These are the mad political rantings of one Matthew McNeil, Liberal/Democratic radio host in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. The postings are mine, the thoughts are mine. Mostly about politics, but I will occasionally get into raising kids, cooking, gardening, the arts and my favorite sports. Bon Appetite!
First up is the return of Nate Bargatze to Saturday Night Live and with that, we get another visit with George Washington!
Next up is a political post. As a matter of fact, you can skip the next two if you don't want politics.
This is the introduction to the Colbert Show with Kamala Harris as his guest. He did this in the style of the 60 Minutes intro from last Sunday. It's very political, but I do like the payoff at the end.
Next up is a great speech from Tim Walz in Michigan. His line about Trump's Chinese Bibles is amazing. He is really good at this. Especially watch from 5:35 to 8:40.
Finally tonight, what ever happened to Epic Rap Battles of History? Sure they've had one or two okay videos in the last year, but they used to be so freaking good and consistent.
Here are two of the better entries from them: Artists vs. Turtles and Harry Potter vs. Luke Skywalker. Both of these are...epic!
Eclectic!
Have a good weekend everyone. Make sure to get your flu shot and your COVID booster!
This week, I have a bone to pick with the Minneapolis-St. Paul haters.
There has always been this metro/rural divide in America, mainly since about 100 years ago when people started to leave the farm and head into the big city. Out of resentment, rural America started painting the metro areas of this country with a more and more negative brush.
Now I know immediately I'll hear, "Metro areas badmouth the country way of life too!" Yes, they do, but as someone who has lived extensively in both rural and metro America, many rural people CONSTANTLY bad-mouth cities, although the ratio in the other direction is dramatically less, something smaller communities falsely inflate to justify their non-stop bad-mouthing.
Republicans over the last 20 years have gleefully fanned the flames of this rural disdain of the cities with all the tropes. "It's expensive!" "It's crowded!" ""So much crime!" "There is a 'bad element' there!" "It's confusing to get around!" You get the idea.
In the age of Trump, this criticism got kicked up a notch. "THEY'RE ALL BURNTOUT HELLSCAPES, GHOST TOWNS, WHERE YOU'RE GUARANTEED TO GET MURDERED AND CRIME IS OUT OF CONTROL!"
I live in the Twin Cities metro area and I love it. There are great elements of living in rural America, but the quality of life my family has here is exceptional! As much as some insist it's overridden by criminals, I go out into the city all the time. I've rarely seen any crime myself and I feel safe in my city.
It doesn't mean it doesn't have problems. Of course it does! Every town, big and small, does, but I've had it with people whose only goal is to hate for hate's sake, usually with an ignorance that is hard to comprehend.
A few weeks back I posted the Chef Reactions videos where he LOVED the Minnesota State Fair and the Twin Cities. I also posted another positive video of a French woman visiting Minnesota. This week it's The Endless Adventure and their visit to Minneapolis, which they seemed to really enjoy!
Also this week ZeFrank has another hilarious MORE ADULT True Facts, exploring the mysterious world of the jellyfish!
To everyone out there: You have one life to live. If you are unhappy where you are, move. Go find your happy place. You will be happier and that's all that matters. It really is.
This week we get a little science-y but first, we look at a Marvel movie coming out that I'm super psyched about.
Thunderbolts is the Marvel version of The Suicide Squad, with heroes and villains looking for redemption and getting a chance at it on a team that is...less than safe. I think the bringing together of the rag-tag throw-away characters from the last few years of Marvel movies is exciting, but it's one individual character I'm most excited about, Bob Reynolds, The Sentry.
Sentry is a relatively new character in Marvel history, coming around at the turn of the century, but he ended up being part of an INSANELY good run of Avengers stories. New Avengers, Civil War, World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, and the Dark Avengers. Pick up an Avengers comic from around 1999 to 2012, and you won't go wrong.
Sentry is Marvel's version of Superman, but he is horribly flawed. I have no idea how they'll introduce him in this movie, but Thunderbolts is a MUST-SEE movie for me, the first must-see Marvel movie in a few years. Here is the trailer.
A fun video for me was this one about the largest visible crater on the planet, FAR bigger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs.
When I went to the Grand Canyon, I found out the bottom of the canyon was about 1.9 Billion years ago. A Geologist said that goes back to the time right after a massive asteroid impact, which almost wiped out all simple life before it started to flourish. I had forgotten about that little nugget until I caught this video about that specific asteroid hit from The SciShow YouTube channel.
Also From The SciShow, here is a video about The Doorway to the Underground in Siberia and how, due to climate change, for better or worse, we can't stop its growth.
I got my latest COVID shot and my flu shot for 2024 this week. PLEASE get yours as soon as possible. I don't want any of you to get sick.
I just literally saw this and decided to make it the top video tonight.
What if Trump was Sauron, courtesy of the game show Game Changer!
Also some laughs from two people who probably get NFL football better than anyone else. These individuals make videos where they are the personification of every NFL team or their fans.
First is Annie Agar who is wickedly funny and gets the team's facial reactions perfect!
Next is Tom Grossi who manages to capture the joy and agony of the fans.
Finally tonight is the hilarious Sarah Cooper with her take on Trump/Harris debate!
It would be cliche to post some Friday the 13th spooky videos (and it is something I've done before), but instead, I have part 2 of Chef Reactions' visit to Minneapolis St. Paul.
Two weeks ago I focused on his visit to the Minnesota State Fair. A quick update on that. Much like a lazy cooking video Chef Reactions would destroy, since the Fair I have viewed at least four other 'State Fair Food' videos, and they all were LAME! If you're going to come to the MN State Fair at least do some research about what food items are new and popular. And food review guys, if you don't want to wait in line for the best food options, what you shouldn't do is just grab the easiest food you can and act like it's mainstay MN Fair food items. One video pissed me off as they only sampled marginal food items at booths with no line, foods no one ever talks about when they talk about the State Fair. Those booths have no line for a reason. You're not winning if all you do is punt.
Just like he did at the Minnesota State Fair, Chef Reactions is a really good example of how you land in a new community and dive right into the local scene. Nice get on the Saints first pitch! Kramarczuk's getting a 100 out of 10 was AWESOME! Couldn't agree more. Saint Dinette (while it's still around) is a VERY underrated gem. And Matt's Juicy Lucy got a 10 out of 10.
Chef Reactions, thank you for coming here, PLEASE come back, and when you do, I have a few more suggestions for you.
Also tonight is Stephen Colbert's recap of the Trump/Harris debate. I was watching this at first with a group of station listeners at Crooner's and then at home with my wife and kids. Watching Harris absolutely dismantle Trump was a thing of beauty.
When the conservative pundits are furious that some idiot put the fake 'Haitians eating cats' story in front of Trump, something he would undoubtedly throw out there when he was getting shellacked by Harris, it tells you how badly the night went for him.
Truthfully I could EASILY post Kimmel and Stewart too, but I thought Colbert's was the funniest.
That's it this week! Have a wonderful weekend.
Please make sure to stay up to date on your vaccines and flu shots!
This week I start with something completely political, and if you are a Trump fan, you might want to skip the video.
First this caveat, the New York Times is garbage. We canceled our weekly subscription a few months back after it was clear they had a much harsher and more critical filter when they looked at President Joe Biden, versus Trump. Most of the major news media has always treated Trump with kid gloves, and this election cycle they seem determined to put their fingers on the scale to help him out. A much better synopsis of this flawed national news media can be read in the Guardian with a SPOT ON piece from Rebecca Solnit (The mainstream press is failing America – and people are understandably upset).
That being said, this piece from the New York Times is not so much flawed news coverage, but rather a piece about Allan Lichtman, a historian from American University who has a pretty successful formula for picking the winner of Presidential elections. He looks at the upcoming election and filters the candidates through his formula, and BINGO! He predicts...Harris!
As positive as I think that outcome is, I will repeat what will be my mantra for the rest of the election cycle: DONATE, VOLUNTEER, AND VOTE!!!
Okay, onto something else. 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' was a pretty funny show at times, and here are nearly 40 minutes of some pretty good laughs from the show.
The final thing tonight is a clip from Terminator which takes me back. This is from the 4K UHD HDR cut and frankly, this movie looks like it was released yesterday. It's amazing how clean they can make images from (gulps loudly) 40 years ago look so clean.
It's the scene from the Tech Noir Club, but this scene is wonderfully shot. It's also somewhat violent, so you've been warned!
Have a great weekend everyone. Please be careful in large crowds as COVID is back. Please make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations.
There is one more weekend of the Minnesota State Fair. Earlier this week the sensational YouTube/TikTok/Twitter account Chef Reactions came to the Minnesota State Fair to see what it was all about.
This is different than most of Chef Reaction's videos. I've featured his MST3K-esque running commentary over online cooking videos and they're freaking hilarious. Due to his popularity, he started making other types of videos, like going somewhere and tasting local cuisine.
He asked his fans which State Fair should he go to, and the overwhelming response was the Minnesota State Fair, so he came and he ate. He ate a ton, and pretty much he gave most things he ate an 8, 9, or a 10 (out of 10). Nice job Minnesota State Fair!
He does swear, but look past that and see a guy who came to Minnesota for the first time and ended up having a good time. Enjoy!
If he comes back, I'd recommend the Union Kitchen and a Pronto Pup. I promise I'll post his Minneapolis-St. Paul restaurant review when it comes out.
Also this weekend the channel Sprockets In Time takes a look at the disaster movies from the 1970s. I remember growing up with these movies and how popular they were. I also remember not only the TV ads for these movies but the full-page newspaper ads. They left an impression as a kid.
This recap starts with the Posideon Adventure and ends with the end of the Disaster genre with When Time Ran Out. Then again 2012 was like the granddaddy of the disaster films.
Finally this week was a political rant I did which was featured on CliffsEdge, my friend Cliff Schecter's YouTube page. It's how the movie Armageddon influenced who MAGA is today. It has over 70,000 views. I am stunned and humbled.
Please watch and share if you like it.
Have a great and safe weekend.
Please make sure you get all your vaccinations. I am getting mine in a few weeks at the VA!
I love the tone of this convention, taking the threat to our democracy seriously! When Michelle Obama spoke the other night, she no longer was "when they go low, we go high." She seemed to be drawing from a different cultural standard this time.
I'll turn it over to the Representative from New Mexico..."Say my name!"
And here was the fun Minnesota delegation in action!
Also this week, on James Whale Bake Sale, Bill Hader has a long discussion about the movie "No Country for Old Men.' It's a good breakdown of the movie with Hader's usual wit.
This is in two parts.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Make sure to stay up to date on your vaccinations.
This week I want to start with Minnesota! I have lived in other states, and while I have mostly enjoyed everywhere I've lived, nothing (in my opinion) matches my experiences in the state I was born.
Minnesota has so many things to do, many of them free; many others are affordable. I've lived in places where there are about 20 total things to do within a 30-minute drive, and most of them are not worth a second trip. I've also lived in places where there are a lot of things to do, but everything is overpriced. Minnesota falls in the middle.
Minnesota, and especially Minneapolis/St. Paul, are real marvels. Outdoor things, indoor things, a mountain of free things, a lot of things that you have to pay for but it won't break the bank. A great example is the Mall of America. It's free to get into. You can just walk the place and burn 3 hours easily. If you want to spend a few dollars and ride the rides in the amusement park, try mini golf, or the 40 or so other things available, knock yourself out. And if you want to spend big money, the mall can accommodate you too.
I also LOVE how many parks are in the cities and in the state. The State Parks will cost you to get into, but all the city and country ones are free. Three Rivers Park system runs a bunch on the west side of town and they're all exceptional. Bring bug spray.
Why am I cheering for Minnesota? I stumbled across a video channel FrenchTastic Explorations, featuring Marie, from France. She is a travel vlogger with an extensive library. She travels places and doesn't just focus on one or two things. I can't stand travel videos that treat their destinations as a cliche. She travels like a real traveler would, like if you were coming up to visit an old high school friend. I have no idea who coordinates her days, but they do a very good job. It's good fun.
She has made her way to Minnesota and so far she's having a blast. She is also very complimentary of our state.
Here is her first video from Minnesota. Click on her page to find them all, plus travel videos from across the world.
Get ready to laugh for the next video. One of Colbert's best bits is Community Calendar, where he and a celebrity review the happenings from the celebrity's hometown. Colbert brings in the hilarious Sean Hayes to give us the Chicago Community Calendar just in time for the DNC!
The final video tonight is a fun one revisiting Middle-Class foods that no longer are regulars on the family table. I remember more than a few of these recipes, and I actually want to try to make a few of them too.
Have a great weekend. Please be careful with COVID. It is really dangerous right now.
This week we get really science-y! We start with Planet X. Planet X is a long sought-after huge planet that supposedly orbits past Pluto. The planet is hypothetical, but people became fascinated with the concept of it after the finding of Uranus and Neptune. When they discovered Neptune, they noticed there were orbital readings from it which seemed to imply another planet was further out. When they found Pluto, they thought that was the answer to Neptune, but it was later they realized Pluto didn't meet the mathematical properties needed to understand Neptune's orbital issues.
So where is Planet X? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice take to Star Talk to talk about Planet X, and without trying to be a spoiler, I am not holding my breath any longer.
Let's stay in space for the next video. Is Betelgeuse about to become a once-in-milenia celestial event, shining brightly as it goes supernova? Here is the latest on the chances of that happening soon (which really means within the next 10,000 years).
Finally, tonight, what created that big freaking hole under the ice in Greenland, and is it the culprit that wiped out the Clovis people, the early people of North America? The science involved in finding the answer is fascinating, at least for me.
COVID is still infecting people and killing people. PLEASE wear a mask in crowded areas and on airplanes. Make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations.
I'm just back from California where I had a wonderful visit to San Francisco, Yosemite, and other National Parks. This was the third time in a row I happened to be on the road when the summer Olympics were on. We watched the opening ceremony from our Airbnb in Yosemite.
So far the best moment (in my opinion) has not come from the inspirational gymnastics team, or the entertaining pool, but from all places the rugby pitch. The USA has not had the best success in rugby, but they had an all-time sports moment in Paris. The women's team had played themselves to the medal round and faced Australia for the bronze medal. Most people were not expecting the USA to win.
The US did us proud and held the Aussies to a tie for most of the game, but the end got wild. Start watching at 4 minutes to see the crazy end of the match and one of the most unbelievable stunning comebacks in all of sports history.
FYI, you have to watch this on YouTube but follow the link and enjoy!
The USA gets bronze! Speaking of the Olympics, Beyonce's introduction of Team USA was so good. Having been out in Republican areas and Democratic areas with the Olympics going on, you realize how much this event DOES bring this country together.
Also this Friday, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds are riding high with the biggest 'R' rated movie opening ever with their Deadpool & Wolverine. During their media circuit to promote the movie, someone decided it would be a good idea to get them together on Hot Ones. This is funny.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Stay safe. Wear a mask in large crowds and keep your vaccinations up to date!
As everyone knows, I love Doctor Who, the British TV show where a time lord called The Doctor travels through space and time to stop bad guys and correct wrongs. Sure they head out into the reaches of space but the Doctor spends a lot of time at various points of world history, primarily English history. It's a fun watch, no matter what version of The Doctor you watch (did I mention the character can regenerate into a new character?).
But how safe would it actually be to go back to the Middle Ages? In reality, you'd probably have A LOT of problems. These are numerous so let me pass you off to a guy I have featured before on this channel, the Premodernist. This guy is an incredibly smart historian who knows his stuff.
This is a long video, but it is thorough. Apparently, many things could go wrong and likely would go wrong for you, as a modern person visiting the Middle Ages.
Since I am being a bit on the academic side this week, I will also share a video from PBS Terra, where new technology allows us to view the ancient path of the earth. And some of the images are gorgeous.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Stay safe and get vaccinated! Wear a mask in large groups!
Hi everyone! This week's Friday Link is all about food!
I'm a big foodie. My mother is a sensational cook and she taught me so much growing up. I cook most of my family's food, I love cooking videos, I LOVE historic cooking videos, and my secret dream vacation is a street food tour of South Korea.
In any given week I will watch 5 to 15 cooking videos, from many of the channels I have featured here. Some of the end results look good. Sometimes it looks okay. Occasionally (especially on certain historic cooking videos) it looks horrific. But occasionally, I will stumble upon one that looks so good I'm going to have to make it myself as soon as I can.
This week, I had three of them!
If you are not the cooking type, that's fine. Watch these as good old fashion food porn, but if you like to cook and have most of these ingredients on hand, give them a shot.
Number one this week is a gem from Tasting History with Max Miller. I've enjoyed many of his fun videos, but this one has me scrambling to the store for strawberries. I never knew strawberries were so popular for so many years. Max does a great little history lesson on the strawberry, but the superstar of this video is the recipe. It's a strawberry tart, looks relatively simple, has bread crumbs in it (???), and judging by Miller's reaction (he whips out a "Y'all!"), it looks like it tastes AMAZING! My guess is it'd be perfect with vanilla ice cream.
Next up is the always wonderful Ina Garten, with a recipe that I can swear I ate once out in Crete. Pastitsio is basically a Greek version of lasagna, but it is made better with the addition of bechamel sauce. Now this recipe is a little more labor intensive, maybe not the one you want to do as a rookie cook. That said, you're never going to become good unless you try it. From what I remember from 33 years ago (!) it was delicious! Good luck!
And finally tonight the second video I've featured from Sam the Cooking Guy out of San Diego. This is Chicken Christopher. Now two points. Sam is making some of the techniques look really easy. Be advised some skills are being displayed here. Also, I am not a big fan of timed cooks, especially when there has already been some prep work done. That's not the real world. Sam is doing a restaurant quality version of this, which includes speed.
My suggestion is to watch Sam do the 15-minute version and aim for your version to be 25 to 30 minutes, not bad considering how delicious that chicken looks when he is done.
Hi all, I hope you have a great weekend. Let's focus this week on Summer movies.
The Natural is the greatest baseball movie ever made, a top 3 all-time sports movie, and an undeniable summer blockbuster. Released in May of 1984, it went on to become the 14th biggest movie of the year. If at this point you haven't seen it, go see it. Even the non-baseball, non-sports fan can appreciate this film. My daughters have both mentioned how dreamy Robert Redford was back then, Glen Close was damn near perfect as the All-American gal, and Wilford Brimley is fantastic as the coach.
When it's on, I can't stop watching it. I think it's one of those movies you end up appreciating more as you get older, being able to relate to the person finally getting their shot and making the most of it.
Here are a bunch of clips from that movie.
I'm also going to post a scene from what I think is the best movie of the year so far, Furiosa. I know it underperformed at the box office, but that's a crime. This take on the background story of the character Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road (itself one of the best movies ever made) was deep, complex, suspenseful, and a riot. Here we see Chris Mensworth's shockingly good Dementus go meet the bad guys from Fury Road.
Last tonight is the new trailer for what WILL NOT be a summer movie, but a movie I can't wait to see, Captain America: Brave New World. Red Hulk finally shows up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
Have a great weekend everyone! Make sure to stay up to date on your vaccinations!
I returned from my annual vacation at the lake up north two weeks ago. After unpacking and getting back into the routine I decided I needed to catch up on some of the television I had missed. One of my regular watches is Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and I had two episodes to binge.
The first episode was a stark eye-opening expose on Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's manifesto for changing the US government substantially while nearly ensuring Republicans never step down from power ever again. The second episode was a preview of what happened in England on the 4th of July. The Conservatives/Tories, the right-leaning mainstream party in England (at that point), was on the verge of a historic drubbing, a massive loss at the polls. This was due to the public completely losing faith in them for changing the country dramatically for the worse.
The episode for Project 2025 was terrifying. Project 2025 is a culmination of various extremist policies from the far-right Heritage Foundation mashed into a tyrannical manifesto, something many in Trump's circle have said will be initiated on Day 1 of his next term. It's part Christian Nationalist takeover (no abortion nationwide, no contraception, removal of LGBTQIA+ rights, forced Christian education, killing no-fault divorce, installing a Christiananity über alles society), part MAGA buzzword policy (Getting rid of all DEI programs, eleimating African American and Gender studies at all level of education, no teaching of slavery in America, nationwide book banning), an extreme far right policy wish list (eliminate all unions and worker's rights, elimination of all climate change policies, immediate opening of all America to fossil fuel drilling, ending public education in America, no taxes on the wealthy, while massive tax increases on the middle and lower class, raising retirement age, killing Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, the EPA, FDA, the NOAA, and more), and totalitarian regime installation (streamline death penalites, banning Muslims from even entering the US, ordering troops into American communities as an extreme police force, getting rid of the FBI, concentration camps to deport millions of people including established American citizens). As bad as all that sounds, it's not even scratching the surface. You need to read up on it. It is terrifying. Google 'Project 2025' and then realize the extent of Trump's authoritarian power takeover and destruction of the American economy. (Read: https://www.axios.com/2024/07/02/trump-2025-imperial-us-presidency and https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2024/can-trump-replace-income-taxes-tariffs#:~:text=For%20starters%2C%20it%20would%20cost,the%20poor%20and%20middle%20class.)
The episode on the foreseen upheaval of the Tories was just as interesting. After 14 years of Trump/GOP/MAGA-like promises, the floor had finally fallen out underneath Britain. The Conservatives did two things that eventually doomed them. The first was Brexit, the UK leaving the European Union with promises that everything would be the same as it was before but better. I'm not sure if the Conservatives really were stupid enough to think the EU would give England the same rights as a member, or if they thought they could strong-arm the EU, but neither happened. Britain's economy is in shambles as they are losing 100 BILLION pounds a year to lost business. As bad as the fallout is from that, the austerity measures the Tories put into place are actually much worse. They have taken a country with a fairly reliable social safety net system and what used to be one of the better government-run medical systems in the world and gutted them, leaving the citizens of Britain in a bleak crisis. The benefactor of all of these cuts has been England's super-rich, who have seen their wealth skyrocket, while the average Brit is making 10,000 pounds per year less than when the Conservatives took over. The ensuing beatdown at the polls on July 4th was pretty astounding, their worst loss of all time, going from 371 seats to a paltry 121.
It was very interesting to see these two episodes back to back. On one side you saw the outrageous conservative policies the US Right is bragging about installing. On the other side were the eventual consequences of those Far Right policies, exposed for the lies and fraud that they always were, leading to a public rejection of them, on par with the turnover from Republicans to Democrats in 1930 and 1932.
It made me ask this question: Can we just eliminate the middle man and prevent from the US collapsing, preventing us from having to get to the point of the Right's willfully belligerent Republican voters come to the realization the people they were voting for were never on their side?
The problem is making the standard Trump voter understand they are being lied to openly. Let's take one of the issues from Project 2025/the Trump campaign: the elimination of public schools as we know it.
The Republican voter applauds this because of a very simple delusion; "Clearly the Trump Republicans are not going to take away MY kid's public school." Republican voters, when they hear a Republican politician say we'll eliminate public education hear "We're going to shut down those inner city schools where the minority kids waste my taxpayer dollars, but not my kids nearly all white wholesome rural school." No doubt the Republicans are going to shut the metro schools down (maybe not the wealthier suburban high schools which are quite popular, the schools where the majority of the GOP donations come from), but all the rural schools will be on the chopping block too. When the reality starts to hit, Republicans will tell their voters "Well we can't shut down the minority schools without shutting down your school. Even though it's not ideal, we think it's the best option." This is a variation on the already blue-collar Republican voter accepted "Well your taxes have to go up but the wealthy people get a tax cut because they're the 'job creators.'"
Let's just eliminate the middleman, preventing the suffering that will ensue when these outrageous Project 2025 policies destroy us. Not only do I not want people to suffer needlessly, while all their money is filtered up to the handful of wealthy Republican kingmakers, but look at the Project 2025 agenda. This will hurt and kill a lot of people! There is a real question of whether America will ever get another chance to pick the people who represent them. But that's kind of the whole point of Project 2025. After 30 years of Jimmy-rigging the system to allow the minority Republicans to maintain power, they're still losing base and can't win even with the unfair advantages they've given themselves. This whole Project 2025/Trump agenda is about seizing power and never relinquishing it.
We can avoid all of that by making sure Trump loses in November. It's the only way we can save America.
Hi all! I hope you all had a nice Independence Day holiday.
I usually don't start off with music videos but I'm going to make an exception this week. Two reasons:
1) The main video tonight has A LOT of naughty language but it's an all-time iconic moment in stand-up comedy. I wanted to do a palate cleanser before I post that, and if you don't want the naughtiness, then enjoy the first video and move on.
2) This song is the weirdest mash-up I've seen in a while - Heavy Metal, industrial techno, and Japanese girl band. It works. This song has been running through my head for a week now and I still like it.
To begin this week, Babymetal and Electric Callboy with Ratatata!
OUTSTANDING!
Now adult content from here on out.
So there was a comedy show in Philadelphia where Bill Burr took the stage. After one or two jokes, the Philly fans (which are notoriously some of the most obnoxious fans anywhere) started booing. What happens next is legendary comedy. Bill Burr turns on the audience. He melts down and starts roasting the hell out of them. It takes a few minutes but he really gets going towards the end.
I'm not sure how much of this was ad-libbed versus jokes he knew but wasn't necessarily planning on using this show, but some of the smackdowns he delivered are instant classics. As you listen to this, notice how he's so good that the crowd starts cheering for him in the end. It's literally the Blues Brother's movie, where the final concert is in front of a hostile crowd but Jake and Elwood win them over.
Once again, the language in this video is REALLY ROUGH! Viewers be warned! Because of that, you have to watch this on YouTube. Follow the link below.
He actually counts down how many minutes he has left in the beatdown he delivers in Philly. The lines about Rocky...
That routine has become a legendary all-time classic. So many comedians are in awe of it.
Bill Burr actually talks at length about what happened there, and his self-reflection is amazing to listen to. He talks about the crowd wasn't horrible to all the acts, and that the show itself was a bad idea. It's also amazing to hear him show real concern about becoming a one-trick comic, the guy that sits and riffs on the city he is in. He didn't become that (thank God!), but I could see how the demand for him to do that in every town could jeopardize the career he wanted.
Speaking of the Blues Brothers here is that all-time classic scene from the movie.
Have a great weekend.
Make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations.
This week, since the 4th of July/Independence Day is next Thursday, I will post videos that never get old, the Muppets, particularly Sam the American Eagle trying to celebrate the holiday.
Also this week, Antarctica! There is so little we know about Antarctica, and even what we do know is pretty minimal (and not too known outside of scientific circles). Did you know Antarctica is larger than the US and Mexico combined? There's a lot of weird history and just weirdness with the Antarctic continent, and Joe Scott takes us south to make you realize you probably never want to go there.
Finally tonight, another gem from ZeFrank, this time his crack research team is giving us the full lowdown on plants that explode, and there are a shocking amount of them!
Have a great weekend everyone! I'll see you all at PRIDE in Minneapolis!
Make sure yo stay up to date on your vaccinations!
The three for this week are all revisiting some of the regulars.
First up is Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. His take on why corporate America is starting to look ridiculous with their botched attempts at appealing to the LGBTQ community at pride, how their stupid mistakes are due to their real master (profits), and how it might be time for them to stop.
As a Veteran, I can relate. A lot of companies try to plaster veterans all over their logos to make THEMSELVES look patriotic. Sure they might offer a minor benefit to those who served, but the real benefit is in their marketing.
Next up is the Honest Trailers for Godzilla Minus One. Not only was this a great Godzilla flick, but it actually had a pretty good human story, focusing on Japan trying to gain back its pride after losing WWII. By the way, this movie won the Oscar for special effects and it did deserve it. See it.
Finally tonight, the latest from Tasting History with Max Miller. I love good pork-and-beans, and we forget it was not too long ago that it was a staple of a lot of people's diets. What I love about this recipe is how freaking easy it is. It takes time, but the results look fantastic!
I just realized I have not done a round up of my favorite SNL sketches from the last season. I know everyone loved the Ryan Gosling Beavis and Butt-Head skit (and it is on this list) but it's not #1.
#9 - Trump Sneakers with Shane Gillis who actually does a really good Trump impression. And the concept of this bit is very good.
#8 - Pilates - I actually posted this sensational Kristen Wiig skit on an earlier Friday Link. This was the best bit from her show, who like Maya, elevated the entire show.
#7 - Close Encounter - The first of the two Ryan Gosling clips to make the list (and there was almost a third). They revisited one of the better sketch series from the last 10 years. Kate McKinnon is so good in this sketch.
#6 - I'm Just Pete - From the first episode of the season, Pete Davidson sings a song that asks the question "Why am I popular?"
#5 - Bowen's Straight - Bowen Yang (at times) is an all-time cast member. This was a good behind-the-scenes produced bit, with Sydney Sweeney.
#4 - Weekend Update: Colin and Michael Swap Jokes - This is a recurring bit where the two Weekend Update hosts exchange jokes the other person has not read. In the past Micheal Che has dominated Colin, but this time around, the best hit was delivered by Colin, via Kendrick Lamar.
#3 - Beavis and Butt-head - What has become an all-time SNL skit, by far the most popular skit of the season. Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day make everyone roll, but it's Keenan who makes this skit an all-time classic, managing to keep his composure. Yes, sometimes cracking up makes a skit better.
#2 - Washington's Dream - This sketch is so damn funny, making fun of the weird things we do in the United States, as told to the Revolutionary War fighters by Nate Bargatze's George Washington. When he got to football, I was in tears.
#1 - OBGYN - Kenan Thompson is SO DAMN FUNNY! The concept of this is great. What exactly was their new OBGYN's previous career? Everyone is laughing in the end.
Have a great Father's Day weekend everyone.
Please stay healthy and safe. Make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations!
One thing the Republicans are good at is propaganda. They're fantastic at creating an alternate reality and convincing their followers it's the truth. It helps they have a voter base who has been brainwashed by right-wing media and extremist websites for 30 years, but they know how to play them like a fiddle.
Take this weekend, the first weekend after Trump was convicted in his hush money cover-up trial in Manhattan. EVERY Republican got the memo and is speaking the same tailing point: "Joe Biden controlled this entire outcome!" His guilty verdict has to be about ANYTHING besides his being guilty of the crime.
For the record, he is guilty of the crime. New York started investigating Trump in 2018. This was a New York case, cleared through a grand jury, and his conviction was sealed by a jury HIS legal team HELPED SELECT! Trump is guilty because he hid payments to a porn star to try to help his 2016 election.
The truth doesn't matter though. The point was to ensure all of their voters heard the 'Biden Star Chamber' fairy tale, which they have instantly categorized as a factual truth. They DESPERATELY want it to be true, so their favorite right-wing talking head saying it's true is all the validation they need. Chisel it into granite!
The problem with Republicans and their propaganda machine is there are many times they forget it's propaganda, and they think they can change reality. When reality smacks back (and it always does) it generally leaves a pretty big mark. That's what's happened with the MAGA fantasy "documentary" '2000 Mules.'
Let me first explain the laughable argument the film makes. The three entities behind this mess are the conservative non-profit True the Vote, right-wing political commentator Dinesh D'Souza, and Salem Media Group, the company that published the film and book (a book which was never released). The argument the "documentary" makes is that left-leaning groups, working hand in hand with the Democratic Party, hired people (referred to as mules) to illegally collect and deposit fraudulent ballots into ballot drop boxes in swing states, flipping the 2020 election win to Biden over Trump. They said they proved this with two sources. The first is the use of geolocation data to determine the mules were constantly going to multiple ballot drop boxes, repeatedly, and mailing fraudulent ballots. They even showed video footage they claimed showed people 'muling,' identified by pinging their cell phones. The other source was an anonymous whistleblower who claimed they were aware of the entire scheme (but because of a confidentiality agreement, they could not offer any information about John Doe), as well as the names of ballot harvester whistleblowers who authenticated the fraud.
This movie had A LOT of deception, half-truths, non-existent facts, and outright lies. Pretty much every time someone pointed out an undeniable flaw with the facts of the "documentary," the groups dismissed the criticism, falling back to the geolocation data and the confidential sources as their "proof."
This group was so committed to their propaganda that they actually encouraged the Georgia Secretary of State and the Georgia Election Board to conduct their own investigation in November of 2021. This is where they made their mistake. My guess is they thought the Republicans involved with those offices would just show 2000 Mules at the trial and then scream "We rest our case!" That's not how investigators work.
The geolocation data was quickly picked apart for its fraud. Basically, their argument was that in a major city, they could accurately pinpoint where people were with their cell phones. That's just garbage. Millions of people live in these major cities so there are automatically going to be a lot of people going by ballot drop-off boxes regularly. The movie showed security footage of people dropping ballots in boxes, CLEARLY implying they were mules, partially "identified" by their cell phone geolocation. That's actually impossible to do with their method. There's no way they could correctly identify a person dropping a ballot into a ballot box as carrying the phone they said was pinging.
That's not liberal Matt McNeil pointing this out. That is Trump's own AG, Bill Barr!!!
Many others have pointed out the CLEAR LIES stated about geolocation data in 2000 Mules, something the people behind the film either insist they never said was definitive or imply the critics are intentionally dismissing their data, without clarifying the critic's mistakes.
But even with all this, the investigators wanted to talk with the 2000 Mules sources, but (FUNNY!!!) True the Vote didn't want to give them their evidence, namely their contact information for the main informant, his confidentiality agreement, and the names of the other people who helped corroborate the ballot harvesting story. The Georgia Election Commission went to court to force them to give them the information, INFORMATION TRUE THE VOTE, DINESH D'SOUZA, AND THE SALEM MEDIA GROUP ALL REPEATEDLY INSISTED WAS REAL!!! The following excerpt is from a July 2023 AP story (https://apnews.com/article/georgia-election-board-true-vote-ballot-harvesting-a6669b44107201e2485b15d8f5b2a45f) on the case.
The courts sided with Georgia, and finally, in February of this year, the truth came out.
Here's where reality is starting to smack back, hard. One of the people show in 2000 Mules they accused of ballot harvesting and being a mule, Mark Andrews, was only dropping off ballots for himself, his wife, and his kids, something VERY LEGAL to do. How could they be so stupid to accuse him of something they know he didn't do? He's now suing True the Vote, Dinesh D'Souza, and (up until this last week) Salem Media for falsely depicting him illegally voting, allegations which led to numerous death threats against him. On Friday Salem Media apologized to Mr. Andrews, pulled the movie and book from its catalog, and viciously threw True the Vote and Dinesh D'Souza under the bus. We can only hope Mr. Andrews gets in the high 8 figures from the other two clown cars.
In the end, the damage has already been done. Not only will most conservatives insist 2000 Mules is truthful, but they'll never even see the news stories exposing the massive lie. Not only does the conservative media attack the Left, but they also bury stories that will make the Right look bad. They don't want to stop anyone from believing the lie.
Over the next few months on your social media pages, you'll have numerous conservative family members, coworkers, and trolls insist 2000 Mules proved fraud existed. The only counterpunch you have is posting this article to their timeline. I'm not saying they'll believe what I've typed, but at least they'll have some doubt. Maybe they'll begin to see the emperor's splendid new clothes might not be what he claims them to be. I know that it's not much of a consolation prize, but it'll have to do. There will never be any real justice for the lies these traitors told our country.
Conservatives will sit in their basements rewatching the DVD over and over again.
None of the news outlets that allowed repeated positive coverage of 2000 Mules will dedicate even a syllable to correcting the record.
Cinemark Theaters will never apologize for showing 2000 Mules on the big screen.
And after the 2000 LIES that the people around 2000 Mules told the American people, there will only be one apology, an apology to the people they stupidly falsely accused of voter fraud, an apology True the Vote and Dinesh D'Souza will hope no one will ever hear.
When that story comes out, post it like they WRONGLY think votes were cast in 2020, early and often.
