Haitian Divorce

I saw on the old TV where there has been a deadly eathquake in a country called Haiti. And putting aside the enormous tragedy of the event for a moment, think about this: A few days ago a vast majority of Americans had no idea what Haiti was or where it was on a map. A few weeks from now a less vast majority of Americans will have no idea what Haiti is or where it is on a map. And a year from now, the same vast majority of Americans as last week will have no idea what Haiti is or where it is on a map. What seems to happen when a horrible event like this happens somewhere around the globe is that Americans feel bad, take notice due to media saturation of the event, send money to the Red Cross or some other charity, then when news of The Tiger's latest transgressions or Lindsay Lohan's latest stint in rehab hit, everyone moves on and forgets all about the tragic event. If folks remember back several years ago to the tsunami that hit over in the Indian Ocean, there was a tremendous outpouring of donations to aid the folks affected. The story that doesn't get told is this: many of the donations have yet to be sent in - 5 years later. Folks see the devastation, feel bad, pledge dough, then get an itch to head to the tittie bar, spend the dough there instead, and never fulfill their pledge to aid victims of natural disasters. And on this Haitian disaster, I see where MTV is going to do a telethon to raise money for aid (I believe Clooney is going to host this telethon). My guess is that folks will feel bad, call and pledge some dough, feel good about themselves for a few days, forget all about their pledge, and move on with life. As far as my personal feelings about Haiti? I'm aware of where Haiti is, how poor folks are there, the sky high illiteracy rate, and the fact it's the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. And I have been for long time. None of that is gonna change because of monetary donations to charities over the next few days. As I intimated at the beginning of this paragraph, a year from now no one will care again and Haiti will be in the same shape it was before the earthquake, if not worse. I don't know what that means exactly about humankind, but it's the truth.

I checked the Faceshit earlier and a number of "friends" on there have been expressing support for the Haitians and talking about prayers and yes, donating some dough to charities to "help." These folks are well meaning and their thoughts and prayers are sincere. But later in the week, as plans for Friday and Saturday are heating up, and the prospect of watching NFL playoff action nears, they'll have mostly forgotten all about Haiti. The whole thing is depressing as hell.

At least the weather is warming up a bit here, as it's been unseasonably cold the past few weeks. When it hits the mid 50's (tomorrow maybe) I'm gonna break out the shorts. I hate cold weather. Bring on more global warming. I love global warming!!!

I saw another post on the Faceshit that caught my eye. It was from The Guy Who Writes Movie Reviews From Chicago. He noted that at the place he works, buttons were handed out proclaiming "We're still #1." Some of you might recall a post I did about a year ago about the posters plastered all over the building claiming #1 status. And as I said back then, if that place is #1 in the country at what they do, that is the saddest indictment of the American Education system I can ever imagine. The only things I think the place could rightfully argue #1 status in are: time spent sleeping in cubicles, rank incompetence, and % of workers who obsessively snack. I always thought the motto of the place should be: Every Child Left Behind...

I was sitting last week at Playas one night and talking to this bookie about nothing in particular. And he mentioned frequenting a joint here in town that is known as a "juice" bar. What that means, for the uninitiated (the Jacobys come to mind...), is that you bring your own booze or beer and they sell it back to you. They do this so the skanks in there can be completely nude. There are laws in most cities about having a liquor license and how naked skanks can get. I'm not a big strip joint guy at all. I do remember being rushed by several fraternities when I was a wide-eyed rookie in college and getting taken to a few of these all nude joints. I remember I spent most of my time laughing and saying things like "You're not that impressive," as the strippers thrusted their trim toward me. Anyway, the bookie I was speaking with is a big fan of this juice bar place. Which makes sense because guys who are into one kind of deviant deal tend to be into other kinds of deviant deals. Being a bookie and frequenting all nude strip joints probably goes hand in hand. The bookie invited me to go along with him to the all nude joint and I declined the invitation, as I was worried about cottage cheesy like yeast infections flying at my face from some skank's trim.

As readers here in Greensboro know, there is a local weekly paper called the Rhino. Now, the Rhino is vastly superior to the local paper at covering local news. It's not even close. Anyway, one section of the Rhino is written by a very successful science fiction writer named Scotty Card (I believe he wrote a best seller called Lender's Game - about usary in space or something). His column basically consists of his opinions on food products, electronics, restaurants, stores, books, music, TV shows, and movies. I skim Scotty's column every week to see his thoughts on current films and sometimes TV shows (if it's a show I've got any interest in ever thinking about watching). I find many of Scotty's opinions ridiculous. The reason for that probably is, and one important thing to keep in mind is, that Scotty's world view is vastly different than mine. Scotty strikes me as a family man who cares about society, wants to do good, etc. It's also important to note that Scotty Card is a Mormon. So, he's got that going for him too. The reason I bring all this up is that I was reading his most recent column and he was going on about Up In The Air. He wasn't crazy about it. Which is cool, whatever. However, within his review he noted that he never bothered to see Juno because he was sure he wouldn't like it (and he probably wouldn't have...). So, here's another case of a dude trashing something he's never seen. It reminds me of all the outrage over The Last Temptation Of Christ back in the 80's by folks who never saw it. Or the boycotts of NYPD Blue before the pilot had even aired. Scotty Card has mentioned a number of times over the years that he has a general disdain for Marty Scorcese and Tarantino (among other filmmakers). And again, that's cool. Whatever. The thing that puzzles me is that he dismisses some of the greatest films without ever bothering to actually, you know, see them. Now, Scotty Card doesn't have to like Jason Reitman or whoever else. But it strikes me as fairly hypocritical for a man who, when you look at his column, seems to urge open-mindedness in so many matters (although my interaction with Mormons is that they tend to be very rigid in their views) won't give these films or filmmakers a fair shake. I realize all of this doesn't really matter much to anyone. But Scotty Card has always kind of rubbed me the wrong way. He comes across as a blowhard religious elitist. It's a shame because I wish the Rhino had someone cool writing reviews. It's not a big deal, but I would enjoy reading the paper a little more...

While on the topic of weekly papers here in Greensboro, let me note: I say no daily to the YES Weekly. It's terrible. And embarrassing for the city. It's been around for a few years now. Maybe things have gotten better, but back when it started, it was unreadably bad. The writing was terrible and the grammatical/usage mistakes were way worse than even Geilfuss' blog. The guy who edits the thing is pitiful. It's a sad, sad attempt attempt at a paper. If you're ever in Greensboro and pick up the latest issue of YES Weekly, please don't blame folks from around here (although granted, I'm not from around here originally myself) for how awful it is. If I remember correctly, the guy who edits the thing is from New York or Jersey. Poor bastard...

A quick reminder here in light of some feedback I've received from some recent posts: I am not, nor do I pretend to be, a journalist. In fact, I would categorize me being called a journalist to be as incorrect as me being called a teacher. I am merely an irrelevant person, writing an irrelevant blog, in an irrelevant world.

Rudderless

I'm out. Goodnight now. - TBFH