Change that dial

Quick hits after a busy two months in the sunshine and fresh air:

Coping with new prescription computer glasses is bad enough, but I'm also adjusting to a new monitor. The monitor was not my idea, but collateral damage from the power company's hard blackout at 12:30 a.m. one weeknight in early September. After the repair guy installed a new power supply in the computer, I then discovered the monitor was dead, too. Oddly, being off line for a week and a half didn't hurt as much as I expected. I'm not addicted, apparently. My neck's killing me, though.

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Why I reject the TV series "Detroit 1-8-7" after one episode: I figured out how the story was going to end, 15 minutes into the pilot. I guess it's too much to ask for a little creativity in today's dumbed-down entertainment world.

The book "A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare," by James Shapiro, says that, in 1599, when the London theater — excuse me, theatre — scene was overflowing with competition, W.S. didn't take the path of least resistance, that is, dumbing down his plays. Instead, he made them doubly complex ... "As You Like It" and "Hamlet," for example. He made the paying customers work harder. Gee, I wonder how that worked out?

Any current TV-network entertainment execs ever even heard of Shakespeare?

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Whiz kid Sharron Angle's running an attack ad that includes the (false) statement that Harry Reid favors amnesty for illegal aliens. Were I associating with illegal aliens, I'd find that reason enough to vote for Sen. H.R. I hope Mrs. Angle sticks with this advertising team.

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The madness of Stephen Colbert: Dude, I hope you understand that in today's political world, everybody in Washington, D.C., has had a humorectomy. The conservatives cannot afford to crack a smile, because their voter base is utterly humorless. Even the White House can't chuckle, until Rahm Emanuel bails out; he's the hack who ordered his fellow Congresshacks to not go on Colbert's show in its early months. And the rest of the crowd can't laugh, because the conservatives will use it to attack them.

Soldier on, Stevie baby!

My great-aunt, Susie, and one of her two sons were the first people I met who had no sense of humor. They were utterly scary.

Naturally, the second son excelled at practical jokes and such. He successfully compensated, according to my mother, a co-conspirator and punishee.

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Say amen: So, a lot of Americans are brain-dead about the facts of their religion, according to the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Happiest about the numbers: every evangelical preacher in the country. They are doing something right. Kudos to the Catholic clergy, too. Ignorance is bliss, and, boy, are lots of people blissful.

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