Thursday, October 09, 2003
Gary Coleman received over 12,500 votes. Larry Flynt did even better with over 15,000. Mary Carey only got around 10,000. I love her planned followup:
Her next opus, she said on the Game Show Network Tuesday night, will be Mary Carey for Governor, costarring Ron Jeremy as fellow failed gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante.
Her next opus, she said on the Game Show Network Tuesday night, will be Mary Carey for Governor, costarring Ron Jeremy as fellow failed gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante.
Today is my father's 63rd birthday -- a significant one, numerologically speaking. My father was born on the exact same day as John Lennon, so if JL were still alive he'd be 63 today. Which feels wrong somehow. Not that it's a good thing he was killed or anything. Anyway, not only did they share the same birthdate, my father used to look a lot like Lennon did during the early 70s - long hair, beard, granny glasses. We were living in England then and my father would sometimes take business trips to the States and people would often ask him if he was John Lennon. One time in a record store he noticed some guy sneeking long peeks at him. After a while the guy approached and my father readied for the inevitable question. The guy said, "Excuse me, are you...George Harrison?" My father said, "Don't you mean John Lennon?" "Oh yeah, right, John Lennon," came the response to which my father answered, "No, I'm not." I always liked that story.
Another time, he was on a plane in first class -- because he worked for British Airways and wangled an upgrade -- and a little boy of about 7 approached and asked if he was John Lennon. My father said no. The kid went away then came back a short while later. "Are you sure you're not John Lennon?" Again, my father said no and the boy left. Another pause and he was back again. In an insistent voice he said, "My dad says you're John Lennon and I want your autograph!" So, just to appease the boy, my father signed "Best wishes, John Lennon." I always wondered if that kid ever discovered that this presumably treasured autograph was a fake.
Another time, he was on a plane in first class -- because he worked for British Airways and wangled an upgrade -- and a little boy of about 7 approached and asked if he was John Lennon. My father said no. The kid went away then came back a short while later. "Are you sure you're not John Lennon?" Again, my father said no and the boy left. Another pause and he was back again. In an insistent voice he said, "My dad says you're John Lennon and I want your autograph!" So, just to appease the boy, my father signed "Best wishes, John Lennon." I always wondered if that kid ever discovered that this presumably treasured autograph was a fake.
The editorial in today's New York Times about Governor Arnold is pretty funny. I love the last line:
In politics, it is better to be lucky than to be good. But Mr. Schwarzenegger already knew that from his movie days.
In politics, it is better to be lucky than to be good. But Mr. Schwarzenegger already knew that from his movie days.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
One of my favorite clichéd characters is the mute who finally speaks due to a traumatic event. Dorothy McGuire played this role in the noirish classic The Spiral Staircase; more recently, our own beloved Leni Parker played her in Bleeders (hey, Bob, when are we going to watch that?). Roy Horn tribute aside, I’ve been playing the blog mute for a while now, but I think I just experienced my traumatic event: waking up to the clock radio announcement that Ahnuld is governor of California.
Okay, so I’m not a Californian. But I did live there for 4 years, I’m in love with a native daughter of SoCal, and my parents met at UCLA, so this gives me the right (dammit) to take these results somewhat personally.
What I’m really wondering is what future generations are going to think. Will they look back and think, “What the fuck were they thinking??” Or will this be heralded as the moment when citizens finally realized that celebrities made the best politicians and began voting them in en masse. Picture Jesse Ventura as John the Baptist, Arnold as Jesus, and then the Christianity begins to spread until celebrity governance isn’t some fringe phenomenon but the norm.
In the future, are my kids going to vote Britney and Justin into office?
Okay, so I’m not a Californian. But I did live there for 4 years, I’m in love with a native daughter of SoCal, and my parents met at UCLA, so this gives me the right (dammit) to take these results somewhat personally.
What I’m really wondering is what future generations are going to think. Will they look back and think, “What the fuck were they thinking??” Or will this be heralded as the moment when citizens finally realized that celebrities made the best politicians and began voting them in en masse. Picture Jesse Ventura as John the Baptist, Arnold as Jesus, and then the Christianity begins to spread until celebrity governance isn’t some fringe phenomenon but the norm.
In the future, are my kids going to vote Britney and Justin into office?
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