Mizzou-BAH

National Disgrace

When I began working on the post this morning, the plan was for the opening segment to be about the controversy roiling the University of Missouri. If you're not familiar with the particulars of this story, here's a handy summary of how the idiocy unfolded. Don't be shocked at the absurd, trivial nature of the whole mess.

But before I could even finish writing the segment, though, University of Missouri Systems President Tim Wolfe resigned.

There are no words to express the anger and disappointment this development has generated in me. Among other things, today will be the last time Mizzou gets mentioned in the blog, but there are a few things I want to get off my chest first.

I was really, really looking forward to watching witless, barely-literate grad student Jonathan Butler find some face-saving excuse to end his self-aggrandizing hunger strike. With any luck, he'll find something else to grandstand about soon.



Wolfe's resignation is by no means the end of this festival of progressive outrage, of course. So, if I may, a couple of recommendations for whatever imbecile is foolish enough to want to succeed Wolfe as President of the University of Baseless Racial Grandstanding:

These young men are on athletic scholarships. If they don't wish to play, that is of course their right. But using their status to blackmail the university is simply unacceptable. They should forfeit their scholarships. Now.

Gary Pinkel is the most successful football coach in the history of the University of Missouri.

He has also announced that he supports the players in their ridiculous blackmail efforts. The role of adults in an educational institution is not to indulge the irrational whims of the students, so Coach Pinkel's employment at the university should be terminated forthwith.

And as for Wolfe himself, if there is any justice whatsoever he will never again hold any sort of position in higher education.




By caving in to blackmail, he set a terrible precedent, and validated the absurd, nebulous claims about "systemic racism" that were behind this entire affair. The damage to the university's reputation done by this cowardly capitulation can never be undone.

It has also irreparably damaged my relationship with the institution. The lyrics to the alma mater "Old Missouri" include this sentiment:

With thy watchwords Honor, Duty,
Thy high fame shall last.

"Honor" and "duty" have been replaced with grievance-mongering and blackmail, and "high fame" with "embarrassing notoriety."

I'm done with the place...

"You don't meant that. You'll get over this."

Yes, I do...and no, I won't. The university will never take the actions necessary to restore my faith in it as an institution of higher learning. Never. I'm done with the place...

Birthday Girl

If you're not familiar with Google Doodles, just click on that hotlink and you can read all about them. Although they are occasionally a source of controversy, for the most the are whimsical and amusing.

Today, for instance, the doodle celebrates Hedy Lamarr's birthday. I highly recommend clicking on this link, and then on the "Play" arrow to watch the clever animated feature about Lamarr's remarkable life. Well done, Google...

The Stupid, It Burns

Every time I say to myself that Hollywood couldn't possibly come up with something even dumber than, say, State of Affairs or Stalker, they prove me wrong. TNT's newest drama, Agent X, is a case in point.

To give you a sense of the level of dumb we're dealing with, this is how the press kit describes the show:



"United States Vice President Natalie Maccabee (Sharon Stone) discovers that there is a secret paragraph in the U.S. Constitution creating a special agent to help protect the country in times of crisis. John Case (Jeff Hephner) is the operative 'Agent X,' who handles sensitive cases that the CIA and the FBI cannot." [Emphasis added.]

My mind can't quite grasp the notion that there are people in this world so brain dead they believe there could be a "secret paragraph" of any kind in our nation's charter, much less one that "creates a special agent" to handle whatever. I won't trouble myself wondering about what "sensitive cases" the FBI and CIA couldn't handle might be. I've already lost enough brain cells thanks to this mess.

I predict a rash of scathing reviews like this one, and a cancellation announcement before the first season is even completed.

Yikes...

Until Next Time...

When NBC launched the crime drama Miami Vice in the fall of 1984, it is unlikely they had the slightest idea of what a cultural impact it would have.

Created by Anthony Yerkovich and Executive Produced by Michael Mann, the series didn't look or sound like anything that had been seen on TV before.

Among other things, the series pioneered the use of contemporary pop music in its episodes. That sort of thing is commonplace now, but back then it was revolutionary.


In addition to the popular music, the show also featured original instrumental compositions by Jan Hammer. His synthesizer-heavy music was also quite unlike anything ever heard on a television show before.

On November 9, 1985 Hammer's "Miami Vice Theme" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. It would be almost 30 years before another instrumental occupied the top spot on the singles chart. Propelled by Hammer's hit, which won two Grammy Awards, the Miami Vice: Music From the Television Series soundtrack album spent 11 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart. It was the most successful TV soundtrack album of all time to that point, a record it held for another 31 years.

Today's send-off pairs Hammer's music with clips from the television series. Enjoy...