Dirtied Harry...

I've always enjoyed Clint Eastwood's movies and the characters he's portrayed who tend to be rugged individualists standing alone who have inspired me at times during my life when confronted by adversity.  I guess it's time, however, to divorce Eastwood the actor from the characters he's portrayed, ironically none of which would be likely to ascribe to the notion of putting a multi-millionaire vulture capitalist into the presidency.

Appearing before a gigantic portrait of one of his legendary western characters which dwarfed him, Eastwood's bizarre and at times vulgar performance before the Republican National Convention featured him debating and denigrating President Obama as represented by an empty chair.  Eastwood, who describes himself as a quiet conservative, is apparently a mixed bag politically, tending to be fiscally conservative but relatively progressive on a number of social issues.  Perhaps Clint needs to stick to the acting and directing  that he does so well, and emphasize the "quiet" aspects of his conservatism... 

The Political Low Road...

-- I dread the months that lie ahead of political campaigning, because so little meaningful dialogue actually comes of it. There are so many who seem to think that something is true if they say it often enough and loudly enough.  The mentality seems to be that a viewpoint is valid if the opposition can be shouted down or outlasted.  Intelligent and civil discussions of political viewpoints are seldom held anymore in favor of personal attacks on the person holding the dissenting viewpoint.  Labels bandied about become substitutes for thought; attach enough negative labels to the opposition, and the belief seems to be that you have discredited them.  A significant segment of the population seems to become politically galvanized by the simple attachment of labels.

American politics has become an exceedingly nasty business in the last few decades with the political ascendancy of the far right; one almost feels unsafe making their political beliefs known.  For such reasons I have come to dread elections, and shall be exceedingly glad when the current presidential campaign is over.  Try watching television without getting a bath in political acrimony during commercial intervals; it can be a stomach-churning experience.

Do I have political beliefs?--Absolutely!  I just go to some lengths to hide them at times, because I don't need the hassle and stress that seems to go along with expressing them in public...

The Horror, the Horror...

 - - He sat in court like a demented Bozo the Clown with his dyed reddish-orange hair; James Holmes, that is, the Colorado theater slayer of a dozen and wounder of dozens more.

Utterly horrifying and totally senseless as the incident was, sadly we've been here before...and we are likely to continue to revisit carnage like this until common-sense measures are enacted in the realm of gun control to curtail private ownership of assault rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines, things which properly belong only in the possession of the military and law enforcement.

I also find it hard to comprehend why it is currently harder to buy Sudafed at a Walmart than it is to buy 6,000 rounds of ammunition on the internet...

Alternative Histories...

The advent of the film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter leaves me hungry for more films like this and Cowboys & Aliens which blend history, fantasy, sci fi, and horror.  The use of historical figures as major characters is especially attractive, and is sure to beef up student interest in history, or at least in alternative history fantasies.  There we go...a unification of History and English in an attractive format!  We've now seen Abraham Lincoln as a slayer of supernatural creatures, so why not Theodore Roosevelt vs. The Zombies?--Dang!--I think I'll write that!

Scenario:  "In a post-apocalyptic early twentieth century world, human civilization stands on the brink, close to going under.  Only one group stands between humanity and hordes of flesh-eating zombies:  Teddy Roosevelt and The Rough Riders!"

Teddy Roosevelt vs. The Zombies...coming soon to a theater near you!

The Agony of Da Feet...

Have you ever been someplace where walking was important, say on vacation, developed a blister due to an ill-fitting sock, and suddenly been transformed into an orthopedic cripple? Then with several miles of boardwalk before you, experienced the true meaning of the expression, "the longest mile?" 

 I can go for years without getting a blister, and one seldom plans on getting them. You can even nurse yourself along when the skin has just bubbled up, forming a kind of small balloon on the surface. When that bubble bursts, however, there's nothing but raw flesh between yourself and an abrasive environment, and you begin to appreciate just how many nerve endings lie in a few centimeters of body surface. These nerves all loudly sing their presence and indignation when they are rudely exposed by a rubbed-off, burst, and now angry blister! 

 You know those low-riding, half-socks that they sell that extend no further up your leg than the ankle?--Shun them, at least if you plan on doing serious walking, for they are the socks of the devil, or at least the Spanish Inquisition! They tend not to remain planted on your foot but rather ride up and down, sliding around on and against your heel with prolonged stepping.--That's right, they are a blister-generation device! If you see serious hikers, you'll notice that they almost always wear quality thick full-length socks, even when wearing shorts. Hikers wisely value function over style, and know very well that if their feet are hurt, the game is over!

 So when I limped in agony those last excruciating steps up the boardwalk to join my better half, I was asked, "What happened to you?!" I had learned the painful lesson of the importance of wearing the right socks and footwear.--Did you know that a blister became infected, and killed the son of President Calvin Coolidge? Respect your humble feet, and treat them well, or suffer the painful consequences!

The Poor Don't Have Cadillacs, Mitt...

I didn't darken the interior of a church on Easter Sunday. I did, however, give enough money to buy a meal to a homeless man I saw begging at the off ramp of a major interstate. I think that did me more good than listening to a sermon.--"Give me that old-time religion?" No thanks, give me a social gospel any day instead...

Surrealism in Real Life...

 - - Driving along a major roadway during a snowstorm the other day,  I beheld a most remarkable sight...a clearly-miserable African-American Statue of Liberty, his head spikes battered downwards by the stormy weather...it was wrong on so many levels!

...It was a costumed representative of Liberty Tax Service, standing by the roadside in a simulated copper Statue of Liberty skin to lure customers to the tax service.  I have seldom seen a more incongruous, out-of-place, and unhappy figure than this, whose woeful situation and absurd presence added an unintentional comic note to a dismal winter day!