I have a Bachelor's Degree in History and I really enjoy studying the military history of World War 2. (Not so much that I wanted to relive it in the 21st century, but that's another issue.)
To that end, there are a couple of YouTube channels I follow that do a fantastic job with modern graphics and a short video format to illustrate military and political aspects of World War 2, especially battles. Both channels also cover other eras throughout history. It's really fascinating stuff.
If you're interested in such things, check out some of their videos.
I'm a little late to the Halloween Party, but I recently encountered this skit from last fall's SNL episode guest starring Tom Hanks. Weirdly, I saw at least some of the episode when it aired, but I don't think I saw this sketch. It's already become a meme and I understand that you either love the sketch or hate it.
I love it. This is exactly the type of sketch that works for me.
And here's a link to its ancestor sketch from the Feb, 2016, Larry David episode. Also funny.
If you want to get a feel for how things are going a little more than three weeks into the Trump Administration, read this article on Politico now. If you read one article this week, make it this one.
Most of those interviewed for this story requested anonymity to describe the inner workings of a White House where they say the tension has been intensified by the president’s propensity for knee-jerk micromanaging when faced with disappointment, and jockeying among aides to avoid blame or claim credit when possible.
The interviews paint a picture of a powder-keg of a workplace where job duties are unclear, morale among some is low, factionalism is rampant and exhaustion is running high. Two visitors to the White House last week said they were struck by how tired the staff looks.
Gee, who would have thought that electing a narcissistic idiot who obviously knows nothing about how government works would cause problems?
In the face of such ignorance, arrogance and stupidity, we all need a laugh.
I apologize if the titles of these weekly posts offend you.
The Office of the President is more than two centuries old and an important, venerable institution that deserves respect. Unfortunately, the current occupant of that office is a narcissistic, immature, vile, ignorant, mean-spirited, racist, sexist, intellectually incurious, douchenozzle who sullies the office he occupies. The only real fault in calling him President Moron is that it's an insult to morons.
So I apologize to all morons for associating you with Donald Trump.
The funny thing is, here we are after two weeks of the Trump Regime and he has done NOTHING that I can honestly praise. He has handled no situation with grace and dignity, proposed or enacted no policy that I could get behind. He has done literally everything wrong and really screwed up a lot of people's lives in the process.
So, let's take some solace in mocking him, which surely must be driving him (even more) insane.
Okay, all this election stuff, the fascist takeover of the United States and all, is getting depressing. Let's relax with a little Rom Com moment from many people's favorite movie, Love Actually.
President-Elect ::shudder:: Donald Trump is undoubtedly the most thin-skinned person ever elected to the office. He's been President-Elect ::urp:: for less than two weeks and he's already farted out several Twitter craps.
Here's Donald being all Presidential just this weekend.
A bunch of conservative morons are calling for a boycott of Hamilton. Good luck boycotting a show that's sold out till next Fall.
And here's what Drumpf was reacting to. I, for one, thought both of these were awesome.
Here's Samantha Bee with a brilliant history lesson on how the Religious Right was consumed by the Republican party. Tens of millions of American Christians are now more Conservative than they are Christian. And that is not an accident.
I mean, come on, when allowing unfettered access to guns and keeping the death penalty are some of your top issues, you really aren't being very Christian, are you?
Look, I'm not a big fan of making fun of people in a mean way. But when the target is such a hate-filled, hypocritical, terrible douchebag, I'll make an exception.
This guy sat in an office down the hall from me for nearly two years and I have no memory of him. I guess that's a very good thing.
(For more proof of Cruz' calculated douchery, check out this article detailing an email from Cruz to supporters, whining about how hard it is to run for President of the United States, and see Sen. Elizabeth Warren's epic Twitter response. It's a quick read and great.)
Here are a few random thoughts on BvS which we saw Sunday night. Some spoilerish discussion below, although nothing that you haven't seen in trailers.
I enjoyed parts of it, hated parts of it and thought a lot of the film was a complete mess. To start with, angsty Superman is a huge bummer. Director Zach Snyder doesn't seem to understand the appeal of the big blue boy scout and so in both this and Man of Steel runs Superman through the emotional wringer. It doesn't work and Henry Cavill isn't charismatic enough to make you care about a character that Christopher Reeve and to a lesser extent Brandon Routh just nailed. Then add in the always agnsty, and now inexplicably murdery, Batman, and you've got a grim, joyless film.
I mean, the only way that Batman would actually want to fight Superman is if he's a complete idiot. The movie tries REALLY HARD to make the fight inevitable and Batman's motivations understandable. The movie fails. Batman is a complete idiot.
There are at least three long, surreal dream sequences in the movie which you know are a dream when they start, so you're just waiting for them to end so you can get back to the story. And, holy crap, I DO NOT EVER WANT TO SEE ANOTHER SCENE OF BRUCE WAYNE'S PARENTS BEING MURDERED. Geez, every fricking movie.
The key to the success of Marvel Studios superhero films is that even the ones that aren't that great (Thor 2, Iron Man 2, Age of Ultron) are still loads of FUN. The characters are alive, have interesting relations and ideas and exude charm and FUN. But DC's cinematic universe is dour and dark.
The one exception in this movie is a big one. One character was fantastic and despite only a few minutes of screen time, should serve as an example to DC what they need to in future films.
Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman absolutely rocked. She seemed to be having a great time, wasn't riddled with self-doubt and self-loathing, and almost seemed like she flew in from another, better, movie. When she appears a few minutes before the image above, it's a great moment. I am really looking forward to her solo movie next year.
DC continues to not have their act together while Marvel knocks it out of the park on a regular basis. However, I am really looking forward to DC's Suicide Squad later this year because it looks like, oh what's the word? It's what every superhero movie should be. Oh yeah, FUN.
And it has one of the greatest superhero movie trailers of all time. Really.
I've been wanting to post about the Paris attacks and the cowardly American response to those attacks for days now, but haven't had the time. Fortunately, a lot of what I want to say has already been said by people far more clever, popular and followed than me.
The immediate reaction to the Paris attacks, very reminiscent of the way we responded to thousands of Japanese Americans during WWII, was mostly, but not exclusively, a conservative freakout. Notably, and to their credit, all three Democratic Presidential candidates came out in support of the refugees and protecting human life. The Republicans were not so enlightened, calling for completely shutting down the refugee program, internment camps (way to not learn that lesson) or suggesting that we let in only Christians. Yes, these people are so afraid of Muslims, that they want to throw out all our basic liberties and lose all moral standing in the world.
Consider just some of the reactions of the Republicans' best and brightest. Among the 2016 GOP presidential field, Donald Trump declared his support for a database to track Muslims. Marco Rubio and Ben Carson compared the refugees to Nazis and "rabid dogs," respectively. Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush called for a religious test to allow only Christians fleeing the Syrian civil war into the United States. And even as Ohio Governor John Kasich was briefly advocating the creation of a new federal agency to promote "Judeo-Christian" values, one Tennessee GOP lawmaker proclaimed he wants to round up those Syrians emigres already in his state.Link
If you read this blog or know me, then you know that I find this cowardice revolting. Syrian refugees are not a threat to us and they need our help. I would think that a country filled with so many self-righteous Christians would understand that, but conservative fear-peddling has pretty much turned public opinion against anyone who is different. I've seen arguments on Facebook from Christians who claim that since we have a homeless problem here, we can't afford to take in any refugees. Of course we are the richest nation in the world, but we wouldn't want to charge billionaires even a penny more in taxes to take care of our own homeless and endangered Syrian refugees, would we? In what way can these people say they actually follow Christ?
(As an aside, if you are so afraid of Muslims that you would turn away thousands of desperate, helpless men, women and children who are trying to ESCAPE from the terrorists, then you no longer get to go on and on about "American exceptionalism". The only things those Americans are exceptional in are fear and moral cowardice.)
To conclude, I present you with two takes on this issue which are not only funny, but right. This is what America should aspire to be. Not fearful, bigoted, and hateful. It's worth your time to watch both of these.
Last weekend (July 3-5), we traveled over to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to see Rachel play "Blue Dog" in the JMU Children's Theatre production of Go, Dog, Go!
The book was a favorite of both kids and I read it to them over and over when they were little. The show is only 45 minutes long but accurately converts the book into a musical, with lots of singing and dancing. It was really fun and cute and the kids loved it. Other than the performance we attended, where the theater was about half full, Rachel says the other shows have been packed. The show closes after two final shows tomorrow. Then, next weekend, she's in a musical revue, Broadway Classics, with the same group, and then comes home.
They made the local news! Here's the (long) segment.
While in Virginia, since it was July 3rd, we picked up some fireworks! Actually, just smoke bombs. Ben and Carol had never seen them before, so we fired them on the deck.
