We're Going Backwards

Late on Friday nights when I’m safely home (admittedly after a few beers) I like to play music videos on the DVD player. Often they're 80s videos, some are hard rock, i.e. AC/DC (which annoys the neighbors because you have to play those loud), or sometimes just a few “chill music” vids because I need to calm down.

However, one of my favorites is Lionel Richie's “All Night Long.” Invariably though this depresses me. It reminds me how we are going backwards nowadays.

The song is about how you can be so strongly moved by something (music) that you just have to keep going. Party all night long. The dancers wear very colorful outfits, surely meant to make a subtle point, and are multi-racial. The dancing includes a wide range of styles with various mixtures of couples.

This was back in the 80s where it was slowly becoming common and acceptable to see a black man dance with a white woman, a white man tango with an Asian female, two males breakdancing together. It made it seem like things were progressing to where we could all live together in harmony.

Then Trump came along and infested the White House. 

Although we knew there were a lot of racists in our country, they at least had become reticent to express it in public. Unlike the old days where Jim Crow was normalized, racism had become a social deviation, something kept quietly amongst a person's cohort or family. Not something you could bring out in public without facing public derision.

Trump enabled racists. Emboldened them. He has tried to make it acceptable in polite society, and criticized those who challenge him as weak-wristed Libtards or overly PC elites.

Thanks to him, we see an increase in right-wing, racist organizations, demonstrators who are unafraid of public shame chanting abusive, racist slogans and public displays of offensive comments to anyone who looks foreign or of a different race than Anglo-Saxon whites. Even the Republican Party seems to have embraced the Trump vitriol and become largely the party of white males.

Although we've had problems with police interactions with civilians, as I noted in my blogs “Tips for Tourists” and “Police reform Part I & II” I don't think we've seen this level of police violence toward minorities since before the 70s. It's as if they are acting as Trump's agents of violence that he often spews at his pep, excuse me, "campaign" rallies.

I long for the days when we could dance the night away regardless of our race, religion, political affiliation or whatever.  

Sure, the video is a make-believe world, but it was a world where people lived together peacefully, where differences were immaterial, where people could dance together in harmony. A world we need to find again.

Ahh, James Thurber

Okay, yes, this is a rerun from August 2019. However, racism, misogyny and hatred of others has gotten worse. It's because the guy in the White House (I don't like to use his name) has made it all acceptable. He's made it so that people who would have been ashamed to express or act in such a manner find it okay to come out of hiding. In the 80s it seemed like we were making so much progress and now it's like we're set back decades. So it is worth sounding the alarm again if it might help slow down this devolution. Make America tolerant again.

 

 

We're Going Backwards: A trumpian rerun

 

(With the new Orange regime taking power, it seemed appropriate to rerun a blog that showed how his previous reign of terror was taking us backward.)

 

  Late on Friday nights when I’m safely home (admittedly after a few beers) I like to play music videos on the DVD player. Often they're 80s videos, some are hard rock, i.e. AC/DC (which annoys the neighbors because you have to play those loud), or sometimes just a few “chill music” vids because I need to calm down.

However, one of my favorites is Lionel Richie's “All Night Long.” Invariably though this depresses me. It reminds me how we are going backwards nowadays.

The song is about how you can be so strongly moved by something (music) that you just have to keep going. Party all night long. The dancers wear very colorful outfits, surely meant to make a subtle point, and are multi-racial. The dancing includes a wide range of styles with various mixtures of couples.

This was back in the 80s where it was slowly becoming common and acceptable to see a black man dance with a white woman, a white man tango with an Asian female, two males breakdancing together. It made it seem like things were progressing to where we could all live together in harmony.

Then Trump came along and infested the White House. 

Although we knew there were a lot of racists in our country, they at least had become reticent to express it in public. Unlike the old days where Jim Crow was normalized, racism had become a social deviation, something kept quietly amongst a person's cohort or family. Not something you could bring out in public without facing public derision.

Trump enabled racists. Emboldened them. He has tried to make it acceptable in polite society, and criticized those who challenge him as weak-wristed Libtards or overly PC elites.

Thanks to him, we see an increase in right-wing, racist organizations, demonstrators who are unafraid of public shame chanting abusive, racist slogans and public displays of offensive comments to anyone who looks foreign or of a different race than Anglo-Saxon whites. Even the Republican Party seems to have embraced the Trump vitriol and become largely the party of white males.

Although we've had problems with police interactions with civilians, as I noted in my blogs “Tips for Tourists” and “Police reform Part I & II” I don't think we've seen this level of police violence toward minorities since before the 70s. It's as if they are acting as Trump's agents of violence that he often spews at his pep, excuse me, "campaign" rallies.

I long for the days when we could dance the night away regardless of our race, religion, political affiliation or whatever.  

Sure, the video is a make-believe world, but it was a world where people lived together peacefully, where differences were immaterial, where people could dance together in harmony. A world we need to find again.

 Ahhh, James Thurber.

During the Orange One's (I hate using his name) first reign of terror, racism and hatred became more common. However, it was subtle. People still worried that if they openly expressed racist views/ideas, they'd be ostracized. As his time in office continued, it slowly became more overt, largely because people looked at him as a role model. Now, there is no restraint at all. Racism and hatred toward those who might be different is all out in the open. Because he got reelected despite his obvious flaws, people believe there will be no personal harm to them. As he dismantles any vestiges of diversity and inclusion, it will become worse. That's why it's important for those of us who see racism as evil, to not remain quiet. We need to push it back into the closet where it belongs (I think it's impossible to get rid of it completely). So this is one of my ways to try to claw society back to morality. I will continue to use my blogs and social media posts to sound the alarm. Join me.

We're Going Backwards

Late on Friday nights when I’m safely home (admittedly after a few beers) I like to play music videos on the DVD player. Often they're 80s videos, some are hard rock, i.e. AC/DC (which annoys the neighbors because you have to play those loud), or sometimes just a few “chill music” vids because I need to calm down.

However, one of my favorites is Lionel Richie's “All Night Long.” Invariably though this depresses me. It reminds me how we are going backwards nowadays.

The song is about how you can be so strongly moved by something (music) that you just have to keep going. Party all night long. The dancers wear very colorful outfits, surely meant to make a subtle point, and are multi-racial. The dancing includes a wide range of styles with various mixtures of couples.

This was back in the 80s where it was slowly becoming common and acceptable to see a black man dance with a white woman, a white man tango with an Asian female, two males breakdancing together. It made it seem like things were progressing to where we could all live together in harmony.

Then Trump came along and infested the White House. 

Although we knew there were a lot of racists in our country, they at least had become reticent to express it in public. Unlike the old days where Jim Crow was normalized, racism had become a social deviation, something kept quietly amongst a person's cohort or family. Not something you could bring out in public without facing public derision.

Trump enabled racists. Emboldened them. He has tried to make it acceptable in polite society, and criticized those who challenge him as weak-wristed Libtards or overly PC elites.

Thanks to him, we see an increase in right-wing, racist organizations, demonstrators who are unafraid of public shame chanting abusive, racist slogans and public displays of offensive comments to anyone who looks foreign or of a different race than Anglo-Saxon whites. Even the Republican Party seems to have embraced the Trump vitriol and become largely the party of white males.

Although we've had problems with police interactions with civilians, as I noted in my blogs “Tips for Tourists” and “Police reform Part I & II” I don't think we've seen this level of police violence toward minorities since before the 70s. It's as if they are acting as Trump's agents of violence that he often spews at his pep, excuse me, "campaign" rallies.

I long for the days when we could dance the night away regardless of our race, religion, political affiliation or whatever.  

Sure, the video is a make-believe world, but it was a world where people lived together peacefully, where differences were immaterial, where people could dance together in harmony. A world we need to find again.

James Thurber believed in harmony and love.

Stuck in the 80s

At the end of December and into the New Year, you can't avoid countless news stories, personal essays or organizations' reflections upon the year that just ended.  

However, I invariably drift further back.  Back to the 1980s. My favorite decade.

Music was very eclectic ranging from the glam, such as Adam Ant, to the anti-glam of Dexy's Midnight Ramblers (they wore overalls to express their disdain for the previously mentioned glam set).

Films advanced from the 70s films bashing the 60s films (hippies are the evil enemy) to instead focus on personal introspection (why were we doing all those drugs back in the 60-70s?)

I was so 80s oriented, I set several of my books back in the decade. TAX BREAK and WINGS OF HONOR both occur back then largely because I remembered the time so fondly.

The decade began roughly for me.  I was a struggling, starving student (and eventually unemployed college grad).  However, it ended well as eventually I found gainful, satisfying—and long term—employment and stability.
 

However, I think I am stuck in the 80s because of the women.

My most notable “near misses” happened back then.  For example, I previously blogged about Nancy, who I tell everyone would have been my wife of five kids if my roommate hadn’t ruined matters. 

One other “close encounter” blog dealt with Sue, who never came to relationship fruition due to a missing napkin.  She was yet another 80s woman who may have been destined to birth the hockey team I longed for.  Well, maybe not that many.  To this day, when I see the 80s music video by Semisonic, I dream about her.

Of course, my ultimate 80s crush female was Pat Benatar.  Yes, I blogged about her too because she not only inspired my love of 80s women, but also helped lead to me benching a soccer player.

The 80s women were special. They exuded a special sensuality that lured you in but were also some of the first strong female types that let you know that you better treat her right.

So keep your “last year retrospective” because I’m just going to plug in my “I love the 80s” music video DVD, watch Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long,” and remember back when women were wild and men were crazy.

Jim Croce the Guru

Most summers, to escape the oppressive Texas heat, I venture to the Great Northwest to hike in the mountains of our beautiful National Parks. Usually I'm hiking alone (partly because most people know I like to walk much longer distances then they can tolerate). Rangers will tell you that's not a good idea, but if you don't go with a group, be sure and make plenty of noise. This is so you don't surprise any bears and make them angry, and possibly would convince them to go some other way.

I always carry a little "bear bell" I bought at a shop near Glacier National Park, but I also tend to sing as I hike along. If you were to be on the trail ahead and suddenly heard someone singing the entire catalog of Jim Croce songs, well, you and the bears are about to run into me.  So far, I've encountered bears twice, but no bear attacks! Thanks Jim.

The Grand Teton Encounter

The reason I know all of Jim Croce's songs is because he is my guru.

What seems like a century ago, my Mom asked me to go pick up the big bro from a class he was taking at UT El Paso. I got there early and so sat at a student lounge in the building and it just so happened to have a TV playing some musician talking about a song. He was a guy with a big mane of curly hair, mustache and a big nose (I was a short-haired teenybopper) so I wrote him off as a hippie freak of some sort. I was a straight-laced guy who more likely took after my conservative Dad rather than my psych-major, pinko brother (politically, we changed places as we aged).

Something about the guy got me to start to listen to him though. Maybe it was the smooth voice or friendly attitude. Soon I became intrigued by the little tale he spun about a truck driver. After the story, he began to play his guitar and sing and it seemed to strike a nerve in the back of my mind.

My brother shortly got out of class, so I didn't get to hear more, but oddly, this guy remained a fixture in the recesses of my subconscious. After all, as a kid influenced by his parents instead of his brother, I was more likely to listen to Andy Williams (I still love his rendition of "Exodus") and Frank Sinatra than the Beatles or Dylan. In other words, I made no attempt to figure out who was the singer/songwriter I had just been mesmerized by at UTEP.

Years later, after I began to follow my own path musically and philosophically, I came realize that I had fallen under the spell of Jim Croce.

I eventually acquired every single song he wrote. I had them on  cassette, vinyl and cd. I also bought all his music videos (they were on one DVD). It was when I played those videos that it suddenly dawned on me that it had been Jim Croce who entranced me on that TV  all those years ago. What really struck me though was the realization that I probably saw him on The Tube that day only a short time before his death in a tragic plane accident not far from El Paso.

 

Maury Muehleisen, who played and toured with Croce, also died in the accident

Years before this epiphany, while I was with the 82nd Airborne, I adopted one of his songs as my theme song. I'm not going to say which one, as it's a personal thing, but it basically dealt with doing things your way as you travel through this life. Yeah, you can probably guess it from that clue.

Jim Croce became my Guru a short time later when I adopted his "The Hard Way Every Time" as my mantra. The philosophy behind it felt so compelling I couldn't resist. It begins with a chorus that goes "I've had my share of broken dreams, and more than a couple of falls...but in looking back...I've learned the hard way every time."

However,  it's the final chorus that rings most importantly: "...but in looking back at the faces I've been, I would sure be the first one to say, when I look at myself today, wouldn't of done it any other way."

I wholeheartedly follow this philosophy. No, I don't go out of my way to get into trouble or try things just to be put in peril—although I have to admit, I do try things out because I do think it might be an adventure—but it does mean that I accept my mistakes, my problems, my adventures, and know that they have shaped my life. Although I may not like what happened to me, I accept it as part of my life and my experiences.

In other words, the person I am today has been formed by all those experiences, good and bad.  I like this concept because it basically helps me face those trials and tribulations I encounter. It's a more poetic way of saying what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

By the way, if you do buy the videos of Jim Croce, be sure and watch the special feature that has a duet from some TV show of Jim and Ingrid Croce. Whenever I watch them sing "Spin, Spin, Spin" I think they were a perfect couple. They look lovingly into each other's eyes, have a magical presence and, of course, harmonize beautifully. Sorry, sometimes I just get sentimental.

(We at The Thurber Brigade wish to once again apologize for the repeated use of The Donald in our last blog. It turned a lot of stomachs and we hope that this reverent and reflective essay on a great American singer/songwriter will soothe those souls damaged by the previous blog.  No, we can't promise we won't do it again since crazed American voters keep voting for ----- in record numbers, but at least remember that we are concerned about your mental well-being and will do our best to calm you when needed.)