“Shut up!” he explained...

Disclaimer: If you're the sort of person who believes that others have a duty not to offend you with their spoken or written communication, it is my intention today to offend the shit out of you. If you're the sort of delicate flower who requires others to provide "trigger warnings" to you so you don't have to deal with ideas or opinions that make you uncomfortable, it is my intention to "trigger" you repeatedly. And smile the whole time...

I went to college in the early 1970s. I matriculated in the midwest, but it was a turbulent time to be on a college campus pretty much anywhere in the country. Lots of demonstrations, kids with bullhorns, exhortations to Resist!, Fight the Power!, etc. Even, irony of ironies, protests on behalf of free speech! In those days, young people weren't in the market for anyone telling them to shut up, mind their manners, or any variations thereof. Say what you will about those days, at least there was a bracing honesty to the environment. People were actually saying what they thought, even if those thoughts were sometimes a little half-baked (well, more than just "sometimes," but that's for another day).

Things are quite different nowadays, unfortunately.

College campuses, of all places, have become hothouses for the most ridiculous arguments in favor of shutting other people up that you'll ever hear. "Campus Speech Codes." "Safe Spaces." "Trigger Warnings." "Free Speech Zones." Speech itself as "violence," if we don't like the message, etc. Things have gotten so bad here in the States that British novelists are rebuking graduating students about the problem. Sadly, the mindset despoiling our college campuses has metastasized to the larger society. One can barely turn around these days without bumping into someone fulminating about "hate speech" or some similar notion, said someones being prone to puffing up in Pecksniffian wrath at the merest suggestion that there is anything amiss with their reasoning. Some of these folks even make fools of themselves arguing about it on the internet (go figure). We're now living in a world of Newspeak that even Orwell might have thought unlikely...

Do I exaggerate? Perhaps. But at least for now, hyperbole isn't illegal. And what, for instance, are we to make of a theatrical performance designed as a benefit for the National Coalition Against Censorship (!) being threatened with cancellation because some pinhead thinks Neil LaBute's contribution is too "offensive." That sort of hypocrisy is almost beyond parody, isn't it?

"To hell with your 'trigger warnings.'"

The legendary journalist (and equally legendary curmudgeon) H.L. Mencken once wrote that "Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." 

For me, that temptation hits every time I hear or read someone begin a sentence with "Of course
I support freedom of speech, but..."

"Are you people fucking retarded?"

I suppose I should be grateful that the United States isn't England just yet on the subject (take that, Mr. McEwan!). It does seem as though we're gaining on them, however, in spite of James Madison's brilliant handiwork...




You might be tempted to think that dangerous anti-free speech notions are in no danger of actually being enacted into law in America. And you would be mistaken. The polis is currently infected with a shocking degree of support for such nonsense. There is even a candidate for President out there campaigning to change the First Amendment in order to silence her opponents...

Include me out, please. When it comes to my right to speak and write whatever I wish (and everyone else's right to do likewise), I prefer to channel my inner Mal Reynolds...

If you ever find yourself even slightly tempted to moderate your support for our right to think what we want AND to say what we think, please read (and re-read, as needed) this fabulous post over at the most excellent Popehat blog. And please do follow the internal links in the article. Remember, there is only one best antidote to falsity...

"The Lucky Eat-Anter is dear to me, but dearer still is truth."

 Pardon Me for Saying This (Trigger Warning!), But...

If you think the film version of a dreadful novel is going to be any good, you deserve to have your money taken from you for nothing...

Separation Anxiety: TV Division

It has been a tough few weeks for me, having to say goodbye to not one but two brilliantly written and produced shows. I shall miss Justified a tad more than I'll miss Mad Men, mostly because I'm completely in the bag for all things Elmore Leonard, but it always makes me a little sad when an oasis of excellent writing dries up...

"Did we dig coal together?"

I sometimes get an argument from people who don't write themselves, but few writers I know would quarrel with the idea that the very best writers working in English these days write for television.

It speaks well of Graham Yost and the other writers who worked on the series that Leonard himself praised the show. Most writers complain bitterly about how their works are adapted for TV or the movies, but Justified remained true to Elmore's characters and their world for its entire run...

"That Coca-Cola obsession of yours? All me. You're welcome."

As for Mad Men, I don't think the claims for it being the best drama in the history of TV are unfounded. It was a deeply involving story, and its characters were brilliantly conceived and executed. That alone would be enough to raise the show into the pantheon. But the fact that it was also a period piece, and a successful one, seals the deal. For people of my generation, in particular, the attention to detail was stunning...

Thank God for DVDs...

Techno-Geekery

You know you want one...

At left is my newest gadget, a Motorola Moto 360 Smartwatch. I have to admit I was skeptical about the utility of so-called "wearable technology," but this thing is winning me over. I spent quite a bit of time evaluating various Android-based gadgets before settling on this one (I wanted an Android device because my Nexus 7 tablet and Moto X phone both use the Android OS). In my opinion it is easily the best of the Android watches, and I haven't seen anything about the Apple Watch that makes me envious...

For the most part I have been using it to help me stay on track with my walking exercise (it tracks distance and time, gives me heart-rate info, and lets me know when I have met or exceeded the daily goals I have set for myself).

I also like the fact that I can verbally dictate and send a text message, and that a simple spoken request can direct me to the nearest Starbucks when I am out and about. That is insanely cool...

Highly recommended!

Until Next Time...

In the blog's opening installment, I mentioned how much I missed my best friend whom I lost seven years ago yesterday. Among the thousands of fond memories I have of him is the day we visited a Bose® showroom together. A salesman talked us into a demo of one of their best home theater setups, which featured the following performance by the wonderful Joan Osborne. And all these years later, I still get misty-eyed every time I hear it. Miss you, Matt...

I know you do, old friend, I know you do. Shall we just stop here for today?

Thanks for reading this far, folks...