The Catch? Old Spice...

Bunch of caveats to the enjoyment of this brilliant piece of advertisement. One? It's Old Spice. Not my favorite. Two? Don't have a man to compare him to. Sad, but no worries. I think I'll just incorporate THIS man into my daily ablutions. (Geddit? Geddit?) Three? It's OLD SPICE!!! Four? No man is this mack, not even this man who they cast. Frankly, all that perfection would get on my fucking nerves. Five? Perhaps my fussiness is why I don't have a man. (Yeah, and nobody who used to be my man better pipe up with "yathink?")

The dominoes do fall, don't they?

h/t postbourgie.

Resolutions: Broken.

I haven't quit smoking. I haven't written here twice a week. But I am getting out of the house. This weekend, I have a lunch date with silentbeep, a frequent commenter on my daily hangout blog, Ta-Nehisi Coates. I'm really looking forward to that. silentbeep (I'll have to ask her about that nom de blog) has a blog that I spent several hours on Saturday perusing.

Part of my problem with updating my blog frequently is that I write very slowly...and I'm a constant editor. I'll work a sentence 'til the comma cries. Also, a focus would be good. A focus other than politics, I think. And Pop culture is saturated with bloggers turning over its influence on life and I don't particularly have anything new and interesting to say about it.

I'm not given to writing about my job. First, I could get caught in a trick bag whining about the first year who threw me under the bus. Also, it's not fair to bag on folks who aren't able to defend themselves. But I do know my job and it might be interesting to talk about how I get it done. But then, when I come home from work, which is the only time I have to write, why would I want to rehash issues I leave behind.

I know music...but only most kinds. I have absolutely no affinity for hip-hop or rap. I don't understand a word that is said. Except for Tupac. I understand Tupac's every word. And The Roots. Some time ago, TNC posted a video of three rappers, Eminem being one and two other apparently famous and talented ones (see-what do I know) and the only words I understood were "Phyllis Hyman."

Television has been my constant companion since Playhouse 90 days. But I don't watch broadcast any more. And I don't go to theaters much. Everything can be gotten online - Hulu for tv and Netflix for movies. I'm a hell of a lot more selective than I used to be. Avatar, however, I've seen 6 times. Supernatural I download weekly. LOVE those boys. And Dean is mine so hands off.

So, anyone out there who knows me - do you think you might have some suggestions for a focus for me?

In the meantime, I post here the video to Sade's new single "Soldier of Love" that I have been playing nonstop since I downloaded it on Monday. Man, if there weren't ever truer words for me than "I've lost the use of my heart, but I am still alive" and "I'm at the borderline of my faith, I'm at the hinterland of my devotion" and "Still waiting for love to come, turn it all around" and "I am love's soldier." Those words give me such hope living in the absence of the ability to feel. Gah! Big ass gong going off inside me. Clang clang clang.

Note: for some reason links aren't working right now. Go forth and Google.

31 New Year's Resolutions

1. Quit smoking for realz.

2. Write on this blog at least twice a week.

3. Write that book I have a great idea for.

4. Get out of the house more even though it scares the bejesus out of me.

5. Do yoga every day.

6. Get my bike serviced and ride on the weekends.

7. Lose 10 pounds.

8. Pay off at least one credit card.

9. Volunteer somewhere.

10. Quit being so sensitive.

11. Quit being so insensitive.

12. Comment at TNC more.

13. Write more quickly.

14. Think more critically.

15. Don't lose the mornings to the internet.

16. Don't lose the weekends to the internet.

17. Don't be afraid of making new friends.

18. Quit waiting for the other shoe to drop.

19. Visit Ray more.

20. Write Ray more.

21. Find a church.

22. Be nicer to my bosses.

23. Stay abreast of my finances.

24. Give myself a weekly facial, manicure and pedicure.

25. Learn how to wax myself.

26. Cook weekly and take my lunch to work.

27. Really practice on my guitar.

28. Stop being a misanthrope.

29. Throw away all the accumulated junk around my house.

30. Visit my mom at least 3 times a year...during the warmer months.

31. Live on cash only.

Brain Food

Watch this several times and I swear you'll be smarter. If you disagree with the President's position on health care premiums, it will still give you food for thought.

Chickenshit on a Pump Handle

Did I hear someone heckle the President of the United States? It was more than enough to see the entrenched Republican Rich Pimps sitting their wife-cheating hypocritical self-serving fear-mongering asses down on anything the President pointed out would help the Un-Rich, but then to have a member of those hallowed halls from the Republican side of the aisle disdainfully call out opposition? I don't even need to go back and see if Bush/Clinton/Bush/Reagan/Carter/Ford/Nixon/Johnson/Kennedy/Eisenhower (my lifetime) had to face that. It wouldn't be right for any of those men and it isn't right now.

It's as useless and insulting as chickenshit on a pump handle.

UPDATE: It was Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) who yelled out to the President "You lie." He called the President a liar in the Congressional Hall on national television (except for Fox). He has since apologized but... He called the President a LIAR.

UPDATE II: Reaction to outburst. Nancy's hairy eyeball is priceless.

Happy and Safe 4th of July

Come near dark, my neighborhood is going to be raucous with the sound of illegal fireworks. I'm going to a friend's for pot-luck BBQ. Everyone be safe.

Anyway, this is far and away my favorite rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Kelly leads it off, Michelle holds her part, and Beyonce's mom didn't dress her. Oh, and goosebumps at the arrangement. The Supremes song-sigh near the end is so old-school.

Happy 4th!

All Your Answers Are Belonging To Me

The best part of this video...the very best...is the blow-dry journalist asking Pres. Obama if he was influenced at all in his response in this press conference by John McCain and Lindsey Graham whining that Obama was weak.

This is a great compendium of how a public official is supposed to behave. They try to flat-foot him but he's just not having it. And watch the journalist who is annoyed by getting called on his foolishness. Obama gracefully calls it bullshit, yet answers his question nonetheless.

This Is How It's Done

Shirley Bassey is 68 and still showing how it's done.

History Repeating
by RavenTV

H/T Crooks & Liars Late Night Music Club

Truer Words? Never Spoken

The dependably astute young Adam Serwer neatly points out the obvious about the meme du jour that Obama is tackling too much.

A word to the wise for those who think this line of argument will actually succeed at curbing Obama's ambitions: A black man who just got elected president of the United States is not going to be daunted by a bunch of talking heads telling him what he will or will not be able to do.

Does anyone actually think that President Obama would abbreviate his aspirations because beltway pundits think he should?  And as far as journalists go, they have become sheep, harmoniously bleating the new idea.  They are lazy and static and uninterested in real stories.

Wonderful Rest

Here's my bit of bigotry.  I think anyone who doesn't get some spirit moving in them when they hear a good gospel choir is in league with Satan.  By the end of this video, I was boo-hooing with joy for a good 5 minutes.

H/t Jack and Jill.

Feeling Big Now, Little Men?

This made me want to vomit.

H/t Smooth Like Remy from SeattlePI.

Here.  Watch it again.  Throw up.  Then watch what happens after they remove this young lady from her cell.  Perhaps a longer form will put it in context.

I get that policemen have a hard job, but if you can't do it professionally, it's not a field you should be in.  And you know what?  This mouthy young girl at least got to live.

Oscar Grant did not.  Do not watch if watching a young man face down on the pavement being subdued by several officers getting shot in the back upsets you.

I wish I could be more eloquent, but these two incidents just make me sick.

President's Address to the House and Senate

UPDATE:  I found and cropped this from Hulu.com.  It won't automatically play.

BSG

I'm watching Battlestar Galactica from the beginning.  I'm halfway through Season 3.  I forgot what a raging bitch Starbuck is.

Alan Brings The Nutty

Keyes is, like, 2 seconds from calling President Obama the anti-Christ.  I especially like his "Laugh, fools, laugh" line when the people off camera can't hold their giggles at the crazy.  It's sad, though, too.

Panama Canal Locks

This is so cool.  I was intrigued by the Locks when I learned about them in, what...grade school?  Wikipedia here.  H/t Andrew.