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Valentine’s Day is a bogus holiday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Want to give the perfect Valentine’s Day gift?
How about a reality check and a healthy dose of perspective? Valentine’s Day is a bogus holiday.
This day celebrating love manages only to alienate and to separate … you from your money.
Still, many of you will trudge on through the mindless ritual. Buying overpriced flowers and chocolates. Cramming into overbooked restaurants to a “romantic” dinner with your lover and a few hundred strangers. Or maxing out your credit card on diamonds or stuffed animals, or both.
And for what?
So you’ll have proof positive he loves you? Or so you’ll come off like the big romance stud, a la “He went to Jared!”
Spare yourself and your loved one.
How ridiculous is it that grown men tremor at the thought of getting their woman the wrong colored rose? Women earnestly tell a commercial that their day is ruined if they don’t get chocolates on Feb. 14.
What does that say about our society?
If you haven’t figured out, I don’t celebrate Valentines Day.
And it started because I just didn’t want to kowtow to the dictates of some Hallmark corporate suits.
Oh, and I’m married.
My wife and I have an evolving understanding of the day because my feeling on this issue came with the vows.
We’ve worked past the initial routine of “gripe, ignore, get over it, repeat,” and have found a happy compromise.
Before I got married, I spent time around women who weren’t always my romantic interest.
When those women friends were single, the mere proximity of the day reminded them they were alone.
As they got older, it got worse for many. No day should have that kind of power.
It’s almost as if — wittingly or otherwise — those Valentine celebrants were lording it over on their unhitched female counterparts.
The cynic in me once compared Valentines to low-level prostitution, exchanging gifts for affections.
Now I just think it’s sad.
So much emphasis is put on the show of love that the love you should have everyday can get overlooked.
And I don’t ever want my daughter to dread February because she might be single.
So I’ll give my kids what I suggest you give on Thursday. Show yourself and your loved ones so much love everyday, that you’ll never need some made-up corporate holiday as a reminder.
As for my wife?
She and I have chosen an undisclosed day later this year to celebrate our love.
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Aretha or Tina: Who IS the Queen?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You don’t tick off the “Queen.”
Aretha Franklin issued a statement Tuesday in which she took royal umbrage over Beyonce’s introduction of Tina Turner at the Grammys. Beyonce called Turner “the queen.”
Say what?
Aretha said she dismissed the intro as a “cheap shot for controversy.” Well, she actually said more than that. You can read it here.
Do you think Beyonce meant to diss Aretha or did she just get carried away performing with her idol? To be fair, Beyonce did pay respects to Aretha (and others) in her opening.
And while we’re at it, just who is the Queen, anyway?
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Buy or make Valentine’s Day cards?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s time for Cupid to kick his game up a notch.
Sometimes, the hardest part of Valentine’s Day is finding the perfect card to say “I Love You”, “I Really Like You a Lot” or “I Just Don’t Want to Sleep on the Couch This Week.”
Do you give store-bought cards or is your prose so tight you don’t need Hallmark? Which do you prefer to receive?
What’s the best card you’ve ever received?
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The Wire: The Dickensian Aspect
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I know some of you tuned into the Grammys last night, but thank God for On Demand. I got my fix of “The Wire” and still saw Tina.
So, let’s get down to business.
In a previous season of “The Wire,” Omar warned an adversary that “if you come at the king, you best not miss.” (I think I got that quote right, but you get the point.)
Well, Marlo did and Omar is coming back with a vengeance. He goes after Marlo’s muscle and his money. I’m still scratching my head at how Omar did that Matrix-like number by jumping off a fifth-floor balcony and disappearing. I guess this crack-assassin team never figured to check ground-level janitor’s room.
My “priceless” moment came when Marlo calls a meet at the scene. He looks at Chris, then the balcony and says, “That some Spiderman s&*^ there.”
Meanwhile, Omar is injured, but still lethal. He blows up Marlo’s cash and dares Marlo to come down to the streets to find him.
I doubt if too many co-op members are fooled by Marlo’s insincere effort to find the killer of Prop Joe and Hungry Man. No one, though, will step to him - for now - even as he raises the price of a brick. (Another great Marlo scene.)
Bunk decides to do old-fashion police work and wrap of the murders of 22 people in “the vacants.” But a lab screw-up (budget cuts again) puts him back at square one. Kima gives him three more bodies when she ties her triple to Marlo’s crew. (Come back later this week for an interview with Wendell Pierce, who plays the cigar-chomping detective.) Everything leads back to Marlo.
One of the most disturbing scenes was when we finally get to see Randy, played by Maestro Harrell, one of the kids from Season Four, who was betrayed by the system. It was sad to see how much he’s changed and hardened. I still blame Herc for that. As Carver said: it all matters.
I started this blog talking about the Omar-Marlo conflict, but there were actually a lot of strong threads and you realize the strength of writing on the gritty HBO series. Carcetti and city hall. McNulty digs a deeper hole by kidnapping a homeless man to make it seem like he is a victim of the serial killer . A frustrated Freamon trys to catch Marlo using a wiretap. Templeton’s star continues to rise as he milks the phantom serial killer story for all it’s worth.
The quotes, the stories, the interview subjects are just too perfect for real life. I’m sure this nags at Augustus, a veteran newspaper man, but he has nothing solid right now. I can’t wait for this “bright and shiny” star to fall.
What was your take on this episode?
What were the best scenes and lines?
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Midtown road work affect your commute?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Did the closing of Techwood Drive, as part of the work to replace the 14th street bridge, affect your commute today? Or was Monday’s commute like any other day?
Since the detours to cope with this work will continue until summer 2009, your fellow drivers would probably be greatly appreciative of any tips you have for them.
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Best ways to get rid of telemarketers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They’re the scourge of the telephone.
Telemarketers. Somehow they always manage to call in the middle of dinner or a nap or just as Dr. Phil rips into the overbearing in-laws.
Congress is finalizing two bills that would put in place a permanent program to protect consumers from unwanted phone calls from salesmen and other telemarketers. Read more about it here
But not everyone needs help from Congress.
There are some websites that offer funny comebacks.
How do you turn the tables on telemarketers? Keep it clean, of course.
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What’s your favorite upset?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, so the Super Bowl was a mighty big upset, with the Giants prevailing over the heavily favored Patriots. But the world is full of upsets, and not just in sporting events.
There was David and Goliath, a Giant who didn’t prevail.
There was Dewey and Truman, and the famous headline.
There was another famous headline, “It’s Atlanta!” when the city was chosen over Athens to host the 1996 Olympics.
Sports aside, what upset would you put on a list of all-time great upsets? Anything from history, war, pop culture, awards shows, movies, whatever. We may use some of the good ones for a story in Tuesday’s Living section.
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Monday morning quarterbacking
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, here’s your chance to do a little Monday morning quarterbacking.
The Super Bowl is generally considered the big game of advertising as well as football. It’s a time when companies get the most bang (as in viewers) for the buck.
Which Super Bowl commercials were hits and which ones were misses?
Who, for instance, thinks the GEICO cavemen have been on a slow roll back to the Stone Age?
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The Wire: Street justice and uneasy ties
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Business is business and in the streets there’s not much time to mourn.
Vondas gets over his “grief” at losing business partner, Prop Joe, and has his first meet with Marlo. Or, at least, I think it’s a partnership. They knew what to expect with Prop Joe but Marlo is a wild card who may turn on them as well.
Still, it’s business. He gives Marlo a cellphone to use and warns him that he only wants to hear from him or his second in command. Marlo later brags to Chris about how great it feels to wear the crown. I may be wrong but is Chris sending out some weird vibes in this episode? Does he want to wear the crown himself? Also does anyone know the history between Chris and Marlo?
For now, though, Chris has more pressing matters on his mind - waiting for Omar to make his move. He does but barely escapes a setup with Chris, Mike and Snoop. I’m not sure why Omar didn’t see that one coming.
Highlights: I loved the Clay Davis scene with Nerese Campbell, when he warns her that he doesn’t fall alone. But he falls back in line when she says he will be out in the cold and stands to lose a lot more than anyone else if he tries to pull anyone else down.
The city hall scenes had the night’s best lines: The first was when Clay Davis hit a record long “Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.” The other memorable line was Norman warning Carcetti that “You don’t dance on Clay’s grave until you know the m..f..’s dead.”
The newsroom storyline picks up as the serial killer hoax grows legs and moves to A-1. Templeton prods McNulty to pump up the story to make it more appealing to the newspaper’s top brass. As Gus said: “If it bleeds it leads.”
Herc earns major props when he hands Carv a gift: Marlo’s cellphone number. Carv turns the number over to Freamon. He and McNulty decide to run an unauthorized wiretap, but they need a legitmate wiretap as a cover. They come up with a plan for the serial killer to start calling to boast about his crime. McNulty is floored when Templeton obviously fakes a call from the killer. His expression is priceless. So is Templeton’s when McNulty “admits” this the second call from the phantom killer.
It was sad to hear Alma, the cop shop reporter tell Gus about the drug-related murder of a Joe Stewart in his dining room and Gus tells her to write two paragraphs. Who caught the Prop Joe reference?
What did you think of this episode?
Latest comments
Hey, Valentine’s Day is my birthday — I’m just glad to be alive!! :D... read the full comment by B | Comment on Valentine's Day is a bogus holiday Read Valentine's Day is a bogus holiday
Aretha, You had to cancel the last leg of your Summer tour because your polar bear but couldn’t deal with the heat. Now instead of worrying about your “legacy” why don’t you try mixing in a salad once in a while.... read the full comment by Bubba | Comment on Aretha or Tina: Who IS the Queen? Read Aretha or Tina: Who IS the Queen?
JJ given the glorious nature of March 14th, I’m sort of hoping you don’t bite. Anyhow Google it or go here http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=March+14th... read the full comment by The Anti Cupid | Comment on Valentine's Day is a bogus holiday Read Valentine's Day is a bogus holiday
GaNative Aretha can’t lay off them hamhocks. she would lose her ass.... read the full comment by Eddie Murphy | Comment on Aretha or Tina: Who IS the Queen? Read Aretha or Tina: Who IS the Queen?