provides my body with the knowledge of what to do if I get COVID. I won’t end up in the hospital. I won’t die. I trust the science.

But I don’t trust unvaccinated people to be wearing masks when they should be. Honestly, knowing someone chooses to remain unvaccinated makes me not trust them at all. For anything.

Before I get too much further into the weeds with this mini-rant, I’ll detour from that train of thought to say it was quite nice hanging out with family and friends in a restaurant for the first time in over a year. I’m happy science quickly brought us to the point of being able to do this.

14 May 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Backyard Stroll.

Springtime is beautiful in our back yard. We’ve been inviting hummingbirds and other flying friends into the area with our various feeders. It was a tradition started by the previous owners and we are continuing the practice.

The Palo Verde tree is particularly enjoyable. I enjoy the sound it makes when the winds blow across the desert.

9 May 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Repurposed.

My husband and I drove northwest of the city to do some exploring. I wanted to check out Marana Regional Airport and get a feel for the landscape out in that direction.

While driving around we stumbled across the remains of a Boeing 747-300 situated not too far from Pinal Air Park, where many no longer airliners are landed in the desert. This B747 was a mile or two away from the boneyard.

A quick Google search revealed the 747 was purchased to become a retail establishment. I found this article online with more information: Not quite a sky mall: Tucson inventor setting up shop in old airliner.

I look forward to doing more exploring out in that direction, both from the ground and the air.

8 May 2021 by Fun and Games Dept Geek 0

Ride.

My husband and I decided to go for a ride today. We enjoy spending time together in the car and getting to know our new stomping grounds; our first date, over 25 years ago, involved going for a long car ride together and it seems we’ve continued the practice for over a quarter of a century.

This keeps us young.

We drove down Interstate 19 to Nogales, opting to not cross over to Mexico but drive around Nogales, Arizona a bit before heading back using “back roads”. We came back home via State Routes 82 and 83. We stopped at Patagonia Lake State Park for a bit. It was our first visit to an Arizona State Park.

After we stopped in our home neighborhood for dinner, we decided to continue our adventure and drive to the top of Mt. Lemmon just after dusk. There are many places to get an awesome view of Tucson and the surrounding area.

The drive up and back took about two hours and some change. The twisty road is signed at 35 MPH and that’s a safe speed. Some folks like to go faster. I let them pass. I have a bit of a lead foot, but not while driving up and down a mountain on a very twisty road.

It was a wonderful day!

1 May 2021 by Fun and Games Dept 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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