November - Fall 2011

Wisdom of the Sages

Episode XI

November – Autumn 2011

Hello People of the World;

Here we are so very near the end of 2011. One more month and guess what? GASP! It will be 2012! Oh’s no! I hope this typical autumn chill has not surprised you with the speed and ferocity in which it arrived. Why do people ALWAYS act like they are caught off guard by the frickin’ seasons? Come on….

Again, as I type and post this, Mother Nature (what ever happened to her?) saw fit to give you a warm day to act totally surprised about! Oh’s No, again! So go ahead and complain like the tides and the turning of the earth took you, unaware. Hey, guess what month this is, hmm? Yep, it’s November! Yay, you.

Let’s get started, shall we?

1:[ First item of the month: As is my tradition every year I take off the NATIVE PRIDE for a month and put it away. Actually, I only used to wear it for winter because it, get this, it kept my head warm. But I found the reactions to it were too good to leave aside, so I started wearing it year around with summer and November the times I leave it at home. Anyways, I haven’t been wearing it lately. Some suggest I put it away permanently because it is wearing out pretty fast lately. I would have to agree.

I simply love the contradiction it represents and how it brought out the hypocrite in me…. We’ll see….

2:[ A couple of weekends ago my friend Sharon and I went and took in the latest Danielle Ate the Sandwich concert at Schubas. Now, Danielle Ate the Sandwich is a singer/songwriter from Colorado that developed a following on YouTube thanks to some goofy videos, strong song skills and a gimmicky “twee” persona. I dig her songs. Doesn’t hurt that she’s pretty cute as well. But her strength, in my humble opinion is her songs and singing.

She needs to begin to grow as an artist. As my buddy Mike said in his talk the other night, there is that stage when artists mature. She’s reached it. Her more rabid fans seem to be more a fan of the shtick rather than her songs. (As evidenced by their constant interruptions.) So much so, she even made a joke about the shtick. I only hope her fans allow her to mature.

So, I’ve seen her perform three times now. She’s just a kid and yet here I am, an old man by comparison and barely able to do what I want to be doing like the young lady on stage. I can only smile when we chat after the show and offer soft critique and go on my way….

3:[ More MOVIE TIME ADVENTURES:

+ So, I went to see “The Thing” at the Music Box with my buddy Mike. I have never see John Carpenter’s sci-fi horror masterpiece on the big screen before. It was the requirements at the Whiteman Household back when I lived on the rez. My brother Ken is a big fan of the Carpenter/Russell tem-ups. But it was fantastic to finally see this one on the big screen with like-minded fans. (Except those stupid “YEE-AH” shouters that shout at everything. Look, not everyone can be MST3K. Shut the Hell up.)

I’m a little hesitant to see the “prequel” because 1) reviewers are mixed but the common thread is that it is pretty lifeless, and 2) I like the mystery of what happened at the base of “those crazy Swedes” to remain a mystery. That adds to the bigger mystery of “John Carpenter’s The Thing” which in itself renders any sequel or prequel pretty pointless….

+ I just saw the DVD of “Batman: Year One”. Again, I lament, “My poor ‘Year One’, what have they done to you?” The animation was okay. But the voice cast didn’t seem to fit their roles. And everything sounded like it was simply bored recitation of lines. The actors were just reading the lines of the comic. The cool factor, the soul of the story was hugely missing. It seemed to be a series of vignettes but it was supposed to be a coherent story. Shoddy and slapdash.

What was most insulting to the audience was over the end credits they flash panel art of the original comic like they were saying “See, things match up”. Sometimes, matching up isn’t such a good thing. Some things need their own space to be their own thing, their own integrity to build it into something better. (See item on “The Thing” (2011) above.)

I did notice that all the hype that was attached to this one was gone once the DVD was released. Like no one wanted to talk about it once everyone got to see the finished product. I’m not buying this Batman DVD. I’ll just re-read the graphic novel.

4:[ Before the show at Schubas, my friend Sharon and her friend were waiting for the show to begin by taking a table and I ordered some food. They were making light complaints about “getting old”. They have NO idea. Sharon has many years to even reach my current age and here she was acting like she was ready for the home. They have no idea. I simply shook my head at their complaining. No idea: the failing body, the longer heal times, the failing dreams that leave you to shake your head, smile and offer soft critique and go on your way….

5:[ Ah yes, settle in Readers for more of:

Adventures at the Coffee Shop!

+ I was sitting in my usual spot when I happened to look out the window and see these two older gentlemen walk up to each other and with big smiles reserved for friends, they bump fists like a couple of teenagers. They are regulars at the Starbucks on Western and Howard and they come in and play chess for hours. Soon, other friends show up and they rotate players, game after game. They also attract the baristas and strangers’ attention and sometime they let others sit in and play a game. It’s kind of old school and old world behavior and they are very friendly and always respectful of others’ privacy and space. I have not worked up any nerve to approach them but respect them enough to leave them to their games.

+ So there I was, sitting in the Evanston Barnes and Noble coffee hut. As I sat weary from my travels, having ordered a medium coffee, to work my review paper grading, when over to the table next my ears caught sound of two young ladies conversing. While I try never to make it a habit to drop eaves, there was no helping their piecing voices, with no labor on their part at making their words unheard, so I hear one of them complaining about her $200 jacket not being warm enough for the weather. Wow. I thought, and still she paid $200 for it…. Fashion wins over function.

“I’m bored,” she continued “Things need to change” her friend agreeing with every statement as if this one gal held all the answers to life’s mysteries. She goes one about how we, as a people could not look to a bright future because “Like, how we really fucked up the planet?” And without a hint of irony or trace of empathy, she turns her idea on a dime, taking no responsibility, “But, I mean, like, how could we have known? How could we have known we were fucking it up?”

People f*cking amazing me….

+ I hate it when a gal I find attractive or suited to my taste, turns out to be a whiny complainer entitled to something… Oh well….

+ Speaking of fashion winning over function: So there I was, sitting in the self-same Evanston Barnes and Noble coffee hut. The weather outside was windy and cold, “blustery” I believe it is called. I was working on that same paper grading that I was behind on when after the annoying chicks at the next table left, I look out the window and notice some really nice looking chick (“hot” I believe is the current stupid euphemism.) wearing really short shorts to the gym in freezing weather. Really. She was in just a jacket and tiny shorts and those stupid UGG boots. Yeah, those boots will keep you warm. I know that there is an L.A. FITNESS down the block. It would not have mattered much but I saw at least five more, really pretty ladies at various times, wearing nothing but shorts and a jacket and walking for the gym.

It was kind of stupid, really. Look, I’m the type of guy that’ll admit that if a pretty girl catches my eye, I’ll take a look. But my idea of pretty and beautiful does not run in concert with the rest of the planet apparently. But, when you are flashing bare legs in the middle of a cold snap, all because the gym is like, right over, there, I mean, what’s wrong with wearing sweat pants, at the very least, in this weather? Nope, gotta look “hot” no matter what. Sheesh.

6:[ Sitting in the Subway, having a sandwich to passed the time between the show at Schubas and the midnight Music Box screening, I happened to notice the large amounts of roving college kids in the streets and realized that I was in the bar district of Chicago. Well, one of many bar districts. So, sitting there on a busy avenue you tend to notice that people, for all of their pronounced “individuality”, dresses near identical to the next group of kids walking up the street behind them. Fashion makes followers of us all….

The other thing I did notice was that night time FM radio still sounds as crappy as you remember it sounding when you were young. Some things never change for slaves of fashion and FM radio….

7:[ And now Wisdom of the Sages presents:

“An Ever-growing List of Things That MUST Stop!”

+ People that cover for child rapists. Seriously? But, but, he made “The Pianist”. But, the child rape. Yeah, but FOOTBALL! Come on. F*ck the Legacies. Grow some Common Sense….

+ People crossing into traffic need to STOP! All it takes is for someone to NOT see one of these stupid goofballs crossing in the middle of traffic and BAM! The driver will be in a mess of trouble. Yep. The Driver will be to blame.

How big a sense of entitlement do you need to endanger yourself for a basket of f*cking chicken wings! Every time I see idiots walking then running to cross the street before the traffic catches them, I want to roll the window down and shout “F*ck, Candlelite isn’t THAT good!”

+ There was a homeless lady on the #290 bus today. At first I didn’t know she was homeless because, I must admit this prejudice observation, she did not dress like a homeless person. She had on a nice jacket and clean pants and carried those recyclable grocery bags. She was overly friendly with people that got on and a bit talkative. But people were friendly with her and chatted with her and it wasn’t until further down the road that she worked up the nerve to announce that she needed some change. Now, solicitation is prohibited on the buses and suddenly, people just quit talking to her. She just sat there, smiled sadly, putting on a brave face and the bus hurtled forward. I felt for her. I worked a single loose in my pocket and was planning to give it to her on the sly as I got off. When the bus arrived at my stop….

I lost my nerve. Not wanting to get in trouble if the driver caught me. What a jackass I was. Make no mistake; I made no effort to alert the lady I was going to give her something, anything. It wasn’t like I dangled the dollar in her face and walked ff with it. No, I was simply one more person that IGNORED her and her plight. And for whatever she thought of me as I stepped off. I deserved it. I know; I will have no chance to redeem myself, no other chance to help this fellow human being. Why? Because I was scared.

When did they make it wrong to simply help out the least of us…?

8:[ Oh yeah! Now I remember why I stopped buying comic books! It was such a hassle to get to a comic shop every week to keep caught up. Plus, the prices are topping out at $5 a single issue. Maybe I don’t need to get back on a monthly series after all. Sorry Batman. I’m not the 1% like you are…. (Ha, see what I did there?)

9:[ From the “This Just In” Department: I was in the Walgreen’s today and notice a bunch of parents and their little kiddies around. You know what? It does not matter how close we are to Christmas. Kids deserve a toy. I noted one little gal was just so happy to get a toy tea set. It just makes me smile and joyful to see a happy child. I wish we could all see how much these kids deserve something better, something fun, and something that makes them happy. No matter who they are….

10:[ Last Item of the Month: So, Andy Rooney, 60 Minutes’ resident curmudgeon passed away a few weeks back. My Bonnie’s first thought was that I should replace him. What do you think? I have the eyebrows…. I am pretty self-righteous and angry about things. Why does Andy Rooney get to get away with complaining about little mundane things and I have to apologize for mentioning a talk I had? Sheesh.

Still, Bonnie thinks I could replace him. Maybe I will. Let me know….

That will do it for this month.

I keep forgetting, there was something about this month that I wanted to mention…. I don’t know. I’ll remember it later on. I hope all of you enjoy your Holiday this month and that you get to gather with family and friends. Let me know how you are doing. Feel free to comment, correct or contradict my writings here. I’ll see you next month….

Until Next Time, “I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”

© 2011 Ernest M. Whiteman III