Left to my own devices

The rom-com Bros debuted in theaters over the weekend. It was projected to open with $8.8 million at the North American box office. Instead, it stumbled with $4.8 million. The movie's co-star and co-writer, Billy Eichner, has made headlines after tweeting about the film's lackluster opening. He seems to blame homophobia for the poor showing for the movie about two gay men who attempt to navigate their attraction toward one another. Maybe he's right? Maybe not? Full disclosure: I haven't seen Bros yet. Not sure if I will. I didn't find the trailer to be all that amusing. And, for the record, I've gone to see a lot of movies featuring gay characters over the years. This one just didn't grab me. Maybe it didn't entice others to go, either? Gay or straight. I'm not the only who thinks there may have been other reasons why folks didn't go see it.

Musical artist Taylor Swift has been in the news , along with Apple, for making waves in regards to the latter's forthcoming streaming music service. For its first three months, Apple Music is going to let folks try their service for free, and was planning to not pay artists any royalties during this free trial period. After said period, folks would have to pay $10 a month to keep the service and then artists would be paid some royalties. Swift complained and, well, Apple relented. Artists will now receive income during the three month free trial period. I mention the Apple/Swift debacle because it brings to mind, yet again, an issue that remains all too prevalent in our society -- paying folks very little (or nothing) for their work. And I don't just mean musical artists. We see this everywhere, from fast food workers to folks in China making our phones, from kids in sweatshops making our clothes to people making the music we enjoy listening to. People seem to want s...