Why I Avoid Movie Theaters and Cable TV: Ads, Ads, Ads!

Friends invited me to go to the movies yesterday. It looked like an interesting movie and I hadn't been to a movie in ages. We had dinner before at a favorite Mexican restaurant before the movie. Believe me dinner was cheaper than popcorn and a drink at the theatre! And I hate Pepsi. 

 We got there a bit early but at 7:00 pm, the movies listed start time, we were inundated with over 20 minutes of ads. I suddenly remembered why I had avoided movies the past few years. The repetitive ads. Reviews of upcoming movies were nothing but sequels. And the endless appeals to buy something to eat, eat and drink.

They were featuring a classic, BEETLEJUICE made in 1988, 36 years ago. CarMax even had a themed ad around BEETLEJUICE. 

It sure highlights  the lack of original ideas today. It's impossible to avoid ads these days just like the American movie makers can't seem to avoid making sequels. STAR WARS 114, Rocky 39, Transformers 34 ... and on and on. 

And where are the movies for adults? Few and far between. I have discovered the Palm Springs Library has an excellent DVD collection, often with current movies like OPENHEIMER, BARBIE, TAR, etc. Wait a few weeks and there they are. 

I have often found "small" movies, foreign and domestic I have never heard of that are delightful, thought provoking and original. JULES is a small comedy about an alien landing in a senior's backyard. He and later his senior lady friends try to figure out how to help the non-speaking alien to repair his spaceship and get him on his way. They manage in a clever charming way, one you would never suspect. There are no explosions, wild road chases but instead a quiet tale of how to help. I never saw it in theatres here. 

Now there is no ad respite from Amazon, YouTube or Netflix, to name a few. To be ad free you must agree to an additional tier of payment to enjoy ad free entertainment, entertainment that was ad free until recently.You already have been paying for it but they want even more money.  I guess Bezos' Blue Origin rockets need more fuel, the Netflix CEO needs an even larger salary and Lord knows why Zuckerberg needs more from YouTube. They don't pay for the content.

Bezos' rockets are thirsty!

At 78, soon to be 79, I have amassed a DVD collection because Netflix and Prime remove movies I want to see and are now using ads just like broadcast TV. That is free. Shopping at thrift stores results in many cheap DVD purchases. AND, I can watch them whenever I want too!

 Our library has a large collection of most TV shows both American and British BBC series. I personally think they are vastly superior to American shows in depth of their writing and originality. In 13 seasons of CALL THE MIDWIFE, no theme is ever repeated. You would think birthing babies can't maintain a season but it does and also shows how England struggled to change after WW II. 

My favorite Christmas
movie and I can watch
ANY time I want!

 Theatres have forgotten their audiences as they attempt to squeeze every penny out of you as well. It used to be an affordable social event, something I remember doing until we had kids. Even then you'd arrange for a setter and enjoy an event away from home and the kids. Now however, with ticket prices about the same price as the movie's DVD, why not wait a few weeks and enjoy it on your 85" TV with a Sonos sound system? 

And that's what people are doing. Those seats in the Regal Theatre were hard, and there wasn't much footroom. Tell me, why leave the comforts of home where your Pepsi is the cost of at least a 6-pack of beer and your popcorn could buy a 25 pound of popcorn kernals at Smart & Final? I rest my case!!!

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed!

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed!

I'll Tell You Why We're So Stressed - TECHNOLOGY!

I had to deal with two major issues last week, with CVS and my health insurance. You can't help but consider these issues are designed to discourage as much interaction as possible. The cartoon says it all.

Let's start with insurance, always a hot topic in America  On July 26, 2024 I called my provider for the reimbursement form for an oxygen concentrator my pulmonologist wrote a prescription for. After the usual queries from deaf and dumb robots, key pad punching  and about 20 minutes later I got a human. After explaining what I needed (I don't think she understood the word reimbursement) I was told the form had to be mailed.

This cartoon IS funny until it isn't

Startled I reminded her this was the 21st Century and why not just email me a PDF for me to print,  gather the necessary documents and mail back. Better yet, scan them and send her a PDF of all nessesary documents.  She assured me, was adamant, this wasn't secure enough. The form HAD to be mailed. While I didn't say it, I wasn't sold on the security of the USPS these days either. No amount of pleading could convince her so I waited for a long delivery time.

This last Thursday, August 29, 2024, I again called my health insurance and again after 20 minutes of diddling around got another person. I explained my problem, she looked up my reference number and after a pause asked me to turn to my computer. (I was already on the web site) and I told her so. She had me go to several screens and before I knew it there was the reimbursement form. I asked her to wait to make sure it downloaded, and she did. I thanked her, hung up, printed the form, made copies of the documents and got them ready to mail. Thank you Paulette! All done in under 30 minutes.

She guided me for 5 minutes, the copies took another 25. So I waited 34 days for nothing! What a difference a call can make. 

CVS takes frustration to a whole new level.

Last Friday I go to pick up my medicine and the clerk asks for my CVS app. I looked at her blank faced. She then asks, "Do you have one?" I replied I did but never and couldn't use it. This after two years battling their tech department to find out why it wouldn't work. I opened it and of course, yet again my password was wrong. She finally gave me my medicine and I came home to try again. I was warned to use it next time as I left.

Even my iMac couldn't give them the correct password so I clicked FORGOT PASSWORD and tried to start again. So between my phone and computer I finally got in and all appeared well. Until my birthday. It was set at August 06, 2006. That was not my birthdate but no matter how I tried to change it, it would not read what I put in the keypad.

It finally dawned on me I had to hit the arrow keys atop a monthly calendar. It tool 728 taps on that calendar to get to 1945 and my birth month. When I selected my birthday, the one I've had 78 years, it said that's not the birthday they had for me! You can just about imagine my reaction! This BS had been going on nearly an hour. I called the number on the screen.

When I finally got a human I was told to call yet another number and for once it was a short wait. So, together the tech and I spent another half hour trying to solve this issue. #%@*%!

When I finally got in I was surprised about how much information they had on me. But it's the process that frustrates at every turn. I'm sure every 15 year-old navigates this stuff on a daily basis. At my age I don't. However, in both cases and several others, it's taken a phone call to make something work. As the song says, "It's Not Unusual!"

iOS 18 for my iPhone comes out soon and I'm terrified of all the changes that will bring. It took several trips to the Apple store to solve my iPhone 15's issues.

Technology isn't made for us seniors anymore I guess. We are dinosaurs from the past!

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!