Political idiocy is one thing. Moral idiocy is quite another:
'Paedophilia is natural and normal for males' - Telegraph
This writer was never a big fan of comic books after the age of about 12 years old. And then the preferred comics were something like "Our Army At War" or "Sad Sack." Times have very much changed. It seems that Archie Andrews of the Archie comic books was killed protecting his gay anti-gun friend, and Thor has suddenly turned into a female called, "Thor."
Now, here's the question. Why have not the writers of the "Archie" comic books not have done something as edgy as having Veronica having an abortion after having been knocked up by Jughead or the principal of Riverdale High? Could it be that, because of the current tolerance of gays (about 1.5 to 3.0 percent of the general population) is a lot more easy to deal with instead of than difficult issues? Just imagine Veronica laying on a surgical table having an abortion as compared to Archie's friend being gay and anti-gun. The difference is what one decides to do as opposed to what one says one is.
Regarding Thor. In Old Norse mythology Thor was considered a bit of a dope with a lot of strength. He was the farmers' god. If Marvel wants to make Thor a woman instead of a man, that's their business, but they make themselves look very silly.
The Western world has gone on a fast track to not a very good place. We just don't recognize it because the path is shiny and seems clean.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Well, One's Musical Tastes are Really Pretty Subjective, But the Mando is Da Kine
This writer, while not being a professional writer and not particularly educated in writing, realizes when he has written a bad piece of writing. The last post by this writer was a bad piece for one main reason. It was unfocussed. While the topic of the mandolin may have seen as the focus, the actual focus should have been what the mandolin is and can do and is an often ignored instrument.
Having said that, your faithful correspondent would like to put forth the idea that classical piece do have to be played on violin to sound good.
Not everybody can play the violin in the classical style, especially nowadays when one measures one's self against a Midori or Heifetz via YouTube.
But, really, the violin is not really all that. There are several instruments that are not considered "class" instruments that can play the Western canon as well has violins and such.
Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s John Sebastian presented a number of classical musicians with a recording and asked those musicians what the instrument in the recording was. Some of the musicians said that it was an oboe and others said that it was a violin. The instrument was, in fact, a chromatic harmonica.
Here's an example of Bach's Air on a G string played on a chromatic harmonica:
▶ Bach - Air on the G String - YouTube
There is, in the above example, no string involved.
Unfortunately, there has been no readily available version of the piece done on the mandolin simply because all to many mandolinists have fallen into the "hard pick" school of playing. They'd present the piece much better using match book covers as plectrums than hard picks like bluegrass players use.
This following piece does well on a mandolin simply because the player realizes the strengths and weaknesses of the mandolin. And just a note: your faithful correspondent, for some reason, for all too a long a time, thought that this piece was called Taco Bell's Cannon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNcsyvEIzpo
A lot of mandolinists and harmoncaist really don't quite know what to do with classical music because the wider culture demands bluegrass, blues or rock. And that's pretty sad because they have limited themselves.
There is, despite what the politically correct crowd say, a Western canon of music that goes beyond the nonsense that is played on the radio and that is far more complicated and rewarding than Asian or Middle Eastern music.
The following two examples need no comment except that one is hard pressed to imagine that such music being created in Asia or the Middle East:
Air on a G String Original Instruments
Canon in D: Pachelbel
And just to show that that we at Bloody Nib Manor aren't awful snobs, consider this old thing from he 1930s. It's a great mando piece:
▶ Skillet Lickers-Hawkins Rag-1934 - YouTube
Having said that, your faithful correspondent would like to put forth the idea that classical piece do have to be played on violin to sound good.
Not everybody can play the violin in the classical style, especially nowadays when one measures one's self against a Midori or Heifetz via YouTube.
But, really, the violin is not really all that. There are several instruments that are not considered "class" instruments that can play the Western canon as well has violins and such.
Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s John Sebastian presented a number of classical musicians with a recording and asked those musicians what the instrument in the recording was. Some of the musicians said that it was an oboe and others said that it was a violin. The instrument was, in fact, a chromatic harmonica.
Here's an example of Bach's Air on a G string played on a chromatic harmonica:
▶ Bach - Air on the G String - YouTube
There is, in the above example, no string involved.
Unfortunately, there has been no readily available version of the piece done on the mandolin simply because all to many mandolinists have fallen into the "hard pick" school of playing. They'd present the piece much better using match book covers as plectrums than hard picks like bluegrass players use.
This following piece does well on a mandolin simply because the player realizes the strengths and weaknesses of the mandolin. And just a note: your faithful correspondent, for some reason, for all too a long a time, thought that this piece was called Taco Bell's Cannon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNcsyvEIzpo
A lot of mandolinists and harmoncaist really don't quite know what to do with classical music because the wider culture demands bluegrass, blues or rock. And that's pretty sad because they have limited themselves.
There is, despite what the politically correct crowd say, a Western canon of music that goes beyond the nonsense that is played on the radio and that is far more complicated and rewarding than Asian or Middle Eastern music.
The following two examples need no comment except that one is hard pressed to imagine that such music being created in Asia or the Middle East:
Air on a G String Original Instruments
Canon in D: Pachelbel
And just to show that that we at Bloody Nib Manor aren't awful snobs, consider this old thing from he 1930s. It's a great mando piece:
▶ Skillet Lickers-Hawkins Rag-1934 - YouTube
Sunday, February 09, 2014
An Ode to the Mandolin
Those who have visited Bloody Nib Manor have probably noticed that there are a number of musical instruments laying around the shack. Some are played and some just showed up in the middle of the night, the piano being the main example of an instrument that has become a form of furniture and a place to put dust collectors. There are three guitars (one inherited from the late Baroness Masako, mother of Lady Nib, one belonging to Lady Nib, and one, the cheapest, belonging to this writer), a couple of ukuleles, a half dozen harmonicas, a quiver of tin whistles, and, most important for this article, three mandolins. One of the mandolins is of the old Neapolitan bowl back style, one is of the old Army-Navy skillet style, and the third is a cheap reproduction of the Lloyd Loar Gibson A model.
Of all these instruments the most important and most pleasing for your faithful correspondent are the mandolins. The mandolin was this writer's first musical instrument. He took lessons, at the age of about thirteen from an old Italian man who was primarily a violinist who also was the conductor of the Palos Verdes Symphony back in the 1960s. At this time the guitar, especially the electric guitar was in the ascendant and the mandolin was considered an ethnic instrument outside of areas of the South, where it was considered a bluegrass/hillbilly instrument. This writer, was, in a sense, out of time and out of place. But who knows what makes people like certain instruments and certain types of music?
To get to the point, let's look at a bit of history of the mandolin, its music and how it is under-appreciated.
The mandolin as we know it came to it's final form in the 1720s. The mandolin is really not much more than a violin that is plucked instead of bowed. A mandolin can play music written for the violin and a violin can play music written for the mandolin. The mandolin family has several members: the mandolin, the mandola (a plucked version of the viola), the mando-cello (the plucked version of a cello) and the mando-bass (the plucked version of the bass violin). There is also the piccolo mandolin, which is rarely heard because it's really a freak. The thing called an Irish Bouzuki is really a form of mandola.
The original shape was the bowl back or Neapolitan (or "tater bug") mandolin. The sound of those instruments, while loud, is also mellow. The later developments of the instrument resulted in "flat back" mandolins that were cheaper to make while being louder. The most popular models in the U.S. are now the Loar A model (a flatback with a teardrop shaped body) and the Loar F model (a flatback with a scroll shape on the right side that is often used in bluegrass music).
Vivaldi wrote pieces especially for the mandolin, and many Bach pieces translate well to playing by the mandolin:
Prelude from Partita No.3 BWV1006 - J.S. Bach - Mandolin - YouTube
For much of the 18th and 19th centuries the mandolin was considered the normal plucked instrument in Western Europe and the United States. The Spanish guitar was still in development and the English guitar (also known as the lute) was considered as old fashioned as the sackbut. The default stringed instrument at the time was the violin, but the mandolin came in a close second and was played by those who could not master the bowing technique or because who wanted to play an instrument that had a livelier sound than the fiddle. The mandolin, because of it's loud voice, was especially suited to small bands. It was also more portable than the violin (no bow and rosin required) and it was popular among sailors during the age of sail and among cowboys (that bit with Gene Autry or Roy Rodgers playing a guitar as an old West cowboy is inaccurate. A mandolin could be much more easily be carried on horseback than a guitar. Also, the guitar at that time, in the U.S., meant the parlour guitar, which was considered a instrument suited for women). The mandolin got to the U.S. before the great Italian migration to the U.S. in the 1880s/1890s, but the infusion of Italians brought a different dimension to mandolin playing in the U.S. The old joke in New York was that if one wanted to learn the mandolin all one would have to do was go to a barber shop because all barbers were Italian and all Italians played the mandolin.
From about 1890 to 1920 was the golden age for the mandolin in the U.S. There were amateur and professional mandolin bands and orchestras all across the U.S. The mandolin was used in recordings instead of the guitar because of it's ability to play loudly for mechanical recordings. The mandolin had become a mainstream instrument, but things went south for our little friend with the advent of electric recording and the idea that a guitar had more nuances than the mando. And the poor thing was banished to the ethnic hinterlands of Italian and bluegrass and old time music:
The Godfather Theme
Eskimo Waltz
Hawkins Rag
Never On Sunday
Actually, the last of the above is Greek and was originally written for bouzouki, but it plays as well on mandolin.
Later in the 20th century some Irishman decided that he wanted to play a mandola but didn't want to call his instrument a mandola (too Italian) and decided for some unknown reason to call it an Irish Bouzouki (flatback, unlike a real Greek bouzouki), and a form of mandolin took off again. Earlier Bill Monroe gave the mando a kickstart with his bluegrass music. But it's been a long time since a real mandolin master like the late Dave Appolon was on the popular music scene. Evan Marshall and Dave Grishman come close, but neither of them have the subtlety in style to make the mandolin sound anything other than nervous. The Italians and Portuguese and Japanese continue to develop the mandolin in ways that the Americans don't. They see it, as we all should, as an all round instrument with as much variety of styles and nuance as the guitar or piano. It's all in the training and technique. A mandolin is as capable, in the hands of a master, of caressing the listener as it is barking; it can cry as well as a violin and make one want to dance as much as a fiddle.
The mandolin is a great little instrument that has long been neglected for anything but folk and ethnic music, and the world is worse off for the neglect. This writer is not one of those boneheads who thinks that music will save the world, but he does believe that music will make the trip down to anarchy or dictatorship a lot more comfortable. And the mandolin is the best little wooden friend one can have during a rough time.
Of all these instruments the most important and most pleasing for your faithful correspondent are the mandolins. The mandolin was this writer's first musical instrument. He took lessons, at the age of about thirteen from an old Italian man who was primarily a violinist who also was the conductor of the Palos Verdes Symphony back in the 1960s. At this time the guitar, especially the electric guitar was in the ascendant and the mandolin was considered an ethnic instrument outside of areas of the South, where it was considered a bluegrass/hillbilly instrument. This writer, was, in a sense, out of time and out of place. But who knows what makes people like certain instruments and certain types of music?
To get to the point, let's look at a bit of history of the mandolin, its music and how it is under-appreciated.
The mandolin as we know it came to it's final form in the 1720s. The mandolin is really not much more than a violin that is plucked instead of bowed. A mandolin can play music written for the violin and a violin can play music written for the mandolin. The mandolin family has several members: the mandolin, the mandola (a plucked version of the viola), the mando-cello (the plucked version of a cello) and the mando-bass (the plucked version of the bass violin). There is also the piccolo mandolin, which is rarely heard because it's really a freak. The thing called an Irish Bouzuki is really a form of mandola.
The original shape was the bowl back or Neapolitan (or "tater bug") mandolin. The sound of those instruments, while loud, is also mellow. The later developments of the instrument resulted in "flat back" mandolins that were cheaper to make while being louder. The most popular models in the U.S. are now the Loar A model (a flatback with a teardrop shaped body) and the Loar F model (a flatback with a scroll shape on the right side that is often used in bluegrass music).
Vivaldi wrote pieces especially for the mandolin, and many Bach pieces translate well to playing by the mandolin:
Prelude from Partita No.3 BWV1006 - J.S. Bach - Mandolin - YouTube
For much of the 18th and 19th centuries the mandolin was considered the normal plucked instrument in Western Europe and the United States. The Spanish guitar was still in development and the English guitar (also known as the lute) was considered as old fashioned as the sackbut. The default stringed instrument at the time was the violin, but the mandolin came in a close second and was played by those who could not master the bowing technique or because who wanted to play an instrument that had a livelier sound than the fiddle. The mandolin, because of it's loud voice, was especially suited to small bands. It was also more portable than the violin (no bow and rosin required) and it was popular among sailors during the age of sail and among cowboys (that bit with Gene Autry or Roy Rodgers playing a guitar as an old West cowboy is inaccurate. A mandolin could be much more easily be carried on horseback than a guitar. Also, the guitar at that time, in the U.S., meant the parlour guitar, which was considered a instrument suited for women). The mandolin got to the U.S. before the great Italian migration to the U.S. in the 1880s/1890s, but the infusion of Italians brought a different dimension to mandolin playing in the U.S. The old joke in New York was that if one wanted to learn the mandolin all one would have to do was go to a barber shop because all barbers were Italian and all Italians played the mandolin.
From about 1890 to 1920 was the golden age for the mandolin in the U.S. There were amateur and professional mandolin bands and orchestras all across the U.S. The mandolin was used in recordings instead of the guitar because of it's ability to play loudly for mechanical recordings. The mandolin had become a mainstream instrument, but things went south for our little friend with the advent of electric recording and the idea that a guitar had more nuances than the mando. And the poor thing was banished to the ethnic hinterlands of Italian and bluegrass and old time music:
The Godfather Theme
Eskimo Waltz
Hawkins Rag
Never On Sunday
Actually, the last of the above is Greek and was originally written for bouzouki, but it plays as well on mandolin.
Later in the 20th century some Irishman decided that he wanted to play a mandola but didn't want to call his instrument a mandola (too Italian) and decided for some unknown reason to call it an Irish Bouzouki (flatback, unlike a real Greek bouzouki), and a form of mandolin took off again. Earlier Bill Monroe gave the mando a kickstart with his bluegrass music. But it's been a long time since a real mandolin master like the late Dave Appolon was on the popular music scene. Evan Marshall and Dave Grishman come close, but neither of them have the subtlety in style to make the mandolin sound anything other than nervous. The Italians and Portuguese and Japanese continue to develop the mandolin in ways that the Americans don't. They see it, as we all should, as an all round instrument with as much variety of styles and nuance as the guitar or piano. It's all in the training and technique. A mandolin is as capable, in the hands of a master, of caressing the listener as it is barking; it can cry as well as a violin and make one want to dance as much as a fiddle.
The mandolin is a great little instrument that has long been neglected for anything but folk and ethnic music, and the world is worse off for the neglect. This writer is not one of those boneheads who thinks that music will save the world, but he does believe that music will make the trip down to anarchy or dictatorship a lot more comfortable. And the mandolin is the best little wooden friend one can have during a rough time.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Back Again! Unfortunately For You
It's been almost a year since this writer's last blog post.
There are two reasons for this hiatus. The first is that your faithful correspondent is a lazy man by nature and finds that writing is hard work. To paraphrase Hemingway, a blank page is like facing a white fighting bull while holding nothing more than an idea and pen. Who needs that? That's work. The second reason is because a promise had been made previously that the blog posts would be more upbeat and less critical of the international situation than they had been. But over the past near year we here at Nib Manor have looked in vain for a world getting better in those things that concern us. In other words, we have tried and been found wanting. The ever-lovely Lady Nib has spent countless hours on her fainting couch clutching a bottle of smelling salts after reading the news and such looking for the uplifting.
So it appears that yours truly will have to take the prerogative of the nobility and the politician (being of the former and disdaining the latter) and break his promise to be a Sunny Sam. Life is good, but there are a lot of dark and evil portions of the world that go unremarked by our media lords.
But to prevent the impression that this writer thinks it's a good idea to throw the unsuspecting into the deep end of the cesspool, we'll start with something that has been addressed in several previous posts and is pretty light. The topic will be: Cheap Musical Instruments!
Those who know this writer know that he has no musical talent whatsoever. But he keeps trying. After a childhood spent studying the mandolin (not bluegrass mandolin, but American popular music style mandolin) he decided that perhaps instruments such as the harmonica, the pennywhistle or the ukulele may be the vehicles to financial riches. None of those turned out very well and his carer on the music hall stage went up in flames like a Pinto at a petrol station. The mangled chords of 1920s ukulele songs, bad imitations of the Harmonicats and tin whistle versions of "English Garden" still cause the hounds to howl and Lady Nib to stuff cotton waste into her ears. But hope springs eternal (or infernal, depending on your point of view {or what you can hear}).
Music is one of those things a bit like golf. You can't buy a game or talent. But if you've got the game or the talent you can get by with either K-Mart golf clubs or an $80.00 guitar. The player makes the tool work for him. The intonation may be a bit off (in the case of guitars, dulcimers or ukes) or the balance may be a bit off for golf clubs or horse shoes, but the person who has the talent or persistence can get much more out of a cheap instrument than a person with an expensive instrument without the talent or willingness to put in the hard work. One of the most entertaining guitarists the writer has seen in person was a guy playing on the Redondo Beach pier. His guitar was cheap and it looked like it had been sat upon by a very fat person; the sound board was almost like a bowl. But they man overcame the limits of the instrument because he knew the instrument.
Having written that, while one can get by with a cheap instrument, one really can't get buy with a rotten and bad instrument. Recently this writer bought a Hohner Old Standby Harmonica. In the past the Old Standby was Hohner's second level diatonic harmonica behind the Marine Band. It was a pretty good harp and was actually favored by some professional harp players over the Marine Band because the reeds were easier to bend. Apparently now Hohner has decided that the Old Stanby is a toy harmonica dedicated to putting any young and aspiring harmonicist off the instrument. The particular harmonica in question not only had a stuck draw reed (which was soon corrected after a bit of investigation and fiddling) but at least three reeds were way out of tune. Nobody who is not willing or not knowledgeable about the mechanics of harmonicas could play a decent tune with the thing unless it was some strange Central Asian musical scale.
The point is that Hohner has really let harmonica players down by allowing this thing out of the factory in China. And it's not a matter of the thing being now made in China instead of Germany. The Chinese take harmonicas more seriously than Americans. They teach harmonica in schools. They know what is and is not a decent harmonica. Allowing this thing out of the factory is almost criminal for the simple reason that few people who want to take up a musical instrument are really interested in spending a lot of money before they decide whether or not they like playing or have a talent or are willing to put in the work for the instrument. A Marine Band costs about $30.00. A Special 20 costs more. An Old Standby costs between $10.00 and $15.00. All are cheap compared to buying a guitar or drum set, but to use the golf analogy, if one buys a set of clubs that have shafts so bent that they look like something from a Three Stooges bit it is unlikely that the aspiring harmonicist will progress beyond an out of tune version of Hot Cross Buns.
This writer has played $20.00 ukuleles that sound okay and $6.00 tin whistles that were in tune. Why cannot Hohner get out a modern version of their previous second level harp that is in tune and doesn't have stuck reeds. It makes one what to start playing the bones or the spoons.
There are two reasons for this hiatus. The first is that your faithful correspondent is a lazy man by nature and finds that writing is hard work. To paraphrase Hemingway, a blank page is like facing a white fighting bull while holding nothing more than an idea and pen. Who needs that? That's work. The second reason is because a promise had been made previously that the blog posts would be more upbeat and less critical of the international situation than they had been. But over the past near year we here at Nib Manor have looked in vain for a world getting better in those things that concern us. In other words, we have tried and been found wanting. The ever-lovely Lady Nib has spent countless hours on her fainting couch clutching a bottle of smelling salts after reading the news and such looking for the uplifting.
So it appears that yours truly will have to take the prerogative of the nobility and the politician (being of the former and disdaining the latter) and break his promise to be a Sunny Sam. Life is good, but there are a lot of dark and evil portions of the world that go unremarked by our media lords.
But to prevent the impression that this writer thinks it's a good idea to throw the unsuspecting into the deep end of the cesspool, we'll start with something that has been addressed in several previous posts and is pretty light. The topic will be: Cheap Musical Instruments!
Those who know this writer know that he has no musical talent whatsoever. But he keeps trying. After a childhood spent studying the mandolin (not bluegrass mandolin, but American popular music style mandolin) he decided that perhaps instruments such as the harmonica, the pennywhistle or the ukulele may be the vehicles to financial riches. None of those turned out very well and his carer on the music hall stage went up in flames like a Pinto at a petrol station. The mangled chords of 1920s ukulele songs, bad imitations of the Harmonicats and tin whistle versions of "English Garden" still cause the hounds to howl and Lady Nib to stuff cotton waste into her ears. But hope springs eternal (or infernal, depending on your point of view {or what you can hear}).
Music is one of those things a bit like golf. You can't buy a game or talent. But if you've got the game or the talent you can get by with either K-Mart golf clubs or an $80.00 guitar. The player makes the tool work for him. The intonation may be a bit off (in the case of guitars, dulcimers or ukes) or the balance may be a bit off for golf clubs or horse shoes, but the person who has the talent or persistence can get much more out of a cheap instrument than a person with an expensive instrument without the talent or willingness to put in the hard work. One of the most entertaining guitarists the writer has seen in person was a guy playing on the Redondo Beach pier. His guitar was cheap and it looked like it had been sat upon by a very fat person; the sound board was almost like a bowl. But they man overcame the limits of the instrument because he knew the instrument.
Having written that, while one can get by with a cheap instrument, one really can't get buy with a rotten and bad instrument. Recently this writer bought a Hohner Old Standby Harmonica. In the past the Old Standby was Hohner's second level diatonic harmonica behind the Marine Band. It was a pretty good harp and was actually favored by some professional harp players over the Marine Band because the reeds were easier to bend. Apparently now Hohner has decided that the Old Stanby is a toy harmonica dedicated to putting any young and aspiring harmonicist off the instrument. The particular harmonica in question not only had a stuck draw reed (which was soon corrected after a bit of investigation and fiddling) but at least three reeds were way out of tune. Nobody who is not willing or not knowledgeable about the mechanics of harmonicas could play a decent tune with the thing unless it was some strange Central Asian musical scale.
The point is that Hohner has really let harmonica players down by allowing this thing out of the factory in China. And it's not a matter of the thing being now made in China instead of Germany. The Chinese take harmonicas more seriously than Americans. They teach harmonica in schools. They know what is and is not a decent harmonica. Allowing this thing out of the factory is almost criminal for the simple reason that few people who want to take up a musical instrument are really interested in spending a lot of money before they decide whether or not they like playing or have a talent or are willing to put in the work for the instrument. A Marine Band costs about $30.00. A Special 20 costs more. An Old Standby costs between $10.00 and $15.00. All are cheap compared to buying a guitar or drum set, but to use the golf analogy, if one buys a set of clubs that have shafts so bent that they look like something from a Three Stooges bit it is unlikely that the aspiring harmonicist will progress beyond an out of tune version of Hot Cross Buns.
This writer has played $20.00 ukuleles that sound okay and $6.00 tin whistles that were in tune. Why cannot Hohner get out a modern version of their previous second level harp that is in tune and doesn't have stuck reeds. It makes one what to start playing the bones or the spoons.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
In Defense of the Snuggie
How many times during your television watching time have you been subjected to an "As Seen on TV" commercial? By this is meant a commercial for a product that cannot be bought at the local store but that must be purchased via telephone.
These commercials usually feature a pitch by a famed pitch man like the late Billy Mays, or the still living Anthony Sullivan (Stick Buddy) or the odious Vince Offer (Shticky, Slap Chop).
One of the few commercials of this type is the commercial for the Snuggie. The Snuggie is basically a cheap fleece blanket with sleeves so that while one is "wearing" it one can hold a book or eat or sew or knit without taking one's arms out of the blanket.
The thing is made of cheap fabric and the labor involved in making it is minimal and it is probably over-priced. But the surprising thing is that it works and works well. It looks silly, but no more silly than the afghan that your aunt gave you for Christmas.
It's a great light blanket for the summer, even if one doesn't use the sleeves. It's a great extra blanket for cold weather. It's like wearing a second pyjama top.
The only mistakes that the company that produces the thing have made are the Camo Snuggie (really! are you going to camo yourself in the living room or take the thing on a camping trip?), the addition of the pocket (why?), and not offering the thing in a better fabric (a Hudson's Bay blanket with sleeves would not only be awfully warm, but also last a lifetime).
The Snuggie has been unfairly denigrated by the cool and the hip. It's a great thing that works. And the same thing can be said of the Brooklyn Lantern (not a great lantern for the wilderness, but a good light for an emergency).
These commercials usually feature a pitch by a famed pitch man like the late Billy Mays, or the still living Anthony Sullivan (Stick Buddy) or the odious Vince Offer (Shticky, Slap Chop).
One of the few commercials of this type is the commercial for the Snuggie. The Snuggie is basically a cheap fleece blanket with sleeves so that while one is "wearing" it one can hold a book or eat or sew or knit without taking one's arms out of the blanket.
The thing is made of cheap fabric and the labor involved in making it is minimal and it is probably over-priced. But the surprising thing is that it works and works well. It looks silly, but no more silly than the afghan that your aunt gave you for Christmas.
It's a great light blanket for the summer, even if one doesn't use the sleeves. It's a great extra blanket for cold weather. It's like wearing a second pyjama top.
The only mistakes that the company that produces the thing have made are the Camo Snuggie (really! are you going to camo yourself in the living room or take the thing on a camping trip?), the addition of the pocket (why?), and not offering the thing in a better fabric (a Hudson's Bay blanket with sleeves would not only be awfully warm, but also last a lifetime).
The Snuggie has been unfairly denigrated by the cool and the hip. It's a great thing that works. And the same thing can be said of the Brooklyn Lantern (not a great lantern for the wilderness, but a good light for an emergency).
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Gentlemen and Ladies Write Letters. Not E-mails.
If you have something sincere or serious to convey to someone and you cannot do it face-to-face it is much better to do so via a proper letter or note sent through the mail. And it should be hand-written:
The Art of Letter Writing | The Art of Manliness
Ditch the idea of wax seals or having to write in fountain pen. Those are affectations and a gentleman and a lady are never affected.
The Art of Letter Writing | The Art of Manliness
Ditch the idea of wax seals or having to write in fountain pen. Those are affectations and a gentleman and a lady are never affected.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Reformation of Manners
If one wishes for the reformation of manners in society one has to first address the reformation of manners for one's self.
The question arises as to how one is to reform one's self and what example or example one is to aspire to.
The answer is rather simple while being a bit complicated.
The "how" is answered by the word "study" followed by the word "act." Study those, both in history and literature who have exhibited the qualities of gentlemanliness and gentlewomanliness and learn from their actions, attitudes and examples. And then put those qualities into action in one's own life.
To be a gentleman or gentlewoman does not mean that one is a sucker or a sop. It means that, while may encounter others who do not measure up to one's standard of behaviour, one is never cruel or mocking to them while pointing out to that person that their behaviour is not quite up to snuff or even expressing disapproval. And sometimes bad behaviour by others demands a certain amount of violence on the part of the mannered person; a man beating a woman, a child, and old person, a dog, cat or horse deserves not only verbal condemnation, but a good thrashing. Part of a mannerly life is a concern for the weak.
A good reading of Jane Austen's novels and Anthony Trollope's novels give good examples of what manners should be. In both authors' works there are people who are often arch, but rarely cruel. The sentiments expressed by the heroes and heroines are always sincere, if occasionally mistaken. Wealth does not equal moral status. Education does not equal moral status.
Here's a short piece concerning the Victorian Gentleman that may be more illuminating:
http://artofmanliness.com/2012/11/06/honor-during-victorian-era/
The question arises as to how one is to reform one's self and what example or example one is to aspire to.
The answer is rather simple while being a bit complicated.
The "how" is answered by the word "study" followed by the word "act." Study those, both in history and literature who have exhibited the qualities of gentlemanliness and gentlewomanliness and learn from their actions, attitudes and examples. And then put those qualities into action in one's own life.
To be a gentleman or gentlewoman does not mean that one is a sucker or a sop. It means that, while may encounter others who do not measure up to one's standard of behaviour, one is never cruel or mocking to them while pointing out to that person that their behaviour is not quite up to snuff or even expressing disapproval. And sometimes bad behaviour by others demands a certain amount of violence on the part of the mannered person; a man beating a woman, a child, and old person, a dog, cat or horse deserves not only verbal condemnation, but a good thrashing. Part of a mannerly life is a concern for the weak.
A good reading of Jane Austen's novels and Anthony Trollope's novels give good examples of what manners should be. In both authors' works there are people who are often arch, but rarely cruel. The sentiments expressed by the heroes and heroines are always sincere, if occasionally mistaken. Wealth does not equal moral status. Education does not equal moral status.
Here's a short piece concerning the Victorian Gentleman that may be more illuminating:
http://artofmanliness.com/2012/11/06/honor-during-victorian-era/
Sunday, November 18, 2012
A New Direction
For all too long this writer has been ranting and raging about politics and International affairs.
To tell the truth, your faithful correspondent is just worn out with those topics. Politics is, really, a game of whores, and international affairs make no sense whatsoever; they are based on crassest of reasons.
Instead, in the future, we here at Bloody Nib Manor, will devote ourselves to the reform of manners, dress, behaviour and language.
The social life in the United States has become crass, crude, slovenly, mean and cruel. There is no reason for these qualities except that it makes one look cool. And the definition of what is cool is dictated by the mass media. Not so much by the print medium, but more by films, television and the Internet
This is not a good thing. In fact, it is destructive for both the individual and society. We are in an age where nice boy dress like thugs, nice girls dress like sluts, cheap irony is considered smart humour, being cruel to make a joke is accepted and conversation is just plain stupid and illiterate.
How many people actually talk in complete and proper sentences? How many people can carry on a conversation of more than three sentences (ill stated and relying on gestures more than words)?
This is not good. This is a result of a crudeness and self-absorption of a people.
To speak and write properly is the sign of a civilized person. To dress properly is a gift, not only to others, but also to one's self. If one dresses like a thug others can only assume that one is a thug and one has no business complaining that other people treat one like a thug. The same holds true for those who dress like sluts. If you are a woman who insists on showing a lot of cleavage or leg why are you offended when men spend more time looking at you breasts or thighs than looking at your face? To be kind and have manners, while often a chore, are both qualities that make life more pleasant for one's self and others. Why is it not a good thing to be a nice and proper person instead of a jerk? According to the mass media, being a jerk is a good thing.
So, let us get to the very basic thing in appearance. A man in public should wear a hat, or at least a cap. And if that man wears a caps he should wear it, in public, with the bill forward. Not backward and not sideways. And when said man wears a hat or cap on the street he should tip or remove his hat when encountering a woman (not just while walking down the street, but when actually meeting her), or when meeting a man he respects. Indoors he should remove his hat, as he should do when the National Anthem is played or a prayer said. A hat or cap, in a sense, by it's style, is a self definition of a man. A man chooses a hat based on his self-image and it is an immediate indicator for others of what kind of man he is. And it does so in a way much more immediate than baggy pants.
And women should wear hats for the same reason. They are not expected to tip their hats or remove their hats (this writer is old enough to remember when it was usual for women to wear hats at church services). Women have a lot more choices in hats than men do (the portrait hat, the cloche, the bonnet, etc.) and thus are much more able to define themselves, even their moods, than men do.
A hat is a sign of respect for others. When one removes one's hat for another one is showing respect in a way that the ejaculation "Was'up" doesn't.
One doesn't have to be educated or articulate to wear a hat. One only knows how one wishes to portray one's self in a way that is not offensive or threatening to others.
To tell the truth, your faithful correspondent is just worn out with those topics. Politics is, really, a game of whores, and international affairs make no sense whatsoever; they are based on crassest of reasons.
Instead, in the future, we here at Bloody Nib Manor, will devote ourselves to the reform of manners, dress, behaviour and language.
The social life in the United States has become crass, crude, slovenly, mean and cruel. There is no reason for these qualities except that it makes one look cool. And the definition of what is cool is dictated by the mass media. Not so much by the print medium, but more by films, television and the Internet
This is not a good thing. In fact, it is destructive for both the individual and society. We are in an age where nice boy dress like thugs, nice girls dress like sluts, cheap irony is considered smart humour, being cruel to make a joke is accepted and conversation is just plain stupid and illiterate.
How many people actually talk in complete and proper sentences? How many people can carry on a conversation of more than three sentences (ill stated and relying on gestures more than words)?
This is not good. This is a result of a crudeness and self-absorption of a people.
To speak and write properly is the sign of a civilized person. To dress properly is a gift, not only to others, but also to one's self. If one dresses like a thug others can only assume that one is a thug and one has no business complaining that other people treat one like a thug. The same holds true for those who dress like sluts. If you are a woman who insists on showing a lot of cleavage or leg why are you offended when men spend more time looking at you breasts or thighs than looking at your face? To be kind and have manners, while often a chore, are both qualities that make life more pleasant for one's self and others. Why is it not a good thing to be a nice and proper person instead of a jerk? According to the mass media, being a jerk is a good thing.
So, let us get to the very basic thing in appearance. A man in public should wear a hat, or at least a cap. And if that man wears a caps he should wear it, in public, with the bill forward. Not backward and not sideways. And when said man wears a hat or cap on the street he should tip or remove his hat when encountering a woman (not just while walking down the street, but when actually meeting her), or when meeting a man he respects. Indoors he should remove his hat, as he should do when the National Anthem is played or a prayer said. A hat or cap, in a sense, by it's style, is a self definition of a man. A man chooses a hat based on his self-image and it is an immediate indicator for others of what kind of man he is. And it does so in a way much more immediate than baggy pants.
And women should wear hats for the same reason. They are not expected to tip their hats or remove their hats (this writer is old enough to remember when it was usual for women to wear hats at church services). Women have a lot more choices in hats than men do (the portrait hat, the cloche, the bonnet, etc.) and thus are much more able to define themselves, even their moods, than men do.
A hat is a sign of respect for others. When one removes one's hat for another one is showing respect in a way that the ejaculation "Was'up" doesn't.
One doesn't have to be educated or articulate to wear a hat. One only knows how one wishes to portray one's self in a way that is not offensive or threatening to others.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
A Few Things
There are a few things that this past week's election has shown to those here at Bloody Nib Manor besides the fact that it's hard to win an election against a man who likes the populace believe that he is some sort of Santa Claus.
The first is that the conservative and Republican pundits were wrong in their predictions of the outcome of the election. Some of them were very wrong predicting a landslide for Mr. Romney. If memory serves the writer correctly, many of them were just a wrong in their predictions of the outcome of the 2008 election. The conservative pundits have let themselves consider "hope" as a data point. They hoped that Romney would win and added that hope as a source of weight in their opinions. They were almost universally wrong, and instead of hanging their heads in shame they have gone on the air, cable and in print making excuses instead of owning up to the fact that they read the pre-election polls through rose tinted glasses. They forgot that hope is not a strategy.
Secondly, many conservative and Republican opinioneers and commentators, in analyzing the reasons that the Republicans lost so badly among minorities, have latched onto the idea that the re-invigorization of the GOP lies with convincing Hispanics that they are "natural" Republicans and that all the GOP has to do to get the Latino vote is craft some sort of party crafted "immigration reform" that includes an amnesty for illegal aliens. The thinkers are wrong on two points. Latinos are not "natural" Republicans. They are "natural" Democrats. And an amnesty will not result in a migration by Hispanics to the Republican Party. What these thinkers seem to think most important is the success of the GOP instead of what is good for the nation, and they are willing to sell out their own principles to sit in the big chair. In this sense, they are becoming like the mainline Christian denominations that liberalized their stand on the Gospel and the Bible hoping to attract more worshippers and, instead, driving the true believers away, thus becoming almost Potemkin churches.
Victor Davis Hanson has an interesting take on this:
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/
Third, as one wit wrote this past week, "With this election the United States has become Sweden." In other words, the influence of the United states on world affairs will become greatly more diminished. Mr. Obama has shown himself to be a foreign affairs lightweight who appointed another foreign affairs lightweight to be Secretary of State. And once Mrs. Clinton pulls her freight in January it is pretty much assured that the replacement will be a lightweight. Mr. Obama seems to think that the UN is the future. And once the UN becomes the datum for United States foreign policy you will have an America whose foreign policy is directed by Third World socialists and Islamic Sharia mongers.
Melanie Phillips, from Great Britain, has a few thing to say on the matter:
America Goes Into Darkness
Fourthly and finally, passage of state measures in three states legalizing same-sex marriage, and in two states legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, shows that conservatives and Christians have done a bad job in arguing against both measures. Consider the fact the over 50% of Hispanics in the United States (those assumed "natural Republicans" and "family values" voters that conservative want to cater to) are in favor of same-sex marriage despite the fact that the church to which most of them are members is adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage. The common wisdom among some conservatives is that the argument against same-sex marriage cannot be made on religious grounds and should be made only on moral, societal and scientific grounds. The fact of the matter is that if there is no religion there are no morals. No morals make societies barbaric. Science has reduced the human to the level of an animal. There is also the argument that one must not be judgemental in arguing against same-sex marriage. That's nonsense. One judges every day. When one chose one's spouse one judged who was best for one. When one votes one judges. Even getting up in the morning requires judgement. But some reason one is not supposed to hurt another's feeling when the other is behaving in a socially destructive manner.
It is time for conservatives (and this word does not include all Republicans) to draw a line in the sand for the good of the nation. Winning is great. But if one has to sell one's soul to win one is nothing much more than a harlot. God will give the depraved over to their sins and the result may be that the nation will sink further into debt, immorality, insignificance internationally and loss of national identity, but there will be, if conservatives stand a strong stand for the idea that our Founders promoted, there will be a remnant who may be able to salvage the mess that has been made.
The first is that the conservative and Republican pundits were wrong in their predictions of the outcome of the election. Some of them were very wrong predicting a landslide for Mr. Romney. If memory serves the writer correctly, many of them were just a wrong in their predictions of the outcome of the 2008 election. The conservative pundits have let themselves consider "hope" as a data point. They hoped that Romney would win and added that hope as a source of weight in their opinions. They were almost universally wrong, and instead of hanging their heads in shame they have gone on the air, cable and in print making excuses instead of owning up to the fact that they read the pre-election polls through rose tinted glasses. They forgot that hope is not a strategy.
Secondly, many conservative and Republican opinioneers and commentators, in analyzing the reasons that the Republicans lost so badly among minorities, have latched onto the idea that the re-invigorization of the GOP lies with convincing Hispanics that they are "natural" Republicans and that all the GOP has to do to get the Latino vote is craft some sort of party crafted "immigration reform" that includes an amnesty for illegal aliens. The thinkers are wrong on two points. Latinos are not "natural" Republicans. They are "natural" Democrats. And an amnesty will not result in a migration by Hispanics to the Republican Party. What these thinkers seem to think most important is the success of the GOP instead of what is good for the nation, and they are willing to sell out their own principles to sit in the big chair. In this sense, they are becoming like the mainline Christian denominations that liberalized their stand on the Gospel and the Bible hoping to attract more worshippers and, instead, driving the true believers away, thus becoming almost Potemkin churches.
Victor Davis Hanson has an interesting take on this:
http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/
Third, as one wit wrote this past week, "With this election the United States has become Sweden." In other words, the influence of the United states on world affairs will become greatly more diminished. Mr. Obama has shown himself to be a foreign affairs lightweight who appointed another foreign affairs lightweight to be Secretary of State. And once Mrs. Clinton pulls her freight in January it is pretty much assured that the replacement will be a lightweight. Mr. Obama seems to think that the UN is the future. And once the UN becomes the datum for United States foreign policy you will have an America whose foreign policy is directed by Third World socialists and Islamic Sharia mongers.
Melanie Phillips, from Great Britain, has a few thing to say on the matter:
America Goes Into Darkness
Fourthly and finally, passage of state measures in three states legalizing same-sex marriage, and in two states legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, shows that conservatives and Christians have done a bad job in arguing against both measures. Consider the fact the over 50% of Hispanics in the United States (those assumed "natural Republicans" and "family values" voters that conservative want to cater to) are in favor of same-sex marriage despite the fact that the church to which most of them are members is adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage. The common wisdom among some conservatives is that the argument against same-sex marriage cannot be made on religious grounds and should be made only on moral, societal and scientific grounds. The fact of the matter is that if there is no religion there are no morals. No morals make societies barbaric. Science has reduced the human to the level of an animal. There is also the argument that one must not be judgemental in arguing against same-sex marriage. That's nonsense. One judges every day. When one chose one's spouse one judged who was best for one. When one votes one judges. Even getting up in the morning requires judgement. But some reason one is not supposed to hurt another's feeling when the other is behaving in a socially destructive manner.
It is time for conservatives (and this word does not include all Republicans) to draw a line in the sand for the good of the nation. Winning is great. But if one has to sell one's soul to win one is nothing much more than a harlot. God will give the depraved over to their sins and the result may be that the nation will sink further into debt, immorality, insignificance internationally and loss of national identity, but there will be, if conservatives stand a strong stand for the idea that our Founders promoted, there will be a remnant who may be able to salvage the mess that has been made.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Links Round-Up
Just five links:
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ltZjuRap
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/halifax-woman-denied-religious-vanity-plate-094922254.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/12333#.UISPb3ZAZmY
http://www.alternativeright.com/main/blogs/euro-centric/generation-identitaire-s-war-takes-shape/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219769/A-Christian-demoted-job-posting-opposition-gay-marriages-Facebook-taken-employer-court.html
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ltZjuRap
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/halifax-woman-denied-religious-vanity-plate-094922254.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/12333#.UISPb3ZAZmY
http://www.alternativeright.com/main/blogs/euro-centric/generation-identitaire-s-war-takes-shape/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219769/A-Christian-demoted-job-posting-opposition-gay-marriages-Facebook-taken-employer-court.html
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Inter-Faith Nonsense
Occasionally one hears talk about "Interfaith dialogue." There was a time when, in the U.S. and Europe, this meant "dialogue" between Christians and Jews and among the various Christian denominations.
Nowadays it means talks between Christians and Muslims after something has happened that hurts or angers the Muslims. And the dialogue usually consists of Christian "leaders" apologizing to Muslims because, let's face it, Christians are just a bunch of jerks. Everybody knows that Christians are jerks because Christian "leaders" say they are. It's really surprising that said Christian "leaders" don't resign their positions of leadership or leave the faith because Christians and Christianity are just so jerky. Who, in their right mind, would want to be associated with that bunch or louts?
Well, here's the deal. Those "leaders" who engage in dialogue with Muslims are either foolish or dishonest or not even Christian. In talking to Muslims about religion there is absolutely no common ground between Christians and Muslims. It would be like having an inter-faith "dialogue" with Pagans, Hindus or Buddhists. There is no shared faith. None at all. To try to have an interfaith dialogue with Muslims is like trying to alloy iron with aluminum. It just doesn't work.
What "interfaith dialogue" really means is that a group of politically and theologically Christians (and some of them are barely Christian, others not at all -- they're in the thing because it's a good paying gig demanding not much work) are willing to become Dhimmis to the Muslims. They tug at the forelock while seeking the approval of the very people their fathers and grandfathers considered benighted heathens. If this bunch of yokels had been around during World War II there would now be a Shinto shrine or two on every corner on the West coast and the Lutheran churches on the East coast would be flying a broken cross from their steeples instead of proper crosses.
This crowd is looking for the strong horse and they think that Islam is the strong horse. They will abandon their faith in the physical Resurrection of Christ and the Salvation that he give in order ot please a bunch of savages who really worship a brick built cube in Mecca that was once a pagan shrine.
If you are a Christian who has to apologize for you faith or you deny that faith in Christ is the true faith, perhaps you'd better look somewhere else for a religion.
Christianity is true. It is the only true religion. Anything else is a fake. To even talk to a Muslim about his religion as being anywhere near equal to Christianity is to insult Our Lord and Our God.
Nowadays it means talks between Christians and Muslims after something has happened that hurts or angers the Muslims. And the dialogue usually consists of Christian "leaders" apologizing to Muslims because, let's face it, Christians are just a bunch of jerks. Everybody knows that Christians are jerks because Christian "leaders" say they are. It's really surprising that said Christian "leaders" don't resign their positions of leadership or leave the faith because Christians and Christianity are just so jerky. Who, in their right mind, would want to be associated with that bunch or louts?
Well, here's the deal. Those "leaders" who engage in dialogue with Muslims are either foolish or dishonest or not even Christian. In talking to Muslims about religion there is absolutely no common ground between Christians and Muslims. It would be like having an inter-faith "dialogue" with Pagans, Hindus or Buddhists. There is no shared faith. None at all. To try to have an interfaith dialogue with Muslims is like trying to alloy iron with aluminum. It just doesn't work.
What "interfaith dialogue" really means is that a group of politically and theologically Christians (and some of them are barely Christian, others not at all -- they're in the thing because it's a good paying gig demanding not much work) are willing to become Dhimmis to the Muslims. They tug at the forelock while seeking the approval of the very people their fathers and grandfathers considered benighted heathens. If this bunch of yokels had been around during World War II there would now be a Shinto shrine or two on every corner on the West coast and the Lutheran churches on the East coast would be flying a broken cross from their steeples instead of proper crosses.
This crowd is looking for the strong horse and they think that Islam is the strong horse. They will abandon their faith in the physical Resurrection of Christ and the Salvation that he give in order ot please a bunch of savages who really worship a brick built cube in Mecca that was once a pagan shrine.
If you are a Christian who has to apologize for you faith or you deny that faith in Christ is the true faith, perhaps you'd better look somewhere else for a religion.
Christianity is true. It is the only true religion. Anything else is a fake. To even talk to a Muslim about his religion as being anywhere near equal to Christianity is to insult Our Lord and Our God.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Orcs Gone Wild!
Well, it's old news by know that the Orcs have gotten a wild hair up their asses purportedly due to a cheap movie that portrays their prophet Mo-Ham-Head as the degenerate criminal that he was. There is speculation that much of the rioting used the film as an excuse while the real reason was that the riots had been called for by Al-Quada due to the drone strike that killed the brother of the leader.
The US media has shown only the jumping up and down in the middle East and North Africa and has ignored the riots and demonstrations in Europe and Australia. These riots and demonstrations may have the advantage of showing that multiculturalism is stupid, silly and empty.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/police-use-pepper-spray-on-anti-islamic-film-protesters-in-sydney-at-the-us-consulate/story-fndo1uez-1226474744811
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2203381/As-wave-anti-American-riots-erupts-Islamic-world--Muslims-U-S-flag-burning-protests-spread-Britain.html?openGraphAuthor=%2Fhome%2Fsearch.html%3Fs%3D%26authornamef%3DNeil%2BSears&videoPlayerURL=http%3A%2F%2Fc.brightcove.com%2Fservices%2Fviewer%2Ffederated_f9%3FisVid%3D1%26isUI%3D1%26publisherID%3D1418450360%26playerID%3D72484359001%26domain%3Dembed%26videoId%3D&hasBCVideo=true&BCVideoID=1841130212001
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/petermullen/100180868/islamist-terrorism-is-beginning-to-demolish-political-correctness/
The US media has shown only the jumping up and down in the middle East and North Africa and has ignored the riots and demonstrations in Europe and Australia. These riots and demonstrations may have the advantage of showing that multiculturalism is stupid, silly and empty.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/police-use-pepper-spray-on-anti-islamic-film-protesters-in-sydney-at-the-us-consulate/story-fndo1uez-1226474744811
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2203381/As-wave-anti-American-riots-erupts-Islamic-world--Muslims-U-S-flag-burning-protests-spread-Britain.html?openGraphAuthor=%2Fhome%2Fsearch.html%3Fs%3D%26authornamef%3DNeil%2BSears&videoPlayerURL=http%3A%2F%2Fc.brightcove.com%2Fservices%2Fviewer%2Ffederated_f9%3FisVid%3D1%26isUI%3D1%26publisherID%3D1418450360%26playerID%3D72484359001%26domain%3Dembed%26videoId%3D&hasBCVideo=true&BCVideoID=1841130212001
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/petermullen/100180868/islamist-terrorism-is-beginning-to-demolish-political-correctness/
Gates of Vienna: The European Dream Fulfilled
Gates of Vienna: The European Dream Fulfilled: Islam’s Days of Rage, as only Vlad could portray them:
Sunday, September 09, 2012
These are our "allies"
This writer is old enough to remember the war in Vietnam as an adult and to have had friends who served in the military in Vietnam.
At that time it was a given that much of the Army of South Vietnam was not up to the standard in training and dedication as the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. But in the memory of this writer there were few instances (if any) of blue on green shootings. And the ARVN tried to make their soldiers an effective and disciplined force. The ARVN soldiers seemed to believe is something even if they were not all that great about fighting against the NVA.
Apparently the same does not hold true in Afghanistan. One, after watches the first video, makes one wish the U.S. Marine Corps trainers has the power (as does the French Foreign Legion and Russian Army) to physically beat up slackers and idiots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWWWotuUwd0&playnext=1&list=PL17FE90C3AE1A2B16&feature=results_video
And apparently the police force is made up of five-year old children:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1H0mB0eK78&feature=BFa&list=PL17FE90C3AE1A2B16
This writer is coming to the opinion that the reason that Alexander the Great and the British Army left Afghanistan is due to the fact that the Afghanis are complete idiots.
At that time it was a given that much of the Army of South Vietnam was not up to the standard in training and dedication as the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. But in the memory of this writer there were few instances (if any) of blue on green shootings. And the ARVN tried to make their soldiers an effective and disciplined force. The ARVN soldiers seemed to believe is something even if they were not all that great about fighting against the NVA.
Apparently the same does not hold true in Afghanistan. One, after watches the first video, makes one wish the U.S. Marine Corps trainers has the power (as does the French Foreign Legion and Russian Army) to physically beat up slackers and idiots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWWWotuUwd0&playnext=1&list=PL17FE90C3AE1A2B16&feature=results_video
And apparently the police force is made up of five-year old children:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1H0mB0eK78&feature=BFa&list=PL17FE90C3AE1A2B16
This writer is coming to the opinion that the reason that Alexander the Great and the British Army left Afghanistan is due to the fact that the Afghanis are complete idiots.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
How Weak-Willed Can These Jokers Be?
It seems that our Islamic brothers and sisters are really a weak-willed bunch. The very sight of a pig or bacon causes them to scream with outrage because they believe that the eating of pork is unclean. It is as if a nice honeyed ham on a platter will cause them to forget their religious obligations and drive into said ham with gusto. Apparently they must be protected from themselves and that we, the non-Muslims, must do the protecting. Ask yourself this question: When was the last time that you were eating a nice devilled ham sandwich or bratwurst in the company of an Orthodox Jew that resulted in said Jew exploding with outrage because you were eating pork in from of him. One the other hand, it seems that if you have a piggy bank on your desk you will soon be visited by a protest from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Such a case seems to have popped up in the Israeli wine country:
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/08/16/232654.html
The support by the Obama administration and Hilary Clinton for the Arab Spring has resulted in a real barbaric mess. One can only hope that the victims of the Arab Spring haunt the One and Mrs. Clinton for many years. There is no "Rest" button:
http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/08/16/muslim-brotherhood-crucifies-opponents-attacks-secular-media/
And here is the reason that Lebanon can't have nice things:
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=428774
Such a case seems to have popped up in the Israeli wine country:
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/08/16/232654.html
The support by the Obama administration and Hilary Clinton for the Arab Spring has resulted in a real barbaric mess. One can only hope that the victims of the Arab Spring haunt the One and Mrs. Clinton for many years. There is no "Rest" button:
http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/08/16/muslim-brotherhood-crucifies-opponents-attacks-secular-media/
And here is the reason that Lebanon can't have nice things:
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=428774
Gates of Vienna: Sidetracked
Gates of Vienna: Sidetracked: For no obvious reason, this excerpt from the The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Chapter 53) came into my mind tonight: If I have even just a li...
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Loose Cannons and Looser Pens
A couple of acts perpetrated by evil men have resulted in calls for tighter gun control in the United States. The shooting at the theater in Aurora, Colorado and at the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin are the results of evil minds. Not guns. Those two men, it is to be sure, would have performed similar acts using gasoline, fertilizer or blackpowder bombs. The fact that they used firearms only means that they wished to see close-up and personal the results of the havoc and deaths that they wrought. The guns did not cause them to do what they did. The guns were merely the instruments. They could have caused almost the same number of deaths using swords or axes because most people faced with those weapons find it unbelievable that they are, in a modern age, facing weapons used in the 16th century.
But, despite the fact that logic shows that an evil man will use whatever means available to carry out his evil intentions, the liberal media has decided that the problem is not evil but is the gun.
A case in point is an article written by Fareed Zakaria. It doesn't matter exactly what he wrote. It was the same old claptrap about how people are not evil and that guns are evil. Or that the availability of guns makes people evil. The interesting thing is that Zakaria, in his article, plagiarized at least one paragraph from another writer: Zakaria Suspended.
This shows something interesting to this writer. The liberal is not loathe to call for a change of the Bill of Rights in order to outlaw the personal ownership of firearms, or to restrict the practice of religion as long as that religion is a conservative form of Christianity. But they never call for a restriction of the freedom of speech or freedom of the press despite the fact that, either through intention or mistake, a writer can ruin the reputation of a person, a group or a company by lying, mis-representation or outright slander. Just a few keystrokes made from thousands of miles away by a person who has never met, or even per4sonally seen the subject of an article or opinion piece, can turn the subject from a good citizen to a monster in the public eye despite the fact that the subject has actually done nothing illegal, immoral or even ill-intentioned.
The Internet is a Wild West in a way that the real Wild West never was. It is full of word-slingers and word-snipers doing what they can to destroy, in whatever way they can, their enemies.
But despite the many cases, in both print and on the electronic media, it has been proven that ill-intentioned writers have lied or mis-represented people in a way that has destroyed lives, there has been no call for the licensing of the pen, typewriter or computer keyboard. The Press, in its various forms, seems to hold its Constitutional right as more sacrosanct than the other rights guaranteed by the Constitution. And we've put up with it and have never questioned why the guarantee of a free Press is more important than the freedom to bear arms and the freedom of religion. We've allowed ourselves to be terrorized by a bunch of pot-bellied, Audi driving, martini sipping bunch of louts and bullies whose nuclear weapon is the word "racist" instead of calling them out for a little mano a mano.
But, despite the fact that logic shows that an evil man will use whatever means available to carry out his evil intentions, the liberal media has decided that the problem is not evil but is the gun.
A case in point is an article written by Fareed Zakaria. It doesn't matter exactly what he wrote. It was the same old claptrap about how people are not evil and that guns are evil. Or that the availability of guns makes people evil. The interesting thing is that Zakaria, in his article, plagiarized at least one paragraph from another writer: Zakaria Suspended.
This shows something interesting to this writer. The liberal is not loathe to call for a change of the Bill of Rights in order to outlaw the personal ownership of firearms, or to restrict the practice of religion as long as that religion is a conservative form of Christianity. But they never call for a restriction of the freedom of speech or freedom of the press despite the fact that, either through intention or mistake, a writer can ruin the reputation of a person, a group or a company by lying, mis-representation or outright slander. Just a few keystrokes made from thousands of miles away by a person who has never met, or even per4sonally seen the subject of an article or opinion piece, can turn the subject from a good citizen to a monster in the public eye despite the fact that the subject has actually done nothing illegal, immoral or even ill-intentioned.
The Internet is a Wild West in a way that the real Wild West never was. It is full of word-slingers and word-snipers doing what they can to destroy, in whatever way they can, their enemies.
But despite the many cases, in both print and on the electronic media, it has been proven that ill-intentioned writers have lied or mis-represented people in a way that has destroyed lives, there has been no call for the licensing of the pen, typewriter or computer keyboard. The Press, in its various forms, seems to hold its Constitutional right as more sacrosanct than the other rights guaranteed by the Constitution. And we've put up with it and have never questioned why the guarantee of a free Press is more important than the freedom to bear arms and the freedom of religion. We've allowed ourselves to be terrorized by a bunch of pot-bellied, Audi driving, martini sipping bunch of louts and bullies whose nuclear weapon is the word "racist" instead of calling them out for a little mano a mano.
Sunday, August 05, 2012
The Ghey Marriage
One has to ask the question why those in favor of same sex marriage seem to make it a point to try to offend non-gays as much as possible.
When Christians protest same sex marriage they are pretty low key. Praying, buying, standing. But the gaysters seem to think that a good argument in their favor is to be vile and offensive.
Does it make any sense to think that by offending people one will draw a person to one's position? This is the thinking of an adolescent.
But, when one thinks of it, the gay world, especially the male gay world, is really made up of a bunch of eternal adolescents with hairless chests and boy haircuts. And the women gays have followed the example of their male friends. The days of the spinster school teachers or librarians living together quietly are long gone. Now every damn Sodomite has to be loud, proud and offensive. And they wonder why normal people think that they are freaks.
Here are a couple of things showing the tolerance of the inverts:
The Pope is a Pig
Homeless Man Hassled For Reading the Bible
Ain't tolerance great?
When Christians protest same sex marriage they are pretty low key. Praying, buying, standing. But the gaysters seem to think that a good argument in their favor is to be vile and offensive.
Does it make any sense to think that by offending people one will draw a person to one's position? This is the thinking of an adolescent.
But, when one thinks of it, the gay world, especially the male gay world, is really made up of a bunch of eternal adolescents with hairless chests and boy haircuts. And the women gays have followed the example of their male friends. The days of the spinster school teachers or librarians living together quietly are long gone. Now every damn Sodomite has to be loud, proud and offensive. And they wonder why normal people think that they are freaks.
Here are a couple of things showing the tolerance of the inverts:
The Pope is a Pig
Homeless Man Hassled For Reading the Bible
Ain't tolerance great?
Sunday, July 29, 2012
A Few Things
Lord Sacks is the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain. He is well thought of, and appears to be a deeper thinker than the average Hollywood/Beverly Hills rabbi that one sees on television whenever the mainstream media wants a "Jewish point of view." Well, here's a speech by Lord Sacks given back in December that deserves attention and thought:
http://www.chiefrabbi.org/2011/12/12/has-europe-lost-its-soul-transcript-of-lecture-delivered-at-the-pontifical-gregorian-university-rome/#.UBSG3c9AZmY
Lady Nib's niece is an American of Iranian/Japanese heritage. Recently she travelled to Iran with her father and returned safely to say that she enjoyed her trip. This may be why:
http://blog.godreports.com/2012/07/islam-is-mocked-on-the-streets-of-irans-capital-and-many-are-turning-to-christ-ex-cia-spy-says/
Meanwhile, things get worse for Christians in Egypt:
http://www.brecorder.com/general-news/172/1221521/
And, hey! How's that assimilation working out in Britain?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180176/Abid-Hussain-Muslim-preacher-tried-strangle-daughter-16-refusing-arranged-marriage-cousin.html
Have a great week.
http://www.chiefrabbi.org/2011/12/12/has-europe-lost-its-soul-transcript-of-lecture-delivered-at-the-pontifical-gregorian-university-rome/#.UBSG3c9AZmY
Lady Nib's niece is an American of Iranian/Japanese heritage. Recently she travelled to Iran with her father and returned safely to say that she enjoyed her trip. This may be why:
http://blog.godreports.com/2012/07/islam-is-mocked-on-the-streets-of-irans-capital-and-many-are-turning-to-christ-ex-cia-spy-says/
Meanwhile, things get worse for Christians in Egypt:
http://www.brecorder.com/general-news/172/1221521/
And, hey! How's that assimilation working out in Britain?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180176/Abid-Hussain-Muslim-preacher-tried-strangle-daughter-16-refusing-arranged-marriage-cousin.html
Have a great week.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Gates of Vienna: “Toto, I Have a Feeling We’re Not in Sweden Anymor...
Gates of Vienna: “Toto, I Have a Feeling We’re Not in Sweden Anymor...: Ingrid Carlqvist was born in Stockholm. After graduating from Gothenburg University (journalism) in 1981, she worked as a reporter for Nord...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)