Rant #2,125: Bits and Pieces

There is a lot of interesting stuff going on now in the world.

Some of it is utter nonsense, or at least I believe it is utter nonsense, like yesterday's non-story about the black men who were arrested in the Philadelphia Starbucks for loitering. That story has been blown way out of proportion, and if I am the only person who is actually putting that belief into print, so be it.

Others are clearly things that should be touched on here, but not in any full-length fashion. Most of the following are non-stories, too, but in a world where people get absolutely hysterical over next to nothing, maybe it is time to sit back and just exhale a bit.

So no, the following subjects I am going to talk about aren't really that important, but maybe, just maybe, it will give us time to set our priorities right, and focus on what truly is important.

These things clearly aren't.

So here goes ...

Netflix Premiers New "Lost In Space" Reboot: Last Friday, with a lot of fanfare and buildup on social media, Netflix premiered its reboot of the classic sci-fi TV series "Lost In Space," and unfortunately, like its predecessor reboot, it completely missed the mark--and the point--of the original show entirely.

This time around, the Robinson family's spaceship veers off course due to being pelted by meteors, or at least I think that was the case, because the first few minutes of the first episode are completely muddled and kind of difficult to decipher exactly what is going on.

In the classic original show, of course, Dr. Smith and his antics as a stowaway set the Jupiter 2 adrift in the galaxy, leading to three years of adventures on CBS.

The reboot's Robinson family is oh so 2018 PC, what with the inclusion of a bi-racial child; I read that the producers stated that they wanted this character on the show, because it reflected the way the future nuclear family was emerging, or something to that effect.

Yes, politics continue to destroy TV and the movies, and while that was a minor point with the failure of this reboot, it bears worth mentioning.

Anyway, the older daughter, trying to help her family survive on a desolate, snow and ice covered planet or whatever they landed on, goes underwater to retrieve a battery, if I remember correctly, and when the water becomes ice, she gets frozen stuck in it, and the family takes the full length of the show to save her.

Snore ... and yes, I think I did conk out at one point.

And by the way, Dr. Smith is a woman in this show, and Parker Posey is the only recognizable actor in the entire cast, populated by unknowns.

The original series had seasoned TV actors in the main roles, including the kids; this one has unknowns.

And talking about the kids, they are scientific geniuses like they were in the original, although Will in the new show isn't as much a scientific genius as the two girls, so his mother has to "update" his qualifications so he can go with them on their mission.

No, sorry, this show works on the same level as the sexier version of this show did in major motion picture form several years ago, which means it doesn't work at all.

The original "Lost In Space" was a clever show which gravitated toward a kid's sci-fi show in its second and third seasons.

It wasn't "Star Trek"--it predated the show a little bit--and it wasn't anything else on TV at the time, and it played off its core audience--kids from age 8 to about 13--perfectly.

This new show--you can stream the entire new series, by the way--completely misses the point, and personally, I will stay away from it.

"Danger Will Robinson!" indeed.

Yes, there is danger in rebooting classic shows and updating them beyond recognition with no understanding of what made them so popular and successful in the first place.

Baseball Loses Dozens of Games Due to Weather: The weather has been kind of odd in our country, with winter extending into spring and lots of rain and snow falling to demonstrate to us that whether we like it or not, Mother Nature is the queen bee when it comes to the outdoors.

So in the first weeks of the 2018 Major League Baseball season, dozens of games have been rained and snowed out.

Heck, the Tigers just lost a big gate series against the Yankees, and some teams have already lost between four and eight games that will have to be made up later in the season, when the weather is better and the games pile up naturally.

Some fans believe that the first two weeks of the baseball season should be played only in warm weather sites or in stadiums with domes, but what happens is that makes it unfair to teams like the Yankees and Mets and Red Sox and Phillies and Twins and other cold weather area teams, who would have to start on the road for two weeks without the benefit of their home fans to cheer them on.

And it be equally unfair if all the West Coast teams and teams with domed stadiums would get the opening series, and lose these gates during the heart of the pennant chase, when fan interest is greatest and big crowds are assured. These teams would also have the advantage of starting the season at home for two weeks, which gives them an advantage over the teams I mentioned.

There really is no way to mitigate this, and the whining comes out from some fans every couple of years when the weather derails so many games early in the season.

It isn't fair to anyone, not to the teams, the players or the fans, but somehow, baseball moves on from it.

The warmer weather will come, and people will forget about the fact that the Tigers have lost eight home games due to weather that will have to be made up later in the season.

I think the game will survive the current weather travails just fine.

It rains. It snows. It happens. It's April, the weirdest month for weather on the calendar.

What did anyone expect? Sunny skies and in the 70s and 80s from one coast to another?

John Cena and Nikki Bella Call It Quits: To demonstrate how the Internet and social media have taken over our lives, this is actually a major story, covered by the current news media as if we were talking about a current version of the Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton saga of the 1960s and early 1970s.

The two WWE wrestlers--or at least Cena, because Bella hasn't wrestled in some time--are Internet stars, whatever that is, so their very movements are chronicled and micro-managed by social media to begin with.

Cena proposed on the air to Bella a few years ago, and everyone was happy.

Cena had previously said that after one marriage, he was hesitant to get into another, and he didn't want any children, but somehow, Bella changed his mind on all of this.

The flurry of Nikki's twin sister, Brie, also getting married--to another wrestler, Daniel Bryan, whose real name, by the way, is Bryan Danielson--and her pregnancy and later, her giving birth to a daughter--probably swept up Cena and Nikki into the same dream, but I guess the feelings that Cena had, pre-marriage, surfaced once again, leaving Nikki between a rock and a hard place.

Whatever the case, this is being covered as major news, so just let me say that I am sure both Cena and Nikki will one day find their true love matches, but I guess it won't be between the two of them.

At least they weren't actually married when the bottom fell out of their relationship.

Update On My Current Job Status:

Speak to you again tomorrow.