DANCING AND SEXISM, JANET JACKSON, HILLARY AND DONALD, AND MORE: #16

 

 DANCING AND SEXISM

Norman and I went to the same high school at the same time, we knew each other, but we had no classes together and weren't really friends. A big, ungainly kid, as a teenager Norman played keyboards for services at a local church. I learned some years after graduation that Norman had gone to a fine arts college and had worked his way up to Resident Organist at a major, big city Protestant congregation. Fast forward to our 25th or 30th high school reunion, I don't remember which. I do remember that when the dancing started, one couple who were obviously into ballroom dancing glided and posed across the floor with serious expressions on their faces. Carefully well rehearsed. Then Norman stepped on the floor, blue suit, white shirt, red tie and all. He stomped. He twirled. His arms and legs flew in every direction. Norman truly danced like no one was watching. I envy Norman's dancing to this day.

Sanna Marin wears leather coats, goes to rock concerts, and is the Prime Minister of Finland. At a recent party, Marin danced like no one was watching. Except someone was watching, watching and recording. The leaked video caused a minor uproar, so intense that Marin felt it necessary to take a drug test to prove that you could dance with abandon without being stoned. How sad is that? And if she were a man, would there have been the same reaction? Probably not. Like my admiration for Norman's skills, Marin as a man would probably have been envied. I hope this unwarranted hubbub doesn't derail a promising political career. It shouldn't. It mustn't. 

Why are people so damned stupid?

 JANET JACKSON KILLS COMPUTERS

Microsoft software guru Raymond Chen has confirmed what we knew all along. The words 'Luck' and 'Janet Jackson' do not belong in the same sentence. Her wardrobe designer knows what I'm talking about. But Chen describes a truly X-Man super power. Chen reports that Janet's song Rhythm Nation has special properties. "It turns out that the song contained one of the natural resonant frequencies for the model 5400 rpm laptop hard drives that they and other manufacturers used," explained Chen when discussing crashed computers. The song didn't even need to be played on the computer in question. It just needed to be played nearby. We live in complicated, magical times. Janet Jackson kills computers.

GEORGE DAWSON AND RACE

George Dawson Middle School in Texas is named after a grandson of slaves who didn't learn to read until he was 98 years old. At 103, Dawson wrote the book Life Is So Good. Recently, the Texas district in which George Dawson Middle School is located decided that portions of the book that George Dawson wrote were not appropriate for George Dawson Middle School's 7th graders. My guess is that they are precisely the portions of the book that it would be important for middle school students to read. But it turns out that Texas conservatives are bigger snowflakes than northern liberals.

HILLARY AND DONALD

She turned over all of her devices. She testified before Congress, under oath, for 11 hours. She answered every question. She never once took the 5th. You may not like her, but you have to admire the sheer will that she possesses. She would have known exactly what she intended to accomplish as President and she would have set about doing it. Instead, we got Trump.

Why are people so damned stupid?