The Idiot(s) In The Room

Before I get to the Official Kickoff, I think it's best that we get certain things out of the way while we can. As this is written, (5/13), we're near the end of Phase I of this pandemic and already people are behaving like this has already been Worst Staycation Ever, or at least that's how most of the major media is presenting it. Here in Topeka, although Covid-19 has reached the city & county, there's not a sense of approaching dread - although there's a certain number of people out & about without masks, there's a substantial amount that are wearing masks... fortunately, there's not a lot of overt racism on display - yet. Then again, I'm not out everyday trying to assess that.

We're seeing System Failure In Real Time, and it appears to be too much for most to handle. It's not the slow erosion that allowed people to adjust over the last three years, this is immediate 'shock and awe' as the adage that most Americans were a paycheck or two away from disaster gets proven large scale.

I'm a 'glass half-full' person in the best of times and the one consistent conclusion to be gleaned from the past couple of months to the present, what I've seen is this:

NOBODY KNOWS SHIT.

True, there is info available, which if one is a person who's able to do some critical thinking and able to weigh the merits/concerns of fact vs. fiction, you can tentatively navigate your way through. Judging from what one sees however, there's not even half of the country's population who seems to be capable of that. Which is not that surprising - when you demonize & politicize factual science and expertise because it helps in convincing people that climate change doesn't exist, then it's even harder to convince people that there is a pandemic, until the hospitals fill up and bodies start stacking.

The response to this has been a complete clusterfuck, with the current Federal Government not taking the lead on this, since the President is doing anything he can to try to avoid any responsibility (and thus, any blame). But not just him - across the board, very few are really wanting to confront the Cold, Hard Facts of what needs to be done to get the country through this. Mainly due to the ever increasing realization that the whole perception of  'Normal' is really not going to work as before - not that it worked all that well, but it made people money and that seems to be the Main Concern over everything.

To me, this is the natural end of the path we started down, eyes wide open, three years ago when the schizophrenic patient U.S.A. decided that it was okay, really... and stopped taking its meds.

There's really only one way out of this, and no one's gonna like it, since it means letting politics/ideology duke it out against science/nature, and I suspect that most of you who'll be reading this blog know who ends up the winner of these battles.

So, I'm not gonna get all up in arms about a lot of this type of stuff here - more than likely, that'll end up on FB, although there's only so much outrage that remains, after so much - and we're nowhere near Rock Bottom yet, though it feels that way. There's always a sub-basement to find...

Instead, I'm gonna hunker down and try to get through this - and make no mistake, I'm completely scared shitless. It's not so much a question of "if we get it" - considering the circumstances, a better mindset for me is "when we get it". That enables me, at this point, to be able to make decisions and function on a daily basis. Maybe by late Summer/early Fall, I'll be able to get into a "if we get it" frame of mind, since by then, things will have played out to an extent where there'll be some reliable information to be able to make that assumption, and prepare for the second wave.

What I'm NOT scared of are idiots who decide to take the Ultimate Lottery/I.Q. Test, because as science consistently shows, THEY LOSE. And I'm quite OK with that.

All of this 'Corona Concern' from corporations & businesses that didn't give a fuck about you unless you had a dollar or two in your pocket that they could get from you, all this 'Get back to work, you lazy MF'ers', all this desperate dancing hoping that things Will Go Back Like They Were - all of that will get shredded when the actual reality comes to people's homes, which is how most have handled Empathy in the U.S.A. - "We don't have to give a Fuck about Anything or Anyone - until it directly affects me in a way that's inescapable".

Let All These Motherfuckers Die.

If you have a problem with that, then I suggest that this blog may not be for you - because, there WILL be Things Said.

"Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here."  You Are Warned.

Now, that's out of the way - on to what's spurred this Sense of Purpose...

Next Time - "Everything I Like Is Fucking Horrible"

A Few Minutes At A Todd Akin Campaign Rally in Central MO...

Apologies to Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt.

Douchebag Cinema


An epiphany in the midst of all this STAR TREK hate I have and lemmings insisting it's the greatest thing since Jesus did the Sermon on the Mount...

actually, it's more related to the popularity of the work of J.J. Abrams, whose work I've been less and less enamored with as it grows to public popularity. I think the key to that popularity is down to one word: DOUCHEBAG.

Follow closely...

Abram's first major work is the screenplay for TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS, an alleged comedy with Jim Belushi as a douchebag who steals the Filofax of another douchebag played by Charles Grodin, and assumes his identity. Hijinks abound.
His next script is for a Mike Nichols film starring Harrison Ford (!) called REGARDING HENRY. The story of a major douchebag who gets shot in the head and learns not to be a douchebag anymore -- it sucked. Badly.

FOREVER YOUNG - Mel Gibson as a douchebag who participates in an experiment and is frozen until he's unfrozen by a couple of kids; GONE FISHIN', another alleged comedy with Joe Pesci and Danny Glover (hot off the LETHAL WEAPON films) as two douchebag friends from the city who take a fishing trip.
This culminates into being co-writer for ARMAGEDDON, where the entire world is saved by douchebag Bruce Willis and his douchebag crew of roughnecks.

Then Abrams jumps to television. He creates FELICITY, about a female douchebag who gradually learns she's not entitled to anything, with a whole bevy of douchebag friends; and ALIAS, a riff off of the spy craze of the 60's where master spy Jennifer Garner learns that instead of being a U.S. spy, she's a spy for a douchebag agency, and she learns that her family, friends and co-workers are douchebags fighting other douchebags - that fucks with her head! Monster success for both shows, which leads to his touch with LOST, a show full of douchebags attempting to find out... well, who knows what. With LOST, not only are the characters all douchebags, the show itself does douchy things to its audience, who of course, just LOVE it.

Abrams works with master douchebag Tom Cruise on MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 and not even the presence of Philip Seymour Hoffman can overcome the douchiness; the new show FRINGE is basically X-FILES with douchebags... and now Abrams brings the douchy touch to STAR TREK, where almost everyone is a douchebag - even Old Spock.

In the midst of all this douchiness, WHY does it work is the question? Why is it so popular?

Because the audience is mainly douchebags. Sad to say.