Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Tobacco whoa'd
By The Erudite Redneck
Dreamed last night:
I was with three or four other grungy, raggedly dressed guys in something like a steam pipe distribution venue, underground.
It was "underground" in two ways: literally, and it was clear that we all were fugitives -- from who or what I don't know. The walls were dripping, mossy and moldy. It was dimly lit and dank.
In comes another of "us." He tosses down a duffel bag and says, "Look what I got!" We gather around.
In one end of the bag were a bunch of packs of Winstons, in the other were a bunch of packs of Chesterfields. We all lunged in to grab hands full.
"Oh, man, I haven't smoked a Chesterfield in years," I said -- but when I picked up some of the packs, they all were opened and all the cigs were wet.
Then, I reached ovr for some Winstons, and they were all gone, lost in the odds and ends of other junk he had in the bag.
What a gyp!
What does it mean?
Confession: I have been Copenhagen (snuff)-free since July 6, 2003. I do still smoke cigars once in awhile, and, since Dr. ER started complainin' about the "sheep turd specials" that are my favorite cigars (short, 50-ring, maduro), I've picked up the pipe again. But I still chew at least one nicotine gum a day.
Yesterday, while smoking my pipe in the back yard, tryin' like heck to finish this two-volume 1,026-page tome on the history of the fur trade, and drinkin' a quad vinte eight-pump mocha from Starbucks, it dawned on me that I mighta just used the gum to switch habits.
SIGH. Well, it beats spitting in cups and leavin' them everywhere. I never smoke in the house.
END
Dreamed last night:
I was with three or four other grungy, raggedly dressed guys in something like a steam pipe distribution venue, underground.
It was "underground" in two ways: literally, and it was clear that we all were fugitives -- from who or what I don't know. The walls were dripping, mossy and moldy. It was dimly lit and dank.
In comes another of "us." He tosses down a duffel bag and says, "Look what I got!" We gather around.
In one end of the bag were a bunch of packs of Winstons, in the other were a bunch of packs of Chesterfields. We all lunged in to grab hands full.
"Oh, man, I haven't smoked a Chesterfield in years," I said -- but when I picked up some of the packs, they all were opened and all the cigs were wet.
Then, I reached ovr for some Winstons, and they were all gone, lost in the odds and ends of other junk he had in the bag.
What a gyp!
What does it mean?
Confession: I have been Copenhagen (snuff)-free since July 6, 2003. I do still smoke cigars once in awhile, and, since Dr. ER started complainin' about the "sheep turd specials" that are my favorite cigars (short, 50-ring, maduro), I've picked up the pipe again. But I still chew at least one nicotine gum a day.
Yesterday, while smoking my pipe in the back yard, tryin' like heck to finish this two-volume 1,026-page tome on the history of the fur trade, and drinkin' a quad vinte eight-pump mocha from Starbucks, it dawned on me that I mighta just used the gum to switch habits.
SIGH. Well, it beats spitting in cups and leavin' them everywhere. I never smoke in the house.
END
Comments:
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Does she compare your cigars to sheep excrement by the smell or the shape? Having been a former 4-H'er that raised sheep, I don't recall anything cigar-shaped in the pasture. I also don't recall smelling anything like a cigar, but then one gets used to that good ol' farm smell. ;)
# posted by 
: 2:25 PM
: 2:25 PM
My lil cigars ($3 or so apiece) are known as "sheep turd specials" because of their smell, which is weird, 'cause they taste goo-oo-ood! :-)
I know that this will get me roundly mocked, but you do realize that "gyp" is a slur, right?
Oh, and I really desperately want a cig.
Oh, and I really desperately want a cig.
Mocked? No. Just dismissed. Yes, I do recognize that "gyp" is considered a "slur," usually by the kind of liberal that I am not -- and I don't give a shit. Only when all of us can make fun of all the rest of us can we all get along. Once the rappers started using "nigger" but saying, or intimating, that others couldn't -- all bets were off. Once Foxworthy made "redneck" a cottage industry -- all bets were off. When the D.C. official got in trouble for using the perectly good word "niggardly" I realized the world was really insane, if not stupid. And I will use any goddamn word -- now there's a word that truly does offend, but you don't see anybody hedging it, do you? -- anytime I damn well please. Here anyway. ... I'm thinking of starting a movement called 14th Letter, as a way to preserve all the words that people are afraid to use now because someone's feelings get hurt. Fuck people's FEELINGS. Life is a bitch -- oops, there's another offensive word. "Jesus God," as Imus likes to say. ... If the rappers are right, then I'm right. If only THEY get to use the word "nigger," then I only white guys get to use the word "redneck." ... I believe you have opened a vein, and I believe I am spewing all over this keyboard ...
Got any pressure bandages handy there, ER?? ;)
I heard a quote of Vicente Fox's (presidente of Mexico) on the radio today. It was in regards to something that he can apparently say in Mexico, but not the US. He said something to the effect of we're way too overboard trying to be politically correct.
Yep, put it in your diaries, folks. This is the one and only time you'll see me agreeing with Mr. Fox. I don't think he should have said what he said, but I agree with his response to his critics.
So, do those cigars smell that way before or during smoking (or both)? That is weird that something doesn't taste like it smells.
I heard a quote of Vicente Fox's (presidente of Mexico) on the radio today. It was in regards to something that he can apparently say in Mexico, but not the US. He said something to the effect of we're way too overboard trying to be politically correct.
Yep, put it in your diaries, folks. This is the one and only time you'll see me agreeing with Mr. Fox. I don't think he should have said what he said, but I agree with his response to his critics.
So, do those cigars smell that way before or during smoking (or both)? That is weird that something doesn't taste like it smells.
# posted by : 9:17 PM
: 9:17 PM
... STILL SPEWING: We will not get along in this country by tip-toeing around our differences and pretending they don't exist. I get along with an awful lot of people IN SPITE OF the fact they are different from me. Not because I think we're all love-and-light brothers and sisters dancin' on a moonbeam for peace. Bullshit. Somebody shut down the melting pot about the time I was born. But we're supposed to act like we're all the same, when we're not? We're all supposed to glorify in our differences in certain quarters, but pretend we're all the same? Horseshit. The true measure of an honorable person is when one can look all around him, or her, and see all the differences, and not be coyed by the pretense that we're all alike under the skin, and still treat everyone equally. To make me kiss their ass, too, by abandoning words because it hurts their feelings? Meadow muffins.
I think all that carryin' on has worn me plumb out -- p-l-u-m-b, Nick, :-) -- and I think I am going to take my beaver book and go to bed and finish the dadgum thing. 1,026 pages on the 19th-century fur trade! I should get a medal!
Sigh. I think B just knows how to push my buttons. ... Some days I'm a little more erudite, some days a little more redneck. ...
But I honestly am real proud of this line: "Not because I think we're all love-and-light brothers and sisters dancin' on a moonbeam for peace. Bullshit."
But I honestly am real proud of this line: "Not because I think we're all love-and-light brothers and sisters dancin' on a moonbeam for peace. Bullshit."
Eh, c'mon. It wasn't "the rappers" who issued the rules about the N-word. I don't see what's wrong with a rule of thumb that says you can use any word you want as long as you're not doing it out of meanness or ignorance. Which is obviously why "homos" didn't bug me or anyone else--you were clearly using it knowingly, and as a way of flagging the fact that prejudice against gays was precisely part of what the discussion was *about*. Gyp bugs me because it gets used in ignorance a lot, and because gypsies genuinely are crapped upon all over central and eastern Europe and people don't even realize it. Usually when I say, "y'know that word's a slur?" people go, "huh? It is?" and then I explain and they say some dumb shit like "I didn't even know gypsies existed." Kind of like Indian names for sports teams--seems to be words people use in the mistaken belief that the people they refer to don't even exist any more.
Same goes for redneck. If I see someone using "trash" or "redneck" or "okie" in a mean-assed or ignorant way, you damn right I'll smack 'em down. I banned a commenter once for bitching about "trash" in one of my threads, and I've banned people for calling me a "bitch" in a deliberately mean-spirited way. What words mean depends a lot on context, audience, and speaker: you can call me a bitch, jokingly in earnest, and it's all cool, but someone who wanders in off the street and calls me that and I'll rip their head off. Which is precisely why I chose the name (and I'll wager part of what's going on with you calling yourself "redneck," too).
It bugs the crap out of me how "n---" gets trotted out as THE word every white person claims the right to use in the name of Free Speech. Seems to me there's two things going on there, culturally: one is that we're all acknowledging that, in this country with the history we have, that word is *particularly* loaded, beyond many other slurs (which it is); and also, that we all want desperately to have an excuse to use it.
There's a difference between saying you have the *right* to say what you like--of course you do--and dismissing legitimate concerns with casual racism, or the way that racism is embedded in the language, as being just some simple-minded crap about hurt feelings, or erasure of difference.
Same goes for redneck. If I see someone using "trash" or "redneck" or "okie" in a mean-assed or ignorant way, you damn right I'll smack 'em down. I banned a commenter once for bitching about "trash" in one of my threads, and I've banned people for calling me a "bitch" in a deliberately mean-spirited way. What words mean depends a lot on context, audience, and speaker: you can call me a bitch, jokingly in earnest, and it's all cool, but someone who wanders in off the street and calls me that and I'll rip their head off. Which is precisely why I chose the name (and I'll wager part of what's going on with you calling yourself "redneck," too).
It bugs the crap out of me how "n---" gets trotted out as THE word every white person claims the right to use in the name of Free Speech. Seems to me there's two things going on there, culturally: one is that we're all acknowledging that, in this country with the history we have, that word is *particularly* loaded, beyond many other slurs (which it is); and also, that we all want desperately to have an excuse to use it.
There's a difference between saying you have the *right* to say what you like--of course you do--and dismissing legitimate concerns with casual racism, or the way that racism is embedded in the language, as being just some simple-minded crap about hurt feelings, or erasure of difference.
:-) Glad to see ya before you head off for vacation. :-)
Somewhere in all my rancor above is what I think. The "N word" is a particularly hot topic 'round here right now because of the following: (I think that the fact that this man was forced to resign over this is wronger than his offense of using the dang word in the first place; also, the fact that not a peep of complaint has been uttered about his use of the "H word" just don't set well with a redneck like me!):
xxxxx
April 30
Oklahoma baseball coach Larry Cochell was indefinitely suspended Friday for racially insensitive remarks made in two off camera interviews with ESPN’s Gary Thorne and Kyle Peterson before Tuesday night’s OU-Wichita State game.
According to ESPN, the Sooners coach told Thorne, “There’s no n - - - - -in him,” in reference to freshman Joe Dunigan, an African American.
In a separate discussion about Dunigan with Peterson, Cochell reportedly said, “There are honkies and white people and there are n - - - - - -and black people. Dunigan is a good black kid.”
Oklahoma officials were made aware of the comments at 4 p.m. Friday. ESPN subsequently aired a report on Cochell’s remarks.
Cochell, who is in his 39th year of college coaching, did not return phone calls. A reporter was also turned away at his home.
Cochell, who has been at OU for 15 years, issued a statement.
“I profoundly apologize for my remarks,” the statement said. “I am deeply sorry for any pain or embarrassment I have caused for any individual or the university. Our university family is totally committed to equality and mutual respect. I personally hold those values and will always regret that my careless use of language did not reflect my own values, and it certainly did not reflect the values of the University of Oklahoma.” ...
Etc.
ER HERE: He eventually resigned under pressure. That was his decision, no matter the pressure put on him by ou. But they would've fired him anyway -- and that would have been overkill.
Somewhere in all my rancor above is what I think. The "N word" is a particularly hot topic 'round here right now because of the following: (I think that the fact that this man was forced to resign over this is wronger than his offense of using the dang word in the first place; also, the fact that not a peep of complaint has been uttered about his use of the "H word" just don't set well with a redneck like me!):
xxxxx
April 30
Oklahoma baseball coach Larry Cochell was indefinitely suspended Friday for racially insensitive remarks made in two off camera interviews with ESPN’s Gary Thorne and Kyle Peterson before Tuesday night’s OU-Wichita State game.
According to ESPN, the Sooners coach told Thorne, “There’s no n - - - - -in him,” in reference to freshman Joe Dunigan, an African American.
In a separate discussion about Dunigan with Peterson, Cochell reportedly said, “There are honkies and white people and there are n - - - - - -and black people. Dunigan is a good black kid.”
Oklahoma officials were made aware of the comments at 4 p.m. Friday. ESPN subsequently aired a report on Cochell’s remarks.
Cochell, who is in his 39th year of college coaching, did not return phone calls. A reporter was also turned away at his home.
Cochell, who has been at OU for 15 years, issued a statement.
“I profoundly apologize for my remarks,” the statement said. “I am deeply sorry for any pain or embarrassment I have caused for any individual or the university. Our university family is totally committed to equality and mutual respect. I personally hold those values and will always regret that my careless use of language did not reflect my own values, and it certainly did not reflect the values of the University of Oklahoma.” ...
Etc.
ER HERE: He eventually resigned under pressure. That was his decision, no matter the pressure put on him by ou. But they would've fired him anyway -- and that would have been overkill.
Oh, and I'm still right proud of this! :-)
"Not because I think we're all love-and-light brothers and sisters dancin' on a moonbeam for peace. Bullshit."
"Not because I think we're all love-and-light brothers and sisters dancin' on a moonbeam for peace. Bullshit."
Eh, I can't agree. In this day and age, anyone who doesn't know that language like that is a firing offense in higher ed or sports. . . . I mean, how many stinks have been raised over this? And how would you like to be the kid who he said that about? And how is that kind of shit going to impact their recruiting? The fact is, it's a word that *is* deeply offensive to a lot of people, including probably some of the people that worked for that guy, and the reasons behind that are not stupid ones. And anyone with an ounce of sense knows this. (And it *is* more offensive than "honky," I mean, c'mon, "honky" is pretty much a joke by definition. The problem with comparing the words is that it implies that history doesn't matter--and we both know that history matters quite a lot.)
It is a stupid thing to be fired over. So, he ought not to have done it. I mean, I'm sorry that people get fired for stupid crap like that, but I'm also sorry that even though it keeps happening, they keep doing it. How many people with jobs that require public speaking and work for employers that care about public opinion are gonna have to get canned for tossing out racial slurs before they say, "gee, maybe I oughta not do that?" Y'know?
It is a stupid thing to be fired over. So, he ought not to have done it. I mean, I'm sorry that people get fired for stupid crap like that, but I'm also sorry that even though it keeps happening, they keep doing it. How many people with jobs that require public speaking and work for employers that care about public opinion are gonna have to get canned for tossing out racial slurs before they say, "gee, maybe I oughta not do that?" Y'know?
And I'll bet that "staff" brings in the most $$ for their employers over any of the highfalutin "faculty." ;)
IMHO, some people/groups are just professional offendees.
IMHO, some people/groups are just professional offendees.
# posted by : 2:26 PM
: 2:26 PM
Well, the football coaches at Big Game schools certainly bring in a lot of money. Though at R1 institutions, the science and med school faculty are nothing to sneeze at.
The primary goal of an educational institution isn't profit, though. It's education.
The primary goal of an educational institution isn't profit, though. It's education.
Good point, B. Makes my lil ol B.S.'s and freshly minted M.A. quiver with rage when people start wanting to treat education like "bidness." Pisses me off to hear anybody say same about "government" in general. Government (including public education) is to serve. Business is to profit. What part of that do people not get?
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