OK, so I'm listening to WCPT (Chicago progressive radio) on the Internets this morning

[Berry Cool]

as is my usual wont given that there is no local progressive radio here, listening to the inimitable Miss Miller's show, and wondering why, for the second day in a row, the news readers are telling me that Avatar was surpassed at the box office this past weekend by "the sci-fi romance Dear John."

Because, as I understand it, Dear John is anything but a sci-fi romance. It concerns a young man in the military who goes to Afghanistan after 9/11 and the young woman he leaves behind. (My older niece's review: "It was amazing! I cried.")

So, just for fun, I Google the phrase "sci-fi romance" to see what comes up.

Lo and behold, I get an AP article whose lead paragraph says: "A sci-fi love story has given way to an earthbound romance at the box office, livening up typically slow times at theatres over Super Bowl weekend."

And I think: "Ah! THAT's it! Whoever wrote the news copy over at WCPT screwed this up. Probably someone who either doesn't understand what the phrase 'given way' means, or someone who has no clue what either Dear John or Avatar is about."

Or, maybe the person not only didn't know what the movies were about, but was also in a hurry and didn't really read the thing right in the first place. You know, thought it said "A sci-fi love story has made an earthbound romance give way at the box office..."

Anyway, now I'm consumed by this wish to call up the news department at WCPT and say "Um, people, you really need to rewrite your news script--you sound like idiots going on the air every hour and calling Dear John a 'sci-fi romance.'"

But really, I have better things to do. And I'm going to do them.

It just bugs me.

And who would understand, other than the Clubhouse?

Thank you for allowing me to rant about these stupid things.