Thoughts@Large

Beethoven Fought God

2011-05-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

Beethoven fought God...and Beethoven won. God made the great composer deaf. Beethoven said, "Oh yeah? Watch this." And he composes the Ninth Symphony. The only thing you can say after that, is "damn".

Stephen Colbert's Messiah on Worldview

2010-03-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

Stephen Colbert finds the Messiah and Jerome McDonnell interviews him on Worldview 3/26/2010.

Objects of Ridicule

2010-03-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

Have at 'em.

Tea baggers
Creationists
Birthers
Global warming deniers
Health insurers
Republicans
Big Pharma
Bankers and financiers
Lobbyists

Tommy Wiseau Snubbed Again

2010-03-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

Once again, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences snubs Tommy Wiseau and his 2003 film The Room. Sure it was made in 2003 but it's popularity as a cult film has only grown with time. There should be a category for Best Cult Film.

Avatar, Or Is It OK To Be A Traitor?

2009-12-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

Just saw Avatar. Not bad, a lot of fun, although the plot is definitely in service to the technology. Reminded me of several other films that deal with the same theme, District 9, Dances With Wolves, and best of all, Fort Apache.

Humbuggin'

2009-12-24T11:48:00.001-08:00

Scrooge is a brain-washed tool of the consumer-industrial complex.

A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, everyone!

Speaking of Musical Greatness...

2009-10-15T12:22:00.001-07:00

No rock and roll musician, and that includes the great Chuck Berry, should ever compare themselves to Ludwig Von Beethoven. Just a suggestion.

The Mystery of JB

2009-10-15T12:20:00.001-07:00

I just don't know what it is about the music of James Brown. Whether it's a song I've never heard before or one I've heard a hundred times, I always hear something new.

Bound and Gagged by the Dotted-Line

2009-10-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

Ralph Nadar on reclaiming what's yours

http://www.albionmonitor.com/nader/rn-corporate.html

2009-09-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

2009-03-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

What I Believe

I believe in slipping people a "mickey finn." Right in the kisser.
I believe in throwing one dollar bills around.
I believe in the word "around".
I believe that the Sears Tower in Chicago should now be called the Wesley Willis Tower.
I believe that people should just chill out and stop yelling at me in my sleep.
I believe God has just left the building.
I believe Koreans should be forgiven for enjoying their adorable little pet puppies--for din-din.
I believe the day President Clinton was fellated should be a national holiday. Don't you?

2006-11-25T17:17:00.000-08:00

Incongruous Thoughts at Large

Cultivate your compassion.

2006-05-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

You may have heard about the Stephen Colbert Bush roast, but if you haven't seen it, please, check it out at Colbert's Smart Bomb. This is one of the gutsiest comedic performances I've ever seen. Not only that, he's as hard on the press corps as he is on Dubya. The stream of Italian curse gestures aimed at Antonin Scalia is priceless. Bravo Colbert!

2006-04-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Happy May Day!

Embrace your power.

2006-03-20T19:27:00.000-08:00

Things I cannot eat.

Bug nuts
Roach cutlets
Chicken-fried snake
Aunt Goofy's Secret Sauce
Crouper
Medallions of grief
Knuckle sandwich
Dingleberries
Fried legs
Horseradish of the Apocalypse
Dog drop soup
Turkish with stuffing and cramberry sauce
Deep fried lard on a stick
Blood and tongue loaf of Christ
Beef tallow sandwich with sport peppers
Horse oysters
Tripe-flavored ice cream
Rack of Shemp
Road apples
Loin ala Ed McMahon
Rump toast
Roasted chestnuts on an open sore
Chili con Art Carney

2006-03-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Global War on Terrorism. The Global War on Terror. When you think about it, the "Global War on Terror" is a fiction. If it is real, then how does invading Iraq, ousting Hussein, and (presumably) establishing a democratic government get rid of all the terrorists? Oh sure, all of the other dictatorships in the Middle East will come tumbling down like dominos and the Arabs and Muslims will no longer be angry. I'm not sure our government would even want such vast, catastrophic upheaval to happen at all. Especially to our oil suppliers and friends in Saudi Arabia. So what's the strategy? Where's the next front after Iraq? Pakistan? Germany? England? Oklahoma? We're supposed to feel safer, but I don't think there's been much of a difference. The administration takes credit for the fact that we haven't been attacked again since 9/11, and perhaps rightfully so, but Hurricane Katrina proved (once again) that the administration is incapable of protecting us from disaster. Quite the contrary, Bush believes in his bones that government can't and shouldn't do anything except fight wars and staff police. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the Global War on Terror is just another way of justifying the ouster of our former ally Saddam Hussein and enforcing our hegemony in the Middle East and in the world.

2006-02-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

CBGB, NYC 1975

Gabba gabba hey!

2006-02-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

My Running Tips

No music. Needless hazard.
For maintenance running, pick a basic distance and vary based on how you feel that day. E.g., my basic distance is three miles; on good days I'll up it to 4, 5, or 6. On not so good days or if I'm strapped for time I'll knock off miles.
Before buying shoes, check the AAPSM Running Shoe List at aapsm.org/runshoe.html [aapsm.org].
For winter running, even on paved city streets and sidewalks, get waterproof (Goretex) trail running shoes.
Run on the side of the street that goes opposite vehicular traffic. If there's some drunk guy weaving you'll be able to see him (or her) before he drives up on the sidewalk.
There are always knuckleheads out there that will make comments, cat calls, or yell to break your concentration. I really, really hate these idiots, but I think it's best to just ignore them.
If you run solo in a risky neighborhood, take your mace. I mean your medieval flail so you can really inflict some punishment.

2005-12-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

Charlie Rose, the most erudite, urbane, and courteous interviewer on the planet, is for me, going from great to grate. He interviewed Milton Friedman this week. The esteemed nonagenarian prattles on about how great the economy is doing and how surprised he is that anyone could write anything negative about it. So what does Rose do? He follows up with more polite, softball questions. Does he ask Dr. Friedman about the 45 million Americans without health insurance? What about record consumer indebtedness and negative savings rates? (Probably a plus in Friedman-think.) The third of the rising number of personal bankruptcies due to medical castastrophes? No, nope, nada. Rose similarly coddled Karen Hughes of the Bush administration recently (see previous post).

2005-12-23T08:32:00.000-08:00

My gas bill this month is $335, a three-fold increase over previous cold weather amounts. This while the oil companies reap record profits. What's my state government doing about it? They vote out the one local hero who's been fighting for consumer rights for ten years.

Voting record for the confirmation of former Citizen's Utility Board head Martin Cohen for Illinois Commerce Commissioner. From Eric Zorn's blog in the Chicago tribune.

22 Against Cohen- 13 Republicans, 8 Democrats, 1 Independent

James Clayborne (D) -2006
James DeLeo (D) --2006
Arthur Wilhelmi (D) -2006
Iris Martinez (D) --2008
Donne Trotter (D)--2008
William Haine (D)--2008
Rickey Hendon (D)--2008
Emil Jones (D)--2008
---
Larry Bomke (R)--2006
Bill Brady (R)--2006
Dan Cronin (R) --2006
Kirk Dillard (R)--2006
Wendell Jones (R)--2006
John Millner (R)--2006
Ed Petka (R)--2006
Peter Roskam (R)--2006
Todd Sieben (R)--2006
Frank Watson (R)--2006
Carole Pankau (R)--2008
William Peterson (R)--2008
Christine Radogno (R)--2008

James Meeks (I) -2006

9 voting present in practical opposition to Cohen, all Democrats

Jacqueline Collins (D)--2006
Debbie Halvorson (D)--2006
Terry Link (D)--2006
Edward Maloney (D)--2006
Antonio Munoz (D)--2006
George Shadid (D)--2006
Gary Forby (D)--2008
John Sullivan (D)--2008
Lou Viverito (D)--2008

28 For Cohen, 14 Republicans, 14 Democrats

Cheryl Axley (R) -2006
Adeline Geo-Karis (R)--2006
John Jones (R)--2006
Chris Lauzen (R)--2006
Dave Luechtefeld (R)--2006
Steve Rauschenberger (R)--2006
Dale Righter (R)--2006
Dale Risinger (R)--2006
Dan Rutherford (R)--2006
Dave Syverson (R)--2006
Richard Winkel (R)--2006
Pamela Althoff (R)--2008
Brad Burzynski (R)--2008
Gary Dahl (R)--2008
---
Maggie Crotty (D)--2006
John Cullerton (D) --2006
Deanna Demuzio (D)--2006
Don Harmon (D)--2006
Mattie Hunter (D)--2006
Mike Jacobs (D)--2006
Kimberly Lightford (D)--2006
Kwame Raoul (D)--2006
Carol Ronen (D)--2006
Martin Sandoval (D)--2006
Jeff Schoenberg (D)--2006
Miguel del Valle (D)--2008
Susan Garrett (D)--2008
Ira Silverstein (D)--2008

So much for the Democrats as the party that protects the average person against big-money business interests.

2005-12-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

Did you see the Karen Hughes interview on Charlie Rose? Is this woman out of her gourd? It seems to me that the entire concept behind her office (Under-secretary of State for Public Diplomacy) is that the rest of the world is basically like a bunch of red-state idiots that can be told that America is "Good". As if the
Arab "street" has no recollection of our support of the Shah, Saddam, the House of Saud, the dictatorship in Egypt, Israel, or the invasion of Iraq. And Charlie Rose doesn't even bring this up! These are absurd times--to say the least. (My apologies to any red-state idiot reading this.)

2005-12-08T16:44:00.000-08:00

Fifteen percent of the U.S. GDP goes to health care with only 85% coverage. In western countries with universal health care, 9% of their GDP goes to health care with 100% coverage. They have lesser rates of infant mortality, heart disease, etc. The solution is obvious, isn't it gentle blog reader? The right-wing resorts to anything to forestall the inevitable solution just to protect wealth, entrenched power, and bigotry. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just drop kick the contemptible yahoos responsible for prolonging our current health-care catastrophe out of Washington, D.C.?

2005-11-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

Self portrait.

2005-11-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

Here's my charcoal rendition of everybody's favorite liberal.

2005-11-25T12:20:00.000-08:00

As for "Bring them home safe". Not only is it bad grammar, it's yet another blatently false sentiment from chicken hawks. Start the demobilization now.

2005-11-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

I saw a great magnetic yellow ribbon sticker on a car the other day. It read "Go Bears". It's about time we buried the "Support Our Troops" line. Let's face it. It's become a cheap lie. Of course I support the troops. (Don't worry, we're not going to dump on the troops; some of us learned something from the Vietnam War.) They are the only real heroes in this whole thing. They're putting their lives on the line to protect our big, fat, sorry, reality-TV-watching asses. And we're simply not worthy. Why not? Because we shouldn't have put them in harm's way in Iraq in the first place. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a 100% pacifist. I think our retaliation against the Taliban in Afghanistan is justifiable. As we're all painfully aware, the political environment in that failed state served as the launching pad for 9/11. I can see only two valid positions: if you're for the war then volunteer to fight it, otherwise you must protest it. Putting a "Support Our Troops" magnetic yellow ribbon on your gas guzzler is the apotheosis of dip-shittedness.

2005-11-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

On the bright side, the White Sox did win the World Series. Sweep!

2005-11-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted much lately. Back now. Stream of consciousness. What's up America? Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how we seem to be silently freaking out? We've been conned into invading another country by our dubiously elected leaders and somewhat take it in stride; we're at the head of the class when it comes to handing over more of the world's resources to the wealthy; we're at the forefront of global-warming advocacy (and proud of it!). How long can this center hold? I think the breakdown is manifesting in pathological ways: rampant petty rudeness, vast underemployment that's recognized but barely acknowledged, the thoroughly sold-out and compromised fourth estate knowingly complicit in selling the Iraq War. For the world's foremost superpower, we're acting awfully insecure. In some ways the Iraq invasion is a lot like jail house psychology: find the weakest, most defenseless punk and beat him mercilessly to show everyone else how bad you are.

2004-04-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

We in the US have an aging energy and communications infrastructure. Instead of dropping billions a week on bludgeoning Iraq into democracy, we could be bolstering our own homeland security by redirecting those funds to updating these crucial systems. Neglecting to update these essential infrastructures to modern-day working technologies is a real threat to our national security.

Recall the blackout in the Northeast not long ago? This massive failure occurred, like falling dominoes, because of an inefficient centralized network based on dirty and dangerous fossil and nuclear fuels. We have the technology and means to create a distributed, micro-power network, the so-called energy internet, based on cleaner and cheaper renewable energy.

Doing this would reduce our dependence on foreign oil (and hence deadly and world destabilizing misadventures like invading Iraq) and put our massive numbers of unemployed citizens to work. Obviously, massive change to our existing infrastructure isn't going to happen overnight. But that's no reason to not start right away.

Despite booming cellular phone usage, our communications infrastructure is pretty much based on analog land-lines. This system has and continues to work very well, but it's slow and doesn't readily accommodate broadband data. We have to move to a digital packet-switched network, like the Internet, that will enable new working technologies like low-cost videoconferencing and on-demand video.

Only government can spur these broad initiatives with grants, subsidies, tax breaks, education, and regulation. Of course, this won't happen as long as G.W. and the Republicans are in power. They're a part of the existing centralized fossil fuel business. They're also regressive and thoroughly lacking in imagination. Be sure to vote them out in November.

2004-04-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

Hi there, Blog reader. In the tradition of the late, great Sidney J. Harris, here are thoughts from my basement bunker here on the lovely-and occasionally ugly--working class northwest side of Chicago:

- For all you Condolezza "Dr. Clark" Rice fans out there, as you can tell from the tough questions (finally!) in tonight's press conference, Condi's testimony didn't quash questions about the administration's role in 9/11 attack.

- The Bush administration's contempt for Clinton caused them to undervalue important terrorism advice, procedures, and warnings from the previous administration.

- The Bush administration's contempt for the UN caused them to undervalue the weapons inspectors efforts, and overvalue input from crooked characters with their own agenda like Achmed Chalabi.

- I didn't think this was possible, but Ann Coulter gives blonde bimbos a bad name.

- Oil is Republican crack!