Friday Night Music

I'm chagrined to admit that I never heard of this song, and - even worse - knew nothing of the iconic Leonard Cohen, until our oldest granddaughter did an ensemble dance to it in competition a couple of years ago.  It was somebody else's smooth-voiced cover - there are many and I never did find out whose - not Cohen's gravelly bass.

Knowing her dance studio as I do, I'm sure the more obviously suggestive verses weren't included - as indeed, they weren't included in Cohen's original studio recording.  The strange thing about this song is the coupling of two concepts - religious ecstasy and sexual gratification - that seem totally disconnected in modern culture.

It wasn't always so.  If I have the history right, back before the Old Testament Jews abandoned human sacrifice and tried their experiment with monotheism, they were not much different ethnically or culturally from the rest of their Canaanite neighbors.  At least in some parts of the Mediterranean basin - and I think this includes Canaan - sex, fertility and procreation were integral with nature and the earth, even if not specifically coupled with goddess based religion. 

Somehow, when the sky daemon replaced earth daemons, sex became dirty and sinful, goddesses became whores, and, thanks in no small part to the rabid misogynist Saul of Tarsus, whole civilizations became puritanical.  Or at least such was their claim.

That legacy haunts us today.  You see it in the insane objections to insurance coverage of birth control [which was never a problem until it became part of Obamacare], gender-dependent double standards of morality, and the Republican war on women.

Still, whatever our views on religion or lust, in the privacy of our own homes, we can experience a  hallelujah moment - and, for now at least - no matter how cold and broken, make our own decisions as to what that means.

ALL IN!

Is it just me, or is this book title now an unfortunate double entendre?

UPDATE:  This takes it to a whole new - and unfortunately, much lower - level.

H/T to nanute. 

Source

WTH?!? Friday - So Wrong on So Many Levels

Really - There's nothing I can say that will make it any better.

Or any worse.

If I'm reading my Roman (the only thing appropriate in the whole clip) numerals correctly, it's from 1933.





Aaaack!   Now, I must scrub my brain with a Brillo pad, then go hug a squid.

What the Hell?!? Friday - Imus-inspired Double-Entendre Edition

I will simply imbed this with no further comment.  Really - what could I add?




H/T to Avg Joe at The Corner.

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What A Weiner

I generally avoid commenting on headline news items, and, even more diligently, the gossipy stuff.  But I'm going to break protocol here and talk about Anthony Weiner.  The simple fact is, I'm disgusted.

First off, I'm not a prude.  I care no more if people swap candid photos of their genitalia, precious bodily fluids, or even their mates, than if they swap baseball cards.  It's their business, and not mine. 

Second, this event strike me as being rather tragic.  I've seen Weiner (but not THE weiner, since I  haven't and won't go in search of the alleged lurid photographs) several times and he always displayed himself (so to speak) as intelligent, perceptive, and something close to a true progressive.

The thing that disgusts me is the stupidity of the actions - especially coming from a non-stupid person.  I know smart people sometimes do dumb things, but this was a pattern of activity with very little upside gain (I presume) and enormous downside risk.  What this indicates is a profound lack of judgment, in two separate ways.  First, this is the kind of behavior you might expect from a High School Sophomore, not a grown, recently married man with responsibilities.  Second, it's Twitter, for God's sake.  Did he expect that anything he said or did on that platform could possibly stay under cover?  Besides, there was just a similar event involving another congressman.  This is the sort of thing tabloids live for.

Another troubling thing is that this behavior violates his marriage - and he's a newlywed.  As I said, I don't care what sexual practices people engage in.  Notably, though, the wife was not present when he finally owned up to his actions in public.  And I realize shit happens.  But when one has a pattern of behavior that blatantly and recklessly violates marriage, one violates a trust.  That makes one untrustworthy.  And then he tried in an ineffective, half-assed way to weasel out of it for several days.  (That worked oh-so-well for Billy-Bob Clinton, lo, these many years ago.) That makes him, if not an actual liar, at best a half-assed weasel.

An untrustworthy, half-assed weasel, lacking in judgment.

That is why I think he is unfit for public office, and should resign immediately.

There's another possible nuance here, as well.  Since I haven't followed the story closely I don't know the relationships he's had (if any) with the recipients of the subject tweets.  But there could be an element of sexual harassment involved (though probably not with the porn star.)  I'm not making that accusation, since I don't know the details.  But it is an open question that needs to be resolved.  If there is harassment, then beyond all of the above, he would be a despicable human being.  I hope that is not the case.

 Untrustworthy ass-hat weasel is really quite bad enough.
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Of Rachel, Facts, Shep, and Looking Like a Dude

Don't you think Shep Smith looks like a Dude?




Bottom (Mika*-free) Line:  When you're citing reliable sources, take Politifact off your list.  By some weird ironic happenstance, Politifact is famous for their left-wing bias.  Go figger.

H/T to Squatlo (who probably also looks like a dude.)

*Update:  Who definitely does NOT look like a dude.
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What The Hell?!? Friday - Women of AARP Edition

The Nov - Dec issue of AARP magazine (yes, the actual hard copy edition is sittng on my kitchen table) has these three lovely ladies on the cover.

Betty White - Due to loss of short term memory, her most vivid recollections are of the Harding administration.  So, yeah - makes perfect sense.  (BTW - I have loved impish Betty White since I was a kid, watching her on the old-time LIFE WITH ELIZBETH TV show.  And, no - I am NOT ashamed of myself!)





Jamie Lee Curtis - At 52, Jamie achieved AARP eligibility two years ago, so I guess she can appear on the cover.  I mean, why not?  What's to not like?





Kristen Bell - Excuse me - KRISTEN BELL?  WTH?!?  Kristen Bell is 8 years YOUNGER than my DAUGHTER.  Kristen Bell is a CHILD!.  We're talking Veronica Mars here.



OK - she's 30 -and they're all in a movie together -- but still . . .


Anyway, that last clip DEMANDS an antidote.



Debbie Harry, by the way, is a year and a half OLDER then I am. Yeah!

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What The Hell?!? Friday - Unfortunately Misspelt Signage Edition

In South Bend, where sex education has evidently run amok.  Yikes!

All my other sign postings have either been my own shots or contributions from friends.  But this one, displayed at MSNBC.com is too -- er . . . good to pass up.

H/T to the LW
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What the Hell?!? Friday -- Of Boys and Hygiene

An off-line (well, on-line, actually?!?) conversation with Cate (you can call her Cate) of SWS fame got me thinking about my long-ago experience as a Webelos leader.  This started when my son was eight, and joined the Cub Scouts.  I helped coach softball, which is a hoot, 'cause I'm less athletic than the average trombonist.  But, I also became the Webelos leader, since the Pack needed one (and it's easy to talk me into things) with a meeting at my house on Wednesday evenings.  This went on for four years - my house infested with invaded by 11-year-old boys, until my son passed through Webelos, and we moved on to Boy Scouts.

As a result of this ordeal  experience, I know a lot about 11-year-old boys.  The path from cute little baby boy to grown man is long, twisting, and full of pot holes.  One of the deepest and muddiest of these is age 11.  A typical 11-year-old boy is only marginally human, and not at all civilized.   In the absence of diligent parental supervision, he will happily spend that entire year in a cave with a colony of toads, never brushing his teeth, combing his hair, taking a bath, or changing his socks.   I have a clear recollection from my own checkered youth of being sent to wash my hands before dinner one day.  They were literally covered in dirt on all sides.  I carefully washed the palms of my hands, since those are the parts you use to hold the bread and utensils.  I was really quite exasperated with my father when he sent me back with explicit instructions to wash all surfaces of both hands.

I genuinely didn't get it.

This 11-itis-hood is a wonderful, primal, enigmatically feral time of life, if you can avoid major infections.  But, alas, all good things must end.  For many boys, this primitive, idyllic quasi-nirvana pops with the suddenness of a lightning-strike, on the day that they discover GIRLS.  The transformation is a wonder to behold.

It goes more or less like this, usually some time between ages 12 and 30:

Tuesday evening: GIRLS discovered.  In this epiphany, they are revealed as something not yuckie and disgusting, to be avoided at all costs. Frex:
They smell good.
They look . . . interesting.
Their voices - what is it about their voices?
They're -- soft.   Well, probably, I imagine, don't ya think?
When did THEY change?

Wednesday morning (after a night of disturbing, incomprehensible dreams):
Bath taken, hair combed, teeth brushed, fresh underwear and socks donned.
Mirror looked into, for maybe the first time ever.

Several days later: Question pondered:
"Is it worth the trouble of shining my shoes?"
The first of many moral dilemmas.

The actual timing of this metamorphosis is deeply personal.  Possible spectrum runs from as early as eight (very rare) to never. (Unfortunately, not so rare.)

And, as Howard Hughes so capably demonstrated, considerable backsliding is possible at any later phase of life.  This may be why wives are important.

A note on Fate:
Early bloomers can become metrosexuals
Late bloomers can become math or science teachers.

Some are immune.  For the most part, they become chemists and/or engineers.

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What the Hell? Friday -- Part 3

(From drought to bonaza. You just never know.)

I do not care about the private life of anyone named Woods!

This is not about "leave him the hell alone."

This is about "leave ME the hell alone."

Thank you very much.

Update:  Tempting, but even THIS (though hilarity ensues) is not enough to change my mind.

Friday Doggerel* Blogging

                          TIGER!**

Tiger, Tiger burning bright

With endorsements left and right,

Inquiring minds now want to know

Everywhere you come and go.

In what distant bed or lair

Do you toss? Why do we care?

With each Hottie you aspire,

Our imaginations fire.

Now what inviting body part

Twists the sinews of thy heart?

When you twist with thy sinews

We see it on the evening news!

And when you seek to roam again

In what furnace is thy brain?

The dreaded iron in Elin's fist

Is treacherous. Good thing she missed!

When you stand upon a tee

Do you expect to hit a tree?

And when the last hole has been made

Do you plan to crash your Escalade?

Tiger, Tiger burning bright

With endorsements left and right

Inquiring minds now want to know

Everywhere you come and go.

Copyright JazzBumpa. All rights reserved. Yep - even for this.

_________________________________________
* Or, in this case, possibly catterel
** Counterpoint. Or, more bluntly stated.

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Wednesday Poetry Blogging

A few days ago, one of my friends sent me the pictures from the 2010 Playboy calender.  I didn't keep them.

Playboy photography strikes me as being too glitzy.  The girls in the photos display too much technical augmentation for my taste.  IMHO, it's glamor and/or sex appeal done all wrong: au naturale but aw, unnatural.

In short, it is off-puttingly artificial, and I was underwhelmed by the overabundance.

Wednesday Poetry Blogging

Today, two haiku for you, of space and time.

In honor of the above diagram*:

Love of Geometry

Platonic solids
Having no concavities
Can only be friends.

And, at no extra charge:

Travel Times

I've seen Dublin twice,

Thrace thrice; make repeated trips

To WallaWalla.

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*From this website,
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/projects/geoweb/participants/dutch/PETROLGY/PaulingsRules.htm
 which is actually about chemistry.
But, then again, isn't everything? 
Or is it just a-Pauling?

This stinks!

Infotainment or Infomercial?

You decide.