Men with bangs: A nation of sissy-men
by Bryce Martin
When mayor-elect Karl Dean was running for mayor of Nashville, he started off looking like your regular man man. That was until one day near the last few weeks of the election, he was pictured wearing bangs. I don't recall when it started, but I also remember about that time it was reported that women in general seemed to enjoy his candidacy.
Will someone please inform the mayor it's over, he won. He can shed the bangs. I remember when a man or boy would be ridiculed beyond mercy for wearing bangs. Bangs were for girls. Girls prettied themselves up with bangs.
Are there no men left who understand the concept? I can understand young men not knowing any better, and it appears their fathers are just as lame. We are raising a nation of sissy-men. Worse, they don't even suspect.
-30-
Tell them how the weather was... -- Ernest Hemingway bryce_martin_1@Lycos.com
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Origin of the Thesis
brýcian, brícsian; p. ode, ade; pp. od, ad [brýce, bríce use] To be of use, profit, benefit, do good; prodesse, proficuum esse:-- He his gefërum brýcian gýmde he took care to do good to his companions, Bd. 5, 9; S. 623, 33. Hí brýcaþ monigra hlo multorum saluti proficuum erit, Bd. 4, 22; S. 590, 32. Him sylfum brícsade benefited himself, Bd. 5, 13; S. 632, 6.
Source: Bosworth/Toller, page b0130, entry 10.
-30-
brýcian, brícsian; p. ode, ade; pp. od, ad [brýce, bríce use] To be of use, profit, benefit, do good; prodesse, proficuum esse:-- He his gefërum brýcian gýmde he took care to do good to his companions, Bd. 5, 9; S. 623, 33. Hí brýcaþ monigra hlo multorum saluti proficuum erit, Bd. 4, 22; S. 590, 32. Him sylfum brícsade benefited himself, Bd. 5, 13; S. 632, 6.
Source: Bosworth/Toller, page b0130, entry 10.
-30-
Friday, July 18, 2008
Gang signs a symptom of a problem for NBA (NFL)
by Bryce Martin
Higher-ups within the NBA (insert NFL at your discretion) think they detect players giving off gang signs during games and are studying ways to eliminate the practice.
First off, I find even the thought of this as both humorous and incredibly childish at the same time.
Black gang signs. Black gangs. Let's call it for what it is. Most of the players are black, nearly all who would be involved would have to be black. I image any whites who grew up gang-affiliated and who now draw big NBA bucks have no desire to return to the habits of the poor. Do you think leather-faced Okies (white, again) wanted to return to the ties that once bound them before turning to the fields of despair known as the Great Depression once they could regularly put food on their tables?
With the big NBA bucks, you would think they would want to eliminate the habits of their retrogressive juvenile days. Live in a mountain chalet in Colorado with a millionaire's view, buy a vineyard in Napa and start a winery, live along the coast in Malibu and cavort in beach house luxury. I seem to prefer the West, so imagine your own dream choices.
The black NBA players remind me of the lottery winners who win millions, enough for 36 people to live an opulent lifestyle for the next 70 years, and what do they plan to do now? Keep their $8.65 an hour job and maybe splurge on a new riding mower. Why did they even bother to enter in the first place?
The psychological part of all this may be complicated. That might be why the NBA people feel they need to deliberate long and hard to come up with some answers. Or it could be as simple as pie.
If I had started this out as a letter to the NBA on how to resolve the situation, it would have began thus:
The simple remedy -- Reward childish behavior with childish penalties. If a player is caught giving off a gang sign, immediately banish him to The Romper Room, sort of like the NHL penalty box, for a set length of time. Have that room on a side wall with a big glass viewing window for TV cameras and spectators. Have "The Romper Room" painted in large letters on the outside wall in a child-like scrawl. Show nothing but Woody Woodpecker cartoons on the room's lone TV set, with big plush and stuffed toy animals scattered about on the thick and colorful carpet adorned with kittycat characters.
After his time is up, he needs to turn in a small chalkboard where he has written his ABC's. Harsher penalties would follow in The Romper Room. Such as actually having to pass a quiz after watching an entire episode of Mr. Rogers, unless the game is over by then. Oh, and -- I know the union would fight this one -- they don't get paid while in The Romper Room. I would argue that they have violated certain portions of their contract regarding professionalism by using gang signs and that a no-pay penalty could be longer in duration and they need to count their blessings they got off this light, this time.
-30-
by Bryce Martin
Higher-ups within the NBA (insert NFL at your discretion) think they detect players giving off gang signs during games and are studying ways to eliminate the practice.
First off, I find even the thought of this as both humorous and incredibly childish at the same time.
Black gang signs. Black gangs. Let's call it for what it is. Most of the players are black, nearly all who would be involved would have to be black. I image any whites who grew up gang-affiliated and who now draw big NBA bucks have no desire to return to the habits of the poor. Do you think leather-faced Okies (white, again) wanted to return to the ties that once bound them before turning to the fields of despair known as the Great Depression once they could regularly put food on their tables?
With the big NBA bucks, you would think they would want to eliminate the habits of their retrogressive juvenile days. Live in a mountain chalet in Colorado with a millionaire's view, buy a vineyard in Napa and start a winery, live along the coast in Malibu and cavort in beach house luxury. I seem to prefer the West, so imagine your own dream choices.
The black NBA players remind me of the lottery winners who win millions, enough for 36 people to live an opulent lifestyle for the next 70 years, and what do they plan to do now? Keep their $8.65 an hour job and maybe splurge on a new riding mower. Why did they even bother to enter in the first place?
The psychological part of all this may be complicated. That might be why the NBA people feel they need to deliberate long and hard to come up with some answers. Or it could be as simple as pie.
If I had started this out as a letter to the NBA on how to resolve the situation, it would have began thus:
The simple remedy -- Reward childish behavior with childish penalties. If a player is caught giving off a gang sign, immediately banish him to The Romper Room, sort of like the NHL penalty box, for a set length of time. Have that room on a side wall with a big glass viewing window for TV cameras and spectators. Have "The Romper Room" painted in large letters on the outside wall in a child-like scrawl. Show nothing but Woody Woodpecker cartoons on the room's lone TV set, with big plush and stuffed toy animals scattered about on the thick and colorful carpet adorned with kittycat characters.
After his time is up, he needs to turn in a small chalkboard where he has written his ABC's. Harsher penalties would follow in The Romper Room. Such as actually having to pass a quiz after watching an entire episode of Mr. Rogers, unless the game is over by then. Oh, and -- I know the union would fight this one -- they don't get paid while in The Romper Room. I would argue that they have violated certain portions of their contract regarding professionalism by using gang signs and that a no-pay penalty could be longer in duration and they need to count their blessings they got off this light, this time.
-30-
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Yankees and Bonds deserve each other
by Bryce Martin
The notion that any Yankees fan would clamor to have their team sign Barry Bonds offers insight as to just how pathetic anyone who is a fan of that tawdry, dog-mange outfit is and to what lowness extreme they will stoop to accommodate.
The fact that anyone is even a Yankees fan is beyond me. Well, maybe not. Manners, class and civic pride are items filed under Lost America.
I am a baseball fan, but of no particular team. I would not be bothered if the Yankees had won each world series in the past 40 years, nor if they had never been in one during that time.
It's George Steinbrenner that rots up the place. I don't like the fact that he knows not one iota about baseball, and has shown it over the years with his inane comments about particular parts of the game. An owner with that much control, and that small of a brain, should keep his mouth shut and stay in the background. He has been smart enough over the years to hire people who do know something, although I can't imagine why anyone would want to work for the sleazeball.
The Yankees just signed Richie Sexson, the steroids-tainted Sexson, but those dear Yankees fans were hoping it was Barry Bonds, the "Satan of Swat." Here's hoping they were the only ones hoping that. It's something to be expected from the lowlifes up New York way, you just hope it doesn't spread.
-30-
by Bryce Martin
The notion that any Yankees fan would clamor to have their team sign Barry Bonds offers insight as to just how pathetic anyone who is a fan of that tawdry, dog-mange outfit is and to what lowness extreme they will stoop to accommodate.
The fact that anyone is even a Yankees fan is beyond me. Well, maybe not. Manners, class and civic pride are items filed under Lost America.
I am a baseball fan, but of no particular team. I would not be bothered if the Yankees had won each world series in the past 40 years, nor if they had never been in one during that time.
It's George Steinbrenner that rots up the place. I don't like the fact that he knows not one iota about baseball, and has shown it over the years with his inane comments about particular parts of the game. An owner with that much control, and that small of a brain, should keep his mouth shut and stay in the background. He has been smart enough over the years to hire people who do know something, although I can't imagine why anyone would want to work for the sleazeball.
The Yankees just signed Richie Sexson, the steroids-tainted Sexson, but those dear Yankees fans were hoping it was Barry Bonds, the "Satan of Swat." Here's hoping they were the only ones hoping that. It's something to be expected from the lowlifes up New York way, you just hope it doesn't spread.
-30-
Monday, July 14, 2008
Separating fact from fiction
by Bryce Martin
"Baby borned with 2 privates."
I looked at my junk mail and the above came from "Schramm."
Gee, you wonder how the junk screener can tell.
I didn't open it of course, so I don't know where it came from or what it was about, nor was I curious to find out beyond any obvious speculation that the mind associates with such language symbols.
I have to look at my junk and trash on occasion since I accidentally hit spam for some messages I didn't mean to, and now anything from those senders automatically goes to my round receptacle.
My grandmother called our trash can a receptacle. It was also people from her generation who commonly called a person's reproductive organs "privates." The less educated still might say "borned" instead of "born." Schramm? Wasn't that the name of a Texan who had something to do with the older version of the Dallas Cowboys?
So, how did the screener know that it was not Tex Schramm who wanted me to know about the latest headline from the National Enquirer?
-30-
by Bryce Martin
"Baby borned with 2 privates."
I looked at my junk mail and the above came from "Schramm."
Gee, you wonder how the junk screener can tell.
I didn't open it of course, so I don't know where it came from or what it was about, nor was I curious to find out beyond any obvious speculation that the mind associates with such language symbols.
I have to look at my junk and trash on occasion since I accidentally hit spam for some messages I didn't mean to, and now anything from those senders automatically goes to my round receptacle.
My grandmother called our trash can a receptacle. It was also people from her generation who commonly called a person's reproductive organs "privates." The less educated still might say "borned" instead of "born." Schramm? Wasn't that the name of a Texan who had something to do with the older version of the Dallas Cowboys?
So, how did the screener know that it was not Tex Schramm who wanted me to know about the latest headline from the National Enquirer?
-30-
In embracing underdog tag, McCain doing all he can to lose
by Bryce Martin
I would say that John McCain is writing the primer on how to lose a presidential election, but G.H.W. Bush writ that tome and McLame is just adding a few updates.
The latest and most damning evidence is McCain not only not challenging his being labeled an underdog but his embracing of the word, something about how he welcomes the underdog role.
Polls don't mean squat at this juncture, and even those in whose favor the polls tilt are usually quick to point out.
His comment to such a remark should go something like this:
"Underdog? Me? How do you figure? How much faith can you place in polls? Last I heard, we were going to have an election and the people were going to speak."
It's true that McCain in the past has gained something of a reputation for overcoming odds not in his favor. That's fine. But let others comment on the merits or not of that.
To come right out at this stage and admit you are an underdog is helping the other side define who you are. In other words, you are inferior. The last time I heard someone fall for this George Herbert Walker Bush lost an election. And he should have.
-30-
by Bryce Martin
I would say that John McCain is writing the primer on how to lose a presidential election, but G.H.W. Bush writ that tome and McLame is just adding a few updates.
The latest and most damning evidence is McCain not only not challenging his being labeled an underdog but his embracing of the word, something about how he welcomes the underdog role.
Polls don't mean squat at this juncture, and even those in whose favor the polls tilt are usually quick to point out.
His comment to such a remark should go something like this:
"Underdog? Me? How do you figure? How much faith can you place in polls? Last I heard, we were going to have an election and the people were going to speak."
It's true that McCain in the past has gained something of a reputation for overcoming odds not in his favor. That's fine. But let others comment on the merits or not of that.
To come right out at this stage and admit you are an underdog is helping the other side define who you are. In other words, you are inferior. The last time I heard someone fall for this George Herbert Walker Bush lost an election. And he should have.
-30-
Obama is tasteless and offensive
by Bryce Martin
Other than teenagers who wear their caps sideways, who doesn't think fist-bumping is crude and tasteless? Especially coming from a grown man.
Now you have presidential hopeful (in case you haven't heard) Barack Obama calling the satirical cartoon of him and his wife gracing the current cover of New Yorker magazine as "tasteless and offensive."
Of course, in addition to fist-bumping his wife, who is carrying a rifle over her back, he is wearing a turban and in the background an American flag in a fireplace is burning.
This Obama is supposed to be a literate and knowledgeable man. I guess not. He doesn't understand satire, a basic requirement of any learned individual and he has not paid much attention to history. Anyone with the faintest of memories should be able to recall how all politicians are regularly skewed by cartoonists.
Where's the diversity? From Obama, that is. I guess street gestures such as goofy "handshakes" are okay but fuddy-duddy traditions are off-limits.
-30-
by Bryce Martin
Other than teenagers who wear their caps sideways, who doesn't think fist-bumping is crude and tasteless? Especially coming from a grown man.
Now you have presidential hopeful (in case you haven't heard) Barack Obama calling the satirical cartoon of him and his wife gracing the current cover of New Yorker magazine as "tasteless and offensive."
Of course, in addition to fist-bumping his wife, who is carrying a rifle over her back, he is wearing a turban and in the background an American flag in a fireplace is burning.
This Obama is supposed to be a literate and knowledgeable man. I guess not. He doesn't understand satire, a basic requirement of any learned individual and he has not paid much attention to history. Anyone with the faintest of memories should be able to recall how all politicians are regularly skewed by cartoonists.
Where's the diversity? From Obama, that is. I guess street gestures such as goofy "handshakes" are okay but fuddy-duddy traditions are off-limits.
-30-
Friday, July 11, 2008
The old parlor game: I have never...
by Bryce Martin
I guess you could call it a game. That one back in the late 60s where, when a bunch of friends got together on a weekend, people revealed things they had never done in an effort to see who could come up with the best revelation. Each one started out "I have never... ."
"I have never seen Sound of Music," is one that I recall, describing the movie starring Julie Andrews.
I never actually participated in one of the parlor get-togethers. I felt amiss that I didn't, so here goes now sans parlor:
1. I have never watched The Simpsons.
2. I have never worn a watch.
3. I have never owned (nor used) a cellphone.
4. I have never used a radar detector.
5. I have never had a headache.
6. I have never bought or worn a piece of jewelry.
How am I doing? I don't remember there being any prizes.
-30-
by Bryce Martin
I guess you could call it a game. That one back in the late 60s where, when a bunch of friends got together on a weekend, people revealed things they had never done in an effort to see who could come up with the best revelation. Each one started out "I have never... ."
"I have never seen Sound of Music," is one that I recall, describing the movie starring Julie Andrews.
I never actually participated in one of the parlor get-togethers. I felt amiss that I didn't, so here goes now sans parlor:
1. I have never watched The Simpsons.
2. I have never worn a watch.
3. I have never owned (nor used) a cellphone.
4. I have never used a radar detector.
5. I have never had a headache.
6. I have never bought or worn a piece of jewelry.
How am I doing? I don't remember there being any prizes.
-30-
Friday, July 04, 2008
Don't slander Joltin' Joe
by Bryce Martin
Don't slander the memory of a class guy, Joe DiMaggio.
Alex Rodriguez and Madonna? Many who thought A-Rod to be hurting for class now have some real ammo. Madonna? She never looked good. What's more, based on Madonna's indoor track record, she deserves the title "Easy Girl" as much as "Material Girl." That is not deserving of a "ha-ha" sarcastic response. She has looked, acted and lived the slut role, and it has served her well -- for those that like 'em.
Preachy I don't mean to be. It is comments like the following that rankle. Rodriguez has kept mum about any romance between him and Madonna, "leading some to wonder if he could indeed be involved in the biggest Yankee romance since Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe."
Romance? Madonna and A-Rod. Lust, no doubt. "Romance" is too polite a word.
Marilyn (she is also known by her first name) was flawed, but that was on a personal level. She did her best to maintain a decent public persona. Insiders say DiMaggio didn't treat Mickey Mantle well when he arrived as the new New York Yankees hero. Whatever his reasons for that, DiMag is considered one of the classiest men in all of sports history. His name and that of Marilyn's should never be linked in any way to the sordidness that is Madonna. And now A-Rod by association.
-30-
by Bryce Martin
Don't slander the memory of a class guy, Joe DiMaggio.
Alex Rodriguez and Madonna? Many who thought A-Rod to be hurting for class now have some real ammo. Madonna? She never looked good. What's more, based on Madonna's indoor track record, she deserves the title "Easy Girl" as much as "Material Girl." That is not deserving of a "ha-ha" sarcastic response. She has looked, acted and lived the slut role, and it has served her well -- for those that like 'em.
Preachy I don't mean to be. It is comments like the following that rankle. Rodriguez has kept mum about any romance between him and Madonna, "leading some to wonder if he could indeed be involved in the biggest Yankee romance since Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe."
Romance? Madonna and A-Rod. Lust, no doubt. "Romance" is too polite a word.
Marilyn (she is also known by her first name) was flawed, but that was on a personal level. She did her best to maintain a decent public persona. Insiders say DiMaggio didn't treat Mickey Mantle well when he arrived as the new New York Yankees hero. Whatever his reasons for that, DiMag is considered one of the classiest men in all of sports history. His name and that of Marilyn's should never be linked in any way to the sordidness that is Madonna. And now A-Rod by association.
-30-
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Caroline Kennedy emerges -- as dunce
by Bryce Martin
Slow news days and Caroline Kennedy floats to the forefront.
That's Caroline Kennedy as in JFK, the icon, the image.
What a dunce she is. Ever since she cast her support for Barack Obama and emerged from her longtime, self-induced anonymity, she was bait for Obama to snare on his hook.
Does she really think she is on the committee to help Obama pick a running mate for any reason other than how the Kennedy name associated with her father JFK brings comparisons to Obama? Ah, think of the images: JFK and Obama. Obama and JFK.
Too typical, as Letterman might say, and he wouldn't in this situation since he is left-leaning himself.
-30-
by Bryce Martin
Slow news days and Caroline Kennedy floats to the forefront.
That's Caroline Kennedy as in JFK, the icon, the image.
What a dunce she is. Ever since she cast her support for Barack Obama and emerged from her longtime, self-induced anonymity, she was bait for Obama to snare on his hook.
Does she really think she is on the committee to help Obama pick a running mate for any reason other than how the Kennedy name associated with her father JFK brings comparisons to Obama? Ah, think of the images: JFK and Obama. Obama and JFK.
Too typical, as Letterman might say, and he wouldn't in this situation since he is left-leaning himself.
-30-
Bull Durham and the Big Bandwagon Show
by Bryce Martin
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has been described as incorporating "the meaning of everything." A remarkable reference tome, it makes specific note of our language from its earliest origins and even cites, when possible, the earliest known use of a word or phrase.
My treatise here, however, is not about the wonderful OED. It's given as a backstory, to use a film making term. My point will be how a word or phrase is taken at face value, as in a work of fiction, where it is made up at that time for that work.
Case in point: The phrase "Big Show" from the movie Bull Durham.
I am aware that the director of the movie and its writer, one Ron Shelton, actually played a little minor league baseball. Nevertheless, I say the phrase "Big Show" was never a term as relating to the Major Leagues. I'm not saying the phrase was never uttered in that regard, as I imagine many more exist just as obscure, I'm saying it was never a phrase used by minor leaguers even on a casual basis, if at all.
Document it. Show me, one book, fiction or non-fiction, film, video, magazine or newspaper mention, one quote or line pulled from one -- just one -- single Associated Press or United Press International wire story, one of tens of thousands AP and UPI items that have covered every game ever played in the major and minor leagues going back as far as you like, anything that predates Bull Durham, where any reference to the big leagues associated with the term "Big Show" actually exists. Exhaustive, yes, but fundamentally fair.
You won't find it. With sportswriters in minor and major league dugouts, hotel lobbies, airports and clubhouses, all over, covering the games and writing feature stories, find me one of their mentions of "Big Show" as described.
Shelton did nothing wrong in making up the term. The fault lies in writers who came after him and used the phrase -- from a work of fiction, remember -- as a real phrase. I'm positive also that if someone asked former minor leaguers who played previous to the Shelton work if they had ever heard the phrase in their playing days many would answer in the affirmative. I'm also positive these same individuals would be just as faulty in response to other details associated with their own playing days.
It's what I prefer to term a bandwagon phrase, a false one, in this instance, some people jump on due to it seeming so natural. It then takes on a credence not deserved.
-30-
by Bryce Martin
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has been described as incorporating "the meaning of everything." A remarkable reference tome, it makes specific note of our language from its earliest origins and even cites, when possible, the earliest known use of a word or phrase.
My treatise here, however, is not about the wonderful OED. It's given as a backstory, to use a film making term. My point will be how a word or phrase is taken at face value, as in a work of fiction, where it is made up at that time for that work.
Case in point: The phrase "Big Show" from the movie Bull Durham.
I am aware that the director of the movie and its writer, one Ron Shelton, actually played a little minor league baseball. Nevertheless, I say the phrase "Big Show" was never a term as relating to the Major Leagues. I'm not saying the phrase was never uttered in that regard, as I imagine many more exist just as obscure, I'm saying it was never a phrase used by minor leaguers even on a casual basis, if at all.
Document it. Show me, one book, fiction or non-fiction, film, video, magazine or newspaper mention, one quote or line pulled from one -- just one -- single Associated Press or United Press International wire story, one of tens of thousands AP and UPI items that have covered every game ever played in the major and minor leagues going back as far as you like, anything that predates Bull Durham, where any reference to the big leagues associated with the term "Big Show" actually exists. Exhaustive, yes, but fundamentally fair.
You won't find it. With sportswriters in minor and major league dugouts, hotel lobbies, airports and clubhouses, all over, covering the games and writing feature stories, find me one of their mentions of "Big Show" as described.
Shelton did nothing wrong in making up the term. The fault lies in writers who came after him and used the phrase -- from a work of fiction, remember -- as a real phrase. I'm positive also that if someone asked former minor leaguers who played previous to the Shelton work if they had ever heard the phrase in their playing days many would answer in the affirmative. I'm also positive these same individuals would be just as faulty in response to other details associated with their own playing days.
It's what I prefer to term a bandwagon phrase, a false one, in this instance, some people jump on due to it seeming so natural. It then takes on a credence not deserved.
-30-
Undecided Voters Are Life's Clueless
by Bryce Martin
In November a new president will be elected in the United States. According to a majority of political pundits, those potential voters classified right now as undecided will likely tip the election to either the democrat or republican candidate.
That is sadly pathetic. Anyone of voting age who is undecided at this point is one of life's clueless. It is not that difficult. Everyone should be pre-screened and anyone who is undecided by, say, July 4, in a presidential election year should automatically be declared incompetent and disqualified. These people are the equivalent to the sad mess of jurors who made up the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial. As long as democrat and republican parties exist, the choice should always be simple enough to make. Toss in not voting as an option and the choice should be clear, not necessarily what one wants, but clear.
Granted, John McCain apparently thinks the Republican base is moving to the left and he is more a democrat than a republican because of it, which is why the base will not vote in large numbers and he will lose, but the decision is always between night and day.
An undecided voter should carry no weight when the choice is so simple.
by Bryce Martin
In November a new president will be elected in the United States. According to a majority of political pundits, those potential voters classified right now as undecided will likely tip the election to either the democrat or republican candidate.
That is sadly pathetic. Anyone of voting age who is undecided at this point is one of life's clueless. It is not that difficult. Everyone should be pre-screened and anyone who is undecided by, say, July 4, in a presidential election year should automatically be declared incompetent and disqualified. These people are the equivalent to the sad mess of jurors who made up the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial. As long as democrat and republican parties exist, the choice should always be simple enough to make. Toss in not voting as an option and the choice should be clear, not necessarily what one wants, but clear.
Granted, John McCain apparently thinks the Republican base is moving to the left and he is more a democrat than a republican because of it, which is why the base will not vote in large numbers and he will lose, but the decision is always between night and day.
An undecided voter should carry no weight when the choice is so simple.