Cugalabanza

I met Howard Ballard one Saturday circa 1989 when I heard a knock on my SUNY Morrisville dorm room and there stood the largest human being I had ever seen in person. I did not know until that moment that he was my roommate’s uncle. He was picking my roommate up to take him home for the weekend. I spoke to him for a few minutes. He was extremely nice and cool. I met Mookie Blaylock a few years ago at the strip club my gf used to waitress at. He was a regular there and sort of became friends with my gf. She played this prank on him where she got him to believe that the valet guys were joy-riding with his fancy Mustang. He got all pissed off until he realized it was a joke. He was cool when I met him and even shorter than he looks on tv. (I’m only 5’8” and stood eye to eye with him). He was pretty cool and funny. Shortly after that he got banned from the club for being drunk and beligerent. When I was a teenager working as a cashier, the DJ Brother Wease came through my line which was clearly labeled CASH ONLY. He insisted on paying with his credit card and was incredibly rude and pushy to everyone. I still can’t hear his voice without thinking “prick!”

What’s that? A movie about pickles?

So how was the TBD PPP BBQ?

Sage, Sage against the dying of the light! Happy Birthday!

Believe me, none of it's a surprise to me. I just like to poke fun at it because it's nuts!

Have great one, Wooderson!

another pair of Dickies goes from the work rotation to the farm rotation.

Still way better than forfeiting.

We gotta get a couple of these going over on the PPP board. Change the whole vibe over there.

Why am I infantile? Because I can't afford 46 pairs of pants like you fat cat elitists, born with a silver spoon in your pants?

Did you !@#$ing imbeciles even read what I wrote?!! I don't know if you have a reading comprehension problem or if you're just too !@#$ing stupid to understand a simple concep--wait, where am I here?

Christ must be so proud. Intolerance and quitting, two of His proudest hallmarks.

Tom is like Deepak Chopra compared to some of the freaks over there.

In case you haven't been over there lately and you're curious, here’s how every single thread on PPP plays out: Representative of Ideology A: Can someone on team B tell me one good reason why they believe X? Representative of Ideology B: You’re a dumbass. RoI A: No really, please tell me, I want to know. RoI B: If you don’t know already, you’re too much of a !@#$ing moron for me to waste the time explaining it to you. RoI A: F you! A-hole! RoI B: See? Your side always just resorts to infantile name calling. RoI A: You did it first! RoI B: Yeah, but that’s because you really are a !@#$ing stupid a-hole moron! RoI A: Ok, still nobody has answered my question. RoI B: Yes, we did. You’re too much of a !@#$ing moron to see it. RoI A: You can’t tell me because you don’t have the answer. RoI B: Shut the !@#$ up, you !@#$ing !@#$!!! RoI A: No, !@#$ yourself. I’m gonna **** your !@#$ you !@#$ing !@#$ **** !@#$er. You !@#$ !@#$ing !@#$!!!!

It' so strange that you consider this anyone's problem but your own. Seriously, spend a couple minutes thinking about this.

Hoo boy. I spent some time over on PPP today. I saw some strange things. Ever see that movie The Descent? It was kind of like that.

That's great.

I see you're enjoying yourself. That's very nice for you.

Just struck me as an odd tangent to the main issue and it was delivered with such rage. I mean, I get your point about frivolous lawsuits--99.9% of Americans are annoyed by this, across racial, economic and sexual preference categories--but that has no bearing that I can see on the issue of whether or not gay people can get married. I have some gay friends--I can ask them, but I'm pretty sure they're not interested in starting a legal war with boyscouts.

Wow, that was odd, even for this forum.

I think I do understand why they feel the way they do. I think it's based on fear, resistance to change and adherence to tradition and a way of life they're used to. I know that these are powerful motivations. Nonetheless, the change is happening.

There are plenty of opinions different from my own that I can respect. This does not happen to be one of those. I'm waiting for a defense of the position that holds water. Your appeal to tradition does not cut it. You even go so far as to equate it to slavery, which I think is valid. You seem to be making my point for me--it needs to change. The fact that it takes time is of no consequence to the central point: This instance of inequality needs to be remedied.

No, that's not it. The "other's POV" is a mess. They insist their position is not bigoted, but they so far have not put forth an argument for their position that is not reducible to bigotry.

I look ahead 15 years and I see this as a done deal. What we're witnessing now is basically the last desperate stand of the old & out of touch. Relatively soon, SSM will be commonplace. That's just where our culture is going. I'm personally very glad to see it. It's progress. Homosexuality has always existed and it's always been repressed and persecuted. Not every tradition is worth upholding.

Hey Pete, have a kickass Birthday!