RIP ~ Captain Kangaroo's Sidekick Cosmo Allegretti

Left-Cosmo Allegretti as Mr. Bainter the Painter
Middle - Bob Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo
Right - Hugh Brannum as Mr. Green Jeans

One of my earliest memories is eating my cereal - probably in a high chair - while watching Captain Kangaroo. I loved the Dancing Bear and Grandfather Clock. I loved Bunny Rabbit and especially Mr. Moose, who dropped the iconic ping-pong balls on the Captain's head day after day. All of those characters and more were the creation of actor and genius Cosmo Allegretti, who died this week. :( Farewell, faithful sidekick who made Mr. Moose so entertaining, and snarky ~ the boomers will remember you forever!!!

From E-Online

The actor and puppeteer, responsible for such characters as Mr. Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock and Dancing Bear on the classic children's show, died July 26 in Arizona. He was 86 and had emphysema, friend and attorney John Munzel told reporters.
Allegretti was working as a set painter on Captain Kangaroo but ultimately became talent after he volunteered to create a replacement for someone else's puppet.

. . . In addition to creating the hand puppets Mr. Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose, Allegretti was also either the voice or hand (or both) of Dennis the Apprentice, Miss Frog, Mr. Whispers, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock and Uncle Ralph. He was also TV Fred, who appeared behind the blackboard in the Captain's Treasure House, and the artist behind the Magic Drawing Board.

. . . "We had a meeting and we were listening to a record that we'd just received," Keeshan said. "Believe it or not, it was a record, not a tape or a CD, but it was a record called the 'Dancing Bear.' We just sat around and said, 'How do we do this?' Somebody said, 'How about Gus in a bear suit?' Gus being Gus Allegretti. Gus said, 'Yeah, I'm game,' and so we had a nice bear suit made that Gus crawled into.

"It was not a lot of fun but he is a great talent. Then we just had him dance to this record, the 'Dancing Bear,' and that was that. Then we got mail. A lot of people said, 'Oh, we love that dancing bear. Let us see him again.'"

R.I.P. Roger Ebert ~ Movie Lover and Progressive Hero

There are really no words. Did you know that Roger Ebert was the FIRST film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize? I think many people forget that because he was a humble person and didn't blow his own horn too much.

I grew up watching Ebert and Siskel on our local PBS station. Back then we didn't have 500 reviews online for every movie. You either read an odd review now and then in the newspaper or you had to buy Newsweek or Time. So thanks to television and PBS, Ebert and Siskel because THE movie critics of America, the only ones who really mattered. I always stayed up after 11:30 to see their show on Sunday nights, even when my husband grumbled or if I had to be at work early on Monday morning. I enjoyed it most when they disagreed and got fired up about movies they cared about - that's what a real fan does, and above all, they were movie fans.

Gene Siskel was more of a macho guy who liked "The Deer Hunter," "Raging Bull" and "Saturday Night Fever", while Ebert was the nerdy, intellectual guy who loved nostalgia and Stephen King movies. I remember his review of "Star Wars" back in the seventies, talking about the "old universe" it portrayed, and the classic coming of age story - I couldn't wait to go see it after hearing his review.



I remember when my kids were little how much I appreciated it that Ebert would seriously review movies like "Babe" and "Free Willy" and "Toy Story." Before there was an internet, he introduced his audience to the work of the Japanese master Miyasaki, showing clips of "My Neighbor Totoro," a movie I would never have chosen for my children at the video store without his review. My kids went on to become Japanese movie junkies, and they may not realize that it all goes back to Ebert.

I also remember when he praised "Dirty Dancing," saying it reminded him of being young and in love, and I used his review to help my husband understand why I liked that movie so much. I remember he usually loved musicals, unless Madonna was the star, LOL.

But Ebert was more than a movie critic. He was also a Kick-Ass Democrat who campaigned for President Obama tirelessly last year on Twitter, and who made time each day to push Progressive causes that mattered the most. That's his most lasting legacy, I think. Cancer had stolen his ability to speak on television, but Twitter gave him a new voice and a platform with millions of new readers and fans. And now we all mourn the loss of a a great writer, communicator and powerhouse Progressive. But above all he was a really, really nice guy, certainly someone you would love to see a movie with, and go for a hamburger afterward to analyze every scene.

And like the movie heroes he loved, he was brave - he stood up for what he believed, and he fought cancer like a boss. R.I.P., Dear Critic from Chicago - I wish we had hundreds more just like you.

Roger Ebert's Last Column: "A Leave of Presence"
 
Fans and Celebrities React to the Death of Roger Ebert 

LA Times Hero Complex: A Look Back at 5 Fan Favorite Reviews by Roger Ebert

Has Reality TV Jumped the Shark?

Do we really need 12 shows about Alaska? Or 3 shows about the Amish? And that's just the first letter of the alphabet!

Funny or Die asks the question . . .

I Can't Believe These Are All TV Shows - watch more funny videos

2012 ~ Apocalypse Postponed ...Again

One of the first posts I wrote on this blog back in March 2012 was about the National Geographic TV show "Doomsday Preppers." I had watched a couple of episodes and was amazed at the level of fear and paranoia in these hoarders of spam, rice and guns.

Prepping for the Doomsday Olympics

I wrote:

. . . these people longing for Armageddon don't laugh very much.They are deadly serious about everything and just want to show off their mad survival skills in the end-of-the-world Olympics. They've given up on life, music, and fun in favor of fear mongering.
. . . I couldn't help but feel a little disturbed that one family has enough food for the next 20 years while other people are eating out of dumpsters. But this philosophy isn't about helping the "other people" - the belief is that the weak ones are going to be destroyed by the next disaster while the self-sufficient strong survive. Doomsday Prepping begins at home and ends at home. Like their brethren in the Republican Party who don't believe in "sharing the wealth" or "that dang socialism," Doomsday Preppers live in the Narcissistic States of America.

At the time I was thinking about Paul Ryan's budget and the whole Ayn Rand philosophy as something that drives these clannish survivalists. But now that both the election and the Doomsdays - Dec. 12 or Dec. 21 - have come and gone with nothing unusual happening, these folks now seem like regular old Tea Party members to me.

Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, they fit right in with Todd Akin and the other anti-science people, the unskewed polls people who reject the math in front of their eyes and believe what they want to believe. Their love of ammunition hoarding is second only to that of Wayne LaPierre of the NRA, and if they aren't vapor-locked in their underground bunkers right now, they are cheering on the Congressman who refuse to do anything while a great country takes a dive over a man-made fiscal cliff.

Many now say it's a "New Age" instead of the end of the world. Where will the Doomsday Preppers fit into that scenario? They don't consider "peace and quiet" a plausible future, so I imagine that they really are doomed to be marginalized just like the anarchy-based Tea Party and the Gun-Loving GOP. The New Age will sail on without them, and good riddance.

Discovery Channel Cancels Two Gun Shows ~ Including Ted Nugent!!!

Discovery Channel has cancelled "Ted Nugent's Gun Country," as well as a show called "American Guns." This is good news at least. I think it's poetic justice (or merely dang good justice) that Ted Nugent is one of the first gun nuts to be affected by the shooting at Sandy Hook, especially after some of the things he said about Obama during the election (see Here, Here, as well as what he said about Bob Costas just a few weeks ago ).

Here is Nugent's latest tweet about the Newtown Massacre and gun control - seriously, being cancelled couldn't happen to a nicer guy. With any luck he'll start threatening people again and this time perhaps the FBI or CIA will take him to jail.

300million American guns were not misused again this week-leave us the hell alone
— Ted Nugent (@TedNugent) December 18, 2012

Breitbart touted Nugent's show in October with some colorful language - you could call it "gun porn" - that seems even more crass and inappropriate now. They aren't ashamed, of course, but they should be.

Breitbart: All Guns All the Time

Ted Nugent's Gun Country premieres on October 10 on Discovery Channel. Coupled with the recent release of a full line of Ted Nugent Ammunition, it puts Uncle Ted right where he likes to be -- with guns in his hands and targets down range.

His Discovery Channel show is literally going to be a celebration of life with guns. His wife and children will all be featured with various firearms, reflecting what Nugent says is a "very serious, very sincere relationship all of them share with firearms." His show will cover hunting and shooting for recreation, and will also shine the spotlight on new firearms and firearm products.

The message Nugent wants to get out is that these aren't things he and his family are doing just because the cameras are rolling. Rather, these represent "the natural, every day activities the Nugent family undertakes with guns."

But that's all over now. Buh-Bye, Crazy Uncle Ted....



Fox News Reports:

“American Guns," came under intense scrutiny in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut grade school, with people flooding the show’s Facebook page calling for its cancelation.
“I know you all have to make money but would Discovery Channel PLEASE consider ceasing to broadcast the show in the U.K.? Sadly your program makes buying/owning guns seem fun, glamorous, even normal,” wrote one. Another tweeted, “Dear Discovery Channel: it’s not appropriate showing the program American Guns now!” Another weighed in: “With Discovery shows like 'Sons of Guns', 'American Guns', 'Ted Nugent's Gun Country' etc it's not surprising how guns r seen as acceptable.”
It seems the critics may have been heard.

From E-Online

American Guns is no more.
Discovery Channel confirmed today that the reality show about a Colorado family in the gun business will not be back for a third season. The show's second-season finale had aired Sept. 5.
"American Guns concluded earlier this year," the network said in a statement. "Discovery Channel chose not to renew the series and has no plans to air repeats of the show."

From Media Matters:

. . .While Discovery has described Ted Nugent's Gun Country as a "one-hour special," Nugent claimed that Discovery "want[s] to do it as a regular feature." Nugent has also said the show would help him advance his view in the "culture war."
The episode of Ted Nugent's Gun Country that aired in October showed Nugent shooting a scimitar-horned oryx, an animal extinct in the wild, and using a .50-caliber Browning armor-piercing machine gun to blow holes in a steel door used by a team of "preppers" to protect their armory.

From Raw Story

The Discovery Channel confirmed to Raw Story on Tuesday that firearms enthusiast Ted Nugent will also not be returning to the channel in any form or fashion.
Speaking to Raw Story in remarks specified as “not for attribution,” a spokesperson admitted that “Ted Nugent’s Gun Country” didn’t do very well when it aired in October, even with fellow firearms fashionistas. Nielsen Ratings placed the viewership at about 864,000 people in all. But the network’s decision is not just about the numbers.
After Friday’s devastating massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the spokesperson said that Nugent would definitely not be returning to the Discovery Channel.

Mr. Rogers Goes Viral (Again) After Newtown Shooting

Photo by Jim Judkis
I'm such a huge fan of Mr. Rogers, and I can't imagine what he would think about the way some are shrugging off this massacre of young children as just "business as usual" in America.

But with the magic of video, Mr. Rogers is still around spreading his wisdom. There happens to be a video he made after the assassination of Bobby Kennedy beseeching parents to realize the effect that the news coverage has on the minds and emotions of children. The original doesn't seem to be around on the internet right now, but I bet PBS will put it up soon. For now you can see a clip of it in the video discussion below.

There is also an amazing picture (see above) that was taken for magazine spread and went viral on Facebook just hours after the shooting. It truly captures the innocence of childhood, and gives us hope that not everyone in the world thinks guns are the answer to everything. I would HATE for any child to believe that.

PBS has the story:

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster,' I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers -- so many caring people in this world."

On Friday, 170 Million for Public Broadcasting posted the image and quote on their Facebook page. Since then, the post has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people and shared more than 90,000 times on Facebook.

The quote was taken from a timely video in which Rogers advises parents on how to help their children during times of tragedy....

. . . Photographer Jim Judkis captured the photo in 1978 at The Children's Institute in Pittsburgh, then known as the Memorial Home for Crippled Children. On Tuesday's NewsHour, Judkis's daughter Maura Judkis talks about the virality of her father's photo.

Game Change Authors Will Dish on 2012

Mark Halperin and John Heileman who exposed Sarah Palin as the most dreadful Veep candidate ever in their bestselling book Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime are now joining forces to write the behind-the-scenes look at the 2012 campaign between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

The working title is : Double Down: Game Change 2012

I want to know who will play Paul Ryan in the HBO movie! *makes popcorn*

From the New York Times

Penguin also said that HBO had optioned the rights to the book, which is set to appear in fall 2013.

“Game Change,” which made its debut at No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list in 2010, featured behind-the-scenes machinations within the Obama and McCain campaigns.

Mr. Halperin is a senior political analyst for both Time magazine and MSNBC and Mr. Heilemann is national affairs editor for New York magazine and political commentator on MSNBC.

From Screencrush:

Though nothing official has been locked down, it’s believed that HBO’s ‘Game Change’ team of director Jay Roach and Emmy-winning writer Danny Strong would return for the sequel. President Barack Obama was presented in HBO’s adaptation through real-world footage, but would likely be given an actor’s portrayal in a sequel.

Snark for Christmas

Here are some quotes to cheer you through the rest of the holidays, or at least let you know that you are not alone in this joyful, yet irritating, season. And if you are depressed, maybe something here will make you smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christmas: A holiday that originally was supposed to be for the birth of Christ, but after all these years, its just nothing but commercials, sales, and stress. What does a fat guy who hauls gifts down into your lifing room, and then flies away on a sleigh have to do with Jesus Christ? Jack squat.
~ Urban Dictionary

Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.
~ G.K. Chesterton

Santa Claus is poor this year, just like everybody else.
~ Olivia Walton (Patricia Neal) in "The Homecoming"

“Mistletoe," said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry's head. He jumped out from under it.
"Good thinking," said Luna seriously. "It's often infested with nargles.”
― from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Ralph Herdman: What did she says the play is called?
Leroy Herdman: "Christmas Pageant."
Ollie Herdman: That's no name. That's what it is.
Gladys Herdman: I know a name. I'd call it "Revenge at Bethlehem."
~ from "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"

Rats. Nobody sent me a Christmas card today. I almost wish there weren't a holiday season. I know nobody likes me. Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it?"
~ Charlie Brown, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”



Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.
~ Lucy Van Pelt in "A Charlie Brown Christmas"



Mary: (reading Christmas card) The crystal bells of Christmas bring love and cheer tonight, to wish for you--
Lou Grant: Nah, nah --
Mary: (opens card and takes out a check) Oh, Mr. Grant! I really can't--
Lou Grant: I don't know what to buy a girl. Just get yourself somethin'.
Mary: Mr. Grant, I can't accept this.
Lou Grant: Sure you can!
Mary: But a blank check!
Lou Grant: What? Huh? (surprised, he grabs check) It's a mistake. (taps pen on desk while thinking about amount)
Mary: Uh, why don't I just wait outside while you--
Lou Grant: No, no! All I have to do is fill in an amount here. (stares into space thinking while biting his lip)
(Mary stares at him, then smiles and Lou smiles back. He starts filling out check.)
Lou Grant: (while writing) Can I have the card back please?
(Mary hands him the card, which he holds under the desk so she can't see the check.
Mary: Here (Mary hands him the envelope.)
Lou Grant: If you don't mind. (Putting the card into the envelope, then he licks the envelope, puts it on the desk and taps it shut with his fist)
Lou Grant: Merry Christmas! (hands card to Mary)
Mary: Thank you, Mr. Grant. (she leaves the room)
Lou Grant: Uh, Mary! (picks up his coat and hat and follows her out). It's none of my business why you're working for Fred on Christmas Eve but--
Mary: It's your business - you're head of the News Room.
Lou Grant: I don't want it to be my business! Because if it is, then I have to feel responsible for you being here all alone.
Mary: Oh, Mr. Grant, thank you, but I'm not going to be alone. The cleaning crew will be coming around.
Lou Grant: No, they won't - they don't work on Christmas Eve.
Mary: Well, uh, then there's the night watchman.
Lou Grant: Uh uh, there's only one man on duty tonight and he has to stay downstairs in the lobby.
Mary: Well, it's, uh, comforting to know that someone else will be only twelve floors away.


Its easier to feel a little more spiritual with a couple of bucks in your pocket.
~ Craig Ferguson

Ah, come on, dad, this could be the miracle that saves The Simpsons Christmas! If TV has taught me anything, its that miracles always happens to poor kids at Christmas. It happened to Tiny Tim, it happened to Charlie Brown, it happened to The Smurfs, and it's gonna happen to us!"
~ Bart Simpson

Yet as I read the birth stories about Jesus I cannot help but conclude that though the world may be tilted toward the rich and powerful, God is tilted toward the underdog.”
~ Philip Yancey

The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.
~ Johnny Carson

This is the worst Christmas ever. I had thought it was the one when our parents bought us hamsters and forgot to poke holes in the boxes, but at least that had a moment of suspense.
~ Brian in "Wings"

Clark Griswold: "Before we begin, since this is Aunt Bethany's 80th Christmas, I think she should lead us in the saying of grace."
Aunt Bethany: "What dear?"
Noah Griswold: "Grace!"
Aunt Bethany: "Grace? She passed away 30 years ago."
Uncle Lewis: "They want you to say grace. The blesssssing."
Aunt Bethany (after everyone has bowed heads for the blessing): "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands/ One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Clark: "Amen."
~ National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation"



Why did Santa spell Christmas N-O-E?
Because the angel had said,"No L!"
What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?
Claustrophobic.
What do you do if Santa gets stuck in your chimney?
Pour Santa flush on him.
What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
Snowflakes.
~ Jokes via SantaClaus.com

Even before Christmas has said Hello, it's saying 'Buy Buy'.
~ Robert Paul

Season's Greetings, everybody, from KBHR, the heart and soul of Cicely, Alaska. This is Chris In The Morning. From where I'm sitting, I've got a great view of all the yuletide decorations going up all over town. That's right, everywhere I turn my head I see ebony birds roosting for the holidays. You know, twinkling colored lights are nice, and so are plastic Santas and reindeers and manger scenes, but I'll tell you something, friends... nothing like the sight of beautiful black-as-pitch raven to get you in the Christmas spirit.
~ Chris-in-the-Morning on "Northern Exposure"



That's the true spirit of Christmas; people being helped by people other than me."
~ Jerry Seinfeld

There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
~ Erma Bombeck (I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression)

It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!"... Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"
~ Dr. Seuss (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

Roses are reddish
Violets are bluish
If it weren't for Christmas
We'd all be Jewish.
~ Benny Hill

A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.
~ Garrison Keillor


Christmas is awesome. First of all you get to spend time with people you love. Secondly, you can get drunk and no one can say anything. Third, you give presents. What’s better than giving presents? And fourth, getting presents. So, four things. Not bad for one day. It’s really the greatest day of all time.
~ Michael Scott on The Office






Dwight Schrute: Merry Christmas! [lays dead goose on Pam's desk]
Pam Beesley: Merry Christm-- No! Why... why did you bring that here?!
Dwight Schrute: Don't worry she's dead. Oh wait, ['checks'] he's dead.
Pam Beesley: Dwight, Wha-
Dwight Schrute: I accidentally ran over it. It's a Christmas miracle.
~ The Office

SpongeBob: [to Squidward, who is disguised as Santa Claus] I knew you would come, Santa! Hey, Santa, where's your big, round belly?
Squidward: Uh, that is a part of, um, undersea pressure on my body.
SpongeBob: Where's your reindeer and your big flying machine?
Squidward: Uh, I loaned them to the Easter bunny.


SpongeBob: Hey, Santa, where's your big nose? [pulls down Squidward's nose] I knew you were supposed to have a big one, but that thing's gigantic! [laughs]
Squidward: [holds his nose] Alright, alright, I'm Santa!
SpongeBob: Santa! This is the greatest gift you could have given me. Thank you, for bringing Christmas to Bikini Bottom.
Squidward: I didn't bring Christmas to Bikini Bottom, Spongebob. You did. [pats Spongebob]
SpongeBob: I...did? Ohhh... [faints, he is taken back home by Gary]
. . .
[After "Santa" Squidward gives away all his possessions]
Squidward: What was I thinking? I gave away all of my stuff, just so Spongebob wouldn't be sad. Am I insane?
[A knock sounds on the door]
Squidward: You might as well take the door. That's all that's left.


Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space.
~ Dave Barry

I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.
~ Bernard Manning


From Seinfeld episode "The Strike"
Frank Costanza: “Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.”
Cosmo Kramer: “What happened to the doll?”
Frank Costanza: “It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!”
Cosmo Kramer: That must've been some kind of doll.
Frank Costanza: She was.
Kramer: Is there a tree?
Frank: No. Instead, there's a pole. Requires no decoration. I find tinsel distracting.

R.I.P. Larry Hagman

Larry Hagman has died at the age of 81. What a great unforgettable actor, first playing an astronaut in the romantic sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie," then becoming one of the best TV villains of all time, sharp-witted and predatory, as J.R. Ewing of "Dallas." He will be missed.


From the LA Times

Larry Hagman, who as J.R. Ewing was famously shot but survived to finish 14 seasons and 357 episodes of "Dallas" and who rose again to lie and scheme in this year's successful revival, died Friday in Dallas, just down I-30 from Fort Worth, where he was born 81 years ago.

The son of musical-comedy star Mary Martin, Hagman worked on the New York stage through the 1950s, on and off-Broadway, then moved into movie and TV roles. But it was as the star of "I Dream of Jeannie" that he first became widely known, a good-looking, easygoing, dark-haired leading man in the mold of contemporaries like Jim Hutton and James Garner.

Huffington Post

Linda Gray, who played J.R.'s long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen, was with Hagman in Dallas when he died, the actress' spokesman, Jeffrey Lane, said in an email.

"Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years," Gray said in a statement. "He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, funny, loving and talented, and I will miss him enormously."

Hagman's mother was stage and movie star Mary Martin and he became a star himself in 1965 on "I Dream of Jeannie," a popular television sitcom in which he played Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut who discovers a beautiful genie in a bottle.

"Dallas," which made its premiere on the CBS network in 1978, made Hagman a superstar. The show quickly became one of the network's top-rated programs, built an international following and inspired a spin-off, imitators and a revival in 2012.
"Dallas" was the night-time soap-opera story of a Texas family, fabulously wealthy from oil and cattle, and its plot brimmed with back-stabbing, double-dealing, family feuds, violence, adultery and other bad behavior.

Cute Obama Ad Channels Kennedy 1960

There's a cute Obama ad out today that harkens back to a jingle for John F. Kennedy in 1960. I love retro stuff and I was born in 1960, so this makes me happy!

Republicans Jumping the Proverbial Shark

 
chicka_chicka_gifs

The Clint Eastwood debacle is turning into one of those cultural moments of convergence when even the most tuned-out voter realizes that something has changed and we've taken a step into Bizarro World. Clint's "chair improv" moment is even listed now on Wikipedia's Jumping the Shark Page.

The phrase "jumping the shark," comes from a ridiculous episode in the series Happy Days when "The Fonz" (Henry Winkler) put on swim trunks and went water skiing wearing a black leather jacket. That scene managed to turn the coolest character on TV into a silly wimp pretending to be in danger.

 In Clint's case, we were forced as a mass audience to watch his weird self-indulgent parody of imaginary Obama as a foul-mouthed brutha from the ghett-o, which is every tea partier's stereotype and nightmare as described by Rush Limbaugh - the "community organizer" from "thuggish Chicago" who is actually a "Kenyan" and who needs to "get out of the White House" because he's not a "real American." The only thing Clint could have said to make it a perfect ten would be to pout and tell Obama-Chair belligerantly: "I want my country back."

Instead, we have to settle for one of the greatest living actors on stage drawing a finger across his throat while saying "We Gotta Let Him Go." The fact that Clint was lynched in more than one of his movies (Hang 'em High and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) doesn't help matters because it just means he knows exactly what racist reference he is possibly making to his wingnut audience.


via gifsfln.com
Here's the description of where the phrase "Jump the Shark" from the LA Times

In 1987, Jon Hein and his roommates at the University of Michigan were drinking beer and had Nick at Nite playing in the background. They started talking about classic TV shows when someone asked, "What was the precise moment you knew it was downhill for your favorite show?" One said it was when Vicki came on board "The Love Boat." Another thought it was when the Great Gazoo appeared on "The Flintstones." Sean Connolly offered, "That's easy: It was when Fonzie jumped the shark." As Hein later recounted, there was silence in the room: "No explanation necessary, the phrase said it all."
Thus was born an expression that would quickly make its way into the pop culture mainstream, defined by Hein as "a moment. A defining moment when you know from now on … it's all downhill … it will never be the same."

To connect this to politics, I think the Republican Party members believe they are in a never-ending series like . . . let's say . . . Gunsmoke - all tough and macho and frontiersy, beginning and ending with a shoot-out Ted Nugent style.

But in reality, the Republican Party is more like All in the Family on steroids, or worse - the ever-conventional and color-coordinated (white mostly) Brady Bunch when Vincent Price trapped the boys in a cave in Hawaii because of an evil Tiki idol that put a curse on them. I think Joe Arpaio and his Arizona pals would understand this - he sent his minions there to get the real scoop on Obama's birth certificate, and what happened? The Feds started investigating him for hate crimes. Must be the curse of Hawaii once more. Or maybe the Republican Party just jumped too many sharks on the way to Hawaii and birtherism, period.



Kooky and Creepy Old Guest Star Vincent Price

(Sorry, I couldn't resist throwing in Hawaii because even the youngest Brady knew that they were still in the good old United States. What do Republicans think the name "Hawaii 5-0" means anyway?)

Or maybe Mad Men has it right - Don Draper's wife Betty ran off with a successful politician, but instead of her life becoming more modern, they end up living in the House of Dark Shadows with a weird old grandma out of The Addams Family. I think there's definitely a parallel there to the American Gothic negativity of the modern GOP, with their bag full of dusty torture devices and their witch hunts.

Another parallel to Mad Men is the fact that a very conventional British character Lane - the "Anglo-Saxon" character - kept lying to people about his money situation until finally his only way out was to hang himself at the office. That somehow seems familiar this year, since Mitt Romney has been unwilling to release his tax records or tell the truth about his real connections to Bain Capital. And every time he or his wife open their mouths about it, the noose tightens more.

I would compare the Repubs to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so convinced are they that life in the U.S. has become a Hellmouth under Obama, with the Apocalypse just around the corner. The only problem is that they would deny that a woman, or even an army of women, could save the world. The only women superheroes in their world are the Moms, especially the wealthy homeschooler Moms, or conversely the bleach-blonde bitches on Fox News, plus Condileeza Rice, the warmongering Amazon. Even the fact that Buffy wore a cross and carried around holy water while killing vampires and satanic demons wouldn't matter to the GOP. Also, while Buffy was a rather silly show at times, it never jumped the shark, and had one of the best final episodes of any series in history. Something tells me the Republicans aren't going to have a happy ending.


Buffy is too much like Sandra Fluke anyway - you know, young, opinionated, intelligent and female, with lady parts that she controls - and is therefore a slut and probably popping birth control pills like pez. Don't even get me started on Buffy's friends, the Wiccan Lesbians in the series - they don't exist in GOP Land. Let the shark eat them. "Let them go."

I'm sure the day after Clint Eastwood made that speech, many Republicans all over the country woke up wondering if it had been a dream - like the time everyone thought Bobby Ewing was dead on Dallas, but then he stepped out of the shower alive and well. I know they don't like the word "HOPE" but that's really what they wanted to gain from the GOP Convention. They wanted to wake up in a place like Dallas where there's plenty of money and people who will vote exactly as they do and Obama isn't going to be President anymore after November. They wanted a big bounce, and a big lead.

Except that this is reality TV, and Clint Eastwood steered his speedboat through the middle of the Convention Center and ran his own embarassing wrinkly shorts up the main mast for all to see, while mumbling crazy talk to an empty chair. It was much more of an Evel Knievel show-stopper than anything Fonzie ever did on Happy Days, and its effect on society - Priceless, and not good news for Mitt Romney. Too bad it didn't happen during Shark Week.

RIP Phyllis Diller

Oh, I know she was 95 years old and had a long, happy life, but the world has lost one of the great women of comedy! And we certainly need more laughs these days.

LA Times Obituary

Romney Plans to Cut PBS, Welfare, Amtrak and the Arts

I'm speechless. To me, whenever the Republicans try to cut PBS it seems like an attack on children in particular. These types of cuts have been going on since the Nixon years and I can't figure out how any of it helps most Americans, except making things more difficult or less interesting. Also it puts the burden back on the states, especially with PBS, which most people love.

And as far as sending housing and food stamps back to the states, and cutting funding for Amtrak . . . um . . . that would make Romney a very unpopular president, if he was ever going to be president, which I doubt.

Stupid is as stupid does.

From Huffington Post

Romney identified subsidies for Amtrak, PBS, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities as things he would eliminate. The government spends $444 million a year on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (the parent organization of PBS); Amtrak received $1.56 billion in federal funding in 2010, with $1.3 billion in stimulus funds; while the National Endowment of the Arts lists the current level of federal funding at approximately $146 million.

Romney said he would block grant Medicaid and send programs like housing vouchers and food stamps back to the states. This, he argued, would save the federal government "approximately $100 billion a year within four years" (the House GOP budget claims to save $771 billion over 10 years). It would also mean dramatic cuts to each of these programs, as states are already dealing with major budget shortfalls.

. . . In sum, Romney's plan would put off entitlement reforms for 10 years, and rules out reductions in defense spending and major changes to the current tax code, while promising to bring federal spending below 20 percent of GDP by 2016. The Washington Post's Ezra Klein argues this is either fantasy mathematics, or Romney would essentially have to cut every single federal program by 40 percent.

Boehner and Cantor tried this a few years back, and got slammed for it. I hope the same thing happens to Romney and Ryan.


I wish Mr. Rogers were still around, but here he is pleading the case for Public TV back in 1969. Everyone should go and like this video, repost it, email and Facebook it. Mitt is as clueless as the guy interviewing Mr. Rogers who has never seen his show. Romney's handlers just told him that if they cut PBS they can have a war with Iran someday, and that's all his budget is about.

Welcome Back, Kotter's "Horshack" Dies

RIP ~ so sad to see that generation of actors dying so young!

From NPR

"Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Mr. Kotter!"
If you watched TV in the '70s, you probably recognize that line.

So it's with some sadness that we pass along word that Ron Palillo, the actor who played Arnold Horshack on ABC-TV's Welcome Back, Kotter, has died in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

As TV Guide has written, Horshack was the "lovable schnook" among the students — Sweathogs, as they were known on the show — at a fictional in New York City. He would give that trademark line — the "ooh, ooh, ooh!" — when he thought he knew an answer (which he inevitably would get wrong). In real life, People magazine wrote in 1977, Palillo was a star student who could do Shakespeare.

The ABC show's main character, teacher Gabe Kotter, was played by Gabe Kaplan. The young actor who broke out to become a huge star was John Travolta, who played Vinnie Barbarino. The show's theme song, Welcome Back, became a hit for singer/songwriter John Sebastian.

Happy Place Diversion: A Perfect Ten

I have a sixteen-year-old son who is obsessed with the Olympics right now. He's never been "into sports" before, but this time is different because he has a new-found interest in learning languages and more curiousity about other cultures. We watched every minute of Opening Ceremony on Friday, enjoying the spectacle of London and the pageantry of each country's team as they walked in the procession. And my son has been glued to the tv set watching the Olympics ever since.

I also saw Michelle Obama's speech to the Olympic athletes talking about watching Nadia Comeneci from Romania win her "perfect ten" score in Gymnastics, and how thrilling it was. I also remember watching those performances with my parents and my brother, transfixed on this little girl doing something almost impossible, almost magical. I was no athlete either, while Nadia was balance and grace personified, a true champion. Michelle is right - this is why we watch the Olympics, to see people doing feats of skill we can only dream of doing.

I went to look for some videos of Nadia, and I realized that Nadia actually made more than one perfect 10, and she did it all in 1976, the year I turned 16, the same age as my son who loves the Olympics now. That's cool, and that's my Happy Place Diversion for today.

The War on Women - Keep Walkin' Boots

These boots are made for walkin', and that's just what they'll do.

One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.

~ Nancy Sinatra's 1966 #1 Hit

OMG - look at those mini-skirts! Even in 1966 women didn't have to hide much on TV.

And yet, in Michigan in 2012, two female congresswomen were silenced for saying the word "vagina" in a debate about . . . wait for it . . . an abortion bill!

From The Detroit Free Press  

State Reps. Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield, and Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga, were told today that they wouldn’t be recognized to publicly speak on any matters before the House because of comments they made Wednesday during an emotional debate on a bill that puts new restrictions on abortion providers.
Brown, who voted against the legislation, told supporters of the bill, “I’m flattered you’re all so concerned about my vagina. But no means no.”
And Byrum was gaveled out of order after she protested when she wasn’t allowed to speak on her amendment to the bill that would have required proof of a medical emergency or that a man’s life was in danger before a doctor could perform a vasectomy.

This week Rush Limbaugh said a group of nuns had "Gone Feminazi." Yes . . . Nuns. Wow - yeah, the Nuns are just on a rampage these days. And he thinks the Vatican is right to "tamp it down." Wow - I thought that American Nuns were able to vote or campaign for anyone they chose since they are citizens too.

RUSH: “By contrast, CBS played up the supporters of a group of left-leaning Catholic nuns during four on-air segments between May 30 and June 1, 2012. Correspondent Wyatt Andrews hyped how ‘hundreds of Catholics have rallied behind the sisters,’ and that ‘protests in support of the nuns have been held in almost 50 cities.’” Have you heard about any of this? One paragraph Snerdley said he saw on the 164 rallies across the country. The nun story. Do you know what the nun story is? Yep. Yeah, but what are the nuns doing? Do you know what the nuns are doing? The nuns have gone feminazi on everybody. This small group of nuns in the Catholic Church is going feminist, and the Vatican is obviously — well, a figure of speech, slapping them down. And the Vatican is trying to tamp it down and say, “No, no, no, that doesn’t happen. There’s no such thing as a feminist nun.”

And on Fox News, anchor Gretchen Carlson finally showed the right spirit and walked out as her doofus male cohosts were dissing women. She was so fed up she walked off the set. From Think Progress

Thursday morning, Steve Doocy interviewed members of the U.S. Navy Band about the band’s recent inclusion of women. Reacting to the segment, Brian Kilmeade remarked, “Women are everywhere. We’re letting them play golf and tennis now. It’s out of control.” Visibly upset, Gretchen Carlson, the only female host, walked off of the set. “You read the headlines. Since men are so great. Take them [women] away,” she said. Kilmeade responded, “All right. Finally.” Then, as she walked further off of the set, Kilmeade jeered, “Leaving an all male crew” and added “she needed a shower.” Watch it:

If I were her, I would have kept on walkin' and demanded more respect. But look where you are, honey - FOX! Keep walkin' boots . . . yeah!

Murdoch Violates Ethics on U.S. Side of the Pond

If you've ever had the misfortune of watching Steve Doocy and Friends on the Fox News Network in the morning, then you'll recognize just how close Saturday Night Live came to recreating the show for their audience. When something is a clown circus with Ted Baxter clones for 14 years, it doesn't take much to create a parody of it, but they caught the clueless mugging for the camera perfectly.



And this comes on the heels of Doocy misquoting President Obama in order to get a rise out of Mitt Romney. Of course we are just supposed to see that as Doocy's lovable mischief-making side, and not the erroneous and cynical anti-real-news side.

I love the guy who plays Rupert Murdoch, too. The British Courts recently ruled that due to the phone-tapping and harrassment scandal, Murdoch was "Not A Fit Person To Exercise The Stewardship Of A Major International Company." So shouldn't our government look into the activities of Fox News here in the U.S.? Maybe they will. Media Matters has compiled a Fact List of Ethical Violations from Fox, including the constant slanting of news, the creation and promotion of Tea Party events, and political donations to Right Wing causes.

The Free Press Action Fund has a Petition set up asking Congress to look into Murdoch's activities on this side of the Pond. Sign it Here. It states in part:

News Corp.’s corruption doesn’t end at British shores. Murdoch controls a huge swath of media in the U.S., including FOX News, the Wall Street Journal, cable networks and 27 local TV stations. Murdoch’s company has been charged with bribing government officials and hacking into phones and computers throughout its global operations. Murdoch is not above the law. We need to place him and his colleagues under the lights and before the cameras in Congress. Take action now. Sign this letter urging your member of Congress to hold Murdoch’s News Corp. accountable.

Also a group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW has asked the FCC to revoke Murdoch's Broadcast Licenses:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski asking the FCC to revoke the 27 Fox broadcast licenses News Corp. holds in the United States. Under U.S. law, broadcast frequencies may be used only by people of good “character,” who will serve “the public interest,” and speak with “candor.” Significant character deficiencies may warrant disqualification from holding a license.

An investigation by Great Britain’s House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee recently condemned Rupert Murdoch as “not a fit person to exercise stewardship of a major international company.” Further, the Committee concluded that both Rupert and James Murdoch turned a blind eye to the illicit activities at News Corp. The Committee described parts of Rupert Murdoch’s testimony as “barely credible,” and said the notion that he had no inkling about the widespread illegal conduct was “simply not credible.”

CREW also sent letters to the House and Senate Commerce Committees asking for hearings into whether Rupert and James Murdoch meet the FCC’s character standards.

CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan stated, “The House of Commons report makes clear that both Rupert and James Murdoch were complicit in New Corp.’s illegal activities. If the Murdochs don’t meet the British standards of character test, it is hard to see how they can meet the American standard.”

Stay tuned ~ the scandal continues. Wouldn't it be great to see Fox News dismantled during a major U.S. election year, and never have to hear anything out of Steve Doocy and his silly friends again?

Happy Place Diversion: Steve Martin on Tonight

Hilarious moment between Steve Martin and Johnny Carson on the old Tonight Show.

SC Gov. Nikki Haley's Embarrassing Press Tour

Governor Nikki Haley from South Carolina is on an almost shameless press tour for her her book Can't Is Not An Option about growing up as an Indian American in a small southern town. And along the way, she is still trying to campaign a bit for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Is she helping him? Not too much.

She told ABC News on April 2nd that she would not serve as Vice President if Romney asked her to run, and that's probably a good thing. I'm not sure why he would ask her anyway, since her endorsement early on in the Primary season failed to deliver her state, which was taken by Newt Gingrich by 13 percentage points. And there's not much evidence that she would help deliver any other Southern states, either, although she might have diversity appeal as an Indian-American governor in the same generation as Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. The problem with both Haley and Jindal is that they do not represent their ethnic community all that well, and what should be seen as a great plus for diversity in the Republican Party is just an embarrassment.

For instance, remember when Jindal said we don't need scientific stuff like volcano monitors, but then volcanoes shut down airports in Alaska, not to mention all of Europe? And he turned down $90 million in stimulus money on conservative principal, then begged Obama for help when the Gulf oil spill happened? Why would Nikki Haley want to be compared to him for any reason, even ethnicity?

Unfortunately, Nikki Haley is about the same type of Governor, with the same propensity to flip-flop, or the "do as I say, not as I do." She may enjoy turning down Medicaid for poor people, but just wait till a hurricane threatens Charleston and the resort areas along the SC Coast, and she will have her hand out for federal disaster relief, you can bet on that.

One subject she won't be discussing on the road is her family's scandal with the IRS. Her parents are being accused of raising funds for her gubernatorial campaign through their non-profit Sikh Temple. That's a political no-no. The Palmetto Public Record reports:

According to documents obtained by Palmetto Public Record, the Internal Revenue Service has been investigating since March 2011 whether the Sikh Religious Society of South Carolina illegally supported a political candidate during Haley’s campaign for governor, violating the organization’s tax-exempt status.
As a registered nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, the Sikh temple is “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for elective public office.” According to the IRS, even written statements of position in favor of a candidate “clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity” and may result in revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.
But documents which appear to be the temple’s own newsletters clearly advocate for Haley’s election, asking (and later thanking) members for their political and financial support. The organization also seems to have held a September 2010 fundraiser for Haley’s gubernatorial campaign, with four of the five organizers listed on the temple’s board of trustees.

And that's only part the family's problems. There is the mystery revolving around a large bank loan the Randhawa family took out to help finance a new Sikh Temple. Contractors were never paid, and the temple was never completed, but at the same time Nikki Haley was elected Governor and her family built a huge new lake house. The The Palmetto Public Record reports:

In 2009, the Sikh Society of South Carolina took out a $750,000 loan from BB&T Bank with the help of bank president Mike Brenan. The purpose of the loan was to build a new temple on the Sikh Society’s land in Chapin, but for some reason the contractors never got paid. At least five lawsuits have been filed against the Sikh Society since 2010, alleging that the group bilked contractors out of nearly $130,000.Meanwhile, the new temple sits half-complete off Broad River Road as weeds take over the abandoned construction site.
In order to recoup their money, the contractors have asked a judge to foreclose on the temple and sell the land, leaving the Sikh Society without a place to worship.
So what happened to the money? Did it “disappear” into the Randhawa family’s million-dollar waterfront home on Lake Murray, or (as our sources have speculated) did some of it go into the governor’s campaign account? Whatever happened to the money, we do know what happened to Brenan: Gov. Nikki Haley appointed him to the state Board of Education.

Yesterday, Haley appeared on ABC's The View, which was...interesting...



Video Via The Frisky  

Sympathetic conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck tried to prompt some kind of logic out of Gov. Haley, but Haley flip-flopped aimlessly, first making the bizarre statement that "Women don't care about contraception," then telling an incredulous Joy Behar, "We don't have to have a government mandate telling us when we have to have it and when we don't." Duh, that makes perfect sense, and yet that's exactly what Romney and Santorum and a host of gargoyles like Rick Perry want to do by getting rid of funding for Planned Parenthood. Gov. Haley Meets the Etch-A-Sketch by defending the indefensible. It's sort of easy to see why she and Romney are sympatico.

Amanda Marcotte writing for Slate points out that such a comment may display another trait in common with Romney - a sense of entitlement and disconnect from ordinary people.

Haley may just be looking at this issue with blinkers, and when she says "women," she means "women like me," i.e., conservative. It is true that conservative women are less supportive than women as a whole of attempts to make contraception access easier. That's because the war on women is just as much about class as it is about gender....For women for whom $50 or $100 a month isn't very much money, this sort of thing probably doesn't matter. In fact, for many conservatives, it's clear that they believe protected sex is a luxury that should only be available, like fine champagne or HBO subscriptions, to those who can afford it.

Haley also appeared on Stephen Colbert's Comedy Central show where she made an even stranger comment, via Huffington Post:

Governor Nikki Haley (R) said she wears heels as "ammunition" in the tough political climate of South Carolina.
"It's a blood sport," Haley said Tuesday on The Colbert Report. "I wear heels and it's not for a fashion statement, it's ammunition."
"You keep them sharpened?" host Stephen Colbert asked.
"I do. It's for kicking," Haley replied.

She better keep them sharpened, for sure.

Prepping for the Doomsday Olympics

Out of boredom, I watched a few episodes of the show Doomsday Preppers on the National Geographic Channel. Instead of hoarding junk or kittens, these folks stockpile food and ammunition for when the "Government Declares Martial Law." Well, at least that's what one woman in Utah said was doing as she proudly showed off her stun gun, her tower of boxes full of food and water, and her emergency backpack in case she needed to head for the hills.

 In another episode, a man was driving his wife and daughter crazy by cluttering their house with huge plastic jugs full of rice. Funnily, his wife was an expert on survival, having grown up in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror. Her remarks were a nice counterpoint - she said she would survive differently in an emergency, by killing a rabbit, catching fish, or stealing food if she had nothing to eat. And having escaped from an evil internment camp to come and live in the United States, I can see why she doesn't really want to hear about her husband's visions of Armageddon, or give up and live in the underground bunker (cave actually) with a big metal door into which he proudly led his reluctant family. It looked like a death trap to me, some place a control freak could lock up women basically and feed them rice till they all die. I think that poor woman should take her daughter and go find a husband who likes to tell jokes.

 That's one thing I noticed - these people longing for Armageddon don't laugh very much.They are deadly serious about everything and just want to show off their mad survival skills in the end-of-the-world Olympics. They've given up on life, music, and fun in favor of fear mongering. Yes, they may think they are the logical ants who are working hard for an inevitable future while we foolish grasshoppers fiddle and play, but even from a religious standpoint they are forgetting that the Bible says to "take no thought of what you eat or drink." Or how about the story of the Loaves and Fishes? I couldn't help but feel a little disturbed that one family has enough food for the next 20 years while other people are eating out of dumpsters. But this philosophy isn't about helping the "other people," the weak ones who are going to be destroyed by the next disaster. Doomsday Prepping begins at home and ends at home. Like their brethren in the Republican Party who don't believe in "sharing the wealth" or "that dang socialism," Doomsday Preppers live in the Narcissistic States of America.

Don't get me wrong - I want to take care of me and mine, too. I shiver at thoughts of the Yellowstone Super Volcano, Nuclear Fall-Out or a Viral Pandemic. But having lived through horrible tornadoes and hailstorms this year here in Tennessee, I know that when it is my time to go, I'm gone. God isn't going to ask permission before he blows away my house, and no stun gun can stop that either. I am much more worried about strong winds than the "Gummint."

We have a very simple emergency box: some canned goods, matches, charcoal, aluminum pans, candles, and a radio. No stun gun, sorry. My husband and I figure ordinary life is scary enough with making our kids paranoid enough to shoot any human who "threatens" the family compound. That's the ultimate in-crowd/out-crowd Group Think that leads to another Waco massacre or Jim Jones Cult mass suicide. Us versus Them - survival of the fittest. It's interesting that most of these folks probably don't even believe in evolution even while preaching social Darwinism, and they also forget that maybe God has a sense of humor. If they had any introspection at all, they might smile inwardly at the absurdity of their actions. Don't they recall the Millenium 2000 scare when civilization was supposed to grind to a halt? Never happened, and millions of people had to eat crow - whoops, sorry - had to eat stale cereal and canned tuna for years because they had used up all their money while "prepping."

I'm sure this show gets good ratings for National Geographic. But I wonder what they are highlighting here? Is it the social phenomenon of our divided society or the psychological phenomenon of people drinking too much Wingnut Kool-Aid?