Songs For Saturday: Pete Townsend, They Might Be Giants & 10,000 Maniacs

 

We've got three live tracks for this week's Songs For Saturday.

Starting off today's play list in an epic live version of what might be my favorite song by Pete Townsend, "A Little Is Enough".   

Before we move on this week's second song on the playlist, here's a little background. 

On March 11, 2017, I wrote this about the surgery on my elbow. 

We open inside a hospital awash with white florescent light with humming and beeping filling the background noises, joined by the low murmurs of nurses checking on their patients.  In one bed is a man with disheveled hair and beard, who’s eyes slowly open to a thin slit, then close tight, the effort too much. Then those eyes open slightly wider. Again, this effort expended is too much and his eyes close again.

 Suddenly, the nurses pause in their duties when they hear…

...singing?

I get knocked down, but I get up again

You are never gonna keep me down

Yes, singing which is coming from the man with the disheveled hair and beard. His eyes are still closed but yes, he’s singing.

I get knocked down, but I get up again

You are never gonna keep me down

I get knocked down, but I get up again

You are never gonna keep me down

And that man, dear reader, was me after the operation on my elbow.  

It was a few weeks after that surgery while still at home in recovery, I discovered this this cover of the Chumbawumba classic  "Tubthumping" by They Might Be Giants, recorded in a break room with the staff of the AV Club.   

I've already posted this next song in the Songs for Saturday from Saturday, December 26, 2020 but hardly a week goes by that I don't listen to this at least once.

So here it is again: "More Than This" by 10,000 Maniacs.

And that is that for today's Song For Saturday.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.    

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: This (Non) Sporting Life: Summertime In Rio

With the 2020 2021 Summer Olympics underway in Tokyo, this week's Flashback Friday goes back to a post from Tuesday, August 9, 2016 for my look at the last Summer Olympics.

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This (Non) Sporting Life: Summertime In Rio

Hi there! Welcome to I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, a pee-wee baseball game of a blog in an Olympic level internet. I'm Dave-El and I can stick a landing metaphorically.

This is an installment of an irregular feature I called This (Non) Sporting Life, a blog post about sports by a guy who doesn't know much about sports. Today's post is about the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

Leading up to the start of the games, the key word most associated with Rio was "rampant". As in: 

Rampant crime. 
Rampant corruption.
Rampant poverty.
Rampant sewage.
Rampant disease. 
Rampant hunger.

Apparently the criteria for selecting a host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics was "hellhole" and it appears Rio fit the bill as well as any portal to the netherworld found by the Winchester brothers on Supernatural. But what Rio lacked in actual demons, it more than made up for with rivers and harbors packed with shit. 

And I don't mean "shit" as a euphemism for random, useless stuff. I mean literal shit. Excrement. Poop. Dung. Feces. Solid waste matter. The waterways around Rio are full of it. 

Don't forget the big worry which is the spread of the Zika virus which is (here comes that word again) rampant in that part of the world. Zika is spread by mosquitoes which then can be transmitted by sex and really screw up any babies produced from said sexual encounters. It's not a pretty thing in the least and that's yet another thing to contend with down in Rio. 

But the best of the world's young athletes, constantly training in grueling pre-dawn rituals for almost all their lives, have come to this event to show what they can do and demonstrate for the world they are the best. God bless 'em for that. I just hope they don't have to get sick or die for the privilege.  

Every Olympics has to kick off with a show and a party and this year's Olympics were no different as Rio, despite a very limited budget, put together a visually dazzling show. It was also, at times, very weird. There were dudes in thongs. No, you can go look that up yourself.  

And then there was this really heavy Debbie Downer of a presentation (narrated in part by Dame Judi Dench) about how climate change is going to kills us all. 

And now its time to party! 

The highlight of the evening was a very simple but elegant display of walking in a straight line. Super model Gisele Bundsen, a native of Brazil, strode gorgeously down a half-mile catwalk along a ribbon of light to the sound of the Girl From Inpanena. It was a beautifully surreal moment. Way to go, Gisele!

After the opening ceremony, we get the Parade of Nations. Athletes from all 1,397 participating nations (well, it seems like its that many!) file through the Olympic stadium.  Below is a photo of an athlete from the Argentina branch of the Hogwarts School of Wizardry pledging her love to me in Portuguese.  

Uh oh! Looks like Gisele forgot something. 

Then it was time for the Americans! Yay! Thanks to the parade going in the order of the Brazilian Portuguese alphabet, the United States of America was designated as Estados Unidos da América and showed up way earlier in the parade than usual. NBC, covering the Olympics for nearly a century now, zeroed in on the American contingent with zealous glee.  

And stayed focused on the Americans. 

And stayed there.

And stayed there. 

And stayed...

You know, as a citizen of the greatest most kickass country in the friggin' world, I'm proud of America. But damn this was getting awkward. You could hear the faint echoes of the stadium announcer continuing to announce other countries coming into the stadium but we're still following Team USA. 

OK, Gisele going back this way now. Guess everything's cool. 

Then there was this buff bare-chested dude from the nation of Tongo whose mere appearance on television caused over 1 million instantaneous orgasms in women all over the world and at least 17 spontaneous conceptions.  

Wait! Gisele? Girl, what did you forget this time? 

As for the sports themselves, I've watched some swimming and gymnastics with my wife. She's more into this than I am  but I have to admit, watching some of these men and women push themselves to the limits of their astonishing abilities is quite inspiring.

Simone Biles, the American gymnast, seems to defy gravity in her events. Really, how does she get that high in the air? I half expected her to swoop over the arena like Supergirl or something. 

Swimmer Katinka Hosszu of Hungary smashing through the water as easily as you or I move through air was totally remarkable.  

Then I saw American swimmer Katie Ledecky whom I am convinced shares DNA with Aquaman the way she cuts through the water. I watched her race Sunday where she scored a gold medal while setting a world record. She was amazing. There was Ledecky. Then there was everybody else.

It's a shame that the dubious state of the venue and the surrounding city are so questionable. These athletes deserve so much better. And they deserve our attention and respect. 

For another take on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, click here for a post by favorite blogger who isn't me, Ken Levine.  

That's that for today's post. Something or another will be here tomorrow. Until then, remember to be good to one another.

And now here's Gisele returning to the Olympian realm where goddesses like her dwell.

A Decision Tree

In the credit where credit is due department, the following was posted at McSweeneys.net.  

ARE YOU ALLOWED TO CRITICIZE SIMONE BILES?: A DECISION TREE

by CARLOS GREAVES

 "Following superstar gymnast Simone Biles citing concerns of mental health after shockingly pulling out of the women’s team competition, a number of conservative media figures and pundits attacked her on Tuesday for supposedly being a ‘quitter’ and ‘selfish sociopath’ who had brought ‘shame on her country.’

 

- - -                                         "

— The Daily Beast, 7/27/21

This (Non) Sporting Life: Living On Tokyo Time

My wife Andrea is a big fan of the Olympics. She'll watch from the opening ceremony with the whole parade of nations and everything.  Her favorite sports for the Summer Olympics are swimming and gymnastics but really, she'll watch almost any sport.

Not quite sharing Andrea's enthusiasm for the Olympics in Tokyo was blogger Ken Levine.  Ken says he's "usually transfixed by the Olympics, no matter the event" but this year, Ken says he has "zero interest.  None. This year it’s just a big money grab.  And many lives will be needlessly put into COVID jeopardy because organizers don’t want to cancel and give up all that broadcast rights money."

Ken says, "I find the whole event irresponsible."  

To a certain degree, I understand Ken's point.  But whatever the ulterior motive for more money, there should also be some consideration for the women and men who have trained their whole lives for this moment, to demonstrate to the world their astonishing gifts in a variety of sports.

Maybe Ken is right, that the health risks are too great to extend this opportunity for this demonstration of their skills and talents.  But as I watch these young people perform feats of astounding athleticism at a level that I can barely begin to comprehend, I am keenly aware of the loss of this chance for these athletes to do what they've strived for would have been a shame. 

_____________________________

The big story, perhaps the biggest story, involves someone deciding not to compete.  

Currently the most accomplished gymnast in the whole world, Simone Biles came into Tokyo with the wind at her back and the world for the taking.

Except...

Routines that would normally be epic and masterful were shaky, riddled with errors. Simone Biles was not her usual self. 

And she made the call. She withdrew first from the team events and then from her solo events. 

Simone Biles was fried. 

I have regarded Simone's proficiency as a gymnast as almost being akin to a super power with her almost ethereal and effortless way of defying gravity.  

But gravity pulls on Simone Biles as much as anyone else in this world and it only looks effortless because she has put in so much effort to make it look that way.

And that effort is as much mental as it is physical. And every body has it's limits in it's muscles and in the mind.

And Simone Biles reached hers and to admit, "I just can't do this."

In America, admitting "I just can't do this" is a bold statement. We put an inordinate value on pushing ourselves past our limits. How can we say we danced our hardest if we didn't leave blood on the dance floor?

Other gymnasts have understood Simone's predicament when she cited her mental stressors curtailing her physical efforts. Mental acuity is as essential a component of a successful gymnastic routine as physical ability. A single loss of focus can lead to injury, a twisted ankle, a broken leg, a snapped spine.

If Simone Biles' head was not in the game, it was a wise move to back off before she hurt herself or hindered her team's chances at winning an Olympic medal.

Simone's struggles have engendered a lot of positive support.

Over in right wing media, the knives are out, labeling Simone Biles a coward, selfish and a disgrace to America. 

It's that kind of bullying that makes it hard for people, particularly Americans, to be forthright about their mental health. 

When it comes to how important a strong mental state is, I am reminded of this old Far Side cartoon.

_____________________________

On Sunday, Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten was so excited. She threw her arms in the air as she crossed the finish line, filled with the joy of victory. 

She had just won Olympic Gold! 

Except no, she hadn't. She was going to get a silver medal.

Because Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria had already gotten there, crossed the finish line, grabbed a bite to eat and played a game of checkers before  van Vleuten showed up.

OK, it wasn't quite as bad as all that but Kiesenhofer spent much of the rest of the race so far ahead, she was out of sight of the other cyclists van Vleuten. 

Awkward.

Well, it could've been worse. 

_____________________________

Speaking of being ahead way out in front, Andrea and I watched Katie Ledecky just totally crush the competition in the debut of the women's 1500 meter freestyle at the Summer Olympics.  

Ledecky plowed through the water like a frickin' torpedo. Aquaman got nothin' on Katie Ledecky! 

The announcers began to speculate who might come in 2nd since who was coming in first was virtually a done deal. 

Well, I didn't relax until Ledecky touched the wall for the final time to claim her victory. 

___________________________

The opening ceremonies belonged to a most unexpected man.

Harry Dank. 

Nope, he's not an Olympic competitor. 

He's U.S. basketball star Sue Bird’s mother’s boyfriend.

As Sue Bird carried the American flag ahead of her fellow American athletes, we got to see Sue's mom cheering on her daughter.

And Harry Dank was there also. Just chillin' in his recliner.

Despite the return appearance of the shiny chest due from Tonga, Harry Dank was the topic dujour on Twitter.

Tomorrow, it's MORE Olympic stuff... from the before times! 

Flashback Friday goes back to 2016 for the Summer Olympics in Rio! 

The Pandemic Persistency

The coronavirus pandemic is still a thing.

COVID-19 and it's delta variant is still making people sick and people are still dying.

Most of these illnesses and deaths are among the unvaccinated.

Suddenly, Republicans and Fox News are paying attention.

After weeks of decrying various efforts to get people to get the vaccine as an invasion of freedom and that people have a choice, there are Republican politicians and Fox News talking heads are now pushing a message that the vaccine is safe, effective and it would be a really good idea to get the vaccine.

What pray tell prompted this change of heart?

The first and probably most likely answer? Money.

The stock market took a 500 point dive on fears of the COVID-19 delta variant. 

Wanna get a Republican's attention? Hit 'em in the wallet.

There may also be a growing realization that the death toll being greatest among the unvaccinated means the death toll also hitting really hard at the key demographics that makes up the viewership of Fox News and voted Republican.  

Fox News viewers cannot watch Fox News if their dead.

Republican voters cannot vote Republican if their dead.

Realizing they need to do something to protect their phony baloney jobs, Republican and Fox News talking heads have decided that the vaccine is safe, effective and it would be a really good idea to get the vaccine.

When asked about this change of tone, Kevin McCarthy said there was no change in tone, that the Republican Party has always believed the vaccine is safe, effective and it would be a really good idea to get the vaccine.

Meanwhile Republican leaders like Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to do precious little in the face of the advancing peril of the COVID-19 variant. 

And the small minded minions who follow their leadership still refusing to wear masks or social distance or better yet, get the goddam vaccine, they're the reason why this pandemic is not yet in our rear view mirror.  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Loki

 

A couple of weeks, the first (and it seems not the last) season of Loki achieved it's glorious purpose for Disney+ by building more of the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  

Loki the series, like the previous MCU series on Disney+, does not truly end but adds to the building blocks of what is to come.

The penultimate episode of Loki season 1 is a bit of wild ride, set in the mysterious Void where Sylvia teams up with Mobius who is traversing this dystopian hell scape in a pizza delivery car.  

Elsewhere, Loki is playing with himself. 

No, not like that, you perv! 

There's a whole bunch of Loki variants in the Void including one who is inexplicably an alligator.  

There's a massive fight sequence as the Lokis turn on each other, each assuming the other is screwing with them somehow.  

Richard Grant plays Classic Loki, all resplendent in a comics accurate yellow and green costume from the early 1960s.  

Also in the void: a massive cloud-like creature called Alioth. 

The various Loki variants spend their time running away from Alioth.

Sylvie has the crazy idea of running towards Alioth. She thinks she can enchant Alioth and get past him to the real power behind the Time Keepers, whoever is really in charge of the TVA. Our Loki (the one we've been following since episode one) thinks this is crazy but Loki is quite smitten with Sylvie and where she goeth, he goeth too.

Sylvia being a Loki variant means Loki is in love with himself.

Yeah, that seems about right. 

Long story short: Sylvie's crazy plan works with the help of a sacrifice play from Classic Loki. 

Before the special effects were added, I imagine Richard Grant felt more than a bit silly, flexing and stretching in the gaudy green-yellow get up like some kind of insane ballet dancer having a seizure.

Sylvie and Loki get past Alioth to arrive at the Citadel at the End of Time where they meet the true power of the TVA.

He Who Remains.

And then...

Nothing happens. 

For a rather long time.  

There is a long stretch of time where Sylvie and Loki sit and listen to He Who Remains deliver a really long exposition dump. 

What makes this even remotely interesting is the performance of Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains, a volatile mix of goofy and sinister.  

Who the hell is He Who Remains?

He's a scientist from the 31st Century whose variants of himself started multiversal war. He who remains ended the war when he used Alioth to destroy his variants and he created the TVA to maintain the peace of a single time line. 

He Who Remains is tired of running all this and offers Loki and Sylvie an opportunity to run the TVA in his stead. Or they can kill him. But there will be consequences.  

Loki's considering the 1st option. Sylvie just wants to kill him. 

After shoving Loki through a time door back to the TVA, Sylvie does just that.  

And the consequence is a bright line splinters into a bunch of other lines. 

The line represents the single sacred time line becoming a wild and unruly multiverse. 

Which is a big deal but is only represented by that illustrated line. We are being told there are consequences of the death of He Who Remains.

The only real consequence that we experience is Loki discovers that Mobius and B-15  do not know who Loki is and the statues of the Time Keepers have been replaced with statues of a variant of He Who Remains. 

The last hour of Loki is a bit of talky slog where our Loki is rendered a side note in his own series. The "glorious purpose" of this episode is less to tell a story and more to move the building blocks around to get things ready for the next slate of Marvel movies, specifically the next Dr. Strange movie and the next Ant Man & the Wasp film. 

Before appearing in Loki, Jonathan Majors had already been cast to appear in the next Ant Man & the Wasp movie as...

Kang the Conqueror. 

Yep, Marvel Comics' time travelling big bad is making his way to the MCU.

He Who Remains obliquely refers to one of his variant identities as "a conqueror".  

In case you think Jonathan Majors' appearance in the final episode came completely out of nowhere, he had already been in the previous episodes, voicing the android Time-Keepers.  

Tom Hiddleston was charming and delightful as always in the role of Loki and his first solo series was mostly a lot of fun to watch. But I don't think Tom or Loki were well served by the finale of season 1.

Oh, mid credits, there is an announcement of Loki season 2.

How? Why? When?

Your guess is as good as mine.

OK, next week, we wrap up season 2 of Batwoman.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.   

Space Billionaire

Last week, a narcissistic billionaire was shot into space.

Sadly, the narcissistic billionaire came back. 

OK, he took some hostages along for the ride to make sure he got back safely.  We certainly did not want anything bad for the 18 year old kid and the 82 year old woman who went along for the ride. 

Jeff Bezos, billionaire founder of Amazon, forked over some of his billions to spring on a 10 minute trip into space. 

His space ship was called Blue Origin and it was shaped like...

Well, you know....

I was watching the launch out of the corner of my eye while I was at work, trying to feel some sort of wonder or awe over this space faring accomplishment.

But I could not. 

I don't know, maybe it was because this whole exercise seemed to be more in service to the ego one man and not a valiant step forward on behalf of human kind. 

There has always been a conflict between the exploration of space and solving more immediate domestic problems. 

But the exploration of space has often transcended that equation, expanding our knowledge of ourselves and developing technology that benefits humanity,  

Jeff Bezos in his giant space dildo felt like Jeff laying the first brick for his space hotel. 

Jeff Bezos in space feels like a benefit for only that part of humanity who can afford to make the trip.  

Cinema Sunday: Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan

After last week's look at Star Trek - The Motion Picture, I've decided to dedicate Cinema Sunday to review the rest of the movies featuring the cast of the original series.

Today, we face... The Revenge of Khan! 

No, wait! The next Star Wars film is going to be Revenge of the Jedi.*

Title change: 

Now we face... The Wrath of Khan! 

*Revenge of the Jedi does it's own title change to Return of the Jedi.  

USS Enterprise has received a distress call from the crew of the damaged ship Kobayashi Maru. Lieutenant Saavik, a Vulcan, is in command and directs the ship to conduct a rescue mission.

But to quote a certain admiral from another sci-fi franchise?

"It's a trap!" 

The Enterprise is attacked by Klingon cruisers and despite whatever Saavik can think of, everything goes to shit real fast, the bridge exploding around her and dead crew lying everywhere. 

Then lights come up, the explosions stop, the dead crew get up and Admiral James T. Kirk enters the bridge. 

It's all been a simulation exercise for the trainees under the tutelage of Captain Spock. 

Saavik is trying to maintain her Vulcan composure but really, this Kobayashi Maru test is bull shit: there's not way to win. Kirk reminds her it's important for Starfleet officers to be prepared for the no-win scenario. 

Dr. McCoy then remarks that Kirk is the only Starfleet officer to beat the Kobayashi Maru test.

The year is 2285 and life is kind of good but Kirk is kind of down in the dumps about it. It's his birthday and he's another year older while getting antsy behind an admiral's desk.

Meanwhile, out in deep space...

The starship Reliant is on a mission to search for a lifeless planet to test the Genesis Device, a technology designed to change dead matter into a living world. Commander Pavel Chekov and Captain Clark Terrell beam down to evaluate a planet they believe to be Ceti Alpha VI.

Uh oh! "It's a trap!"  

Oh crap! The planet is Ceti Alpha V and the two Starfleet officers are in the clutches of Khan Noonien Singh, the genetically engineered tyrant  we last met in the series episode "Space Seed".  

Using mind controlling ear worms, Khan forces Chekov and Terrell to take control of the Reliant and he learns of the Genesis device which is being developed on space station Regula 1. 

While on a training cruise, the Enterprise receives a distress call from Regula 1 from the Genesis project director Dr. Carol Marcus.  

Cue awkward: seems Kirk and Marcus were a thing once upon a time. Wait 'til he meets her son David who is also his son.

Knowing that Genesis is a really big deal and can be used as a weapon, Kirk takes command of the Enterprise. He's less of a dick about it this time. He checks in with Spock who is more than willing to let Jim have command.

Maybe letting Kirk command the Enterprise is not a good idea.

Enterprise gets it's ass kicked by Reliant. (Saavik did try to warn Kirk but guess who didn't listen?) 

Khan orders Kirk to give up all info about Genesis or everyody dies. 

Kirk pulls a sneaky by remotely lowering Reliant's shields and it's the Enterprise that delivers the ass kicking.

Khan sneaks off while the Enterprise sputters it's way to Regula I. Kirk, McCoy, and Saavik beam to the station to find a slaughterhouse, Dr. Marcus' team brutally murdered by Khan and his followers. Terrell and Chekov managed to hide from Khan and are still alive.

Seems Carol and David beamed down deep into the nearby planetoid with the Genesis device.  Kirk and the gang follow and...

"It's a trap!" 

Khan is pulling the strings on Terrell and Chekov with the mind controlling ear worms, using them as spies. Terrell phasers himself before he hurts Kirk and the others. Chekov collapses as the ear worm bloodily oozes out of his head.

But Khan has what he wants.

1) He beams up the Genesis device to the Reliant. 

2) He has left Kirk buried alive deep in a lifeless planet. Buried aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive! 

Kirk is pissed! "KHAAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!" 

Well, there are worse places to be stuck. The otherwise lifeless planetoid they're stuck in has life, air, water and food thanks to Dr. Marcus's Genesis device. 

While stuck in this no-win situation, Saavik reminds Kirk that by beating the Kobayashi Maru test (short answer is he cheated), Kirk has never faced a no win scenario.

Kirk answers, "I don't like to lose" and flips open his communicator.  

Things are not quite as bleak as they seem. 

Spock beams their asses back to the Enterprise. The ship is in super sorry shape but not quite as dead in the water as Khan believes.  

The Enterprise enters a nearby nebula and Khan orders the Reliant to follow. A subordinate tells Khan this is not a good idea because the nebula fucks with sensors and shit but Khan doesn't care.  He forces the Reliant into the nebula which is not a good idea. Why? Because...

"It's a trap!" 

Yes, the Enterprise has the same problem as the Reliant in the nebula with fucked up sensors and shit but Kirk and his crew are used to doing stuff in space and Khan and his crew are not.

Or as Spock puts it, Khan's tactics indicate inexperience in three-dimensional combat which Kirk is able to use to his advantage to disable the Reliant.

But Khan ain't letting go of his raging drive for vengeance that easy. He sets the Genesis thingy to go off like a bomb.

The Enterprise, bereft of warp drive, can't get away fast enough. 

Spock has an idea how to fix that. 

So there's Khan, painfully gasping for breath, his life ebbing away but at least, in his last moments alive, he will see the hated Admiral Kirk finally d-

Where the fuck did they go?!?!

Genesis goes boom while the Enterprise warps the hell out of there just ahead of the blast radius.

Spock saves the day! Yay, Spock! 

Except...

Except...

Spock fixed the ship's warp drive but it exposed him to lethal amounts of radiation and Kirk has to watch him slowly die.

"I am...and always...have been... your friend."

I'm not crying. You're crying! Oh shut up! 

OK, this sucks! 

Except...

Except...

Well, it doesn't really.  I mean, Spock dying sucks but overall, this is a very strong effort and it hangs on a solid story structure built on character and less on spectacle. 

By the way there's a story of a fan who protested Spock's death by walking out of the movie when Spock leaves the bridge. Dude still bought a ticket and Paramount still gets their money. That's showing them! 

Besides it wasn't Paramount's idea to kill Spock. Leonard Nimoy only agreed to come back to Star Trek if Spock was killed off.

Anyway...

After the debacle of the first Star Trek movie, Paramount only agreed to do a second film on the cheap, as a made for TV movie. But with a growing confidence that producer Harve Bennett and director Nicholas Meyer knew what the hell they were doing and liking what they saw coming together, Paramount execs beefed up the budget to prep the film for a theatrical release. 

The movies "made for TV" roots still show. The effects work is competent but not really worthy of the big screen.  Some of the sets would have looked at home on the original series.

But what drives this story are the character beats.  Kirk confronting his mortality. Spock finding a balance between his Vulcan and human sides. 

Ricardo Montalbán as Khan growls and rages like he's playing to the balcony seats in a Shakespeare production but this is a good thing, making Khan a worthy antagonist. His abandonment on Ceti Alpha V, the death of many of his followers and his wife, he lays the blame squarely at the feet of James T. Kirk. His refusal to adapt, to lean hard into this rage, costs Khan the rest of his followers and his own life and all of it for nothing. 

In contrasts, Kirk has lost his best friend and yet ends the movie with a sense that he has regained something he thought he had lost, a sense of wonder.  He feels... young.

And it's not like the friend is lost forever. 

The story goes that at the wrap party, Leonard Nimoy was telling Harve Bennett how much he enjoyed making this new Star Trek film and couldn't wait for the next one. 

Next week, Cinema Sunday takes a look at Star Trek III - The Search For Spock. 

Songs For Saturday: Murray Head, The Art of Noise and Flock of Seagulls

 

Today's Songs For Saturday has a theme:

The 1980's were weird, man! 

Let's start off with Murray Head and "One Night In Bangkok".

"One Night in Bangkok" was from the  musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus; yes, that same Benny & Björn  who were the song writing geniuses of ABBA.

Murray Head who performs the rap is the older brother of  Anthony Head who was Rupert Giles in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the villain in the Doctor Who episode "School Reunion".

Next up on today's "The 1980's were weird, man!" playlist is The Art of Noise with Max Headroom and "Paranoimia". 

OK, what the hell was THAT?  

Max Headroom was a British fictional artificial intelligence character who debuted  in 1985. 

Max was portrayed by Matt Frewer and was called "the first computer-generated TV personality".

Spoiler: Max Headroom is NOT computer generated.  

What you see of Max is an actor in prosthetic make-up and harsh lighting, in front of a blue screen.

Given advances in computer technology and society's immersion into the internet, it seems the concept of Max Headroom would be due for a revival.

The 1980's were weird, man! 

Next up is a A Flock Of Seagulls  with "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)".  I like the song well enough but it's the surreal video of random shots of 1980s women in 1980s aerobic attire that makes this weird.

With that, we end our little tour through the 1980s.

And that is that for today's Song For Saturday.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.    

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Tips For Newborns

 Well, guys, after 2 weeks of Encore posts on Friday, I've just thrown in the towel and given up. The Friday post being a rerun is now a regular thing.

Welcome to FLASHBACK FRIDAY!

Today's post flashes us all the way back to Tuesday, April 15, 2014 for some utter nonsense called...

Tips For Newborns

__________________________

Hi there! Welcome to my blog, I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You. I'm Dave-El and I'm glad you decided to pop by, especially if you're first time reader. 

I mean, a really first time reader. Like you've just been born and you're already trolling the internet? Wow! And I know it may not look like you've gotten off to a great start, little infant, because...well, you wound up here. 

But you're in luck! Just the other day on Twitter, this topic was trending: 

#tipsfornewborns 

So naturally I had a few comments on that topic, not that anyone asked me. (No one ever asks me.) Anyway, here are few things that may be of help to you, my new infant reader.  

• Be sure to stare at the ceiling really hard! There could be ghosts up there! 
• Enjoy the worry free pooping while you can 
• Invest in a varied financial portfolio. 
• Or you just drool a lot, your call, really 
• Know this: we are not saving enough for college so a job with a paper hat is in your future. 
• It's really cute when you lay on your back, kick and goo...now! Trust me, no one wants to see you do that when you're 50! 
• There is no such thing as a money back guarantee on babies no matter what your daddy tells you.

And here is one more comment on the topic. 

#tipsfornewborns should run about 15% of the bill; bump it up to 20% when they become toddlers.

OK, baby blog follower, I hope that proves helpful in some way. Good luck with that life thing and whatever you do in life, above all be a good person. 

____________________________

Speaking of newborns (and to anyone who actually misses winter): 

Art by Tim Rickard. Caption by David Long

Be good to one another, y'all! 

Welcome To I'M SO GLAD MY SUFFERING AMUSES YOU! Meet the Whole Gang

 Hi there! Welcome to I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, a barely getting out of it's chair blog adrift in the Olympics of the internet.

While it may seem that this blog is the product of one particularly unfocused mind, it takes a wide ranging team of professionals to pull together the posts that appear daily on this blog.

For example, there is our editorial staff.

And we have a team of hard working writers to help craft these posts.

Looks like Carl is hard at work on our next Tuesday TV Touchbase.

I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You holds itself to a high standard of honest and ethical conduct. In charge of that is our Director of Ethics and Standards.

Agnes is such a scamp and a total delight to work for. 

Since we are on the internet, we must maintain our technical capabilities. So let me introduce our Director of Technical Support.

Nothing but the best in modern cutting edge technology for I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You.

Morale is very important for the team. Look at the special button our Morale Booster Team made for everyone.

Here at I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, we are dedicated to following the laws and regulations that govern all bloggers on the internet. To insure fair and complete compliance with these requirements, we rely on the guidance of our Legal Counsel.

And this whole operation is under the watchful and wise guidance of our Executive In Charge Of Production.

Good ol' Herb. Where would be without him? 

Well, that is the whole gang here at I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You!

Thanks for reading! And remember to be good to one another.

Homophobia On A Bun

Sen. Lindsey Graham proclaimed last week, "I hope we don't have to but I will go to war for the principles Chick-Fil-A stands for."

Graham has willingly turned the other way from a long list of various malfeasance over the last 4 plus years up to and including holding anyone accountable for the January 6th insurrection.

One wonders if Graham has any principles he's willing to fight for.

It seems that Chick-Fil-A is the hill that Graham is prepared fight for and die on.

Well, if he's talking about damned fine chicken sandwiches and some of the best milkshakes anywhere, as well as consistently friendly and professional service, sign me up as a soldier in your fight, Senator! 

But...

Chick-Fil-A  has made donations to anti-LGBTQ organizations. 

As the father of a gay child, I've got some problems with that. 

My daughter Randie, the aforementioned gay offspring, has some problems with that.

But damn! Their milkshakes are SO good! And so are their waffle fries! 

What prompted Sen. Graham's declaration of support to go to war for Chick-Fil-A is the recent news that Notre Dame plans to let Chick-fil-A open up on campus next year.

And the subsequent protests by students who object to Chick-Fil-A for it's support of anti-LGBTQ causes.   

Also of concern for Notre Dame students is that Chick-Fil-A has a limited vegetarian and vegan menu. 

Of for crying out loud! It's a FAST FOOD place that specializes in CHICKEN!  

But that whole anti-LGBTQ thing is so wrong and stupid because LGBTQ want to love Chick-fil-A.  

Chick-fil-A food is good! 

Lesbians love a juicy chicken breast on a soft bun as much as anyone! 

Bi-sexuals need waffle fries as much as everyone does! 

Trans people want a really good milkshake as much as anyone else! 

When the decision arrives on Saturday on what to do for lunch, our taste buds inevitably turn to Chick-fil-A. 

Even Randie's. Or as she puts it, "I could do with some homophobia!" 

I'm not entirely sure that acknowledging their anti-LGBTQ completely assuages our guilt for supporting a fast food chain that does not support our daughter and everyone else in the LGBTQ community. 

But damn, Chick-fil-A food is good!  

I feel bad to compromise my principles for Chick-fil-A, especially if this son of a bitch is eating there too!