Best. Video. Ever.
via Tumblr http://xokp.tumblr.com/post/34585847480
Monday, October 29, 2012
A reading from The Book Of Jersey
Chris Christie is standing on the Atlantic City pier demanding an audience with Sandy. But even his hot air can’t turn her away. He flings his arms to the heavens and cries, “get back, get back you she-devil, for I shan’t suffer another moment. Let MY PEOPLE GO!”
Sandy, unmoved by Governor Christie’s display charges on. Christie whimpers, “Oh Sandy…”
She turns her eye toward him. Stops mid-rotation. “Tell me about it, stud.” She says.
And the two dance to a familiar song. “I got chills, they’re multiplyin’. And I’m losin’ control. Cuz the power, you’re supplyin’ it’s electrifyin’!”
via Tumblr http://xokp.tumblr.com/post/34584440631
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Ayn Rand was a prophet! Her unfinished book, unearthed…
Ayn Rand was a prophet! Her unfinished book, unearthed…
via Tumblr http://xokp.tumblr.com/post/33397080469
Monday, October 8, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Big Fat Bully
A couple of years ago, the principal’s secretary at my school asked me if I wanted to be part of the school’s “Biggest Loser” competition. She said that some other staff members including herself and the principal were a part of it. I politely declined, but the question nagged at me. I mean, why ask it if you don’t think I could stand to lose a few pounds? Then again, I thought, it could just be a defensive response on my part. Anyone with eyes can tell I carry a bit more than I should. Weight is an issue I’ve dealt with in different ways my whole life. But the incident made me uncomfortable. This is a personal issue. My issue.
But clearly it is the country’s issue. Our culture has a perverse fixation on weight. From the sadistic voyeurism of “America’s Biggest Loser” to the taste-so-good-that-it-can-kill-you fast food ubiquity, to the growing genre of “this sh!t will kill you” documentaries… we, as a nation, have a major eating/body image disorder. And we feed the beast from both ends. McDonald’s is far from going out of business… which is good news for the Morgan Spurlock’s of the world.
Weight, obesity, image… these are serious issues that contain so much baggage with medical and emotional implications.
This viral video about a man who wrote a shockingly impolite letter to an overweight news anchorwoman dredged this all up for me today. In case your FB feed hasn’t been bombarded with this yet I’ll give you the nutshell: Some crasshole writes a letter to an anchorwoman saying that she sets a poor example because she is overweight. For some strange reason (fear, self-loathing, cruelty) people who are not overweight love to point out when other people are. There’s a whole sub-genre of comedy dedicated to it. The anchorwoman takes the time to address crasshole’s letter, using it as exhibit A for anti-bullying month. (Quick aside, who came up with giving every issue a month? Should we be more vigilant against bullies in October as opposed to, say, February? Stupidity.) And the thought hits me again… we live in a f#cked up culture. The gall of somebody to even write that…. but the logic, twisted and eugenic as it is, is all around us.
I remember running into a “friend” I hadn’t seen in a while at an ATM in my hometown. I remember him saying, “wow, man… you put on a lot of weight!” Embarrassed, ashamed, I laughed it off. Afterwards (the best responses often come after the fact, when opportunity and relevance have faded) I thought I should have said, “really!? Thank you for letting me know. The mirror and my ever-tightening waste-lines were only hints, but you, with keen observational skills and impeccable tact, have shown me the light that so eluded me! Thank you, you angel of wisdom!” Oh well… maybe he’s reading this.
Then there are the people in my life who I love and respect who are waaaaay to fixated on this crap. It’s all about physique and this diet and that plan and this doctor said that but the other guy said this and don’t eat that because it will give you diabetic leprosy of the perineum…. it’s too much.
And I wonder, why does this bother me? I’m relatively successful. I have a wife who loves me, belly and all. I have a home, a job that I love. Why does this bother me? Of course there is the health issue of it all. That’s a given. But why do I care?
Maybe the bigger answer lies in our national fixation. Why do we have “biggest loser” shows, fat-jokes, anorexia, bulimia, morbid obesity…? What the hell is wrong with us? Are these “first-world-problems”? Byproducts of having too much?
Are we just waaaaay too superficial? All of the above?
I have no answers. Just questions and observations. Health, self-esteem, body-image — these are personal issues. Personal issues that have become garishly public. Our collective dysfunction on parade in technicolor.
Maybe it does all come down to bullying. From a certain perspective we are a culture of bullies and victims. The weight issue brings us all back to high school — the pretty populars and the awkward outcasts. And the best answer is to rise above it by disengaging. I am not a bully or a victim. I just am. Let the rest of them be “biggest losers.” I’m going to work on me.
But clearly it is the country’s issue. Our culture has a perverse fixation on weight. From the sadistic voyeurism of “America’s Biggest Loser” to the taste-so-good-that-it-can-kill-you fast food ubiquity, to the growing genre of “this sh!t will kill you” documentaries… we, as a nation, have a major eating/body image disorder. And we feed the beast from both ends. McDonald’s is far from going out of business… which is good news for the Morgan Spurlock’s of the world.
Weight, obesity, image… these are serious issues that contain so much baggage with medical and emotional implications.
This viral video about a man who wrote a shockingly impolite letter to an overweight news anchorwoman dredged this all up for me today. In case your FB feed hasn’t been bombarded with this yet I’ll give you the nutshell: Some crasshole writes a letter to an anchorwoman saying that she sets a poor example because she is overweight. For some strange reason (fear, self-loathing, cruelty) people who are not overweight love to point out when other people are. There’s a whole sub-genre of comedy dedicated to it. The anchorwoman takes the time to address crasshole’s letter, using it as exhibit A for anti-bullying month. (Quick aside, who came up with giving every issue a month? Should we be more vigilant against bullies in October as opposed to, say, February? Stupidity.) And the thought hits me again… we live in a f#cked up culture. The gall of somebody to even write that…. but the logic, twisted and eugenic as it is, is all around us.
I remember running into a “friend” I hadn’t seen in a while at an ATM in my hometown. I remember him saying, “wow, man… you put on a lot of weight!” Embarrassed, ashamed, I laughed it off. Afterwards (the best responses often come after the fact, when opportunity and relevance have faded) I thought I should have said, “really!? Thank you for letting me know. The mirror and my ever-tightening waste-lines were only hints, but you, with keen observational skills and impeccable tact, have shown me the light that so eluded me! Thank you, you angel of wisdom!” Oh well… maybe he’s reading this.
Then there are the people in my life who I love and respect who are waaaaay to fixated on this crap. It’s all about physique and this diet and that plan and this doctor said that but the other guy said this and don’t eat that because it will give you diabetic leprosy of the perineum…. it’s too much.
And I wonder, why does this bother me? I’m relatively successful. I have a wife who loves me, belly and all. I have a home, a job that I love. Why does this bother me? Of course there is the health issue of it all. That’s a given. But why do I care?
Maybe the bigger answer lies in our national fixation. Why do we have “biggest loser” shows, fat-jokes, anorexia, bulimia, morbid obesity…? What the hell is wrong with us? Are these “first-world-problems”? Byproducts of having too much?
Are we just waaaaay too superficial? All of the above?
I have no answers. Just questions and observations. Health, self-esteem, body-image — these are personal issues. Personal issues that have become garishly public. Our collective dysfunction on parade in technicolor.
Maybe it does all come down to bullying. From a certain perspective we are a culture of bullies and victims. The weight issue brings us all back to high school — the pretty populars and the awkward outcasts. And the best answer is to rise above it by disengaging. I am not a bully or a victim. I just am. Let the rest of them be “biggest losers.” I’m going to work on me.
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