It's Super Bowl Sunday (yawwwwwwwnnnn) because my alleged mind has been on overflow this week and my brain hurts from assaults on all fronts so I'm still cranky and venting is a damned good panacea if not a cure.
* I've come to hate the Super Bowl and all its hoopla. I decry the huge money spent on advertising and the constant interruptions of the game. It's not about football anymore; it's about hype and money. I can't help but think about the fall of Rome when I see it you know -- circuses while the city burns and all that. Some people have told me that I'm just mad because I don't have a dog in this fight. Not true. Yeah, my Browns (the comedy division of the NFL) are out of it, but, even so. I doubt I would have watched the game because pro sports aren't much fun for me anymore. I follow my teams but I really prefer college sports -- they at least give the illusion of not being about money.
* Thanks to all y'all who keep coming back for my ramblings. I truly appreciate your support and friendship. I'm just sorry that I have been remiss in visiting y'all as often as I'd like. Life is too lifelike in many ways and my plate is rather full. I hope to get up-to-date soon. Sometimes I hate responsiblity, obligations and all the baggage of life. Add the always present struggle with what Hemingway called the Black Dog (that eventually killed him) and it amazes me that I bother to get up in the morning. Don't worry -- I am mostly okay but all the crap makes me nuts sometimes and writing the How I Got to Be Me series is exacting a toll. I will be posting the first installment soon.
* The symphony was magnificent last night. The guest artists -- a tenor and a baritone -- were terrific in their solos and duets and the orchestra, as always, was great! Our conductor, Gerhardt Zimmerman, is well thought of both nationally and internationally and we are blessed to have him. My friend Fred, as I said yesterday, is a pillar of support to the symphony. A retired executive of a major corporation here, he volunteers his time to the educational programs the Symphony sponsors in local schools to introduce children to the arts. I really like that because when I was a kid in Toledo, they used to haul us to the wonderful Toledo Museum of Art once a month and we'd have programs on great music as well as great art. It's how I acquired my love of such things -- my hard-working blue collar parents weren't into the arts. Fred also sings with the Symphony's chorus and offered to get me tickets for another series of concerts by the Symphony at a 50% discount! Cool, huh? I'm definitely up for that!
* Something else I learned recently is that we are warehousing illegal immigrants who've been arrested in prison for three to ten years at a cost to taxpayers of forty thousand bucks a year apiece! The prisons are built and run by Haliburton. What does that tell you? If it doesn't tell you that Dick Cheyney et al are getting richer, you haven't been paying attention. Why not just send them back from whence they came? A plane ticket would be infinitely cheaper -- don't you think? Omigod, I forgot myself!!! That would make SENSE and SENSE is something we've lost in this country!
* I was doing some legal research for my boss and discovered that there is a problem on the east coast with illegal with illegal Irish immigrants. I asked him, "Why isn't anyone excited about this? Because they speak English an have a cute accent?" I seem to recall people being outraged about influx of the VietNamese boat people a decade or so ago. In 1900, one-third of the population of the state of Wisconsin were born in Germany. I am the descendent of two of those people. I have no idea if they were legal or not. I just thank them for coming here and producing my mother, the fifth of their eight children.
* I've been visiting YouTube a lot of late to keep up on what's going on of late in the presidential race. There's some pretty amazing and telling stuff out there and worth a look. The video below from Jack Cafferty (who I'd love to buy a beer!) really cuts to the chase on our plight as citizens of this country in this election year. It angered and frightened me but I think it's right on the money. What do you think?
* I like to end on a positive note so I highly recommend y'all pop over and see my composer friend Steph at Incurable Insomniac and take a look at an incredible video from her documentary, Mozartballs. The singer is Lynette at Life in Shades of F Major and I think y'all will truly enjoy her magnificent voice. Both Steph and Lynnette are Mozart scholars who know their stuff and I'm looking forward to purchasing this DVD!
Happy Blogging!!!!!!!
Kay
I like all your posts - 'specially the rambly, cranky, hodgepodge, anything goes ones. Thanks for this one. :-D
ReplyDeleteSo THAT's where Zimmerman went when he left Raleigh! He is very good, but we like our new conductor better - he's really cute!
ReplyDeleteKay,
ReplyDeleteI've always thought the Super Bowl is overrated. I can hear Tom Petty crooming as I type this. He sounds okay, but it's not the old Tom.
BTW, I love reading your ramblings, and I LOVE the groaners!
Ummm, I don't believe in holding illegal immigrants in prison at such cost, either -- especially when they CONTRIBUTE to the economy by doing jobs we don't want to do -- DUH! On the other hand, maybe we should have arrested those nasty German illegals in the early 20th century -- or just sent them back where they came from (my German ancestors came over in the 1600s, after all).
ReplyDeleteIncidentally -- it's if he DOES see his shadow that we get more winter. NOT seeing his shadow should guarantee an early spring!
Ell: You are so sweet!!!
ReplyDeleteJudy: We love Zimmerman! I wouldn't call him cute, but he's a helluva good conductor and a very nice man!
Amy: You are a sweetie, too!
Ann: hmmmm. My Bavarian/German grandparents got here around the turn of the century. I am certainly glad they came and I think I speak for all my cousins, too!