Ron Paul quoting Sinclair Lewis:
"It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, 'when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.' Now I don't know whether that's a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he is the only Christian or implying that subtly. So, I don't think I would ever use anything like that."
"Book of Longing," which opened the new season at Stanford Lively Arts, is an evening-long song cycle that weds Glass' music with the words of songwriter Leonard Cohen. It comprises nearly two dozen numbers, performed without intermission by a quartet of singers and an eight-member instrumental ensemble, and there is scarcely a moment in the piece that doesn't inspire shame.
Long, tedious, witless and numbingly repetitive, "Book of Longing" is a sort of perversely virtuosic display of awfulness. The only thing keeping it from being utterly negligible is its unshakable air of grandiose self-importance.
That air, as well as much of the awfulness, stems chiefly from Cohen's lyrics, a stream of undercooked apercus and barely veiled self-regard. The texts encompass love songs, political commentary, Skid Row posturing and more, all of it channeled through a filter of pretentiousness. --Joshua Kosman, Fine Arts Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate).
Does that mean you don't like it, Mr. Kosman?
From Paul Krugman, of all people:
Now, as they survey the wreckage of their cause, conservatives may ask themselves: “Well, how did we get here?” They may tell themselves: “This is not my beautiful Right.” They may ask themselves: “My God, what have we done?”
I think the next line is "Watch out!"
If we took away women’s right to vote, we’d never have to worry about another Democrat president. It’s kind of a pipe dream, it’s a personal fantasy of mine, ...
But wait, there's more. Besides, I hate to be accused of quoting her out of context.
... but I don’t think it’s going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women.
Anybody care to guess who said such an incredibly stupid thing?
"Now, I'm appended to the Democratic party pretty much the way shipwreck survivors are appended to flotsam." - James Briggs Stratton, aka Dog House Riley, on his blog, Bats Left, Throws Right. Read the entire piece in which he unceramoniously dumps all over David Brooks. It is classic Dog House.
And there is also an unspoken agreement that we don’t look at each other or even make eye contact if we don’t have to. There may be an occasional “excuse me” if people need to get around each other, but other than that there is very little conversation in a public restroom except maybe the occasional chatter between friends and nobody cares about that. This is not a homophobic thing; it’s a privacy thing. You are there to do one thing (ok, maybe TWO things *badoom boom tiiissshh!*), wash your hands and exit. You don’t need idle chatter from strangers or even your own friends. With privacy at a minimum already, keeping the socializing down to a very dull roar is a way of restoring some of it. SO! One really has to make some obvious overtures, I think (I’ve never been propositioned like Tucker; I’m sure it happens) to get some lovin’. To be clear, I am not ruling out that people BREAK the rules, or that still others have experienced unwanted advances, but I imagine that it’s because of these unspoken rules that this bathroom sex community needed to work up a series of signals so as NOT to piss off the random stranger or get themselves arrested. - A Comment by Bonkers over at the Crooks and Liars post on Tucker Carlson.
Those are the rules for White, heterosexual men. I have noticed that straight White men have an almost paranoid reaction to social interaction in public restrooms. Gay men chat a lot more. People of Color talk a lot more. This Gay man, who grew up using two- and three-seat outhouses, has always been a little bit social when it comes to taking care of business. I'll say hello, ask you what's happening, comment on sports or politics or even the weather. On the other hand, for reasons delineated in the above link, I am the most dedicated person in the world when it comes to taking care of my business. I am in and out in two, maybe three minutes flat, whereas the straight men in my office go into the toilet with a newspaper and a magazine and will hang out on the throne for half an hour at a time. I find that type of behavior to be more suspicion arousing than just saying hello.
The only rule I can think of that is absolute is to control the direction of your flow. Don't turn towards me with tool in hand and say, "Pardon? What did you say?" That's wrong. Pissing on someone's boots will get you in a world of hurt, regardless of whether you're Gay, straight, Black, Green, or in a hurry. Otherwise, any rules you come up with for restroom etiquette are just your opinion about your own limitations and expectations. I grew up different, me.
"She's a drag queen impersonating a fascist."-Andrew Sullivan referring to Ann Coulter. He should know.
"If stupid were painful the world would be a better place." - Wenchy
Wenchy is a blog buddy who lives in South Africa. Yesterday I received a cute little lizard in the mail from her. Sugah, you are too sweet. This is also her birthday week. Stop by and wish her a happy birthday.
Happy Birthday Wenchy.
"Beware, whoever you are - you may be next, because some awfully bitter juice can be squeezed from the fruit of the Bible. " - Michael Fox, Time to Mess with Texas
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