Why Is Cable TV So Damn Expensive?

Ever open your monthly cable bill and want to cry? And wonder why in hell are you spending over a hundred dollars a month to watch television?

Some people are making demands to get a law passed where you only pay for the channels you watch, and I think that’s a wonderful idea. Of course the cable companies don’t want that but it will eventually happen; why should I pay for the Hungarian Polka channel when I just care about Bravo TV?

Cable companies spill their champagne and say they can’t afford to do pay-for-channels because the TV networks charge too much; I say the TV companies will get less Grinch-like when they lose business 100%. TV channels make so much off advertising; they can afford to charge the cable companies less; why should the public be getting screwed in every direction without even a dinner first?

Last year in Canada the government said that the country was going to begin requiring cable providers to unbundle the television service they offer, allowing customers to pick and choose which stations they’re willing to pay to watch. Hell to the yeah—where do I sign up?

Would you keep ABC to watch shows like Revenge?

Some American’s have been pushing for a law that would make all cable companies offer pay-for-what-you-want, but so far no laws have been passed as of yet. John McCain Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013 hasn’t moved since it was introduced in May and many predict it has a 1% chance of getting passed.

Of course the television industry is likely to fight such legislation because they make way-too much money. If the law did go into effect many predict that only 20 stations would survive the fallout and I say GOOD! Do we really need so many channels and so many TV shows? I don’t think so. Also with Netflix and other online sources, many have already decided to kiss their regular cable goodbye.

 

Toxic Friends

   They only call you when they want something; you’ve heard the same story way too many times about their ex boyfriend; you feel they get more out of the friendship than you. Time to drop kick this friend to the curb.

Is friendship on the wane? According to a study in the June 2013 issue of the journal American Sociological Review, Americans are thought to be suffering a loss in the quality and quantity of close friendships since at least 1989. The study states 45% of Americans have no close confidants, and the average total number of confidants per citizen has dropped from four to two; which is surprising since I have 897 “friends” on Facebook.

In this age of updating everyone in your universe about such mundane things as bowel movements; maybe it’s time to bring some mystery back and keep some stuff to yourself. Most single people don’t go out to bars anymore to meet potential partners for dating or sex; they go online, and save their bar hopping for catching up with friends and drinking. Are we really connecting with anyone anymore?

So ask yourself, how many friends do you really have? I’m not talking about co-workers or job contacts. Webster’s definition of a friend is: someone who will tell you the truth; not judge you and shares a common ground with your lifestyle. I’d like to also add a friend is someone who can keep a secret, makes you laugh in the bad times, and not get jealous when you’re doing well.

Some friends you’ll have forever. Some friends should take a leap off the Brooklyn Bridge. I’m the type who likes to have a few close friends instead of dozens of acquaintances. I like people who bring joy to my life and not drama; for me, toxic friends are sent packing faster than a date that can’t get over his ex.

I make a new friend or two every year and sometimes let an old friend go. Some people just become annoying and I don’t want anyone in my life that I hate to hang with.

I think sometimes people come into your life to show you something you couldn’t have seen without them, and when you’ve discovered it, they’re out of your life and vice versa, and that’s OK. As I get older I enjoy catching up with old friends but it never stops me from making new ones and getting rid of bad ones.

Let’s toast to good friendship; may none of us ever be without it.

Has Facebook Made Us Less Sympathetic?

A friend of mine just survived from a suicide attempt. I had noticed for a while that they we’re down a lot and when I saw them in person I tried to give them encouragement. What kills me is no other of this persons friends ever made any effort to support them. Many of these friends are mutual friends of mine on Facebook and it burns my pie crust to think most people these days will LIKE the hell out of what Kim Kardashian is wearing, but won’t take the time to help a friend in need.

Has the Facebook generation raised a bunch of narcissists? I sure as hell think so. Being online sometimes gives you a chance to be the person you wished you we’re, and sometimes even be another whole person. You are encouraged to post every minute thing you accomplish from “eating a waffle,” to showing 98 photos from your trip to New Jersey.

I’ve had friends not text me back for days but then post bullshit on Facebook about “how to be a good friend.” How about trying to be kind and thoughtful in person instead of posting crap online that doesn’t mean anything and is just part of the grinder of careless information that is said one day and forgotten the next? I guess I’ll have to post this on Facebook to find out—laughing out loud.

 

Joe Manganiello; How He Went From Geek-To-Freaking Hot.

 

REMEMBER THE KID in school who you made fun of? Or maybe you just simply ignored them because they didn't look like the ideal guy or wore the right clothes? The jocks usually become drunks and get fat when they graduate, and the nerds grow up to be either rich or hot; so stop bullying kids, and be nice because you never know how hot someone will become when they're older: "True Blood" and "Magic Mike" Star, Joe Manganiello as a teenager, and how he looks today.

If you can't wait to see Manganiello, 37, on the last season of "True Blood" or the second "Magic Mike" film, Manganiello has just written a new fitness book; JOE MANGANIELLO: EVOLUTION. I'll be picking up a copy to see how he made himself over, and of course to check out the pictures!

 

Marie Osmond Shocker: Sons Suicide, Daughter Is Gay.

When I was young (really young!) in the late 1970’s, Marie Osmond, 53, seemed to have it all; fame, big piano teeth and perkiness without the aid of narcotics. Now for the first time Osmond breaks her toothy veneer and reveals why her son committed suicide and how she (a devoted Mormon) is dealing with her daughter’s homosexuality.

Osmond grew up in show business with her siblings and started making records and peeing in rest stop bathrooms since she could walk. With many years in show business Osmond has been very famous, and has had moments where she couldn’t sell out a 200 seat house. Through all the highs and lows of fame, Osmond thought she could handle anything thrown her way, she didn’t know it but she was about to go through something no mother should have to endure.

On Feb. 26, 2010 Marie Osmond’s life changed forever. Her son, Michael, committed suicide at the age of 18 by jumping out of a window. Michael, who had been in and out of drug rehabs, had been fighting depression all his life; this was not his first suicide attempt. "I had spoken to him the evening before, and it was concerning to me," Osmond said. "It was the first time I heard him cry and say he felt alone and that he had no friends."

Osmond told Oprah Winfrey that her son had called her the night he killed himself, but she didn’t get the call because she was performing on stage, “This is probably the hardest thing that I've been through. I think there are always what-ifs. ... I think if you live in what-ifs, you stop living."

When Osmond’s daughter Jessica told her she was gay at 17, Osmond admits to crying, but unlike what some magazines are saying, Osmond has not shunned her daughter, “You know, I think each of us has the right to choose who makes that medical decision for us, I think everybody should have the right to share homes and finances with somebody that they care about. When it comes to marriage ... I think that civil rights need to be for all.”

One Donny Osmond is enough, thank you.

Unlike Marie, famous brother Donny does not believe in gay marriage and quoted from his Mormon bible when asked on the subject, “the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan.” Ok whatever bitch, you suck anyway.

Marie Osmond is the most famous Mormon to say something positive about gay marriage and we salute her and hope her example helps other Mormon families treat their children and loved ones better; may the singing, dancing and acting triple threat entertain for years to come.

*Marie Osmond talks about this stuff and more in her entertaining new book; The Key is Love, available now.