Everything I Like/Love Is Fucking Horrible

By that, I'm NOT talking about something like THE ROOM (I hate that shit)... or things like action movies, 'charmingly bad' media or anything along those lines.

I was gifted with a Blu-ray set of JOHNNY QUEST for Christmastime, a show I loved watching on Saturday mornings growing up; a true Boy's Show with adventure & action in foreign lands, lots of cool science stuff and a body count. Also noticeable watching it as a somewhat aware adult is the casual racism/sexism, which made for a darkly amusing drinking game and a LOT of alcohol.

I'm a genre fan, and I'm Black (or P.O.C. if you like a mouthful of terms), and what becomes very apparent after a short amount of time is that, just as in Real Life, a good majority of things that are produced are NOT produced with any thought that someone like me might actually enjoy or find any worth in it. So, any criticism is met with quite a bit of mob-swarm and butt-hurt, and any variation that doesn't immediately pander to that core (White, Male) audience will be seen as an abject failure if it doesn't perform at the boxoffice or in ratings.

You find quite a bit of this in fandom - science-fiction (rather ironic, in a way), horror, fantasy; even in some rather niche strata like film music fans. And yes, NOT EVERYBODY, of course, but even if it is a minority, it's a pretty fucking loud one.

I wasn't looking for a Grand Metaphor here, but as recent events have taken place and watching how it all unfolds - again, and reporters & pundits trying to make sense of it all - again, it appears that it sums up Our Particular Problem in a graspable manner:

Everything I Like/Love Is Fucking Horrible.

How do I reconcile that? Can you even do so? A lot of that stuff is baked-in, so as much as some can attempt to mitigate it (like recent adaptations of Edgar Rice Burroughs "Tarzan" and the Lovecraft Cultural Explosion), there's always a certain core remnant that's there and it can't be excised.

You can, however, use it to comment on how things were and how certain behavior and beliefs are no longer appropriate/in vogue from a contemporary viewpoint. But that original is always around in some form. You can hide it, ignore it, pretend it has no effect or value - but the forbidden has its allure, especially when it goes underground.

You can also put it out for all to see, in all its ugliness - and also the context for it. "Yes, it was Wrong, but for quite a while, Most didn't think so."

You can also attempt to just get rid of it all, Start from Zero. That's a bit drastic and makes a lot of assumptions and has no guarantee at all of success, unless you take seriously the concept of ZERO.

There are no pat answers... I don't have any. But I can say this - whenever we get to these moments of Wrestling With The Soul, we always choose the Lazy Way, the Path of Least Resistance, and you're seeing the result of what happens when things get kicked down the road and aren't confronted.

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.

THE BIBLE AND GUN CLUB AKA Sarah Palin's favorite documentary

The following two YouTube clips are from a 1996 indie film called THE BIBLE AND GUN CLUB. It's pretty much only been seen at festivals in this country and on television overseas. Search it out - it's hard to find, but worth it.

If you want an idea of the mindset of Sarah Palin and her ilk, and the people that they're reaching for (such as the asshole who intended a bloodbath at the Holocaust Museum in D.C.), this should give you a good idea.








Remember - Satire is only history that hasn't occurred yet.

Not Fucking Funny At All.

No humorous tales to spin now... and no Halloween listing - again.
I just haven't been in the mood recently.

Not with this kind of shit going on...




and:



and even more of that good stuff:



As I mentioned on Facebook earlier - every passing year, I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of idiocy.

From Matt Taibbi's ROLLING STONE article, "Mad Dog Palin":

Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power. Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV — and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation.


So my mood may be a bit dour for the next few weeks, until I get proof that this country is finally tired of letting shitbrains and moral retards lead the way.

Apocalypse Soon?

I write this yet another year older... my birthday was this past weekend, and while it wasn't a big blowout, it didn't need to be. More and more, I really appreciate the concept of 'low-key'. Thank you to everyone who sent wishes (and swag!).

Not much to add to current events - when you're on the cusp of choosing between The Future or The Past, snarky commentary, though helpful, ultimately means NOTHING. This is The Dark Night of the Soul for The American Nation and it literally is a case of either choosing to Look Forward and make our Future; or (continuing) to Look Backwards and hope that things will work out fine until The Rapture occurs...

It's fairly evident which side I'm on...

I'd put heads on sticks to make this country great. Guess whose heads?

Anyway...

Recent viewing has included ROAD HOUSE - no, not the Swayse movie! Expand your horizons, kids!! I, of course, mean the VASTLY SUPERIOR 40's noir with Richard Widmark & Ida Lupino... SINGING. If you haven't heard of it, check it out.

I also went through the JOHN FROM CINCINNATI set - I'd been wanting to see the series since its debut on HBO, where it was pretty much killed by the ire of pissed off DEADWOOD fans and blown off by critics who might've helped put in a good word for the show to be discovered by the larger public.

Or maybe not. JFC shares similarities to earlier David Milch created shows, but the whole is decidedly something not the norm for American television - magical realism combined with surfing, family function & dysfunction, Spirituality & the Nature of God, Art and it's uneasy alliance with Commerce, and Southern CA.

JFC is a rare slice of programming that is not quite like anything else you've seen, or will see - I was hungry for another season of episodes, but there's a lot that's satisfying in the 10 episodes in the set - more so than some shows can do in several seasons (*cough, HEROES, LOST, cough*).

Also in line to be watched, the second season of 30 DAYS, SQUARE PEGS, THE BOONDOCKS S2.

If the economy collapses, I may finally have some time to watch stuff again... in-between excursions to forage for survival.

Sometimes, you have to hit bottom, to be able to climb out the hole.... advice usually given to addicts and very apropos for a Nation addicted to Oil, Easy Solutions & Bullshit.