Charlize and Sean...Robin and Ben. It's All Good in the World of -- It's All Equal!

"Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander," goes the Olde English proverb. This is the basis of "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Which means -- women can do what men do. Just start taking it for granted.
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"SAUCE FOR the goose is sauce for the gander," goes the Olde English proverb. This is the basis of "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Which means -- women can do what men do. Just start taking it for granted.

• THIS proverb seemed in evidence when it became clear last week that the divine Charlize Theron was involved with the usually serious Sean Penn.

Miss Theron is a genuine movie star, a terrific actress and in real life, earthy and funny -- she likes to eat, too!

Mr. Penn is a great actor and an admirable humanitarian, via his efforts for Haiti. (Those who question and/or criticize this work are people who question and criticize everything. Penn doesn't cater to the press.) Miss Theron is somewhat younger than Mr. Penn.

The great part about this is that Penn's ex-wife, the brilliant actress Robin Wright, is engaged to actor Ben Foster. Ben is somewhat younger than Robin. He's very attractive and talented. (This is the gander/goose stuff!)

It's all good. My only wish is that Wright and Foster are fully and truly recognized for the excellent actors they are. Both need to be more on the minds of producers and filmmakers. (Foster is in the current hit, Lone Survivor and will play Lance Armstrong in an upcoming biopic about the disgraced former biking champ. Wright does her prize-winning work on Netflix's House of Cards. She is not to be missed!)

Theron and Penn are okay, status-wise. Some venture that theirs is just a casual fling. Well, Sean Penn has what it takes to give a girl a casual fling. Just ask Madonna. She married him. And she mooned over the end of that wedlock for a long time, too.

•SOME OF you already know this, but for those who don't -- Fleetwood Mac fans, a rabidly loyal bunch -- are over the moon that one of the original members of the group is back. I do mean keyboardist and singer, Christine McVie. She left the band in 1998, citing, among other factors, that she missed her homeland, England. There were the various complicated relationships between most of the band members, which were often addressed in their songs. It was great gossip fodder, even if you weren't a fan.

Fleetwood Mac cancelled some dates last year because of John McVie's cancer diagnosis. (He is Christine's ex. They remain amiable.) His prognosis looks good, and doctor's orders demand the whole group of originals get out there and wow their audience!

•"Google's director of Engineering...has a 30-year track record of making seemingly bonkers predictions that have proved to be accurate...Ray Kurzweil doesn't just foretell the future; he is also responsible for helping shape it," writes reporter Daisy Greenwell in The London Times.

At the start of the New Year, Greenwell talked to Kurzweil in his San Francisco office with its view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I heard of this interview, with predictions, while removed from so-called "civilization," so to speak.

I am going to give you Kurzweil's view of the future because I don't want you to miss it either.

•Kurzweil predicts:

1.( 2017) Google's self-driving cars have gone half a million miles without humans on highways and city streets with no incidents. Within ten years they will be ubiquitous...You also won't need to own a car; there'll be a pool of them circulating, and you'll just call one from your phone when you need it.

2. (2018) ...Internet search is ...mostly looking for keywords...(the machine) will be more like a human assistant you can talk things over with...you can express personal concerns...
It could listen to a conversation, give helpful hints...perhaps suggest an anecdote.

3. (2020) Switch off our fat cells...we're learning more how to reprogram this outdated software of our bodies. In five to ten years we will have the means of really controlling weight independent of eating.

4. (2020) We'll be replacing a significant part of manufacturing with 3-D printing. We'll be able to print out clothing...there'll be an open source market of free designs....Personal 3-D printers ...will also be shared with ones in your local Starbucks.

5. (2020) Within ten years full-immersion computer games will be totally convincing...We'll have this for visual and auditory senses, and there'll be some simulation of the tactile sense. We have to tap into the nervous system...(You can take a walk with a friend miles away...on a virtual beach and hold their hand.)

6.(2030) A new vertical agriculture revolution...Now we use a third of useable land to produce food. Inefficient. We will grow food in a computerized vertical factory, a more efficient use of real estate. Artificial intelligence will recycle all nutrients so there's no environmental impact.

7.(2033) We will get 100 percent of energy from solar...new techniques...costs coming down...in 20 years we could get all our energy from solar.

8.(2040) Stay young forever. We will add to your life expectancy. We've quadrupled that in the past 1000 years and doubled it in the last 200...We can create an immune system that recognizes all disease, and will be reprogrammed to deal with new pathogens.

•We APOLOGIZE to Ray Kurzweil and Daisy Greenwell for paraphrasing and shortening their questions and answers. But this was totally fascinating. I had not read these predictions and if you have, well, it should cheer you up to read them again. Or, maybe not!

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