Fair warning: this is going to be a post full of complaints.
1. In response to James's meditation on the remake of KK: I am totally with you. I have not blogged about this travesty for the very reason that I also have no intentions of seeing this. My issues, dear James, are slightly different from yours (although we do overlap on the red leather jacket). For one thing, why is the karate kid (oops! the Kung Fu Kid!) 12? I mean, the original film was a teen flick. Jaden Smith is not a teen. Ergo, this is not a teen flick. What's with that? If they had to have him, couldn't they have waited until he hit 16? It would have given Chan a few years to age too, and that couldn't hurt. I don't share your feelings about Jaden Smith though. I mean, he is the offspring of two of the most adorable people on Earth (even though I have a sneaking suspicion that Jada is not a very nice person). He is also adorable. But he's too young for this film. It is silly.
Also, I agree, Chan is no Miyagi. What is KK without Bonsai? Without catching flies with chopsticks? Without Southern California and a lot full of cars that may or may not run? Without a heart wrenching back story about a lost Japanese love? Without saki?
It's all crap. What's with Hollywood and remakes anyway? I know so many damn writers, some of them really talented, who could tell new stories, but we get this rehash. What's the point? It is so, so, so not interesting and not creative. Grrr.
2. The Pac 16? With Tejas and Oklahoma? Screw that. To quote my niece, "Are they even being serious right now?" Listen. I get the fact that it will bring better money, better television time, more prestige to the conference. I also get the fact that this could lay groundwork for several "superconferences" that could lead to some kind of actual playoff/national championship football situation. I also get that there would likely be two divisions that would return us to, for all intents and purposes, a Pac 8 situation. (Arizona and Arizona state would form the B division with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, A & M, Tech and, probably, Baylor.) Those are pluses. I can't deny it. But I cannot get behind anything that ties the Oregon schools to the Texas and Oklahoma schools. On principle. Is that narrow minded and regionalist of me? Hell, yes. But the truth is, I don't want Texas anywhere near my Pacific anything. (By the way, we are going to be screwed when the state of Texas secedes from the union. We'll end up the Pac-13. And that just doesn't make any sense.)
3. If Paul Allen is going to fire Kevin Pritchard, I wish he'd just do it. I'm tired of the speculation already. There's been too much upheaval in the Oregon sporting world already this year (by the way, thank the sports gods that Masoli was stupid enough to get busted for what was reported to be a tiny possession charge. He only would have proven a distraction this coming year.). Just get rid of K.P. (without the blessing of the majority of Blazer fans) and name his replacement so that we can all get on with our lives.
4. And I can't believe I am saying this, but PLEASE, PLEASE could we get some warmer and sunnier weather?! I mean, you all know that I love rain more than most, but I do recognize that Oregonians need a few good months of sun in the summer. And I am good with that. Besides, I can't get a damn thing done with sheets of rain coming down all the time. It has been a miserable couple of months, and even the heartiest of us are starting to get a little down.
That's about it. For today. Feel free to leave your personal bitchfest in my comments section. Lord knows I deserve to have to listen to them!
Showing posts with label Beefs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beefs. Show all posts
09 June 2010
21 January 2009
So this is not my promised blog on Bryan Adams (which, by the way, has now been upstaged by Qwanty's response anyhow), but it is, rather, an open letter to newly-installed Portland mayor Sam Adams. I don't usually get political, but this situation is upsetting and confounding. If you don't already know about Adams and the recent scandal, check out the Willie article that led to Adams's recent media confessions.
Dear Sam Adams:
I am very, very, very disappointed in you. It's not that you did something creepy by sleeping with an 18 year old (although I would argue that you knew it was creepy. If you didn't know that, you wouldn't have lied about it). It's that you lied--over and over--until you got yourself into the mayor's office. And your lie most hurts those who have supported you. It makes the people of Portland, who love and are proud of this town, look like fools for believing you when you claimed that you were just a "mentor" to this young man. You had to have known that Portland would get national attention for electing the first gay mayor of a major American city, and that your administration would be under some heightened scrutiny. I'm not saying that it is fair that you should be more closely watched than a heterosexual mayor may be--but I would think that you would be 1) sensitive to the very real possibility that you would be and would 2) take appropriate steps to conduct yourself in a way that would reflect well on the city that you claim to care about and the community that has been so supportive of you.
Not only have you made Portlanders look bad, you have actually further damaged perceptions that too many in the straight world have of gay men. Instead of contributing to gay history in a positive way, you have helped set back gay public relations. Well done. Right wing talk show hosts are probably positively gleeful. (And, if for no other reason, you are dead to me because you have made that ass Lars Larson happy. That is unforgivable.)
There are two aspects of this situation I find especially galling. First, that you thought--even for a second--that you could get away with this. What the hell is wrong with you politicians? In what world does this young man, or his friends NOT TALK? You were bound to be found out. But you lied anyway. People might have forgiven the bad judgement (because sleeping with a barely legal intern less than half your age IS bad judgement--whether that intern is the same sex or not) , but you don't deserve to be forgiven by the very people who believed enough in you to take your word over the word of those who tried to tell the truth in the first place. You clearly think that you are very smart and the rest of us are very stupid.
Second, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why you would risk your reputation, the reputation of the city (that, again, you claim to love), and the perception of the gay community for an 18 year old piece of ass. I mean, it isn't like you were in love. Or thought that this was going to be a long term relationship. You literally just wanted to have a fling with a twink. Well, good for you. I hope that you DO get yanked out of City Hall. I hope that this ruins any other political aspirations that you have. Because you could have had all the tail you wanted after you were done with your public life. Your lack of self-control (and it IS reported that your staffers warned you away from this "relationship" so you can't very well claim that you didn't know better) has been visited on all of us. I hope it was worth it.
You know, I was willing to look past your ridiculous "leaf tax" and that terrible fur hat you wore during the December snow storms because I thought you were an ok guy. You are not an ok guy. You are a guy who has repeatedly shown bad judgement, arrogance, a propensity to lie (even when you are sure to be caught) and supreme selfishness. You don't deserve to be the mayor of the greatest town in America.
A truly disgusted,
Kristin R. Dorsey
Dear Sam Adams:
I am very, very, very disappointed in you. It's not that you did something creepy by sleeping with an 18 year old (although I would argue that you knew it was creepy. If you didn't know that, you wouldn't have lied about it). It's that you lied--over and over--until you got yourself into the mayor's office. And your lie most hurts those who have supported you. It makes the people of Portland, who love and are proud of this town, look like fools for believing you when you claimed that you were just a "mentor" to this young man. You had to have known that Portland would get national attention for electing the first gay mayor of a major American city, and that your administration would be under some heightened scrutiny. I'm not saying that it is fair that you should be more closely watched than a heterosexual mayor may be--but I would think that you would be 1) sensitive to the very real possibility that you would be and would 2) take appropriate steps to conduct yourself in a way that would reflect well on the city that you claim to care about and the community that has been so supportive of you.
Not only have you made Portlanders look bad, you have actually further damaged perceptions that too many in the straight world have of gay men. Instead of contributing to gay history in a positive way, you have helped set back gay public relations. Well done. Right wing talk show hosts are probably positively gleeful. (And, if for no other reason, you are dead to me because you have made that ass Lars Larson happy. That is unforgivable.)
There are two aspects of this situation I find especially galling. First, that you thought--even for a second--that you could get away with this. What the hell is wrong with you politicians? In what world does this young man, or his friends NOT TALK? You were bound to be found out. But you lied anyway. People might have forgiven the bad judgement (because sleeping with a barely legal intern less than half your age IS bad judgement--whether that intern is the same sex or not) , but you don't deserve to be forgiven by the very people who believed enough in you to take your word over the word of those who tried to tell the truth in the first place. You clearly think that you are very smart and the rest of us are very stupid.
Second, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why you would risk your reputation, the reputation of the city (that, again, you claim to love), and the perception of the gay community for an 18 year old piece of ass. I mean, it isn't like you were in love. Or thought that this was going to be a long term relationship. You literally just wanted to have a fling with a twink. Well, good for you. I hope that you DO get yanked out of City Hall. I hope that this ruins any other political aspirations that you have. Because you could have had all the tail you wanted after you were done with your public life. Your lack of self-control (and it IS reported that your staffers warned you away from this "relationship" so you can't very well claim that you didn't know better) has been visited on all of us. I hope it was worth it.
You know, I was willing to look past your ridiculous "leaf tax" and that terrible fur hat you wore during the December snow storms because I thought you were an ok guy. You are not an ok guy. You are a guy who has repeatedly shown bad judgement, arrogance, a propensity to lie (even when you are sure to be caught) and supreme selfishness. You don't deserve to be the mayor of the greatest town in America.
A truly disgusted,
Kristin R. Dorsey
09 January 2009
Milky Coffee Blues
There are many reasons to hate Starbucks. I know that I don't have to tell you people that. But here is one that you may not often consider: the popularization of coffee culture brought about by corporate, franchised coffee shops has made every yahoo think that he or she knows something about coffee, when really, he or she does not. This leads to the most annoying of all coffee shop encounters: 17 year old "baristas" who think that they know more about coffee than I do. They do not.
What follows is a true account of my coffee-buying experience this morning. I warn you. This is not for the faint of heart.
ME: Can I please have a soy cafe au lait?
17 YEAR OLD: UM? What did you want?
ME: A cafe au lait made with soy milk?
17 YEAR OLD: [with great disgust] Um? Is that some kind of Starbucks thing?
ME: No, it is some kind of French thing.
Then I proceeded to EXPLAIN to this half-and-half wit how to make a damn cafe au lait.
I think that SHE owes ME a dollar ninety, plus tip.
Of course, this is still second to my all-time favorite coffee ignorance story, which involves a young lady who worked at IHOP and asked me and Donna (and, for those of you who don't know Donna, let me assure you that she is NOT someone to whom you want to pose a stupid question) what "decaf" coffee meant. She worked at friggin' IHOP. They sell two things there--pancakes with whipped cream and coffee in carafes.
ARG!
What follows is a true account of my coffee-buying experience this morning. I warn you. This is not for the faint of heart.
ME: Can I please have a soy cafe au lait?
17 YEAR OLD: UM? What did you want?
ME: A cafe au lait made with soy milk?
17 YEAR OLD: [with great disgust] Um? Is that some kind of Starbucks thing?
ME: No, it is some kind of French thing.
Then I proceeded to EXPLAIN to this half-and-half wit how to make a damn cafe au lait.
I think that SHE owes ME a dollar ninety, plus tip.
Of course, this is still second to my all-time favorite coffee ignorance story, which involves a young lady who worked at IHOP and asked me and Donna (and, for those of you who don't know Donna, let me assure you that she is NOT someone to whom you want to pose a stupid question) what "decaf" coffee meant. She worked at friggin' IHOP. They sell two things there--pancakes with whipped cream and coffee in carafes.
ARG!
08 December 2008
It Must Be Addressed!
I'm taking time out from my grading hell (and it IS hell, my friends) and coffee-induced delirium to discuss the head shaving thing. For those of you who don't know this, I have, on occasion, had the opportunity to mention the fact that I have a kind of weird fascination (ok. maybe a fetish) about film scenes in which a character shaves his head. This began with the film Pi, and really, the only other film I can think of that has a comparable scene is The Royal Tenenbaums, which I believe I have mentioned in the blog before.
Anyway, the reason I feel a need to address this is that I'm a little embarrassed about it. Well, not so much about the fact that I do have a thing about it, but more about the fact that it seems to be a fact that is SUPER memorable to a particular group of people. Not only did Stobie and Mullins both just reference it in the comments to my last post (and Melissa actually implied that this particular fact is indestructible. Like this is the cockroach or Twinkie of memories), but I actually got a random Facebook message from THE DODD about a month ago. The gist of it was this: she had a student who had shaved his head and she had a conversation with him about his decision to do that, and then it reminded her of me (!) and I think she also said that she told the student that she knew someone who would be interested in his shaving his head.
Um. That's disturbing. And I can't, for the life of me, figure out what makes this so memorable. 1) Did I make a really, really big deal out of it? Because I don't remember doing so, and I'm really ashamed if I did. 2) Is it really that weird? I mean, people have all kinds of weird things that they are into, right? 3) Is there no one else out there that can see my point here? I can't be the only person---
***
On a related note, I was equally confused by the fact that I was at the grocery store with Felisa (maybe the last time she was in town?) and we were in line when she pointed to an item on the counter in front of us and said, "what are those called?" I looked down and saw a package of chocolate Popsicles. She thought that she was being VERY funny, but it took me a minute to realize that she remembered that I can't say that word. Really? That is memorable?
***
On what I hope does not become a related note, I can't believe the conTROVersy (to quote Jane's dad) over my attraction to Jason Mewes. I mean, it isn't like I wrote that I have a thing for Clint Howard. THAT would be weird. Jason Mewes is hot. That's why he doesn't mind being super naked in a movie. HE knows he's hot.
I don't think that this warrants Marcus's freak out. Listen M--we can agree to disagree. Why do these things always end up with you calling names? I can like If Lucy Fell (nice Jim Rome-style burn, by the way) and you can think that Shawshank Redemption is the greatest film ever. You can like Catherine Keener (although I really don't get it) and I can like Mewes. It's all good. Variety is the spice of life. It makes the world go 'round. Seriously.
Anyway, the reason I feel a need to address this is that I'm a little embarrassed about it. Well, not so much about the fact that I do have a thing about it, but more about the fact that it seems to be a fact that is SUPER memorable to a particular group of people. Not only did Stobie and Mullins both just reference it in the comments to my last post (and Melissa actually implied that this particular fact is indestructible. Like this is the cockroach or Twinkie of memories), but I actually got a random Facebook message from THE DODD about a month ago. The gist of it was this: she had a student who had shaved his head and she had a conversation with him about his decision to do that, and then it reminded her of me (!) and I think she also said that she told the student that she knew someone who would be interested in his shaving his head.
Um. That's disturbing. And I can't, for the life of me, figure out what makes this so memorable. 1) Did I make a really, really big deal out of it? Because I don't remember doing so, and I'm really ashamed if I did. 2) Is it really that weird? I mean, people have all kinds of weird things that they are into, right? 3) Is there no one else out there that can see my point here? I can't be the only person---
***
On a related note, I was equally confused by the fact that I was at the grocery store with Felisa (maybe the last time she was in town?) and we were in line when she pointed to an item on the counter in front of us and said, "what are those called?" I looked down and saw a package of chocolate Popsicles. She thought that she was being VERY funny, but it took me a minute to realize that she remembered that I can't say that word. Really? That is memorable?
***
On what I hope does not become a related note, I can't believe the conTROVersy (to quote Jane's dad) over my attraction to Jason Mewes. I mean, it isn't like I wrote that I have a thing for Clint Howard. THAT would be weird. Jason Mewes is hot. That's why he doesn't mind being super naked in a movie. HE knows he's hot.
I don't think that this warrants Marcus's freak out. Listen M--we can agree to disagree. Why do these things always end up with you calling names? I can like If Lucy Fell (nice Jim Rome-style burn, by the way) and you can think that Shawshank Redemption is the greatest film ever. You can like Catherine Keener (although I really don't get it) and I can like Mewes. It's all good. Variety is the spice of life. It makes the world go 'round. Seriously.
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