Woodstock!

50 years! Jesus Im getting old. I was a young kid when Woodstock occurred at Max Yasgur's farm in upstate New York 50 freakin tears ago. And ya know what, I was not there. I was , in fact, to be honest, hardly aware it happened. I remember it on the news but I was far more into dreading going back to Catholic school for another year in August 1969 than a bunch of hippies in a muddy field listening to music.

But then came the next spring. 1970. A three album disc hit stores. A friend of mine and myself scraped together $10 and went to Walgreens and bought it. And we listened to it that same day. All three discs. Holy shit, it was a life changing moment. From Richie Havens doing Freedom to the end when Hendrix did Purple Haze that music embedded itself in my soul. It was raw, it was rough, it was not perfect. It was a concert. Damn I wanted to go to a concert so bad. It wasnt the slick in studio music I'd been used to. The Beatles, The Monkees, the Stones, The Doors, all of those bands I was into at that age. It seemed ALL concerts must be like this. Of course I was wrong.

Woodstock can only happen once. As many times as it has attempted to be duplicated it never has been. Give it up. Altamount happened just a few months later and people got beat up and killed and the ugliness of humanity came back full force. But for that 3 days in upstate New York in August 1969 humanity was free and nice and kind to each other. Its just a fact. Its not some hippie rewriting of history its just a fact and it cannot be taken away.

Later in 1970 the 3 hour movie came out. Now you could see what you'd been listening to on a record. The only problem was because it had a few F bombs in it and a few naked people bathing in a pond, it was rated R and this kid couldnt get in without an adult. Well my parents were not going to take me to see Woodstock thats for sure. So we had to find an alternative. So my friend and I bought tickets to see one movie at the Six West Theaters (yes we had a "multiplex" in 1970) and snuck into the Woodstock movie. And we got caught and booted out. Ok thats traumatic. I wasnt sure I could ever show my face there again. Then we tried again a week later. But this time we followed very closely some guys in their 20's into the theater and sat right next to them which probably freaked them out a bit. Then the movie started. We moved. For 3 hours we SAW what we had been listening to for all those months. Holy shit again. I knew all those songs by heart by now. Thats what those guys and gals looked like. F bombs and nudity. Who cares? Get on with the tunes man.

I almost jumped out of my seat to rock out to Santana doing Soul Sacrifice. I fell in love with Grace Slick, Roger Daltrey became a golden God, Sly and The Family Stone, and the beauty of CSNY doing Suite Judy Blue Eyes. Migawd it was an experience.

I am not one to wax nostalgic that much but if I could go back in time would I makes myself go to Woodstock? Hell no. I dont like crowds, mud, traffic, pissing in the woods, taking drugs. I dont like any of that but as far as Woodstock goes, musically, it was my go to moment. When I realized that live music was fuckin great. No matter who it is. You can be playing a classical tune on a violin and I'll listen in awe. You can twang yourself thru a country song I'd turn off immediately if I heard it on TV or the radio, but live I'll listen. Ive seen so many diverse things live in my life and basically its all because of Woodstock. The beauty of it sticks with me to this day.

A side note. Once I came home and heard the Woodstock album I had coming from the basement. I'll never forget it. It was Hendrix doing the National Anthem. . I went downstairs and saw my Mom sitting in a chair listening to the album. I suppose to make sure her first born wasnt listening to some drug addled Satan music. I asked her if she liked any of it/ She said no. This National Anthem is terrible. Why do you like this music? What appeals to you because I hear nothing in fact I think you bought a defective album.

That was the definition of the Generation Gap.

(PS Later in life I had the Dead on in the basement and Truckin came on. Mom came down and asked what was that? I said it was the Grateful Dead. She said "I like that song, play more like that" and went back upstairs.

My Mom, the Deadhead.

Alabama!

I hate Alabama. I hate their football team, I hate their Governor, I hate their legislature, I hate everything about them.

Well except Doug Jones, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Harper Lee, the cities. Huntsville, Joe Louis, rocket research, ok ok I dont hate Alabama. Its a fine state with a minority of decent folk willing to move forward. But man that Jesus shit rules.

See above billboard in Tuscaloosa. Virtually everything on that board is a blatant lie or half truth. Alabama may have 17 national what I assume are football titles, but you still have far less titles than the "pointy headed intellectuals' up north in Princeton and Harvard so take that. They're not only smarter than you, they played better football than you.

That billboard is a joke. Who are you trying to appeal to? The dumbest of the dumb? Congrats, you've done it!

Years ago in rural Nebraska as we would travel along the highways to small town USA, there was a homemade billboard in the front yard of a small farmhouse that had a picture of Herbie Husker (one of the worst mascots in America) and the hand painted statement updated monthly that said "Over 16,000 future Husker fans have been aborted". The sign was a signal that the entire car would begin deriding it. It made me want to find a different route. Then one day it was gone. Oh not because the people living there had a sudden change of heart. No, it disappeared because the University of Nebraska threatened to sue their ass for trademark infringement. Yeah, they actually trademarked that horrid creature.The threat from the University must have worked. That stupid sign came down.

Maybe the University of Alabama should do the same.

Madness!

I am pissed. I shouldn't write when I'm angry cuz I tend to type fuck a lot.

Take a deep breath and here we go.

Yesterday a white nationalist shitheel drove 9 hours from Dallas to El Paso, Texas to kill innocent Americans of Latino heritage. Publishing a manifesto online a mere hour before he did this dastardly deed, he pretty much parroted what his Dear Leader, Donald Trump, says at his rallies on a bi weekly basis. I dont remember this assholes name, but I do remember Trumps name and THIS is on him.

For years now, Donald Osama Bin Laden Trump has been pushing this white nationalist shit to dumb white people desperate to blame somebody for their lousy lot in life. Like Trump himself, who lacks the courage to punch up, these rally attenders punch down. Its blacks and gays and Hispanics and Islam and women and everybody except themselves to blame that they arent succeeding. They dont even recognize that the reason for their "economic anxiety" stands before them. Though Trump tells them what they want to hear, they dont see behind the scenes where Trumps masters and handlers like Moscow Mitch and Kevin McCarthy and Leningrad Lindsey continue to work against all peoples interests other than their donors who make them rich.
But alas, stupidity is the American way now as anybody smarter than you is elitist and condescending.

This blood is on Trumps hands, oh theres no doubt any longer. From his openly wanting innocent black youth executed to his idiotic Apprentice show where he wanted to pit light skinned blacks against blondes, to his Mexicans are rapists and killers, to his Muslim ban, to his very fine people statement to his laughing at a shooting migrants scream, to his hate filled send her back rallies, this man is a fucking danger to the entire goddamned world. Yet Democrats, in their ridiculous unrealistic attempt to get Trump voters to vote for them, refuse to deal with this man. Meanwhile, mass shootings by white nationalist men now occur every fucking week and sometimes twice. Goddamit Nancy, deal with this miscreant NOW!

In the meantime, the stories out of El Paso continue to break hearts. From the Hispanic woman shielding her baby being slaughtered by this white gangster, to the young black man carrying children in his arms away from danger, to the fact that this white mass murderer was taken alive without a scratch. Is it perhaps that white nationalists believe law enforcement is on their side? Ya know like the white guys at the bar dropping N bombs out loud when they think youre on their side simply because you are white?

The politicians, the Trump enablers, coming out of the woodwork. The thoughts and prayers. The bullshit concern. The meaningless words meant to cover their ass in the future. These Republican jackoffs are shameless. Future Ex-Senator John Cornyn (please run Beto) continued to leave a tweet in which he warns white Texas that for every 1 new white resident in Texas there were 9 Hispanic new residents. This kind of not so subtle racism runs deep among these Republican degenerates. They know the code words. They know how to speak to racists without being racist. This has been common since the day Ronald Reagan began his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi where Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were murdered by white nationalist cops just 15 years prior.

Now we have a mass murder in a Dayton club that nobody knows anything about other than the masked guy in body armor with an assault weapon was a white guy and 11 people are dead. Incel? White nationalist? Who knows at this point?

Look Im as sick of this shit as everybody else. You can point out that we need thoughts and prayers and condemnation and talk about video games like we always do when it comes to white killers. White killers are always influenced by video games, while every other killer who is not white is part of some sort of international conspiracy against America. No motherfuckers! This is all a national conspiracy led by white losers intent on keeping their white privilege intact at all costs. Stop the excuse making on Fox News and by Republicans scared of offending their white nationalist base.

Fuck these people. Ban assault weapons. Background checks. Impeach this motherfucker before he gets more people killed.

This is serious, folks. Stop this madness now.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood And Another Movie!

I cannot stand Quentin Tarantino. I love Quentin Tarantino. There's my dilemma. Ive seen most of his movies, both hated and loved them, yet still have this love/hate problem. Lets all agree they are ALL over the top, feature horrific violence. and drop too damn many N bombs.

Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is not any of those. Its a perfectly understandable story. Using real life people in fictional situations (this is NOT history folks) the movie moves like a Western in its storytelling and back story to explain what is going on.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as soon to be washed up 1960s actor Rick Dalton. Dangling to his career by his fingertips, Dalton plods along in Hollywood guest starring on TV Westerns and detective shows. Accompanied virtually everywhere by his stunt double, Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt, Dalton struggles to remain viable. With tons of 1960's TV and commercial references, it is right in the wheelhouse of people my age. I cant count the number of times I broke into a smile over some dumb ad I remembered or a TV theme playing in the background.

Dalton lives in they Hollywood Hills right next door to Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). Uh oh. We know whats coming. When Booth keeps running into a young hippie girl hitchhiking, flirting with that Brad Pitt grin, we all know what lies ahead. Eventually circumstances are right enough for Booth to give the chick a ride. To the Spahn movie ranch. The tension of that few minutes of screen time makes this movie worth it. Booth doesnt give a shit, he's afraid of nobody, and he explores the ranch on his own terms despite meeting Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Squeaky Fromme, Leslie Van Houton, Patricia Krenwinkel and finally George Spahn. Nope, no Manson, he is seen in one scene for a few seconds and thats it. Which to me is brilliant.

Look the movie takes a typical Tarantino rewriting history turn towards the end but as absurd as I thought Inglorius Basterds was, this turn actually makes sense. And like it or not, this isnt Leo's movie, its Brad Pitts movie. Pitt is the best second banana Ive seen in maybe forever. His character is dominating. As they used to say back in the day, he's a mans man. A total bullshit free force of nature on the edge of igniting at any moment. But when he ignites, its as calm as a gentle rain. Pitt should be remembered at Oscar time.

The film has cameos galore that may mean nothing to anyone younger than 55.. Damian Lewis could do a Steve McQueen biopic based on his one scene. Dakota Fanning is frightening as Squeaky Fromme. Bruce Dern even makes the most of his one scene as George Spahn.Margot Robbie as a naive like Sharon Tate is great.

Quentin Tarantino , much like David Lynch did in The Straight Story, can make a perfectly watchable film without any misgivings. I loved it.

Now Hobbs and Shaw. Because they were pounding on my roof all day and driving Max and I and the dog nuts, we also went to the latest Fast and Furious chapter. Ive never seen a Fast and Furious movie in my life, being above all that and all. Until now when Im not. Thanks roofers.

Hey it is what it is. The Rock and Jason Statham mug their way through this movie about saving the world from a killer virus. Lots of idiotic violence, lots of insults, lots of I hate you and you hate me moments. But ya know what? It works.

There was enough self deprecation, winks and nods and genuine suspense I cannot state I wasnt entertained. Idris Elba was the villain. Another villain much like Killmonger in Black Panther, he's a bad guy with a somewhat noble purpose. But he's bad and must be stopped. And of course he is eventually stopped. Sorry for that spoiler.

Like I said, I have never seen a Fast and Furious movie so when Helen Mirren shows up I almost exclaimed what the hell is SHE doing in this? I still have no idea, I assume she was in one before and had I seen that one I would have exclaimed what the hell is SHE doing in this?

Debates!

I havent watched one second of any of these "debates". Its August 2019 for chrissakes. Yet the pundits who have 24/7 of "news" to tell you all about cant get enough of this meaningless bullshit. If its not the vapid Chuck Todd or the non stop yakking of Chris Matthews or the non stop negativity of Fox News (and of course Trump "wins" every debate) then its social media with the bots and the fan boys and fan girls pumping up their chosen one by bashing Biden, the obvious frontrunner 6 months before anybody even votes.

Biden is on defense. He's taking the blows and hoping he lasts 12 rounds and wins by default. Thats a dangerous strategy because of course when you play not to lose, you lose. But of course, with the possible exception of 2020's Jill Stein, Tulsi Gabbard, anyone would be a better leader than the Bigot in Chief. No scratch that, even she would be better than the Fascist in Chief.

The only excuse to even stage this nonsense is ratings. We are a TV generated society ., This is how we now have a former reality show host as POTUS. Many people, 62 million to be exact, are so star struck, bigoted, dumb, greedy, or villainous to have taken a dummy whose catch phrase was you're fired and installed him into this position. But thats reality, real reality not fake reality, and that is this nation is getting lazier, dumber and more willing to protect what they have, play defense in other words,and vote for this neanderthal. The warning to white people is to look at Biden and note what happens when you simply try and hold the lead. You lose.

You're losing, white people. You're losing too, Joe.