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Raise your glass to the hard working people, let's drink to the salt of the earth
by anna at 07:58 AM on June 11, 2004
It's happening again. The death of one charismatic person of note has overshadowed the passing of another more workmanlike but arguably more important person. Namely Reagan and Ray Charles. Shades of 1998, when Princess Di up and died in the same week as Mother Teresa. Any objective comparison of their relative accomplishments would say that Teresa's funeral should have been afforded more attention, but it wasn't. Clinton sent Al Gore to do that robotic clapping thing he'd perfected through two six endless state of the union gabfests. Meanwhile, a record number of floral bouquets piled up outside Buckingham Palace, where Di hadn't lived or even visited in years.
Both Reagan and Charles were great men of considerable accomplishment. But Charles had the misfortune to die amid the unprecedented outpouring of teary farewells, gushing tributes and revisionist history that Reagan's death hath wrought.
So here's to Ray Charles. A blind black man who rose to mainstream stardom in a time when people of color and the disabled were rarely given a chance to do so. An American icon who always exuded class and professionalism. A man who made America the Beautiful his own. A man who brought us one of the cockiest and best tunes ever recorded this side of of James Brown's I Feel Good: What'd I Say. A blind man who could clearly see a helluva lot more than most of us could ever dream of conceiving. I'll just say this: You'll never see an American Idol contestant attempt to tackle What'd I Say. Or so one could only hope.
Not to knock Reagan or Diana but you might say we've got our priorities wildy skewed. And you've got a somewhat analagous thing going on with the NBA Finals. Ratings are up from last year's dismal showing as throngs tune in to see the league's most recognizable team, the LA Rapists, be corronated as champs once again. Some other bunch of chumps were taking the court as well, but who cares?
Except it turns out that unlike the ready-made, charisma-laden, 4 future hall of famers Rapists, the workmanlike, defense-minded Pistons are a team . And they are one that came to play. And they've shown absolutely no respect for their revered elders, basically throwing their old asses in a hole and dancing on their graves. Here's to them too.
comments (9)
sorry anna...too busy watching the reagan funeral to comment on this post. ;-p
by JC at June 11, 2004 7:28 PM
Weren't we all? Even my wife, never a big Reagan fan, sat engrossed by the pomp and pageantry.
by anna at June 12, 2004 8:36 AM
Man, I said the same thing back when Johnny Cash and John Ritter bought it. Everyone was lining up to stick their tongue in Cash's dead ring of fire, and totally forgot about our dear friend Ritter.
He taught us all that in order to find yourself two cute, female roomates, all you have to do is act sexually ambiguous. Brilliant!
Then I bet he bagged Suzy Somers, with his gay man schtick.
by lajoie at June 13, 2004 7:32 PM
The thought of bagging the present-day Somers, with her six pack abs and Mr. Ed face, is making me violently ill.
But seriously, I kind of thought it was funny the way they trotted out all those tributes to Ritter as if he was really somebody important rather than a two-bit TV actor. It's like Cher weeping on Remembering Sonny as she remembered her bitter courtroom confrontation with him over their shared fortune and daughter.
by anna at June 14, 2004 7:49 AM
here here!
by Shannon at June 14, 2004 9:01 AM
Our priorities are fine. That’s why we pay police officers, paramedics and that no-named researcher dude (who’s trying to find a cure for cancer) peanuts. They don’t need money they’re too busy to spend it. At the same time, we dish out millions for some athlete to run around playing a game or some blue eye to play pretend in front of a camera. What else can they do in the off-season except spend money?
by MrBlank at June 14, 2004 1:16 PM
Well Mr. B that is a whole nother discussion. The relative pay of teachers, actors, athletes, researchers and trashmen is a travesty but the market decides. Did you know that stagehands at DC's Kennedy Center make $100,000 a year, more than many of the performers there?
by anna at June 14, 2004 7:20 PM
All hail those scrappy Pistons. Did they systematically dismantle the mighty Rapists or what?
by anna at June 16, 2004 7:50 AM
It just goes to show that a team will beat a few individual superstars any day of the week. I loved it.
by Ezy at June 16, 2004 11:56 AM