Category: News

  • I Think About This Sketch Often

    Everything in this sketch is great. The writing, the acting, theme; all of it.

  • ODDS and ENDS: The Debate and Then Some

    (Hello, Hey You! Who Said That?)

    I didn’t watch the debate last night. The first and biggest reason is that no matter what happened, it wouldn’t change how I am voting. Second is that after 2020’s debates, I had no intention of giving my time to the Trump Shit Show. And from what I have seen and read this morning, if I would have watched it, I would have thrown up in the middle of my living room.

    Trump came with a muted Shit Show, but it was his normal shit show of lies and falsehoods. Trump’s performance will go over well with his supporters and kept them loyal. For Democrats, Trump only reminded them why his unfit for office. For the undecided, it was the same old Trump, and I don’t think Trump did anything to sway them to his camp.

    But Joe. He needed to get the Undecided on his side, and all Biden did was confirm that he’s very old, and not as sharpe as he used to be. You can’t convince people to unsee what they just saw. And if the election comes down to 12,000 votes in Michigan, Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania, then Biden’s performance was campaign killing.

    As of this morning, Trump has won the Electoral College, but not the popular vote. I believe the Anti-Trump vote is so strong that Biden will win the popular vote, but Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada have slipped out of Joe’s hands.

    Biden needs to withdraw, and do it fast. A July 4th speech would be a good and patriotic time to do it. That gives over a month before the Convention for the Democrats to sort it out, then roll out the Unity Candidate. Sadly, this doesn’t guarantee a Trump loss, but it gives Democrats a chance. And a chance is better than a sure fire Biden loss.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Guilty and Does It Matter?

    (But his emails…)

    I had two conflicting thoughts in my head as Trump’s New York False Records case got underway; first was that Trump won’t be found guilty, and second was that this was the case Trump was most likely to be found guilty on. Yes, I was able to circle this square in my mind. First was just past behavior, as Trump always found a way to weasel out of accountability. Second was that this case was about having sex and trying to hide it. Not that everyone cheats on their wife, but everyone does something wrong and tries to make it go away. The motive and emotions of committing this crime are easy to understand, which makes it an easy story for the prosecution to sell a jury on. Now, I did think there would be one hold out juror, especially from that person who said on their jury form that they got their news from TruthSocial. But I was wrong, and I’m okay with that.

    And with the guilty verdict, does it even matter? I don’t know. I don’t think the verdict will cause a mass exodus from Trump’s camp come November. But I do think this verdict could peal off 10,000 soft Trump voters, or voters who are still on the fence in the swing states, and help Biden out. I have a hard time believing that Americans would elect a convicted felon, yet I know that we do live in the age when anything is possible. Even really really awful terrible shit is possible now.

    Shall we end on a happier note?

  • Paul Auster (1947 – 2024)

    I read the news today that Paul Auster had passed away. Kind’a always thought that Paul Auster would just be hanging around forever. Somewhere in Brooklyn, scribbling away, and walking around. I don’t know if any of that is true, it’s just what I expected.

    I first read Paul Auster in 1997 or 1998, and the book was Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure. I’m not 100% sure how this book came to me, but I’m pretty sure it was a Christmas gift from my parents. Maybe I put it on a list, but for whatever reason, it was the right book at the right time. For you see, I had just dropped out of college to peruse my career as a writer/artist, and then I read this book, wherein Paul Auster is pretty much telling me that I have ten awful years of struggle, disappointment, and failure headed my way. But he told it is such a funny and depressing way that, for all the wrong reasons, this book inspired me to continue following my path in the arts. And also, to read as many books by Paul Auster as possible.

    I had hoped to have met him one day. Not to have a conversation, or tell him how much I enjoyed his work. No, I just wanted to say “hi” to him on the street, like neighbors. And that’s the other great thing that Paul gave to me; he presented New York City (Brooklyn, actually) as this great place to meet and make friends with people who are nothing like you. There are all kinds of great things about the City, that artists have been talking about for years (the arts, nightlife, money, danger, excitement, scandal…) but he always gave me this feeling that, yes those things are here, but the people of this place, these characters of the City, are what makes this place magical.

    The other thing that I loved about Paul Auster was that the guy just wrote all the time, and produced so much work. This is the “hard working American” side of me that still sees production as one of the measuring sticks of artistic excellence. He created nonstop. He tried things, and sure, maybe not all of it was The New York Trilogy, but I have respect for the people out there that keep trying something new and producing.

    So I guess, thanks Paul Auster. Thanks for trying to talk me out of being creative.

  • Tax Day and Some Other Stuff

    This seems appropriate…

    Really, I’m using this as an excuse to play a Beatles song.

    But taxes are due today, as I am sure everyone is aware. Funny how with everything going on in the world today, and also in a Manhattan courtroom, no one is talking about “Tax Day.”

    Also, and this has nothing to do with anything, as I know only four of you are seeing this, but I think that I want to start branching out with the blog into using different media for expression. I have been putting up more and more videos of late. Though I haven’t done this in a while, I was putting my sketches up on my IG, and now I’m thinking I might move them over to this. I haven’t found the knack of creating memes, but if I could, I think I would put them up here as well.

    I guess what I am saying is that this blog will always be that; a blog – written posts covering my personal observations and reviews of whatever media I take in that garners a reaction from me. But occasionally, I will be adding other things, to add some variety and keep me on my toes.

    Yeah, that sounds good.