Thursday, February 18, 2010

Mental Chronicles 4

* If you haven’t heard the new version of “We Are The World”, or seen the video, I would encourage you to check it out. I’m not real big on these ‘gathering of superstars’ benefits because I think many of the artists would just like to advance their own careers, and be seen as heroes. And there is also the issue of where the money actually goes. But there is a soft spot in my heart for all the contributors who were in it for the actual benefit of the Haitian people, rather than for their own self-aggrandizement. Since it’s impossible for anyone to know exactly who is in it for what reason, I’m choosing to give them all the benefit of the doubt, and honor their participation with a great big acknowledgement of thanks, and appreciation.

But, let’s hope the money raised through this song, and video, will be managed responsibly so that it affects the lives of those most in need, rather than just lining the pockets of Haitian government hacks and phony relief agencies.

And, by the way, the song is, again, a remarkable blending of old and new artists, with a myriad of styles represented, enhancing the power of the song, without getting in the way of its message.

Having said that, I must say I do miss Springsteen, and Dylan, from the original version.

* As some of you know, I like to watch the auditions of American Idol. I stop watching when the competition gets to Hollywood and everybody starts pretending that they totally support their competition.
But I remember one young American Idol wannabe’s audition, who, before her song, stated that she thinks she ‘deserves to be’ the next American Idol because if she were chosen she thinks she’d make ‘a good role model’. She went on to say, “You know, I’d recycle, and I’d care about the people in Africa, and stuff like that.”
Huh! I was under the impression that I was watching American Idol,
not the Miss America pageant.

* Tiger in the Woods. Yeah, Tiger’s still in the woods, but maybe not quite as lost in them now as he has been. It’s all over the news that he’s going to read a ‘statement of apology’ at a press conference on Friday. A ‘statement of apology’? Tiger never did anything to me. What does he have to apologize to me for? Has he ever done anything to you? Who the hell is he actually intending to apologize to, anyway? Far as I can tell, he owes an apology to his wife, which he’s probably already done, and will continue to do for about the next thirty-five years. I’d sure like to see him just keep his mouth shut about his personal life, but I’m also sure there are a lot of people who’d love to see him cry in a public apology. I think there’s something wrong with those people.
If Tiger wants to apologize to anybody other than his wife, maybe he should apologize to all those other golfers he’s been competing against while all puffed up on HGH, and other illegal performance enhancing drugs.
Yeah, that would be an apology that means something.

* And speaking of sports, I am not one who supports the idea of women competing against men in, what have traditionally been, ‘male’ sports. Not because I am opposed to women in sports, but because I think women have an unfair advantage competing against men. Take NASCAR, and Danica Patrick, for example. It is quite common for drivers to bump each other out of position in a race, to aggressively jockey for position, and to exploit the weaknesses of the other drivers. All fine and good, that’s the nature of the sport. But it is embedded in a man’s DNA to treat women differently in competition than they would treat each other. The NASCAR drivers must be more ‘gentlemanly’ in their approach to Ms. Patrick. To use the same tactics on her that they use on each other would cause them to be seen as bullies. They know it. She knows it. Everybody knows it. The men are competing with one hand tied behind their back when she’s in the race.
Do you think Danica Patrick is going to be ‘gentlemanly’ in her approach to the other male drivers? I don’t think so.
Unfair competition.
Oh, and by the way, I noticed that at the NASCAR race last week at Daytona, she was handing out semi-naked posters of herself in suggestive poses to the other drivers just before the start of the race.
Brilliant strategy, don’tcha think?

* Just wondering who you think is the better person?
The person who sets a fairly high degree of moral and ethical standards for themselves, tries their best to live up to them, but because of their own weakness and fallibility, sometimes falls short, resulting in being labeled as a hypocrite?
Or:
The person who sets minimally low standards to live by, never failing to measure up to them, assuring that they will not be labeled as a hypocrite?

* My eyes can reflect what another’s eyes seek to project, or they can reflect what’s actually in there. These days I always choose the latter. It does no one any good to just reinforce an illusion.

* The Climate Mafia?
Criminals, all of them. Global Warming, the biggest secular-religious/economic fraud ever perpetrated on the American people, the world, really!
I warned you that it was really just about your money, and, of course,
your allegiance to the ‘cause’.
Again, I say, “Vote them all out of office. Every one of them.”
I’m still waiting for Al Gore to return that Academy award.
Oh yeah, and that Nobel ‘Peace’ prize.

When do you think that’s gonna happen?

* Common sense is not very common.
It used to be, but not so much any more.

*The Olympics.
How bout broadcasting them live so that a viewer can actually care about the outcome of a particular event? In lieu of that, they ought to make them the naked Olympics. At least people would stay up for that.

* AVATAR, The Movie.
The avaTar and Feathering of America, and the American military.
(More on this shameful, and exploitive, fiasco later).


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New Segment of "Wilderness", the Novel posted 2/17/10.
Access it by clicking on "Wilderness"
on the Home page of The Old Coyote website.