Yes.
Can she find the legions of grown-up girls who think it's so true to life, and see it as a guide for single women surviving in NY utterly ridiculous? Hell, yes. Ladies, it's not a cute slice of life, or farce, but a cautionary tale. A cautionary tale for women who grew up in the Reagan years, in the time when Feminism became a dirty word like Liberal, and we were magically sucked back to the 1950's. When the battle became vaguely embarrassing to young women, who either forgot, or were never told in the first place, how bad things once were for the "weaker sex", and chose to step away because of this lack of historical knowledge, and because, well if they were really aggressive, or strident, or angry...they might not get a man, and would be alone forever.
I attended all-female schools both elementary school, and high school. I pledged my sorority second semester freshman year. I have no siblings, but have obviously spent a great deal of time with others of my gender. I have known at least 20 women who have turned their lives upside down, and inside out for a man. Let me make this clear-to keep a man. Moved repeatedly, converted, dropped all their friends and family, stopped working, allowed him to choose all her clothing, became vegan, changed political affiliations...a reason I always wanted to shake sense into Charlotte. Someone who truly loves you does not reject you if you are not just like him, or don't give into his every demand. He does not choose his dead mother's wishes over you. Fuck him.
My parents are dead. They gave me morals, values, raised me to be a good liberal. They were also obsessive, possessive, controlling,and highly eccentric. Mother's and Father's Days, their birthdays, and wedding anniversary are still agonizing...I no longer go fetal, under the covers for the day, though I'm fragile most of that week. However, I feel no obligation to live as though they are haunting me. I'm free. This story line made me want to go Elvis on the TV. Good thing I no longer have a gun.
Carrie. Unfortunately, I have known a few of her type too. Fun to laugh at her misadventures, until you talk to her on a day she's being honest, drunk enough to be honest, or heartbroken enough to be candid. I have a friend who goes through a man every month or two. In the beginning, every guy is the One, and she's dancing on air.
By week two, she has picked three fights, and found every fault that will doom their relationship ten years in the future, and she will be raising their abandoned children alone. By the next month, she has torpedoed the relationship completely, and is devastated that he has suddenly stopped calling her, or taking her calls. There she has it-proof that all men are unworthy. Every man is secretly her ogre of a father. All the good ones are taken. She is a brilliant and accomplished woman, but without an ounce of common sense, and blind as a bat when it comes to reading people. She's almost thirty-eight years old. I have bitten my tongue often to keep from telling her to grow the fuck up. Wouldn't work, and would hurt her too much.
When Miranda tried to tough talk some sense into Carrie, and keep her from uprooting herself for a man who really only loved himself, she nearly lost the friendship, and Carrie went to Paris in part to spite her. I've found in real life Carrie wouldn't have come back. She wouldn't have been able to admit to her friends or herself that they were right. Or to be the only one in the group without a stable relationship.
I admired Miranda's courage for confronting her friend. For much of the show, she was a complete coward, pushing away love, being so rigid, and critical. She never knew how to make an emotional connection until Steve, and then when he got in she looked at degrees and economics and decided she was too good for him. Only when he became a success, and other women wanted him, did she need him back. I, at times, have been guilty of thinking things to death, and letting good ones slip away.
Samantha was the sex freak-twin to Miranda, reveling in the freedom of her lack of emotional attachments, and her obnoxious, hyper-aggressive style in business. Have sex like a man? Men fall in love too, dummy. How many did she hurt because she-not unlike a male sexist's skewed view of women, saw men as erection machines, as giant walking dildos, and not thinking, feeling real people. She did not understand that attachment was normal bi-product when you continually have sex with the same person. Emulating the worst of traditionally male behaviors did not make one a feminist hero, an independent woman of the world, but just another asshole. Women aping shitty male behavior is missing the point of the push for equality. So many Second-Wave Boomer Women did not get this.
So many, I think, missed the point. One prime example is HRC. And no, I'm not calling her slutty, don't be silly. Tucker Carlson joked at the event I saw him at on Monday-I can't use the name again it's too insane-that Hillary was the toughest person who ever lived. I think that's a part of this once admirable now crazy/selfish tenacity is that she is gonna show 'em! She is going to be a woman tougher than all the boys, and beat them at their own crooked game. This resonates with the older women who didn't get that the women's movement was not about being just like asshole men, but gaining the same rights as men. If a man showed this much stubborn pride, and disregard for the party and country, he would be reviled too.
Don't get me wrong, I want a woman president, just not her, and not like this. I want it clean. I want her to be Thatcher, not Bhutto, meaning I don't want her to an ex-president's wife or daughter. I want her to rise just the way the men have. I want her to feel comfortable in her own skin. I want her to be a feminist...who gets the cautionary message of Sex and the City.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
I just want to slap James Carville sometimes!
Explanation needed, I guess. It seems Arianna Huffington feels that way too, judging by the expression on her face as the man used up all the oxygen in the room. Tonight, I attended "The Minds That Move The World: The first annual Radio City Music Hall Speaker Series, a timely and important series of events that will provide attendees with a unique framework for understanding America's current political landscape."
Maybe men really are dogs after all: I got to see James Carville bark loudly and snap a lot, Tucker Carlson roll over, and Anderson Cooper play dead.
First, Tucker...well, now, seems somebody does not like being a Conservative Republican these days. He twice made reference to himself as a Libertarian, made fun of Bush's wrong-headedness on everything having to do with Iraq, said he disliked the fact that he had never been overseas before he became President and that his lack of intellectual curiosity sent chills down his spine. In fact, it was the most reasonable I have ever seen him. His biggest, though brief moments of old Tucker bullshit came when he tried to declare McCain a true MAVERICK. Hecklers in the crowd, called bullshit on him as he started in on this, telling a story of how McCain had the chutzpah to tell farmers in Iowa that he really hated Ethanol. Wow, Tucker that was the best you could come up with? Though later, and the cry of bullshit was yet again heard echoing around Radio City, he made a point about the future General Election campaign against McNasty is going to have a heavy element of ageism. God, I hate it when he makes me agree with him. Damn the man!
Have you seen this? Proves Tucker's point.
I'm unsure if Anderson Cooper stayed awake the entire time. I think it was nap time for Gloria's little boy. Either that or he was terrified of Carville in pit bull on a rampage mode. Whatever. The result was that he asked some perfunctory questions then stepped back and let them have at each other.
Though I have to say, I can't blame him for being freaked out by being placed in close proximity of James Carville. One should have to wear a special protective suit, like a beekeeper, or the bomb squad. Several years ago, I was an audience member at a taping of the Carson Daly show, when it was still in New York and only sucked half as much as it does now-how is he still on the air? The guest that night was Mike Tyson. After the face tattoo. He brought his pigeons. And nearly crushed one to death in his hand as he ranted maniacally about something that made sense only to him.
I was reminded of this watching Carville on stage tonight. He fidgeted like he had parasites in his shorts, and was basically a sixty-three year old man behaving like a disturbed and bratty six year old. He must have been hell to teach. He actually got angry when Ariana tried to finish speaking and kept interrupting her, then claimed she was interrupting him. The most import thing learned from his little performance was that the Clinton campaign is finally realizing that as he put it winning is "still possible but not probable." And that the rifts have to be healed for the good of the party. He kept repeating " ...If Obama is the nominee I will support him 1000%!" None of the panelists believed that the people who claim they would vote McNasty if their candidate loses will actually follow through on their threats. But Carville clearly showed that it is dawning on the HRC people that their fellow democrats are very disturbed by the actions and style of her campaign. He was walking a weird fine line of aggressive tenaciousness and conciliatory gestures. He knows they've lost and mistakes were made...but let's talk about how great the Clinton years were! Don't forget your history! Painful to watch someone as facile as Carville attempt to rationalize HRC's actions to people suffering from Tucker's phrase "Clinton Fatigue".
Arianna was the only one who sounded consistently rational, and spin-free, though she did slip in a plug for her new book. She tried to talk more about the part the main stream media has played in destroying our democracy, but the 2 former and 1 current CNN employees were not going to go there.
Over all, an interesting evening but no big surprises. As Carville kept repeating we have to wait 24 hours for something new to talk about.
Maybe men really are dogs after all: I got to see James Carville bark loudly and snap a lot, Tucker Carlson roll over, and Anderson Cooper play dead.
First, Tucker...well, now, seems somebody does not like being a Conservative Republican these days. He twice made reference to himself as a Libertarian, made fun of Bush's wrong-headedness on everything having to do with Iraq, said he disliked the fact that he had never been overseas before he became President and that his lack of intellectual curiosity sent chills down his spine. In fact, it was the most reasonable I have ever seen him. His biggest, though brief moments of old Tucker bullshit came when he tried to declare McCain a true MAVERICK. Hecklers in the crowd, called bullshit on him as he started in on this, telling a story of how McCain had the chutzpah to tell farmers in Iowa that he really hated Ethanol. Wow, Tucker that was the best you could come up with? Though later, and the cry of bullshit was yet again heard echoing around Radio City, he made a point about the future General Election campaign against McNasty is going to have a heavy element of ageism. God, I hate it when he makes me agree with him. Damn the man!
Have you seen this? Proves Tucker's point.
I'm unsure if Anderson Cooper stayed awake the entire time. I think it was nap time for Gloria's little boy. Either that or he was terrified of Carville in pit bull on a rampage mode. Whatever. The result was that he asked some perfunctory questions then stepped back and let them have at each other.
Though I have to say, I can't blame him for being freaked out by being placed in close proximity of James Carville. One should have to wear a special protective suit, like a beekeeper, or the bomb squad. Several years ago, I was an audience member at a taping of the Carson Daly show, when it was still in New York and only sucked half as much as it does now-how is he still on the air? The guest that night was Mike Tyson. After the face tattoo. He brought his pigeons. And nearly crushed one to death in his hand as he ranted maniacally about something that made sense only to him.
I was reminded of this watching Carville on stage tonight. He fidgeted like he had parasites in his shorts, and was basically a sixty-three year old man behaving like a disturbed and bratty six year old. He must have been hell to teach. He actually got angry when Ariana tried to finish speaking and kept interrupting her, then claimed she was interrupting him. The most import thing learned from his little performance was that the Clinton campaign is finally realizing that as he put it winning is "still possible but not probable." And that the rifts have to be healed for the good of the party. He kept repeating " ...If Obama is the nominee I will support him 1000%!" None of the panelists believed that the people who claim they would vote McNasty if their candidate loses will actually follow through on their threats. But Carville clearly showed that it is dawning on the HRC people that their fellow democrats are very disturbed by the actions and style of her campaign. He was walking a weird fine line of aggressive tenaciousness and conciliatory gestures. He knows they've lost and mistakes were made...but let's talk about how great the Clinton years were! Don't forget your history! Painful to watch someone as facile as Carville attempt to rationalize HRC's actions to people suffering from Tucker's phrase "Clinton Fatigue".
Arianna was the only one who sounded consistently rational, and spin-free, though she did slip in a plug for her new book. She tried to talk more about the part the main stream media has played in destroying our democracy, but the 2 former and 1 current CNN employees were not going to go there.
Over all, an interesting evening but no big surprises. As Carville kept repeating we have to wait 24 hours for something new to talk about.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Bitter Voters
Check this out. Apparently the only people truly offended by this are the millionaire pundits whose job it is to tell the American public how they should feel.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Karma is A Bitch
Ouch. Wal-mart strikes again, suddenly firing the small company Flager Productions that has recorded the company's internal meetings since the 70's. This move instantly eliminated 95% of their business, so what do they do? Open the archives, fire sale of tapes. (evil laughter on my part) And guess who is on them since she was a board member for 6 long years?
When you eat with the devil sup with a long spoon.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Reason 2,335,001 NOT to vote for this man
McCain was called McNasty in High School. High School. He went to Episcopal High School, what was then an all-boys boarding school. In single sex schools, the kids tend to be a bit tougher, in part because of the fierce competition, in part because the absence of the opposite sex frees them from having to adhere to good manners, civility-in short nobody around to impress. So the fact that he managed to hurt or offend enough of his classmates that they nicknamed him McNasty...well, we now know neither old age, infirmity, the military, losing to Bush and spending eight years kissing his monkey ass, or the five years in the Hanoi Hilton gave him his simply delightful personality. I found this over at Wonkette, and traced it to the original at Raw Story.
Apparently, McNasty, which is what I intend to keep calling the old bastard for as long as it pleases me, it makes him sound like a member of 2 Live Crew, used a word for a woman, or a part her anatomy that makes most women want to beat the user of this word with a aluminum baseball bat. He called his wife this word, and said it in front of aides and reporters! Presumably some lobbyists too.
The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him and Why Independents Shouldn't by Cliff Schecter seems like it will give the Dems plenty of ammunition for the rest of the campaign.
Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.
I think much of the unease many Republicans have with this man is not that he is secretly liberal, he's not, but that's he's a crazy loose cannon who will make their party look as bad as Bush does-having the GOP standard bearer going from an idiot to a maniac does not help their public image at all. They are already losing seats. Shining a light on McNasty? That will certainly restore faith in Repuplican judgment and common sense.
Can't you see how a guy who does this:
Perhaps the most remarkable story of McCain's temper involved Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi. Two former reporters covering McCain, one who witnessed the following events and one who confirmed the facts provided by the first, relayed it to me as follows: In 2006, the Arizona Republican congressional delegation had a strategy meeting. McCain repeatedly addressed two new members, congressmen Trent Franks and Rick Renzi, as 'boy.' Finally, Renzi, a former college linebacker, rose from his chair and said to McCain, "You call me that one more time and I'll kick your old ass." McCain lunged at Renzi, punches were thrown, and the two had to be physically separated. After they went to their separate offices, McCain called Renzi and demanded an apology. Renzi refused. Apparently this posture made McCain admire him, as they became fast friends.
...will handle delicate international diplomacy? I bet sometime soon they will all be wishing they had collectively been a bit less prejudiced, and gone with the plastic Mormon dog-torturer.
This also demonstrates how much the press really does love McNasty...or fears his wrath.
Apparently, McNasty, which is what I intend to keep calling the old bastard for as long as it pleases me, it makes him sound like a member of 2 Live Crew, used a word for a woman, or a part her anatomy that makes most women want to beat the user of this word with a aluminum baseball bat. He called his wife this word, and said it in front of aides and reporters! Presumably some lobbyists too.
The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him and Why Independents Shouldn't by Cliff Schecter seems like it will give the Dems plenty of ammunition for the rest of the campaign.
Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.
I think much of the unease many Republicans have with this man is not that he is secretly liberal, he's not, but that's he's a crazy loose cannon who will make their party look as bad as Bush does-having the GOP standard bearer going from an idiot to a maniac does not help their public image at all. They are already losing seats. Shining a light on McNasty? That will certainly restore faith in Repuplican judgment and common sense.
Can't you see how a guy who does this:
Perhaps the most remarkable story of McCain's temper involved Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi. Two former reporters covering McCain, one who witnessed the following events and one who confirmed the facts provided by the first, relayed it to me as follows: In 2006, the Arizona Republican congressional delegation had a strategy meeting. McCain repeatedly addressed two new members, congressmen Trent Franks and Rick Renzi, as 'boy.' Finally, Renzi, a former college linebacker, rose from his chair and said to McCain, "You call me that one more time and I'll kick your old ass." McCain lunged at Renzi, punches were thrown, and the two had to be physically separated. After they went to their separate offices, McCain called Renzi and demanded an apology. Renzi refused. Apparently this posture made McCain admire him, as they became fast friends.
...will handle delicate international diplomacy? I bet sometime soon they will all be wishing they had collectively been a bit less prejudiced, and gone with the plastic Mormon dog-torturer.
This also demonstrates how much the press really does love McNasty...or fears his wrath.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Male rock fans likely to vote Republican
I came across this story on yahoo a couple of days ago, ( I actually have been outside my apt. blogging for once) and I've been digesting it ever since.
The survey found women and fans of alternative radio, featuring '80s and '90s rock, tend to be Democratic, while men and classic rockers lean Republican.
Very interesting...what would you like to bet these conservative classic rock fans are all people who weren't around when the music was new and controversial? Come on you know the "Dirty Fucking Hippies" are not voting for McCain. He likely lost a few Beach Boys fans as well singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran."
The survey found women and fans of alternative radio, featuring '80s and '90s rock, tend to be Democratic, while men and classic rockers lean Republican.
Very interesting...what would you like to bet these conservative classic rock fans are all people who weren't around when the music was new and controversial? Come on you know the "Dirty Fucking Hippies" are not voting for McCain. He likely lost a few Beach Boys fans as well singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran."
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