Fear and Trembling: Popular Culture

Things overheard at 1:00 am in a diner....

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 05:14:16 GMT

The new waiter was just coming onto duty to handle the after bar type people and upon examining his new customers says in a voice of exasperation,

"Man...Do I have to start out with the transvestite? I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet..."

All the leaves are brown and the sk...GAG!

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:04:10 GMT

California Dreamin' by The Mamas and The Papas irritates me every time I hear it! These lyrics in particular:

Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees
Got down on my knees
And I pretend to pray
I pretend to pray
You know the preacher likes the cold
Preacher likes the cold
He knows Im gonna stay
Knows Im gonna stay
California dreamin
California dreamin
On such a winters day

Most people have this dumb notion that you are doing the preacher some big favor by coming to church. Last time I checked I did not get a dollar per convert and this song makes it sound like we just sit around wringing our hands waiting for people to walk in!

Although I love the song Eleanor Rigby, there is a similar sentiment in that song too.

Father mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working. darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

I guess it is interesting how popular culture portrays pastors, especially Baptist. Who can forget the Baptist preacher in Footloose played by John Lithgow? He practices his sermon delivery in an empty sanctuary and has congregation members who want to burn books, of course.

Bring back Christmas, Mr. Popeil

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:09:53 GMT

Like many people my age, The beginning of the Christmas season was marked by the appearance of the RONCO commercials on television. The Pocketfisherman, the Smokeless Ashtray, the Rhinestone Setter, and the Inside-the-egg-egg-beater were all brilliant inventions to make my life easier and they MAKE PERFECT GIFTS. You can follow this link to the Biography website and watch all the Ronco commercials. There are three pages of videos so make sure you do not miss the Mr. Microphone on the second page of videos. "Hey good lookin', be back to pick you up later!"

In another example of how my son is almost clone like in his likeness to his father, Kaiser is an infomercial junkie. Given the opportunity to watch Spongebob or a commercial for the Magic Bullet Blender, he will be torn. He constantly explains to us that if we had Space Bags, we could store all of our items in "half the space." Kaiser even says things like "It will make our life easier."

When you look at some of these gadgets you will see that Ron Popeil actually foresaw some items that would become modern staples of life, like the Automug, which he created even before there was cup holders in cars and I see gadgets like his Salad Spinner in Bed, Bath, and Beyond. There is even a fishing rod on TV right now that is a combination of pocket fisherman with a Nerf rocket launcher.

I discovered that those Commercials disappeared after the 1986 Christmas season because the banks that held Ron Popeils loans, called them all in and bankrupted the company. Popeil then used his own personal fortune to make a comeback and now he is selling most of the above items plus uber-successful items like the Showtime Rotisserie, which has been copied by a lot of "real companies."

I have another friend with a big decision

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 02:44:49 GMT

My friend Jason and I were talking tonight and he says to me, "I am seriously considering a beret"

"Oh really?", I said

"Yes, every morning I have to ask myself, is this the day? Is this the day I wear a beret?"

Who hasn't been faced with that question? Godspeed Jason Hodges, Godspeed...