Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

You are here: Home / Archives for Popular Culture

Open Thread: The Ancient & Honorable Art of Code Switching

by | 70 Comments

This post is in: , , ,


 
Columbia professor John McWhorter, in the NYTimes, “Harris Gonna Code Switch” [gift link]:

… Twenty years ago I never thought I would hear the term “code-switching” used as widely as it now is beyond the halls of academe. Code-switching is perhaps best known in reference to alternating between different languages, such as English and Spanish. However, the same concept applies to different dialects of the same language, such as between a standard dialect and a colloquial one. But as glad as I am to see this, my heart sinks at the way people are mocking Vice President Kamala Harris for code-switching according to the audience she is speaking to. Barack Obama attracted criticism for doing the same thing back in the aughts; I hoped we had gotten past this…

A lot of people think there is something wrong with her doing this. “Harris seems to put on an accent for Atlanta rally,” read one chyron on Fox News. One take on X, typical in its tone on the issue, displays familiarity with the term “code-switching” but frames it as a cynical act: “Code switching is a convenient way to describe blatant pandering.” Of course, Trump has joined in, asking “Did you hear a new accent?” with his running mate, JD Vance, right behind him claiming that Harris is using a “fake Southern accent.”

First of all, Harris is not doing a “Southern” accent. She is not summoning Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian Fortune Feimster or Rue McClanahan’s Blanche Devereaux. What people are hearing as Southern is Black English, with which white Southern English overlaps only partially. Black English has a great many traits alien to white Southern English.

More to the point, language is about reaching into another mind. It’s about connecting. Code-switching is one of the ways that humans use language to connect. Using the colloquial dialect of a language serves the same function as drinking or getting a mani-pedi together. It says, “We’re all the same.” It is especially natural, and common, when seeking connection about folksier things or summoning a note of cutting through the nonsense and getting to the heart of things in a “Let’s face it” way. This is why many of us readily say “Ain’t gonna happen” even if we aren’t given to saying “ain’t” regularly…

Harris grew up among Black kids in Oakland, Calif., and went to Howard University, an HBCU, where she was a member of a sorority. I have never met Harris, but in my California days I spent a good deal of time in Oakland, and my sister went to an HBCU around the same time Harris was at Howard. I feel quite confident that Harris was richly immersed in code-switching between standard and Black English in her formative years. Today she is faking neither a “Southern” accent nor a Black one, but bringing to a national audience the sincere and effortless linguistic versatility that most Black Americans possess…

show full post on front page

Open Thread: The Ancient & Honorable Art of Code SwitchingPost + Comments (70)

Medium Cool – Travel!

by | 68 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

What do you do to get the feel for the local culture when you are traveling?  When I say “traveling”, I don’t care if it’s it’s the state next door, the county next door, or traveling around the world.

Is it the food?  Museums?  Shops?  Cultural events?  Wandering through neighborhoods?  Talking to random people in the street?

If it’s the food, I hope it doesn’t look like this!

Medium Cool – Travel!

Medium Cool – Travel!Post + Comments (68)

Medium Cool – Concerts, Music Festivals, and Outdoor Theater

by | 136 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

It’s summer – tonight let’s talk about outdoor concerts, music festivals, outdoor theater, and any other outdoor cultural activities.

Have at it!

 

Medium Cool – Concerts, Music Festivals, and Outdoor TheaterPost + Comments (136)

Medium Cool – from Worst to First to Best (of Everything)

by | 138 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Tonight we’ll conclude our 3-part series:   The Worst of Everything, the First of Everything, and now the Best of Everything.

Tonight let’s talk about the best of everything.

Best movies your have sent?

The actual top best movie you have ever seen, if you had to pick THE BEST?

What’s the best kids’ TV show you remember?

The best grown-up TV show you remember seeing as a kid?

Best book you remember reading not for school?  We might have to do this one by decades.

Best mystery series you read?

Best fireworks?

Best ballet?

Best play?

Best musical?

Best play or musical you were in?

Best book you remember reading in school?

Best teacher?

Best concert you attended?

Best concert you attended with friends?

Best holiday dinner ever?

Best food craze you remember?

Best food craze you got caught up in?

Best record you bought?

Best album you bought?

Best librarian or teacher?

The best of everything!   Have at it!

Medium Cool – from Worst to First to Best (of Everything)Post + Comments (138)

Medium Cool – from Worst to First

by | 163 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

So last week, we talked about the worst of everything.   Tonight let’s talk about the first of everything.

What’s the first movie you ever paid to see?

First movies your remember seeing?

The first movie that didn’t meet your expectation?

What’s the first kids’ TV show you remember?

The first grown-up TV show you remember?

First book you remember reading not for school?

First mystery series you read?

First fireworks?

First ballet?

First play?

First play you were in?

First book you remember reading in school?

First teacher?

First concert you attended?

First concert you attended with friends?

First family dinner?

First food craze you remember?

First food craze you got caught up in?

First record you bought?

First album you bought?

First librarian or teacher who was special?

The first of everything!   Have at it.

Medium Cool – from Worst to FirstPost + Comments (163)

Medium Cool – Let’s Talk About Bob Newhart (RIP)

by | 69 Comments

This post is in: ,

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Ken had a brilliant idea on Friday afternoon – make Bob Newhart the subject of Medium Cool this week.

And TaMara told me about this:

The new Entertainment Tonight special Bob Newhart: A Legacy of Laughter, celebrating the late actor, will air Monday, July 22 at 8 pm on CBS.

So let’s talk about the great Bob Newhart.  He was his own man, and I loved him for his style.  And talent.  So let’s share stories and links to our favorite scenes, and bonus points for anyone who finds a video clip of the “sit, Whitey” scene.

Medium Cool – Let’s Talk About Bob Newhart (RIP)Post + Comments (69)

Medium Cool – Star Spotting!

by | 108 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

I can’t recall who it was, but *someone suggested this as a possible future topic—movies or TV shows where you spotted an actor in an early role before they were famous, like an early Perry Mason where Leonard Nimoy was the killer.

CliosFanBoy!

Medium Cool – Star Spotting!

I would have liked to have seen that one!  Maybe Steeplejack (Perry Mason watcher extraordinaries) can let us know when that one will be showing next?

What are some of the other shows where you could frequently see future stars when they were still young pups?  Seems to me that along with Perry Mason, Rockford Files and Law & Order were frequent starter roles for aspiring actors were .  Or maybe the shows that had a lot of the young pups were just really great at spotting talent early?

Speaking of the Rockford Files, was Angel the antecedent of “Mozzie” on White Collar?

Anyway, anything that’s even remotely within throwing distance of this topic is fair game.  Just looking for something simple to start off the conversation this evening.

*out yourself in the comments if you are the someone who recommended this topic!

Medium Cool – Star Spotting!Post + Comments (108)