Month: September 2020

Uncategorized2 Comments

First Debate Crack Van!!!!!

Allison Hantschel

VAN CLOSED. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE. I could not do that alone. Jump into the comments and tell me what you think of the new van. Transcript highlights later! Like I was watching this shit alone. Pick a name and come on in! We don’t have the sound effects anymore but we do have a stable platform that works with WordPress and it won’t crash your browser 7 times in an hour. A. Continue reading First Debate Crack Van!!!!!

Athenae, COVID-19, Elections

Start Tearing the Old Man Down

Allison Hantschel

It’s getting colder. I made two and a half quarts of soup on Sunday morning, before the rain started and the wind picked up. We have a chest freezer now. We have a store-room full of apples. Every day I peel, chop, bag, so we can use them in baking or stews. Kick and I tried to grow potatoes. We planted too late, when it was already cooling off, and damp, and they rotted in the ground, but everything else went wild, took over the small patch we planned. We’re saving seeds — tomatoes, peppers, squash — from this year’s … Continue reading Start Tearing the Old Man Down

Athenae

Not Everything Sucks

Allison Hantschel

Geo Soctomah Neptune exists. Neptune ran for the school board after being urged by community members and tribal youth, who were familiar with their work as an art teacher in an after-school program. Of the three candidates elected, Neptune received the most votes — about half. “To almost stand up and say that they’re embracing me in this leadership role as a Two Spirit was incredibly affirming,” Neptune told Maine Public. “I feel very lucky that I live in a place where my community accepts me because a lot of trans people don’t have that. Warning: incredibly loud and annoying autoplay … Continue reading Not Everything Sucks

Athenae, Religion

Anti-Catholics

Allison Hantschel

Sure, that’s the real problem here:  The scrutiny focused on Ms. Barrett’s beliefs has provoked allegations of old-fashioned anti-Catholicism on behalf of her Democratic critics. A good amount of febrile nonsense has indeed been floated regarding Ms. Barrett’s spiritual life, such as the notion that People of Praise inspired Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a charge that is reminiscent of 19th-century myths of nuns kidnapping good Protestant girls to force the faith upon them. People keep pointing out the absurdity — the Democratic presidential nominee is a Catholic, the Speaker of the House is a Catholic, THE ONLY CATHOLIC PRESIDENT WE’VE EVER ACTUALLY … Continue reading Anti-Catholics

Adrastos, Diary, Film, Fog Of History, Fog Of Scandal, Law/Justice, Music, New Orleans, Odds & Sods, Political Crack, Television, The Darnold2 Comments

Saturday Odds & Sods: You Won’t See Me

Peter Adrastos Athas
Masks by James Ensor.

It’s been cool all week in New Orleans. It’s unclear if Fall has fallen or it’s a cruel hoax. My money is on the latter. The heat doesn’t usually break here until sometime in October. The good news is that we’re not under threat of a tropical system. It feels odd not to be checking the spaghetti tracks every few hours but that’s another autumnal augury. End of obligatory weather-related opening passage.

This week’s theme song comes from one of my favorite Beatles albums, Rubber Soul. It was one of the first albums I ever owned. When my father saw the cover he said, “Those are the ugliest women I ever saw.”

To this day I’m uncertain whether or not Lou was joking. The only one who would have made an ugly woman was the drummer. Sorry, Ringo.

You Won’t See Me is a Macca song, but it’s credited to Lennon & McCartney as were all the pair’s songs. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We have three versions of You Won’t See Me for your listening pleasure: The Beatles original, and covers by Bryan Ferry and Canadian songbird, Anne Murray.

I never expected to post an Anne Murray song at First Draft, but I might as well go big and post her monster hit from 1970:

Let’s spread our tiny wings and fly away to the break.

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: You Won’t See Me”

Michael F

A Republic, If You Can Keep It…Or A Banana Republic Under Trump

mmferry1965

The only surprise is no surprise. DJT is telling us what he really thinks, and how he intends to get there. Way to go, everyone who was so sure he’d never win that Hillary’s emails became a campaign fetish object, a means by which to kneecap an incoming administration, step one of a process that would conclude with gossipy books offering insider revelations of a Clinton administration in disarray. By playing that game in 2016, you managed to put what’s left of representative democracy in jeopardy this cycle. Nice work, dipshits. Hope you’re proud. Hell, at this point, I would … Continue reading A Republic, If You Can Keep It…Or A Banana Republic Under Trump

Adrastos, Campaign Notes, COVID-19, Fog Of History, Fog Of Scandal, Political Crack, The Darnold, Your President Speaks

Quote Of The Day: Your President* Lies Edition

Peter Adrastos Athas

The Big Lie is alive and well. Here’s the Kaiser of Chaos at a super-spreader rally in Ohio: “It affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems, if they have other problems, that’s what it really affects, in some states … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Your President* Lies Edition

Athenae, Law/Justice1 Comment

She’s Dead, and Life is Possible. She Made It Possible.

Allison Hantschel

We had built a fire in the backyard on Friday because it was the first night it seemed cold enough to do so. It took forever to get it started. The wood was cold and a little damp from sitting in the garage all summer. The butane lighter was starting to run out of juice and we didn’t have any matches. We snapped sticks for kindling, crumpled up paper and scrap cardboard, lit it over and over and over again. When the logs finally caught, we sat back in camp chairs, roasted marshmallows. I’d been telling myself and Mr. A … Continue reading She’s Dead, and Life is Possible. She Made It Possible.

Athenae, JOEY B SHARK3 Comments

Please, They Already Have My Vote

Allison Hantschel

Mitch McConnell tries to have phone sex with me: MCCONNELL: "After they change the filibuster, they're going to admit the District as a state. They're going to admit Puerto Rico as a state. That's four new Democratic senators in perpetuity. Once they get a hammerlock on the Senate, they're going to then pack the Supreme Court." — Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) September 18, 2020 Donald Trump makes me want to vote for Biden twice: Trump Tweets Faked Video of Biden Grooving to NWA’s ‘F— tha Police’ https://t.co/uSgKVxLVSq — Variety (@Variety) September 16, 2020 Joey B. Shark is an enormous dorkwad on his … Continue reading Please, They Already Have My Vote

Adrastos, Diary, Film, Fog Of History, Music, New Orleans, Odds & Sods, Political Crack, R.I.P., Sports, Television3 Comments

Saturday Odds & Sods: Wasted On The Way

Peter Adrastos Athas
Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso.

New Orleans dodged a wet and windy bullet earlier this week. Hurricane Sally dumped two feet of rain in some areas on the Florida-Alabama border. I don’t guilty for being relieved. If I were Poseidon, I’d send all tropical systems out to sea. I do, however, feel bad for folks in the affected areas. They got slammed by that evil bitch Sally. Blow ill wind, blow.

I had put this feature to bed and tucked it in when I learned of Justice Ginsburg’s death. I wish everyone would dial their predictions back. It’s unclear what impact RBG’s death will have on the election. I also wish that those who admire Justice Ginsburg would show more respect for her passing, especially since it’s Rosh Hashanah. There was, however, a moment of unintentional levity when the crowd outside the Supreme Court started singing Amazing Grace. It’s a Christian hymn, y’all. I’ll have more on Ginsburg’s passing on Monday.

In some ways, this week’s theme song matches the featured image. Three Musicians = Crosby, Stills & Nash. Graham Nash wrote Wasted On The Way for CSN’s  1982 Daylight Again album. Eagle Timothy B. Schmitt added harmony vocals making that Four Musicians. So much for the Picasso analogy. Oh well, it was imperfect to begin with.

We have two versions of Wasted On The Way for your listening pleasure: the studio original and a live version without Timothy B. Schmitt. Go, Team Picasso.

Stills’ intro to the live version is poignant. I rarely do poignant but sometimes the mood strikes me.

Before we jump to the break, a Neil Young song from the Buffalo Springfield days:

Holy Wall Of Sound-style production, Batman.

Time to take the plunge. See you on the other side.

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Wasted On The Way”

Adrastos, Campaign Notes, Fog Of Scandal, Political Crack, The Darnold1 Comment

Quote Of The Day: Watch What They Do, Not What They Say

Peter Adrastos Athas

I’m alarmed by the number of people who are taking the wilder statements by Team Trump literally. I thought we’d gotten over it, but there’s been a widespread relapse of late. Perhaps it’s caused by the stresses of the campaign … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Watch What They Do, Not What They Say