Monday, February 04, 2008

America's Game

Last night was the Super Bowl, and I honestly couldn't be bothered to give a fat rat's ass. When I was younger, I *had* to watch it. I really don't know what happened. I just sort of had it on while L'Ailee and I did other things, so we'd know what everyone was talking about tomorrow, and we watched very casually. That said, of course I felt something when the Giants won and the Patriots' coach had to be escorted off the field by cops! Eli Manning's big brother Peyton was fun to watch, too. I do know that I'll have people over almost every weekend for NASCAR soon enough, and don't feel a need to have that Super Bowl blowout, or attend someone else's, now. Actually, I'm so much more excited--one could even say fired up!--about Super Tuesday.

But hey, everyone around me's happy right now!!!

You know, I actually do sort of want to talk in depth about a couple of serious subjects, but I'm not quite there yet. I'm going to share another round of fragmented thoughtlets instead, ones I don't just want to let go away.

* The New York City Gay News endorses Obama. He's got a 96 out of 100 from the League of Conservation Voters, too. Oh, and listen to this! Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas has been doing his damnedest to make up for unleashing "My Humps" onto the world. He got a bunch of actors and other musicians together and set a Barack Obama speech to music!
* The commercials were mostly disappointing last night, but I did sort of like the panda one for Salesgenie.com (of course!) I love the ones for Coca-Cola, both the fighting parade balloons and the one with the political commentators uniting over Cokes. Will Ferrell was genius in the Bud Light one. ("Suck one!") Shaquille O'Neal as a jockey for Vitamin Water was attention-getting. The E-Trade one with the baby dissing the clown was good; the one with the baby spitting up, not so much. I laughed at the idea that buying a Product(Red) Dell laptop would get you attention from members of both genders--a bi-themed commercial? And what was with all the violent animals and ethnic stereotyping? You can see for yourself over at MySpace.
* What an awful time to be overweight, especially if you're female! Down in Mississippi, they're up to no good, as three state lawmakers have presented a proposal to force restaurants to turn away "obese" customers. To quote Nanny State author David Harsanyi (and *do* read his book), "The Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management? Dear God." And the store near Chicago where those poor five women were fatally shot? Lane Bryant! Fat chick store!
* It's sort of a win-some-lose-some time for same-sex couples in America. New Mexico's state House approved domestic partnerships. Oregon couples get to register their domestic partnerships today. In my state, New York, the state appeals court ruled that out-of-state same-sex marriages are valid!!!!! But in Florida, my home state bigots--some of whom are related to me--are just thrilled that their disgusting anti-anything for same-sex couples amendment goes to a vote this November. *sigh*
* That is always and forever going to be a hard thing for me--how the hell do you get *happy* over the fact that you are denying other people something they badly want, something that won't actually hurt you in the least? Explanations have been offered, but I don't think I'll ever get it. Don't think I actually want to, either.
* Hillary got her "um, thanks but no thanks" endorsement--I use that word lightly--from Ann Coulter. You know that. My theory was that she wanted more to complain about. That said, perhaps the "endorsement" is the reason why she lost her standing gig at the CPAC conference this year. That conference is where a parade of right-wingnuts say the ugliest things they can, and she usually tops them all. Now she won't have the chance. I try not to indulge schadenfreude too much, but maybe I can have just one little bitter candy right now?
* REAL ID scares the shit out of me and L'Ailee. The rebuttal we hear most is, "But if you're law-abiding, you have nothing to worry about." Of course, this isn't true. Kerry Howley of Reason magazine points out that survivors of domestic violence have excellent reason to be worried.
* You can support the National Zoo and enjoy the hell out of it by purchasing animal ringtones for your phone! Did you know the Grevy's zebra sounds a lot like a donkey, or a jackass? I'm using that for someone I'm currently unhappy with, though I love zebras. The penguin one is rather pleasant, and I don't know who that one is for yet, though I'll download it when I figure that out. But my favorite is the one from Mei Xiang, the zoo's pretty panda matriarch. Mei Xiang is the most assertive of all the pandas, the one who bosses around her mate, son, and human staff, so of course her tone is the loudest of the panda family's. I totally had to connect that one to my mother. One thing I figured is that if you got the lion or tiger one, and set your ringer volume to its highest, you could start a riot in a crowd. Hell, you can probably make someone panic right now if you play it on your desktop!
* It never occurred to me that being Wiccan or Pagan might be unattractive to man-loving men until I saw this letter with links at About.com Gay Life. It definitely broadened my perspective a little--I know quite a few Wiccans and Pagans who are women-loving-women, but have not met a single gay or bi male Witch in NYC. (My Ex-Boy in Orlando is a bi Wiccan; one thing we loved about each other is that we had so little to explain to each other!) Of course, I'm a bad Witch who only half-ass celebrated Imbolc (Brigid's Day, Candlemas) on Saturday, so maybe I have little to say!
* I am just finishing Eric Weiner's A Geography of Bliss. It is *awesome*. Weiner, who is not a blissful person by nature, travels to what a study described as the happiest and least happy nations on Earth. I've decided that I absolutely must see Iceland and poor-but-happy Bhutan, where, among other things, farmers give new meaning to the phrase "grass-fed pork" by feeding marijuana to their pigs.
* Finally, if you haven't done your Valentine's shopping yet and would like to make it a Valentine to the Earth as well, try this Green Guide to Valentine's Day!

9 comments:

BostonPobble said...

REAL ID scares me as well. First, I was a domestic violence counselor for too many years not to see the bad in this one. Second, we as a society seem to have forgotten that privacy is a right all in its own. Who cares that I have nothing to hide? I Am A Private Person ~ and should be allowed to be so. *sigh*

alan said...

People have no idea that they already "register" our computers just by tracking the IP adresses...if they really thought about it that alone would scare the daylights out of most!

I'm sure "phone over IP" works the same way.

But if they create a tempest in a teapot by saying that it's needed to prevent voter fraud and keep the terrorists from faking documents, then we won't pay attention to all the other things they are up to, or the trillion dollars they've spent in Iraq!

alan

BostonPobble said...

ps ~ you're kinda sorta tagged over at mine. ;)

Connie in FL said...

Great post!

Being from Florida I am horrified at the proposal on the November ballot BANNING gay marriage! Banning? Is there nothing better to do in Tallahassee than to waste time writing these words down on paper?
How about home owners insurance rates, affordable health insurance and proper school funding? IMPORTANT issues! assholes

Casdok said...

Good post!

Jaded said...

I was sad for Mr. Jaded because his team lost. Other than that, I didn't really care either way, 'cause I like the Colts. Actually, I just like Petyon Manning because he seems like such a nice guy, and he doesn't take himself too seriously.

I much perfer Obama to Clinton. I think she's big part of what's wrong with our government, not a solution in any sense of the word. Should she get elected, that will mean 24 years of the same 2 families running this country - which is more than half my lifetime. Of course, when things don't get better, people will wonder what went wrong.

I can't believe that any legislator would seriously try to draft legislation banning fat people from eating at a restaurant. Those men should be removed from their positions immediately for using their offices as a means to attack and discriminate people. I hope they don't get too far with it. Of course, I see no reason to visit Mississippi to begin with, but this just solidifies my position.

I will never, ever understand why the government feels justified in dictating who you can and can't marry. If you believe same sex marriage is bad, then I suggest you don't do it. However, it's not up to anyone else to tell another person what their relationship must look like. I just don't get it. It seems like such a non-issue to me...why is it any of my business? Love is hard enough to come by. When you find it, hold onto it.

queen emily said...

"But if you're law-abiding, you have nothing to worry about."

Ha. Real ID is going to be a fucking nightmare for trans* people in the US too.

It's lucky you have gender-diversity laws as protection then. Oh wait.

author said...

I'm with you on not caring about the superbowl, except the win made so many friends happy. That is great.

I heard about the "fat law" I am disgusted beyond words.

Have missed stopping by, just never enough time anymore.
hugs

Daisy said...

I admit I went misty at the last sentence.

Oh, me too!

Thanks for the link.