So I've had a bit to drink, aqnd will be finding a bit more....

And I'm watching the Special Election 2010 results...

And I hate where we are, and I can't stand the way we've always been. The amount of non-Mass money in this race is crazy. The amount of national importance in this is insane. And the fact that my party did not comprehend how much blood-lust there was for the seat of Teddy Kennedy. Kennedy was beloved and legendary and a testament to his accomplished and assassinated forbearers, but there was no doubt n the mind of any reasonable person that he was reviled and despised and hated by all who see every ounce of progress made in the last 75 years as detrimental. Idiots!

I still believe Coakley will win. I hope to g/God, if she does, she will never run again for national office. Massachusetts could certainly be represented capably and honorably by a woman senator, and Martha Coakley is without doubt capable and honorable and accomplished. But she is not the figure needed now, in a state which believes itself to have already accomplished the Obama revolution by electing Deval Patrick. Coakley was not the glowing, debonair and utterly charming figure the modern electorate requires, she was just another distant political figure whom many respected and few knew.

The Massachusetts Democratic Party will have no trouble rebuilding whether she wins or loses. But the future of our country will rest once again in the fat, ugly, white and stupid hands of the voters of Massachusetts. Whether they elect my choice or not, they are responsible for where we are.

I'm getting another drink now, for those of you playing along at home...

It helps, by the way. Now, for the record, a defense of partisanship. Yes, it's certainly true that both parties are corrupt, and that democracy has failed in the short term and the long term to be an effective arbiter of justice in the social, economic, and political realms no matter how you define justice. Yes, the party's primary duty is to advance itself and entrench itself near the mouth of TaxPayer$ River. That said, elections are not about single issues, but in every election since my birth, the Republican Party has run on a combination of single issues - Communism, Abortion, Gay Marriage, Immigration, God, Guns, and/or Bill Clinton's Blowjob - while Democrats have earnestly addressed (usually) the multitude of responsibilities every elected official holds, particularly those affecting everyday working Americans. I am a Democrat by virtue of the fact that I am an American, and believe in a social contract respecting both individual rights and collective responsibilities. Health care for all is a collective responsibility, as proven by every other mfing (Heather hates swear words) nation of reasonable advancement on earth. There are reasonable republicans, but Scott Brown is not among them. He is a tool. The Republican party has always wielded its tools more capably than the Democrats. Helms, Dornan, Santorum, and Bush Jr are the ones you may remember, but they have existed throughout the ages. Now we've replaced a legend with a tool.

The results are trickling in. The AP's called it for Brown. Coakley likely can't catch up. the major message is that in this era, of President Obama, Obama's presence exacerbates his opponents more than his allies. But mark my words, while Obama is not a sage for the ages, he is the way things should go, and moving away from his agenda, as the country in now poised to do, thanks to these idiot assholes in suburban Massachusetts, will hurt our ability to lead the way into the future. By electing Scott Brown, with vast sums of Republican money from everywhere, we have ceded the ground of leadership still further to India, China, and the future superpowers of the 21st century.

America's descent increased today, due as usual, not so much to the Republican Party at the had of the descent, but to the swarming mass of self-righteous idiots pushing them forward.

The rise of Jay Leno is related to this, by the way. Though not all Leno fans are Republicans, and vice-versa, the empowerment of self-righteous ignorance is once again ascendent. Don't worry. Richard Nixon was the last elected President when I was born. We'll live through the debacle ahead. We aren't likely to learn anything as a society, but some may gather enough insight and experience to provide reasonable options in the face of the disasters ahead.

If you are a reasonable person, and do not yet despise your native society, you may have a role to play in confronting the questions ahead. Be strong. Victory delayed is not a loss, just a headache on the path.

Spirits in the cloud

Morrissey - Ouija Board Ouija Board
by jpdc11

It should be announced at the outset of this blog that a) I have little to contribute, and b) I have strong opinions. Also, c) I love using Heather's pottery, but I know almost nothing about it or any other art.

I saw a great movie over Thanksgiving break, Sullivan's Travels, which I thoroughly recommend. Here, I hope, is the trailer:

It's an interesting picture about the function of art and the responsibilities of artists, meant more to provoke laughs with some thought than to proclaim anything - but there are a few proclamations in there. It was somewhat recently referred to in the Coen Bros. O Brother Where Art Thou, so there are a number of people besides me who find it has currency and relevance.

Speaking of the Coens, I saw their latest, A Serious Man, and laughed a lot, and would recommend it as a good picture for a rainy day - both smart and clever, and only very occasionally too smart or clever for its own good. I also recently saw George Clooney's new picture (Clooey was in O Brother, of course) Up in the Air. Also good, and more amusing than anything he's done lately (though I haven't seen the Fantastic Mr. Fox as of yet) but I'd give it merely a "pretty good picture." I think it attempts to do the same thing that Preston Sturges tried more succesfully in Sullivan's Travels - to light-heatedly address tough circumstances, and to make the audience laugh first, and perhaps consider questions, but not provide answers. It is only somewhat effective at this - I think the writer/director (e.g Sturges) is too ambivalent and too restrained and evenhanded in his treatment of both characters and themes. I will say, as a former St. Louis resident, the airport has never, ever looked better. It may be Clooney's presence that improves his surroundings, but I think the director has a good eye, and a good mind, and a good understanding of his story's structure, and a good understanding of his characters - but I don't think the story works, and I'd recommend he watch Sullivan's Travels to see how to tell a story, take a stand for asking questions, and still provide a subversively moral core to the final product.

What's this?

Welcome, fair reader, to The Wedging Board: a place for two people from Boston - and an occasional guest - to discuss movies, the urban experience, arts, culture, daily consternations, and general musings.

To begin - a definition - courtesy of wordsmyth.net

Wedging - transitive verb of wedge

Definition 1. to split or force apart with a wedge (often fol. by open, apart, or the like).
Definition 2. to fix firmly in place with a wedge.
Definition 3. to force or thrust into a narrow space.

As one of the Bostonians responsible for this blog is also a potter, the title came from the use of a wedging board in the work of ceramics.

A more specialized definition, from Wise Geek
Wedging is a process which is used to prepare clay for working.

What's interesting - to this potter at least - is that clay is prepared differently depending on its use. When you work on the wheel, the clay is worked in a circular motion, similiar to kneading bread. This process works the moisture into the clay evenly, and also places the molecules in a circular pattern - perfect, for being worked on the wheel. In contrast, for tile work - where the piece needs to lie flat - the clay is prepared by slicing the clay, stacking it on itself, and stacking again. This way the molecules will lie on top of one another, rather than in a spiral pattern. This is more fitting for work that is intended to lie flat.

The other Bostonian responsible for this blog was pleased with the title because it sounded like the phrase, whose definition - also courtesy of wordsmyth.net is:

a board having the alphabet and the numbers 1 through 10 printed on it, and a smaller board on casters which supposedly moves beneath one's fingers by power of spirits to spell out messages.

Happy reading!

FILLER POST

Lorem Ipsum etc. etc. - more to come later.