Gratitude: Someone
actually read my blog entries from start to finish. Wow!
Acknowledgment:
I am far too indulgent of my son Tony. I am the one
who keeps him up way past his bedtime with videos I download via
torrents.
Requests:
Please visit the page I have dedicated to my father. You
can also visit my blog on May 28th and thereafter to read the piece,
I am working on, to mark the first anniversary of his passing away.
[News of the grave condition of my Aunt Dzidra may delay the
publishing of my piece about my father.]
The
AKIC Mission: To
be China's leading forum of Gómez-Dávilism and reactionary
intransigence, as well as a provocation to all of AKIC's enemies and
critics.
The
AKIC Motto: Believe in God, trust in Christ, look
with suspicion.
An
AKIC Glossary
Gratitude:
will always be the first word of the AKIC weekly blog entry -- it is
the key to happiness.
Acknowledgment and
Request: For me Acknowledgment means confession; and
Request means request. GAR [Gratitude, Acknowledgment,
Request] are the simple stages of a prayer which I came upon
following the Jewish World Review site. I used the GAR format
when I delivered the eulogy at my father's funeral last year.
Jenny is
my wife. She is a Jiangsu woman.
J: I
will sometimes refer to her that way.
Tony is
my son. If he is annoying or acts way, way, way out-of-line, I
will spank him.
T: I
will sometimes refer to Tony this way.
TKIC: Tony
Kaulins in China. I may be referring to the TKIC blogs or to
Tony when I use TKIC. I am sure you can figure out which
way I am using it from the context.
AKIC: Andis
Kaulins in China. The same applies to AKIC as applies to TKIC.
That is, I may be referring to the AKIC blogs or to myself. AKIC
aspires to be China's leading forum of Gómez-Dávilism
and reactionary intransigence.
My
School is
HyLite English located on Zhongshan Road in Wuxi, China.
Casa
Kaulins is
what I call the apartment I (really my wife) owns.
California
Villa: The English name of the apartment complex the Kaulins
family resides. In Chinese pinyin, it is called Jia Zhou Yang
Fang.
Train-spotting.
There is a high speed train track running near Casa K. Tony
& I, when we have a chance, love to go there to watch the trains
go by.
Wuxi:
The city where Jenny, Tony & I live. I sometimes call
it the Wux.
Hui
Shan: The district of Wuxi in which we live. Not to be confused
with the Hui Shan Mountain that is in Xihui Park.
The
Square: The Hui Shan People's Square is nearby Casa
Kaulins.
Central
Park: Hui Shan Central Park is the park closest to Casa
Kaulins. It has a playground area and a small lake with beach.
The park is nothing special. The water in the lake is
unbelievably foul. The playground's fixtures are following
apart. The park is big enough that its narrow paths, that I
would have thought were meant for pedestrians, have cars being driven
on them. The sight of these cars honking at pedestrians to get
out their way disgusts me as much as the park's lake water.
Chinese people don't know how to drive and exhibit extreme
selfishness when they get behind the steering wheel.
Hui
Shan Wanda: A fancy shopping mall that is near Casa Kaulins.
Yanqiao:
a town of Hui Shan District -- not too far from Casa Kaulins.
Jiangyin:
A city or district next to Wuxi.
Meicun: A
suburb of Wuxi city that is far from the downtown.
Shuo
Feng: Ditto!
Ditto! Agrees
with what has been previously said.
LECTOR: I
got the idea for Lector, a fictional sparring partner for my blog,
from a Hilaire Belloc book I had read recently.
School
Laptop: I like to make note of where I make my notes for my
weekly blog entry. One of the four places is my school laptop.
The other three are: my home laptop, my Ipad Mini, and my Ipod
Touch.
Python:
Some kind of script-writing computer program I am learning to use.
Atftb:
A thought for the blog.
Brandon,
Manitoba, Canada is where my mother Aina lives.
Winnipeg,
Manitoba is where my brother Ron lives.
Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA is where some of my father's relatives live.
Bao
Bao Sleepy:
What Tony calls it when he sleeps in Daddy's arms or on Daddy's
lap.
David
Warren: I visit his
website about
five times a day. He a fervent Catholic and reactionary. If
I model myself after anyone, it would be him.
Don
Colacho: A South American sage. He died in 1993. He
would have been 100 in 2013. I read his aphorisms everyday. He
is the consummate reactionary.
Father
Schall: I am always reading the
site of his which has a huge collection of his writings.
English
Corner: I go to a room and try to talk to a group of Chinese
people in English. Often, they don't understand me.
HM:
Harry Moore is from Brisbane Australia. He had a brief
stint as an English teacher at my school. He sends me
emails occasionally. He was my partner in crime in my
notorious Wuxi
China Expatdom Blog.
He suffered a stroke recently but he still heroically plugs
away.
The
AKIC Week in Brief: Not
much happened this week, till Sunday. The week had been so
devoid of meaning and purpose that I filled my daily journals not so
much with actual events but with thoughts that came to me. Sunday
was a day of reflection for me. I received news of the grave
condition of my Aunt Dzidra. That news combined with the approaching
anniversary of my father's death on Tuesday [May 28] made Sunday a
day of reflection.
About
Me (Andis):
I
am in China! 在我的youku，一个中国
写得这个：生了个bastard，失败的白人，在他们国家找不到老婆。
（引文的翻译： Wife
gave birth Bastard, the failed White, not found in their country）
Politically
I am Conservative/Reactionary! In my younger days, I
was a Lefty but I smartened up. Now, I find it hard to say
where exactly I would fall on the right wing of the political
spectrum. Some of the political thinkers I admire don't
completely agree with the others I admire. For example, I like
John Derbyshire who is an atheist and no admirer of George Bush the
second; I like David Warren who is a fervent Catholic and a critic of
capitalism and a Medievalist; I like Victor David Hansen who defends
what George Bush the second did in his two terms as President; and I
like Thomas Sowell who is a great defender of Capitalism. I
love FA Hayek who wrote an article entitled Why I am not a
Conservative. Certainly, it is easier for me to state without
ambiguity, the political things I hate like Leftism, Fascism,
Marxist-Leninism, Scientism, Liberal-Progressivism, Socialism
and Keynesianism. Current political figures I don't like
include Obama, Pelosi, Reid and Krugman.
I
am Canadian! What Canadian things have I done this
week? I said eh! in class. The students
didn't know what I was talking about.
I
teach English! Or should I say Me teach English?
I
like to Read! Here is what I am reading this week:
Don
Colacho's Aphorisms: There are 2,988 of them in this book
that I compiled myself. I read ten aphorisms at a time. I
cut and paste the better ones -- they are all profound actually --
and I put them in my weekly blog entry.
Ulysses
by James Joyce:
I am following along with Frank
Delaney as
he slowly guides podcast listeners through Joyce's hard-to-read
novel. Delaney figures he will have done his last ReJoyce
Podcast in about 22 years. Now that I have caught up to
Delaney's podcast (he completed episode #154 this week), I am getting
ahead him as far as reading the book. I will be finished
reading it, I figure, in a year.
The
Holy Bible King James Version: I am reading a
chapter a day of the greatest book of all-time. I am now
reading the Acts of the Apostles.
University
Economics: Elements of Inquiry Third Edition by Armen A.
Alchian and William R. Allen: A great Economics
textbook.
The
Hobbit by JR Tolkien. Finished.
For whatever reason, I hadn't read this book before. I managed
to snag an e-book copy of the book on the Internet after
hearing of the release of the movie But it was reading Father
Schall's praising of Tolkien that really inspired me to
read the Hobbit. Tolkien, says Schall, is more than just the
creator of the genre of Fantasy fiction. The
book is wonderful and I can see how the film-makers will make two
more movies out of it.
On
Something by Hilaire Belloc. Whatever David
Warren or Father Schall mention a book, I seem to end up reading it.
Father Schall's articles, which can be found here, I read on my
dotdotdot app: a social app where one can read long form articles in
a e-book format.
I
like to take photos
I
publish them in the following blogs: AKIC
wordpress , TKIC
blogspot
and TKIC
wordpress .
I
like to make videos
Here
is my
Youtube Channel and my
Youku Channel .
I
like to cut and paste quotations:
Every
week, I cut and paste a lot of Don Colacho:
2241
Even small-town grudges are more civilized than the mutual
indifference of big cities.
2249
It is easier to be compassionate than it is not to feel envy.
From
Belloc's On Something: “Yes, yes, I know," said King
Philip impatiently, "I have heard it a thousand times! It has
already persuaded me to abandon the duodecimal method and to consign
to the severest tortures any one who mentions it in my presence
again. My ten fingers are good enough for me. Go on, go on!”
[I find this hilarious.]
From
an article in
Taki's Magazine:
Having kids is like
moving to China. You can’t go, “Ew, it’s way too Chinese here”
and move back when winter hits. You have to dig in your heels, learn
the language, and make it work. [I have done both things: move to
China and have a kid. I can't say that I have done either of
those things very well, but I am the least likely person I know who
is here to complain that it is too Chinese here.]
From
a
David Warren blog entry: There are no social advantages to
being Christian any more; & pretending to be Catholic would be
quite ludicrously counter-productive to any person on the make,
trying to steal ahead in business or politics. [This
blog has never advanced my cause, I am happy to say.]
I
like to keep a journal of my daily activities and any
thoughts that occur to me.
Monday
[May 20]
[Home
Laptop]
I
don't work today. I am going to fart around the computer till
Tony comes back from school.
I
made a GUI where clicking on Tony's photo gets one to the website I
have dedicated to him.
Someone
Chinese made the following comments on my channel:
生了个bastard，失败的白人，在他们国家找不到老婆。
（English
Translation：
Wife
gave birth Bastard, the failed White, not found in their country）What
can I say? My wife was a third daughter who wasn't valued in a
culture that would rather have boys.
I
made and then uploaded Scenes
from My Life in Wuxi, China #39 to
Youku.
Tuesday
[May 21]
[Home
Laptop]
I've
just sent Tony off to school. He
was wearing a yellow outfit.
I
work 1300 to 2100. So I can spend more of the morning at Casa K
where I will do some Chinese flashcard study and hang laundry.
I
downloaded a new version of Vuze, the torrent downloading program,
last night. I don't like it but I suppose I will get used to
it. I have noticed I also don't like the latest versions of the
Youtube Channel Page and the Gmail compose.
[School
Laptop]
I
didn't get as much done at home as I wanted to because little chores
kept popping up like laundry in the washing machine needing to be
hung and J asking me to vacuum the floor.
A
bit of affection in the morning is always good. I came to work
in a calm and peaceful mood.
I
have looked at 1,000 Chinese flashcards today. I
recognized about 79 percent of them, I figure.
It
is hot and smoggy outside. I will happily stay in my office.
I
suppose I should go prep my classes now. It is slow today.
Apparently the students are in school taking exams.
I
will take a week off in June. J and I haven't decided what we
are going to do with the time, but we have talked about traveling .
The wife wants to spend time in Shanghai or Zhejiang province.
It is all good to me!
I
have been downloading, via torrent, as many episodes of Shaun the
Sheep and Fireman Sam as I can find.
When
I was putting together the Scenes from My Life in China #39 video, I
downloaded the video I took from my Ipod Touch onto my laptop. The
video, I had taken where I was walking towards the Ipod which was
propped at ground level, came out upside down on my laptop. This
was an easy problem to fix but watching the upside down video, I saw
that from that perspective, my gait seemed ridiculous and comical.
Upside-down, I looked like I was walking in mud or in gravity.
My foot leaving the surface of the earth, looked like it was
pulling hard against a rubber band suspending it to the ground.
Right-side up, the video shows my gait to be normal and
unremarkable.
Python
programming with GUI's is such a headache. The difference
between versions of Python is really coming out in all the code I
have seen. Sometimes, I just don't have the modules I need.
And the code just doesn't seem very intuitive to me. I
cut and paste it, and hope for the best. So far, only the worst
is happening.
Wednesday
[May 22]
[Home
Laptop]
I
didn't sleep well last night. I was up at one point, two a.m.,
reading a book. I was thinking about how Don Colacho was said
to be reading books till all hours in the morning. I wish I
could do that but I find that I can read a book past midnight -- I
don't have the energy to carry on.
Consequently,
I was awake at 710 this morning which is oversleeping for me.
I
will have to slog my way through the morning.
David
Warren wrote a
superb obit for
his latest blog entry. I wish I could rise to his level in the
piece I am planning to publish on the anniversary of my father's
death. I also reflect on reading the obit, that no one is going
to write an obit about me. The subject of Warren's obit was an
aloof man but he possessed some charm. I have taken on an aloof
posture because I don't have what it takes to have close
relationships with others, and there is an element of bitterness in
the aloofness, I will admit. Despite the put-down of myself,
the bitterness is not so much directed at the people I know as it is
directed to the fact that I never meet an many interesting characters
amenable to me as Warren has meet in his life. Warren knew
people with whom he didn't have to hold something back. I
always feel like a phony in my dealings with others I can't talk
about the things that fervently interest me.
I
will do an English Corner about the
letter V this afternoon.
I
am not sure to go with my Python study. I find that the GUI
aspects of the language are causing me headaches.
It
is HM's birthday today. I must send him an email.
I
must remind myself that as important as it is for me to do my
personal tasks such as study Chinese everyday, the things I should do
for other people, like send them emails, should be a higher priority.
If
I ever lack in something to acknowledge for my GAR section at the
top, I only need ask J and she will tell me what I am doing wrong.
For she made me realize I indulge Tony too much.
Imagine
a kind of rich, delicious dessert food that you can eat and not get
fat. Would such a food be a thing we should desire? I
would think not because I believe that being able to escape
consequences means one would in the end face worse consequences.
Something who likes chocolate could eat it all day and not do
other things that the shame of eating too much chocolate and being
fat would have forced them to do like exercise, leave the dessert
table and deal with the people in one's life.
[School
Laptop]
I
work 1300 to 2100 today.
On
the bus to work this morning, I saw the Wuxi Metro train parked at
tracks at the Wuxi Metro Train Yard. It had been parked
there for two days in a row.
I
had a hard time explaining what this sentence meant: Victor admires
Victoria's virtues.
Thursday
[May 23]
[School
Laptop]
I
work 1000 to 2100 today.
We
have to get Tony a bed of his own. He kicked me in the head
three times during the night.
My
vacation will be June 22 to June 28. It looks like we won't be
taking a trip anywhere. Tony will be finishing his kindergarten
and the school is planning all sorts of events for it. I can't
recall if we had some sort of ceremony to mark the end of my
kindergarten days. Anyway, I don't see the point of these
ceremonies. I don't see the point of being told, in a fancy
way, that it is time for you cattle to move on. If I had it my
way, Tony would take the week off and we would go on a trip.
However, J tells me that she has already signed off with the
kindergarten about the ceremonies. She looks at me
uncomprehendingly when I tell her that I don't see the point of the
ceremonies.
I
didn't bother going to my graduation ceremonies from University. I
didn't feel like I had accomplished anything. And anyway, these
times are usually opportunities for
university administrators to congratulate themselves as
they prod the herd of graduates to pick up their pieces of paper.
When
Tony goes to primary school next year, he may be wearing one of those
red scarves. I wish he wouldn't. The Maoist-inspired
Khmer Rouge wearing similar scarves, of a checkered red and white
pattern, committed genocide on their people.
From
despair to contentment; from contentment to despair. My moods
fluctuate today.
If
I hear shouts, fireworks, and other sounds of todo, I won't bother
inquiring into what happened. There is no point. It is
all just going to be whatever...
Friday
[May 24]
[Ipod]
Atftb
Able
to maintain sexiness in stressful situations
Are
those pillows? No Darling! Those are your buttocks!
Are
we going to watch the Bears game? Of course not.
[School
Laptop]
I
work 1100-2100 today. I get to school at 920. Am I
dedicated? No.
On
the bus TV, I saw images of the man with blood on his hands waving a
meat cleaver that he used to cut apart a British soldier. He
was performing for the passersby who had pulled out their phone
cameras. One thing in the video I saw that irked me was a
pedestrian walking pass him. It reminded me of the video of the
little girl in China who had been run over by a van and was ignored
by a whole slew of passersby. The other thought I had about the
video was how Americans could crow at the incident like Brits crow at
some gun massacre that happens in America. After all, if at
least one British citizen had a gun, they could have taken those
ghouls down. It would have been nice if the citizens could have
helped the victim. The victim instead had to put his safety in
the hands of the government police forces who took twenty minutes to
arrive. And Europeans don't understand why Americans don't
trust the government....
I
am going to use my Ipad in my movie salon class. I have lot of
flashcards and images loaded up, so I figure I might as well use the
damn thing for work.
I
don't talk to creeps, unless I absolutely have to.
What
star would play AKIC in a future major studio AKIC bio-pic? As
rare readers know, there are many sides to AKIC; and so there isn't
an actor on the planet with a wide enough range to portray AKIC.
Therefore, a troupe of major actors would have to play AKIC.
AKIC would prefer that none of the current crop of pretty boy
actors appear in the AKIC bio pic. So no Brad Pitt or Leo
Decrapio. AKIC would prefer that previous crops of male actors who
looked male and adult to portray him. Unfortunately, these
actors are old or dead. In an ideal universe or in heaven, the
AKIC Bio Pic cast of actors to portray AKIC would include Steve
McQueen, Charles Bronson, Leslie Nielson, George Kennedy, Clint
Eastwood, James Caan, Montgomery Clift, John Wayne, Fred Astaire,
Harry Moore, Gary Cooper, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness, Jimmy
Stewart, Lee Van Cleft, Rod Steiger, and James Coburn.
A
student tells me that she is going to Bangladesh for three
months.
You
don't know what they know and what they don't know.
No
English Speaker would ever say that!
In
my Python language programming, I am having trouble with GUIs.
[Ipod]
Drats!
I left my IPad on and so as I sit on the 635, I have to play on
my Ipod. I was reading at supper time and forgot to turn the
machine off.
I
did a Duane Thomas today. [LECTOR: Wasn't that the Dallas Cowboy
running back from the very early 1970s?]
Sheep
the Shaun. [LECTOR: That should be Shaun the Sheep.]
Nothing
happening so I am resorting to writing down whatever thoughts come to
mind.
Nothing
comes to mind.
Wanda
Plaza, oh so bright, will open soon but not tonight.
Saturday[May
25]
[School
Laptop]
Familiarity
breeds contempt.
I
work 1000 to 1800 today. Actually, 1000 to 1700. I don't
have a 1700 class.
Let's
teach 'em and get out of here!
This
is a blog of provocations. I put things in just to see what
bites.
How
I wish I was crazy. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is
that being crazy is not a good thing, and I could never fully
convince myself that I was something that I wasn't like a chicken or
a figure of importance. [LECTOR: Really! You are just
pathetic. Andis: Thank you very much]
We,
that be T, J & I, may be going to Ikea for the second Saturday in
a row. I don't want to because it means two hours of sitting on
or waiting for the bus. However, we need to buy a bed for Tony
so we should go. Why do we need a bed? It is easier to
beat up Tony when he is tied to a bed his size. [LECTOR: Not
funny! You need your head examined!]
[Home
Laptop]
Weiners
and Hot Dogs for supper. Yes!
Where
can I put the leftover meatballs? I ask my wife. On your head! J
says. My effort to help was perceived to be what it truly was – a
pathetic attempt to make up for the fact that I hadn't helped my wife
clean up.
The
Pope talks like the Devil exists. I am fighting devils all the
time. They seem to come into my mind as soon as I read nice
thoughts.
AKIC:
Tony are you are a nice guy? TKIC: Yes. AKIC: Can I have my
Ipad? TKIC: No. AKIC: What?!? TKIC: I say no! AKIC: Oh...
Why
is it that the people who complain the most about being screwed by
their employer, have the worst work ethic?
Hooray!
Ottawa was eliminated from the NHL playoffs. Who beat them? Who
cares! The important thing is that the Senators lost.
Currently,
McDonald's is giving away a
bottle of Hand Sanitizer with breakfast purchases over 10 rmb.
Currently, I have amassed five bottles.
AKIC:
Who is the most popular person in China? Student: Xi Jing Ping.
AKIC: Really? Student: Maybe.
I
saw that some of students attending flight attendant school came to
our school today. [LECTOR: Why did you bother mentioning that?
ANDIS: Shhhh!]
Survey
person phones a Chinese household and asks: Do you approve of the job
Xi Jing Ping is doing? The person answering the phone says “Of
course!”
I
am trying to get this blog entry to be of such a length that it takes
up ten typed pages in a word processor.
Sunday
[May 26]
[Home
Laptop]
I
don't work today. Sunday is the day of the week when I devote myself
fully, in theory, to Tony. He tells me he wants to go to Ikea. I am
not keen on the idea, but at the same time I have no strong or
indignant objections to going. It depends on J as to whether we will
go or not. The weather may also play a part in the decision, as
well, as the outside is all wet from the rain that fell last night.
The sky is overcast now with a strong sun breaking through, and it is
windy. J is going to wake up late this morning and there is no point
in attempting to wake her up and ask if we will go.
Mosquitoes
plague sleepers in Wuxi at this time of year. Yesterday, I had a
student complain to me about them during one of my class's warm-up
moments where I do a round of how-are-you-doing with the class. She
couldn't sleep, she said, because the mosquitoes were buzzing and
biting her all night, making her feel – I had to supply her with
the word – “itchy.” Casa Kaulins has screen windows – a
thing that many Wuxi homes don't have, but the screens don't prevent
all the wenzi
from coming in. To combat the Casa K
wenzi,
the Kaulins family has a killing racquet. Through the night an
attack of a buzzing wenzi
will
cause one of us to make an all-lights-on command in order that we can
search the little invader down. They aren't easy to spot, these
wenzi,
unless they decide to rest, out in the open, on a wall.
Last
night, T&A made a brief foray out of the apartment so AKIC could
buy drinks at the nearby small shop. AKIC had then opportunity to
see that the heat was forcing many of the store keepers and their
patrons to go outside of their establishments. The scene was not in
anyways akin to patrons sitting outside their cafes on the streets of
Paris. The locals were seated on low plastic chairs eating and
drinking off low plastic tables more suited for youngsters than
adults.
945
am: I have just received an update from my mother about her eldest
sister, my Aunt Dzidra. Dzidra is not doing very well. Dzidra lives
in Winnipeg, and my mother will visit her in the hospital to say good
bye. At times like this, I feel like a selfish bastard for deciding
to come to China. I wish I could be there.
News
about Dzidra has made me go back into my “archives” for photos I
might have of Dzidra. I found some, but while looking I saw the
photos of my time spent in Brandon at the times of my father's death
which made the event seem all too fresh.
[Ipad
Mini]
The
Dali Lama is a lefty's wet dream, it is said, when the lefties aren't
admiring the unbridled power that the Chicoms have. Here
is a conservative's perspective on him.
I haven't thought about him recently till I came upon the article.
I have read his autobiography, and I remember him saying that
Communism seemed like a good idea in theory, and that he loved his
dogs. I don't doubt for a second that the Dali Lama is a decent man,
and it would be tragic to see his legacy in Tibet done in by
crony-capitalism. But alas like the saint Nielson Mandela, his rule
over his country would have served to be just as tragic as Mandela
has turned out to be.
Tony
has taken over the laptop so he can watch fireman videos on YouTube.
So I tap my thoughts on the Ipad.
I
paid off all my debts before I came to China. I worked my ass off to
do so. One year, I worked every day but Christmas. They weren't
glamorous jobs. I was just a plug. But that was how I was able to
come to China. [I have heard that a few have come here to evade
having to pay their loans.]
I
don't think we will be going to Ikea today.
We
won't be going to Ikea.
Radio Derb Podcast: in the latest episode, mention was made of the 1955 film Oklahoma! Derb said it was a hit in England at the time. It showed Americans, especially of the mid-western type, in a good light. [A film that shows the English at their finest is The Dam-busters.]. I was fortunate to come across a DVD copy of Oklahoma! when browsing through a stack at a Wuxi DVD shop. It was a film to be watched repeatedly. I loved the songs and the dancing. Watching it now is a counter-cultural statement. Probably, starting in the 1960s, the film was seen as square and something one's grandparents would like. Too bad, people thinking such things about musicals are restricting themselves. The modern leftist tendency is to sneer at anything with a hint of joy to it -- something can only be good to them if it increases their sense of self-regard and coolness. A favorite scene from the movie occurs at the barn-raising dance. The song for the scene was Ranchers & Farmers should be friends. A brawl between the farmers and the ranchers is broken up by a pistol-toting granny. To me the scene is the epitome of all that lefties hate: strong traditional woman, guns, and civilized values. How more civilized the world would be if real women had guns. Woman’s traditional roles have been to make men less brutish. Feminists instead think women should imitate men. The results? Nancy Pelosi and Hilary Clinton, to name a few. Woman of those ilk -- female gargoyles, if you will are a sickening sight to anyone who admires true femininity. The fact that Bill Clinton got away with his infidelities is proof that Hilary isn't a woman, but a sexless being who made a cynical decision to grab power for herself.
Besides making listening to a Radio Derb Podcast, I am also trying to make my way through the film Zorba the Greek. Zorba, as played by Anthony Quinn [not the Anthony I was thinking of when I named my son], is an attractive figure. Watching the film, I am experiencing what I would call temporary role-model imitation (TRMI) fever. That is, where the performance of an actor makes one want to imitate the ways of the character. Zorba is a man with gusto. He is not held back and acts how he feels and says what he thinks. So he is violent and loving and daring and full of cheer as his emotions dictate. I wish I could be that way. A younger Andis under the influence of TRMI fever, actually thought he could modify his character to be exactly like the performer he had seen. Now, AKIC knows it can't be and that the indifference of the Cosmos would sharply rebuff any attempt at a performance of a “hidden” character trait. AKIC now thinks of what he has in common with the character being performed. What does AKIC have in common with Zorba? Andis has a gusto for self-defeating behavior.
Most self-defeating behavior ever exhibited by a human being? Jesus Christ. Alas, AKIC is really stretching it to think he has any gusto for anything.
Radio Derb Podcast: in the latest episode, mention was made of the 1955 film Oklahoma! Derb said it was a hit in England at the time. It showed Americans, especially of the mid-western type, in a good light. [A film that shows the English at their finest is The Dam-busters.]. I was fortunate to come across a DVD copy of Oklahoma! when browsing through a stack at a Wuxi DVD shop. It was a film to be watched repeatedly. I loved the songs and the dancing. Watching it now is a counter-cultural statement. Probably, starting in the 1960s, the film was seen as square and something one's grandparents would like. Too bad, people thinking such things about musicals are restricting themselves. The modern leftist tendency is to sneer at anything with a hint of joy to it -- something can only be good to them if it increases their sense of self-regard and coolness. A favorite scene from the movie occurs at the barn-raising dance. The song for the scene was Ranchers & Farmers should be friends. A brawl between the farmers and the ranchers is broken up by a pistol-toting granny. To me the scene is the epitome of all that lefties hate: strong traditional woman, guns, and civilized values. How more civilized the world would be if real women had guns. Woman’s traditional roles have been to make men less brutish. Feminists instead think women should imitate men. The results? Nancy Pelosi and Hilary Clinton, to name a few. Woman of those ilk -- female gargoyles, if you will are a sickening sight to anyone who admires true femininity. The fact that Bill Clinton got away with his infidelities is proof that Hilary isn't a woman, but a sexless being who made a cynical decision to grab power for herself.
Besides making listening to a Radio Derb Podcast, I am also trying to make my way through the film Zorba the Greek. Zorba, as played by Anthony Quinn [not the Anthony I was thinking of when I named my son], is an attractive figure. Watching the film, I am experiencing what I would call temporary role-model imitation (TRMI) fever. That is, where the performance of an actor makes one want to imitate the ways of the character. Zorba is a man with gusto. He is not held back and acts how he feels and says what he thinks. So he is violent and loving and daring and full of cheer as his emotions dictate. I wish I could be that way. A younger Andis under the influence of TRMI fever, actually thought he could modify his character to be exactly like the performer he had seen. Now, AKIC knows it can't be and that the indifference of the Cosmos would sharply rebuff any attempt at a performance of a “hidden” character trait. AKIC now thinks of what he has in common with the character being performed. What does AKIC have in common with Zorba? Andis has a gusto for self-defeating behavior.
Most self-defeating behavior ever exhibited by a human being? Jesus Christ. Alas, AKIC is really stretching it to think he has any gusto for anything.
