OOO WEE BABY!!!!! My initial posting received generally positive reviews and comments. Those east of Eden liked it, those west of Eden liked it but politely cautioned me that Texans would be offended, and those in Eden (er, TX), so far, have been bloggingly quiet although one Dallas-ite orally exclaimed during a telephone conversation that he was not aware that I hated TX and Texans so much. Mea culpa, or for those of you not Latinized by a nun, priest, monk, or unmarried female Latin teacher in high school - OOPS! I do not hate…that is for Red Sox fans (they hate anything to do with Yankees, even such a fine soul as ARod), racists (everyone who isn’t them), Curt Schilling (anyone to his left – I bet he faked the bloody sock thing), and designated hitters (they hate themselves for being one dimensional).
Hey, get over it! This is bloviation, satire, silliness, and pontification (I get to pontificate because I was abused, I mean raised, as a Roman Catholic – I lost my religion at puberty, however). Man, some of my best friends are Texans…no, really!!! If I tried to name them all I’d be sure to forget someone. So suffice it to say that they run the gamut from A to Z and hail form Texas itself to Kenya, India, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Ohio, Louisiana, Iraq, Lebanon, California, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, as well as three other RIers (including another Woonsocket Rocket). Hope I didn't leave out a state.
More great things about TX: Austin Land & Cattle; Barbara Jordan; Texas Western beating Kentucky way back when; Earl Campbell; Buddy Holly; the Flatlanders; karst topography; kolaches in West (by far the best); Amy’s Ice Creams (she did learn the trade from Steve Harrell in Northampton MA); Hoover’s (oh, man those smothered pork chops on Saturdays with green beans, okra with tomatoes, iced tea and buttermilk pie are a death row denizen’s dream of a last meal before they stick it to her/him); Big Bend; following Cousin Jack through Beaumont, Houston, Austin, Fredericksburg, Ozona, Van Horn and El Paso (did not get to sleep on the ridge shelf, though); steak; gorditas and tamales at the Little Diner in Canutillo (even though I had to sit beneath a photo of W); sitting in John Maddens chair at Chuy’s in Van Horn (no kidding – check it out!!); dodging deer on I-10 west of San Antonio and east of Fort Stockton; steak; El Mercado and the Riverwalk in San Antonio; armadillos; Willie Nelson; steak; enchiladas pipian; brisket; Dublin Doctor Pepper; steak; Mexican Coca Cola; and the best company head honchos I have ever worked for. Again, mea culpa. And Janis and SRV, of course.
Since kszyman asked such good questions (see comments), I decided to place my responses in the main blog as well as blather on some:
(1) Now that Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy Giuliani (NYC’s famous fire truck chaser, opportunist DA – see “The Five Families” book for details – and 9/11 liar) God is on Rudy's team and he (Rudy, not God) will need no more new money. Pat will change slot machine slugs into cash at Rudy's next fund-raiser (Rudy will wear the latest Donna Karan business ensemble). I do not harbor any bad vibes about lapsed Roman Catholics who do not attend Mass, especially those who support gay rights and a woman’s right to control all aspects of her own body and soul. So said, I have a problem with Rudy’s penchant for lying, exaggerating, claiming credit for others work (see “The Five Families”) and what he calls his constant praying to God and Jesus. This phony God stuff dripping from candidates’ lips must stop. In Rudy’s case, if you pray to someone or something but do not attend your professed mythology’s gatherings nor attend to its dogma, you are a hypocrite. (That goes for me, also)
(2) Mitt Romney’s hair is just too perfect and he is far too metrosexual for me. And, of course, he exhibits more religious and political hypocrisy. When in MA, Mitt professed gay rights and women’s choice. Hey, when in Rome (no that’s Athens actually)…Now Mitt seems to have been brainwashed (the apple doesn’t fall far from the supermarket shelf) and become a born again Latter Day Saint. He’s a Saul becoming a Paul or George I becoming a religious right stooge. Either way, he’s another hypocrite, but just too cute. I prefer the jowly Richardson, goofy Huckleberry (oops, Huckabee), or alien Kucinich look.
(3) Alas, I have not read Obama's book, so unlike an idiot such as Bill O'Reilly I do not have a stupid opinion to express. Hey, I was in a Hungarian restaurant a couple of weeks ago and darned if the people there spoke English like they were born here.
While I am making fun of the above magnificent intellects, let me dispense with other pretenders to the throne.
(1) Hillary Clinton: too W-like for me and too willing to attack some distant country to show she’s just one of the guys.
(2) Duncan Hunter: what a wack job.
(3) Mike Huckabee: a goofball and an ordained minister to boot (hey, I am one also - minister, that is - and all it takes is responding to the ad in the back of Rolling Stone or High Times).
(4) Dennis Kucinich: as far to the left as he is and as much as I agree with him on just about every issue, there is something about him that bewilders me. Not the UFO thing – Barry Goldwater saw them and he is regarded as a saint by the rapturous right – but it is his being so out of touch with humor. Bill Maher gave him several softballs to hit and Cleveland’s finest Roman Catholic Slav didn’t even swing. Very disappointing, and he plays the God card way too much.
(5) Mike Gravel: despite the fact that he and I went to Assumption College in Worcester, MA (20 some odd years apart) and that he speaks the truth, he does so only because he cannot win.
(6) Barack Obama: talks a spectacular game. His 2004 Democratic convention address had even Republicans mesmerized. But, his congressional record is weaker than either John Kennedy’s or John Kerry’s. I must say that it is far better than W’s pre-Governor of TX resume (W being Gov in TX was actually an uncredited and unintentional homage to Governor William J. Le Petomane in “Blazing Saddles.” Look up Le Petomane and learn what the name means!).
(7) Ron Paul: He is truthful, honest and certainly respects the Constitution (unlike any of the other elephantine candidates). Despite his claims to be a Libertarian, he is running as a Republican and his voting record, while not as dangerous as Hunter, clearly labels him as suspect.
(8) John McCain: His 2004 kiss on W’s cheek was the last straw for me.
Well, I have run out of gas and my new ultra low carb diet does not allow me beans, so I will have to stoke up on cabbage, Brussels sprouts and other green fartables. Other candidates that are running will just have to be patient. In the interim, please consider the words of the renowned Kinky Friedman who, when he announced that he was running for governor of TX, asked, “How hard can it be?”
For the record, I am currently re-reading "On the Road" and "A Child's Garden of Grass" with "Blackwater" on deck.
Hey, get over it! This is bloviation, satire, silliness, and pontification (I get to pontificate because I was abused, I mean raised, as a Roman Catholic – I lost my religion at puberty, however). Man, some of my best friends are Texans…no, really!!! If I tried to name them all I’d be sure to forget someone. So suffice it to say that they run the gamut from A to Z and hail form Texas itself to Kenya, India, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Ohio, Louisiana, Iraq, Lebanon, California, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, as well as three other RIers (including another Woonsocket Rocket). Hope I didn't leave out a state.
More great things about TX: Austin Land & Cattle; Barbara Jordan; Texas Western beating Kentucky way back when; Earl Campbell; Buddy Holly; the Flatlanders; karst topography; kolaches in West (by far the best); Amy’s Ice Creams (she did learn the trade from Steve Harrell in Northampton MA); Hoover’s (oh, man those smothered pork chops on Saturdays with green beans, okra with tomatoes, iced tea and buttermilk pie are a death row denizen’s dream of a last meal before they stick it to her/him); Big Bend; following Cousin Jack through Beaumont, Houston, Austin, Fredericksburg, Ozona, Van Horn and El Paso (did not get to sleep on the ridge shelf, though); steak; gorditas and tamales at the Little Diner in Canutillo (even though I had to sit beneath a photo of W); sitting in John Maddens chair at Chuy’s in Van Horn (no kidding – check it out!!); dodging deer on I-10 west of San Antonio and east of Fort Stockton; steak; El Mercado and the Riverwalk in San Antonio; armadillos; Willie Nelson; steak; enchiladas pipian; brisket; Dublin Doctor Pepper; steak; Mexican Coca Cola; and the best company head honchos I have ever worked for. Again, mea culpa. And Janis and SRV, of course.
Since kszyman asked such good questions (see comments), I decided to place my responses in the main blog as well as blather on some:
(1) Now that Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy Giuliani (NYC’s famous fire truck chaser, opportunist DA – see “The Five Families” book for details – and 9/11 liar) God is on Rudy's team and he (Rudy, not God) will need no more new money. Pat will change slot machine slugs into cash at Rudy's next fund-raiser (Rudy will wear the latest Donna Karan business ensemble). I do not harbor any bad vibes about lapsed Roman Catholics who do not attend Mass, especially those who support gay rights and a woman’s right to control all aspects of her own body and soul. So said, I have a problem with Rudy’s penchant for lying, exaggerating, claiming credit for others work (see “The Five Families”) and what he calls his constant praying to God and Jesus. This phony God stuff dripping from candidates’ lips must stop. In Rudy’s case, if you pray to someone or something but do not attend your professed mythology’s gatherings nor attend to its dogma, you are a hypocrite. (That goes for me, also)
(2) Mitt Romney’s hair is just too perfect and he is far too metrosexual for me. And, of course, he exhibits more religious and political hypocrisy. When in MA, Mitt professed gay rights and women’s choice. Hey, when in Rome (no that’s Athens actually)…Now Mitt seems to have been brainwashed (the apple doesn’t fall far from the supermarket shelf) and become a born again Latter Day Saint. He’s a Saul becoming a Paul or George I becoming a religious right stooge. Either way, he’s another hypocrite, but just too cute. I prefer the jowly Richardson, goofy Huckleberry (oops, Huckabee), or alien Kucinich look.
(3) Alas, I have not read Obama's book, so unlike an idiot such as Bill O'Reilly I do not have a stupid opinion to express. Hey, I was in a Hungarian restaurant a couple of weeks ago and darned if the people there spoke English like they were born here.
While I am making fun of the above magnificent intellects, let me dispense with other pretenders to the throne.
(1) Hillary Clinton: too W-like for me and too willing to attack some distant country to show she’s just one of the guys.
(2) Duncan Hunter: what a wack job.
(3) Mike Huckabee: a goofball and an ordained minister to boot (hey, I am one also - minister, that is - and all it takes is responding to the ad in the back of Rolling Stone or High Times).
(4) Dennis Kucinich: as far to the left as he is and as much as I agree with him on just about every issue, there is something about him that bewilders me. Not the UFO thing – Barry Goldwater saw them and he is regarded as a saint by the rapturous right – but it is his being so out of touch with humor. Bill Maher gave him several softballs to hit and Cleveland’s finest Roman Catholic Slav didn’t even swing. Very disappointing, and he plays the God card way too much.
(5) Mike Gravel: despite the fact that he and I went to Assumption College in Worcester, MA (20 some odd years apart) and that he speaks the truth, he does so only because he cannot win.
(6) Barack Obama: talks a spectacular game. His 2004 Democratic convention address had even Republicans mesmerized. But, his congressional record is weaker than either John Kennedy’s or John Kerry’s. I must say that it is far better than W’s pre-Governor of TX resume (W being Gov in TX was actually an uncredited and unintentional homage to Governor William J. Le Petomane in “Blazing Saddles.” Look up Le Petomane and learn what the name means!).
(7) Ron Paul: He is truthful, honest and certainly respects the Constitution (unlike any of the other elephantine candidates). Despite his claims to be a Libertarian, he is running as a Republican and his voting record, while not as dangerous as Hunter, clearly labels him as suspect.
(8) John McCain: His 2004 kiss on W’s cheek was the last straw for me.
Well, I have run out of gas and my new ultra low carb diet does not allow me beans, so I will have to stoke up on cabbage, Brussels sprouts and other green fartables. Other candidates that are running will just have to be patient. In the interim, please consider the words of the renowned Kinky Friedman who, when he announced that he was running for governor of TX, asked, “How hard can it be?”
For the record, I am currently re-reading "On the Road" and "A Child's Garden of Grass" with "Blackwater" on deck.
15 comments:
Blazing Saddles is my all-time favorite movie to the point where I have memorized most of the dialogue. I appreciate your telling me to look up Le Petomane because I did not know what it referred to and thanks to you, now I do. However, I seriously doubt this character (and you may remember that Mel Brooks deliberately played him cross-eyed) was a a satire on W as the Texas gov. Blazing Saddles opened in 1974 and at that time I think W was still hiding behind his mother's apron strings, even though the war had ended and Saigon still fell, and was not the gov. Still, your vast cranial warehouse of info is impressive.
I also would not to refer to anyone from your roots as a Woonsocket Rocket. A term more like Shlocket is a better fit. You talk about surviving being a Catholic. I suggest you include surviving Woonsocket which is no mean feat given how intellectually and socially crippling the place was and still is.
Manny,
Do you think that I am an idiot? W is an unwitting copy of Le Petomane, not Le Petomane a parody of W. Re-read Mea Culpa!!! I disagree about Woonsocket as crippling - teachers such as Crowley, McCooey, Schooley and Kwasnicki (did I get that correct?) actually challenged me to to rise above the usual acceptable mediocrity; others such as Houle and McKinnon were disasters in the classroom, spewing all sorts of rot, lies and propaganda, but, nonetheless, inspired me to learn more so that I could make their heads spin. McKinnon sent me to the "office" because I couldn't refute Marx's religion as opium statement, telling him that I couldn't because it was true. Made me the curmudgeon I am today.
Crowley - Once he decided you weren't an idiot he was a great teacher and he wouldn't be condescending, but getting him to that point wasn't easy.
McCooey - Cardboard-like personality but a very good teacher.
Kwasnicki - Tons of personality and deserves your praise. A great teacher.
Houle - I concur. A disaster.
McKinnon - Not much better than Houle but he liked me because I was just about the only player on the football squad whose report card elicited praise from him.
Who is Schooley? I won't go into how many rotten teachers there were and how limited and almost useless the curriculum was. Woonsocket is an intellectually stifling experience because of the lack of finances and interest to deliver good, college-bound high school students (and there were just a handful of them) the proper tools, not to mention the provincial and heavy Catholic attitude about everybody and everything. I owe my (limited) success in life to the fact that I took it upon myself to design and implement my education OUTSIDE of the public school system. I suspect you acted in a somewhat like manner. Had I not done that, I might have become a mill rat at Hanora. Or worse.
Glad you became a curmudgeon from all of this. Makes you more likable.
Why do I think other bloggers are not amused by any of what we discuss and may actually be bored with it?
Manny,
Because we are boring...
colbert gravel kucinich paul nader [conyers?] united for truth elicit fear smear blacklist.
honesty compassion intelligence guts...
ryanetc.,
nice Irish name - remember from Blazing Saddles: "We'll take the n...s and the c...s, but no Irish." They let my greatgreatgrandpappy Sweeney from Cork in anyway. I was never any good with riddles, so I won't attempt a snappy reparte to your comment. If you were from La Ville du Nord you would understand my lack of mental faculties beyond rote memorization of my Baltimore catechism. "Who made us? Dog made us. Why did Dog make us? Dog needed a best friend." I am also lesdyxic when I get tired.
michaelpatricksullivan
bornnaples/napoli
web 2.0
better to burn out than to fade away
ballad of the uss titanic
meds by placebo
Napoli Irish,
THEY WOULDN'T LET JACK JOHNSON ON BOARD, THEY SAID THIS SHIP DON'T HAUL NO COAL. FARE THEE WELL TITANIC, FARE THEE WELL.
Now I get it!
I remember that manic Titanic song about Jack Johnson the "Negro Pugilist." Many lines about a rope made of hemp. "He'd look at the captain. He'd look at me. He'd look at the captain. He'd look at me. What's up captian? I'm a mile high!" Or something like that. Real manic. Heard it on the old format of WBCN when it was good and Maxanne was a DJ. Forgot who recorded it. He sounded like he was a bif time druggie. Jamie something-or-other?
...gonna make rope no more!
very rare
saw j brocket under your music...
one of my old rare fav songs
do you think ross perot will speak out in the next week? could be.
colbert gravel kucinich paul nader carter [conyers?] united for truth elicit fear smear blacklist.
honesty compassion intelligence guts...
AHA! Jaime Brockett it is. Thank you! Further research yields that Brockett was from Worcester, where rhode island yankee spent a lot, perhaps too much, time. Also yielded that I got the lyrics wrong, too. No wonder rhode island yankee could quote the chorus correctly. That song had totally slipped through my 60s musical cranial cracks.
well then the late great harry chapin - dogtown! ++++++
Saw Brockett in Cambridge (???) in early 70s (I think); Chapin in Bowling Green KY in 74 maybe. And what will (would) H. Ross say?
Manny: I was in Woonsocket today to visit relatives [drove by your old abode]. Alas,Box Seats has changed name and hands. Food not as good, but excellent Oregon beer on tap.
Off to Greyhound City tomorrow.
h ross can expose the filth from inside -
My old abode was built in 1923 and was owned by my family up until 2002. Neighborhood has gone downhill quite a bit since I left long ago. I understand the elementary school up the street from your original home has been converted into condos. Knew about the Box Seats change and heard exactly what you said about that. As our friend Murphey would say, "If it's good, they'll stop making it."
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