Breaking Bad Toy vs. Uptight Woman

A woman somewhere saw a Breaking Bad toy in Toys R Us. The toys accessory was meth. The toy is made for people over the age of 15 and up. This woman is so offended, she has started a petition to get the store to remove the toy from the shelves.

This is just fucking stupid.

It’s ridiculous that this woman is so offended by a toy she wants it removed. Why? In the same aisle are figures of Freddy Kruger of Nightmare on Elm Street. It comes with a razor glove just like in the movie. There’s also Jason Voorhies from Friday the 13^th. It comes with a hockey mask and machete. Why is she not offended by serial killers who kill teenagers who are fucking? Is it just the drugs the woman is offended by? I mean, seriously. Why is this woman offended by a toy?

There are people who are offended by Barbie dolls. They think that it makes little girls anorexic, gives them an unrealistic body expectation.

Some people are offended by army men or toy guns because VIOLENCE! Do they start petitions? Nope.

Was she offended by Grand Theft Auto 4? The game has you selling drugs, running over people, and killing hookers. Where was her outrage? Would a petition be able to force Toys R Us to remove the game that made more money than many hollywood blockbusters? Or would the store say "fuck off" because people were lining up to get the game? The toy probably didn't sell a huge number of units. The store probably figured it's easier to remove the offending figure than to fight the stupid, uptight lady. 

Does this woman sit in a movie she hates and watch the whole thing and complain about it? That’s fucking stupid. If something offends you, leave. But don’t try to have the movie theater stop playing the movie. There are people who enjoy that form of entertainment. Just like there are people who want to collect the toy.

Basically, don’t like the toy, FUCKING, DON’T BUY IT.

The petition had 8000 signatures. Yeah, out of a country with 330,000,000 people, 8000 isn’t even .000008% of the populace. So a teeny tiny percentage of the uptight populace removes a toy instead of going to a different aisle to shop.  Toys R Us capitulated and is removing the toy from the shelves. So your morality wins, you intolerant person.  I bet she’s a conservative who home schools her kids.  

The thing I find weird, when the show was finishing it's run, the media went nuts with its acclaim of the show and the actors. But now, it's a pariah because of a toy. 

 If stores removed things which piss people off, there would hardly be anything on the shelves. Someone is bound to be pissed f by something that a sane person would not think of being pissed off by.

Politics 2014

Politics are getting really mean. Or maybe has always been mean.

 All the ads on TV before the November election are very mean. They don’t say much. They basically say their opponent sucks, or is liberal. In Arizona the worst thing you can say, apparently, is that your opponent is LIBERAL. And that a Democrat voted with Obama and his agenda.

The thing that makes no sense, it’s a Democrat voting with a Democratic president. All the GOP voted lockstep with George Bush. Isn’t that what you would expect? The person in the same party, who believes the same as the president, would vote for the things that president wants to do?  It’s common sense. And the candidates are running away from it. They are not embracing the ACA. It has gotten 10 million people health coverage. If the GOP crossed the street successfully, you heard about it on the news, “Yup, didn’t get run over while crossing the street!”

There’s  someone, who is not a candidate for anything,  putting  up  signs all over Scottsdale, AZ. “Want more bars and drunks? Re-elect So & so.”  Or, “Want Light Rail in Scottsdale? Vote So & so”

Um, what elected office is in charge of bars and drunks? I don’t know. Do you? And what is wrong with light rail? It might be a bit expensive to do, but there’s a lot of cities with light rail. San  Diego. Tucson. San Francisco. Why is transportation bad? I don’t get their reasoning and they didn’t explain why it’s bad.

What I do wonder about in politics is why politicians don’t get called out by the talking heads on TV who are interviewing them. When a politician says something that is blatantly false, why doesn’t the interviewer say, “No, that’s wrong.” And then bring out the truth? I end up screaming at the TV like Chuck Todd should be able to fucking hear me. It would be fascinating if they pressed the politician for the truth. How would they justify their positions?

I just want to vote. And then mourn the GOP taking the senate. They would do nothing useful except send crazy fucking bills to the president to sign. He will spend 2 years vetoing all the crazy. But the GOP doesn’t realize that the voters will remember and take vengeance on them and they will lose big in 2016.

Random Thoughts

Haven't had much to say lately. Don't know why. Or what I had to say I didn't feel like blogging.

I've been looking at peoples tattoos. I think I figured out a very weird thing about them that if I got tattoos would make me crazy. I would want them to be symetrical. The people I see with tattoos on their bodies have sort of a haphazard placement of the artwork in whatever space the shape could fit. I think I'd need for the tattoos to be balanced and symetrical. If I got one thing on my right arm I'd have to get the exact thing on my left arm in the same place. Which is weird.

I also need my Yoga mat to be equally under my body when laying down doing yoga. Otherwise I have no Zen.

I bought a new car. When I was looking for a car I found the process kind of annoying. They are trained to not let you get away without making a sale. I got the information I needed and then left the dealership. To prove to them I could totally walk away from any deal. It took me a long time for them to come up with a deal for me. Fucking give me numbers. Is the process supposed to take so long you buy a fucking car just so you can leave and go home? Man, that was an ordeal.

To give them my old car, 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse, 195,021 miles, I had to clean it out of all my stuff. No joke, it took an hour and 15 minutes. I had so many bits of paper and things that it took a long time. I had a flashlight to see under the seats. I only found one petrified french fry. Who knows what year that was from. But there was paper from 2006 in the glove box. After I cleaned out the car I washed him and vacuumed him. Then put in a little gas. I loved the car but there were imminent things which would need to be repaired to make him function longer and it didn't make sense to pour a lot of money into the 13 year old car.

It's been hot as fuck this month. I don't recall it being this bad in prior years. Tell me climate change ain't real. And tell that to the walruses and polar bears who are treading water in the arctic.

I'll do more later. 

Robin Williams

I was an extra on the set of The Birdcage back in the summer of 1995. I didn't do extra work often but I wanted to see how Robin Williams worked. He was one of my acting heroes and had been for years. It seemed like there was nothing he couldn't do. From riffing Shakespeare to heavy drama. Who would have thought of the Shakespeare riff, "I fear not fellatio, yes, I am a cunningliguist." ?

On the set of Birdcage, before we went in the studio which held the bar set, we were told where we sat was where we were probably going to spend the rest of the week. I was in the front of the crowd at the door and sussed out immediately where I wanted to be. I walked briskly to the front of the stage and planted myself in the set right next to the stairs which descended the stage. It was the start of a memorable week.

Movie making is a tedious process. It's not all that glamorous. There is a lot of waiting around in between takes. Many stars will retire to their dressing rooms and hang out. Not Robin. He was walking among the crowd in the bar on many occasions talking and riffing and doing impressions. He learned that Al Pacino's dad, Sal was in the audience. That prompted Robin to bring his mom down  and put her in the crowd of the wedding at the end of the movie.

In the movie Nathan Lane is performing the nightclub act. This was shot many times. From the audience facing Nathan. Then there was the reverse angle from the stage so they could film audience reactions. Nathan did the words of the script. We laughed. They did it again. We laughed, but less. And a again. Less reaction. Then the director, Mike Nichols who directed things like the Graduate, gave the mic to Robin. Without any preparation he did 15-30 minutes of brilliant stand up. The audience reactions were real. It was fabulous.

During filming with Robin, Mike Nichols had Robin do the script one or two times. Then Robin would get to experiment bit by bit. Then when Mike had everything he needed, he would ask Robin if he had one he wanted to do. Almost always he did. It was great to watch his creativity and freedom. Something all actors should aspire to have. "Robin's takes" were always funny but sometimes too big for the movie.

During a lull in filming one day, we were all sitting in our places waiting for things to get going again. We were waiting on lighting or camera or some such. Robin was on the stage right side of the wings. I don't really know how it started. Maybe I waved to him or something, but we started doing fake sign language to each other. I don't know if it was 5 seconds or 3 minutes.  But I was RIFFING WITH ROBIN WILLIAMS! The crowd started to notice and laugh. I was focused on him and what he did, then I would respond with something I hoped would be funny and appropriate. I didn't want to disappoint him. Then the Voice of God mic released a booming voice. "Okay Robin. That's enough." It was Mike Nichols. He wasn't angry, they were just ready to go again. So like admonished school boys, we stopped. When leaving the set that day, I made my way over to Robin and said, "Thank you for riffing with me today."  He smiled, nodded, and made a small noise. I think I saw a little of the shy man that was inside.

He was a very gracious and incredibly nice man. I encountered him on a few other occasions while working. I nearly hit him with the door as I came quickly into a room. He was very nice about it.

I mourn the loss of such talent and genius.His death hit me harder than anyone in a very long time. 

I hope he found some peace.

SCOTUS and Birth Control.

The Supreme court came down in a 5-4 decision for Hobby Lobby not having to cover birth control they (erroneously) think causes abortions. Hobby Lobby needs to get educated on vaginas and birth control.

The thing that has been interesting to watch is the reaction on social media. On Facebook someone I know is an Ayn Randian type of conservative. You pull yourself up by your bootstraps kind of guy. Even if you don't have boots you lazy fuck. He was saying a corporation shouldn't have to fund birth control if they are against it.

Firstly, it's a corporation. An entity for business. It ain't a person. I don't see Walmart or Hobby Lobby trying to fit in the pews at the local Catholic church. Because it can't it's a business. Corporations make filing taxes easier by considering them a person. And Citizens United says this corporate entity has the right to free speech like a real person. And floodgates of money opened and woe to the voting public...

Now I wonder if you were hired by a Christian Scientist, would you get any insurance coverage at all? They don't believe in MEDICINE. None of it. You get better by praying to god. Don't pray strong enough and you die. Example of a Christian Scientist? Jim Henson of the Muppets fame. Died of pneumonia because he didn't believe in penicillin. But penicillin believed in him and could have saved his creative ass. Are Christian Scientist owners going to bring a suit to the supreme court? Could happen.

How about Muslims? A Muslim owner of a business could be following Sharia law ans force women to wear burkas. Or deny insurance for women. If a Muslim had gone to the Supreme Court with this same lawsuit, would they have decided in the same way? The 5 justices are Catholic. Would they rule the same way for Islam? Or would they vote against it because they aren't Christian? I really would like to know.

A female friend of mine thinks they would have voted the same way in either case because it is anti-vagina. They are keeping women as second class citizens.

When are the old fuckers on the Supreme Court going to die? It needs to get packed with people who don't think corporations are people and women should be protected equally under the law.

The really hypocritical thing about the decision... Viagra and condoms and vasectomies are cover by Hobby Lobby's insurance. What a double standard.

Last of...

I was in a grocery store today. Usually I breeze in and out quickly. I know what I want and where to find it. I rarely just wander the aisles. As I was walking I saw and old man talking to a woman with a shopping cart. They were strangers, I could tell from the conversation. I don't know how it started but I eavesdropped as I walked by.

Old man: I'm the last one standing. No one in my family is left. I'm last of the Mohicans. I'm 96. I don't have much time left.

He didn't say it with any bitterness. Maybe just resignation. He was waiting. He seemed in a good mood. Very talkative.

The woman tried to say something comforting to him. I had walked out of earshot by the time she tried to answer. I got my groceries and headed back to where he had been. I don't know why. I wanted to say something. Meet him. I don't know. Something in my heart hurt for him. His aloneness or something like that resonated with me.

When I got to where he had been, he was gone.I looked around the rest of the store, but I guess he had left. At the check stand I engaged the cashier in world cup talk. But my mind was elsewhere hoping that man was not really as alone as he said.

Monogamy

I find monogamy to be a little odd. How in the world are two people supposed to find one another captivating for the rest of their lives? Love is one thing, Lust is another. Both can work simultaneously in the form of a person. But they can also work separately.

Love grows over time. Lust can walk thru the lobby of  a hotel, and you would like to sleep with that woman.

I don't know. My folks have been married for over 45 years. How many years I really don't know the exact number. I have some friends who have been married for less than 20. A few years back they opened up the marriage to other sex partners. Why? It was not going well, they were not happy as it was, and divorce wasn't really an option they would consider. So rather than throwing the whole relationship in the dustbin, or staying in a bad marriage, they expanded. It appears to have worked well. I don't judge. It's not the first swingers I've known. Or Poly arrangements I have known.

Let's face it, sex is fun. And though the super religious say god frowns on anything but man and woman marriage, I think it was a way for the church to control people. Because if you look in the bible for marriage definitions, you end up with guys that have multiple wives and concubines. There's verses that say if a soldier rapes a woman from another country, they are now married. ?!?! Fucking really? That's gonna be a great loving marriage. Not! Of if a brother dies, he has to marry the wife of the brother. Again, really? That doesn't make sense.

But so much of the bible doesn't make sense. People would tell you that is the old testament and is not used in Christianity. You say Potato/ I say Studebaker. Picking and choosing what you use out of a religious tome to suit your argument has always struck me as dishonest.

Controlling sex was a way to control people. And the ones who wanted to control sex say god doesn't like ________________. Fill in the blank. Whether it's straight, gay , bisexual, there's going to be someone somewhere trying to control what people do in the privacy of their own homes.

For most of the natural world, mating happens only when females are in heat. Primates can fuck at the drop of a hat. For most of human sex doesn't produce offspring. Why do we do it? It's fun. Sex is fun. New partners are a rush. You have no idea how they are going to react, what they look like sound like, feel like, smell like. It's exciting to be with someone new. There's a flood of endorphines and oxytocin. The brain releases a soup of chemicals.

I understand idea of monogamy but I always seem to think there's swinging going on that we don't know about. So having an unrealistic expectation for monogamy seems foolish. If a married couple of 20 years has sex 3 times a year, say birthdays and anniversary, well, what good is the marriage? It probably exists in a state of quiet discordance. I have looked in cars as I've been driving and I can usually tell the couples that have been together a long time. They aren't talking or engaged with each other. That I find sad. I'd rather be alone than in a relationship that is quiet and tense. 

So what brought this around? Fuck, I don't know. Just thinking out loud. Kind of wish I was swinging thru the trees of swinging.