My Name Is W

I’ve always thought it was interesting that when self-avowed liberal hippie chick, and suspected communist, Aunt B added me to her blog roll it was as “W, no the good one”. I certainly don’t mind being called the good one, but I thought it was funny that she differentiated between little ole me, and a certain famous (infamous) person with the same initial.

Well last week I ran into problem with the similiarities between my initial and the Presidents. I was reading a post on Tennessee Guerilla Women (you have to read the comments) where Egalia was taking Kleinheider to task for using the word ‘shrill’ to describe her posts. I made a comment about my own interpretation of the word and another commenter decided to take my generic comment personally. When I defended myself by saying I wasn’t referring to her, this is the exchange that happened next.

Sadie Baker: Well, with a name like "W," you can expect to raise a few hackles
around here. I assumed you were trolling. If you weren't, then I
apologize.

Egalia: You got that correct, Sadie. "W" is forever
ruined. As is "right."

(Thanks to Sadie for actually apologizing. That's not something you see often on the internet.)

So it would appear that the President is ruining the reputation of anyone who uses the initial. I’m at least twenty years younger than the President, so I can’t claim to have had it first. But I’ve been using my initial to stay semi-anonymous online since he was just George Bush, Jr. I’m tempted to start a Randall style campaign to take back my initial, but I’m too lazy to do anything beyond this post.

I can’t say I’m very happy with his performance lately, but I’m really tired of how ‘W’ has become nearly synonymous with ‘stupid’ and various other uncomplimentary adjectives. The man only started using the initial as a way to differentiate himself from his dad, which I can understand completely. But now it has almost become his identity and it’s some sort of symbol for all his shortcomings. Especially when pronounced with a proper Texas accent.

A Different Morning After

A little humor by Laurie Kilmartin, found on the Daily Comedy website:

The FDA is within weeks of approving an over-the-counter "morning after" pill.

"Too little, too late," commented actress/hostage Katie Holmes.

The Morning After

The National Conference of State Legislators has been in town this week and last night they had some sort of gala event on the Legislative Plaza in front of the War Memorial Building and the Capital. Streets were closed and yada, yada, yada.

This morning, I walked through the plaza on my way to work. It was nasty. Cigarette butts, water bottles, and assorted trash floating around all over the plaza. The nice marble flagstones were stained with food and grease, and smelly. I really like the plaza this time of year with the fountains and trees, and I was pretty disgusted with it when I walked through this morning.

Now, as Brittney likes to say, 'compare and contrast' with the big immigrant rally held at the Legislative Plaza back in the spring. I don’t know the exact attendance of either event, but I think it’s safe to say that the Legislators Conference had significantly lower attendance than the immigration rally.

The morning after the immigration rally on Legislative Plaza? Nothing. No trash, no stains, not even full bags in the trash cans stationed on the plaza.

Now granted there will probably be cleaning crews on the plaza today, but I still think it makes a big statement that given the same elapsed time all those people for the immigration rally made a much smaller mess than the State Legislators. And little or no taxpayer money had to be spent to clean up after the immigration rally.

Even more interesting (to me anyhow)…….. it was the same way after all the big horn honking rallies against the state income tax a few years ago. They didn’t want to pay more taxes, but they didn’t have any problem using state money to clean up after themselves on the plaza, and in all the bathrooms of the state buildings around the plaza.

Todd A Writes Again

Don’t call Barry Cherry a pornographer. He’s a filmmaker. Who makes films like Too Hot For Tube Tops. The kind of soft core porn immortalized by Skinemax and USA Up All Night (The show that made Gilbert Gottfried a celebrity, oh how I miss it). If you’re wondering what soft core porn is…… just think T&A. Barry used to live and work in Hollywood, until he got tired of the fast pace, ass kissing, tell people what they want to hear so you get a job atmosphere. So he picked up stakes and moved to our very own Nashvegas.

These days he makes a few videos a year. Each is shot in his Brentwood, TN home and showcases four aspiring starlets whom he calls Barry’s Cherries. Barry is living the dream with beautiful women in his pool and nothing to look forward to but a laid back summer. But then his old protégé, Roxy, shows up with the typical Nashville dilemma. She got drunk and had sex with a wannabe country singer, and he filmed it. Now he wants to release it, but she doesn’t want to be Pam to his Tommy Lee.

That’s the set-up for Todd A’s new book Barry’s Cherries. Todd was kind to send all interested bloggers a free copy of his first book, Being Good, back in March. It was good enough that I was going to buy a copy of this new one. But apparently Todd thought my last review didn’t suck too badly, because he sent me a copy in the interests of getting a little buzz going. The joke’s probably on him, since no one much reads me, but a review is a review I guess. I’m sure you’ll see a few more comments from local blogger big shots around soon.

I really enjoy Todd’s conversational style of writing. The way he sets up his first person narrative it’s like I’m sitting on the deck with a friend listening to him tell me a story while we have a few beers. The narrative is warm in a way I can’t pinpoint, and it really encourages me to keep reading when I should be doing other things. This style is a lot of what made Slav so likeable in Todd’s first novel. The ‘sitting on the deck with a friend’ sense is only enhanced by the fact that the story takes place in Nashville. There were references to Nashville institutions like the Red Door, East Nashville, and Nashville Scene throughout. At one point there is even a debate about which local morning show host is more sexy, Victoria Hansen (formerly of WKRN, why Mike, why?!?) or Kelly Sutton of the Fox morning show. All the local references may be a turn off to non-Nashvillian readers, but it certainly made me feel more at home. (I vote for Victoria, but I wouldn’t kick Kelly out either.)

I think Barry is what Todd’s protagonist from the first novel, Slav, may be in twenty more years. They both have a no BS, do your own thing attitude and a sense that they’re fun guys to hang out with. But Barry has the benefit of 20 more years of life and knows that making nice can sometimes get you what you want instead of just shooting off at the mouth. Barry is also a lot more laidback, and is willing to have four young women in his house without feeling the need to hit on them.

I think the humor may turn off the more serious potential readers, but if you’re a fan of Kevin Smith this is right up your alley. Todd makes great use of bathroom humor in a running gag about taking and leaving while also providing me with a line to use at my next prostate exam. And a homage to an 80’s sitcom is worked into the entire story. I’m itching to give it away, but I’ll let you figure it out yourself.

Once again, my main criticism is the ending. It seems so abrupt. There’s a nice long build up, and then suddenly all of the major plot points are resolved in a very heated chapter. I can’t really pinpoint why this bugs me, but it’s almost like divine intervention the way things suddenly resolve without any involvment by the main character. At least this time we got to watch the climax ourselves, rather than hear about it happening out of view.

Todd, if you read this, I really need to know….. What happened to Eric? It’s cruel to leave loose ends and make me wonder this way.

A Blog Kind Of Day

Last Friday had a blog focus. On the way home from work I stopped for take-out at the Mothership. At home I started reading Todd's new book. And The Lady Friend and I capped off the evening by attending Aunt B's play.