Keeper of the Clown Bell

I found this on my Yahoo! news feed today http://news.yahoo.com/no-laughing-matter-clown-terror-spreads-france-005440754.html and was shocked to see Halloween horror spreading around the world - truly, these are the End Times!

Well, the USA is back at war in Iraq and this time we get to fight in Syria too! Amazing to watch a persons ideology come crashing down on their head and drenching them in ice cold reality.

Having watched hour upon hour of human pachinko during the World Cup I have grown accustomed to the emptiness I experience every 4 years. Truly, as a sport it's as un-American as any game gets; but it's the philosophical nihilism that wins the hearts and "minds" of the face painted plebeians who adore "the beautiful game". I put the word minds in quotes because soccer makes tiddlywinks look like a chess match where strategy is concerned. No - like life itself for billions of earth’s denizens it is a irritating and exhausting process of "running around" chasing a object of desire… that you're not even allowed to hold and you must endure half your existence watching your opponents kicking it around. Scoring is a whimsical event - almost a mistake half the time and it's not uncommon to have an authority figure (the ref) arbitrarily punish you for no good god damn reason and cost you everything. Mind numbing monotony, you're best shots

There's been a lot of hand wringing over the Washington DC football team's mascot with the latest salvo fired by the US Patent office in rescinding the Redskins trademark on the grounds that it's name is a "racial slur". Fair enough, and hard to argue that the term "redskin" is NOT racially insensitive and down right xenophobic in it's intended usage and historical meaning. Why even argue the point by sighting polls that highlight the overwhelming support the masses have for keeping the Washington football team named the Redskins - the name is a racial slur. Period. Pointing the finger at other sports teams and claiming that Redskin is no worse than Indian or Blackhawk of Viking is also a loosing argument because it obviously is false. Buying off the "native american" tribes isn't going to work either because most Indians don't give a rats ass about the name and giving jobs and opportunity to the tribes through a private foundati

Well, it's that time of the year again. Here are my thumbnail reviews of the best picture films for 2014 being honored at the 86th - that's right eighty six of these things have transpired - Academy Awards this weekend. Will I watch? Doubt it, because True Detective is on HBO at the same time and it's better than almost all of the movies nominated this year. Before going any further let me say that expanding the number of films from 5 to whatever is a big mistake - the Academy doesn't pick better films just because it can pick more. This years nominees prove the point so here's the scoop. American Hustle - This years Argo. A nostalgia piece for the 65 and older crowd who actually vote for the winner. Makes me sweaty with anticipation for the Iran-Contra epic that will be honored at the 96th Academy Awards. Great acting, direction and design, but the same problems that sunk Argo infuse this manipulative fiasco. If there wasn't a slave and transexual movie in