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Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.
Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
Live free or die!
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September 28, 2002
Kings of Comedy
Two big stand-out comedy birthdays today:
Jerry Clower was born September 28, 1926. This one time agriculture extension agent from Liberty, Missisippi was maybe the funniest country boy ever, and quite the astute social critic in his own down home way. If you're not familiar with "The She Coon of Women's Lib" or "The Chauffeur and the Professor" [a college educated country boy's answer to anti-intellectualism], why you're just missing out. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and has also supposedly sold more tapes/CDs out of American truck stops than any other act. He wrote several books, and was a good god fearing Christian.
Phil Hartman, perhaps the most versatile and subtle actor in the history of Saturday Night Live was born September 28, 1948. Besides such SNL classics as his portrayal of Bill Clinton and the Anal Retentive Chef, he was also the co-writer for the screenplay of Pee Wee's Big Adventure, and the voice of numerous Simpsons characters.
posted by Al at 9/28/2002 06:05:00 AM
September 27, 2002
NAACP Thug Life
Thursday, 9-26-2002, the NAACP in Maryland sponsored a gubernatorial debate between Republican Robert Ehrlich and Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. This was the first debate among half a dozen to have a deck stacked enough to lure Ms. Townsend out personally rather than sending a proxy.
"Stacked enough" here means having an audience of jackass thugs with no intention of letting the Republican speak. From the moment the moderator handed the floor to Ehrlich for his opening statement, a substantial portion of the audience tried to shout him down. Loud booing ensued, and continued.
After a bit of this, Ms. Townsend intervened. Now by rights, she should have heartily rebuked the little brown shirts. Instead, she managed to strongly suggest that she and her herd were being most magnanimous in allowing the opposition to speak. She really added a nice touch of sanctimony to the proceedings.
This did not quite settle the mob, however. The moderator tried unsuccessfully to do so. Finally, Kweisi Mfume himself took the podium to restore order. In all, it probably took a good five minutes of airtime before Mr. Ehrlich was allowed to speak at all.
From there, they proceeded to have a "debate" that largely consisted of everyone but the token white panelist asking variations on what are you going to do for black people and how can we support you when you get such low grades on NAACP report cards?
Right through to the end, the jackasses in the audience persisted in sporadically booing the Republican. The fact that his running mate is black only seemed to aggravate them more. The moderator barely maintained enough order through repeated pleading to get through the proceedings.
These people disgraced themselves in front of the whole country, and their leadership didn't even have the decency to act ashamed of them. But then, what can you expect from the organization that took out ads during the 2000 presidential election practically accusing George Bush of participating in the lynching of James Byrd?
posted by Al at 9/27/2002 03:23:00 PM
Hoist a beer for the birthday boy
Samuel Adams, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and all round hero patriot, was born September 27, 1722.
As a candidate for a master's degree in 1743, Sam Adams wrote his thesis in answer to the question "Whether it be lawful to resist the supreme magistrate if the commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved." Of course, he argued that the correct answer was YES.
He was the driving force behind the grassroots creation of what would quickly evolve into the Continental Congress. In 1772, the British government declared that judges were to be paid by Britain rather than the locals. They did this to usurp judicial independence. When the acting governor of Massachusetts refused requests for a meeting of the legislature to deal with the issue, Sam Adams proposed that each town should form "committees of correspondence" to confer with one another about this and other common issues. From there, it was but a short step for the committees to send representatives to meetings. The other colonies followed this lead. The committees from the various colonies sent representatives to meet together, and voila- a whole new country was in the offing.
posted by Al at 9/27/2002 03:00:00 PM
September 26, 2002
40 years of heapin' helpings of their hospitality
Forty years ago, September, 26, 1962, The Beverly Hillbillies debuted on CBS. It was also Donna Douglas' 29th birthday, making Elly May now 69 years old!
For the next nine years, the Clampett clan provided the greatest sustained run of satire in the history of the television medium to date. The mockery was mostly at the expense of the Beverly Hills crowd, except for that which swung Jethro's way. See, the main way you knew that Jethro was an idiot was because he wanted very badly to be like these city folk.
These hillbillies gave some of the best parodies of 60s culture as it was happening, broader reaching and more detailed (if gentler) than even Frank Zappa. For example, note the prescient hippy story arc, and just how quickly, thoroughly, and precisely the beatniks -even cool Clyde laying on the couch- sold out when Jed finally tired of the Groovy Granny phase.
At least half a dozen characters from this show have achieved status as historical icons. Granny, Miss Hathaway, Jethro, et al have become classic cultural archetypes. Many country folk identify especially with Daisy Mae Moses as an idealized version of our own granny women.
They have never gotten proper credit from the supposed intellectual class. They were especially and throughly despised by critics, who were no doubt grossly enamored of some supposedly "sophisticated" fare that no one cares about now. Though it was still in the top 20, the show was unceremoniously dumped during the summer of 1971 without even getting to do any kind of final episode. Apparently this was largely because network executive types finally got tired of being mocked for their hick show at their fancy Beverly Hills parties. Mrs. Drysdale finally did manage to run off those beastly hillbillies.
Us hayseeds continue to have the last laugh. Of course, the show was designed for all us folk in flyover country in the first place. There's more of us than there are of them, and the show remains a beloved favorite of many tens of millions of people over several generations who got the jokes better than the supposed smart guys. It'll still be running a hundred years from now. So, y'all come back now, y'hear?
posted by Al at 9/26/2002 02:24:00 AM
A letter to John Derbyshire at National Review
Derb,
In your "Don't Blame Islam" column you argue against judging the Koran by the standards you would apply to any other literature. Your argument goes something like that you can't judge religious writings the same way you do any others. "The tenets of my religion assert that when I take communion I am ingesting the actual flesh and actual blood of an itinerant preacher who died 1,973 years ago in a backwater outpost of the Roman Empire."
This is not an argument in defense of Islam. It is an argument AGAINST Christianity. Christianity, like Islam, is simply WRONG. Things didn't REALLY happen like they say in those books.
Religious literature should be read and held to the same standards of judgment as any other. If it is irrational, or contradicts known facts, then it should be judged as such. Basing your belief systems on things that aren't true is prone to get very bad results. In the immortal words of Stevie Wonder, "When you believe in things you don't understand, then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way."
You CAN believe in the Koran and Allah and be a decent, kind person, such as your auntie's neighbors- or you can be a big POOPY head, such as most of the Muslims who have projected themselves onto our radar screens. The Koran surely seems to have some evil stuff in there, but then so does the Christian bible, particularly the Old Testament. An individual may carefully pick and choose what they want to emphasize and how to interpret things.
Overall, though, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The "eating" ie actual practical results of Islam in modern times strongly suggests that it is an inferior belief system. Not only is it palpably not true, but is the driving force behind many of the world's worst evil and hateful political and social regimes, producing little but poverty and terrorism.
It may be that this is not due to anything inherent in the Koran. It could just be that a big portion of modern adherents are individually wicked.
Then there is reality. If Muslims wish me to have a better opinion of their religion and culture, they're going to have to show me something different. I'm willing to give any individual Muslim a chance, but I won't apologize for noticing that the lion's share ["jackal's share" might be a better phrase] of the world's worst wickedness is currently coming from their general direction. Nor will I choose to carefully not notice the lack of strong rebuke for their radical brethren among many of the supposedly more moderate Muslims.
Rather than coddling Muslims in their false beliefs, and trying to show them how they can pick and choose the nice stuff (just as you "politely ignore" the guides to slave holding in Leviticus), perhaps there is a better way. Perhaps we would be better served by (very nicely and solicitously) educating them with truth and reason, so that they can individually come to grips with the fact that Islam is simply NOT TRUE. Now THAT is the beginning of being open to reason.
posted by Al at 9/26/2002 01:27:00 AM
September 25, 2002
The moral of this story: Always get it in writing
On this day in history, September 25, 1789, the US congress passed the Bill of Rights.
At the time, some of the people most concerned with civil liberties actually opposed this enumerated Bill of Rights. They thought that listing some rights out explicitly like this would be taken to imply that they were the only rights guaranteed, thus items 9 and 10.
In practice, the skeptics have been proven right. By the natural tendencies of all governments and bureaucrats at all times in all places, the least pretext (typically the interstate commerce clause) gets used to justify more government, and "there's nothing in the constitution that says we can't" serves as sufficient answer to any objections. The 10th Ammendment text- "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people"- has done little to discourage power hungry politicians or bureaucrats intent on grabbing a little more money or authority.
On the other hand, where would we be without the Bill of Rights? They may not stop the politicians, but they've sure provided invaluable speed bumps on the road to serfdom.
posted by Al at 9/25/2002 01:37:00 PM
September 24, 2002
Culpepper Log? Looks more like a doggie log to me!
 Jim Henson was born September 24, 1936. As the architect of Sesame Street and the Muppet Show, he spawned many great characters.
Kermit and Miss Piggy may be the most well known muppets - and then there's Sesame Street, but of course hip folks know that the coolest dudes were Statler and Waldorf, the nettlesome gentlemen in the balcony. They have provided inspiration now for a couple of generations of aspiring hecklers.
posted by Al at 9/24/2002 03:47:00 PM
September 23, 2002
Brother Ray is rock rulin'!
Ray Charles was born September 23, 1930. Happy number 72, Ray!
Jazz, r&b, country, pop, he does it all. Surely he's one of the top ten best vocalists in the history of recorded music. If God actually came to earth to walk among us, He'd probably look and sound very much like Brother Ray. I've certainly never felt closer to God than being within a few dozen feet of Ray at a couple of concerts.
Obscure super bonus recommendation: try finding "Questions" from the Brother Ray Is At It Again album, if you can. It's hard to find, and has never been issued on CD in any form the best I can tell. However, it's one of the very coolest recordings he's made, certainly among unknown stuff. Also, it's even a Ray Charles composition.
Don't forget Trane
John Coltrane was born September 23, 1926. In his 40 years, he played on many great recordings with, among others, Miles Davis
On his own, he was responsible for one of the most highly regarded albums in jazz history, A Love Supreme.
At the risk of being tagged a shallow pop fan though, I'll vote for his most popular recording, an instrumental version of "My Favorite Things." It's all good.
posted by Al at 9/23/2002 06:17:00 AM
September 22, 2002
Sorry about your bad luck, Mr. Burglar
As liberal media jacklegs like to constantly emphasize, guns are dangerous. You could get killed if you're not careful. Your kid could blow his head off, or someone might get mad and shoot the old lady. True enough. Be careful.
On the other hand, loaded guns can be very positive and valuable things. Ask this 89 year old man who killed some jerk breaking in on him last Tuesday (9-17-2002) at one o'clock in the morning. Poor old Alfred Thompson looks pretty tired and weak, but a tired old dude with even just a .22 can take down a thug. All y'all thugs might want to keep that in mind.
Nor was 40 year old Earnest Woods the only guy shot while breaking into someone else's house in Rochester, New York even just that day. Nor does this account for the far greater number of incidents where simply brandishing a gun or firing a warning shot run some fool off without having to kill them.
Guns can be very good things.
posted by Al at 9/22/2002 11:34:00 PM
Hey, it's Euripides birthday!
Euripides was born September 23, 484 BC. He came near the end of the line of great classic Greek playwrights. In his time, he was considered a radical and a heretic. He was considered a non-believer in the official religious reality tunnel of his society, ie Zeus et al- though I've never seen anywhere that he directly admitted as such. He didn't seem to blend into society very well, and chose to spend a good part of his life living in a cave on an island, alone with his books.
His best known play is The Bacchants. It describes the rampage of crazed worshippers of Bacchus, aka Dionysus, the god of wine and passion. Trying to reign them in, Pentheus, the king of Thebes, eventually gets killed in a fit of Dionysian religious ecstasy. His mother ends up parading through the streets with his head on a pole, so far out of her mind in a religious rapture that she didn't know what she was doing.
The play might most profitably be taken as a cautionary tale against the dangers of passion rolling over our human reason. The frenzied ones could be fundamentalist snake handlers, or 1930s Germans caught up in hatred for Jews. They could be overly enthusiastic fans crushing one another at a Who concert in Cincinnati, or some ELF idiots caught up in the thrill they take in smashing research labs.
From whatever direction, the capacity for losing your rational mind in an emotional tide runs deep in our human biology. It behooves us to keep this in mind.
posted by Al at 9/22/2002 11:14:00 PM
Emmy notes
Michael Chiklis rocks!
High point: Michael Chiklis took home the Emmy Sunday night for lead actor in a drama for his role as Vic Mackey on The Shield. He more than deserved this award. This guy just about burns a hole through the screen. The show should have gotten a writing award too. The whole cast is great, but it's all in the writing. This has the best writing going in television at this point. A couple more seasons as good as the first, and this may come to be considered the greatest cop show of all time.
The writing award in a drama for 24 was really outstanding as well. If it didn't go to The Shield, this was definitely the best entry. It's unfortunate that Kiefer Sutherland couldn't get a best actor in a drama award as well, but Chiklis is a machine.
Cool people were also pleased to see the comedy writing award for The Bernie Mac Show. They was robbed of their proper award for best comedy [if we're excluding South Park and other animated shows] by the bland, flavorless mediocrity of Friends, though.
The real, true annoyance, however, came from the multiple awards for Everybody Loves Raymond. No they don't. The show doesn't rate much analysis, but in short it may qualify as the absolute worst show with anything near these ratings in the history of the medium. Even the godforsaken realm of Full House was more watchable. At least the damned Olsen twins were cute.
Raymond, however, is just pathetic. He's one of the worst little spineless pussy whipped girly men ever on the tube. It's nothing but whining and sniveling from one end to the other. Could someone explain the appeal of this show to me?
posted by Al at 9/22/2002 11:14:00 PM
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