NO THEMES. NO RHYMES. NO REASONS.

JUST A COLLECTION OF THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER …as per this blog’s subhead…


Don’t get me started …


People (often friends) using their smart phones/ PDAs to do unrelated things while (allegedly) engaged in a social interaction. Put it away!
Hey, can you hear me? I’m right over here…yeah, right in front of you. Yes, thank you. Now put it away!

Television news anchors reading copy (from a teleprompter placed in the camera to create the illusion that he/she is speaking to you) while simulating the same level of earnest concern regardless of the import or nature of the story –so that: “ The 700 refugees were stranded for seven days without water or food…” sounds the same as: “ The 2 kittens were unharmed and found by a neighbor a few hours later …”

The shameless blurbs on books that reveal (once you’ve read the book) that the blurber never read a single page of the book. One critic said Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra was “…full of …wry humor.”
I defy anyone to find one example of anything of the sort in the entire book--if you do, I’ll post your picture here (even if I don't know you) and write a glowing blurb in your honor.

Rudeness to waiters, waitresses, or anyone else who is trying to serve/help/assist you. Where did people get the idea that the wherewithal to buy a 40 dollar piece of Mahi Mahi comes with a license to trample upon the dignity of the person delivering it?
I’ve asked some people who I’ve seen acting this way and their answer is always something about how they’re entitled to good service. Ah yes…entitlement. And why in fact are they (or any of us really) entitled to it? Let’s see, there’s, well there must be something….hmmm….huh? Damn!


The use of the word “ genius” applied to people in order to dispense with having to consider what it is that the person actually does that constitutes their ‘genius’. Best definition I’ve heard so far is that genius is simply the “willingness to take pains to get it right”

I don’t like the expression “ It is what it is” for mostly the same reason…but I have to admit that it is often the best and most accurate observation when applied to things that are so beyond the pale that it’s pointless to even consider considering it worthy of thought--like listening to the GOP candidates in a debate. What can you say? It is what it is.

…and I don’t really object to the candidate’s lying.
I don’t object to the way they play on people’s fears and prejudices.
I don’t object to the hypocrisy, deceit, evasion or arrogance.
I only object to how bad they all are at all of the above.

The Golden Globes. Hardly even worthy of comment (it is what it is?) but this awards stuff has got to stop. Woody Allen knows it’s a sham and a scam and won’t show up. And we all know he’s right, and yet the industry and the public eat it up like candy craving kids on Halloween. Last night may have been fun for the winners and those who enjoy that sort of thing, but it was a disaster for those like me who work behind the scenes sizzling the steaks and slinging the hash in the kitchen. Showtime picked up some biggies and the next two weeks (or more) are going to be like an extended no-huddle two minute drill with on and off air spots plus a mountain of print tactics designed to keep the buzz going with the hope that new subscribers will come pouring in on the waves of hype. Where do people find the time to watch all this stuff?

They’re at it again!

Just got this in the mail from Joe Biden’s wife on behalf of her BFF:

Richard --

Michelle's birthday is today -- and I think you'll agree with me when I say she's a pretty special woman.

So I hope you'll take a moment to sign her card before we deliver it. You can even leave a note if you'd like:

http://my.barackobama.com/For-Michelle

After all, everyone loves hearing from friends on their birthday. And the year ahead is going to be a tough one, so I know this card will mean the world to Michelle.

Thanks, Jill

Gee, thanks Jill, and great to hear from you-- but since accepting two personal invitations to the White House from both Michelle and Barack and then never hearing back from them, I will have to respectfully decline. I hope Michelle has a great birthday, and that her husband keeps his job, but I can take a hint and walk away with no hard feelings. Give my best to Joe.

No Way!
Way!


I would sooner believe that two Yankee professors lied, than that stones fell from the sky.
~ Thomas Jefferson (1790s) - after hearing reports of meteorites

I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone.
~ Charles Darwin (1869) –

By the year 1982 the graduated income tax will have practically abolished major differences in wealth.
~ Irwin Edman (1932), Professor Columbia University

Airplanes are interesting toys, but they have no military value.
~ Marshal Ferdinand Foch (1911)

There is no need for any individual to have a computer in their home.
~ Ken Olson (1977) - President of Digital Equipment Corp

Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote
~ Grover Cleveland (1905)

There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now; All that remains is more and more precise measurement.
~ Lord Kelvin (1900)

It would appear we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology.
~ John von Neumann (1949) - Computer Scientist

Atomic energy might be as good as our present-day explosives, but it is unlikely to produce anything very much more dangerous.
~ Winston Churchill (1939)



Potentiality Speaking

Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heartache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there.--Henry Miller

Southern Comfort

I would read recipe books if they were still written like this:

From 1879 entitled Housekeeping in Old Virginia (Mrs. General Robert E. Lee was a contributor).

“I would say to housewives, be not daunted by one failure, nor by twenty. Resolve that you will have good bread, and never cease striving after this result till you have effected it. If persons without brains can accomplish this, why cannot you? I would recommend that the housekeeper acquire the practice as well as the theory of bread-making. In this way, she will be able to give more exact directions to her cook and to more readily detect and rectify any blemish in the bread.”


Existentially Speaking (with a favorite joke)

Jean-Paul Sartre is sitting at a French cafe, revising his draft of Being and Nothingness. He says to the waitress, "I'd like a cup of coffee, please, with no cream." The waitress replies, "I'm sorry, monsieur, but we're out of cream. How about with no milk?"

Kudos.

Michael Malone. Novelist. Southerner. Soap Opera innovator (for real). Duke University professor. Like a southern Robertson Davies but more versatile and funny. I read Uncivil Seasons and First Lady (the first and third of a trilogy that also includes Time’s Witness) and his collection of short stories about Southern women: Red Clay, Blue Cadillac. Really good. Should be more famous.

Neophiliacs v. Neophobes

Some people crave novelty and just have to have what’s new. Others cherish tradition and the tried and true. Interesting to consider how those two inclinations provide insights into so many things within our culture. Also interesting how most of us have an appetite for a combination of both—but how that balance breaks down is what fascinates. I’ll bet it’s something all the political candidates and their campaign gurus kick around all the time. What is the ideal combination of traditional values and progressive ideals that reflects the current balance within the zeitgeist? Perhaps it’s not that combination at all. Progressive is a word that you don’t hear much anymore. The classic line in the ad-world used to be “Dress British, think Yiddish.” But that’s gone by the boards. Today what would it be? Dress Slick, Think Hick?