She walks Bo Diddley and she don't need no crutch.

  I'm kind of tired. I don't know why, except that I'm always tired and feel like I never get enough sleep. So we'll fill up space this evening and then, probably, go back to sleep.

 There's one of those "one of them has to go" things floating around Twitter featuring Dylan, the Stones, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles. Those things are always maddening. I wonder if I'd be as irritated at the ones for anime or '90s kids' shows if I gave a shit about them, but I am not. I'm interested and enjoy music, so this sort of thing gets up my nose.

 I'm not going to bullshit you. I used to be a music critic for years and even longer as an Insufferably Music Snob. I used to get shitty about bands and genres I felt were lesser or overrated or some such nonsense. I was wrong, and I'm really glad I'm not like that anymore and can just enjoy whatever I hear.

 Back when I worked kitchens, I'd bring in music and since I usually worked prep, no one cared what I played. When I was in amongst the rest of the staff, I tried to keep it from being too much - too much bluegrass, country music, classical, etc. - and a decent mix for everyone to enjoy. It's fairly easy. I like soul music. I like R&B. I like rock music. I like jazz. I like hip-hop. I like metal. I like reggae. I can find something from every genre that I'm willing to listen to and wait until I get home before I shut out everyone else.

 I remember in one place when asked just what all I liked, my co-worker answered for me. "Matt likes good music." And that's what it boils down to, like what's good. But what's good? We live in a world, we've always lived in a world, where a significant portion of the music listening population sneered at another significant portion of the music listening population because that latter group was listening to something "popular" or "mainstream".

 When I moved to New Orleans 10 years ago, Lady Gaga was at the height of her initial popularity. This was before she made that movie with Bradley Cooper and still freaked people out by wearing meat dresses and whatnot. Anyhow, most of my rocker/blues/country acquaintances would diss her and her fans, so I decided to check her out and see.

 I won't lie, I didn't care for it. But so what? So what if the kids want to listen to her or K-Pop groups or Selena Gomez or Luke Bryan or whatever. Why should I care? I live in a world where I can give Apple or Amazon or Spotify 10 bucks a month and have access to hundreds of thousands of artists, from the obscure to the friggin' Beatles and Madonna. Or, hell, Beyonce and James Blunt.

 Several years ago, Paul McCartney did some sort of collaboration with Kanye West. Whether they were trolling or not, kids on the internet drove their parents nuts with comments like "Whoever this McCartney guy is, Kanye will make him famous." It was hilarious, but two things about the outrage struck me. One, why should the kids of the 2010s care about a band that hasn't produced anything in over 40 years?

 Secondly, and probably most importantly, instead of taking umbrage why aren't you going to those kids and showing them just why the Beatles are worth listening to? Why are you making them mixtapes or the current iteration of that sort of thing so maybe they can understand why you dig the band so much and why they're so important?

 One thing you see a lot these days on YouTube is young people posting reaction videos to some music they've never heard. As often as not, it's young black kids but I have seen at least one British guitar player reacting to hot licks from classic rock. I've seen them listen to Merle Haggard's "Big City" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" or Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy." Those two twin brothers reacting to Phil Collins' "Something In The Air Tonight" that went so viral it got some mainstream media attention.

 I'm sure there have been videos of negative reactions but all I see is the kids digging it. Getting off on the part in "Freebird" where the song speeds up for the lengthy jam or they're grooving on that drum breakdown in the Collins song. Or they're just appreciating the message in "Big City," something that was supposed to connect with everyone when Hag recorded it.

 Going back to my kitchen days, I turned a lot of young people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds on to stuff they'd never even think of listening to. Or stuff their folks listened to, helping them understand why it resonates. I don't think I'm special, just in the right place at the right time with the right tunes.

 So that's word count, and I'm going to do something else now. If I have to wrap all his up into a nice, neat bow, it's pretty easy. Don't tell me what you don't like. Don't tell me who you think is overrated or "must go," because I do not care.

 Tell me what you like. Tell me what moves you and makes you dance. Tell me what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. Tell me what you play for the good times and what helps you through the bad times. Tell me about the song you always go to, over and over again, or the album you're obsessed with or the band that's always got your loyalty and love.

 Otherwise, piss off because I don't care.

The more I learn, the less I want to know.

 At some point during the night, someone planted the seed in Trump's empty noggin that Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old man that cracked his skull on the concrete after a Buffalo cop pushed him over, not only faked the whole scenario but he's also an agent of AntiFa. By the time I got up this morning, not even 8 a.m., the hooting morons that make up not just the Base but the bulk of the Republican party is either considering it gospel truth, a reasonable possibility, or that since he was a liberal he deserved it anyway.

 No, really,  I've seen the pictures with circles drawn around what the nuts think is a hidden hose that pumped the fake blood that looked to spill out of his ear. Even dumber, he was apparently using some sort of James Bond doo-dad to drop an EMP on the cops' walkie talkies. No, really. And this is after the Buffalo DA has noted Gugino's serious head injuries and there have been pictures of him in intensive care.

 This is coming off the NYPD police commissioner - who makes $99 grand a year - tried to claim that concrete samples were evidence of AntiFa mixing cement in the ice cream. It's also coming off the Minnesota fuzz admitting they'd been slashing protesters' tires and a cop's wife admitting she blamed a fake home invasion on Black Lives Matter. And all this is being taken seriously by the Powers That Be as well as the Corporate Press.

 Speaking of them, the whole "Defund The Police" has got them in a serious tizzy. Liberals and leftists are arguing back and forth that it's poor branding or some other goofy shit, all the while actually pretending the Republicans will act in good faith on this regardless of what's meant by "defunding the police" or that the CP won't run with an easy, juicy story instead of actually putting some journalism to work and possibly rocking the boat of the Status Quo.

 And it's already been denied by Joe Biden. There's absolutely no reason to be having this discussion in this manner, but here we are. And the real silly "leftists" are losing their absolute shit about Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats kneeling while wearing a Kente cloth. This is two-fold. It gives them the opportunity to pretend to be outraged and shocked that politicians are acting like politicians, but also gives them - generally middle-class white bourgeoisie folks who'll be fine regardless how November 2020 turns out - an excellent opportunity to ignore what is in all actually a fairly decent police reform bill.

 Is it perfect? No. Was that pandering? Yes. That's politics, baby, and the extreme naivete and ignorance from these clowns is driving me up the wall. It's way, way too much stupid for a poor boy with a bad case of XCOM head to wake up to. So, yeah, this is another day in our ongoing experiment on "writing today's nonsense before my nap". So far, so good, more or less.

 That being said, I think I'm either running out of irritation at the laziness and stupidity of humanity or my ratty sleeping schedule is catching up with me. I've made word count, so I think I'll tie this off. Perhaps I'll come back to it after my nap. But if I can leave you with anything, let it be this: listen, think and shut the hell up. Just because you have a megaphone doesn't mean you have to tell everyone you have nothing interesting to say.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

 Okay, time for tonight's Gibberish. It's actually a two-parter, as wrapping our head around the outcome and consequences of yesterday's Super Tuesday elections needs that much space. The nuts-&-bolts are at WordPress and a more off-the-cuff take at Tumblr.

 Also, I screwed up the dating on the WordPress site, but it seems we're going to have to live with it.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

 Well, the rain's back. It moved in with some warmer temperatures and they say it'll come down through to Tuesday. On the upside, it's not supposed to add more to the flooding in the state. On the downside, Otis realizes we're not going to be able to take any constitutionals for a bit. You know how much a depressed Jack Russell can bring down a room? Plus, he thinks I make it happen on purpose.

Monday, January 13, 2019

 Let's see how weird this week will be. Let's see if by the end of the week if wingnuts are still pretending to care about Iran. I'm not saying they're hypocrites - though they are - I'm just saying the news moves so fast these days, it's barely worth it to try to nail them down. Marshall McLuhan was an optimist.

 Anyhow, in the last 36 hours or so, we've had two more hopefuls for the Democratic nomination drop out and neither were Michael Bloomberg. Cory Booker and Marianne Williamson both called it a day, as it finally became obvious that they weren't going to claw themselves out of the basement. All I'll say about Williamson is I never thought her bid was a serious one; that is, she went into it wanting to spread wisdom rather than actually win. There's nothing wrong with that, despite what people who enjoy the smell of their own farts will tell you. Selling a book isn't an easy thing.

 Like with Julian Castro and Kamala Harris, though, I am a little disappointed that Booker's campaign didn't catch more fire. Very centrist and perhaps a bit too skittish about rocking the boat, but he said a lot of good things about poverty and prison reform, something no one else is discussing. Granted, given the ongoing horrors in Mississippi's law enforcement, I am a bit biased towards this topic - seriously, click that link, it's a booger - but I digress.

 Another problem with Booker dropping out is the game board gets that much whiter and, at the risk of ageism, over 70. I don't see Tulsi Gabbard or Andrew Yang making much more of a dent than they already have, and apart from Bloomberg, does anyone really know who's in the race beyond Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttegieg and Joe Biden?

 Still and all, Booker's out and it remains to be seen where he goes from here. He would be a prime candidate for Vice-President and remains a solid voice in the Senate. The race is starting to heat up with or without him, anyway.

 That being said, we may be wanting it to be hotter than it actually is. Media reports are saying that back in 2018, when discussing possible runs for 2020, Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren that a woman can't win the Presidency. Apparently, four different people have verified this conversation went on, but differ in how things were said. For their part, Sanders has denied he said anything like that and Warren won't even acknowledge the question.

 And, of course, liberal/left-wing Twitter has been in a three-alarm tizzy all day. This is another example of Bernie's rampant sexism while at the same time a bit of rat-fucking by Warren since she's the DNC's golden girl this time around. It's just another example of both candidates attacking the other, like they have the whole campaign even if they never did it out loud and it was generally their followers looking for reasons to get huffy.

 Or it could be a nothing that the Corporate Media is blowing up because they're lazy, this sort of thing is a reliable page-filler, and it will always pull in eyes or garner clicks. Something to think about, maybe? I mean, it is possible that Sanders did indeed try to torpedo Warren's hopes before they got off the ground, assuming she'd be his biggest competitor for the left-leaning vote. Or it could be that Warren is actually blowing up this as yet another example of her trying to trash Bernie because he's got a grip on the left-leaning vote.

 It could also be that 95% of the political experts on Twitter have absolutely no idea what they're talking about, no clue how politics works and a naive if hopeful view of how journalism operates. Instead of looking for conspiracy theories in everything objectionable, maybe consider the press is full of lazy drones who depend on eyeballs to pay their rent and get little Lisa her braces. It's bad enough the press is that indolent and rote that they'll print another version of the same story they've been running at least since I've been paying attention to go looking for more sinister reasons. Does no one remember the whole PUMA thing?

 And, yes, that sort of view is naive. Looking for some grand plan when it's as often as not just people trying to hold onto their own is distracting and pointless. It's like thinking the Illuminati is behind everything or that every misspelling in one of Trump's tweets is a secret message to the Q folks. Sometimes shit just is. Really, half of the existential angst the average American boob suffers is because they're looking for fairies at the bottom of the garden instead of just enjoying the flowers.

UPDATE: I finish this and sit down to supper to find out that Warren is corroborating this story but doesn't consider it worth too much consideration, as Sanders wasn't saying so much that a woman shouldn't be president but that Trump would use sexist tactics against her. That should surprise no one and Warren repeated that her friendship with Sanders and shared progressive goals overcome any media punditry wanking. Meanwhile, Twitter's huff-o-meter pinged out in righteous indignation.

 Okay, that's about it, but a couple more quick shots. Trump apparently authorized Soleimani's killing seven months ago which sort of pokes holes in the story he initially gave, but no one's going to care by this time next week. Here's a neat story about the Hubble Deep Space Telescope finding little clumps of dark matter (maybe), and here's an interesting piece about Artificial Intelligence and the fundamentals of quantum mechanics. Here's an interesting video about the connection between nihilism, existentialism and absurdism from a literary perspective. If that don't pull your little red wagon, here's another from a philosophical perspective. Both talk about Albert Camus' The Stranger, which is a pretty good read regardless.

 So, yeah. Have fun.