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Family Therapy in a Galaxy Far Far Away

Warning: Though I was quite careful to avoid plot elements of movies discussed below,  there may be spoilers. Proceed with caution.

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Starlord has Daddy Issues

Summer is here and so are the aliens. In the movies, that is. You may have the impression that these stories are full of laser cannons, gelatinous monsters, or the long-buried artifact on the moon that will change humanity’s destiny.  Your impression is misleading. The best science fiction films – even the summer blockbusters – have a human story at their core.

I recently watched Guardians of the Galaxy II for the second time and realized how much more I enjoyed it because it is about family relationships. We also had a second viewing of Arrival this week (see my blog 2016-12-14),  an alien invasion tale that is completely encased in and interwoven with a woman’s life with her daughter. Those two films stress how the heart of even a good futuristic adventure should contain the same themes of all great epics – mothers and daughters, sibling rivalry, prodigal sons, coming home, or the birth of a child.

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Reblog — Food & Ireland — a beautiful combination

I received a near-record number of views for my “Avocado Toast” commentary last week; thanks for viewing! I am hard pressed to think of something so extraordinary but will have something by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in a combination of posts about food and about Ireland, my most recent topics, my spouse has written a most excellent entry herself. If you hadn’t seen it yet, you will likely enjoy it:

Tatyo Cheese and Onion Crisps

Click here and start fantasizing about cheese and onion potato chips…

via A Yank’s Opinion of Ireland’s Crisps | Kallmaker.com

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The Avocado Toast War

When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each.
–THIS GUY*, Australian Real Estate Mogul

We are on the precipice of a full-scale war. The skirmishes are already under way at blogs, tweets, instagrammies, and facebook posts around the globe. While the world may be going to hell in a handbasket for other reasons, humanity is in high dudgeon over avocado toast. I might as well as join the party.

The instigator was THIS GUY (*who I refuse to name; you can google it if you want to give him the publicity) with his comment targeting the group we all love to bash, the Millennials. This 35 year old real estate mogul from Melbourne targeted Millennials on the Australian 60 Minutes by focusing on their passion for the luxuries of Avocado Toast, lamenting how it prevents them from properly purchasing a white picket fence house in the suburbs and having the 2.3 children that has been mythically dictated to be required for a good life.

Such comments raise so many questions. What is the price of avocados and, moreover, of avocado toast? What is the price of a house, and how does it compare to toast? Are millennials buying houses and, if not, why not? Who is THIS GUY? And, anyway, who asked him?

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