She's odd-turned.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tina
I love me some modern Tina Turner. But at least once a year I listen to her fuck-this-shit anthem on growing up poor, black and female in rural West Tennessee before the Civil Rights movement.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Thought for the day
Describing yourself as "fierce" means sooner or later you're coming unhinged, 'cause you believe you're right and anyone who differs is wrong.
Try empathy instead. I think it was what Rodney King was getting at with his "can't we all just get along."
Try empathy instead. I think it was what Rodney King was getting at with his "can't we all just get along."
'The South's most important contributions to society'
I know, You're thinking that's a joke. What with pathological organic racism, a higher rate of unhealthful living (diabetes, et al. Or as we quaintly call it here: "the sugar"), and a stubborn tendency toward willful ignorance, it kinda sorta is.
But the legacy of Piggly Wiggly is not a joke, people.
Also, cotton candy.
But the legacy of Piggly Wiggly is not a joke, people.
Also, cotton candy.
Cats who got ties for Father's Day
The captions on these LOLcats are priceless too.
"This tie looks like a napkin. I mean, a very fancy and thoughtful napkin. I love you."
"This tie looks like a napkin. I mean, a very fancy and thoughtful napkin. I love you."
A-fucking-men
This Salon blogger writes that the national health-care debate never delves into the huge issue of what to do for and with people with life-altering disabilities.
"Some of the people on Medicare and Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income are people with disabilities. Your parents, your cousins, your grandnephews, your neighbors — some of them are people with disabilities. They have autism or Alzheimer’s or arthritis or achondroplasia or carpal tunnel syndrome or Crohn’s disease or Parkinson’s or Huntington’s or cerebral palsy or MS or Down syndrome or traumatic brain injury; they are deaf or blind or paraplegic or schizophrenic. Some of them don’t have a diagnosis at all, or if they do, it is “pervasive developmental delay,” which means “we have no idea what’s going on.” Some of them came into the world that way; some inherited a genetic anomaly; some caught a virus; some, like the Frosts, simply happened to be in a car that hit a patch of black ice one winter night. And you might be one of them yourself — if not now, maybe later. One never knows."
Oh, never, not me, you say. Until it happens to you.
A bit more: "Sure, people know (or know that they have to pretend not to know) the risks of smoking, or drinking heavily, or eating bacon double cheeseburgers, or riding their motorcycle without a helmet. But most disabilities don’t work that way. They’re not the result of calculations and risk management. Only the most sociopathically callous among us would say, “Jack totally deserved that brain injury from falling off that ladder … he knew the risks when he went up to clean the gutters.” And to this day, no one has ever said to me, “you knew what you were getting into when you had Jamie … you pay for him.”
The bold is mine. It's the heart of the matter that the public skitters past every day.
Medicare for all. 'Cause you or someone you love is gonna need it. I guaran-damn-tee.
"Some of the people on Medicare and Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income are people with disabilities. Your parents, your cousins, your grandnephews, your neighbors — some of them are people with disabilities. They have autism or Alzheimer’s or arthritis or achondroplasia or carpal tunnel syndrome or Crohn’s disease or Parkinson’s or Huntington’s or cerebral palsy or MS or Down syndrome or traumatic brain injury; they are deaf or blind or paraplegic or schizophrenic. Some of them don’t have a diagnosis at all, or if they do, it is “pervasive developmental delay,” which means “we have no idea what’s going on.” Some of them came into the world that way; some inherited a genetic anomaly; some caught a virus; some, like the Frosts, simply happened to be in a car that hit a patch of black ice one winter night. And you might be one of them yourself — if not now, maybe later. One never knows."
Oh, never, not me, you say. Until it happens to you.
A bit more: "Sure, people know (or know that they have to pretend not to know) the risks of smoking, or drinking heavily, or eating bacon double cheeseburgers, or riding their motorcycle without a helmet. But most disabilities don’t work that way. They’re not the result of calculations and risk management. Only the most sociopathically callous among us would say, “Jack totally deserved that brain injury from falling off that ladder … he knew the risks when he went up to clean the gutters.” And to this day, no one has ever said to me, “you knew what you were getting into when you had Jamie … you pay for him.”
The bold is mine. It's the heart of the matter that the public skitters past every day.
Medicare for all. 'Cause you or someone you love is gonna need it. I guaran-damn-tee.
Sordid Lives
To Jill, if she's still with me. "Shoot him, Wardell. Shoot him in the head."
"Sordid Lives" is my favorite Southern comedy. And it's worth whatever they spent on production to hear this exchange alone (included on clip linked above):
Beau Bridges: "Y'all are drunk."
Delta Burke (leveling a '45 handgun at him): "No shit. I'm on Valium too."
"Sordid Lives" is my favorite Southern comedy. And it's worth whatever they spent on production to hear this exchange alone (included on clip linked above):
Beau Bridges: "Y'all are drunk."
Delta Burke (leveling a '45 handgun at him): "No shit. I'm on Valium too."
Friday, June 15, 2012
'17 vintage thrill rides of questionable safety'
I come from the age of lawn darts. And I'm a hillbilly, the "nationality" of many "Jackass" wanna-be's (I am related to men who have enjoyed jumping out of a barn loft onto a cheap trampoline. It's somehow more disturbing that they were not drunk or high at the time).
Still. #14 on this list paused me.
Still. #14 on this list paused me.
Too bad, so sad
Wife-beater and boxer Floyd Mayweather wants out of jail so he can train (sparring with his girlfriend and such, I guess).
The presiding judge said, Um. no. And by the way, STFU.
The presiding judge said, Um. no. And by the way, STFU.
Watergate revisited
Once, on a trip to Our Nation's Capitol, I dropped by the Watergate Hotel, where a penny-ante political stunt eventually brought down a president.
At the time of my visit to the DC landmark (which looked stodgy yet oddly futuristic in a Disney World kind of way), I was not long out of college.
I "wrote for the newspaper," as my mother proudly put it. I had neither the stomach nor working style for political reporting, but I admired me some Woodward and Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who did. With a printing press and an unnamed source, those men dethroned Richard Nixon. Richard Fucking Nixon.
Sadly, we learned nothing, says analyst Charles P. Pierce.
"The lasting "lesson" of Watergate, it appears, is that self-government was too dangerous, that the perils of it outweigh its values, and that the obligations of citizenship, beyond those which are purely ceremonial, are too heavy for citizens to bear. Between now and 2014, there are going to be lots of 40-year anniversaries marking the various episodes in the grand pageant of Watergate, and all the usual suspects will deal in all the customary banalities. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, the blog will be around to mark them all as well, because Watergate really did mean something at the time. There was a moment, pure and fleeting, where it looked as though another way really was possible."
Sadly, I think Pierce is right.
Above: Carl Bernstein (left) and Bob Woodward.
Below: Me in a newsroom circa 1992.
At the time of my visit to the DC landmark (which looked stodgy yet oddly futuristic in a Disney World kind of way), I was not long out of college.
I "wrote for the newspaper," as my mother proudly put it. I had neither the stomach nor working style for political reporting, but I admired me some Woodward and Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who did. With a printing press and an unnamed source, those men dethroned Richard Nixon. Richard Fucking Nixon.
Sadly, we learned nothing, says analyst Charles P. Pierce.
"The lasting "lesson" of Watergate, it appears, is that self-government was too dangerous, that the perils of it outweigh its values, and that the obligations of citizenship, beyond those which are purely ceremonial, are too heavy for citizens to bear. Between now and 2014, there are going to be lots of 40-year anniversaries marking the various episodes in the grand pageant of Watergate, and all the usual suspects will deal in all the customary banalities. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, the blog will be around to mark them all as well, because Watergate really did mean something at the time. There was a moment, pure and fleeting, where it looked as though another way really was possible."
Sadly, I think Pierce is right.
Below: Me in a newsroom circa 1992.
Jerry Sandusky. An animal, and not in a good way
This Slate writer says serial pedophile Sandusky should plead guilty at his trial. He also says Sandusky won't do that. I agree. Sandusky is not human in the way you and I define that word.
From this case, observe and absorb how many adults knowingly and willfully failed to save these little boys from unspeakable horrors. Then vow--swear on your very life--to never be one of those people.
At this point, it's about all we can give Sandusky's victims.
From this case, observe and absorb how many adults knowingly and willfully failed to save these little boys from unspeakable horrors. Then vow--swear on your very life--to never be one of those people.
At this point, it's about all we can give Sandusky's victims.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Oh, Mandy
My gal and I are going to see Mandy Barnett, the biggest voice in a town full of big voices, later this summer rite-cheer in Music City.
And here's an old PBS special where the interviewer unknowingly(?) makes a joke about Mandy being literally in a closet. 'Cause, you know, the fact that Barnett is a lesbian is one of Nashville's open secrets.
And here's an old PBS special where the interviewer unknowingly(?) makes a joke about Mandy being literally in a closet. 'Cause, you know, the fact that Barnett is a lesbian is one of Nashville's open secrets.
White girls belting out the blues
Allison Moorer and Shelby Lynne--sisters from Alabama I would not cross.
Lynne, the one with the bandanna, is a dyke. Yep yep.
Lynne, the one with the bandanna, is a dyke. Yep yep.
Another educated middle-aged white man jumps from the USS GOP
They're slow on the uptake (most of us are), but having been in the belly of the beast of what the Republican party has become, these folks have on-the-ground observations.
"As a local GOP official after President Obama’s election, I had a front-row seat as it became infected by a dangerous and virulent form of political rabies. In the grip of this contagion, the Republican Party has come unhinged. Its fevered hallucinations involve threats from imaginary communists and socialists who, seemingly, lurk around every corner. Climate change- a reality recognized by every single significant scientific body and academy in the world- is a liberal conspiracy conjured up by Al Gore and other leftists who want to destroy America. Large numbers of Republicans- the notorious birthers- believe that the President was not born in the United States. Even worse, few figures in the GOP have the courage to confront them."
Note: Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union in every sense of the term. He was our greatest president. And a Republican.
"As a local GOP official after President Obama’s election, I had a front-row seat as it became infected by a dangerous and virulent form of political rabies. In the grip of this contagion, the Republican Party has come unhinged. Its fevered hallucinations involve threats from imaginary communists and socialists who, seemingly, lurk around every corner. Climate change- a reality recognized by every single significant scientific body and academy in the world- is a liberal conspiracy conjured up by Al Gore and other leftists who want to destroy America. Large numbers of Republicans- the notorious birthers- believe that the President was not born in the United States. Even worse, few figures in the GOP have the courage to confront them."
Note: Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union in every sense of the term. He was our greatest president. And a Republican.
Why old media is going down the tubes, part elebenty-seven
88 percent of the books reviewed by The New York Times are by white authors.
It won't be long for checkout time for The Old Gray Lady, et al.
It won't be long for checkout time for The Old Gray Lady, et al.
Dude!
I discovered that marijuana has a relatively positive effect on my MS a while back (I say "relatively" since at this deepening stage of my disease, no drug is gonna make me walk unaided or totally abate the mental pathologies of secondary progressive MS.). I'm talking just being able to manage the stress of day-to-day living a bit better.
I have taken many drugs over the years to slow my disease progression and to treat symptoms. None of the disease-slowing meds (all of them developed by Big Pharma with the requisite high price tag) did anything that I noticed. As for symptom treatment, three substances have worked: anti-depressants, periodic Botox injections to the bladder to quell incontinence (at an annual cost to Medicare of $30,000), and medicinal marijuana.
After I realized the (relative) wonders that weed might bring, I also noticed that there is no medical research--NONE--to guide me on how much to imbibe to get the desired benefit.
Here's a neuropsychopharmacology professor at Imperial College who notes that writing off MJ as a potential treatment for diseases is stupid and wrong.
"I can show you 150 papers telling you how the brain reacts to an angry face, but I can't show you a single paper that tells you what cannabis does."
Marijuana is still considered by the US government and by the most powerful voting bloc (old people) to be as toxic as meth and heroin, and the guvmint don't fund research and development on illegal dope.
The president, who apparently smoked much ganja in his youth, is just a big old hypocrite on the matter.
"But over the past year, the Obama administration has quietly unleashed a multiagency crackdown on medical cannabis that goes far beyond anything undertaken by George W. Bush. The feds are busting growers who operate in full compliance with state laws, vowing to seize the property of anyone who dares to even rent to legal pot dispensaries, and threatening to imprison state employees responsible for regulating medical marijuana."
I have taken many drugs over the years to slow my disease progression and to treat symptoms. None of the disease-slowing meds (all of them developed by Big Pharma with the requisite high price tag) did anything that I noticed. As for symptom treatment, three substances have worked: anti-depressants, periodic Botox injections to the bladder to quell incontinence (at an annual cost to Medicare of $30,000), and medicinal marijuana.
After I realized the (relative) wonders that weed might bring, I also noticed that there is no medical research--NONE--to guide me on how much to imbibe to get the desired benefit.
Here's a neuropsychopharmacology professor at Imperial College who notes that writing off MJ as a potential treatment for diseases is stupid and wrong.
"I can show you 150 papers telling you how the brain reacts to an angry face, but I can't show you a single paper that tells you what cannabis does."
Marijuana is still considered by the US government and by the most powerful voting bloc (old people) to be as toxic as meth and heroin, and the guvmint don't fund research and development on illegal dope.
The president, who apparently smoked much ganja in his youth, is just a big old hypocrite on the matter.
"But over the past year, the Obama administration has quietly unleashed a multiagency crackdown on medical cannabis that goes far beyond anything undertaken by George W. Bush. The feds are busting growers who operate in full compliance with state laws, vowing to seize the property of anyone who dares to even rent to legal pot dispensaries, and threatening to imprison state employees responsible for regulating medical marijuana."
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
'Pressing on the upward way'
A dispatch from the poorest rural white county in America.
These are my people.
"Most people will tell you that two kinds of folks live in Owsley County—those who draw and those who work. There are families who receive aid and families who don’t, and, because the county has only one grocery store left, everyone knows who they are. There are families who send their children to school neat and clean and fed, and those who don’t. It’s easy to think appearances don’t matter, but country poverty has its own wardrobe, and, sometimes, seeming less poor is about clever costume design.
These are my people.
"Most people will tell you that two kinds of folks live in Owsley County—those who draw and those who work. There are families who receive aid and families who don’t, and, because the county has only one grocery store left, everyone knows who they are. There are families who send their children to school neat and clean and fed, and those who don’t. It’s easy to think appearances don’t matter, but country poverty has its own wardrobe, and, sometimes, seeming less poor is about clever costume design.
When nearly everyone in the county is poor, the distinction between have and have-not becomes meaningless.
When nearly everyone in the county is poor, the distinction between have and have-not becomes meaningless. There are have-very-little’s, but even they wouldn’t always call themselves poor."
Monday, June 11, 2012
It's hot. It might rain.
The headline sums up the weather forecast in the greater Southeast from now through September.
Oh, the tee-vee forecasters try to sex it up by hinting that your EXTRA SPECIAL WEEKEND WEATHER might be different from "It's hot. It might rain." But it won't. You and I both know it.
Oh, the tee-vee forecasters try to sex it up by hinting that your EXTRA SPECIAL WEEKEND WEATHER might be different from "It's hot. It might rain." But it won't. You and I both know it.
Y'all come back, ya hear!
Nashville's CMA Fest is over, and the tourists are straggling home.
The biggest news out of the festival was . . . non-news, it turns out. Country star Carrie Underwood said she's OK with the gays getting hitched. The public and media yawned. (Contrast with the Dixie Chicks, at the height of superstardom, being shunned by and in Music City for admitting shame that President Bush is sort of a douchebag. Something I imagine even his friends agree with.)
Nine years later, Underwood says she's OK with queers and faggots. Crickets can be heard chirping.
And Underwood has not called into question her conservative credentials, those thingies that in yesteryear were required of all commercial country acts. (The woman recorded "Jesus, Take the Wheel," for god's sake. She's bona fide.)
Miss Carrie is probably politically conservative. But she's under 30 and not willing to condemn gay friends and family members for falling in love and seeking a way to formalize commitment.
She's the new face of commercial country, y'all.
Here's a pic I shot on Broadway in Nashvegas during the festival frenzy of late.
Here's a link to the Dixie Chicks, not ready to make nice.
And lord, Terri Clark. Could you just come out already? I'm guessing it'd be a non-event.
The biggest news out of the festival was . . . non-news, it turns out. Country star Carrie Underwood said she's OK with the gays getting hitched. The public and media yawned. (Contrast with the Dixie Chicks, at the height of superstardom, being shunned by and in Music City for admitting shame that President Bush is sort of a douchebag. Something I imagine even his friends agree with.)
Nine years later, Underwood says she's OK with queers and faggots. Crickets can be heard chirping.
And Underwood has not called into question her conservative credentials, those thingies that in yesteryear were required of all commercial country acts. (The woman recorded "Jesus, Take the Wheel," for god's sake. She's bona fide.)
Miss Carrie is probably politically conservative. But she's under 30 and not willing to condemn gay friends and family members for falling in love and seeking a way to formalize commitment.
She's the new face of commercial country, y'all.
Here's a pic I shot on Broadway in Nashvegas during the festival frenzy of late.
Here's a link to the Dixie Chicks, not ready to make nice.
And lord, Terri Clark. Could you just come out already? I'm guessing it'd be a non-event.
The inverted pyramid has left the building
More grim, specific news on the dearth and death of newspapers as we once knew them. Seems it's not good particularly for knowing what's happening in your own front yard.
". . . I think it’s entirely possible that the generations now ascendant will be, by and large, reasonably well-versed on national politics and totally, horribly ignorant of local affairs. Young people may have a better sense of what’s going on in Syria than in their state capital, let alone their city hall. If everyone in the country is reading the New York Times online, no one is keeping up with what’s happening in Lansing and Madison."
I covered local and state politics for a newspaper 20 years ago. Even then, the vast majority of citizens had NO IDEA what their county commission or state house was up to. None. Truth be told, I knew only because a newspaper was paying me to know.
All politics is local. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Thus saith the Lord, and this old-school Lois Lane.
Or as the writer above puts it: ". . . without the sort of forced topical juxtaposition of a physical paper covering a community and the world, it’s easy to skip past the “unsexy” local news in favor of whatever stupid thing Michele Bachmann said today, can you believe it!"
". . . I think it’s entirely possible that the generations now ascendant will be, by and large, reasonably well-versed on national politics and totally, horribly ignorant of local affairs. Young people may have a better sense of what’s going on in Syria than in their state capital, let alone their city hall. If everyone in the country is reading the New York Times online, no one is keeping up with what’s happening in Lansing and Madison."
I covered local and state politics for a newspaper 20 years ago. Even then, the vast majority of citizens had NO IDEA what their county commission or state house was up to. None. Truth be told, I knew only because a newspaper was paying me to know.
All politics is local. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Thus saith the Lord, and this old-school Lois Lane.
Or as the writer above puts it: ". . . without the sort of forced topical juxtaposition of a physical paper covering a community and the world, it’s easy to skip past the “unsexy” local news in favor of whatever stupid thing Michele Bachmann said today, can you believe it!"
Saturday, June 9, 2012
A micro-pig goes down stairs. Eventually
Shoot Jack Daniel's or smoke ganja or run a mile, or do whatever it is you do to carry you through the day. Then watch this.
.
Today, Carrie Underwood RULES MY WORLD
Country
diva Carrie Underwood comes out for gay marriage. Hell, yeah. I would
have loved her forever for this song alone, a balls-to-the-wall,
primitive-in-a-positive-way, classic revenge anthem. This is commercial
country at its best.
AT THIS VERY MOMENT, drag queens all over the greater Southeast are prepping their Underwood ensembles.
"Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleached-blond tramp and she's probably getting frisky... right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little ...drink 'cause she can't shoot whiskey...
AT THIS VERY MOMENT, drag queens all over the greater Southeast are prepping their Underwood ensembles.
"Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleached-blond tramp and she's probably getting frisky... right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little ...drink 'cause she can't shoot whiskey...
Educated citizens. We need 'em
I got me a really strong opinion about health-care reform, and anyone who has spent more than 7 minutes with me knows what it is (unless they dozed off during my droning discourse. My rendition is quite tiresome.).
Disagree with me if you must. But do it from an educated and open position.
Disagree with me if you must. But do it from an educated and open position.
Blogging while stoned
This guy kicks ass at it.
Excerpt: We just accidentally discovered penicillin, which just accidentally existed and was in a place where it could be accidentally found and accidentally save humanity from extermination. What exactly are the chances of that ever happening? Like Mr. Ed winning the Kentucky Derby chances. Considering Mr. Ed was a fictional talking horse on a TV show, pretty wildly bad odds. He was not fast, more of a talker. We all still die of cancer and probably always will because the healthcare system kind of demands that we do, imagine if we cured cancer, there would be so many bored doctors and everyone would live forever. That would be like being a lawyer with no crime around. Pretty boring.
Here's a link to the blogger's stuff at The Awl.
Excerpt: We just accidentally discovered penicillin, which just accidentally existed and was in a place where it could be accidentally found and accidentally save humanity from extermination. What exactly are the chances of that ever happening? Like Mr. Ed winning the Kentucky Derby chances. Considering Mr. Ed was a fictional talking horse on a TV show, pretty wildly bad odds. He was not fast, more of a talker. We all still die of cancer and probably always will because the healthcare system kind of demands that we do, imagine if we cured cancer, there would be so many bored doctors and everyone would live forever. That would be like being a lawyer with no crime around. Pretty boring.
Here's a link to the blogger's stuff at The Awl.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Life explained with Muppet Theory
This essay says you're either a Chaos Muppet or an Order Muppet.
I am the latter transitioning to the former because of how I cope with serious chronic disease.
I am the latter transitioning to the former because of how I cope with serious chronic disease.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Shut up and kiss me
It's Country Music Association in Music City. Here's Mary Chapin Carpenter, one of Nashville's finest songwriters.
I'm turning this up so the 2nd Avenue tourists below my windows have something other than commercial country to listen to.
As for my MCC song selection above, I am a sugar whore in every sense of the term. With an oral fixation. As CJ would say, oh baby.
Come closer baby, I can't hear you
Just another whisper if you please
Don't worry about the details, darlin'
You got the kind of mind I love to read
I'm turning this up so the 2nd Avenue tourists below my windows have something other than commercial country to listen to.
As for my MCC song selection above, I am a sugar whore in every sense of the term. With an oral fixation. As CJ would say, oh baby.
Come closer baby, I can't hear you
Just another whisper if you please
Don't worry about the details, darlin'
You got the kind of mind I love to read
Why the gays love the rainbow
It's more than icon Judy Garland's connection. From the wink-nod of yellow socks to the reclaiming of the pink triangle from the horror of the Holocaust, gay men in particular love the symbolism of certain colors.
Jewel to portray June Carter Cash
This is a Lifetime movie I could watch. And law, don't she look like her.
Meanwhile, here's the real JCC singing with her man. Hotter than a pepper sprout.
Meanwhile, here's the real JCC singing with her man. Hotter than a pepper sprout.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
We're headed to the Supreme Court
An appeals court declines to review the case that struck down California's anti-gay Prop 8. Nest stop might be the US Supreme Court.
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