Mitch Hedberg Revival

Mitch Hedberg Revival

Gore Vidal RIP (Ahem)

RIP He's With Ted Kennedy Now “ [Via Wiki] During discussions of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, Buckley and Vidal were arguing about freedom of speech with regard to American protesters displaying a Viet Cong flag when Vidal told Buckley to "shut up a minute" and, in response to Buckley's reference to "pro-Nazi" protesters, went on to say: "As far as I'm concerned, the only sort of pro-crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself." The visibly livid Buckley replied, "Now listen, you queer. Stop calling me a crypto-Nazi, or I'll sock you in the goddamn face and you'll stay plastered."   Buckley later expressed regret for having called Vidal a "queer," but nonetheless described Vidal as an "evangelist for bisexuality." I would go on that year to vote for Humphrey, but near as I can remember this was my first exposure to Buckley.  I went on a binge of checking out Buckley books from the library with profound effect on my already conservative leaning self.   Hubert was the last democrat I ever voted for. Vidal didn't leave much impression on me one way or another.  Forgetting this  kerfuffle entirely,  I quite enjoyed reading  his Burr, Lincoln and to some extent 1876.  Myra Breckenridge was the last time I checked out a Vidal book. I grew to loathe the man.  Not because he was a publicly promiscuous bisexual; that goes without saying, but because he was the poster boy liberal.  Arrogant, snotty, and blamed the United States for everything.  Here's a clip from a recent  NPR paean “ The word heterosexual is an adjective, the word homosexual is an adjective. They describe an activity. Of course there's a homosexual activity; of course there's a heterosexual activity. But there's no homosexual person. There's no heterosexual person. Everybody is everything. It's like saying oh, I want you to meet Mildred, this is potato-eating Mildred. Oh my God, she eats - I'm sorry, but I don't want to be at the same table with a potato-eater. Sorry, Mildred, but some other time. Now that's - only a country that is based upon an extremely primitive religion, which is Christianity, I am a devoted enemy of monotheism in all of its forms, could have come with a categorizing of people as one thing or the other. In Europe, these distinctions are not only not known, but we're thought to be mad. Latins just roar with laughter. ... And I was actually stopped all day long by Italians, these villagers, saying what kind of country is this. And I said, well, it's a very primitive country, the United States, and it's full of superstitions, which come out of a very fundamental religious bias, which is primitive Christianity. And since they have enough votes to terrify the more sophisticated people who run the country, these are some of the bones that they get thrown - like prayer in the schools and abortion and all subjects which have nothing to do with the federal government, but they see to it that it does. No, no, we're kind of a joke. ” He's with Ted Kennedy now. ”

Die as cheaply as possible

13 Things the Funeral Director Won’t Tell You “ 1. Go ahead and plan your funeral, but think twice before paying in advance. You risk losing everything if the funeral home goes out of business. Instead, keep your money in a pay-on-death account at your bank. [...] ”

This might be number 14 — Ahem Just another necrophelia movie “ 3. You can buy caskets that are just as nice as the ones in my showroom for thousands of dollars less online from Walmart, Costco, or straight from a manufacturer. 4. On a budget or concerned about the environment? Consider a rental casket. The body stays inside the casket in a thick cardboard container, which is then removed for burial or cremation. 5. Running a funeral home without a refrigerated holding room is like running a restaurant without a walk-in cooler. But many funeral homes don’t offer one because they want you to pay for the more costly option: embalming. Most bodies can be presented very nicely without it if you have the viewing within a few days of death. [Full Reader's Digest Article] ” Remind me to tell you how Jack Northrop's Flying Wing sent me looking for Reader's Digest.

What's that smell?

Byrd Dead at 92

Robert Byrd often professed his love for the United States Senate; a love so great that he refused to give the nation a break, and leave.  His mastery of senate rules often provided the key to getting difficult, read repugnant, legislation to a vote, and 151,241 West Virginia highways, outhouses and other pork barreled projects named after him.  Privately, Byrd was known by colleagues for incessant farting, including at times (ahem) under the sheets.  It's Byrd's legacy that his death today will inspire millions to Google up what party West Virginia's  Governor belongs to, hoping for an American replacement. Disappointingly, he's a democrat, so expect more of the same.   RIP.

A footprint in a pail of water

Murtha Dead

Bernie Mac

Bernie Mac dead at 50

bah

Wow.  I loved the Bernie Mac Show, but his part as Gin, the truly evil department store security chief who is wise to the plan to burgle the store, and demands a 50% cut to stay quiet,  is the role that sticks in my mind.  Clip above contains bad language. The thought occurs to me that John Ritter, who  passed away during filming, delivered his best acting in the role of  department  manager Bob Chipeska.  Diminutive Tony Cox similarly turned in a great performance, and many think, me included, that Bad Santa is Billy Bob's best movie ever, which is quite a lot to say. Mother Superior hated the film.

Does Hillaty have another patented move?

What's Next?

Hmmmm “ The Democratic presidential contest is now between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. Hillary Clinton is retrenching behind what her advisers call “a demographic brick wall” in Ohio and Texas – believing that Barack Obama’s recent momentum will be brought to an abrupt halt next month by the blue-collar and Latino voters who have largely backed her elsewhere¹. Mr Obama still surges forward, putting his faith in the “fierce urgency of now” helping him to vault over the next big round of elections on March 4, when 444 delegates are at stake, in the same way that he has already defied the laws of political campaigning. Something, or someone, has to give. And eyes are turning to the party leadership of 796 “super-delegates” to be a referee that stops this fight before it reaches the presidential nomination convention in August. [Something must give — or will the fight be stopped?] ” ¹  Obama-Rama won a majority of Latino voters in MD and VA yesterday.

Lantos Dead

Tom Lantos Dead

We can't say enough about Tom, so why try.  He's in God's capable hands now.