Monday, February 20, 2023

Truest statement of the week

The “Rage Against the War Machine” rally held yesterday in Washington, D.C., was a political freak show attended by a motley crowd of several hundred Libertarian Party supporters, neo-fascists, and disoriented and demoralized middle-class individuals without an independent program or perspective. The speeches, many of which were obscenity-laced rants, were pitched to the lowest political level. By the time the event finally dribbled to an end, it had left nothing behind but confusion and a bad smell.

 

-- Jacob Crosse and Joseph Kishore, "The 'Rage Against the War Machine' rally: A reactionary political freak show"  (WSWS). 






Truest statement of the week II

Truth be told, Lemon is no spring chicken. Prime time is behind him, sixty is knocking on his door, and he’s about to find that you end up with, not the pretty face you were born with, but the one that reflects who you are.

That’s the thing about aging. It reveals how a life was spent. The face settles into patterns of petulance or self-mastery, selfishness or generosity.

Needless to say, the negative emotions don’t come out nicely.

Lemon should learn not to be so self-engrossed so he can save face in more ways than one.





A note to our readers

Hey --

Monday night. 


Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:



The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.



And what did we come up with?

 

Jacob Crosse and Joseph Kishore get a truest.

Miranda Devine gets a truest.

The targeting of women in Iraq continues -- especially women on social media.

Ava and C.I. cover Roseanne Barr's CANCEL THIS!

There are so many -- we note Santos and two others.

Ava and C.I. cover Anne Heche's final book.

We'd hoped they really would taste like chocolate chip cookies.

2023 deaths so far this year.

Repost of Kat's review.

Upcoming event.

What we listened to while writing this edition.

 

Peace.

 

-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.

 

Iraqi Youtuber killed by father in ‘honour killing’

 

TV: Roseanne Barr's TV return to stand-up

Roseanne Barr's CANCEL THIS! debuted last week on FOX NATION.  It was the first comedy Barr's done on a network or streamer since being forced out of her own show by ABC back in 2018.  
 
 
3 JESS

LGBTQ NATION took offense to the special.  Based on?  Clips.

That's a real shame.  Roseanne is not a racist.  (We know Roseanne.)  And she's also not a homophobe.  In what world does LGBTQ NATION exist that they are unaware of Nancy (Sandra Bernhard's character on the original Roseanne) or her girlfriend Marla (Morgan Fairchild) or the huge controversy when Roseanne was kissed by guest star Mariel Hemingway or Martin Mull's Leon or . . .

Point being, Roseanne via ROSEANNE spent the 80s and 90s breaking down walls for the LGBTQ+ community.  So you'd think a publication for that community would give her the benefit of the doubt -- or at least watch the special before trashing it.
 
Only thing possibly more disappointing is THE MARY SUE --  which presents itself as pro-woman and apparently calling Roseanne "cat turd" is pro-woman enough for them.  THE MARY SUE went to town on Roseanne too.

In the special, Roseanne notes that her brother and her sister are gay.  She notes that they are married with children and their marriages have lasted decades while she, the straight woman, has had multiple marriages.  She takes that message to a conservative audience and does so at a time when the LGBTQ+ community is under attack.  
 
She's given no credit for that and, in fact, both outlets refuse to even acknowledge it.

Roseanne herself has been under attack.  She offered a Tweet and she was immediately labeled a racist.  Her years of work on racial issues was ignored, her fighting ABC to integrate one of their shows behind the scenes and in front of the camera are ignored.  Her bringing on African-American characters to her sitcom was ignored.  ABC wasn't really keen on African-American characters unless it was a 'Black' show and then they'd generally make room for no more than two of those.  

Or did you not notice that in the first five seasons of NYPD BLUE -- a series set in NYC, a series set in the diverse city of NYC -- 15 main characters in those early seasons and only one was African-American.  (In season seven, Henry Simmons would make it two.)  Of course that didn't bother ABC nor did it bother ABC that African-Americans were over represented in the guest stars -- as criminals.  

Knowing anything that happened  before the Tweet isn't necessary.  And it encourages the stupidity -- especially at THE MARY SUE -- where people pretend that BOB'S BURGERS is doing today what ROSEANNE did in the 80s and 90s.  No, you idiots, it's not.  There is no effort at exploring working class issues on BOB'S BURGERS.  Quit pretending.  Money is not a real issue on the show, class it not an issue on the show, nor does it push boundaries.  It's a nice piece of animation but it is not ROSEANNE.

Both THE MARY SUE and LGBTQ NATION took her to task for asking "What's a woman" and answering she was.
 
Excuse us, she roared that she was.

We're confused.  

How was that anti-trans?

Let's remember that ROSEANNE came back with a child questioning gender roles.  Let's also remember that the center of Roseanne's comedy has always been that she is in control.  What's a woman?  Picture her roaring "I am!" as easily as you can picture responding the same with "What's your worst nightmare?"  

Roseanne brought out her persona.  
 
Was this their first time seeing the character of Roseanne?
 
"People say I'm not very feminine," she'd declare on stage before roaring, "Suck my dick."
 
THE MARY SUE, seeing themselves about a decade younger than they actually are, were bothered because Roseanne made fun of young people.
 
Really, she made fun of young people?  Well that's just . . . Typical of every joke she's ever told.
 
She created the persona -- the domestic goddess who made fun of her husband and her children.  Did they never grasp that?
 
It doesn't sound like they've ever watched a single episode of ROSEANNE -- or even single scene of Roseanne and Becky or Roseanne and Darlene or Roseanne and DJ slinging it back and forth.
 
 


They were bothered that the persona was a crotchety older person.  We all get that Roseanne is now 70 -- and not telling people to stay limber so they can have sex.  She is -- and has been for several years now -- embracing old age.  It's only natural that she would use this persona to critique the world.


LGBTQ NATION was offended that she screamed, "Get a job!"  They found her so mean to the youth.

We watched the actual special, not some clips.  So we're aware that Roseanne, who loves all of her kids, was making jokes about them -- the one who got his college degree and now occupies her office playing video games and leaving soda cans and dirty socks all over.  

And that persona?  Not really all that different from the character of Roseanne in the 80s and 90s.  

She was so mean to liberals!!!!

That was another complaint from LGBTQ NATION which made clear that there is no direct link between thought and the act of writing.

Roseanne has never liked liberals.  She was a radical back then,  She's one now.  She has always felt liberals stifle the working class and rip off the working class.  That's exactly why Barbara Ehrenreich became a fan in the first place.  

She was doing a comedy performance.  She was making points about humanity -- including that the country needed to learn to listen to one another and stop being so divided.  Including that gay men and lesbian woman can marry, have a family and be happy and productive.  


She might have bothered some with her comments regarding MeToo but only if you didn't grasp what she was saying.

Roseanne calls out rape and assault to this day.  Her problem was with celebrity MeToo which has included a lot of women who are trying to harness whatever happened to them into a career.  There is no accountability.  That's her point about what did you think was going to happen at 3:00 am when you went to his hotel room?  It's an opinion that another radical shares -- Chrissie Hynde.
 

And Roseanne knows about _______.  A MeToo poster girl accusing Harvey.  An actress who got her first major role by putting out for a woman.  Her whole career has been about that -- putting out to get roles -- and when the body and face were no longer all that, she couldn't put out and she couldn't get roles.  But now she wants to whine about Harvey?  Yeah, we happen to agree with Roseanne on that.  Because the woman she slept with actually loved her and didn't realize that _____ was just coming on to her and flattering her to get film role.


There are a lot of women who are true survivors.  There are a number of women showing up to claim they were victims who, point of fact, repeatedly used the casting couch and now see a chance to relaunch their long ago failed careers by playing the innocent victim.

She makes a joke about Democrats and abortion.  It didn't bother us nor did we think, "Roseanne's anti-choice!"  Roseanne will never be anti-choice.  

She is attempting to restart her career after the industry wrongly shut her down -- and stole her creation.  Ann thinks Roseanne started off strong at the beginning of the special, right out of the gate.  She may be right.  We were nervous watching because we do care about Roseanne and we were worried.  To our eyes, she was a little wobbly at the start.  But she was funny throughout and by the end of the first third, she was firing on all cylinders.  

NETFLIX didn't court her for a special.  Though they're happy to promote Dave Chappelle's transphobia, but they refuse to touch Roseanne.  (Dave's persona is making those jokes.  He has every right to make them and people have every right to object if that's their response.   We've made that point all along and think Roseanne would agree because, as she noted in her special, we need to be talking with each other.)  FOX NATION offered her a special, that they would deliver to their viewers.  And Roseanne did deliver.  She was funny.  

If you want to dissect the special, please do so.  But you kind of need to stream it first.  If you just want to hate on Roseanne, how about you be upfront about that?


THE MARY SUE looks sadly out of touch. They're so eager to attack a woman that they can't even listen to what she said. (Sort of the way it worked in May of 2018.)  LGBTQ NATION looks even worse.  They're attacking an ally for supposed things she didn't do and refusing to acknowledge what she did do.  Isn't their focus supposed to be on the LGBTQ+ community?
 
Now maybe you'll find Roseanne funny in her special and maybe you won't.  There's no right or wrong on that.  Comedy appeals to some people and not to others and certain comedy doesn't even appeal to those who love comedy.  It's a matter of what you enjoy.  But maybe next time THE MARY SUE and LGBTQ NATION can just write their attack on Roseanne and not pretend they're reviewing a special (one they haven't even seen)?  It would probably result in something just as bitchy but at least they could be honest about it.
 
 
 
 


George Santos isn't the only liar in Congress

Hope you caught Leslie Jones on THE DAILY SHOW weighing in on US House Rep. George Santos (two minutes and 19 seconds into the video below).
 
 
 
 
 
You thought serial liar was the only GOP embarrassment in Congress?  Have you never heard of Marjorie Taylor Greene?  Or Lauren Boebert? Or Lindsay Graham? Or . . .  You get the point.  But we're referring specifically to lying and we all thought Bully Boy Bush retired that crown when he lied the world into the Iraq War.

They're new but they are on the track and they came to win.


Coming up on Santos?  Andy Ogles.  Darragh Roache (NEWSWEEK) reports:


An investigation by Tennessee's NewsChannel 5 alleged on Thursday that Representative Andy Ogles has no formal training as an economist, despite repeatedly claiming to be one.

That investigation also called into question Ogles' claim to have been involved in investigating international sex trafficking during his time with law enforcement when he served as a volunteer reserve deputy with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office.

Newsweek has asked Andy Ogles' office for comment.



Andy's not the only one on Santos' heels.  Lying -- as Lauren Boebert has spent years demonstrating, is not just a sport for me.  And Anna Paulina Luna doesn't just represent a district in Florida, she's also carrying the banner for the women in the freshman crop of Congress.  Who is Anna?

Well that's where it gets tricky.  No one seems to know, not even Anna.  Which is why WIKIPEDIA writes about details with the verbs "claims" and "has said" -- see below:


Anna Paulina Mayerhofer was born in 1989 to George Mayerhofer, an architect, and Monica Todd, an elementary school teacher and stay-at-home mother, in Santa Ana, California.[2][3][4] Her mother has Mexican-American ancestry and her father has Mexican and German ancestry, including a grandfather who was born in Germany and served in the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.[5] In 2020, Luna falsely claimed in a PragerU documentary that her "entire mother's side of the family and father's side of the family on both sides are from Mexico".[6]

Her parents never married; her mother married another man when Luna was about eight years old. Luna was raised in the California cities of Santa AnaIrvineAliso Viejo, and Los Angeles but has described her hometown as Santa Monica, California.[7] She attended high school in Los Angeles and claims to have attended six high schools before graduating.[2][3] Luna has said her mother raised her on government assistance, and that her father was a drug addict whose bag of meth she found when she was 10. She has said that her paternal grandmother died of AIDS due to heroin use.[6][2] In August 2014, Luna wrote that she had set a goal to travel to 20 countries by her 25th birthday and that she was set to achieve it by December 2014.[7]


WHO IS ANNA?  It could be a NETFLIX limited series.  It could cover topics such as the ones listed below:




Disputed biographical claims[edit]

Home break-in[edit]

Luna said in 2019 that she suffered from "enduring trauma" after experiencing a "home invasion" by her landlord at 4 a.m. while stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base: "Had my friend Jeremy not been there to protect me, I'm pretty sure I wouldn’t be standing right here in front of you guys right now." Luna's roommate said that she did not remember such an incident. Instead, the roommate recalled a daytime break-in when Luna was not home. A Warrensburg Police Department report described the July 2010 incident as a "burglary not in progress". The report states that Luna and her roommate had reported to their landlord that the home's rear door had repeatedly been left open, so the landlord installed new locks, deadbolts and latches, but the problem persisted. Police records indicate that no suspect was arrested or charged in the case.[5][37][38][39]

Jewish heritage[edit]

Luna has said she was raised as a Messianic Jew by her father and that "I am also a small fraction Ashkenazi".[40][41] Members of her extended family have said her father was Catholic, and her mother said her father was a "Christian that embraced the Messianic faith" after getting clean from drug addiction. Her grandfather, Heinrich Mayerhofer, identified as Catholic when he immigrated to Canada in 1954.[5]

Heinrich's relatives have said that Heinrich served in the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany in the 1940s; Luna's uncle Edward Mayerhofer provided a photo of Heinrich in a military uniform which the Simon Wiesenthal Center described as consistent with a Wehrmacht uniform. Luna filed a stalking injunction request against Edward Mayerhofer in 2020 after he questioned her biography on social media, while retorting that her maternal great-grandfathers Antonio Luna and William Todd served during World War II for the Allied Powers.[5]




So distasteful it's enough to bring anyone down -- even Marjorie Taylor Green, heady from her latest hateful attack on trans children would feel a little down -- at least as down as she feels when she looks in the mirror. 

 

 

 

Call Her Heroic (Ava and C.I.)

CALL ME ANNE.  Anne Heche passed away August 11th of last year.  And, no surprise, the reaction to her death was as full of lies and hate as the coverage of her life often was.  For those of us who knew her, it was very upsetting no matter how predictable.  Last month, Anne had the last word with the publication of CALL ME ANNE.

 

Call Me Anne by [Anne Heche]

 

It's what you'd expect from Anne if you knew her -- not if you feared her, if you knew her.  We'll come back to it.  Anne shares events of her life and the message that you can live in truth and you can be free.  It was the message of her life.  

 

Not a lot of people live in truth.  Ethan Hawke, for example, lives in lies and continues lies.  

 

What in the world motivated that fourth-rung actor to make a 'documentary' at this late date on Paul Newman and fail to note any of the many affairs that Paul had with men?  THE LAST MOVIE STARS was just more garbage and more dishonesty.  In 2022, Paul had been dead for 14 years but his many affairs with men -- Anthony Perkins, Brandon de Wilde, Sal Mineo, Casey Donovan and many others -- have to be denied?  Exactly who benefits from garbage passed off as a 'documentary'?


Ethan and his whole trashy family have lived in lies for years and years -- don't pull at the string or you'll be taken back to a national day of mourning.  Where ever one finds lies and deceptions, you tend for find a member of Ethan's family.


Unlike Ethan, Anne didn't live in lies.  


Her thank-you for that was to be attacked constantly.

 

Anne was part of  a very famous nineties couple with Ellen DeGeneres.  They got together right as Ellen was preparing to come out and have her TV character come out on ELLEN as Anne's career was reaching a new high with the impending release of VOLCANO -- a film she starred in with Tommy Lee Jones.  

 

In the book, she writes:


It was Thursday.  I had asked Ellen to join me for lunch in the suite they had set aside for me so she could rest after her hugely successful coming out episode had just been taped and would air the following week.

The VOLCANO premier was to be Friday, the very next night.  When I entered the room, the first thing I saw was four "suits" standing, arms crossed staring intently at me, as I walked father in, and could see: Ellen, sitting in an armchair.  There was a heavy silence and the thickest air I had ever walked into.  "What's going on?" I asked.

As far as I remembered, I had only invited Ellen to join me.  I leaned in to kiss her and was met with pure resistance, as she looked me in the eye and told me I should listen.  I straddled the arm of her chair and grabbed her hand, watching intently as the suits shifted, wondering who would speak first.  As I held the hand of the woman who had just been featured on the cover of TIME magazine for her bravery, the first of our time to stand against all odds, for the right to be open about who you love, one of the suits said, "You can't take Ellen to the VOLCANO premiere tomorrow night, Anne."

To which I replied, "What are you talking about?!" 

Ellen pleaded with me to understand that they were right.  Now was my moment.  She had warned me this would happen.  "You can't risk it," Ellen said.  Then she assured me, with all the love in her heart, that it was okay.  We had plenty of time.  There was talk of how little we knew of each other, how recently it had been since we met.

"Would you be telling me this if my date was George Clooney?" I asked the suits.

The first time you experience discrimination in the eyes of the people who represent you is the moment you decide who you are as an artist.  I had already decided who I was as a person, but I hadn't been confronted as an artist until this moment.  

I looked at Ellen.  She looked at me, consoling, as if to say, "It's okay.  Do this.  We'll deal with your conundrum over it when it's over. I'll be waiting for you at home."

"You're fired," was all I could think to say to the suits.  "Get the f**k out of here!"

There's not one moment that has defined my life more than that one.  Anne, the artist, Anne, the daughter of a man who had hidden his sexuality -- we're all the same person.  I had no idea how much that one decision would impact my life and what I gave up for that decision.

I also had no idea that it gave so many people the green light to come out of the closet.  I am often asked if I regret that moment.  I do not.


That's a defining moment.


It's a defining moment for Anne Heche and it's a defining moment for the 90s.


Know how THE NEW YORK TIMES -- so-called paper of record -- covered it? Bernard Weinraub 'reported' the above as:


Even before she revealed her relationship with Ms. DeGeneres, Ms. Heche called attention to herself by dismissing her longtime agent, Doug Robinson, of the Endeavor Agency, and her managers, Keith Addis and Nick Wechsler, last week.


That would be Mr. Amy Pascal.  Worth noting, since our other feature is on Roseanne whose career was destroyed by a Tweet, Amy lost her job as the head of SONY by writing 'racially insensitive' e-mails -- e-mails mocking African-Americans (she also expressed sexism in the e-mails but everyone looked the other way on that).  Minutes later, she's getting Academy Award nominations.  Let's not pretend that Hollywood gives a damn about racism -- Amy's proof that they don't.


And let's not pretend that 'foreign correspondent' Bernard knew a damn thing about anything except what his wife Amy told him to print and the people she provided him with. 


THE NEW YORK TIMES did a hit job on Anne.  They didn't bother to get a quote from her but Bernard was happy to talk to the fired and to present Anne in a bad light.

"Called attention to herself."


When Bernard dies, let's hope Amy gets treated the way Glenn Close is at the end of DANGEROUS LIAISONS.

A lot of people work to lie.  


You really have to wonder why?


Why, for example, all these years after Christopher Reeve death, are we still not supposed to acknowledge the two month affair he had with male porn star Casey Donovan?  Or, for that matter, him getting cast in a play over Casey (and Christopher keeping the role despite being replaced onstage on opening night by his understudy immediately after uttering his first line) because deeply closeted lesbian Katharine Hepburn didn't want Casey in A MATTER OF GRAVITY?


Oh, that's right.  We're not supposed to talk about Hepburn and all of her many affairs with women.  She died in 2003 yet we're still not allowed to tell the truth.  Scotty Bowers and Liz Smith talked about it and we're still supposed to pretend it was just a rumor. 


Anne didn't play those games.  


She was out front with who she was.  She changed history because of it. 


And she was far kinder than either of us.  That kindness comes across in her book, the sweet soul that she had.


Which is why we were bothered by the rumors, after the car accident she never recovered from,  that Ellen was avoiding the topic of Anne because she was afraid what the upcoming book would reveal of her?  A mutual friend told us Ellen felt conflicted because if she said something meaningful and then Anne savaged her in the book, people would think what she wrote about Ellen was true.

 

Ellen never really knew Anne because Ellen's never been able to look beyond herself.  Poor Portia.  


No, Anne didn't savage her in the book.  Nor was that the type of person Anne was.  She tried to see the best in all situations -- what could she learn from them.  And that's what she imparts in CALL ME ANNE.  Maybe people will remember that and not the lies that she was high on various drugs when she had the car accident.


Remember that?


And all the hate hurled at her over it.  

 

That was the story of her life in so many ways.  It started on ANOTHER WORLD with some viewers convinced she was evil Vicky Love and not sweet Marley.  It continued in Los Angeles, where she stood up for herself (against a director who wanted her to finger his wife, against Oliver Stone, against Harvey Weinstein, etc).  


We can't imagine the world today without Anne.  Ellen's coming out?  


Not as joyful without Anne.


Without Anne, you've got a woman pleading for the world to understand that she's gay, apologizing for it to Oprah and to Diane Sawyer and anyone who'll listen.


Anne?  She wasn't apologizing.  And she was hot -- in her career and in her body.  Ellen's coming out works because of Anne.  Without Anne, she's Louie Anderson with a sad, sad life.  "Oh, look at her, the lonely gay woman.  Don't hate her, kids, she's all alone."


Instead, she comes out and she and Anne are a power couple, all over the place, including meeting President Bill Clinton.  As a couple, they pulled the nation forward. 


And some people like to divide the moment -- like the website AFTER ELLEN, for example.  Not AFTER ELLEN AND ANN because that would require too much honesty and even AFTER ELLEN likes to portray the isolated individual.  

 

Doing so allows members of Congress who are hate merchants to make statements about how there has never in history been gay marriage.  

 

Ruby Dandridge (Dorothy's mother) had a long relationship with Geneva Williams.  Entertainer Gladys Bentley is said to have married another woman in 1931 (in New Jersey).  Emperor Nero married two men -- once as the bride, once as the groom.


Why does it matter?


In 2012, Joe Biden, then Vice-President of the United States, appeared on NBC's MEET THE PRESS:


Who do you love? Who do you love and will you be loyal to the person you love? And that’s what people are finding out what all marriages at their root are about. Whether they are marriages of lesbians or gay men or heterosexuals... I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights... I think Will & Grace probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has done so far. People fear that is different and now they’re beginning to understand.

 

WILL & GRACE did allow people who thought they'd never known anyone who was LGBTQ+ to see relatable people.  

 

And Anne allowed Ellen to have a happy ending -- in spite of ABC axing ELLEN.  

 

We're told that various people can't come out because it would destroy their careers.  We don't believe that.  But, okay, fine, stay in your closets if you have to.  What's the reason for keeping someone closeted after they've died?

 

THE NEW YORK TIMES supports enshrining the dead in a closeted tomb.  Of course, they do.  They have to.   Mel Gussow reviewed or 'reviewed' plays and based his opinions on who he slept with -- if, he slept with an actor in the play before the play (especially if he paid for sex), he panned the play.  Gussow wasn't alone at THE TIMES and to this day we're all supposed to pretend that this well known john to countless men was straight.  It goes to the paper's image.


We don't give a s**t.  The image -- the false image -- needs to be dismantled for truth.  Even if you did nothing in life to help equality, in death your truths can help others.  Your truths can explode the lies of right-wing hate merchants who want to pretend that there is no historical truth to LGBTQ+ persons.  Your truths can provide reality to the ignored history.

 

As CALL ME ANNE makes clear, Anne Heche always lived in her truth.  As life made clear, even in her final days, Anne had to take hate from people.  She was so much better than the times she lived in.



 

From The TESR Test Kitchen

1stove 

Duncan Hines has a new cookie mix: Chocolate Chip Cookie mix.  And get this, it's "Keto friendly."  Only 2g net carbs per serving!!!! And they're soft - and - chewy, the box tells you.

 

So what's it taste like?  It look yummy on the box.  And it appears easy to fix.  You preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  You mix six tablespoons of softened butter with the cookie mix in the box and you add 1 tablespoon of water.

 

Easy enough, right?

 

 If only it produced what it promises.  These don't taste like chocolate chip cookies.  And whatever it is that they do taste like, it's not very good.  And when they come out of the oven and even after they have cooled, they don't look a thing like the picture on the cover of the box.  We've got two cookies from the three batches we made, see for yourself.


cookie113


We highly recommend that Duncan Hines goes back to their own test kitchen and that you skip this product until they have.



2023 Passings

 

Lisa Presley -- Elaine noted her passing.


Christine McVie -- Kat covered her passing.

 

Adam Rich -- Marcia noted his passing.

 

Jeff Beck -- Kat noted his passing.

 

Lance Kerwin -- Rebecca noted his passing.


Barrett Strong -- Ruth noted his passing.

 

Lisa Loring -- Rebecca noted her passing.

 

Burt Bacharach -- Rebecca noted his passing.

 

Raquel Welch -- Elaine noted her passing.

 

Stella Stevens  -- Rebecca noted her passing.

Kat's Korner: Chase Rice delivers and then some

Kat reviews Chase Rice's new album below.


 Kat's Korner: Chase Rice delivers and then some

Kat: Are we in WHEN THE PAWN HITS THE CONFLICTS HE THINKS LIKE A KING WHAT HE KNOWS THROWS THE BLOWS WHEN HE GOES TO THE FIGHT AND HE'LL WIN THE WHOLE THING 'FORE HE ENTERS THE RING THERE'S NO BODY TO BATTER WHEN YOUR MIND IS YOUR MIGHT SO WHEN YOU SO WHEN YOU GO SOLO, YOU HOLD YOUR OWN HAND AND REMEMBER THAT DEPTH IS THE GREATEST OF HEIGHTS AND IF YOU KNOW WHERE YOU STAND, THEN YOU KNOW WHERE TO LAND AND IF YOU FALL IT WON'T MATTER, CUZ YOU'LL KNOW THAT YOU'RE RIGHT territory?


The title alone will make you wonder?


I HATE COWBOYS & ALL DOGS GO TO HELL.  That is the title of singer-songwriter Chase Rice's new album and, for a country album, that's a pretty wordy title.  


 
Despite having a lot to say, he didn't make the cover of the album, that's his father Daniel Rice, who passed away when Chase was 22.

Speaking to TASTE OF COUNTRY's Billy Dukes, Chase explained the title:

That's two different songs on the album."I Hate Cowboys" is basically, "Mr. Steal Your Girl." Cowboy walks into a bar, steals your girl. He's better than you. Just beats you at your own game. "All Dogs Go to Hell" is a web of lies. It's all those obvious lies that you know, as soon as you hear the first line ... you'd get it.  g What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring There's no body to batter when your mind is your might So when you go solo, you hold your own hand And remember that depth is the greatest of heights And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land And if you fall it won't matter, cuz you'll know that you're right


Let's start with the one that's "obvious lies," "All Dogs Go To Hell."



Everybody knows the devil went down to FloridaAnd everybody goes "Roll Tide" up in GeorgiaJohn Deere's are blue and the bluegrass ain't greenJohn Cash ain't cool and George Strait ain't king
And boots ain't made for cowboys and Chevy don't make trucksAnd fall ain't made for football and droppin' eight point bucksLynchburg ain't shippin' and sippin' a cold beer don't helpAnd I don't miss you, babyAnd all dogs go to hell
Everybody knows, girl, you're the one to blameI ain't gotta say I'm sorry 'cause I wouldn't change a thingMe and the boys are on the way to celebrate and paint this townI ain't halfway across it, ain't halfway to your house
And boots ain't made for cowboys and Chevy don't make trucksAnd fall ain't made for football and droppin' eight point bucksLynchburg ain't shippin' and sippin' a cold beer don't helpAnd I don't miss you, babyAnd all dogs go to hell



Coming off THE ALBUM, Chase's latest release has a lot to live up to.  THE ALBUM was my year-end pick for album of 2021:

Not a huge fan of country music.  Love and respect the output of Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, think Brad Paisely is first rate but country isn't really my thing.  Then came this album.  I love every track on it.  I have no interest in the Grammys.  Drake withdrew from the 2022 Grammys.  I wasn't impressed with the awards before the latest nominations but after they managed to completely ignore Chase Rice?  The Grammys are grossly out of touch.  I love this album, I listen to THE ALBUM every day.  Every day.  That's how great it is.  I love his gravely voice.  I love the songs.  I think this is an album like Joni Mitchell's BLUE that will grow and grow in stature as the years pass.  It's hard for me to pick one song to highlight so I'll go with Elaine's pick, "Lonely If You Are."


And, by the way, that is one of the things about Chase Rice's music.  It brings you together.    Elaine and I can talk Chase Rice songs for hours.  He's an artist for people who love music.  You want to explore the lyrics, you want to debate which note he really nails, you're excited to play his music.

There are times when a line of a song -- or maybe two lines -- allude to something you've gone through yourself so you nod along and you like it.  That's one reason we can like a song.  Another reason, the artist doesn't allude, she or he submerges us in an experience that we've shared, puts a new take on it, and we can relate.  Chase offers that second reaction for me.  

Take "Bench Seat" which had me marveling over the prosidy -- how he matched the vocal to the lyrics -- and marveling over his voice and then the song goes really deep and really dark and becomes a tragic beauty.



I marvel over this album.  The last one was no fluke.  Chase's songwriting is amazing.  He captures life and turns it into art.  Musically, I marvel over his choices and how they work.  Lyrically, he could be a novelist.  His observations are sure and true.

Which will send some running, my last two sentences.  "Oh, Lord, I hear someone whining, it's one of those wordy songs over the same chord strummed repeatedly for two minutes in a row."  He's making music, not just ticking off words.  Check out "Bad Day To Be A Cold Beer" if you're in need of a throw down. 



I HATE COWBOYS & ALL DOGS GO TO HELL is 14 tracks of perfection. I'm reviewing the double disc vinyl version, by the way.  The album is available on various streaming platforms.  In addition, you can go to Chase Rice's YOUTUBE channel to hear it or his official website.  But, and this is the thing, you should hear it.

Every artists isn't for everyone and he may not be for you.  But he is an outstanding artist, a real artist.  So you should give him a listen to see if he's for you.  

THE ALBUM didn't get a Grammy nomination.  Another great album in 2021 was Diana Ross' THANK YOU.  And just weeks ago, she lost the Grammy to Michael Buble.   To Michael. Buble. 


Diana Ross who has set records around the world, Diana Ross who has sung songs that are part of a history and shared experience, Diana Ross who is a one of a kind artist who has had pop hits, soul hits, dance hits in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s and now 20s (last year, "Turn Up The Sunshine" became a top twenty adult contemporary hit), Diana Ross who -- back me up on this, Oprah -- changed the musical world and, yes, the world.  She lost to the man who makes fun of his own name in beverage commercials.  That's how most people know him -- those that do.  He won for another generic album that sounds like every one he's done before.

Why did he win?

The Grammys are out of touch.   


So whether you're like me and angry that Diana Ross' Grammy was stolen and angry that Chase gets no Grammy recognition or angry that Beyonce didn't get album of the year or furious like that one person (Chris Brown) that Chris Brown didn't win, let's all come together in agreement that the Grammys are now crap and the last measure of anything of relevance in music today.  


If it helps any, this is a periodic phase that the Grammys go through.  Diana never won a Grammy in competition.  That means they never even gave the Supremes a Grammy.   Despite all the songs (hits!) he wrote and sang with the Miracles, Smokey Robinson never won a Grammy until 1988. The Beatles only won five Grammys while they were a band.  'Kat, they have eleven Grammys!'  Yes, and that's the organization trying to right their own wrong by handing the then-disbanded group six more Grammys after they were no more (from 1971 through 2008).  Sort of like how The Grammys ignored Janis Joplin until after she died when suddenly she was worthy of two nominations (but not wins).  The Rolling Stones, a historic band, never won a competitive Grammy until 1995 -- seven years after they were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  Sly and The Family Stone never won a Grammy.  

I don't expect The Grammys to be any better next year.  And that's a shame because if they were truly recognizing excellence in recording, Chase Rice would be looking at several nominations for I HATE COWBOYS & ALL DOGS GO TO HELL, an amazing exploration of  a life lived between "hooves and hell raisin'."



I hate cowboysTheir hats just look so stupidHate their wranglers and their bootsAnd all them jukebox, red dirt songsMan, I hate cowboysThat think they're scared of nothin'Run their mouths about bulls buckin'But 8 seconds ain't that longI wish they'd stay their ass at home
'Cause they think that they're John Wayne walking through the doorTurnin' every head, including yoursPretty thing that's never seen one beforeThat's got a thing for bad guys, yeahThey ask her to dance while you're at the barStarts talking 'bout them Texas starsNext thing you know, you got a broken heartShe's gone and that's why I hate cowboys


 

Tweet of the week

 

This edition's playlist

 

1) Chase Rice's I HATE COWBOYS & ALL DOGS GO TO HELL.

 

2) Carly Simon's LIVE AT GRAND CENTRAL.

 

3)  Diana Ross' THANK YOU


4) Robbie Williams' XXV


5) Sam Smith's GLORIA.


 


 

10) Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo's BLACKBIRD: LENNON - MCCARTNEY ICONS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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