Archive for the 'Popular Culture' Category

The entertainer was a bit off

Published on March 6, 2010 in Family, Popular Culture, Religion and Sports. 4 comments

Nathan and Aaron had their season-end Upward ceremony this morning at church.

Many dedicated people work long and hard to make an Upward season happen, and I think the size of this one took a lot of people by surprise.  I’m extremely thankful for all of the volunteers’ efforts, and my meager contributions—an occasional coach sub or an afternoon in the kitchen—pale in comparison.

All of that said, the entertainer at this year’s season-end ceremony seemed a bit off to me.  He was a guitar-playin’, singin’, audience participationin’ sort of fellow.  Had us clapping, shaking hands, hugging, exercising, and stuff.  He had a bit with an imaginary friend named Larry.

Dig, all of that’s fine, but there was a subtle undercurrent of unmistakable weirdness about him.

Fortunately, I had a like-minded texting partner also in attendance.  (This is an exact transcript, apart from three <name redactions>.)

(begin text transcript)

Bo (10:09 AM):  I’m about to strangle the <redacted> boy.

BamaDan (10:11 AM):  Sleeper hold? Who’s the entertainer? Salome of the Mystic Feather Dance?

Bo (10:11 AM):  Marilyn Manson

BamaDan (10:13 AM):  Europe?  Where’s We’ve Got Spirit cheer?

Bo (10:20 AM):  FREEBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRD

BamaDan (10:22 AM):  Hey you were right.  It is Marilyn.  So Harvester of Sorrow isn’t an acceptable name for this song?

Bo (10:23 AM):  “He’s a Vengeful and Bloodthirsty Savior”

BamaDan (10:24 AM):  Sol Invictus didn’t roll off the tongue I guess.

Bo (10:27 AM):  The case for this guy being a raging fetishist is not a difficult one to make.

BamaDan (10:30 AM):  I’m contacting his parole officer and checking the Davidson County predator’s list.

Bo (10:36 AM):  “ok, now everyone take your shirts off!”

BamaDan (10:38 AM):  Is Larry in a leather gimp mask?

Bo (10:45 AM):  Are you almost done, Kevin?

Bo (10:46 AM):  I was going to hug <Stepford Mom #1> very thoroughly, but she evaded me.

BamaDan (10:49 AM):  Don’t take it personal – maybe if you were at more PTO mtgs?  This place needs a buffet table.

Bo (10:49 AM):  Feet, check.  Underwear, check.  Watersports, check.

BamaDan (10:51 AM):  Would it be yellow journalism to tell <Mrs. BamaDan> that the entertainment made kids play with his instrument?

Bo (11:01 AM):  Man, is that guy ever a blog post waiting to happen.  I think I shall refrain.

BamaDan (11:04 AM):  Ummm, why?  He’s gotta have a web page.  Deserves a link of love.  Making light of the yr end entertainment is a time honored tradition.

Bo (11:05 AM):  I’d be too mean.

BamaDan (11:06 AM):  Can never have too much of a good thing.

Bo (11:32 AM):  I don’t want a churchmate to happen upon it and think I’m unappreciative of the work someone did to find him.

(end text transcript)

And I don’t.  And I’m not.

But dude was weird.

Hummer dies

Published on February 27, 2010 in Consumption, Current Events and Popular Culture. 0 comments

General Motors announced this week that its negotiations to sell the Hummer brand to a Chinese company have fallen through, and barring a Saab-Stryker-type save, it seems highly likely the brand will die.  (Cue exaggerated rejoicing from the usual quarters.)

Yeah, yeah, rape the planet and all that, but the bottom line is that Hummers always got a double dose of hatred because they are/were very expensive.  The H2 started north of $60,000.  The H1, the civilian version of the HMMWV, was well into six figures.  Consequently, neither car ever sold in any significant volume, so it’s tough to argue either one was a huge hit on the earth, but never mind.  Only rich people could afford them, and nothing like stoking a little wealth envy, eh?

GM was addressing Hummer’s problems, just not quickly enough:

  • The H3, the volume leader, was sized similarly to any number of other mid-size SUVs, and priced not so far off either.  Therefore it was a fine choice for a person who needed to a) carry folks; and b) off-road, tow, or both.  (I don’t much care for the truck-based SUV driving experience, but if I had those needs, I’d have one.)
  • The Hx, a concept car at the time of Hummer’s death, would have competed with the Jeep Wrangler, and wouldn’t it have been a coup to bring it to market as a capable off-roader that was also a 30-mpg hybrid?  Someone might have thought of that.

Though I didn’t resent them, GM never built a Hummer I wanted.  I have little specific passion about Hummer’s demise.  However, I do note that it’s consumer choice diminished a bit further, which is entirely consistent with the umbrella narrative many of its detractors desire.

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal.”

Published on February 20, 2010 in History, Language, Leisure, Liberty, Politics and Popular Culture. 2 comments

Today, dear readers, I invite you to enjoy one of my favorite short stories:  Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. If you have read it already, please reread it.  (It’ll be good again.  I promise.)

It will take you 10 or 15 minutes at the most, but it will stay with you for the rest of your life.  It’s here.  Enjoy.

I hope you’re having a good weekend.

Meow, meow, meow, meow…

Published on February 18, 2010 in Annoyances, Consumption, Language and Popular Culture. 4 comments

So have you encountered the uproar over chef Beppe Begazzi’s recent comments on the Italian version of Ready Steady Cook?  He recommended cat as a “succulent dish,” offering casserole preparation tips and what-not.  A bunch of humorless malcontents with miserable lives flooded the station with complaints, the station told Begazzi to apologize, he refused, and now he’s suspended indefinitely.

I hope he never apologizes.

I’m never going to be a “cat person.”  Still, I love my cat more than I ever thought I would love a cat.  I was horribly bothered when he went walkabout.  I still think of that a couple of times a week and consider how glad I am that he’s home.

But, dig:  he’s a little mammal, and mammals are edible.  That he’s of a species helpful to civilization and useful for companionship doesn’t preclude that species’ use for food (see also horse and dog).

Taboos against such are purely cultural, and therefore awfully hazy under any objective scrutiny.  There’s nothing any more inherently wrong with slaughtering, dressing, cooking, and eating a cat than there is with doing so with a cow or a pig.

And, um, oh yeah:  it was a joke.

This excessive reaction is from all of the same folks who went into sustained shrieking hysterics over Bonsai Kitten—in fact, the folks who made that site funny in the first place.  They’re the same kinds of people I hoped to rile with a stand-up bit I once wrote about delegging cats:

  • Do you take the rears and put a wheel on his tummy, or do you take the fronts and put a wheel on his chin?
  • Or do you take all of them?  “Stay.”  Heh.
  • It’s kind of a ripoff if you have him declawed and then delegged, isn’t it?

Sick?  Yeah, a bit.  Funny?  Yeah, to an awful lot of us.  Relax and try to keep a sense of proportion, cat people.  Or how about putting all of that energy into stopping human trafficking?

Leisurely Monday

Published on February 15, 2010 in Family, Leisure and Popular Culture. 0 comments

I already had today off—Happy Washington’s birthday—but I probably would have stayed home anyway.

The roads were a little dicey this morning.  I went to Publix for bread flour, and the bread machine made us a delicious rosemary bread that I’m going to fix next time we have spaghetti.  It’s snowing again as I type.  The boys are skipping basketball practice tonight.

We’ve played some games.  Right now we’re watching Wild Recon on Animal Planet.  I’m making chicken fajitas in a little while.  I’m nibbling on Space Ritual, the 1973 live album recommended to me by an old professor friend as a good place to begin exploring Hawkwind.

Relaxed?  Yeah, you could say that.

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