Homer’s Best Bets

Recently the Betster has been having issues with computers — OK, to be exact, the grand wonder of interconnected devices that saturate our lives. The B. doesn’t just mean a lone computer. No, we’re talking system-wide problems, input errors that begin in the cloud — that mysterious web-based storage network — and end … well, that’s the problem. In theory information submitted on online forms should be wending its way to the Betster’s inbox. Where does that go?

Holy stratocumulus! The Betster has no idea. People allege that they have filled out an online form and sent it the Betster. Tech gurus assure the Betster it goes to an email address. The Betster checks that email box, and nope, it’s not there. Later the B. finds it in webmail, but when opened, that form vanishes.

Why does this happen? Probably for the same reason keys got stuck on the Betster’s computer keyboard. Probably for the same reason a random weblink got inserted into a Facebook post. In the computer age, stuff happens. Live with it.

You know that line from the William Butler Yeats poem, “The Second Coming?” “Things fall apart / the center cannot hold.” Yeah, that’s about how the Betster feels. Sometimes it seems like the computerverse has been held together with cheap duct tape, the ugly gray stuff that rots in sunlight, and we’re down to sticky strands. Some day computers will fail, their screens a dark gray the color of Kachemak Bay mud.

And then where will we be? Chop wood and carry water, that’s what. You’ll have to read broadsheets posted at the post office to find out what’s cool to do, like these Best Bets:

 

BEST GO FORTH BET: The Rev. Poorchild has become a fixture in the Homer music scene, playing and performing throughout town. At 7 p.m. today at Alice’s Champagne Palace he plays at a CD release party for his fourth and latest album, “So Deep.” See story, page 10.

 

BEST GREAT SCOTT BET: The reverend isn’t the only one with a new CD out. Also catch Betsey Scott with her new CD at a party at 8 p.m. at Alice’s. Holy Cow! Two CDs in a week.

 

BEST GO FORE BET: Hockey and golf have a lot in common. You hit round objects with sticks. The connection ends there, except for this. Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday it’s Rounds for the Rinks, a golf tournament at The Tips Golf Course on East End Road that’s a benefit for the Homer Hockey Association and the Kevin Bell Ice Arena. The player fee is $60. Teams can have four to five players per team, with nine teams maximum. Pre-register at Tips Golf Course or call 399-1728.

 

BEST SO LONG BET: Homer theater director and actor Marc Oliver has brought some awesome and current theater to Homer over the years. Like many young Homer geniuses, he’s heading out into the big wide world — New York, of course. See him in his last production this season at Pier One Theatre. Oliver directs and performs in “The Flick,” opening at 7:30 p.m. Friday and showing 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and next weekend. “The Flick” is Annie Baker’s drama about a 35mm film movie theater facing obsolescence in the digital age.