Month: January 2017

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Things More Popular Than Trump

As Cheetolini prepares to assume office with the worst approval rating of any incoming president in the last hundred years, I thought it might be a good time to point out some awful things that are actually more popular than the incoming dictator.

Nickelback
Hair Gropenführer lost to the internationally reviled band by 5 points.

Used Car Salesmen
The jerk who sold you your last lemon gained 6 more points than the Cheeto-in-Chief

Traffic Jams
People preferred being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic over Pumpkin Pinochet by 7 points.

Hipsters
The Tangerine Nutsack went head to head with this frequently loathed population and lost by 7 points.

DMV
We all hate the DMV, but people polled hate the Human-Toupee Hybrid more—by 10 points.

Root Canals
The painful dental procedure was preferred over The Walking Can of Cheese Whiz by 11 points.

Jury Duty
People would rather be forced to give up their time and pay check than live in a nation ruled by Fuckface Von Clownstick, who fell behind this unpleasantry by a whopping 22 points. Welcome to Hell, folks.

Lice
The poll by Public Policy Polling shows that Trumplethinskin lost out to lice by 26 points. Ouch.

Cockroaches
These famously disgusting, disease-carrying bugs score a higher rating than the Mandarin Manchurian Candidate. Fortunately, we know that at least the cockroaches will survive any of the various Trumpocalypses in our darker timelines.

Hemorrhoids
Apparently The Short-Fingered Vulgarian is less desirable than a pain in the butt.

Finance Industry
Wall Street's disapproval rating is 3 points lower than The Nacho Nazi.

Genghis Khan
People actually view the ruler of the Mongol hoard more favorably than The Mangled Apricot Hellbeast. A telling statistic.

But it's not all bad news for the PEOTUS. He does still manage to beat infamous cult leader/serial murderer Charles Manson. So, chin(s) up Donald, there's no place to go but up.

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Wheels Within Wheels


"We live in loops as tight and as closed as the hosts do, seldom questioning our choices, content, for the most part, to be told what to do next." ~ Dr. Robert Ford, Westworld

I remember having one of those deep, philosophical discussions with a friend several years ago and the subject of reincarnation came up. He posited that reincarnation was indeed real, but that instead of moving on to new adventures in new timelines, we simply go back and do everything again and again, until—as he put it—we get it right. At the time that thought horrified me; it was like we were trapped in a never-ending Groundhog Day, but blessedly unaware that we'd passed this way before.

I've been thinking about this a lot now that the first season of Westworld has come and gone, and that one quote above stands out. I mean, it makes as much sense as anything else to explain our "reality."

But how would this work? How could you reincarnate again and again into the exact same timeline, only to unchangingly experience the same things again and again—and what about everyone else who you've interacted with?

I guess the only way I was able to wrap my had around it was to envision it as an infinitely complex series of interlocking gears. Your lifetime is one gear. Connected to that gear are the gears of everyone else in your life; everyone you've known or are yet to meet; and through those gears, the gears of everyone who has ever lived—or will ever live. You're all meshed together, but only certain segments of those gears actively interact with each other (i.e., your time in each other's lives).

Philosophically speaking, the only issue I have with this idea is that it doesn't allow for any change or growth beyond one's original storyline, something that is the antithesis of what we've come to accept as being a fundamental part of life and of being human.

But it does explain those occasional instances of Déjà vu, does it not?

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Quote Of The Day

I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president… I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton." ~ Legitimately elected state representative John Lewis (D-Georgia) who will not be attending Trump's coronation inauguration.

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Shuffle

I was actually thinking of titling this post "Embarrassment."

I was tagged by TheLisp to put my iPod (or other musical device/app) on shuffle and to list the first 10 songs—although i did 15 just like he did. I'm not tagging anyone because this isn't 2006 and with only a few exceptions, I don't know who reads this thing with any regularity or if there even are any bloggers out there anymore still doing this sort of thing.

1. Rufus Wainwright – The Art Teacher (Want 2)
2. Vangelis – Movement 10 (Mythodia)
3. Helen Reddy – I Don't Know How To Love Him (I Am Woman)
4. Pink Floyd – When You're In (Obscured By Clouds)
5. Art of Noise – Moments In Love (Influence: The A Side – Singles, Hits, Soundtracks And Collaborations)
6. Chris Spheeris & Paul Voudouris – Love And Understanding (Enchantment)
7. Bette Midler – My One True Friend (Bathhouse Betty)
8. Original Broadway Cast – So Long, Farewell (The Sound of Music)
9. Cake – I Will Survive (Fashion Nugget)
10. Sarah Vaughan – Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe (Sarah for Lovers)
11. Dixie Chicks – Silent House (Taking The Long Way)
12. Peter Frampton – I'm In You (Entertainment Weekly Greatest Hits 1977)
13. Les Deux Love Orchestra – Cocktail Attire (Music From Les Deux Cafés)
14. James Blunt – 1973 (All The Lost Souls)
15. New Order – Round And Round (Technique)

So there you have it.

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Inspired Look

Evan Rachel Wood attends the 18th Annual Post-Golden Globes Party hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures and InStyle at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California (January 8, 2017)

I've been meaning to post this since I first saw it. For an actress to dress like this for such a prestigious event takes balls. Her look was so stunning and yet caused me to do a double-take because I knew I had seen something very similar before. Then it dawned on me: Victor-Victoria.

Bravo! No, "Brava!"

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The "I'm Getting Old" Starter Pack

  • "This is way too sweet."
  • "They're remaking that movie already?"
  • "My back hurts."
  • "Wait…people get mad about that now?"
  • "I can't eat that, it's gonna fuck my stomach up."
  • "Hold on let me check my calendar first."
  • "I need to buy a bigger pill box."
  • Turns on radio. [groans]

Feel free to add your own in the comments!

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Timely

On this date in 1971, the group Chicago released Chicago III. Somehow I had missed this particular release, both back in the day and in my rediscovery of their music in the early 2000s. What struck me tonight however as I was listening to it via Spotify was one particular song and how timely it seemed:

When All The Laughter Dies In Sorrow

When all the laughter dies in sorrow
And the tears have risen to a flood
When all the wars have found a cause
In human wisdom and in blood
Do you think they'll cry in sadness
Do you think the eye will blink
Do you think they'll curse the madness
Do you even think they'll think
When all the great galactic systems
Sigh to a frozen halt in space
Do you think there will be some remnant
Of beauty of the human race
Do you think there will be a vestige
Or a sniffle or a cosmic tear
Do you think a greater thinking thing
Will give a damn that man was here?

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And Of Course…

…right on cue, the petulant, cheeto-faced man-child set to assume the Presidency in 11 days had a 3 am meltdown on Twitter over Meryl's speech last night.

In the hours after after Hair Furor disgorged his early-morning missive, the army of his sycophants chimed in, led by the always death-warmed-over Kellyanne Conway, a.k.a. das Backpfeifengesicht, who appeared on Faux News to ask if Meryl was so concerned about the disabled why she didn't mention the mentally-challenged boy who was tortured on Facebook during her speech.

The lack of self-awareness displayed by Trump supporters complaining that celebrities like Meryl should stay out of politics when they elected a reality TV star with no political background is just fucking deafening.

More than anything, it punctuates the shitgibbon's lack of self-esteem. And again I have to ask, if this man is so thin-skinned that he will obsess about anyone who doesn't bow down and kiss his tiny-handed ring by spewing out insults via Twitter, how is he going to react to a real crisis?

I don't even want to think about it.

I believe what's at the root of this insecurity is Trump knowing in his heart of hearts that he will never be loved or admired by people in a way that Meryl (or Obama, or any number of others he's lashed out at) are—and it's drives him crazy. Hell, he and his administration are actually shaping up to be the most resoundingly hated group of people ever to assume power in this country, and that's a stink that he won't ever be able to wash off no matter how many rim jobs he gets from his Nazi followers.

 

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Well, It Happened

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis, 1935

Thanks to a horrifically outdated electoral system based on slave ownership and proven interference by Russian Intelligence led by Vladimir Putin, 25%—TWENTY FIVE FUCKING PERCENT—of eligible voters in the United States just legitimized and put in power what is for all intents and purposes a reborn and rebranded American Nazi Party. And this party is led by a 70-year old, emotionally unstable, sociopathic man-baby whose only concern is is own aggrandizement, communicates to the world via Twitter, and now has access to the country's nuclear codes. What could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, another 25% (plus about 300 million, give or take) of us who actually voted for the sane candidate, did everything in our power to prevent this—although my faith in our current Democratic leaders has been seriously compromised because a last-ditch effort to merely examine and debate Electoral College irregularities yesterday was thwarted because a Senator was required to make this happen and no Democratic Senator—not a single one, not even Bernie FUCKING Sanders—stood up to join the two brave Representatives who brought it to the house floor prior to Congressional confirmation.

While no one can totally predict the future, those of us who saw this coming have a reasonably good idea of what lies ahead, and it ain't pretty. Battlestar Galactica's famous line "All this has happened before and will happen again," resonates loudly.

I can't help but wonder what half the country who couldn't pull themselves away from their 50-inch flat screens, Survivor reruns, porn and fast food drips long enough to get their fat asses to the polls will think once the economy tanks (like it has under every other Republican administration since Reagan) and they start losing their jobs, their healthcare, their social security benefits, the minimum wage disappears, and the air and drinking water start turning brown because 80 years of government oversight and the social safety net that generations have relied upon have been dismantled.

As Ben is constantly telling his students, "Actions have consequences."

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Taking a Break from Twitter

I'm taking a break from Twitter, maybe permanently.

Since the November election it's become an absolutely toxic cesspool of disinformation and stupidity, and frankly if the world is going to start collapsing around us, I don't need constant 140 character reminders of it.

I'm not going to delete my account outright, but I have removed Tweetbot from my phone and the corresponding Mac app from the dock.

I quit Facebook cold turkey in 2012 when it crossed my tolerance for stupidity and I've reached the same point with Twitter.  It took years for me to get over the need for a Facebook fix, but the detox was necessary to maintain my sanity. I expect it to be much the same with this other social network.

That leaves me with Instagram. At least that one mostly just pretty pictures with only occasional forays into the morass that is contemporary political discourse.