Back To Back

Hello World, Well, I can tell you that nobody in the region wanted to open their window curtains earlier in the week, only to behold the prospect of a freak snowstorm that left an icy mess in the morning, and about as welcome as ants at a picnic, especially after the grueling winter that we've just about finished kicking to the curb at long last, thanks not. On the other hand, anyone who thinks that it's too cold or too early for dandelions, have I got news for you, and not just whistling Dixie, believe me. Their sunny yellow faces have popped up all over the driveway already, so the idea that it's too soon or too inhospitable, is apparently not a concept that has been embraced by our cheerful yellow intruders, that's for sure. Also not too soon, Holy Week started right on time with Palm Sunday, and continued apace with Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, so that tells us (well, at least most of us, except perhaps the godless Communists and KGB agents who are monitoring my email, whose name is legion, and then some) that Easter would be right around the corner, before you could say, "Peter Cottontail" and no time left for shilly-shallying. Passover showed up right on time as well on Monday night, and usually doesn't line up exactly on top of Holy Week, besides Eastern Orthodox Holy Week at the same time, so this has been a special convergence of all things in alignment that we rarely see. In fact, even the dates had gotten into the swing of things, which were numeric palindromes all during the week, and read the same forward or backward: 4/11/14, 4/12/14, 4/13/14, 4/14/14, 4/15/14, 4/16/14, 4/17/14, 4/18/14 and 4/19/14. Sometimes, you just don't know if you're coming or going around here. And speaking of going back in time, I'm sure that alert readers will be relieved to hear that my ancient steam-powered Palm PDA finally caught up with the rest of humanity, at least in terms of Daylight Saving Time, as it reached what used to be the old schedule for the switch-over, and adjusted the time accordingly at long last. Scoffers may indeed roll their eyes, and our old friends the dinosaurs may well disparage these outmoded gadgets that can't keep up with modern times, but you mark my words: That day will come when Congress is going to go right ahead and change the DST schedule all over again, and then all the very newest and latest technology is going to have exactly the same problem as the creakiest vestiges of yesteryear, and we'll end up right back where we started, by golly. We haven't seen the last of their tinkering, heaven knows - in fact, long after the sun has collapsed in on itself, and time and space have ceased to exist, the federal government will still be fiddling around with the confounded schedule for Daylight Saving Time, to the chagrin of extra-terrestrial aliens everywhere, I shouldn't wonder. Meanwhile in sports, the NHL and NBA have wrapped up their regular seasons, and the playoff picture has begun to take shape, with many of the expected clubs from previous seasons, and a few surprises tossed in for good measure. The Rangers may have exceeded expectations with their 45-31 record, good enough for second place in their division, although their 96 points gave no sleepless nights to Boston with 117, Anaheim with 116, Colorado with 112, or Pittsburgh with 109, I'm sure. The opening round pits New York against Philadelphia, and after that, barring any super-human heroics on the part of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the next round opponent would be the buzz-saw that is Pittsburgh, which is sort of like sending a donkey out to win the Triple Crown against the evil spirit of Affirmed, and would not be a pretty sight, I'm thinking. On the hardwood side of things, the Knicks missed the playoffs this year, so it will be the Nets playing for Big Apple pride, and here again, if they get past Toronto in the first round, they run smack into Miami in the next, and I frankly don't care for their chances all that much. And that's without the evil spirit of Affirmed, although I wouldn't rule it out either. Of course, there's been no lack of controversy about the government mandated health insurance initiative, and plenty of loyal support and vigorous opposition from every aspect of the political spectrum, industry insiders, media pundits and the disparate citizenry on all sides, and no end in sight, by all appearances. But all of that didn't stop a local Nissan dealer from cashing in on its current notoriety, with their promise of financing flexibility, manufacturer incentives and dealer discounts, which they described as their acclaimed Affordable Car Act, and I thought that was so funny. And after all, it's bound to be more popular than the real thing, although it can't be denied that it would be just about impossible to be less so, at this point, so that's not much of an accomplishment, I don't mind saying. In other media news, we carved some time out of our busy schedules to catch up with the #1 movie in the nation's theaters, "Captain America and the Winter Soldier," which we were prepared to enjoy in glorious IMAX 3-D, and hang the expense, my good man. It was the only time we can recall in recent memory that we weren't the only people in the entire theater, and it had already been out for 2 weeks, so that tells you something right there. We had no reason to think we wouldn't like it, since we liked the first one, as well as others cast from the same mold, such as "Iron Man," "The Avengers," and "Thor." Unfortunately, this one didn't exactly measure up to our expectations, and was not everything we might have hoped for. Bill found the 3-D rendering much too blurry to watch, and also way too loud, pretty much from one end to the other. I was disappointed in the story, and thought it was overly dark and sinister, especially for the usual Marvel Studio features, which tend to be more light-hearted swashbucklers than nihilistic political thrillers. The special effects are always spectacular nowadays, but I felt that these were too overwhelming and explosive to be really effective as part of the narrative, which made the movie seem longer and more tedious than it should have been. The interaction between the characters was too stiff and disjointed to save it, and the worst part, at least for me, was that it didn't have the Marvel signature epilogue at the very tail-end of the interminable credits, that always harkens back to a previous story, or serves as a harbinger of an upcoming one. It must be said that the studio needs no help from me, since the movie broke box office records all over the place, and obviously was wildly popular enough as it was, whatever we might have thought of its shortcomings. On the plus side, the personal pan pizza is always a treat, and something we look forward to, regardless of how the movie turns out, which is all too often a sad commentary on Hollywood, alas. At least they're not also in charge of the concessions, thank heaven, or besides being saddled with terrible movies, we'd be stuck choking down inedible snacks like reheated Tarzan popcorn, rehashed Godzilla nachos, and reconstituted Frankenstein gummy bears, which no amount of 3-D special effects would be able to salvage, and that's not just the Raisinets talking, believe me. Elle