Oh, the shark bit, with his teeth bare...

Bobby Darin on Andy Williams Show in 1970

Today has been a Sharknado fest, all shows one through five. Each one has escalated from mildly amusing with bad puns to silly oh-come-on plots and simple special effects. Lots of movie references, including Wizard of Oz, Terminator, and so many. But clever, it is clever.

#1 took place in Malibu and moved inland to LA, stopped only by Fin Shepherd   A mysterious cyclone seems to suck up all the sharks in creation and drop them randomly. Fin manages to save his family and much of LA.

#2 is Sharknado: The Second One, which takes place in New York. This is where Fin discovers his talent with a massive chainsaw.

#3: Oh Hell No! which starts in DC and travels down eastern seaboard.

Five minutes condensed funny scenes.  Silly, yes.

#4: Sharknado: The 4th Awakens! a play on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. David Hasselhoff is a key hero here, not a competent one. This starts in Las Vegas (Wayne Newton!) and moves on. I think it takes out Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon.

#5: This one is Global Swarming: Make America Bait Again! This one had a high budget, being filmed in five countries. It takes out Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, so far. It is still running.

Why is this series still on? Why haven't I gone shopping? What am I doing here?

My husband has the remove remote duct taped to his hand.  I don't drive anymore. My computer is in the TV room.

I am just waiting for Game of Thrones to come on. It at least makes sense.

August Sucks

The exhibition celebrates the history of an old candle making factory which was based on Bankside more than 100 years ago  

It is August 4 and the day will be roasting hot by noon. 

Just when the inside feels like I could bake cookies on the counter, a magical thing happens.

Source: livia-maria

Our local energy company SDG&E employs the FLEX energy plan to keep the electrical grids from over-loading.  That means they can turn my A/C off.  Off!! with the fan still running. 

Source

Off, with the interior thermometer rising slowly up the scale.  82º?  That is nothing.  86º, and it keeps rising.  I stop looking.

Outside?  Thermometer past 95 and still going...

The A/C returned.  God bless it.

Truth is: Summer makes me cranky.  Life sucks.  Leave me alone.

This is a re-post from 2014 or 2013.  It doesn't matter; hot one year or the other doesn't matter.

Barbarella Moved On

On Amazon, blu ray, $5.30

Husband John will always remember the movie, Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda. Released in 1968, when my husband was 18 and full of testosterone, Barbarella became a cult classic of spoofy erotic sex and science fiction.  It was a coming of age for those male baby boomers.

In 1982, Jane Fonda became a different coming of age (literally) for the female baby boomers, who were thirty-ish and experiencing sag-after-babies, when "Jane Fonda's Workout" video was released.  It led to 13 more such videos, rake in $13 million, and open up a whole industry of muscle toning (leg warmers, incl.).
  

Amazon, $8.96

For two+ years, I faced Jane through the television screen and followed the mantra: No pain, No gain.

But, sandwiched in between 1968 and 1980s, Jane Fonda was an activist for many civil rights issues.  Ranging from women's rights to Alcatraz and American Indian reparations, Jane Fonda was a voice.

It wasn't always a good voice.  Black Panthers, Huey Newton, and then Vietnam were always in the forefront.  It was that Vietnam choice that tarnished who and what Fonda was. 

She visited Vietnam and American servicemen, as well as North Vietnamese military.  So much gets blurred, especially when a photo of her on an anti-aircraft gun was published.

Nicknamed "Hanoi Jane" thereafter

My Aunt Minerva was enraged by Fonda's relationship and actions with North Vietnam.  She was a Gold Star mother, one of too many who had lost sons in this war; Jane Fonda's actions were unforgivable. Even into her dying years, my aunt still held tightly to that fury.

Although Jane Fonda relayed what really happened in her 2005 autobiography, that photo is still too strong. 

From Barbarella to Exercise Queen to Political Activism, Jane Fonda definitely created a memorable legacy.

What do you remember?