A Few Things I Learned This Weekend...

My brother was here this weekend. It was a quick visit, but really a well timed visit in that I needed a few days off and it was good having Kevin around. I did learn a few things this weekend... or at least I was able to reflect on a few things along the way.

The first thing I learned... never see a movie simply because it was filmed in your hometown. Kevin and I went to see "Employee of the Month" on Friday night. It was filmed at a Costco store in Albuquerque and while it wasn't my first choice for a movie, it was the movie Kevin and I could agree on. Now, I don't know who they hired for quality control/editing control for this movie, but there was no continuity and there were many, many things that were a little off kilter. The main thing was that the checkout line numbers were never in order (read 1, 4, 6, 3, 7, 8, 10, 2...) and even varied sometimes between cuts that were seconds apart. They were never in the same order either. The movie had it's funny parts, but by and large it was just a waste of money and time and I wish I would have seen it when it was out on DVD instead of in the theater. But I'm actually ok with that because it got me out to the theater and I'm ok with that in a weird sort of way.

The second thing I learned/observed. The Barenaked Ladies have a lot of fun doing what they do and so should we. Kevin was out here not simply for a visit (who wouldn't want to come to Cleveland where it's 20 degrees colder and a heck of a lot wetter than where you live?), but came out for the Barenaked Ladies concert. It was a really good concert as their concerts always are. I saw them in Albuquerque five years ago and they were good then. But what I noted and had seen before is that they have a lot of fun at their concerts which then means that the people at the concert have fun too. Here's hoping we all have as much fun as they do doing what we do for our jobs.

Additionally, I was struck by how intergenerational the band's audience is too. There were people in their forties and fifties there as well as others my age and then a few kids with their parents. Obviously they appeal to a wide variety of people.


Ok, the last thing I observed/noted... why does "Deal or No Deal" continue to only have women holding the numbered cases? Where are the hot guys for those of us who prefer to look at them rather than women? Isn't this an indication of how far we really are from equality? We have to demean women by having them hold cases and not have any guys in the group? If we are going to pay people because they look good holding a metal case with a shiny, black number, then why can't we be equal opportunity lookers? Why can't we pay men just like we pay women?

So that's it for right now. Expect more later... maybe not observations from this weekend specifically but other observations/reflections.

Kate