Oh good grief!
Okay folks, prepare yourself for yet another attempt to manufacture a sensation. This time, the OlsenTwin Inc is doing it to us, and as they continue to try to cash in on the 13-year old crowd even as they grow too old and decadent to do it themselves. This time, they're going to use Boys. I dont even want to think...
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
The Queen Mum speaks
Is Barbara Bush on crack?
Maybe I'm the last to see this, but I saw this item yesterday where Babs comments on the poor bastards who were stuck at the Superdome and so on.
Or perhaps she's just a rich old white lady who's lived a life of priviledge, spawned a generation of The Powerful, and is just tired of playing the political game for the "underclasses".
You decide.
Maybe I'm the last to see this, but I saw this item yesterday where Babs comments on the poor bastards who were stuck at the Superdome and so on.
"And so many of the people in the arena here, youI hate seeing her like this. I used to respect her as a tough old broad, even as I disliked her husband, George Sr. Perhaps she is showing early signs of the onset of Alzheimers.
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."
Or perhaps she's just a rich old white lady who's lived a life of priviledge, spawned a generation of The Powerful, and is just tired of playing the political game for the "underclasses".
You decide.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Kittens! Kittens! The Kittens are Here!!
Okay, first of all, you cant really appreciate the title without watching this video. [warning: video clip contains viral meme. Tune may become lodged in brain and begin playing at any opportunity]
Labor Day weekend, the Other brings home two kittens. They are tiny, nearly identical, and fearless.
"No way!" I say, "No way are you keeping those kittens!"
"I never planned to!"
Oh yes, sooo innocent. As if she didnt know.
I have fallen for the kittens by the end of the long weekend, of course. I feel some guilt over this. The Mighty Hunter is 14 years old, and is definitely slowing. The Rebel Queen is 13 and spends all of her days sleeping on the back porch. I feel like, by accepting New Cats, I am somehow bidding the Old Cats goodbye, and I'm simply not ready to do that yet. Mighty Hunter was my first cat (Bitch Kitty, a stray who made my place her own while I was an undergrad, doesnt count), along with Petetronious the Arbiter (cats should come in pairs, I feel). When the Arbiter died, ten years ago, I was devastated. We all still talk about that cat.
But now the Two Queens (historical figures and pet names, go figure) are settling in. The Mighty Hunter still gives them the mandatory hiss, but otherwise ignores him. The Two Queens occassionally think about stalking him, but wisely desist. I'm sure there will be a few swats and yowls yet to come, but I think the kittens are largely settled in.
Given that we now have 4 cats and 1 dog, I dont suppose we'll be moving anywhere anytime soon.
Labor Day weekend, the Other brings home two kittens. They are tiny, nearly identical, and fearless.
"No way!" I say, "No way are you keeping those kittens!"
"I never planned to!"
Oh yes, sooo innocent. As if she didnt know.
I have fallen for the kittens by the end of the long weekend, of course. I feel some guilt over this. The Mighty Hunter is 14 years old, and is definitely slowing. The Rebel Queen is 13 and spends all of her days sleeping on the back porch. I feel like, by accepting New Cats, I am somehow bidding the Old Cats goodbye, and I'm simply not ready to do that yet. Mighty Hunter was my first cat (Bitch Kitty, a stray who made my place her own while I was an undergrad, doesnt count), along with Petetronious the Arbiter (cats should come in pairs, I feel). When the Arbiter died, ten years ago, I was devastated. We all still talk about that cat.
But now the Two Queens (historical figures and pet names, go figure) are settling in. The Mighty Hunter still gives them the mandatory hiss, but otherwise ignores him. The Two Queens occassionally think about stalking him, but wisely desist. I'm sure there will be a few swats and yowls yet to come, but I think the kittens are largely settled in.
Given that we now have 4 cats and 1 dog, I dont suppose we'll be moving anywhere anytime soon.
The Question
Yes, I know, a couple of workers cut the wrong line. And I'm sure that's all it was.
But...
If it wasnt, would you expect the BushCorp, or most government officials to tell you so? I wouldnt, not for several days, or at all if they could help it.
On the other hand, there was this from FOX, which makes me feel a whole lot better about it being an accident: "Meanwhile, a new terror tape has been released with new threats for the US and Australia. A warning from a masked man that Los Angeles, Los Angeles, where the power is out right now, and Melbourne, Australia, are next on the hit list." (from NewsHounds)
Anyway, here I am going on and on again, when I said I was going to cut back. My point is this:
Do feel safer now than you did four years ago?
Four years ago, I wouldnt have questioned the veracity of the stated cause of the L.A. power outage yesterday. Today I will. The Administration of this country operates in a manner which causes me to believe almost nothing that it says, to often believe that the exact opposite is true. Is this good government? Considering the Neo-Conservative belief in minimal government and maximal personal gain, is that the idea?
But...
If it wasnt, would you expect the BushCorp, or most government officials to tell you so? I wouldnt, not for several days, or at all if they could help it.
On the other hand, there was this from FOX, which makes me feel a whole lot better about it being an accident: "Meanwhile, a new terror tape has been released with new threats for the US and Australia. A warning from a masked man that Los Angeles, Los Angeles, where the power is out right now, and Melbourne, Australia, are next on the hit list." (from NewsHounds)
Anyway, here I am going on and on again, when I said I was going to cut back. My point is this:
Do feel safer now than you did four years ago?
Four years ago, I wouldnt have questioned the veracity of the stated cause of the L.A. power outage yesterday. Today I will. The Administration of this country operates in a manner which causes me to believe almost nothing that it says, to often believe that the exact opposite is true. Is this good government? Considering the Neo-Conservative belief in minimal government and maximal personal gain, is that the idea?
just read!
I'm going to back off a bit today. I've got too much to do, not enough sleep, my head hurts, and I've been slinging way to many italics around the last few days.
So instead, I'll just throw out a few things for y'all to read and more or less have done with it.
First, this link, lifted from Ran Prieur (who has been moved to permant link status), where Naomi Klien of the Guardian discusses the gentrification of New Orleans and how low-income residents are starting to band together to fight off the inevitable attempt by the Business Class to replace poor people with rich people in NOLA in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Why is so often the British who report on injustice in America?
But not always, see The Nation and in particular this article about rebulding NOLA (well, it claims to be about that, and it does contain this quote: "Yeah, this could be their dream come true," he says. "Get rid of all the poor African-Americans and turn the place into Disneyland.")
By the way (prepare for horn-tooting): I've been saying for a while that the Business Class would take advantage of the destruction in NOLA to build a poor-person-free Vacation "Paradise" there. I said this for instance (from Aug 30):
Tin-foil hat types might even say that the reason the levees were ignored by BushCo is so that big-money types could do just that, but that indicates too much competence on the Administrations part.
My wife tells me I'm too negative.
I say I'm pragmatic - when you plan for the worst, you're ready for the worst, and when it comes to people, especially Big Business people, it's best to be ready.
For Anything.
So instead, I'll just throw out a few things for y'all to read and more or less have done with it.
First, this link, lifted from Ran Prieur (who has been moved to permant link status), where Naomi Klien of the Guardian discusses the gentrification of New Orleans and how low-income residents are starting to band together to fight off the inevitable attempt by the Business Class to replace poor people with rich people in NOLA in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Why is so often the British who report on injustice in America?
But not always, see The Nation and in particular this article about rebulding NOLA (well, it claims to be about that, and it does contain this quote: "Yeah, this could be their dream come true," he says. "Get rid of all the poor African-Americans and turn the place into Disneyland.")
By the way (prepare for horn-tooting): I've been saying for a while that the Business Class would take advantage of the destruction in NOLA to build a poor-person-free Vacation "Paradise" there. I said this for instance (from Aug 30):
I'd guess that the old tourist spots, (new) parkland, and big-donor commercial interests will all be there in 10 years, but I [would bet] that the ordinary (read: poor and black) residents will be finding new homes in the suburbs. Then look to big-dollar vacation condos on the newly-raised land where their homes once sank.I even used the phrase "Disney-fied French Quarter", but, alas, cannot find where (probably somewhere in Brin's blog comments). Oh well, you'll just have to trust me.
Tin-foil hat types might even say that the reason the levees were ignored by BushCo is so that big-money types could do just that, but that indicates too much competence on the Administrations part.
My wife tells me I'm too negative.
I say I'm pragmatic - when you plan for the worst, you're ready for the worst, and when it comes to people, especially Big Business people, it's best to be ready.
For Anything.
Monday, September 12, 2005
people or things?
At last, someone has come up with a clear description of what makes the Neo-Cons so morally reprehensible. After years of being beaten over the head with Jesus, perhaps these definitions by George Lakoff will help liberals in their fight:
This is a definition of GOP values which we can see at work: In the fight against Universal Healthcare, in the weakening of FEMA as an "entitlement program", in the weakening of FCC rules governing the percentage of outlets one company can own in a given market,...
One of the Neo-Cons "strongest" arguements is that they are the party that represents "morality" and they've seized on this to sway the Christian population of this country. Some Christians (being allowed to speak for all Christians) in this country are feeling picked on, "persecuted" even. They feel that Republicans can represent them better, and are somehow more "godly" than Democrats. "Morals" was an issue cited by twenty-some percent of voters when asked why they chose to re-elect Bush. These people are obviously not paying attention to anything but the words. Because of one issue, abortion, the GOP has steadily gained ground over the Democrats. But if you remove that one issue, how good is the Republican record in moral terms.
Is is moral to cut loose the protections, both legal and financial, for the poor? Is it moral to cut tax rates for the richest people in America, while handing out little $600 bribes to the rest to distract them from the thousands going to people who lready have more than enough to live in complete comfort? Is it moral to then start a war but create no provision to pay for it? Is it moral to hand over billions of taxpayer dollars to a company connected to the Vice President without even any bidding? Is it moral to invade a foriegn country without any real proof of their guilt and cause the death of thousands of it's citizens? Republican morality is a Big Lie.
Liberals are often accused of being paternalistic because they dont think that people can see through (other people's) lies, and maybe they are. But the truth is that much of the American public cannot see through the lies (or dont bother), from either side, until it's too late to do anything but clean up after them! This can include Liberal lies, by the way. Katrina exposed one of the GOP's really big lies: the one that said the "War On Terrorism" was the most important American priority, that said only through the defeat of our "enemies" could we be safe. Instead...
Do You feel safer today than you did four years ago?
I think I'll finish this entry with a quote from one of my favorite authors, Terry Pratchett. This is from the book "Carpe Jugulum", in which a group of oh-so rational vampires have enslaved the locals, throughmind power (no, not public relations), to make feeding easier (they are, after all, superior beings). No one gets "killed" to feed their thirst, but everyone, from the oldest to the youngest, has to line up to contribute "just a little" to their Overlords. In it, the book's heroine, Granny Weatherwax says this:
Incidentally, at the end of the book, the locals wake up to what's happening, and tear several of the vampires' heads off (the leaders, of course, get away)
(well, sort of, it is a fantasy novel, after all).
The heart of progressive-liberal values is simple: empathy (caring about and for people) and responsibility (acting responsibly on that empathy). These values translate into a simple principle: Use the common wealth for the common good to better all our lives. In short, promoting the common good is the central role of government.I've thought since the Reagan era that (to put it simply) Republicans were just plain mean, but that was never a very good arguement to use against them in any kind of debate. This is much better.
The right-wing conservatives now in power have the opposite values and principles. Their main value is Rely on individual discipline and initiative. The central principle: Government has no useful role. The only common good is the sum of individual goods. It's the difference between We're all in this together and You're on your own, buddy. It's the difference between Every citizen is entitled to protection and You're only entitled to what you can afford. It's the difference between connection and separation.
This is a definition of GOP values which we can see at work: In the fight against Universal Healthcare, in the weakening of FEMA as an "entitlement program", in the weakening of FCC rules governing the percentage of outlets one company can own in a given market,...
One of the Neo-Cons "strongest" arguements is that they are the party that represents "morality" and they've seized on this to sway the Christian population of this country. Some Christians (being allowed to speak for all Christians) in this country are feeling picked on, "persecuted" even. They feel that Republicans can represent them better, and are somehow more "godly" than Democrats. "Morals" was an issue cited by twenty-some percent of voters when asked why they chose to re-elect Bush. These people are obviously not paying attention to anything but the words. Because of one issue, abortion, the GOP has steadily gained ground over the Democrats. But if you remove that one issue, how good is the Republican record in moral terms.
Is is moral to cut loose the protections, both legal and financial, for the poor? Is it moral to cut tax rates for the richest people in America, while handing out little $600 bribes to the rest to distract them from the thousands going to people who lready have more than enough to live in complete comfort? Is it moral to then start a war but create no provision to pay for it? Is it moral to hand over billions of taxpayer dollars to a company connected to the Vice President without even any bidding? Is it moral to invade a foriegn country without any real proof of their guilt and cause the death of thousands of it's citizens? Republican morality is a Big Lie.
Liberals are often accused of being paternalistic because they dont think that people can see through (other people's) lies, and maybe they are. But the truth is that much of the American public cannot see through the lies (or dont bother), from either side, until it's too late to do anything but clean up after them! This can include Liberal lies, by the way. Katrina exposed one of the GOP's really big lies: the one that said the "War On Terrorism" was the most important American priority, that said only through the defeat of our "enemies" could we be safe. Instead...
Bush's single-minded focus on the "war against terrorism" has compounded a natural disaster and turned it into the greatest calamity in American history. The US has lost its largest and most strategic port, thousands of lives, and 80% of one of America's most historic cities is under water.I need to ask the following question everyday, everyday, in the hopes that it will spread, like a virus, and infect the minds of people everywhere. It's a simple question, one which may have many very different answers, but one which needs to be asked:
If terrorists had achieved this result, it would rank as the greatest terrorist success in history. (Paul Craig Roberts, in Counterpunch)
Do You feel safer today than you did four years ago?
I think I'll finish this entry with a quote from one of my favorite authors, Terry Pratchett. This is from the book "Carpe Jugulum", in which a group of oh-so rational vampires have enslaved the locals, throughmind power (no, not public relations), to make feeding easier (they are, after all, superior beings). No one gets "killed" to feed their thirst, but everyone, from the oldest to the youngest, has to line up to contribute "just a little" to their Overlords. In it, the book's heroine, Granny Weatherwax says this:
"...sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself, that's what sin is."Ask yourself; which party treats party treates human beings as people, and which one treats human beings as commodities? Which party do you identify with?
"It's a lot more complicated than that-"
"No. It aint. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they're getting worried they wont like the truth. People as things, that's where it starts."
"Oh, I'm sure there are worse crimes-"
"But they starts with thinking about people as things..."
Incidentally, at the end of the book, the locals wake up to what's happening, and tear several of the vampires' heads off (the leaders, of course, get away)
(well, sort of, it is a fantasy novel, after all).
and the sellout begins...
Hurricane Season,Michael Brown had better put on his Kelvar undies, 'cause he's starting look like he might just have a real pretty mouth soon. Never mind who's decision it was to put an unqualified country club buddy in charge of FEMA, yet another administrator is about to be sacrificed for the Bush Corporation's own massive incompetence. How do I know? Check out the Mayor of New Orleans, a Democrat, talking up what a swell guy Dubya is, and how he was no doubt mis-informed!:
spin,
spin,
spin,
"I think he was probably getting advice from some of his key advisers or some low level folk that had been on the ground that this was serious, but not as serious as it ended up being," he said."Key Advisors". One guess as to who that might be. If Brown isnt enough, who will be next up on the alter? Chertoff sounded pretty bad in the interview I heard on NPR; will blaming Brown cover his ass as well as Bush's? Of course, as director of Homeland Security perhaps he wont have to worry about that. After all, the Patriot Act has returned him all the same tools J. Edgar Hoover used so effectively, plus lots of new ones. I'm sure he can come up with some sort of answer that will allow him to maintain his office, even if brought before the Supreme Court.
And what's up with the Mayor? Wouldnt you love to see what BushCo's got on him in their files (and know where they got them - oops! sorry, that's classified). Or has the mayor has merely realized that his job there in NOLA is all but finished, so he's casting his net for a nice shark to feed from. Oh dear, there goes that cynicism again, sorry. I'm sure it's simply a case of him thinking more clearly now that the crisis has receded with the flood waters, "sorry, Mr. President! Got a little carried away there, my bad!"
Or maybe, just maybe, this is the BushCorp testing the waters:
"Hey, let's give Brown to the mob, maybe that'll be enough for them!"With an approval rating of around 38%, people are probably starting to get a little worried in the White House. Who to feed to the public next, what "deviant" issue can we distract the public with now (the California gay marriage thing was barely noticed), is there any upcoming crisis that can be used to declare marshal law? These are all questions that someone will be asking there. Things may even get so bad that they may have to consider doing something that the public, rather than ideology, dictates.
"What the hell, it cant hurt, we'll give it a try."
Whoops! sorry, lost my head there for a moment.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Do you feel more secure than you did four years ago?
It was four years ago that my wife called me.
"Hey, go turn on the TV! A commuter plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!"
I'd read about the plane crashing into the Empire state building in the 40's, so I turned on the TV so see what was going on. A few minutes later the second plane hit the other tower, and the whole world changed.
Of course, it didnt, not really.
We were probably the only people in the world who thought that we were invulnerable.
People died on a regular basis in terrorist attacks all over the world, but never here (...dont think about a Oklahoma City...dont think about Oklahoma City...). Alas, we were wrong, and that morning a handful of men and four airplanes forcefully rubbed our nose in it.
The worst part of that day was not what happened in the attack, but what we missed in the aftermath.
We missed the heroes in New York. Not just the Fire and Police personel who died helping, but all the ordinary people who did what they could to help, some of them dying too. Not just Rudolph Giulianni, but ordinary people who thought clearly in a crisis, and did what needed to be done, many on their own initiative.
History would like you to believe that what make America great is it's Leadership. This is a lie.
What makes America great is its ordinary Men, Women, and Children, people who DO things. Leadership in this country is at best a reinforcement, a guy standing at some point in the line, waving his arm in a forward motion, yelling "go! go! go!". At worst, it's a bunch of bullies standing around sneering, "oh, like you know what you're doing!"
Of course, that's not to say that we cant be misled, at least temporarily, especially if the bullies are cunning. Perhaps I'll let Herman Goering explain it:
talking.
That's right, talking. Ask any Advertising person, they'll tell you that what sells a product is not an ad. What sells a product is Buzz. The ad may start the buzz rolling, but without the buzz the cleverest advertisement will fail dismally.
This blog right here is part of the buzz. If I talk and you talk, and other people talk, and some more people write it down, and someone else reads it and tells another person - that's buzz. If you think you think the Bush Administration is bad for America, then say it. I suspect you'll find another person who agrees with you. Maybe the two of you can find more. People are social creatures, we like to talk, and we like to have people share our opinions. Only 51% of the country, barely a majority, thought George Bush was the right choice for the Leader of this country, and opinion polls show that number much lower now (latest job approval rating at around 38%). The buzz is getting louder, and if we all keep talking, it can get louder still.
Do you doubt the power of mere speech? Then ask yourself why speech is limited in countries controlled by dictatatorships. Those who live under tyranny are often deprived of the means to communicate. Or their communications are monitored and the content punished to the extent that they are mistrustful of even those they know, let alone speaking to strangers. The buzz has been stopped, and so the power has been stopped. Secret Police are never there to stop insurrection, they exist to stop communication.
There is a reason that Freedom Of Speech is in the First Amendment.
Talk.
Talk, talk, talk.
Talk about what you read, write about what you hear, keep the Buzz going. In a little over a year, you will get yet another chance to inform the government as it stands now about how you feel about it.
What will you tell it?
I know it sounds like I've gone a long ways from where I started, thinking about that terrible day for years ago when I saw something almost unimaginable. But I havent, not really. One reason bin Laden hates America is because he hates what we think, what we do, what we say. But what he really hates is the idea that "his" own people might start saying the same things. So he tries to give them something else to talk about. This is a tried and true bully leader tactic.
Great Satan, gay marriage, Christian infidel, liberal immorality, Palestinian oppression, undeserved medals.
If you really want to honor the dead, then talk about them. Really talk about them, and talk about what led up to 9/11, and talk about what led from it. Talk about it if you think it's right, talk about it if you think it's wrong. This is America, and if we want it to continue being America, then we need to TALK, or we'll just be another bunch of serfs slaving for the Overlord Corporation.
"Hey, go turn on the TV! A commuter plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!"
I'd read about the plane crashing into the Empire state building in the 40's, so I turned on the TV so see what was going on. A few minutes later the second plane hit the other tower, and the whole world changed.
Of course, it didnt, not really.
We were probably the only people in the world who thought that we were invulnerable.
People died on a regular basis in terrorist attacks all over the world, but never here (...dont think about a Oklahoma City...dont think about Oklahoma City...). Alas, we were wrong, and that morning a handful of men and four airplanes forcefully rubbed our nose in it.
The worst part of that day was not what happened in the attack, but what we missed in the aftermath.
We missed the heroes in New York. Not just the Fire and Police personel who died helping, but all the ordinary people who did what they could to help, some of them dying too. Not just Rudolph Giulianni, but ordinary people who thought clearly in a crisis, and did what needed to be done, many on their own initiative.
History would like you to believe that what make America great is it's Leadership. This is a lie.
What makes America great is its ordinary Men, Women, and Children, people who DO things. Leadership in this country is at best a reinforcement, a guy standing at some point in the line, waving his arm in a forward motion, yelling "go! go! go!". At worst, it's a bunch of bullies standing around sneering, "oh, like you know what you're doing!"
Of course, that's not to say that we cant be misled, at least temporarily, especially if the bullies are cunning. Perhaps I'll let Herman Goering explain it:
"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."But that doesnt mean that we have to keep going wherever those guys with the waving arms tell us. We dont have to believe them when the bullies threaten us ("Hey, dont go that way, or somebody's gonna hurt you!"). And the funny thing that people often dont realize is that it doesnt take much, not really. Just stop listening to them. Protesting and all that is fine, and useful, but in the end, the most powerful force in the country is...
talking.
That's right, talking. Ask any Advertising person, they'll tell you that what sells a product is not an ad. What sells a product is Buzz. The ad may start the buzz rolling, but without the buzz the cleverest advertisement will fail dismally.
This blog right here is part of the buzz. If I talk and you talk, and other people talk, and some more people write it down, and someone else reads it and tells another person - that's buzz. If you think you think the Bush Administration is bad for America, then say it. I suspect you'll find another person who agrees with you. Maybe the two of you can find more. People are social creatures, we like to talk, and we like to have people share our opinions. Only 51% of the country, barely a majority, thought George Bush was the right choice for the Leader of this country, and opinion polls show that number much lower now (latest job approval rating at around 38%). The buzz is getting louder, and if we all keep talking, it can get louder still.
Do you doubt the power of mere speech? Then ask yourself why speech is limited in countries controlled by dictatatorships. Those who live under tyranny are often deprived of the means to communicate. Or their communications are monitored and the content punished to the extent that they are mistrustful of even those they know, let alone speaking to strangers. The buzz has been stopped, and so the power has been stopped. Secret Police are never there to stop insurrection, they exist to stop communication.
There is a reason that Freedom Of Speech is in the First Amendment.
Talk.
Talk, talk, talk.
Talk about what you read, write about what you hear, keep the Buzz going. In a little over a year, you will get yet another chance to inform the government as it stands now about how you feel about it.
What will you tell it?
I know it sounds like I've gone a long ways from where I started, thinking about that terrible day for years ago when I saw something almost unimaginable. But I havent, not really. One reason bin Laden hates America is because he hates what we think, what we do, what we say. But what he really hates is the idea that "his" own people might start saying the same things. So he tries to give them something else to talk about. This is a tried and true bully leader tactic.
Great Satan, gay marriage, Christian infidel, liberal immorality, Palestinian oppression, undeserved medals.
If you really want to honor the dead, then talk about them. Really talk about them, and talk about what led up to 9/11, and talk about what led from it. Talk about it if you think it's right, talk about it if you think it's wrong. This is America, and if we want it to continue being America, then we need to TALK, or we'll just be another bunch of serfs slaving for the Overlord Corporation.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
do you know what it memes...
I have a confession to make. What I've got to say will sound selfish, and I'm not proud of it. But I have this idea in my head. It's a fierce little meme which will not be happy until I've coughed it onto the screen in front of an unwary reader. It started with an NPR report on New Orleans music, in which they played Satchmo's "Do You Know What It Means, To Miss New Orleans". It's a wonderful song, and I've always associated it with an old TV show called Frank's Place. It was a delightful show, from Hugh Wilson, the maker of "WKRP in Cincinnati". Tim Reid, fullfilling the promise he showed in his less-funky Venus Flytrap moments, played a Boston English Professor forcibly repatriated to NOLA by an inherited cafe and a voodoo curse. With a harmoniously integrated cast, the show made you feel the Big Easy, all without involving some sort of crime or corruption to do it. It's been 18 years since the show's brief run, and I still miss it.
So, here's what the ugly thought is: Maybe, with the destruction of New Orleans, all things NOLA will become fashionable. Maybe, just maybe, that will include "Frank's Place". I'm embarassed that I see the destruction of a great American city as an opportunity to watch TV, but there it is anyway. It seems incredible to me that shows like "the Bionic Woman" and "Baa Baa Blacksheep" can be obtained on DVD, but "Frank's Place" cannot. As for the classic WKRP, due to the madness that is the music industry's licensing machine, it will probably never see the light of day, and neither, I suspect, will Frank.
So, here's what the ugly thought is: Maybe, with the destruction of New Orleans, all things NOLA will become fashionable. Maybe, just maybe, that will include "Frank's Place". I'm embarassed that I see the destruction of a great American city as an opportunity to watch TV, but there it is anyway. It seems incredible to me that shows like "the Bionic Woman" and "Baa Baa Blacksheep" can be obtained on DVD, but "Frank's Place" cannot. As for the classic WKRP, due to the madness that is the music industry's licensing machine, it will probably never see the light of day, and neither, I suspect, will Frank.
Friday, September 09, 2005
thought for the day
If George W. Bush were a Star Trek character, he'd be a Ferengi.
Why do I say this? Why, just have a look at this latest announcement by the BushCorp that will remove wage requirements in the rebuilding after Katrina. Which rule of acquisition do you suppose is in force here?
My thanks to LibraryBitch, again.
Why do I say this? Why, just have a look at this latest announcement by the BushCorp that will remove wage requirements in the rebuilding after Katrina. Which rule of acquisition do you suppose is in force here?
My thanks to LibraryBitch, again.
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