Existential Ennui

~ Searching for Meaning Amid the Chaos

Existential Ennui

Category Archives: Entertainment

The Lions Disappoint. What’s New?

05 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by Sherry in Brain Vacuuming, Entertainment, Sports

≈ 5 Comments

BUCSPOSTER92 No, I’m not crying in my cups this morning. I ceased doing that many a decade ago. I am here only to make some statement on behalf of all those who are crying still, tossing and turning all through the night, tissues still clinging to tear-stained cheeks, bits of nachos stuck still in beards and in cleavages, bodies too wracked with mental misery to bathe before seeking the comfort of blankies and darkness.

I speak for them, the great masses of sad fans who must suffer the slings and arrows, er, oh that’s a different story entirely.

Actually I come to suggest that there are in fact no great masses at all, but rather a small group of lost souls who still cling to the thought that these hapless boys in Hawaiian blue, might bring forth a victory one day. In a word, forgetaboutit.

I know of what I speak, for a look with not exactly fondness at the prospect of turning sixty-five this very year, and confess that yes, I lived all too many of those sixty-five in the state of Michigan. For many a reason I consider myself well rid of that mittened image, but that’s another story entirely too.

I grew up, as many working class kids did, with a male parental who was known as a “football fan”. Lucky indeed were we, for we had a team of our own, unlike the orphans living in Connecticut or New Mexico, who must survey the surrounding environs and then choose a team to champion. At least we can explain that we have no choice in the disaster that was foisted upon us.

I recall those years of my youth, watching AFC games on Saturday and NFC games on Sunday. I remember those hated nemeses Chicago and Green Bay and Minnesota. They were the teams that seemed always to come out on top. We were trampled by the likes of Butkus, while Starr passed us by, and Horning laughed as he tripped down the field.

I remember the curses hurled upon the feckless Lions by my father who growled, about how they were surely to fall again, as the litany of three and out reverberated in my ears again and again.  We had a hapless quarterback called Milton Plum, and it was run, run, pass, kick all the game long. Truly great players like Alex Karras and Dick LeBeau served out long careers among the hapless kittens of blue.

For years we blamed the coaches, and then the general manager. But most of all I blamed Edsel Ford who owned the team, sure that if only he would sell the team to someone who cared, all would be better. A family toy was not how a professional football team should be treated, I intoned. The cheap skate! If only he would spend a few bucks.

Well he did, on Billy Sims and Barry Sanders. But if only he would spend some money on ALL the positions.

Well I guess, somewhere along the line they did, and nothing changed.

Oh there were moments of near glory, moments when our hopes were raised.

And that’s when we began to suspect that this would never change. Like most games, there were moments of brilliance, and then the roof fell in as usual. Occasionally a win was eked out, but it was almost always a nail biter. A couple of promising runs, a pass or two, and then it ended, and a feeble field goal was all that was salvaged. Another and then another, and whew, we had a nine-point lead. Five minutes later, after two great and rapid drives, our opponent had scored two touchdowns and we were behind once again.

We seldom recovered.

It became like that all too often. Enticing us, tempting us, letting us dream of victory, but they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory again and again.

Some of us got smart. In fact most of us did. We became like orphans and we found other teams to admire, teams that didn’t always let us down, who didn’t flirt and then wrap up the goodie bar tight and go home, leaving us, well, off to take another cold shower as the metaphor would go.

I became a Broncos fan, though I rue that now that my old standard John Elway became a flaming douche of a right-wing nut. I searched for a team to be mine, one I could proudly display on cap on jacket and bumper.

And I wondered. What makes this team so god-awful bad?

A myriad of coaches, a myriad of quarterbacks and receivers didn’t change a thing. New general managers, new stadiums. Nothing made a difference.

I was forced to examine the fans, and there truly seems to be the answer.

For the Lions don’t command a fan base like the rest of the sporting world. And that can’t be blamed on just poor performance. The Boston Red Sox went through the “curse of the bambino” for 86 years and yet their fans remained loyal. Mets fans remain loyal though most years that team remains in the basement.

I have gone to many a Pistons game, and baseball and hockey game in Detroit. And I knew lots of other people who did as well.  I can categorically say I never ever heard a single person who said, “we went to the Lion’s game yesterday”, while standing at the water cooler on Monday. Not once. Never.

Lions fans, such as they were, suffered for years when ticket sales were so dismal that you couldn’t even watch the team on the TV because the games weren’t televised locally when the stadium wasn’t sold out. The threat of “no TV” was not enough to induce lackluster Lions fans into spending a few bucks to sit in the stands.

detroit-lions-fan1 Of course the team, like all others, talks about how wonderful the fans are, and how they are energized by their cheers. One wonders if the Lions haven’t developed a strong aversion to sound, such that boos sound like rahs to them. Because if the rahs are forthcoming, they soon succumb to the reality of Lions football–the praises turn into curses as the team falters yet again.

The facts are what they are.

The Lions remain the only national conference team that has NEVER played in a super bowl.

So I come to the only viable conclusion that can be reached, the fans are responsible for the failure of this sorry excuse of a team to win. And worse, it is fans like me, fair-weather types, who have long since stopped the masochistic pursuit of sticking by their team, and moved on.

As the game with Dallas went on and the Lions looked again as if they just might win, my husband, football analyst and all-round Green Bay fan, stated, “babe, the little brothers are gonna win this game I think”.

To which I replied. “wait for it. Don’t be sucked in. They will fade and die. They always do.”

“Away with that negativity,” he ordered.

“Just experience, my dear, just experience.”

And then the passes started going awry. And the runners stopped finding the holes. And Romo started to connect, and Dallas got a touchdown, and then it was only by six, and well, to us old-time knowers of all things Lion-y, the hand of doom was about to strike.

And it did, and they walked off again losers, not meant to be.

And I must admit, I’m to blame. I just didn’t love them enough.

Now, how ’bout them Packers? Oh yeah, and damn Spartans were something weren’t they against Baylor? Now that’s football!

 

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They Make Too Much Damn Money

03 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by Sherry in Entertainment, Sports

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

money, NCAA, Sports

Jameis Winston For reasons that I don’t truly get myself, I’ve been intrigued to the point of passion with this seasons college football season. On the whole I rather like college sports over professional, and I’ve watched not only my beloved Spartans, but the entirety of the national race for #1 team of the year.

I confess that I enjoy all the games, albeit, I am intellectually against what I see as an over-emphasis on the unholy dollar bill.

I admit up front, that I don’t know a single “fact” regarding Jameis Winston’s rape allegation. I have read generally that many who have looked into the allegations believe that the University of Alabama and local authorities either deliberately ignored evidence or worse, or at minimum failed miserably to conduct anything like a reasonable investigation. Winston may well be innocent. I have no clue. There are rape charges that are untrue, and as a lawyer, I had one or two that I felt were bogus.

That’s really not the point here. The point is, that if there was not a full-fledged investigation, then justice was in no way served, and it can only be for one reason. That reason is that Mr. Winston was deemed too important to the football program at Alabama to be lost. So he was not to be benched “pending investigation” even. Rather it was, it seems all made to go away, with him never missing a snap.

Again, this case is not important, but indicative of a greater problem, one we saw even more clearly at Penn State regarding the Sandusky affair. People look the other way, push evidence under the perennial rug, and otherwise not upset the financial apple cart. What apple cart is that?

It is said that among the major players in the NCAA football world, schools bring in millions of dollars per year. In fact at Penn, one year’s profits covered the $60 million dollar fine imposed upon them.

In nearly every single state in the union, the highest paid person is a football or basketball coach.

The revenues of the athletic departments of these schools are separate from the university budget and are TAX-FREE.

I am no fan of Jim Harbaugh. In fact I dislike him rather a good deal, but I surely get why he decided to downsize from the pros to college, when Michigan offered him a 7-year contract worth $40 million bucks. Imagine, 40 MILLION BUCKS to instruct young men to play a game!

One could, at one time I guess at least argue that these young men were at least getting an education. No more of course, with the big talents opting out for early drafts, leaving school without their diplomas. And of course the atmosphere now may be anti-learning anyhow.

Cardale Jones, the third-string quarterback that will play for the national championship in a couple of weeks, tweeted on Friday the following:

Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain’t come to play SCHOOL classes are POINTLESS,”

Yes, I guess they are Cardale. Here we have a child in a man-body prepared to stake his entire life on the millions he dreams of making in the NFL. What will he do if that is cut short by some catastrophic event before he steps off the plane to sign that contract? An uneducated, nobody looking for work just like everyone else, all because education is like “pointless” dude.

Yes, they do entertain us, and they do an excellent job at that, but I’d be willing to bet that that is not what is at issue here anymore. It’s all business and no doubt it starts now at the high school level.

On New Years, MSU came back from a huge deficit, a game that was surely lost, and scored and scored again and again, until they were within a touchdown of winning. And then they did it. They scored, and Baylor road home stunned and unable to fathom what had happened.  Houston did the same thing yesterday to Pittsburg, scoring like three times in 15 minutes and winning two on-side kicks in a row.

These sorts of games make fans jump for joy. Yet in a state like Texas, the Baylor players may well want to transfer to another state to play next year. Football is life there.

Still, when all is said and done, colleges and universities are supposed to stand for something. It is supposed to be about building character in youngsters through athletics, team and individual efforts, winning and losing and doing your best and accepting being bested. When the FSU players walked off the field after being bested by Oregon, were they showing character or simply the behavior of brats who have been coddled into believing that they were God’s gift to humanity and deserved to win?

Are we teaching our youth anything that will sustain them in the future when we play to this sort of thing? When we pay their coach millions for a game? When we “wink, wink, nod, nod” them why supplying them with “extras” under the table? Surely you must know they do.

Can we expect a Cardale Jones to believe anything else when his coach makes ten times more than the university president?

I recall many years ago a young man who stood before a judge about to be sentenced for some criminal act. He wore a jacket with the name Georgetown emblazoned across the back. The Judge, an alumnus of that university, asked, “do you know what Georgetown is, sir?” The youth replied, “yes sir, it’s a basketball team, sir.”

Such is the state of athletics in America.

It should not be so.

No. It should not.

* factual allegations regarding the football programs and their profits is drawn largely from this article at the Washington Post, “Why Jim Harbaugh is worth $40 million  to the University of Michigan’s Football Team.”

 

 

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Oh No She Di’nt. Oh Yes She Did

27 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by Sherry in 1st Amendment, Brain Vacuuming, Entertainment, Essays, Humor, Individual Rights, Media, Satire

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

children, Entertainment, Individual Rights, Media, sex, violence

Elvis Presley PerformingOne thing you cannot call me is a prude. I grew up in the 60’s where it was sex, drugs and rock and roll for goodness sakes. We reveled in turning on and tuning out. We dabbled on the edges, at least most of us, and a few sadly jumped off the mountain and died young.

So, don’t say, oh go back to your knitting old woman, this is the new generation. We were all the new generation at one time, and the roaring twenties had nothing kiddies to do with lions.

But even I have to come up short once in a while, and ask. . . . “Really? Haven’t you gone just a bit too far here?”

And I’m not even talking about the occasional “over the top” display of boobs, vaginas, or exploding heads with sprays of blood in every direction. I can even buy that some of this is “necessary” to convey the true horror of the event, time, or business as usual attitude.

I’m talking about the constant one-up-man-ship that seems increasingly necessary in order to capture and keep the attention of the average person.

The danger is never that one single act of viewing will so warp the mind that it will forever impact the life of the viewer. It is so much more than that. It is numbing if the mind to the point that we are becoming more and more desensitized. What used to shock no longer does.

And it happens rapidly.

Just last evening I was bemoaning once again that we have started to watch Breaking Bad when it first started and then for some reason, bailed after a couple of episodes. The Contrarian gently reminded me that the reason was “the violence”. Wow. We had stopped watching Breaking Bad for the same reason we ceased watching the Sopranos?

Yet here we were watching Hell on Wheels and Copper, and The Following. We had avoided Dexter, but were watching  The Bridge which treated us to bodies sawed in half and side nudity and some good simulated sex to say nothing of the same in Copper.

We had, in a word, become desensitized.

mdn18And we are technically now “old people”. We have some ability, one would assume, to separate real from simulated, and reality from fantasy. How does one attribute such abilities to tweens?

When three young fellows decide to kill a person because “they are bored”, we have probably reached the point where reality is no longer recognized as much different from the latest edition of Grand Theft Auto.

I will be the first to admit that the jury seems still out on how much all this has to do with changing the minds of our youth. Reasonable psychologists do disagree, but it cannot be a good thing that we treat violence and the ugliness of exploding bodies a good thing. It cannot make us a kinder, gentler people. Certainly we can agree on that.

It seems to me one thing to blow up star ships even though we ignore that they are filled with hundreds of living beings, and quite another to blow off two-thirds of the face of a man as they recently did in an episode of The Bridge. The fact that it’s not “real” is hardly comforting to young minds. Hell it’s not comforting to me.

It’s now the norm in my household to avert one’s eyes, yelp in shock, and yell out, “they could have warned me!” at the gore that is de rigueur for most cable shows these days. Have you learned to turn away as the crazy person raises the gun to their own head yet? We sure have.

Now, you can argue that we are just watching lousy crap, and that may be true enough. Still, some of these shows are compelling in showing us a bad side of our own history. Hell on Wheels may be often too too graphic in its portrayal of blood and gore, but we do learn that how freed slaves were treated in the real world in the Old West, and how women used their bodies to make a living, and how everybody used and abused the Native people as needed. The were alternatively “saved” and massacred as time allowed.

mileyWhich all brings us to Miley Cyrus and her “act” at the MTV Awards the other night. First I did not watch it, but I have seen the video. Anybody who breathes has heard of it no doubt and the jury is split into “what a slut” and “who the hell cares?”

Women seem to care more than men, since it’s still true that women bear the major burden of raising children, and this shit scares them. Little girls, sadly, love these pop stars, want to dress like them and act like them.  Anybody who has seen Toddlers and Tiaras, knows only too well of what I speak.

One can speculate about Ms. Cyrus’s upbringing, her mental state,  and a host of other psychologically related issues regarding her and her idea of what is appropriate to do in front of cameras, but most of us would rather not have our children witness this behavior as something to emulate. Much as Ms. Cyrus may disagree, this is not the way you “prove you’ve grown up”. Rather it proves that you have a very very long way to go to reach that destination.

I’m the first to admit here that I have no answers to any of this. As you know by now, I don’t specialize in answers so much. I prefer to rant about what is wrong. You find the answer. I’m busy rooting out the problems. And this is a growing one it seems to me.

The business of simulated sex is just not necessary it seem to me. I find it impossible to almost ever conclude that it is “necessary” to a faithful honest portrayal of the character of incident. We can all figure it out without all the grunts and groans and the “yeah baby, now” crap.

The violence? That has a better argument in some cases. I do think it’s important to see the ugliness of our history. Saying that people owned slaves didn’t have much effect until Roots showed us (graphically for its time) what it was to be a slave. The same for things like Amistad. As I have said, Hell on Wheels insofar as it shows the misery of life in the West while building a railroad, gives us a new appreciation for those that built this country. Not the Rockefellers and Carnegies, but the average people who lived out short mean lives doing the business of building.

But where to draw the line? Oh gosh, I don’t know where to begin to set the standards. And perhaps that is the reason we have so little in the way of standards. Where is free speech, art, and individual freedom in all this? All I know is that we have gone too far it seems to me.

dexter

Related articles
  • Not Just a Whorehouse: Female Representation in Hell On Wheels (rookerville.com)
  • Miley Cyrus: White Trash Never Looked This Bad (thoughtcatalog.com)
  • Breaking Bad is brilliant (catherinecrilly.wordpress.com)
  • Breaking Bad Contest: The First Three to Die? (thomaspluck.com)
  • Top 10 most bad ass TV characters (angelomedici.com)

 

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It’s Good News Thursday!

11 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Sherry in Crap I Learned, Entertainment, Essays, Gay Rights, Health care, Humor, Satire, Women's issues

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Entertainment, gay rights, Good News, Humor, psychology, sociology, women's rights

happyDon’t worry, be happy. I’m just oodly happy today. Don’t know why, no good reason. Just breathing in and saying hey, lungs fill up with this OX-y-Jin!

No, I’m not on pain killers nor other mind-altering substances. I’m just finding the news particularly upbeat today.

First, let me tootle my own horn just a tiny bit. I finished Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Righteous Mind, and you can read my review here. It’s a humbling book I gotta tell you. Being smart and well-educated doesn’t necessarily make you any more open-minded. What it may do, as I surmise is make you more aware of just how much we intuit our  beliefs and then come up with “evidence” to substantiate it. Knowing that, we can, I hope, be more vigilant in being open, if you get my drift.

Secondly, I found out that neither rich, poor, religious or not, we all mostly look out for Number One, we can all be altruistic to our “tribe”, we all cheat if we can get away with it to a greater or lesser degree (the rich the most), and we all worry about what others think of us (the conservative more-so than liberals). At least those were big take-aways for me. And it suggested to me that the claim that conservatives give more of their money and time to charitable concerns may be the result of inflated self-reporting than anything else. I do admit that that conclusion is the result of (1) a desire on my part that it be so, (2) the knowledge that conservatives worry excessively about their reputations, and (3) anecdotal evidence that the only people who ever tell me about their charitable largess or right wingers. So it’s my extrapolation and may not be accurate. Do tell what your experience has been.

Anyway, my bottom line? Professor Haidt’s revelations are perhaps as anger provoking to liberals as they are to conservatives. And that means it’s probably important to read and understand. I am fairly convinced that he makes some good points about what liberals miss and what some conservatives bring to the table. I would argue that nothing much good comes from the tea Idiots however, but that again is my elephant in full control. (read the book and you will get the reference).

So, the other good news for me at least is this:

I adore Glee. I say that with a certain degree of embarrassment because we didn’t watch it for a couple of years. Thought it was for kids. But kept hearing all the raves about it. So tuned it one evening and we’ve been hooked ever since. Silly as all get out. Nobody ever in life went to a high school like this, but we all should have. And it’s great fun. And it sends a very important message about being WHO YOU ARE, and about being accepted for WHO YOU ARE, even when that can be just down right a horse’s ass. The most important point they make, and you have to watch for a while to get it, is that seemingly mean people have soft undersides, and very nice people have dark hearts. And we all have to make allowances for each other, and support each other just because we are all really freakin’ human and being human is freakin’ hard a lot of the time.

So anyway, the good news is that my darling boy Adam Lambert is joining the cast this fall. Adam, is drop-dead boy toy gorgeous if you didn’t know. adam

And he’s so young that for me to get excited means I’m a sick woman. So I only from a distance say, damn that is one fine lookin’ child, and no more.

And if you listen to him, he’s not dumb either, which is something that seems to often unfairly attach or not to people who are that good-looking.

Johnny Depp is another exception, being fabulously gorgeous, closer to my own age, and not dumb as a rock either.

So, I can hardly wait until fall. And I know I shouldn’t be that way, because at my age, wishing time to pass is surely not a good thing.

Speaking of gay.

Oh, yes we were!

All kinds of crappy shit is going on in Pennsylvania these days but here is some good news.

The AG for PA, (has a snappy sound no?) has apparently said that she has no intention of defending against the lawsuit filed by a gay couple challenging the ban on gay-marriage statute in that state.  So says Joe.My.God, who so says the Washington Post.

It appears that the thing about gay marriage has turned a corner, or as we science-oriented types like to say, passed over the event horizon, meaning nothing in the known universe can turn back the procession to full equality for our friends who are other-oriented than me. I for one couldn’t be more happy. It seems that the latest polling in PA suggests that well more than half of the population in that state now favors marriage equality, which is why the AG perhaps decided what she did.

Anyway, hurrah, hurrah.

Those of you in the know, know that Scott Walker, Guv from Wisconsin has been a real pain in the rear for women. He pushed through a repeal of women’s right to equal pay, has essentially defunded PPH, and has signed a number of bills making abortion rights much much harder for women to exercise. Sarah Silverman, comedienne, tweeted: “I’d very much like to anally probe @govwalker each time he needs to make an “informed decision” “.

The Right-wing has gone bonkers over this, accusing Ms. Silverman of wanting to “rape” the governor. Breitbart was suitably chagrined.   (read the comments which quickly degenerate to Hitler’s death camps I promise you). Anyway, pissing off the right just makes me joyful. It’s my great happiness to know they are turning purple in the face. It makes me happy, and this IS happy day.

Taken by a British Photographer (Austin?)

Taken by a British Photographer (Austin?)

Related articles
  • The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion ~ Jonathan Haidt [updated May 28, 2013] (planetizen1network.wordpress.com)
  • Adam Lambert Joins ‘Glee’ Season 5 (aceshowbiz.com)

 

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Where’s My Fire Extinguisher?

19 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by Sherry in 2nd Amendment, Brain Vacuuming, Energy, Entertainment, Environment, Essays, Evolution, GOP, Humor, LifeStyle, Reproductive Rights, Satire, Sociology, teabaggers, Women's issues

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

2nd Amendment, Books, climate change, evolution, GOP, intellectualism, lifestyle, PPH, teabaggers, Wisconsin, Women's issues

war-on-women-in-one-graphic-fullIt really strikes one as insane, except to the insane I guess. And the GOP is home to a whole lota insane. After taking a drubbing in 2012, you’d think they would be about figuring out how to appeal to the groups they lost badly to, LIKE WOMEN!

No, instead, they are still doing the big daddy shuffle–no no missy, you just don’t trouble you pretty little head darlin’, I’ll do what’s best for you.

And they are, to the tune of moving all in in their war against Planned Parenthood. In good old Wisconsin, home of the Koch-addicted Governor Walker, has just managed to cut funding for PPH by a whopping one million, forcing them to close four clinics in rural areas.

Upwards of 2,000 women will lose the only health care they have.

All in the name of preventing PPH from its abortion agenda–which accounts for a mere 3% of its business.

But big daddy knows best.

I would like to kick big daddy in the balls. Actually, that’s a great idea, and a great contraceptive method. More women need to do it to Republican legislators around the country who think they know best when it comes to women’s health. . .or lack of it.

§

I spent considerable time and precious time (for my time is quite valuable) yesterday trying to rid Firefox of its pop-up problem. And it is their problem, most of the windows are Mozilla creations. They can’t fix their own stuff, so I downloaded some malware fixes and that didn’t work either. So I have transferred most operations to Explorer (finding Chrome very ugly to work with) and figure to dump Firefox. I assume the dang program is corrupted. If anybody knows an easy way to transfer “favorites” I’d be appreciative. I have so far not figured that baby out.

§

I was mildly intrigued some time ago when I heard of the paleo diet. The Contrarian often regales me the fact that he “drinks” anthropologically–with great draughts of liquid much as our ancestors did at the old drinkin’ hole. One needed to get in and out quick before some saber tooth came along and made you his midnight snack. But I’ve never had a satisfactory explanation of why grains were not allowed since grains were certainly available to paleolithic people in the form of wild rice and wheat.

There is a movement about that suggests that we are evolutionarily speaking still more cave-lady than 5th Avenue in terms of our genetics, and this mismatch of cave and five-inch heels is the source of much of our unhealth today. It sounds right, but is it? Some call it the paleofantasy. If you’re intrigued too, then read more about it here. Common sense conclusions are very often wrong. Were we every “perfectly” adapted to our environment?

If you don’t believe in evolution, then ignore the above, and just ask “what would Noah do?” AND BITE ME!

§

Do you have a list of books you are “going to read?”  I don’t mean the stack next to your chair which you can’t wait to get to. I’m talking about the books that make you feel guilty because you know you should have read them, yet you just can’t get past the first ten pages without wanting to tear out your hair. Do you keep saying one day you WILL read James Joyce? How about Proust?

Anyway, I was just wondering if there are others out there like me. Do you die in guilt? Or are you doing anything about it?

I’m nosy like that. Probing through the folds of other people’s grey matter.

§

Speaking of probing brain matter. Let me ask you this? No not, you dear reader, you are sane. I’m talking to stupid in the back. Come on UP stupid.

I have a question for you. Do stupid people actively sit around thinking up stupid things, or do stupid thoughts just fall into your head and stick there until you are forced to expel them verbally?

Missouri seems to have a virus floating around of stupid.

A GOP’er (aren’t they always) has introduced a bill in the state legislature (perhaps it’s really the state day-care center for the mentally infirm), that would make it a FELONY to propose any law that would in any way restrict the rights of gun owners under the 2nd Amendment.

Yes, it’s now illegal to make constitutional laws.

Or it would be.

If there are enough stupid to match the gargantuan stupid of Mikey Leara.

Can anybody top that?

§

Not to be outdone, just out stupided, is Kansas, dear old Kansas or KANS ASS as you might wish to think of it.

It seems there, that the GOPer’s are busy introducing bills that would require that teachers teach falsehood–namely that there is some scientific controversy about the existence of man-made climate change.

Yessiree Bob, we got us some climate deniers here, and they have adopted the ALEC-supplied legislation and introduced it.

So, who will win? Missouri or Kansas?

Don’t you Texans feel just a might better now?

§

Saw the last show of the season for Downton Abbey last night. All I can say is bummer, dude. And I’m pretty darn good at spotting things ahead of time. That carefree driving down a country road happy as a lark? It’s the harbinger of death. Always is. Now the long wait until the next season.

Oh I forgot. Liberals are supposed to hate Downton. For it’s classism no doubt. What a crock of poo.

Related articles
  • Wisconsin GOP forces 2,000 low-income women to travel miles for reproductive health care (tv.msnbc.com)
  • State Closes Four Planned Parenthood Clinics Due To Budget Cuts (huffingtonpost.com)

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The War On Women Continues

10 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Sherry in Entertainment, GOP, Mitch McConnell, What's Up?, Women's issues

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Entertainment, GOP, Mitch McConnell, Planned Parenthood, teabaggers, women's rights

Planned_Parenthood_Fan_Page_Profile_PhotoRepublican continue to demean the value of women. The latest? Oh that would be Oklahoma that bastion of women’s rights.

There, the Tulsa Planned Parenthood facility is being forced to close because the Oklahoma Department of Health has decided to cut off its funding. It did this by cancelling its contract with WIC, a federal program. The Oklahoma government claims it is purely a “business decision, but of course it follows similar moves in Texas and Arizona, also known for their vehement attacks on the organization that devotes 3% of its services to abortion.

This follows a number of strategies to starve the group out of existence in the past few years. In some states laws are passed that concern building maintenance that are so onerous and unrealistic that PPH cannot afford the renovations (extra mop closets for instance).

What makes this all so obvious, is that the Tulsa office does not perform abortions at all. One hundred percent of its, and ALL the affiliates in Oklahoma are devoted to preventive care and family planning.

We are talking about cervical cancer screenings, mammograms, contraceptive care here people.

The outrage continues as white men continue to exert their control over the bodies of women, white and of color.

…

Better news? Oh the GOP continues to feast upon its own flesh. Yeah, grotesque analogy to be sure, but they are into cannibalism.

Latest victim?

Why good old Turtle man Mitch McConnell. Seems he’s aroused the ire of your average Tea People group in Kentucky. They found his fiscal cliff negotiations and agreement, well, just totally totally unacceptable. All those rich Kentucky hill folks (rich in the fables they tell themselves about how riches will be theirs if we only listen to rich folks) are not up with the tax on the rich that old Mitch agreed to. So Mitch wants to withdraw into his shell and avoid the folks who want to make him into some savory turtle soup.

The group “For America” plans on running their ads against Mitch in the usual places. (For America–those people are sure talented when it comes to catchy names ain’t they?)

…

Just saw the Oscar nominations. As is so predictable, Lincoln leads the field. This is going to be a sad one. Hugh Jackman is nominated for best actor and should surely win for an outstanding performance, but of course he cannot win against the equally grand performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. They should give out two this year I say. Let my make a guess that in consolation, Anne Hathaway will win best supporting over our always beloved Sally Fields. Just guesses, I’ve seen nothing but trailers so far. I like to give opinions about things I know nothing about. You already know that.

…

Sorry, out of time today. The Contrarian has an eye appointment at the VA in El Paso this afternoon and we are heading down a bit early to eat before we hit the base. It’s a beautiful day here, hope it is where you are.

Related articles
  • Planned Parenthood closing in W. Tulsa (kjrh.com)
  • War on abortion targets reproductive health care for poor women (kansascity.com)
  • Marsha Blackburn, Diane Black Offer Dueling Bills To Defund Planned Parenthood (huffingtonpost.com)
  • Are Reproductive Rights on the Way Out? (blogs.forward.com)
  • Paul Ryan signs on as cosponsor of new ‘fetal personhood’ bill (rawstory.com)

 

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The Other Dylan

08 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by Sherry in Entertainment, Music

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Music, Rodriguez

I mean dang. I never knew.

Did you?

Were you watching 60 Minutes last night? If you were, you know what I’m talking about. If not, well, you are in for a sweet surprise.

A man called Sixto Diaz Rodriguez was born in 1942 to parents who had emigrated from Mexico in the 20’s.  Some people thought he wrote some great music about life on the streets of Detroit. He was recorded.

His albums met critical acclaim, but few bought his music. He faded into the proverbial oblivion, taking on construction jobs to keep body and soul together while he wrote, played here and there, and basically lived near the poverty level.

Somehow his music found its way to South Africa where it met a crowd of young people who were sick to death in their hearts of apartheid. His raw lyrics about real life struck a chord and seemed to speak to them. He became their hero and his music sold by the tens of thousands.

They thought he was dead. An urban legend arose that he had committed suicide on stage by self-immolation. But people wondered, and based on a lyric in one of his songs that mentioned Dearborn, somebody did some looking, and they found him. Ultimately they brought him to South Africa, these thirty years later, and he sang before thousands who knew every word of his songs.

And now, he’s making another tour. And his music is amazing.

Most of his songs reflect his political beliefs that the poor have a lousy hand to play. And he managed while working the construction thing, to enroll in Wayne State University and secure a degree in philosophy. And that’s pretty darn lucky for him, since he’s a philosopher after all.

Much of all this is detailed in a documentary entitled “Searching for Sugar Man” written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul.  He barely was able to finish it, running out of money himself. But he did. And it as the premiere hit at Sundance and it’s been included in film festivals everywhere, and it may end up garnering an Academy Award nomination.

And well, I just thought you might like to hear what this man has to say.

You can see and listen to a longer play list (9) from the documentary at HuffPo and a piece of the documentary itself.

His name is Rodriguez. And you will never forget his music.

Related articles
  • Sixto Rodriguez: the Sugar Man returns (guardian.co.uk)
  • Resurrecting Rodriguez (dailymaverick.co.za)
  • Sixto Rodriguez, Secret Rock Star Behind Searching for Sugar Man (entertainment.time.com)
  • Singer-Songwriter Rodriguez’s Career Sees Resurgence After Documentary (VIDEO) (hispanicallyspeakingnews.com)
  • Searching For Sugarman is more than a sweet surprise (elizamoritz.wordpress.com)
  • Rodriguez: Searching for Sugar Man OST (Review) (popmatters.com)
  • 1970s Musician Rodriguez’s Story Told on ’60 Minutes’ (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)

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