Palin Goes Rogue

After observing Sarah Palin for awhile now, it is my sadly too-experienced opinion that she is a Pathological Narcissist. My mother and sister were both PNs, my former spousal unit was, and I certainly have strong narcissistic tendencies in me, though they don't present at pathological levels. Because of my awareness, I have done my level best to nip any growth in the bud.

Not sure what a Pathological Narcissist is? The Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, aka the DSM, revision 4 (which is the current psychological diagnosis standard for the medical community) lists the disorder as number 301.81; Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I have compiled and written an entire web page on the subject, so if you really want to understand it enough to decide for yourself regarding Ms. Palin, please read my page.

Pathological Narcissists are dangerous creatures, for they are utterly without conscience. Want an example? Bill Clinton. Yep, he's been labeled as a PN by a tremendous number of people in the know. I don't happen to dislike Bill or care about his dalliances, but the fact stands that he has no guilt or shame about the Oval Office episode; witness his "I did not have sex with that woman." Sigh...yes, Bill. You did. But he truly believed he didn't, as only a Narcissist can.

Another easy example? OJ Simpson. Yep. Starting to see the pattern? These people do not believe in accountibility in connection with their own actions, and suffer no sleepless nights worrying about what people might think of them. They're empty shells, and they KNOW they're empty, and that makes them cruel at the core.

Sarah Palin is a dangerous person, and cannot be allowed into the second highest office in our land.

Get Yer Fedoras and Overcoats Ready!

Part of the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC

More grim economic news today. General Motors needs a mega-bailout to keep from going bankrupt. It is projected by the omnipresent Pundits that if GM goes under, an estimated Two Million (that's 2,000,000) people will either lose their jobs or be directly affected.

Can you say "soup line"? How about "bread line"? The human toll of an economic crash and the ensuing catastrophic ripples are beyond my reckoning. I can study the Great Depression of the nineteen thirties and form some small understanding of the overall social effect, and I learned a lot about how it affected the individual by listening to my parents. My mother was ten in 1929, and her family owned an essential service - a feed store - so she had little memory of undue hardships. My father was twenty in 1929, and newly married, soon to have three little ones with their constant set of needs, so he was responsible for five people's lives, not just his one. He said it was hard, but if you were willing to really dig in and work, jobs could be found. Knowing my dad as I do, he busted his butt keeping his family fed and sheltered. I don't think he knew how to behave any other way. As my mother used to say "Your father was always a great provider." Doesn't sound like much of a compliment, these days, but someone who could be counted on to make sure his wife and children never went hungry, never needed for shelter or shoes, well in hard times there are few higher compliments to be had, I should think.

So many people struggled just to live during the Thirties, and there were so fewer people than there are today.

My dad taught me to "make the world a better place for your having been here." So when faced with a crisis such as the current worldwide situation, my eye begins to search for ways I can help, some possibility of making a positive difference for the world.

One person who made a tangible difference was Dorothea Lange, a tremendous photographer and journalist who is probably best known for her work documenting the human toll of the Great Depression. Her images were instrumental in getting the politicians and other power brokers to act, to make a difference for so many hungry, hopeless individuals.

But what can each of us do? Each of us is only one tiny voice in the midst of a tremendous choreutic upswell, and will never be heard, will never matter, you say? "Rubbish! Nonsense! Bosh!" Each of us matters, and our voices, both individually and collectively, are very, very important.

Here's what I suggest; get to a library and spend the few minutes it takes to read Dr. Seuss' slim volume of wisdom, "Horton Hears A Who."

There you will learn that each one of us, joined with others, adds up to a voice that CAN be heard. And never, EVER forget that "a person's a person, no matter how small."

We are here, we are here, WE ARE HEEEERRE!

Tomorrow; The Lorax...

TR2N...Only Three Years To Go...

In front of my nice flat screen monitor sits a lovely clear, aqua blue with white markings Flynn doll from that was sold as an advertisting adjunct to the movie Tron, circa 1982. Yeah, well, I also have two lightcycles (complete with their little gear-toothed ripcord, and original Luke Skywalker, Republic Stormtrooper, and Jabba Fett are lurking nearby, so eat your heart out. Tis but one of the benefits of being an ancient nrrd-grrl! Ha!


There's finally a sequel on the horizon, due out sometime in 2011, and there're all kinds of rumours and tantalizing glimpses of possibilities buzzing around the Net, foremost of which is the bootlegged video of the trailer shown at Comic Con this year. It's fuzzy, but you can see enough of the toys and tricks to get excited, and that's what matters to We the Sci-Fi Nerds. Here it is:

I'll leave you with two trailers for the original Tron movie. First, the original trailer that was released with the film in '82, and then a trailer that was created by one "Master of the Cut" on YouTube's HDFINC's Channel.

I'll let you be the arbiter of taste here...which do you think is better?

The original version:

The recreation:

Sunday Uplift - Joni Mitchell's Ballet

I have a long-standing tradition of intellectual uplift on Sundays. In my thirties I used to pedal down to a local bakery, grab some strong coffee and a sweet roll, buy a NYTimes, and sit in the morning sun, enjoying the lot. In my forties, the coffee was still strong but came from my own pot; the newspaper was delivered to my door, and it became my tradition to listen to Billie Holliday or Jean Pierre Rampal or Jean Michel Jarre or any other jazz that fit the feel of my Sunday Morning Uplift tradition. Late in my forties, I got hooked on watching the CBS Sunday Morning program, and my early fifties were devoted to the marvelous music of the 30s, 40s, and 50s - Eddy Duchin, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, The Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers, Stan Getz and Miles Davis, and of course Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Now that I'm in my mid-fifties, I have let my lofty traditional slip a bit, but the idea of an intellectually uplifting Sunday still has tremendous lure for me. And so I offer you the first in an ongoing series of Sunday morning treats engineered to give your spirit wings and loft enough to let you glide neatly through Monday and into Tuesday before the drag of the workweek brings you back to ground.

Joni Mitchell collaborated with Jean Grand-Maître, Alberta Ballet’s Artistic Director to create a ballet titled "The Fiddle and the Drum," centered around some of her most unusual and exquisite works. Though far from her most popular music, these are some of my favourites.  The ballet is ramping up for its second season in Feb.09, with some new songs added, too!  

Andy's Gang

As a toddler, there were two television characters that I can remember vividly. One was Arthur Godfrey, who I loathed. When his show came on, I put my hands over my ears and ran around shrieking "Awful Gawful! Awful Gawful!" And the other was Andy Devine on the show "Andy's Gang." I absolutely adored Andy Devine, he seemed safe to me on every level, and I laughed with glee whenever he sat down to tell a story. So today I'm going to offer you three Andy's Gang videos, featuring Sabu. There will be NO Awful Gawful forthcoming...

Denny Crane's Fatal Flaw

First of all, you have to understand that I am in love with Denny Crane.

If you don't already know, Denny Crane is the character William Shatner has played for 8 years on Boston Legal, a television program on the ABC network. Denny Crane is an eccentric man, and a staunch conservative Republican. One his centralmost foiables (my opinion) is his strong opposition to gun control, claiming that "It's for communists." He keeps a veritable armory of weapons, loaded, in his office, and has used them, in the workplace, on more than one occasion.

If you know me at all, or have even been reading this blog, you'll have noticed I am far from a conservative anything, especially a Republican. So Denny and I are diametrically opposed in our political views, and likely in our social principles, too. But our core values are aligned, and that is what so moves me about Denny. His approach is simple; life is for living, and far too short for all the misery people seem to prefer over joie de vivre. Denny has a lust for life that few men a quarter his age have, and that's what plucks my magic twanger, Froggy. As an aside, that last bit's an obscure reference to a VERY strange character (Froggy the Gremlin) on a Saturday morning kids show I barely remember from the 5os called "Andy's Gang," with Andy Devine, who I just adored Here's some rare footage of Andy and Froggy

There's a strange symbiosis in having Denny Crane and Froggy the Gremlin in the same post...

But back to Denny. In forming my focused Cosmic intent for a Great Love, fleshing out the man I'd like to find, I came to the realization that, beyond the obvious differences in our political and social views, Denny has a fatal flaw as a potential partner. Denny is, I have absolutely zero doubt, techno-phobic. I mean, can you imagine him using anything beyond the occasional cell phone? Computers? I don't think so, he'd tell you that's what secretaries are for (among other things). An iPod? "Why?" he'd ask, taking another pull on his cigar and a swig of scotch, "When I have a perfectly good stereo, and Boston has wonderful clubs and the Symphony, all of which would be thrilled to have Denny Crane grace their establishments?"

Sadly, I now know that Denny and I are doomed to failure, for the man I embrace and offer the depth of my delights must be ALIVE, embracing the new as well as dancing to the old.

So if you're a voracious reader, piercingly intelligent, like the oldies but you've an appreciation for hip-hop and maybe even the occasional bit of rap; if trying new things sounds like fun; if dancing is something you enjoy and howling or singing doesn't seem daunting, and all of this and everything else around you makes you laugh, why not drop me a line? Oh, and if you're a conservative, be prepared for heated debates.

Seriously, I'd love to hear from you...maybe you'll get lucky and pluck my magic twanger!

Marvelous Musical Artist

Geoffrey Castle is an absolutely amazing violinist whose work I recommend to everyone who appreciates great music. I was fortunate to be at our local Farmer's Market one Saturday when he was there, playing to a VERY full house. I snagged his cd, and it quickly became a favourite. He has an album of Christmas music out now, and I hope someone who reads this will decide they should put a copy in my hands soon. Ha!
There's another cd in the works for Mr. Castle, and is due out any time now. All his cds can be purchased from Twisted Fiddle Music.

Here's a video treat, Geoffrey Castle performing "Float Downstream" (there are links to more videos after the finish):