Sarah and Young Wynton

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Currently Reading

(Melissa and Doug)

Melissa Meszaros currently books acts at Slabtown in Northwest Portland and wields a highly autobiographical pen.

Doug owns the club.

Buy the book, you'll like it.

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Sad Horse

A Slabtown drummer/bartender.

Come over to Slabtown and have a drink with me.  Tell me what you know.

Bring money, I'm a little short this week.


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Idiot of the Week/Bachmann

Now why on earth--you may wonder--would Dooley and I present the coveted Idiot of the Week award to Michele Bachmann?

I know, this one seems a bit incongruous. After all, RBP doesn't cotton much to right wing ideologues, and seeing another one fade to inconsequential, like Sarah, ought to make Dooley and I happy, right?

But it doesn't, and here's why.  Because Dooley and I are disappointed in her recent decision to eschew another congressional run.  Her decision makes her a quitter, which is all the info we need to determine she is indeed idiotic.

All that power, all that free TV time, all that taxpayer money, perks, fame, Fox News cameos, Republican sex, etc., will now  undeservedly go toward someone else, someone who hasn't a chance of being as entertaining as the Minnesota  bombshell with the Holy Bible strapped between her thighs.  Frankly, that saddens us.

What a waste.

Just as importantly, whomever takes her seat might actually have a brain, and that scares us.


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Dumbed Down

Has Alex Gibney blown it?

I haven't seen the film, and I'm not sure I want to after listening to Gibney.

Judge for yourself as you listen to this NPR segment or read the transcript of the documentary filmmaker's discussion of his new film, We Steal Secrets.

The interview has a Lohan or Kardashian-like Hollywood Tattler quality to it, accentuated by its reliance on salaciousness.  It made me cringe last week when I listened on OPB.  I thought of a sewer springing a wikileak and flooding out of my radio.

My, how far NPR has fallen in recent years.

Gibney goes off on Manning's sexuality and Assange's apparently rogue appetites without giving much consideration to what ought to be a few of the questions at hand: Was the Iraq War a criminal conspiracy perpetuated by the George W. Bush administration, a conspiracy continued and further exasperated by our current POTUS? We do know that war crimes were and are being committed, don't we?  Shouldn't we be addressing the situation?  Why not?

Sounds like he may have missed the boat on this one, creating a hatchet job focused on personalities rather than real issues. Surprising for a guy who has done stellar work in the past.

Here is an example of Gibney's better side.


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Critic's Choice

Suggested by Chris Pilon, of Houston.


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Kitchen Work

As one who spent plenty of time in "the back of the house" in the restaurant trade, this scene resonates for me--albeit under circumstances I've never, thankfully, had to confront.

Well done...so authentic.


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On Second Thought

I take it back, I take it back. The pilot started a little slow for me, but I was into the series midway through the second episode.

I'm wiping the egg off my face.

Treme is absolutely fucking brilliant.

Little did I know, little did I know.

See how those of us who don't subscribe to HBO live our lives?  In complete and utterly contemptible darkness...


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CCR

Happy Memorial Day everybody!


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On Being Late for the Party

I started Treme last night, just three years late.

It only took me a decade to catch up with The Wire.

I must be getting better at noticing these pop-cultural markers...

Still, The Wire had me from the opening theme;  the Treme opening sort of bored me.  I'll give it some more time and effort, but I think I may have limited out on Simon.

 Not that it matters...


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Angel Pagan

(Angel Pagan)

Angel Pagan's walk-off, inside-the-park home run in the 10th wins it for the Giants over Colorado this afternoon.

A rare play, set up by a wicked bounce off the wall and supported by Pagan's churning speed.

Pretty darn exciting.

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Idiot of the Week/Fincher

Idiot of the week.

It is past time to reprise this great weekly RBP honor roll.

His family has benefited from 4 million in federal subsidies over the past decade, and he wants to cut SNAP.

Ever notice how these morons always cry out for smaller government, that is until they need government to enrich themselves?


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Weather Report

Christ, it was a record-cold and wet day yesterday.

No wonder I felt like a miserable cockroach scurrying for a dry and warm nook in my cranial abyss all day.

Know what I like about Oregon? We don't have Oklahoma-style tornadoes.

Know what I dislike about it? We don't have San Diego's clime, either.

Feels like we're due for an earthquake, however.


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Weekend

The famous tracking shot.

An essay by Gary Indiana.


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Sudden Poetry

Found this at Deemer's Writing Life II.  I like it.


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