Beetlejuice

Watch the Opening Number From Beetlejuice on Broadway - "The Whole Being Dead Thing"
Playbill

To the ancient Egyptians, Betelgeuse was the mythical god of the underworld. So we've taken the name and given it a new spelling that people like me can pronounce. Then they took that name and made a movie with Michael Keaton. Then they made a musical and my wife and I went to see it at Keller Auditorium last night in downtown Portland.

The show was full of flashing lights and people singing songs that I had never heard, using words I couldn't understand. I think the next time we go I need to read the lyrics beforehand. There were some funny bits, the lead actor was energetic, and Lydia, the young girl, has quite a voice.

Driving home, we're in the center lane of highway 26 and the car in front of me stops. WTF!?! Going into Portland it's often creepy crawly from the top of Sylvan down to 405, but going the other way traffic is usually free flowing. So why is this guy stopping in the middle of the highway? Turns out that we were about five cars back from a car that was stopped. Engine failure? Heart attack? Freak out? I have no idea. Fortunately, traffic was light so I was able to pull out and go around without getting clobbered.

Thinking about this, I realized the problem might be due the extreme reliability of automobiles. Back in the good old days, there was always a distinct possibility of your car breaking down. If that happened, you were supposed to pull off of the road onto the shoulder. But these days, cars hardly ever break down. Oh, stuff breaks all the time, but it usually doesn't stop from going on. I can't remember the last time I saw a car broke down on the side of the road. I mean I've seen them, but it's like once a year, not every blinking week. So because cars are so reliable, people have forgotten what you are supposed to do if it stops. Or maybe they quit teaching that. 

Anyway, I think the car was broken because it was just sitting there and there wasn't any of that jerking around that you get with a pissed off brake checker.