The DNC is a joke!

No, not the Democratic National Convention, although I'm sure the argument could be made. What I am referring to here is the the National Do Not Call Registry, a laughable effort to try to prevent people from being harassed by telemarketers and other nuisance calls. Set up by the Federal Trade Commission, the DNC Registry supposedly..."gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days." Well I can tell you, having been registered on this list since 2003, that it does not work.

Perhaps we have ourselves to blame, being a member of a shrinking demographic of households that have a land line (required for our security system), does that make you more susceptible? The phone rings many times a day, we've basically adopted a policy of just ignoring it and screening the message to see if it's a call that we actually would want to take. Most of the time, it's not. No, most of the time, it's either a telemarketer, scammer (You're computer may be infected with a virus...said in my best Indian accent), automated message/survey, or a dead line (a tactic I am told is just used to test whether you are home at certain times of the day). The called ID isn't much help, as it will describe Unknown Caller, a random location (City/State) where the call origniates, or some other gobbly gook. Every now and then, we get an interesting description, this one is my favorite:

I did discover a feature on my phone provider's website where I could block numbers, which I have done for the more persistent callers, but there are always more. If anyone out there knows how to get rid of unwanted callers, I'm all ears, the FTC and their DNC aren't getting it done.

If only you could take the 'Live' out of Live Entertainment

I can't be the only one. You decide to attend an entertainment event, you procure tickets, get yourself to the venue and situate yourself, only to have the experience soured. Not by the act you've intended to see, but by your fellow patrons.

Recently, my family and I attended a performance of The Nutcracker. As the lights start to dim, we were fortunate enough to have a pretty sparse crowd and the usher said we could move to another  (empty) portion of the theater. We found a sweet spot where there was no one in front or behind with a nice clear view of the stage. However, when we returned after intermission, we realized quickly our oasis had been tainted. Another family had situated themselves in the row in front of us, making our clear view cluttered by silhouettes of heads (is it important to see the performer's feet in ballet?). Also, much to my surprise and chagrin, this particular theater allowed food and beverages into the venue. The whole second half became a surround sound of crinkling, crunching, and slurping.

Theater is not the only place where one can expect Fellow Human Eating And Drinking Syndrome (we'll shorten it to F-HEADS). Any movie going experience is rife with F-HEADS. Honestly, the person who decided that the introduction of a messy and noisy food such as popcorn to a situation where you are in the dark with a bunch of strangers trying to hear a movie should be shot. Add to that the kicking of your seat, talking all around you, and ringing cell phones and you wonder why anyone goes to the movies at all.

Live sporting events are just as bad, adding in the wild card of weather and the fact that your team may lose, which makes for a long ride home.

Concerts these days you can barely see the stage through the oceans of morons holding up their phones, struggling to get a lousy video they will never watch again, instead of enjoying the moment.

And that is really what it comes down to, to me. People seem to be content to experience their lives rather than living them. If it doesn't happen on a smartphone and can't be posted, it never happened (don't worry, the irony of posting this comment on a blog is not lost on me), if at least two things can't be done at once, it's a waste of time and a couple of hours simply can't go by without some sort of food/beverage being administered.

I know I come off here as a curmudgeon. The fact is, I like seeing movies on the big screen, watching a good game, and seeing live music. If only we could all have private screenings, the NFL in the front yard and Billy Joel live in the Living Room. I guess that's why we a put up with these annoyances, F-HEADS and all.