BookBin2010: The Killing Joke

~ lobablanca

I feel slightly guilty posting The Killing Joke as a BookBin entry, considering the fact that it’s just a single issue comic book…nothing long like some of Alan Moore’s other works that have found their way to the lair, like Watchmen or V for Vendetta. Then again, I did say at the end of my post about V for Vendetta that I wanted to read this one next. So, there you go.

This time around, though, I’m going to have to say that the main draw of this story wasn’t Moore’s writing. Instead, it is the hands-down amazing artwork of Brian Bolland. Right from the very first panel of this comic book, I was in love with Bolland’s dark artistic stylings. He offers clean lines, gorgeous details, and a wicked sense of how to make even the mundane sinister. If you are a fan of graphic media, you need to witness Bolland’s visual take on the great batty god of DC Comics and his vile, vituperative, villainous foe, the Joker.

One word of caution: Apparently, the recently released 20th anniversary edition of this comic is the one you should seek out, rather than the original 1988 release. From what I’ve read, that release has some funky coloring that Bolland corrected for the anniversary edition. I’ve read some complaints about the color change from comic book purists who preferred the original, old school colors, but I have to say, the coloring in the anniversary edition is beautiful and very complementary to the artwork and the story.

As for the story itself…meh. Maybe I had that reaction because I read the book while extremely tired, but I didn’t really feel any sort of wow factor from this possible origin story for the Joker. I liked the dark undercurrent of the story, always roiling right at the surface. I also liked this dark take on the Joker. As someone who grew up thinking of this character as only the buffoonish Cesar Romero portrayal from the awesome Adam West show, I liked seeing this character in a far more successfully sinister light (I say successfully here because I really didn’t think the Heath Ledger portrayal of Joker as psychotic villain was successful at all…sorry).

But there was something…I don’t know. Something missing? Something off? Maybe it was the Barbara Gordon portion of the plot that really turned me off to the story. Definitely gave me an unhappy WTF feeling, that’s for sure. But this has been my complaint about all of the Moore-written graphic novels that I’ve read so far; there’s something that always rubs me the wrong way and leaves me feeling…meh. Again, though, this Joker is just awesomely cracked, and I believe that’s primarily thanks to how Bolland depicts him throughout the book.

Final Verdict: I don’t know that I would want this book for the story itself, but Bolland’s line work made up for the places where the story let me down. I’m not going to rush out and buy The Killing Joke (although I have already added it to my wish list), but I think that at some point it will probably become a part of my collection. So, yeah, it’s a keeper. Perhaps next I’ll try to find Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns…that should keep me busy until the July 6 release of Batwoman: Elegy.

The Mysterious Were-Bunny of San Antonio

~ lobablanca
When the moon is full, she hops the Riverwalk in search of a howling good time.

So some of you may have wondered where Loba disappeared to this time. Some of you may have just been happy for the break from my insanity. Those some of you suck. Just sayin’.

To those who were curious about Loba’s whereabouts, I can finally reveal that I was on a super-secret, Mirror Universe assignment to glorious Texas. Yes, I was indeed deep in the heart of Du(m)bya Country. It was everything I dreamed it would be.

Okay, okay, I’m not going to crack on Texas now. Truth is: A) I know some pretty decent folk from Texas; and B) I didn’t really get a chance to see much more of San Antonio than the severely touristy-kitschy Riverwalk section. It’s hard trying to sight-see when you’re on duty from 6 in the morning until around 7 or 8 in the evening. So, really, what we saw consisted of the hotel, the conference space, site visit stops, and a couple of restaurants (sorry, no partridge in a pear tree this time). I did get a chance to see the Alamo, though. No photos, but I can say I was surprised by how very small it was. True, it was cold that night, but seriously, I thought everything was bigger in Texas.

The cool part was that we were there for our conference at the same time as San Antonio’s Fiesta Week. So there were parades, parties, costumes, and (as one of our conference speakers described it) lots of “drunken debauchery.” Loba may or may not have found said debauchery. I’ll let the flashing bunny ears speak my story for me.

Anywhoodle. It was definitely a long week, but it went very well, and we capped everything off with a relaxing trip to Boudro’s, which is a restaurant literally built from awesome. Definitely had the best guacamole I have ever eaten. The wait staff are all trained in how to make the guacamole at your table. Here’s our waiter, doin’ the do for us:

Seriously, if you love guacamole, you would love this recipe. I’ve never had guacamole this freakin’ tasty. You can download the recipe from the Boudro’s Web site, but you’ll need to log on to get it. Pain, I know, but it’s worth it. Actually, though, you could also just watch this YouTube video. I love how Sarah the waitress states that she doesn’t want to see this video on YouTube. Sorry, Sarah. Looks like they lied. Hope they tipped you well.

And here, finally, is the money shot of our waiter’s enviable guacamole skills:

So, there you go. Now you know where in the world Loba San Diego wandered off to this time, and you’ve gotten a tasty guacamole recipe for your efforts. And stay tuned for some book reviews as well as possibly a DVDreg review this week (although I’m mortified by this one and am having a very difficult time finishing up the special features). See? I always make sure to take care of my denizens, even when I hop off for other climes from time to time 😉

BookBin2010/Flashback Friday: The Wizard of Oz

~ lobablanca

Ooh, another of those wacky combo specials at Casa de Loba! Haven’t done this since my Flashback Friday/Poster Pick combo for Poltergeist.

I hope it doesn’t feel like I’m letting the Emerald City take over all my silly special features here at the lair, especially considering the fact that my last Poster Pick was for the musical Wicked. But that was inspired by the fact that I was reading The Annotated Wizard of Oz: Centennial Edition at the time.

Honestly, it feels like I was reading this particular version of this story for a really long time. I do believe that this is the most thorough and definitive version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that’s available. It was almost like reading three books instead of just one. The first part of the book provides a brief history of the novel and its follow-up stories as well as how it went from book to musical to movie, and information on L. Frank Baum. There are more detailed biographies out there on Baum (in fact, I own one, which I have sadly yet to read), but this is a good solid introductory piece for those who’d like to know a little more about the man and his wonderful world before diving in to the actual story.

Of course, then we get to the heart…brains…and courage of it all. Not only does this version of the book present the story as it was originally printed, complete with W.W. Denslow’s absolutely gorgeous illustrations (see below), it also provides a plethora of annotations. I kid you not, there are like three pages on just the name “Dorothy.” Plus, the annotations are printed in what looks like a 6-point Times New Roman, which is a huge contrast to the story’s ginormous 14-point font. Oh, my eyes!

(FONT SNOBBERY, FTW!!)

To be honest, there were so many annotations that I found them a bit distracting after a while. So I ignored them for a first read-through and then went back and picked them up on the second sweep. Like I said, it felt like I was reading this book for a really long time.

So, what did I think of the original story, now that I’ve finally read it? I’m going to say something so shocking for a book geek, but I have to tell you, denizens, I think that, as lovely as the original story is, this is one of the few instances in which I prefer the movie to the book.

!!!

I know! Shocking! And, honestly? It’s for purely sentimental reasons. The 1939 movie version of this story was a perennial part of my childhood, one of the things that stands in my memory as something specially reserved as a ritual for my mom and me. My dad worked night shifts at that point, so he was never home for the annual showing of The Wizard of Oz on television. So my mom would pop a bowl of popcorn just for us (and our little dog, too!) and we’d settle in for another trip to the Land of Oz. I loved this ritual for all its gloriously simple perfection.

Plus, the movie still remains magical, even more than 70 years later. Think about the creativity of the people who brought this world to the big screen pre-CGI! And the bravery! Don’t forget that Buddy Ebsen, the original Tin Woodsman, nearly died because of all the aluminum powder he inhaled before they switched over to a paste for Jack Haley. And Margaret Hamilton was badly burned twice during her portrayal of the Wicked Witch: once by a pyrotechnic in her broom and once when the flame effect during her exit from Munchkinland triggered before the trap door elevator could pull her down. Her green copper-based makeup instantly caught fire, along with her costume, causing second- and third-degree burns to Hamilton’s face and arms.

(Okay, bizarre and completely superfluous tangential geek trivia: In one of her last performances as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked, Idina Menzel broke a rib when she went to step onto a trap door elevator for a similar effect, only the trap had dropped away already. Not quite as dramatic as Hamilton’s injuries; however, this does provide further evidence that it’s not easy being green. Ba-dum-bum.)

Sorry, back on track. There’s something about this movie that is so special and so (der!) wonderful. The music, the dancing, the costumes, the set pieces, the flying monkeys! Each actor was so well-suited to their role that it seems almost sacrilegious to try to imagine anyone else ever playing these characters. Also, for me, this is Judy Garland’s defining role (but also the role that landed her on the path to an untimely and unfortunate end, thanks in part to MGM introducing her to the Wonderful Wizard of Amphetamines). Her rendition of “Over the Rainbow” is one of the most heartbreaking moments ever committed to film. Just thinking about it now gets me a little verklempt.

And Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch! True talent is when you’re only 5 feet tall and your character is on-screen for barely more than 10 minutes, but you’re still voted the fourth most frightening villain in movie history by the American Film Institute. She might have gotten even higher had it not been for that unfortunate run-in later on with that damnable pink bunny…

Of course, all this movie praise doesn’t mean that I don’t think the book is worth reading. There are, in fact, multiple and significant differences between the book and the movie, which gives us two similar-yet-different ways to experience this delightful fairytale. At the moment, I can only think of one other book/movie combo, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Blade Runner, that provides an equally successful same-but-different experience.

Another bonus from finally reading the original story? I love inside information, and now that I have read Baum’s story and seen Denslow’s original illustrations, I feel like I’m now privy to some great jokes that I didn’t get until now. I’m referring to all the references that Gregory Maguire made to the original text in his book Wicked, as well as props and costumes in the musical that were directly inspired by Denslow’s art. There were a couple of moments in particular in which I had to explain the extra-large smile of recognition I had on my face whilst reading the story or looking at the artwork.

Final Verdict: I definitely would like to add this book to my collection, snuggled right there on the shelf with my aforementioned Baum biography, my Wicked Grimmerie, and my copies of Wicked and Son of a Witch. As for the movie? The three-disc release from 2005 is already in my collection, and I have to admit that the recent 70th anniversary release was almost enough to finally get me to buy that Bluray player. Almost. Maybe when I hit that big lottery payoff and I can get the HDTV, too. Until then, I just might put on my pointy black witch’s hat and settle down this evening with a bowl of popcorn…follow the yellow brick road and see where it leads me.

Pointless

~ lobablanca

Well, that was a Grand Diva blog post title, wasn’t it? I’m weathering unbelievable life tsunamis on multiple fronts right now, which unfortunately means the lair gets neglected. It’s not really how I’d like things. Then again, I do like getting a regular paycheck, so there you go.

However, I am thinking of you all, dear denizens. Which is why I bring you this link for PointlessSites.com. The name is pretty self-explanatory, no? I found this link several years ago, visited it with great frequency for a while, then completely forgot about it. Until I came upon the link a few minutes ago while searching through one of my personal e-mail inboxes.

Yes, I said one of. Don’t ask. The answer isn’t worth it.

And, hell, because I’m in a giving mood, here’s another of my favorite photos from TrekCore.com. Featured is, of course, the ever lovely Gates McFadden, hugging the fantastically talented, “I would have given anything in the world to work with him” makeup artist extraordinaire Michael Westmore. To those who are not familiar with Westmore, he was “Da Man” when it came to makeup designs for all the Star Trek spinoffs. If I remember my trivia correctly, he created the look for the Ferengi, the Bajorans, the Cardassians…even the Ocampa and the Kazon (okay, so there are duds here and there). He was also the one who personally hand-painted each and every one of Jadzia Dax’s leopard spots, which he would then sign. Honest! Oh, and he started out as Butch “I’m Eddie Munster” Patrick’s makeup artist on The Munsters. How effing cool is that?

Flashback Friday: California Raisins

~ lobablanca

I know this is going to sound strange coming from someone so eager to talk about her anthropomorphized car (hi, Sammy!), but anthropomorphized food really creeps me out. All I can think when I see talking food is that we’ve given personalities to things we’re going to eat. Not only that, but we’ve given them personalities as a means of encouraging us to eat them. It feels eerily cannibalistic to me.

But that’s exactly what happened back in 1986 when the California Raisin Advisory Board introduced us to the Claymation Sensation known as the California Raisins. The first commercial was the California Raisins singing the Marvin Gaye song, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”

I always liked this one better:

I don’t know who else voiced the rest of the Raisins, but the “lead” Raisin was voiced by Buddy Miles, probably most famous for being the drummer from Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys. Jimi Hendrix to Raisin? Eh, whatever pays the bills, right?

A whole bunch (hehe) of these commercials hit the airwaves over the next several years, some featuring just the generic raisin group. Some, however, featured recognizable popular artists, like Ray Charles and even this classic, featuring…well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out on your own:

And, of course, there was the marketing blitz. Albums, lunchboxes, T-shirts, posters, school supplies, even a Saturday morning cartoon (sigh…what the hell happened to Saturday morning cartoons?). I think there might have even been a video game. I can’t even fathom the hours of fun that must have provided! Also, if you look back at the top of this post, you’ll see my little collection of the promotional figures from Hardee’s. Mmm, Hardee’s.

All this worked wonders for both the California Raisin Advisory Board and, ironically, the Toilet Paper Makers of America, who noticed a significant increase in the sale of their products, especially whenever a new California Raisins commercial hit the airwaves.

Sorry. That was graphic and probably only funny to people with potty humor. Might cheer someone up if they’re down in the dumps though. Okay, I’ll stop now. These are shit jokes anyway.

Heehee…

DVDregs: Cellular

~ lobablanca

Poor Cellular. There it sat on my shelf, so quietly minding its own business that I might have looked right past it on my search for purge-worthy DVDs. But it had the misfortune of being neighbors with my last DVDregs review, The Cell. So I started trying to remember how this movie found its way into my collection and realized that it was an impulse buy from the days when Netflix sold previously viewed DVDs (I’m still pissed that they stopped doing that). I shelled out $5 to buy this after renting it and liking it. Then I never watched it again. I tend to do that a lot.

So, Cellular. There’s something amusingly serendipitous (to me, at least) about the fact that this movie not only comes from New Line Cinema (“The House That Freddy Built”) like The Cell, but also includes an advertisement inside the case for…The Cell. So far, two bad omens, considering the fact that my copy of The Cell is now sitting in a donation box.

Quick rundown of the premise: Groovy surfer dude Ryan gets a weird call on his cell phone. It’s a woman named Jessica Martin, claiming to have been kidnapped that morning. She doesn’t know why. She doesn’t know where she is. She’s just a high school biology teacher who randomly connected to Ryan’s cell phone while tinkering with a conveniently still semi-working even though it’s been smashed landline phone, and she needs his help to get free. Strangely enough, he agrees and gets involved. Hilarity thus ensues.

I know it’s a silly sounding premise. I even remember thinking that as I was clicking to rent it from Netflix. Somehow, though, it works. First, we have a great script. Yes, I said great. Not like Godfather great or American Beauty great. This isn’t a deep movie. I mean it features a biology teacher who wears fishnet stockings, for crying out loud. But if you’re looking for a fun action flick, this is what you’re looking for. Writers Larry Cohen (who apparently really loves phones since he also wrote 2002’s Phone Booth) and Chris Morgan have hammered out a fast-paced, full-speed-ahead action script that, in the hands of former-stuntdude-turned-director David Ellis, never drags, never wanders, never bores. The entire movie is about one thing: saving Jessica Martin (well, okay, there are some other things going on here as well…but saving Jessica is the most important thing). And you are on-board from the first ring right down to the final low battery beep.

Next, let’s talk cast. Kim Basinger, William H. Macy, Jason Statham, Chris Evans, Jessica Biel, Richard Burgi (The Sentinel!), Noah Emmerich…quite a great cast, actually. All of them perfectly paired to their roles. I can’t think of a single miscast. Evans was enjoyable as Ryan of the eponymous Cellular phone. Most people probably know him better as Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four movies (and he’s now causing nerdgasms for fanboys everywhere by being cast as the new Captain America). I like him here, though, playing goofy and earnest very well.

Basinger was a major key to this movie’s success. After all, at the end of the day (and the movie) it’s all about trying to save Jessica Martin (der!). Basinger brings a certain gravitas that you don’t necessarily expect in an action film but really appreciate when you find it. Kind of like Alan Rickman in Die Hard. She makes Jessica Martin immediately likable and believable enough that you even forgive the fishnets after a while (no, I’m not kidding about this; she’s really wearing fishnets).

Then there’s William H. Macy. Oh wow, do I adore him. He’s awesome in a can, that one. And in this movie, as the predictably days-away-from-retirement, “I’m too old for this shit” police officer who becomes another key to the mission, he proves that you can bring teh awesome to even trite and predictable.

Round out the big hitters with a big roundhouse kick from Jason Statham, another delightful actor who is always a joy to watch. Even when he’s in less-than-spectacular movies, he’s still great to watch. And he’s wonderful here as a proper baddie. The scenes he shares with Basinger are incredible in their intensity and really help to ratchet up the tension and drag us even deeper into believing that…all together now…we’ve got to save Jessica Martin! Oh, and her family, too. But, really, Jessica.

DVD Special Features: Of course there’s a commentary track. That seems to be de rigueur for DVDs these days. This one features director Ellis; his daughter, assistant producer Tawny Ellis; and his sister, assistant stunt coordinator Annie Ellis (who, by the way, has an amazing stunt resume). However, what makes this commentary a little different (in a cutesy, kitschy kind of way) is that Ellis takes breaks from talking about the movie to call various people from the crew…on their cell phones. See? Cutesy/kitschy.

Throughout the movie he calls people like New Line Cinema’s founder Bob Shaye, Chris Evans, producer Lauren Lloyd, composer John Ottman, stunt coordinator Freddie Hice, and a couple other people whose names now elude me (I would have taken notes, but I was exercising at the time!). Sometimes, the cute factor became a bit annoying, especially when Ellis decided to call someone during a scene in the movie that I would have liked to have heard him talk about. All in all, though, I’d rate this a worthwhile commentary track, filled with lots of interesting tidbits about the movie, the actors, and the crew.

Of course, there are also the obligatory deleted scenes, complete with optional director commentary. I’ve yet to see a deleted scene that didn’t deserve its deleted status. Nothing really special in this batch either, and that includes the alternate ending between Evans’s character and Biel’s character. Yawn. I’m glad they switched to the ending that’s now there.

Finally, there are three featurettes: the hilariously outdated “Dialing Up Cellular,” which is all about cell phone technology back in 2004 (probably was outdated before it was even finished filming); “Celling Out,” the obligatory sunshine-pumping love-fest in which the actors and crew all talk about how wonderful they are and how great their movie is (they get a pass this time because they’re right); and “Code of Silence,” an interesting and surprisingly serious documentary on a 1999 police corruption scandal in LAPD’s Rampart Division, which apparently inspired some of the movie’s plot.

Final Verdict: Yeah, obviously this one’s a keeper. I’m actually quite surprised that I haven’t watched this one more. It’s fluffy fun for a Saturday afternoon, with ample pathos, nicely paced action, and random moments of funny…plus William H. Macy for the win. Oh, and also? It features Nina Simone’s “Sinner Man” in a great way. How do you not love a movie that gives Simone some love?

But What Does It All Meme?

~ lobablanca

So this is usually how it goes. I log on and open up Firefox (because there is no other browser worthy of my time). I have an inbox full of things that I need to work on today…but, wait, I’d also like to check my personal e-mail. Oh, look, someone sent me a link to a YouTube video. That was funny. Ooh, look, it recommends another video I might like. Well…okay. Oh, that was funny, too! And so was that one. And that one…

OR…hey, I saw a great movie last night on DVD. I’m just going to check it out really quickly on IMDb. Ooh, lots of trivia there. What? There’s an alternate ending that wasn’t on the DVD? Well, I have to see it! Back to YouTube. What do you mean, it’s been removed for copyright infringement? Well, we’re just going to have to try harder to find it, that’s all. Oh, and who was that guy playing the third police officer? I’ve seen him before in something…

OR…well, you get the picture, right? There are so many digital White Rabbits to follow, aren’t there? And they inevitably lead you down all variety of rabbit holes, which lead deeper and deeper until you’ve found the woman in the red dress and that damned cat appears twice and you know bloody Kung Fu. And that, Mr. Anderson, is the real sound of inevitability.

Damned Interwebz.

And then there are the memes. Even if you didn’t know before what they were called, you know what they are. Anyone living virtually has encountered at least one, maybe not even realizing it when it happens. Like the horribly obvious PhotoShopped “final image” from a World Trade Center tourist’s camera, which was then promptly spoofed a million times over. This, of course, would be my favorite of the series:

Or what about memes that flew below your radar for the most part until someone else you follow mentions it? Or spoofs it? WHEATON!!! Now I have to know more about the Trololo Guy! Or not.

Then there are the badgers. STUPID EFFING BADGERS! I had this stuck in my head for days. I even caught myself singing it as I was walking to the kitchen. Of course, I had to know more about this meme. This is how the White Rabbit traps you! And look! There are others! Zombie Badgers! Christmas Badgers! Footy Badgers!

ENOUGH!

But, wait! Why can’t we make money off our memes? Oh. Well, guess that answers my question. Really? A six-figure income for what pretty much comes down to exploiting your son for a laugh? Yes, it was funny. And some of the spoofs have been spectacular.

Wait, who the hell is Chad Vader?

OMGWTFBBQ!

And there you go. Just look at how long it took you to get through this one post (imagine how long it took me to write it!). And I didn’t even mention things like RickRolling, Fingerstaches, PhotoBombing, Numa Numa, Chocolate Rain, or even this…hell, I don’t even know what this is. But now the song is stuck in my head.

Damn. What the hell was I supposed to be doing?

Unbridled Hypocrisy

~ lobablanca

So, let me get this straight (and that particular pun will become more apparent in a moment): These TEA baggers, lovely conservatives that they are, don’t want to be taxed any more by the federal government because, as they so plainly put it, they are Taxed Enough Already. But they don’t mind donating money to the RNC, which in turn uses their donations for such worthy tasks as taking in a light repast and some equally light bondage play at a West Hollywood club known for its “[i]mpromptu bondage and S&M ‘scenes’ being played out on an elevated platform by scantily clad performers throughout the night.”

Yes, that’s right TEA baggers, your RNC donations may have helped cover the cost of a $2,000 tab run up at a lesbian bondage club known as Voyeur (yeah, probably mildly NSFW, but it plays a pretty tune). A place where the women wear all variety of bondage accouterments, including horse bridles, and simulate sex acts, I guess as part of their dinner service (I wonder, is it like at Lonestar when the servers just suddenly stop what they’re doing when the music starts playing and it’s time for the hourly floor show?). Personally, I think that’s so much more awesome than paying more tax money to the federal government.

This latest revelation about the RNC made me so simultaneously giddy and furious that I had to marinate on it for a while before even composing any kind of rational thoughts. Giddy, you may ask? Of course! I love schadenfreude, especially when it involves revelations of utter hypocrisy within the God-Ordained Plutocracy (Ooh! There’s one I haven’t used in a while!).

But why furious? Because this is precisely the kind of bullshit that makes me hate the Republican party. These self-assumed scions of morality, who sit on high, damning the sins they so eagerly accuse the Democrats of committing and embracing…why? Because as long as you’re pointing out the “sins” of others, hopefully no one’s going to be noticing that you’re doing the same damned things.

What makes me even more furious, though, is how the Republican party has convinced so many people that they’re the responsible party, that they’re the ones who should be in charge because they know how to manage funds and reduce debt and grant all their constituents three wishes and a chicken in every pot and a Lexus in every garage and a free sparkly pony…and all with a tax cut or three thrown in!

Never mind that the national deficit we now rock was caused by the reign of a Republican president and his Republican Congress. We’re not supposed to remember that. So just shake your heads vigorously and let the GOP control the vertical and the horizontal on your Etch-a-Sketch brains.

Oh, and of course, keep fighting against true evils, like health care reform. Because poor people don’t deserve health coverage and it’s perfectly acceptable for pharmaceuticals to continue to drill us dry and for doctors to prescribe completely unnecessary tests and procedures that often don’t do anything to help us and in some cases kill us…but not before the insurance companies are tapped to pay out. And if you don’t have insurance? Don’t worry. You won’t get those tests or procedures, even if you actually need them.

Sigh. I feel anger sparks in my fingers now.

Is the recently passed health care reform bill perfect? Of course it isn’t. Will everyone be happy? Nope. Then again, name me one thing that everyone can universally agree upon and I’ll show you a second season episode of TNG starring Dr. Crusher. Nothing is ever going to please everyone. Nothing is ever going to be perfect. But this should not be the excuse to continue to avoid doing something that should have been taken on decades ago.

Our health care industry in this country is horrid. We’re nothing more to these people than a means to make money. Money that they, in turn, use to pocket politicians from both sides of the aisle to ensure that they can continue to make maximum profits in the name of health “care,” Hippocrates be damned.

And are we angry about this? NO! We’re angry that the government is trying to step in and repair what has been allowed to devolve into such an utterly unchecked train wreck. We’re angry that someone is trying to do something to help us.

How dare they?!

And, of course, the ever-vigilant, ever-pious Republicans are at the very forefront of instigating this anger. Instead of trying to work with the Democrats to just this one fucking time try to come together and do something for the good of the people rather than the good of the corporations (who are not people, you stupid effing Supreme Court wankers!), what do they do? They help fund the efforts of TEA baggers (you know, with RNC donations not used to fund bondage parties). They send out their pretty (empty) talking heads like Sarah Palin, to burble insipid but easy-to-chant mantras like “Repeal and Replace” or “Lame-stream Media.” And they offer no alternatives, no solutions. No help.

I’m sorry. I don’t want my new lair to be an angry lair. But this has me so furious. So frustrated. So utterly disgusted and disappointed in the whole lot of fools. Truth is, it’s too late for health care reform for so many members of my family, and that truth has struck a vein of sadness within me that aches more than any palliative effort could ever hope to relieve. But it’s not too late to offer help to so many, including even those who have been duped by the bloviators into believing that these reform efforts are bad.

So what’s it going to take to get people to see beyond the shallow sheen of obfuscation and realize that we deserve better than what we’ve been getting? And that, while a little side order of lesbian bondage play with your meal might be more fun, maybe putting that money into reforming a system that we desperately need to reform might do a bit more good in the long run.

Flashback Friday: Wild, Wild West

~ lobablanca

Late on the posting today. I hit the road early this morning and I haven’t really had much of a chance to stop since 5 a.m. Spent a large portion of the day driving, Sammy burning up the miles in high style as I burned my way through several of my favorite podcasts.

In between a couple episodes, however, I hit some of my favorite playlists. One is called “Old Skool Happy.” It’s filled with some of my favorite old school rap and go-go music. Fun, bouncy, and nothing like a lot of the negative, derogatory, misogynistic crap that passes as rap these days. No, these songs are from greats like Big Daddy Kane, Salt-n-Pepa, Eric B. and Rakim, MC Lyte, Biz Markie, Queen Latifah, EU, Junkyard Band, Grandmaster Flash, Heavy D, Whodini, Sugar Hill Gang, Sir Mix-a-Lot…Old Skool Happy.

Then there’s Kool Moe Dee’s “Wild, Wild West.” I don’t know why, but there’s something about this particular song that represents perfectly the part of my life in which these were the only artists that I listened to. It’s strange with a catchy beat, an easy-to-remember chorus, and a video that gives a whole new meaning to “Urban Cowboy.” I remember standing around with friends while waiting for our turn at kickball during PhysEd, rapping all the lyrics to this song over and over. A few years later, it would be the lyrics to “Tom’s Diner,” whispered during study hall. Such is the life of teendom.

It is with mixed pride and embarrassment that I admit now that I can still rap almost all the lyrics to this song. This and MC Lyte’s “Lyte As a Rock” are two songs that I can break out any time, any place. In fact, a spontaneous rendition of “Wild, Wild West” at the back of a martini bar in Chicago secured my nickname of “K-Dub” with my boss and coworkers. Before you ask, no, it wasn’t a karaoke bar. Who needs karaoke when you’ve got martinis?

Will Smith tried to ruin this song just like he tried to ruin the television series of the same name with that crapfest of a movie he and Kevin Kline made back in the 90s (for which Smith did a version of this song, sampling parts of the original). Thankfully, I successfully avoided ever spoiling my memories of the original by ever listening to the full version of Smith’s “remake.” I am a purist, dammit, and it’s either the original or nothing.

So, here for your listening and viewing pleasure, Kool Moe Dee’s “Wild, Wild West”…

And, because I’m in a particularly giving mood this evening, here is the video to MC Lyte’s “Lyte as a Rock.” Meh to the video, but I absolutely heart this song.