Current Earworm: Overlooked This One Last Year

Every once in a while, while listening to the radi-adi-o, I am struck by something about a song that is new to me.  While driving home from work, listening to one of the college radio stations I typically listen to, a particular lyric to a catchy tune caught my attention:

I didn't take the time to listen to his name
So just for now, I'll call him Ichabod Crane
My Sleepy Hollow baby standing in the rain.

Longtime readers will know that I am a big fan of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and have a genuine affection for the working class village which, since 1996, bears the name of Irving's formerly fictional (at best fictionalish) milieu.  I also love the story of the historical Ichabod Crane, a man whose storied military career has been almost entirely subsumed by his goofy, timorous fictional landscape.

So, what was this song that hit my funnybone?  It's a paean to a guy who looks like a young Jeff Goldblum, who indeed played Ichabod Crane in a TV movie based somewhat loosely on Irving's story.  It's a pleasant tune by Mattiel Brown and her eponymous band, with droll lyrics and some nice, crunchy guitars:

The song's sound is somewhat of a departure from Mattiel's prior sound, which involved more 'soaring' vocals and instrumentation devoid of grunginess.  The new single, thankfully, reminded me of the old material, for which I am grateful.  Here's Keep the Change, which perfectly showcases her strong, clear vocals:

It's here where I note that I am a sucker for altos.  It's funny how one earworm can lead to an infestation of earworms... and here I am unable to get any ivermectin!

Deer 58, Where Are You?

I figured that I needed a break from politics, and the perfect excuse presented itself as I was scouting the property with my faithful Ginger.  In the hinterlands of the property, in a somewhat marshy area, I ran into this handsome fellow, sporting two earrings and a fancy collar:

He was fairly tame, tame enough for me to get close enough to snap a quick photo with my phone camera, close enough so that the number 58 was legible on his ear tags.

I've been trying to ascertain what organization has collared this stag, but googling 'deer' and 'tags' results mainly in websites describing hunting regulations in the state.  Adding 'collar' actually resulted in a hit for a website enumerating police responses to hunting accidents and hunting violations.  

The most promising result described a White-Tailed Deer Movement Study run by the U.S. Geological Survey and State University of New York School of Environmental Science and Forestry a few years ago on Fire Island, a barrier island off the south shore of Long Island.  With this information, I might contact these organizations to see if Deer 58 is a subject of a new study.  He's the first radio collared deer that I've seen, and I'd be more than happy to help in any research regarding him..

Post title taken from a classic, New York City set sitcom.

We All Saw What Happened

I am just catching up on the 1/6 anniversary coverage, starting with the executive branch speech regarding the insurrection (via Tengrain).  It was a masterstroke to have VP Kamala Harris, who was present in the Capitol, take the mic first.  President Biden hit the proper righteous notes, and excoriated the wannabe dictator who urged the crowd to BE WILD!

The Republicans have been trying to paint the insurrection as an Antifa/BLM plot to make Trumpers look bad, or a Deep State plot, led by Wray's FBI, to restore the globalist Cabal.  This is, of course, when they aren't portraying imprisoned rioters as political prisoners, innocent victims of an oppressive Democratic regime.  The dualism, or cognitive dissonance, is best illustrated by insane MAGA cartoonist Ben Garrison's commentary, a dipshit diptych:

Ben Garrison's two-part 1/6 take is the seminal work on the subject. pic.twitter.com/3MfVlhCm5j

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) January 6, 2022

Attempts to obfuscate the real history, to deflect blame from the real perpetrators, are particularly galling.  The 1/6 perpetrators livestreamed the invasion, they posted about the attack on social media. the dummies' smartphones recorded their locations.  We know who they are, and we know what they did, and what they tried to do.

Enough about these idiots, and the Republicans who aided and abetted them (hopefully, they will have a day of reckoning when the 1/6 committee gets going in earnest).  There were heroes that day, such as Capitol Police Officer Goodman, a good man who defeated a thousand bad men, using his wits to misdirect them.  There are also the Sedition Hunters, the global network of amateur sleuths who track down the coup plotters using open sources, often piecing together a rioter's identity through a tattoo or a distinctive garment (the hunt for Bullhorn Lady reads like a a thriller novel).

I don't want to see 1/6 become a national day of remembrance, because it will be twisted by right-wingers into a celebration of the stupid, manipulated people who tried to force an abnegation of democracy, on behalf of a failed businessman, carnival barker/reality TV host with dictatorial aspirations.  Never forget, but don't play into the hands of revisionists.

If Your Insurrection Lasts More than Four Hours

Last week, I read a Newsweek item about the millions of Americans who stand ready to take up arms against the duly elected Biden Administration, and the article opened with a real doozy:

Mike "Wompus" Nieznany is a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran who walks with a cane from the combat wounds he received during his service. That disability doesn't keep Nieznany from making a living selling custom motorcycle luggage racks from his home in Gainesville, Georgia. Neither will it slow him down when it's time to visit Washington, D.C.—heavily armed and ready to do his part in overthrowing the U.S. government. 

Walks with a cane due to injuries he received fifty-odd years ago... this is a guy who wouldn't last a week during an insurgency, even if he didn't face enemy fire.  Among the arrestees who's ages are known, the average age is forty-one, with two-thirds of arrestees being over thirty-five.  At least one of the rioters died of a heart attack, though sadly, tales of him repeatedly shocking himself in the balls with a taser seem to be untrue.  Many of these guys would croak without statins or insulin, which might be in short supply during a shooting war.  As horrific as 1/6 was, it was also suffused with a sad Divorced Dad energy, an uprising of deadbeats.  Notably, the two insurgents who died as a result of violence were women.  So much for MAGA chivalry!

But Big-B, you might ask, what about the guns that right-wingers possess?  As far as that goes, just because they own guns doesn't mean that they are competent in their use.  The most infamous current militia leader shot his own eye out, like a kid in a comedy film.  Congresscreep and violent fantasist Madison Cawthorn, besides being mobility-challenged, can't hit the broad side of a barn, and has terrible gun safety practices, even shooting while a friend was downrange, and shooting a pristine target point-blank from over the firing line.  In a real shooting war, these idiots would end up fragging each other.

One mantra that has been going through my head for the past four years is a riff on Marx: historical entities and facts repeat themselves, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce,  adding that a third time, they repeat themselves as tragedy cum farce, or maybe farcical tragedy.  The people want an insurrection, but can't even get an erection without pills... instead of a Whiskey Rebellion, they'd have to settle for a Cialis Rebellion.

The Insurgency Began And You Missed It

Enough of my navel-gazing posts, I figured I'd spend a few days discussing the 1/6 insurrection, the failed Cuckoo Coup that Republicans are trying to spin as No Big Deal.  Today's post will be about the runup to the insurrection, which astute observers of the Right pretty much knew was going to happen- check out the dates on this exchange:

Bonus #TheDailyQail. Get ready Libs, once 1/6 rolls around your dreams of a Biden Presidency will be but bitter ashes in your mouths! https://t.co/o1HdHCAYTQ

— Poker and Politics (@PokerPolitics) January 4, 2022

Trump had issued his call-to-arms, and even sought to profit from his minions coming to the nation's captial in response:

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

Crazy that the Trump Hotel knew to jack up its lowest rate for 1/6 to $8,000, but law enforcement was caught off guard. pic.twitter.com/MWRuJWADwm

— Zach Everson (@Z_Everson) January 7, 2021

The warning signs were there for all to see, and the idea that law enforcement organizations failed to see them is not entirely convincing, especially in light of the resignation of Bob Barr as DoJ head and the ascension of Christopher Miller at the DoD suggest that Trump insiders were preparing for 'something wild'. The idea that Trump was watching the insurrection unfold on television, knowing that the Capitol and Metropolitan Police were under attack, and the Vice President and Congress members imperiled, suggests that he was aware of the goals of the rioters, and supportive of them. The revelation that the FBI had rapid response teams deployed near the Capitol comes as some relief, if only one can trust that FBI director Wray had been committed to the peaceful transition of power.

The insurrection was telegraphed, and there's a nagging suspicion that the response was botched, or even worse, hampered by bad actors... incompetence, or collusion, or just a misguided sympathy toward right-wing authoritarians that bit police personnel in the ass?  Thankfully, the insurrection failed, mainly because the insurgents were a bunch of incompetent boobs.  I've come to believe that the best possible outcome was achieved- a failed coup without overmuch violence (the hypotheticals are pretty scary).

Post title taken from one of my favorite REM tracks.

Three Days in and 2022 Is Already a Disaster

A fleeting thought crossed my brain last night after I posted yesterday's blog entry, "Am I becoming too one-note about the pandemic?"  Well, that was sixteen hours ago, and a lot can change in that span of time... and change it did.  This morning, right around 7AM, I received a text from one of my coworkers... sure enough, he had been exposed to COVID and would have to quarantine for at least a week.  

For those keeping score, my other subordinate (we're a department of three) is already under quarantine because his wife and daughter have the 'rona.  Suddenly, my job has become like one of the 'Highlander' movies:

 

And here I am, trying not to lose my head!

The worst thing about this, besides the fact that two dear friends are now having to deal with the possibility of a dangerous (even though they are vaccinated and boosted) disease, is that I just cannot make plans, not even to go to a diner for a coffee and a spanakopita.  Hell, at 7AM, when I realized that I had to be at work by 5PM instead of 9PM, I regretted listening to a podcast after getting home around 1AM.  

I shouldn't complain too much, with the current conditions, I really don't plan on being anywhere besides home or work for a while, with occasional trips to the grocery store.  Working overtime when there's nothing else to do isn't so bad...

On a tangential note, today I witnessed something I hadn't seen before in the course of the pandemic.  I stopped at a supermarket to buy the week's milk for my workplace coffee, and I saw two couples squaring off as if to fight, and loudly arguing.  A store manager was on the scene to intervene, and these people didn't look like they'd actually engage in fisticuffs.  I don't know if this was just a function of me being in a store around 3:30PM rather than 11PM, or if it was a function of people losing their patience, but I hadn't seen the like at all before.  Did people forget just how bad Spring 2020 was here in the NYC metro area?

There is but One Headline

COVID, COVID, COVID... is there really any other story these days?  Notice that I dropped the '19', it's been three calendar years since this scourge emerged.  There's no other story which is independent of the pandemic.  Supply chain problems?  Anti-government sentiment?  Labor shortages?  All are affected by this disease, which in the form of the omicron variant, is sweeping the US in a potentially devastating fashion.  The current pandemic statistics are horrifying.

The news is dire, with 20% of healthcare workers leaving the workforce, and elective medical procedures being canceled.  In the NYC metro area, the MTA is reducing service due to the pandemic's effect on employees.  It's no wonder that 'compassion fatigue' has increased among hospital staff- I call it righteous anger at recalcitrant assholes who endanger everyone else.

In yesterday's post, I toyed with the idea of being less of a 'doomer', and the reality is that I'm not as pessimistic in real life as I am online, but the fact remains that the pandemic is THE headline of the year for a third year running, this plague is the background noise that will be present behind all other stories for the foreseeable future.  I don't want to be a one note bloviator all year, but to not center the pandemic in my commentary would seem irresponsible.