Overheard at Booth 2: Beasts of No Nation

This was a tough movie to watch.  Very tough.  I tried to determine what country it was set in and at about what time, without wanting to Google it while watching it.   Turns out that it is set in an unnamed African nation at an unnamed time, but it is so similar to the situations in so many African countries that it really can be taken as a snapshot of much of the continent - any country, any time.

From what I have read of 20th Century African history and contemporary reports, this movie touches a lot of what actually happens in situations such as these - warring factions battling for control, splintering into various factions: rebels vs government vs foreign troops vs bandits.   It's insane and often the people who are just trying to survive in villages have no idea who's doing what to whom.

Frankly, I found one scene impossible to watch.   If you see it, once you hear the world "melon" you'll know what I'm talking about.  The brutality and the savagery was almost sickening.   Yet, this movie is compelling, because you know implicitly that the reality is much much worse.

One of the best aspects of the movie is making the main characters multi-faceted.  It would have been easy to make (and had this been a normal Hollywood schlock, they WOULD HAVE MADE) the characters one-dimensional stereotypes.  Idris Elba is fantastic at being the leader of this group of soldiers.  In many ways, he is who he is both because of the choices that he makes as well as the situation that is forced upon him.   Wholly effective.

Again, do not watch this movie if you do not want to watch a cinematic representation of the lives that many people in this world live.

Overheard at Table 1: Trump is that uncle . . .

"Trump is that uncle that always shows up about every other year at the family gatherings.  He's always got a newer, younger wife with a boob job and the latest flashy car.  He's always talking about his business deals and showing off his Rolex even more than his new wife.   And everybody puts up with him, because they think he's a big gas bag and is, for the most part, harmless . . .

"That is - until the time you catch him trying to follow your sister into the bathroom!"

Kids These Days

Kids These Days

The Scene: Several Moms and Dads waiting in front of a daycare center, just before being let in to pick up their children.

Here is some of their overheard conversation:

“We love reading time.  She’ll just get up into the bed and read a whole stack of books.  And she’s only 11 months!”

“That’s wonderful!  Mine loves to read too.  Right now he’s going through the classics: Gulliver’s Travels, Peter Pan . . .”

“Mine’s doing his dissertation on Dostoevsky.  The University says they want to give him a scholarship as soon as he learns to walk.”

“Well, mine was walking since she was only two months old.  She’s now figure skating.  She’ll be in the next winter Olympics.  She’ll be the youngest ever, at only 3 years old.”

“That’s wonderful!  Maybe they’ll score her on the new mathematical scoring system that my son developed when he was only 6 months old.  It’s a quantum statistics program that actually solved the mystery of PI…”

“That sounds like what my daughter just did with the medical field.  She just developed a new non-invasive laser procedure for brain surgery.  MD Anderson wants to hire her as President.”

“If we’re talking about medicine, my son amazed me SO much.  He had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and he unwrapped it himself and then gave me a Caesarian section IN UTERO!  Then, when he crawled out, he stitched me up himself and didn’t even leave a scar!”

“That’s incredible!  That’s almost like my daughter, who at two months had read everything Stephen Hawking ever wrote and then disproved it completely.   She’s already given directions to NASA and MIT on how to build a time machine that will completely alter the SPACE/TIME CONTINUUM!”

“Mine already did that when he was still a zygote.   We’ve lived alternate versions of this same reality for millennia now.”

“Aren’t kids just so smart these days?”

“They sure are!”

Poem of the Day: and so the blast made us . . .

and so the blast made us
look again, turn around and look over our shoulders,

at the entrance to the Metro that we had just left.
and there were then some

people staggering out, covered in dust, some
covered in blood,

not always their own.
and then there were military

running toward us, past us, down
the stairs into the tunnel and

we reached out to the people who had staggered out,
and we sat them beside the wall,

we pulled our water bottles out of our backpacks
and we gave them what we had to drink,

The medics arrived and began to
take charge and direction of

all the others who were coming out of the Metro
tunnel, and the medics looked at us

and asked if we were all right, we
then realised that we too

were lightly coated in dust,
had faint flecks of blood,

our ears ringing and our eyes burning, we were
indistinguishable from the rest.









MR
2016-0322

Overheard at Table 1: Immigrants

All this talk about immigrants and illegal immigrants and building walls and all that crap.  Can't stand it.  Why?  Let me tell you why:

I know a woman.  81 years old.  From El Salvador.  She lives here.  She's lived here in the states for over 20 years.  She lives off of welfare.  Yeah, that's right.  She gets food stamps and health care.  Her kids pay for her house and her utilities.  She sold her business to come here.

So, you'd all think "She's living off of OUR stuff!" OK, well, let's take a look at it.

She had five kids.  She got them all sent here to go to college in the 70s and 80s.  One of her kids is an engineer.  Designs electrical grids.

One of her daughters started a hospice business.   Helps the elderly stay in their homes.   Another daughter works in international banking, making a lot of wealthy white people a lot more wealthy.  

Another son works for a Mom-n-Pop oil company.  Instead of remaining local, he expanded them into Colombia, making all of them a shitload of money.  Her other son owns his own landscaping business.  Works for all the rich houses, museum district.  

Now, THAT son has two daughters.  One of them is a nurse and the other is a dentist.  The nurse is an ICU nurse, and she helped my family as we sat there watching my father die.  She held our hands and she brought us tea and she was there for us.

So, whenever ANYBODY talks about immigrants - either legal or illegal - in the way of "they're taking our stuff" those people need to shut their ignorant mouths, because they have no fucking clue what they're talking about.  Because you never know what these immigrants have done for this country, by having their children or relatives or themselves here, working in our communities, giving back, building whatever, making other people money, or just being the only nurse on the entire floor who actually gives a shit while your father's heart stops and the body grows cold.

So next time you hear somebody talking smack about immigrants, just let them know that their minds are tiny, tiny, tiny, like their black black hearts, and let them know that they will never know just how much an immigrant might have made their lives as good as they are.

Well, at least that's MY take on the whole thing anyway.

Overheard at Table One: Foreplay and 3 Minutes

Joseph: Overheard this woman at work and she was telling another co-worker, "He's a three-minute guy but he makes up for it with some AWESOME foreplay, and I thought, "Man, if my wife heard that she'd say, 'Hey, are you sleeping with my husband?'"

Monica [sips her coffee]

Joseph: Wouldn't you?

Monica: Wouldn't what?

Joseph: Say that to her?

Monica [slight grimace]: Well, honey, I'd have to say that - yes - you ARE a three minute man, but your foreplay ... could use a little work.

Joseph: It's not "awesome" ??

Monica [reaches over and pats the back of his hand]: But you know I love you!






-
From the Salinghetti Chronicles Vol. 60, Track 9
Tracey Chapman - Give Me One Reason

Overheard at Booth 5: Got the Contract

Guy 1: So, did you get the contract?

Guy 2: Yeah, I got the contract.

Guy 1: Cool.  Who's the mark?

Guy 2: Kinda who we supposed it was gonna be.  The frontrunner.

Guy 1: Not bad.

Guy 2: Well, it's kind of a bummer.  I was gonna vote for the guy.