Hello, dear friends, I am back from the dead. 

 I am starting a new (mostly) daily series, which I shall call (courtesy of my brother Ed Ayres, who used this as editor of Worldwatch Magazine). (Now retired).

 I call it a Thought Byte, and here shall be my first:

 In these troubled times (it has been about 4 years since I last posted a blog, please see my backlist), so much has happened-- most of it bad-- that I hardly know where to begin. Ergo:

 Hence, I shall fall back upon a review of entertainment. There are a few decent series still left on TV, such as Madame Secretary and, of course 60 Minutes. Then there are movies. There are precious few other than horror movies, apropo I suppose, to current date (oh, Happy Hallow'een, I guess), and the occasional decent drama.

 Netflix used to offer a great assortment of great films, such as my all-time favorite: The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! Also my second favorite Cary Grant film (after North by Northwest) Charade, pairing him with the magnificent Audrey Hepburn, together with an incredible supporting case including two other greats: Walter Matthau, Charles Coburn, and George Kennedy. Wow. Just wow. If you've never seen any of these films they are well worth seeing. If only there was a way. Netflix, may they rot in Hell, no longer offers one. Follow the money, I suppose.

 However Amazon (may Jeff Bezos rot in Hell) does offer a rental for most of these for $2.75. Or purchase for a reasonable $10 or so. Bezos may have redeemed himself with these.

 Netflix does have some excellent original programming, starting with Grace and Frankie, with an all-star cast of Martin Sheen, Jane Fonda, Sam Waterston and Lilly Tomlin. Top that for a TV cast!

 So there is hope on the horizon, my friends.

 And now I do believe I must terminate.

 Ciao for Now.

 Gene Ayres










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