Metaphors, and Things-In-and-Of-Themselves

Griffith Park, Los Angeles, used symbolically in both Rebel Without a Cause and BoJack Horseman to represent life taken too soon. The penultimate episode of BoJack, The View From Halfway Down, was one of the most depressing episodes in the history of TV. With Griffith Park as a recurring motif, there was no telling how the end was going to go.

After I watched it I began watching the final episode but fell asleep immediately. I dreamed that the ending was just as depressing, but of course it wasn't. 

It ended the way that some of my favorite shows have ended- a moment of satisfied reflection in an ordinary moment. I'm thinking of Sam at the end of Cheers, straightening the picture of Geronimo, telling a customer that they're closed. Older Kevin Arnold letting us know what became of everybody. Pam from The Office, “There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point?” Now BoJack and Diane sitting on a roof looking at the sky.

Diane had quite a line in those final moments, "Maybe it's everybody's job to save each other."

May 2, 2022

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Satyajit Ray's birthday today, born in 1921. Some high praise:

Akira Kurosawa- "Not to have seen the cinema of Satyajit Ray is to exist in the world without seeing the sun and the moon."

His most beautiful shots:

https://youtu.be/tY4ig5lgRnw

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Lesley Gore was born on this day in 1946.

"I've listened to Eminem rap. That's not daily fare for me, but I can't help but admire how vivid what he does is."

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't have pegged Lesley Gore foreign Eminem fan.

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Footballer David Beckham was born on this day in 1975.

"I always say that practice gets you to the top most of the time."

Ellie Kemper was born on the day Beckham turned five.

"My painting teacher in high school used to say, 'I can't paint like I want to, but through practice I'll get better.' But I don't think that's true. I think sometimes you just can't paint."

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Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was born on this day in 2015, making a tiny little baby fourth in line for the British throne.

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For some reason I just can't get this pesky limerick out of my mind:

Nymphomaniacal Alice 

Used to dynamite stick for a phallus. 

They found her vagina 

In North Carolina, 

And her asshole in Buckingham Palace.

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Leonardo da Vinci left us on this day in 1519. 

"Just as food eaten without appetite is a tedious nourishment, so does study without zeal damage the memory by not assimilating what it absorbs."

George Carlin said something similar.

"Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body."

There's probably no human sentiment that can't be expressed in the terms of a food metaphor.

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Osama bin Laden technically died on this day in 2011. There's a strange discrepancy in the timing though. He died very early in the morning on May 2, 2011, in Pakistan, but Obama announced his death while it was still May 1, 2011 in the United States. So historically, the anniversary of the announcement of his death will always be a day prior to the actual anniversary of his death. 

That's not my favorite detail of the death of Osama bin Laden though. My favorite detail is that Mike Huckabee posted, "Welcome to hell, Osama bin Laden." 

Welcome to hell? Mike Huckabee evidently welcomed Osama bin Laden to hell... from hell! I guess he's such a god-fearing man that he hangs out as far away from God as possible.

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Taxing day at work today, so many things going wrong, no clear answers or solutions. Afterward I played racquetball beyond my limit. Remembered the fundamental truth, that one day I'll be dead, so why get worked up about anything less than that? I reflect on that as often as I can.

May 2, 2023

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A good couple minutes on Tucker Carlson. Sam says that there was probably no more powerful proponent of Trumpism than Tucker, yet Tucker texted his colleagues that he couldn't wait until Trump was out of office, he was joyous that once out of office Trump would become incalculably less powerful, that he "hates him passionately," that he is "a demonic force, a destroyer," and that he thinks about it everyday. Yet each night he promoted him, and once the dust settles he's certain to have some huge media deal. The fact that it is even possible is a huge problem. He's a complete fraud lacking all credibility.

https://youtu.be/WBtHO5jANHM

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I was painting my room and got mad that I got paint on a Beatles picture. Gretel asked if I was talking about my dung beetle picture. It was the strangest question I ever heard until I realized I do have a framed M.C. Escher painting of a dung beetle in my room.

May 2, 2021

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Visiting the graves of several grandcestors, the most notable of which are Hans and Anna Zimmerman. Hans immigrated from Switzerland in 1733 on a ship named "Hope" to escape religious persecution. We're staying 6 ft away.

There were like 50 gravestones stacked near an outhouse. Whoa.

May 2, 2020

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I found hand sanitizer at Giant! The cashier couldn't believe it. She asked in wide-eyed wonder, "Where did you find it?" It was as if she was holding a holy relic. I told her it was with the handsoap, but there was only one left. She said she would go see if she could get it on her break. An hour after I left it crossed my mind- why didn't I go back and get it for her??? Or give her mine??? What better way to show appreciation. Man, I have to be more thoughtful.

May 2, 2020

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Lost in the focus on Trump’s Andrew-Jackson-didn't-like-what-was-happening-with-regard-to-the-Civil-War comments yesterday were his words on Kim Jong Un- "a pretty smart cookie" that he'd be "honored" to meet. 

Bad question- How do Trump supporters feel about that? (Makes no difference.)

Better question- How would have they felt if Obama/Clinton said it? (Grounds for impeachment for emboldening our enemies, evidence of psychosis.)

Best question- How does that play to Kim Jong Un's advantage inside North Korea? (I don't believe many other leaders have praised him over the years, it will be used as a propaganda tool to maintain his consolidation of power.)

May 2, 2017

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A Quinnipiac University poll states "American voters oppose 55 - 38 percent a law in their state allowing same-sex couples to marry, but support 57 - 38 percent allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions." In related news, there's growing support for a constitutional amendment outlawing people from pronouncing tomato like to-mah-to.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml

May 2, 2009

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Ladies and gentlemen, the comic stylings of barack obama... and then some poor excuses for jokes read off by jay leno.

https://youtu.be/aYsGwLWqWI4

May 2, 2010

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Buzzfeed- Republican Presidential Hopefuls Respond To Death Of Bin Laden

Don't quit your day job Huckabee. (As the devil???)

http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/republican-presidential-hopefuls-respond-to-death

May 2, 2011

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Good- Republican David Frum Blasts Trump For Saying He Thought Being President ‘Would Be Easier’

Those are some zingers!

https://www.good.is/articles/david-frum-blasts-trump

May 2, 2017

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Vulture- Oliver Stone’s Vladimir Putin Interview Included a Dr. Strangelove Movie Date

Oh wow!

http://www.vulture.com/2017/05/oliver-stone-watched-dr-strangelove-with-vladimir-putin.html

May 2, 2017

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BoJack Horseman- “He’s so stupid, he doesn’t realize how miserable he should be.”

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Don Draper, Mad Men- "People want to be told what to do so badly that they'll listen to anybody."

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Authoritarians, Joseph McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover each died on this day, in 1957 and 1972 respectively. Good riddance. 

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A French woman from long ago with a massive baguette and six bottles of wine.

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Shirley Jackson's letter back to a child asking about the meaning of her short story, The Witchcraft of Salem Village:

“We have exactly the same thing to be afraid of,—the demon in men’s minds which prompts hatred and anger and fear, an irrational demon which shows a different face to every generation, but never gives up in his fight to win over the world.”

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-Now when people disagree with Obama on policy, he's earned the right to say "you're with me, or you wish bin Laden was still alive." Right?

-You can quote me on this- if Obama kills Fred Phelps tomorrow he's guaranteed a third term.

-Aldous Huxley said "Death is the only thing we haven't succeeded in completely vulgarizing." Get ready.

-I bet all those people who think Obama is the anti-christ are pretty confused right now.

May 2, 2011

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On this day in 1536, Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, was arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. That is not a great combo back in 1536... the type of combo that will lead to your ghost looking for its head for the next 500 years.

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The King James Version of the Bible was published for the first time in London, England, on this day in 1611.

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John Park, Shields Harbour (Evening); 1879

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Carl Sagan, Billions and Billions- “Six times now I have looked Death in the face. And six times Death has averted his gaze and let me pass. Eventually, of course, Death will claim me - as he does each of us. It’s only a question of when. And how.” 

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Karl Mannheim- "For progressive people the present is the beginning of the future. For conservative people the present is the end of the past."

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Seneca- "Men can be divided into two groups: one that goes ahead and achieves something, and one that comes after and criticizes.”

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Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness- “The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.“

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John Waters, Role Models- "Being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it's the freedom to buy any book you want without looking at the price and wondering if you can afford it."

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Hormone Monster, Big Mouth- "Jinx! Robert Durst. Killed them all of course."

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Norm Macdonald, Based on a True Story- "I always considered Elton John to be a great singer as well as a hot piece of ass."

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Hitchens- "Those who are determined to be ‘offended’ will discover a provocation somewhere. We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt."

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Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance- "Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."

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Einstein- "Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."

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Kelly Oxford- "Thinking about your eyes behind your shut eyelids is a terrible way to try and fall asleep."

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Bruce Lee- "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."

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Roger Sterling- "I'll tell you what brilliance in advertising is: 99 cents. Somebody thought of that.”

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Bill Hicks- "By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing … kill yourself."

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