President Peace Prize ... Oy-vey, Amici ... are they kidding me? I have to think Obama would rather not have gotten this (now anyway) for all the flack he’s going to take. The Nobel committee meets in February. Obama was inaugurated end of January. Three or four weeks makes a winner? And I thought acting, music and writing awards were fugazy. This is hilarious. The guy has stayed in the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time and has stepped up another war and hasn’t closed Guantanamo … so he gets a “peace” prize.
All righty then ...
Outrage ... it’s bad enough when a guy or gal lives their entire life (or most of it) denying their sexuality, but when they do so while doing their damnedest to deny others their “all men are created equal” rights, it becomes more than just hypocritical, it is criminal (maybe not technically but criminal nonetheless). This HBO documentary outs quite a few prominent members of both parties who consistently voted down any form of gay rights legislation (to include HIV legislation, gay adoption, gay marriage, etc.). Many of those profiled in the film deny they are gay ... former New York Mayor Ed Koch, former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, former U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Well worth the time spent watching, amici. Good stuff that proves the “party of the people” isn’t so inclusive and the party of “family values” has some closet cleaning to do.
Stalin vs. Franco ... Monsignor Quixote ... I’m on a Graham Greene kick and this one couldn’t be funnier. I thought Our Man in Havana was one of the funniest books I’d ever read until this baby. Hilarious. The Monsignor believes himself a direct descendant of the Don himself. He and the recently outvoted (communist) mayor of El Toboso take off in the Monsignor’s very old car (Rocinante) … their travels are as humorous as their conversations about religion, communism, dictatorships and all matters of life and death ... and sex. Check this out:
Father Quixote was blowing up a sausage-shaped balloon. He squeezed the end with his fingers. “How do you keep the air in?” he asked. “Surely there should be some sort of nozzle?” He began to blow again and the balloon exploded, less loudly though rather more sharply than the champagne bottle. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry, Sancho, I didn’t mean to break your balloon. Was it a gift for a child?”
“No, father, it was a gift for the girl who brought the champagne. Don’t worry. I’ve got several more.” He added with a kind of anger, “Have you never seen a contraceptive before? No, I suppose you haven’t.”
Monsignor Quixote is brilliant, plain and simple.
Eden Close ... I first read Anita Shreve about half a dozen years ago (The Pilot’s Wife, The Weight of Water) and both were terrific. This one (Eden Close) is also an excellent read/story about a guy and a girl/man and a woman; the man returns to a small town after his mother dies to straighten out her affairs, but back in the day his neighbors had gone through a tragedy that involved a rape and a murder and the girl next door was involved. No spoilers here ... just read the thing. You will not be disappointed. Really excellent. More Shreve on order pronto.
Somali Pirates ... what, these clowns again? The geniuses attacked a French Navy ship by accident Tuesday night. Five suspects are in custody. There’s your problem: those five suspects should be resting comfortable somewhere on the ocean floor ... or in a chum bucket ...
SNL ... well, give one up to Saturday Night Live for finally taking it to the new commander and chef (typo was deliberate because he’s no chief yet) ... A very funny skit on President Obama’s first 9 months in office ... well, it’s about time somebody else took notice.
The Rock of the Week ... this one is in the bag ... mortgage the house and take Cleveland and the points over my beloved new york state buffalo bills ... we’re playing at home (the outdoor one in the United States) and there’s a good chance we won’t be able to handle the cold weather.
Baseball Tournament ... need a better argument against capitalism than what major league baseball is pulling on its paying public? They’re not televising the first rounds of the tournament unless you have team specific or baseball specific cable packages. What a joke. The national pastime (screw the consumer) ... or another form of bailing out big business (before they have a chance to lose money on the so-called “free market”).
Knuckmeter ...
—Knucks
And the DOC says ...
Hey Chaz,
Is this some evil trick to make me bet on the Bills. You, their only fan, claim they will be trounced. Okay, this system has worked for me so far. I'm selling a kidney and betting the Bills. Go Bills!!
I see in the news they are downplaying the fact that we declared war on the moon early this morning. Oh, nevermind... we were looking for water. Wake up call, NASA, WE HAVE WATER! Why don't you go look for some oil. And who came up with this strategy to find water. We put a bomb on a rocket and shoot it into the moon. This sounds like the brainchild of NASA's famous scientist... Professor Wile E. Coyote. Why don't they go look for water in Iran.
Oh, and that other thing. Michelle Obama says for the first time in her life she is actually proud of Norway. So Fredo wins the peace prize while we are in two wars and that recent skirmish on the moon. One of the London papers had as their headline: "Obama wins Peace Prize...WTF"
My sentiments exactly. Hey McChrystal, good luck getting your 40,000 troops now.
This is just more evidence that we are living in a world without shame. If we could learn to be ashamed at the proper moments, all the other virtues would fall in to place.
Have a nice weekend, buddy-boy
Doc
