Day: August 10, 2009

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No, of Course It’s Not a Double Standard

That would be hypocritical, and we all know hopey-changey-ists can’t be hypocritical, now can they?

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The manufactured Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind “outrage” at the Obama-as-Joker graphic that’s gone viral (check how many folks are using it as their avatar on Facebook!) is strange, given the eight years’ outpouring of anti-Bush graphics, ranging from Bush-as Chimp through Bush-as-Hitler all the way to Bush-as-vampire, included a Vanity Fair depiction of Bush as the Joker.

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Hmmm, could it be that, despite deep pockets pushing the images and Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind investment in them, the fact that the depictions of Bush-as Chimp, Bush-as-Hitler, Bush-as-vampire and Bush as the Joker did NOT go viral, did NOT strike a real chord in the hearts and minds of millions of common Americans, do you think that may play a part in the manufactured Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind “outrage” at the depiction of Obama-as-Joker?

Or could it be that those who wrongly see themselves as the elite (when they’re little more than mindless hacks and drones) really are too stupid and wrong-headed and basically unfair as to think that sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander?

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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Alfred Brendel – “Der Lindenbaum” -Die Winterreise

I think my appreciation for Alfred Brendel, first discovered as I listened to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau accompanied by him instead of Gerald Moore, as had so often been the case, can be summed up in Brendel’s own comment,

“I am responsible to the composer, and particularly to the piece.”

That one simple, but extremely difficult, committment is why Brendel is so very good in finding the “voice” of his instrument–the piano. His committment to getting as close as he possibly can to the composer’s intention is fiendishly difficult, especially in a society where almost all artists seek to place their own thoughts, feelings and personalitiews above that of the desires of the composer, even when a composer may have explicitly stated directions and commentary for performance guidelines.

“I am responsible to the composer, and particularly to the piece.”

I can appreciate that, especially since in attempting to be responsible in such a way it results in such excellence of performance as Brendel’s.

Once again, one of my very favorite Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau performances, accompanied by Alfred Brendel:

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Ignorance at the “Cafe au Lait” House

The 0! to the elderly, “Take a pill.”

Now, after my Wonder Woman’s incident eleven years ago, when she was about The 0!’s age today, I learned a few things about the heart, both physical and metaphorical, that The 0! seems to have no concept of whatsoever. First, many types of arhythmias are untreatable by taking a pill, and none of them are treated by simply “tak[ing] a pain pill” as The 0! would prescribe in his best political medical wisdom. (Translation: he’s a complete jackass.)

And tghen there are matters of the heart of which he seems completely unaware. He counts dollar cost as more important than a 100 year old woman’s joie de vivre and her daughter’s enhanced quality of life with her vital, enthusiastic mother present. No, it might simply be better to give the old biddy a pain pill and let her die of the untreated arhythmia.

That goes beyond jackassery all the way to evil. F**k him and the horse he rode in on!