SATURDAY LIGHT FARE

Posted by: Fredster on: July 13, 2013

• In: Lighter news | Open Thread | You Tube
• 32 Comments

Waldheim Gardens near Covington LA

Ah yes it’s another Saturday Widdershins and time for some light fare.  I must confess though Widdershins, that even with the light fare stuff I do believe I’m in the doldrums.  And by the by, do you know where that term came from?

The doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage, in which it refers to those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

[snip]

The doldrums are also noted for calm periods when the winds disappear altogether, trapping sail-powered boats for periods of days or weeks.

The Pacific doldrums were notably described in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner:

All in a hot and copper sky,

The bloody Sun, at noon,

‘Right up above the mast did stand,

No bigger than the Moon.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, no breath no motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Now that we’ve had a literature lesson let’s move on, shall we?

So do you remember Margaret and Helen?

They are the two older ladies who have a blog which is included on our blogroll over to the right.  I’ll admit I haven’t checked them out much lately but a friend sent me a link to a post that Helen did that’s just about perfect for our friend in Texas, Mr. Goodhair Perry.  It starts out like this:

If my Vagina shot bullets, could I conceal it from Rick Perry and John Kasich?

Margaret, if my vagina could shoot bullets it would have fewer regulations on it.  Plus, it would be easier to conceal from idiot politicians like Rick Perry and John Kasich.  And while that might be a bit graphic for even me, it’s a sad but very true statement.  We women in Texas (I can’t speak for the women of Ohio) are madder than hell and I think it’s time again for another Ann Richards to come make things right – God rest her soul.  Years ago she said that government should “open the doors and let the people in.”  Well ready or not, here we come.  And this time, we’re bringing a Harvard grad named Senator Wendy Davis.

For years now, Governor Perry has waged a war on women based on conversations he has with God and his pastor.  It’s a given that Rick’s god speaks to him in a male voice.  I am sure he has never considered the alternative.  According to his god, women can’t be trusted to make healthcare decisions.  As a result Perry has decided to make it hard for poor women (and soon almost any woman) to even have access to healthcare at all – problem solved.  When you gut funding for family planning, force doctors to perform unnecessary procedures on women (and only women) and then shut down dozens of women’s health clinics… well let’s just say it’s not a stretch to suggest that Rick Perry hates women.  But as far as his desire to end abortion, he doesn’t have a clue.  All of his efforts will simply decrease the number of safe, legal abortions and increase the number of unsafe, illegal abortions.

It’s a righteous post and spot on.  It also includes some more zingers like this one on Mr. Goodhair:

That boy hasn’t had a light on in the attic since someone in kindergarten told him he had nice hair

It’s a great post which I urge you to go over and read in its entirety.

Congrats on your graduation – here’s your cat

Poor Laura Gambrel was ready to quietly celebrate her graduation from Indiana University.  As she was going right back in the fall to grad school, she did not even take her graduation walk.  However, since her graduation was around the time of a couple of other events they did decide on a small celebration.

“I just graduated college, it was my sister’s birthday and it was Father’s Day,” Laura Gambrel said. “My grandparents were visiting from out of town, and we thought we’d knock out three holidays at once. So my mom thought it would be funny to get a face cake.

So Laura’s mom went to order a face cake and asked them to put a small “cap” on Laura’s head.  What she got was a surprise.

It was one of those young kids behind the counter and he seemed a little distracted with someone else ordering a cake a foot away from us. We went through the school colors and everything, and I said, ‘Oh, could you draw a cap on her head?’ And he gives me this look.”

He gave her “that” look because “this” is what he thought she said:

Don’t know if you can see it clearly but Laura has a graduation “cat’.  Click on the pic and make it bigger.  

These gay folks in L.A. finally get a prom they want to go to

Gay couples finally get their prom night

I’m just going to paste in some of the piece here, but go read the entire piece if you can.  It’s quite heart warming.

For his high school prom in 1942, Robert Clement bought a white orchid corsage in a fancy plastic box.

He gave it to a female staff member who organized the dance. Others would think it was a kind gesture, that he was just a considerate young man. In truth, Clement didn’t have anyone else to give it to.

He liked boys. And he couldn’t take a boy to the prom. Especially not seven decades ago in a small town in Pennsylvania.

“Proms are a rite of passage,” Clement said. “A heterosexual rite of passage…. But it wasn’t mine.”

Last weekend, just one day after gay marriage became legal once more in California, Clement found himself getting dressed up for the prom again — the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center’s senior prom.

Was it the Miss Gay San Juan contest or a WWE match?

A gay beauty pageant in Peru turned ugly after a fight broke out between two rival drag queens.

The claws came out and the competition descended into chaos when the newly-crowned Miss Gay San Juan 2013 was attacked by a runner up, following a dispute over a judging mistake.

According to local media, the runner-up disagreed with the decision and accused the judges of favouritism when the result was announced in the northern city of Tarapoto.

In the 30-second video posted online, wigs can be seen flying as the sparring contestants thrash out their differences on stage.

Reports suggest it took some time for security to separate the fueding drag divas.

You can see a 30 second clip of it here, but you have to sign in on youtube to prove you’re an adult.  Ho -hum.

It’s shark week on Discovery

And Lordy I know it’s terrible, but I can’t help but laugh every time this commercial comes on.  I apologize in advance.

And the same thing for this one

They still don’t know exactly who pranked whom on this one.  One thing I read said a radio station called in to the tv station pretending to be from the NTSB while another story says the tv station called the NTSB, got an intern on the phone and he thought it was a prank call and agreed that these were the names of the pilots.  I know, I know…it’s making light of a serious situation but really I had to laugh at the anchor person or “talking head” who just kept reading these names off the teleprompter.  How clueless was she?

Okay, that’s all I’ve got today.  If it’s all a bit on the lame side I apologize.  I have the doldrums.  So what’s going on in your world today?  Let me know in the comments below.

Tags: Asian names, college graduations, doldrums, RickPerry