Not sure when I took this pic except that it was around recent anniversary of Steve Jobs announcing the iPhone. I’m living my “internet communication device” more often than I’d like. And like everything else in this krapp world-life: nomatter.
Rant and pic on.
-T
When I was kid there were two things that scared me. One was the return of my father who abandoned me when he realised the petty jubilee of war-winner’s bounty in the form of young German girls–while fulfilling his commitment to the US military–and how that wasn’t quite what he thought it would be. And the other was the 1972 movie The Poseidon Adventure. Seriously. To this day I complain to my mother about having dragged me to that film. I even remember the filthy floor that I crawled on while hiding behind the backs of movie theatre seats to escape the portrayal of suspense and human suffering on the big, wide Hollywood screen with the aftermath of a capsized ocean liner. It was indeed a dirty, filthy, grimy disgusting floor. Nomatter. I count myself lucky to not have feared what other kids feared when they were young. You know, ghosts, monsters, priests, etc. Of course, fear is something we all must deal with in life–especially in times like these where everything, everyone, The All of Life, is about one thing and one thing only: money. So I guess, as an adult without any money, I’ve had to deal with fear anew. But you know what, dear worst-reader? It doesn’t stop with being a useless eater, one who was meant to be a ditch digger but instead told those with privilege and inheritance to go fcuk themselves thirty-three times over. And with that in mind, there is one other thing that scares the krapp out of me as I start down the path of getting older than I ever thought I’d get. The thing I fear most today is power run amok in the hands of the few. And if you think it hasn’t run amok, give a look at that weird court case a few years back between Hulk Hogan and Gawker. Even though I haven’t seen the documentary discussed in the video above, I’m really looking forward to seeing it asap–as soon as it’s available here in the old country. In the mean time, I’ll utilise the wait-time to psych myself up. For, dear worst-reader, the amount of power that is currently being consolidated into the grimy hands of wealthy assholes who can manipulate the judicial system (of any country) should raise red flags not only across the world but, indeed, #americant. But then again, if those flags were raised, it could cease to be #americant. Or? Oh my. I’m so afraid of the future of the western world having given in to political conservatism and thereby monetising the judiciary of democracy that I’m already looking for movie theatre seats to hide behind. Oh. Wait. I guess I’m also a little afraid of what grime is gonna be on the floor of those movie theatre seats I try to crawl under. Or maybe not.
Rant on.
-T
Links that motivated this post:
Almost didn’t get this pic, dear worst-reader. Had to struggle to pull my smartphone from my pocket where it always rests albeit connected to my ears by really bad audio-phonic cabling that enables me to listen to podcasts (mostly Anglo news) while walking Beckett the killer pug. Indeed #1. In the nick-of-time, I noticed yet another rhine barge full of Ford Fiestas on its way, probably, to Holland, and then on to other places on this planet. Indeed #2. All the little krapp cars that are made just down the river at Germania’s pseudo-socialised Ford manufacturing plant, will be loaded on to some other ocean-going vehicle and then, probably, transported to India, Africa, Mars (for all I care), where they then will be sold to willing suckers that think life begins with a car. Indeed end.
Rant on.
-T
PS The only thing left to do is eventually learn how to take pics with my damn smart phone. (Or is such a skill really not worth the effort?)
Update: May the heavens be blessed (if you believe in that sort of thing). To my worst-surprise, my consume-to-survive order that is supposed to help with cleaning my ageing teeth arrived today. Wow. If you can believe the original price posted (Euro299,99) then this was a pretty good deal. Yeah, baby.
Haven’t been posting much in July. Something about the Germania weather this time of year. Even though the weather (and everything else) sucks here, this time of year seems to be the worst. They call it Drucken. It’s as though you have to walk around in a thick, pressing atmosphere where the breath and stench of too many people crowded into too small a place doesn’t mix well with a grey sky that wants to annihilate you. But enough about the misery of too much health insurance and worst-moi.
Today dear worst reader it’s time to worst-blog about consumerism. You know, that thing we all have to do above and beyond surviving like our ancestors once did. Since I make no effort to hide my position in this world as a consumer–and what a lucky one at that–there are moments where even I get a bit perturbed with how The Man tries to control me and my consumption. For example. I decided recently to give in to the electric toothbrush craze. I’ve avoided it most of my adult life, even though my better-half has been using one most of her adult life. Since she needs to replaced her old one, because the battery doesn’t hold a charge anymore–and because it looks like it’s been used to clean things other than teeth–I broke down and started searching for a deal. And boy did I find one.
The deal of the day, dear worst-reader is encapsulated in the screenshot above. I found an offer on that internet shopping portal that I couldn’t refuse. Is it two for the price of one or is buy one get one free? To be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll ever find out. Ordered over a week ago, I still haven’t received my purchase. I did get an email the other day that said something about they were working on my order but I couldn’t make heads or tales out of whether or not they (or someone else) had just pulled the wool over my eyes. I mean, come on, more than half off the original price of a new-fangled tech-driven electric toothbrush?
As of the writing of this worst-post, I’ve not received my order. But then I did come across a tweet that opened up an eye or three. By-the-buy, this is the second time I’ve ordered something with such a large discount on Amazilla. The first time the order was cancelled for me. We’ll see how this one goes.
Rant on.
-T
Other links:
“But what of the freedom-to? Not just the freedom-from. Not all compulsion comes from without. You pretend you do not see this. What of freedom-to. How for the person to freely choose? How to choose any but a child’s greedy choices if there is no loving-filled father to guide, inform, teach the person how to choose? How is there freedom to choose if one does not learn how to choose?”
-David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest, 30 April/ 1 May, Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
Rant on.
-T
Wishful thinking, I guess.
Rant on.
-T
Update: Since posting there has been what the press is calling a leftist terror attack in the US. How convenient for the right, eh. I suppose another left-right line has been crossed because the perpetrator once volunteered for the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, who is a lefty (I guess). This type of violence in the US isn’t about political ideology as much as it is about a society run amok that has long since gone off the cliff of sanity. But I digress.
Liberalism is a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally they support ideas and programmes such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free markets, civil rights, democratic societies, secular governments, gender equality, and international cooperation.
-Wikipedia
First time watching the video above was odd. Second time I watched I felt uneasy. I watched it a third time to make sure that I watched it twice before. I’m a big Oliver Stone fan. Stephen Colbert is so-so. I oogle respect for Stone–even though I don’t like all his movies. Colbert is a good television corporatist and I’d rather have him up there than any of the other talkshow talkinghead $hitbags. But let me focus on Stone.
Among Oliver Stone’s great works, Platoon, JFK and W. are on my list of recommended must-see films–especially if you want to learn something about #americant. Whaaaaaaa? You mean you haven’t seen W.? Get on it, dear worst-reader! With that in mind, I eventually realised that watching Stone get into a pissing contest with a talkshow host isn’t the worst part of this video. I actually found some comfort in watching Stone stand by his conviction of being apolitical when it comes to dealing with that thing that is ruining the world for those of us who don’t have and nor do we want riches.
Ruining this world, you ask, dear worst-reader?
Indeed. Stone has done interviews slash documentaries on Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and now Vladimir Putin, among others. I’m worst-wondering, of those Stone has interviewed, does he have a preference for lefties? If so, is Stone somehow masking his desire perhaps to be a dictator? (Ha. Ha. Ha.) And by-the-buy, are these dictators from the political left? Perhaps my question is mute. Nonetheless.
I believe that the reason Stone does these interviews is to help the blissfully ignorant among us, i.e. those who would enable and facilitate political conservatism, i.e. those who have given the world #Trump and at the same time practically annihilated liberalism and now go about their bidness as though nothing is wrong–except for #Trump’s hair… blah, blah, blah…
In other worst-words, Stone makes these documentaries in order to provide some information which can then lead to knowledge that is otherwise unavailable and/or unattainable to the masses. For that we should all be thankful. What we shouldn’t be thankful for, of course, are confused talkshow hosts.
What is the difference between a conservative and a liberal? (Wiki definitions provided above and below.)
I remember when the conservative madness was peaking back in the late 1980s. I was in college and working odd jobs and wasting a lot of kisses on too many girls. Between the Iran-Contra affair and the S&L crisis, there was something in the air back then. It was a stench. The stench was (still is) conservatism. For the longest time I didn’t understand conservatism. But then came Rush Limbaugh. I read Rush’s first book and listened–for a while–to his radio show. One of the things Rush said that stuck with me–even to this day–is that Nazis were liberals. He went on about how conservatives, real conservatives, couldn’t do what the Nazis did. He even went as far as to claim that because Adolf Hitler was a failed artist and that Joseph Goebbels was a failure at everything except running his mouth, Nazis had to be liberals. This is the reason I can’t watch faux newz, dear worst-reader. Conservatives turn things around, up-side-down, in-and-out, force black to be white and white to unicorn purple, etc. Only a conservative mind can claim and try to rationalise the idear that Nazis were liberals.
Liberals are hippies, dude. That’s all they really are. Thank goodness not all of them want to smoke dope and lay around all day. But they do want justice. They want justice all the time. That’s it.
-worstwriter
There is obviously a fine line between right & wrong when it comes to things like power and money and status and position in this world. I can tolerate that. What I can’t tolerate is when someone looses his or her way simply because he or she can’t tell the proper time on a clock that is wrong twice a day. Colbert’s attempt to attack Stone because he thinks Stone is sympathising with Putin is a grand mistake. Colbert obviously can’t see for himself that Stone’s documentary is a way to inform the blissfully ignorant. To Stone it doesn’t matter if who he interviews is from the right or the left. I feel somewhat embarrassed for Colbert that he obviously doesn’t know that. Colbert crosses the line not unlike conservatives cross lines–all the time. The saddest part, as history has shown us, is that I’m not sure a blissfully ignorant audience can handle this. Indeed. The conservative stench is blinding.
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes retaining traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. By some definitions, conservatives have variously sought to preserve institutions including religion, monarchy, parliamentary government, property rights and the social hierarchy, emphasizing stability and continuity, while the more extreme elements called reactionaries oppose modernism and seek a return to “the way things were”. The first established use of the term in a political context originated with François-René de Chateaubriand in 1818, during the period of Bourbon restoration that sought to roll back the policies of the French Revolution. The term, historically associated with right-wing politics, has since been used to describe a wide range of views.
-Wikipedia
Rant on.
-T
