Cardiologist's Dream.

The Lonestar State. Innovator of all things deep-fried.

Political Ads.

Last Sunday, I was watching my usual Sunday morning programs (ie. Meet The Press and This Week). Almost every commercial break included some political ad. Ya know, for County Commission or District Prosecutor or something. I have to say, I loathe these ads. What has happened to our political system? And are there people out there that are influenced by these ads? And if there are, why do we let these people vote? F' everyone's right to vote. Universal suffrage might need to be reconsidered.

What particularly ticks me off is the fact that there is no honest, reasonable dialogue. You can't possibly learn ANYTHING about a candidate from these ads. Most ads say things like (and these are real examples):
--"My opponent voted in favor of allowing our children easy access to sexually explicit and violent video games."
--"My opponent has been known to defend gang members and drug dealers, who sell drugs to our kids near their schoolyards."

Am I to believe that there are people out there voting in favor of more gang violence? More gang violence, please? Or that some parents prefer more sexually explicit video games? "Well, little Jimmy, I'd let you play this video game but there isn't enough cartoon sex." I also love personalizing the attack, as if the drug dealers are selling to YOUR kids at THEIR school.

But how do you respond to these ads? Do you actually use money and time in order to say things like, "Despite what my opponents claims, I am not in favor of more gang violence." That almost as assinine. But without the response, do people assume its truth or there is a secret to hide? A closetted, secret obsession for selling more drugs to kids?

Here is a list of things no one, in general, wants more of.
--gang violence
--SIDS
--low calorie, high crystal meth vending machines in our school cafeterias
--abortions (the GOP would love everyone to think this is the Democrat's position. I repeat, NO ONE WANTS MORE DOGGONE ABORTIONS! The method to reduce them is the real debate that no one even touches.)
--sending our jobs to Mexico (I hate cliches like this. Not even the Republicans want Americans to not work. No one wants this. Maybe the Democrats should realize a Hanes t-shirt made by a unionized, American worker would cost $32 as opposed to a 3-pack for $7).
--lies and deception
--pooping and peeing
--the terrorists, who hate freedom and liberty, to win (It is sick I need to address this. But this one is the biggest winner, I think. There are people out there that actually believe the "other" party wants the terrorists to win. NO ONE WANTS THIS! AND another thing, terrorists to do hate "freedom". They hate watching over 100,000 civilans die. They hate a foreign superpower occupying their country for 3 years. They hate not having electricity or running water or schools. They don't HATE freedom nore are they attacking OUR freedom.)
--less research for a cure for Parkinson's or MS (EVERYONE wants these cures. Again, the way to achieve is the debate.)
--babies on spikes
--and my favorite, voting in favor of not equipping or supporting our troops (what a line of bullshit. I heard Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) say this on Meet the Press. What a douchebag. Everyone supports the troops. What kind of an asshole wouldn't? Those men and women give of their time and life. But voting against a spending bill means you disagree with the way the money is being managed or spent. You are not voting to "put our troops in harm's way." If the spending bill didn't pass, the next day they would have another bill ready to vote on. It would get through... with... dare I say it... compromise!)

Ah, I love soapboxes. Had to get it out of my system. I can't handle election years. My bullshit meter just goes haywire.

Don't go there.

I do *not* think of myself as a prudish person, but lately some of music, television, and movies has gotten so crass/offensive that I'm actually disturbed by it. These are NEW LEVELS of disgust.

Some specific examples include:

South Park. Normally I really like it, but now there's usually at least one moment per show that makes me really disgusted, such as animated defecation. I guess the idea is that it's so disgusting that it's funny. There might be a small portion of 3rd grader in me that thinks that is cool, but it's maybe 2%. Tops. Besides, South Park is for Mature Audiences, and I think by the time you're 17, the "what's grosser than gross?" jokes of grammer school have become...just gross.

Eminem's song "Shake That." I heard it in a club recently and got my groove on, but I couldn't quite make out the lyrics. Later I downloaded it and listened. WOW. That is really, really dirty. Normally I encounter that level of dirty in novelty shock acts (e.g. 2 Live Crew), but this seems mainstream. D/L the explicit version of the song if you are looking for a nasty (in a good way) beat and equally nasty (in a bad way) lyrics. I guess that's why parents kind of flip over this guy--he's got talent, and he's just nasty/wrong in some ways. I'm sure, out there in cyberspace, there are multiple anti-Eminem blogs being typed right now..."save our youth..."

Jackass 2 The Movie. An MTV film. I have NO DESIRE to see semi-professional stunt men deliberately drink horse ejaculate or put a leech on an eyeball. Wrestle and anaconda? Yes. Ride a rocket ship and almost get killed when it explodes? Yes. The other stuff? NONONO...NO.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/jackass2/

Saw III. I am disturbed by the PREVIEW and won't even hotlink it. Enough said.

All that being said, in reference to Bird's earlier blog about MTV: are we talking 1980's/1990's MTV, or today's MTV? Because I think (and I know I'm sounding old again) that things have really CHANGED.

You kids, get off my lawn.

a nice little chuckle before bed

"Some people are like Slinkies... they're not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs."

LMAO. This was a little gem tucked inside an otherwise lame forward from a coworker.

Lotusfest.

Where else can you listen to and see performed Nordic/British fusion, Iraqi maqam, Carpathian gypsy folk, Afro-cuban grooves, Cajun international folk and French gypsy jazz klezmer all in one place? Lotusfest. Should be called Hippyfest. But if Lotusfest is hippy, sign me up for the free Che Guevara t-shirt! Heck yea!

My Privilege (a la Jonathan Swift)

This past weekend, I was in Florida with some friends. In order to get to Ft. Lauderdale, I had to hop an airplane. My first flight since the "No liquids, gels or aerosols" rule.

I want to know one thing. When did my privileged status as a white male disappear? Since when did society renege on the promise of unfair, preferential treatment for the white man? For years, I have enjoyed a place of undo, inappropriate yet inexplicably advantaged status simply due to my European skin and Y-chromosome. What am I to do now? What about my needs? What about my wants and desires? What about the treatment to which I have grown accustomed? What ever happened to fairness and inequality?

I used to walk right on through any security checkpoint. The officials would say, "Excuse me, sir," or "After you, sir." Whatever happen to the good ole days of profiling? One spring break, I took a trip to London with some buddies. At Heathrow, I walked right through security as Amit, my Indian friend, was stopped and searched. Thoroughly. For no reason. Now, I have TSA officials confiscating my deoderant, my toothpaste and my gel. Yes, I packed it. Yes, I ignored the signs. I'm a white male. I'm privileged. And get out of my way!

But no. And to make matters worse, Amit travels constantly, as businessmen tend to do, and he never gets searched. Now, I have become the victim. A victim of institutionalized unequal inequality. From this day forward, I carry my torch for all the downtrodden, white male majorities of the world. We will not fall to the tyranny of justice. We will not go quietly into the night as our unfair advantage is replaced with reason and common sense. No.

What next? A woman president? Sheesh.

Billboards by Nicholas Sparks

Every day, on my walk to school, I pass a construction site of brand-new condominiums. They'll have a view of the resevoir (a really decent little body of water) and the park. In the forefront of the site there's a large billboard for these units. Its design is elegant-- it depicts a svelte woman with sleek hair in a tailored skirt and blouse gazing out her picture-window. And in large script across the top, it advertises these new... elegant... "Gracious" condominiums.

Spacious? no.
Graceful, even? no.
GRACIOUS.

Now, I ask you, friends... what the hell is a gracious condominium?

I suppose it thanks you for living in it when you walk in the door. It must also respond modestly and with appreciation when you compliment it. Maybe it gets you that hazelnut cream you like for your coffee?

So much for my place. I mean, it's considerate enough, but I'd never call it gracious.