Steroids Schmeroids

It was always a guessing game as to who was on steroids when I was in college. The testing policy was just around the corner in those days, and IIRC it was nothing like the one in place today when it was implemented. I can remember the huge brows and bloated heads of those we suspected, and the girl friend punching rage of those who were easy guesses. I’m fairly sure that the guy ahead of me in my position was juiced. I sucked, so it didn’t really matter. But you know what? I don’t care. I don’t care about players taking ‘roids. If they want to risk having testicles the size of chick peas when they get old, if they want to walk around looking like Lurch’s broke ass cousin, if the ladies wish to develop a jaw line like the dude who played the bounty hunter on the X-Files, that’s fine with me. A bout with cancer is apparently a decent trade for a shot at immortality (Lyle Alzado). What I don’t get is all the hemming and hawing over Bonds (and lets not forget McGuire, if we believe everything we read then we should be all over him, too) by netnerds who have never played a down, taken a swing, shot on goal, thrown a body check, broken the tape. What possible concern is it of yours? Oh, he’s cheating! Christ, it isn’t like the Babe was a model citizen. It isn’t like there weren’t things like shine balls, bat tar, cocaine abuse, alcoholism, and all manner of ills during sports in the days before the miracles of modern science. Were major league ball integrated during the 30’s, we’d be talking about Josh Gibson, not Babe Ruth, anyway. I don’ t know if there’s enough steroids in the world to catch Gibson. Integrity of the game? HA! Double HA! Did ANYONE see Eight Men Out? I saw an interesting interview with my grandad’s namesake, Willie Mays, a few weeks ago. Mays admitted that if ‘roids had been around in those days, he might have tried it. Mays, arguably the greatest, most gifted baseball player of all time, might have juiced. If someone so obviously better than 95% of the players in the game during his day thought he might need it, what about some hungry, ambitious kid looking one day to be a poster on some other kid’s wall? Maybe Bonds, who was already heading for Hall of Fame numbers, didn’t need juice (if he in fact did take something illegal). Perhaps he did need it if he wanted to catch our attention and respect. Ever listen to talk sports radio call in shows? All these experts, all these second string high school quarterbacks coming in with their wisdom and knowledge about the game. If someone like Bonds (or let us say the dirty word, Pacman) doesn’t perform to our standards, they’re a pariah. We’re all over them. We sports fans don’t give a shit about good. Sometimes we don’t really care about great. Show us the best, break all the records, be a winner. Then we might care. Then Jim Rome might shut up about you for five minutes and start riding your jock. What do we always hear? It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. You might think I’m going to say we don’t believe that, but we do – in context. It is how you play the game, meaning, if you play the game the way it is supposed to be played, you should win/excel. If you played, you understand what I’m saying, even if like me you were terrible. If you didn’t play, you can continue to stand on the side throwing stones at that glass stadium your tax dollars built and support. Athletes (usually) want to be the best, and also, they want to be recognized as the best. It isn’t about egotism. Everyone has some of that, don’t kid yourself. It’s the one thing everyone has in common with Trump and Spielberg. Sometimes, being great just isn’t good enough. So, athletes cheat, like high school kids on an algebra test. Wow. I’m saving my bitterness and complaints for Bush and Cheney and Rummy.  You?

Fun with the Aryan Nation!

My man Chris Wage got linked to by Stormfront, of all sites, and with great trepidation I followed that link to some inconsequential rantings of the type of racists almost everyone hates. Then out of train wreck curiosity, I perused the site more and found this discussion on how the “media” (that’s me!) brainwashes white girls. The commentary here is priceless. I don’t think I have ever seen a greater collection of the proof of the decline of education in America than I have seen here. Perhaps it dovetails nicely with AC’s thoughts on prison rape . . . This guy believes in himself to a fault: I've spent most of my youth missing out on opportunities to develop relationships with beautiful white girls, and I blame my above average intelligence. Oh, it’s probably that you keep having skid marks on your white sheet. However, he does seem to think he has areas where he needs work. But if I treat women like crap and make use of status symbols, I might become more competitive. So, any woman seeing a fat guy in a pointy white hood driving an Escalade and wearing an Iceberg sweater . . . RUN! Well . . . er . . . uh . . . The message to white girls is simple: "Black guys are studs. White guys are losers." I wonder if the programming he watches is part of some Gannett organization? ;) But lets be honest here.... is it really accurate to have Mr.Blacky appearing as a main character in EVERY SHOW on T.V.? When in some neighborhoods in the U.S. theres only just a very few number of African-Americans. This is a conspiracy to me...I await an all-Aryan Heaven And, who is this Mr. Blacky? Does he mean Mr. Belvedere? Of course, ultimately, the fault is THE JEWS: Yes, the add agencies are certainly heavily Jewish, maybe even more than most media companies. Ever notice how many hooked noses the actors have? And a lot of Jewish actors are selected out for not looking Jewish. . . . Hopefully the Jews are starting to ridicule white women (why for??) and then we can start pointing out to the gals how the've been doing it to us guys for years. Finally, one member thought this article was important to the story. Apparently, you all, listening to the jungle dance music, have been lowered to the level of the nigra: “When so-called rap and hip-hop began to be marketed to White adolescents in the early 1990s, Heather thought it was "cute." She imagined that she saw a harmless rebelliousness and innovation in her daughters' generation -- a reflection of her own generation's rebellion. She let Lauren and Diana watch all the "cool" TV shows with Black heroes and miscegenating stars, she let them "groove" to MTV videos glorifying non-Whites and racial mixing, and when many of the "boys" who started to become interested in them as they grew up turned out to be Black, well -- she showed how "good" she was by "accepting" them as no different from White boys, by treating them as "equals" and as legitimate suitors for Lauren and Diana's affections.” Okay. Even Japanophiles and American otaku aren’t immune to the pull of white supremacism (something I’ve known for some time, actually). Check out this post from “Aryan Ballerina:” Later, she claims: “Well, my shoes are made in Japan, ha! I guess it shouldn't be that big of a deal, I'm more of a National Socialist anyways, the Japanese of course aren't a problem in my book.” The rationalizations she must go through on a daily basis just to keep up her interest in the spikey haired, androgynous, male Japanese pop singer and her love for all things Nazi. Or maybe she thinks it’s 1941. And another rocket scientist posts: “Some east asians are obsessed with work. Some (if not all japanese) will not date outside there race.” BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Ahem. Sorry. Asians: The other white meat. Yes, why not! Because the asians like japanese, koreans and chinese do have a high average IQ about 103. Compared with our 100 in IQ scale for the average white there should be no problem with mixing in limited scale with them. . . . Unlike many White Nationalists, I can accept Oriental/White mixing in small numbers. This dude is hilarious. He is ASIAN. I'll be Frank i am Asian.. (looks like no more trolling around on these boards no more oh well..) however I've been browsing SF for a while now.. and have learnt quite alot about the Jews.. With his other comments he was reluctantly accepted by the Stormfront types. However, segregation is as segregation does. The moderator replied in part: However, you have to stay in General Rants from now on. Forum rules. Damn.

urban music post fixed . . . albeit elsewhere

I finally fixed the You Tube issues I was having with my post about urban music in Japan. I’m too busy to mess with it on the blogspot spot. Just go on over to the word press version of dork nation and check ‘em.

Picture louder than words and whatnot

A Prom photo. Thanks to BG for da tip.

Equal Rights and Justice?

I missed the book signing that prompted this discussion (and this one and this) on felony disenfranchisement for a couple of reasons, one being that the headlight on my car went dead and my attempts to fix it were for naught. I’m interested enough in the topic to keep the discussion among local bloggers going, however. Liz Garrigan has no compassion for ex-cons who are not allowed to vote. Cool. You don’t have to have compassion for them to believe they should have their rights to vote restored. However if passion must color your sense of justice, let’s look at it from an historical perspective. Chris Wage inserted the spectre of institutional discrimination into the discussion, and was of course attacked by the typical cast of characters. (You can count on it, if someone on the political left brings up racism, they will be there, protesting too much, like Queen Gertrude said). For this, he’s branded a wacko conspiracy theorist, and told, like a child, that this is not 1966. Thing is, Wage is right on point. Ya see kids, in this country, disenfranchisement has roots not in criminal jurisprudence, but in good old fashioned stop the darkies racial hatred. Sure, the practice has been around for eons, the idea being that the most egregious criminals should be banned from society. And smart racists know a good idea when they see one. After the freed slaves (men only) were allowed to vote, Southern heads commiserated on all sorts of ideas on how to turn back the clock. In many states, disenfranchisement laws were specifically tailored to catch Negroes, and if possible, exclude whites*. Call me a wacko conspiracy theorist, but to me it sounds a little suspicious. Am I arguing that felony disenfranchisement is some plot to keep people of color out of the voting booths? No, but it was. Now it is just left to hang, as useless as an appendix (that is, unless you are a Republican). And, like most issues with baggage from slavery and racism, it has residual effects. It is very un-ironic that felony disenfranchisement affects mostly men of color today, but then again that’s what The Man wanted. Nowadays, with our labyrinth of criminal laws and sentencing guidelines and war on drugs, some people get caught in the crossfire, like some 18 year old first time felony drug offender who pleas out to avoid jail time then finds he can’t vote. He could be white. He could be your cousin, your brother. Can you work up a couple of tears for that? There have been considerable efforts to abolish felony disenfranchisement. They are all likely to fail. What politician, especially in these times, wants to be seen as having sympathy for Mr. Felon? They’d never vote for a bill containing such a provision. Not even Jr., not even Obama (though they might speak platitudes to this in front of the proper audience).Were I in my old job, I’d likely advise them to do just that. What their party would stand to gain in votes would be minimal; being honest, it isn’t likely that a significant number of former felons would actually vote. Doesn’t mean they should have their right to vote kept from them.   Additionally: Coble sez: “What makes felonies less criminal (to my mind) is the degree of external violence they cause. How much external violence is caused by felony posession [sic] of narcotics?” Legalize it, don’t criticize it. (when in doubt, always quote Peter Tosh) *Alabama lawmakers are on record, there is a paper trail on what I’m saying, look it up.

Asked but not Answered: Multiculti debate continues ft. Sarcastro

This is getting to be like rap answer records. I wonder who is the Roxanne Shante’ in all of this? Sarcastro responded to me in his blog. I provide excerpts for clarification (Fair Use in E-F-F-E-C-T boyee) The whole idea of labelling people based on their ethnicity is divisive and dangerous. Just repeating yourself, mate. We’re asking, why is this so? How have you arrived at this conclusion? Dangerous to whom? Did you get a paper cut? Multiculturalism is moral relevancy.  The definition of multiculturalism stresses tolerance and mutual respect for cultural differences within a country's borders.  Bollocks! How does a tolerance and mutual respect for cultural differences require that we accept practices such as clitorectomies? Hey, don’t you watch Star Trek? How many times did the various captains have to deal with the Prime Directive vis a vis morality? This one’s pretty simple. Some culture specific conduct, such as eating sushi, is low in relation to matters of morality. Some conduct, such as stoning, is high. As the relation to matters of morality increases, the more difficult it is to simply “accept.” We aren’t in the Federation. We don’t have to worry about the Prime Directive. We don’t have to accept clitorectomies. America accepts the death penalty as a legitimate form of punishment for its society. (Something we apparently share culturally with Jihadists). If another culture is opposed to it, would you call their acceptance of the death penalty moral relevance? Here's the deal.  If you create a label for your  ethnic group, no matter what it is, and define yourself according to that hyphenated label, you make your group an easy target for those with pejorative intent to slander your ethnicity as a group.  This is silly. This is why you oppose hyphenated labels? Because you have “our” best interest at heart? Oh, well, thanks. I didn’t know you cared. How about doing me a favor and ask those with pejorative intent NOT TO FREAKIN SLANDER these groups? Seems a lot easier than arguing that a group should not be able to recognize their origins. Let's start in on the African-Americans.  How do you take a continent with numerous ethnic groups, cultures, and differing experiences and lump them all in as a lazy way out to describe skin color without being offensive.  Schooling. The descendents of African slaves in this country chose the broader “African” American because most do not know the sending country/region, having had that knowledge taken away by the kindly slave masters. Moreover, so many today have said masters as ancestors. So, since Charlize Theron knows she’s from the Republic of South Africa, she can call herself a South African American if she chooses (if she is indeed a citizen). I’m guessing she’s just fine with being “white” though. You may be trying (hard) to suggest it’s simply political and not “scientific.” Well, the notion of race is itself a political construct based on faulty science. Don’t blame the victims. *”Black,” a nomenclature which had a slight militant tone in the 60’s, a reclamation of “negro,” fails to adequately describe what unifies people who are descendents of African slaves. It isn’t about being lazy.* As for immigrants from African nations, many I know don’t use hyphens. However, they don’t use “American” either. Maybe the 2nd generation kids do. I know someone pretty well for whom nationality is a life or death matter. This person is likely to refer to herself as Japanese until she keels over, no matter how long she lives here or whether she becomes a citizen. Why do people always bring up Tiger Woods with me? (It’s a joke, you’ll get it if you get it). After all this back and forth, Sarcastro, neither you nor those who agree with you have ever explained how it is “divisive” for ethnicities to use a hyphenated term to describe themselves. You’ve done a fine job of telling us why you don’t like it. You haven’t explained why they shouldn’t do it.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: legendary anime

For many, Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shin Seiki Evangelion) is one of the favorite and most controversial series in Japanese animation. Back in 1995 when it debuted, it was groundbreaking in story, where character development got just as much play as robot battles. Its plotlines caused audiences to grasp for secrets the way fans of Lost do today. The show was also groundbreaking in the way “anime” was marketed. Since then, many have tried to mimic the series success, seeing as how the show continues to rack up sales worldwide. Problem is, almost none of the copycats have ever figured out how to do what really made the show popular – create a quality product. Here’s a link to an interesting interview with the producer of the series (in English). Though I’m not as rabid as many, I am a big fan, and consider this series one of the genre’s milestones. You gotta love any animated action series that ends its run with a musing on existentialism.

music review: Snow Patrol - Eyes Open

Snow Patrol -- Eyes Open (A&M) Snow Patrol’s last album Final Straw spawned some singles that got heavy rotation on various TV dramas and reality shows whenever they needed to insert some false drama. The songs that didn’t get a lot of play were gems, like “Spitting Games.” Consequently, the follow up kept the middling melancholy and left out the cleverness. Still, songs like “You Could be Happy,” built on a rhythm of tinkling chimes, is unique in sound if not form. This time around, their songwriting has the worst instincts of Coldplay at their most anthemic, sound and fury signifying nothing. However, I expect you’ll hear a lot of this music during the most whiny moments on The Real World. Or something.

One nation under a groove

Debate brews over at Volunteer Voter, a show down between Sarcastro and Aunt B over a comment by right wing gabber and master of the slippery slope Steve Gill about the dangers, evils, and divisiveness of multiculturalism. I break from my blogging respite to jump in. Gill, Sarcastro, and other "I hate hyphens" folks still have not, and CANNOT refute Aunt B.'s point, that simply calling on people not to note their ethnicity in nomenclature is not going to divide what is already divided. AC sez: “I don't have a problem with taking up with my tribe, if that's how it's gonna be, but I would much prefer that we get back to the idea of unhyphenated Americanism.” I'm not really sure when this period of unhyphenated Americanism existed. Oh wait, that was when people were called wops, spics, kikes, pollacks, etc with impunity. Yeah, no hyphens needed then! What a great time of unity! Sarcastro seems to confuse multiculturalism with moral relevancy. He suggests that multiculturalism will allow us to embrace things like clitorectomies. Bringing up things like clitorectomies is irrelevant. For one thing, many Somalies came here to ESCAPE the kind of life that allows such practices, yet, funny, they don't shy away from being Somalian, even though American on paper. It's an extreme example that doesn't prove much of anything except that Sarcastro is up on current affairs (and down the slippery slope).   Multiculturalism (which means so many different things to different people) is certainly not about the "supremacy of ethnic identity" over being an American. Multiculturalism does not (and in all likelihood, NEVER will) lead to the Balkanization of the US. People living here just have too much invested in each other. How would young white boys get along without having Allen Iverson and E-40 to emulate (forget about where AC would get taglines for his posts)? Who would watch the toddlers in the Upper West side of Manhattan? WHO TELL ME WHO? Seeit? Our similarities sneak up on us without us knowing, so fast we come up with cute names for them after they're ingrained in our culture (whigger). Our similarities, like a love for gas guzzling vehicles, a slavish devotion to Best Buy, and water cooler chat around a show about (gasp) hyphenated American criminal enterprise, are always there. Some, like Gill, just need a whipping boy for the "what's wrong with our country" question. They hate looking in the mirror, I think. Lastly, wtf do yakuza have to do with it?