11.16.2008

Some random thoughts

I thought it was time to take a break from political discussion, and turn to things that people really care about: commercials, food, music, you know, the important things. So here it goes:

1) Anyone have ANY idea what the heck "The fit is go" means on that Honda commercial? Even if it actually means something, I find it truly irritating.

2) It's National Novel Writing Month. It's no longer national, however, because people as far as Kazakhstan (literally) and Bangla Desh are involved in this writing madness. Although I have a respectable 24, 040 words right now, I am about a day and a half behind my word count. (oh, and BTW, in case you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, here's the link: nanowrimo.org

3) Saw a snarky post on a commercial news blog about the overuse of certain words and expressions, and the overall misuse of the English language. While I myself cringe at certain usage (especially the ubiquitous "It's my bad," and all of its bastard spawns), I have to say: from a linguistic standpoint, a living, breathing language is subject to change. No one says "groovy" that much any more, except maybe facetiously, but everywhere people are saying "Awesome." A few years ago it was "Phat" and (shudder) "fantabulous," and next year it might be "cheeky" or "gruesome." And yes, in 20 years, everyone may indeed be spelling the word "through" as "thru," and "night" as "nite," and it might be considered not only acceptable, but the preferred spelling. Get over it. There's nothing you can do about it. (but to the writer of that particular rant: Duly noted!)

4) Saw the B52s a couple of weeks ago here at the Hammerstein Ballroom. They seriously kicked ass. Wait, that's such an overused expression. they were awesome. No, can't say that either. They were fabtabulous. No, someone will kick me. (Or should kick me.) Okay, let's just say I can't remember being that happy at a non-Bruce concert in recent memory, and leave it at that.

5) Hmm, I did promise to say something about food. Okay. Went to the Thalia restaurant last Friday night (after going to Town Hall to see Craig Ferguson), and I'm sorry, there's no way around using an overused expression here: Holy crap.

There. No politics. Happy, everyone?

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11.05.2008

Myself. I'm really partial to purple

Last night, people in New York were literally dancing in the streets.

There are a lot of reasons why people supported president-elect Barack Obama, but after watching all the analysts talking endlessly last night aout the economy, that economy is the factor, economy economy economy, I think they've missed the big picture.

Not that the economy wasn't a factor, and certainly its collapse brought over some undecided voters, and may very well have been the final blow to the McCain campaign. But most people are smart enough to know that Mr Obama does not have an easy answer to the woes of this country, because there's no such thing. The big difference with Obama is the feeling of inclusion.

The reason that everyone was dancing in the streets in New York last night was because it's the first time in a long time that we felt that we belong to this country. So no, I do not expect our new president to make everything right over night, or even in the first four years, or God willing, eight years. But I'm breathing a sigh of relief, like most of my fellow New Yorkers. No we are not traitors because we are not Republicans, or because we don't think we should be in Iraq, or because we don't think deregulating everything is sound economic practice, or good for the environment, for that matter. No we are not traitors because we disagree, and we are not bad Americans because we don't live in a small town. And hello, Wall Street is not a metaphor, it's an actual street, here in New York City. We are part of this country, too.

So our president-elect will have his hands full. Thank God (and excuse me for invoking the "G" word) they are his hands, not the hands of someone representing a party that thinks America is, or in any case should be, all one color: red.

UPDATE: I didn't have the Obama quote quite right when I first posted this. But it's fixed now., and there was greart rejoicing

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11.04.2008

Election Fever

I am feeling excited, like I used to get when I was a kid, watching the elections results and being highly aware that something very cool was going on.

Every four years, Americans have the opportunity to have a revolution. An orderly, quiet, walk-in-and-vote-'em-out revolution.

I know I am not alone, feeling that I'd just like to hear people discussing issues instead of someone's hair, or age, or race, or level of patriotism -- seriously, so tired of that one.

My intention never was to have a political blog. When I started this blog, I had no focus at all, just general snarky observations, posted some photos, that was it. Yes, I know I recently posted samples of anti-Democrat comments from trollers, and then in a fit of laziness I posted that jpeg of an anti-Palin button. But it’s because I have been feeling a political rant coming on for weeks, ever since I read someone’s comment that said, “Barack Obama is a Marxist.”

Why have our political discussions devolved into name-calling? More importantly, why is everyone okay with it? It’s like being in a household with parents who are constantly bickering. You want to say to them, “Would you guys just get a divorce already? Don’t stay together for us!”

In 1972, during the Nixon-McGovern race, I was on a school bus with 60 or so fellow middle-schoolers, and for some reason I mentioned that I was for McGovern. This was a stupid thing to admit in any crowd, but I grew up in a town that had no registered Democrats until my parents moved there in 1950, so I was admitting this on a bus full of young Republicans, and was basically asking for trouble, just yelling “fire!” in a crowded theater.

So this kid I had known since grade school, this girl Wendy – never a friend, she was an annoying little shit, a brat and a bully who is probably raising a brood of brats and bullies -- turns around and, with real venom, fires at me, “McGovern is a Communist.”

Now, everybody knows that when you are 13, most of your views about life are still heavily influenced by your parents. You’re not quite at full-rebellion age yet, and there are some things, like politics, you may never rebel against. So clearly Wendy heard that in her house from her Republican parents, who may or may not have been exaggerating to prove a point. In any event, like an idiot, I tried to reason with her:

“If McGovern is a Communist, then Nixon is a Fascist.”

To my surprise, she did not see the correlation I was trying to illustrate. I imagine this was a section of the SATs that would totally stump her, if she indeed ever took the SATs.

“No he’s not!” she yelled at me. Really yelled, like I had insulted her father or kicked her dog.

But this is our two-party system. It’s not politics, it’s sports teams. I’m a Mets fan. Do I stop being a Mets fan when they start playing like the 1962 Mets? Sure, if they keep it up long enough. I’ll stop going to Shea, I’ll stop watching televised games. I might even consider rooting for the Cardinals, or the Red Sox, or the Phillies. I do not, however, become a Yankees fan. Yes, I am like a lot of Americans.

On this election day, it is my sincere hope that one day Americans will learn to stop hating each other for the color of their state.

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