YouTube Friday

I am going a bit ol'skool today. Some classic rap from the late '80s and early '90s.


LL Cool J- Mama said knock you out


Tone Loc- Wild Thing


Beastie Boys- Fight for you right (to party)

Mysogyny again, damn

I went and got my haircut this last weekend at one of those haircut places that are supposed to cater to men. These places are supposed to have what men like, they have sports on a big screen TV, and you can get a complimentary beverage. Also the stylists are supposed to know how to cut a man's hair better or something like that. I have been to other places to get my haircut that are supposed to cater to men and really they are mostly the same as any other hair place, sometimes they have sports memorabilia around the shop and they have little TVs for you to watch while you are getting your hair cut. Now I like having the TV there mostly cause I don't really want to talk to someone while they are cutting my hair. It is relaxing for me to sit there in silence or whatever and watching a TV is nice. I think of it like some women like to read magazines while their hair is being cut, I like to watch TV and no it is not always sports, but yeah sometimes it is. So I got this flier in the mail for a free haircut at this place that is supposed to cater to men. So I figured I would go check it out. They have father and son deals, a little putting station for you to do while you are waiting, a checker board for you to do with your child (son really), a shoe shine station and a big screen TV to watch sports on. I don't have a kids, I don't golf and even if I did I wouldn't go to the salon to practice my putting, and I dont have any shoes that I need to get shined so this is just the same as any other place to me. So I get my haircut and I realize as I am there that this is just an up scale hair salon for men. You get this whole routine, they give you a hot towel after you are done, you can get a relaxing head massage and shampoo and each of the cutting stations is in its own separate little area so it is just you and the stylist. I guess this last fact is supposed to make it more intimate and more up scale, but usually it is like $25 to get a haircut at this place. I think that is a bit much, I normally pay $15 and that is including tip.

The point at which I realized that this was just another way to reinforce the idea that men are superior to women in society is the whole slogan for them: Where men feel comfortable. Yeah as opposed to everywhere else where men do not feel comfortable like the office, the gym, hell everywhere in our society. And then they add, Honorable rebellion among men. How rebellious is it to get your hair cut? There used to be a difference between where men got their haircuts at barber shops and the beauty salon for women, I guess, but really now these places are the same. There are no real barber shops anymore and most of the places I go to cater to both men and women. I guess there might still be beauty salons, but really don't they do more than cut a women's hair anymore? So again not so rebellious or special, just a place where men can feel like they are away from women and where we support that whole notion that men are better than women. But I couldn't help but notice that everyone who worked at the hair cut place was female, all of the stylists and the receptionist. Now I did got to a place a while back where there was a male stylist and I did think he did the best job with my hair, but that had nothing to do with his gender, he was just a good stylist. And this was at one of those general Haircuttery type places that are in every mall and strip mall it seems everywhere. Finally, I picked up a coaster that they had to put your complimentary drink on, soft drinks mostly but I did see some non-alcoholic beer, but I digress, there was this phrase on it and this is the point at which I knew I was going to have to blog about this place.

Isn't it refreshing to a little Honorable Rebellion Among Men?" The (place name which I will not name) is filling a void in American life that has as much to do with the restoration of men as it does with the business of haircutting.

The part that caught my eye...the restoration of men... Unless I missed something, men do not need to be restored. The patriarchy makes sure of that and we have not been in decline for over 5000 years, so what the hell are they restoring? And if they are referring to men getting their hair cuts and the decline of the barber shop, well then charging over $25 for a hair cut is not in the same vein as a barber shop, having a big fancy shop is not in the same vein as a barber shop and being in a strip mall and all corporate and shit is not in the same vein as a barber shop. My thinking of a barber shop is somewhere that is small and has been run by the same person or same family for a long period of time and somewhere that you can get a good haircut cheap. The place I was at does not fit into any of that. So it is just another case where men are supposed to feel like we are somehow been missing something and that women have taken over something and yet, the patriarchy makes sure that this will never happen unless we fight it.

I know I only catch probably one percent of the misogynistic messages that are broadcast constantly in our society, but it still sickens me ever time I realize that yet again, I have to be ashamed of my gender and the stupid things males do to try and reinforce the patriarchy.

Book Review- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon chronicles the lives of two men who start out in the comic book business in the years leading up to World War II. Joseph Kavalier is a Czech Jew who is smuggled out of Prague prior to World War II. We see his life growing up where he is trained as a magician specifically an escape artist. He ends up in Brooklyn living with his cousin Sam Clay and Sam's mother. Both Sam and Joe are artists and Sam is working at what is an early comic book company. The two of them create a new superhero, The Escapist, among a cast of other characters to populate their new comic book universe. Joe also falls in love with and has a long relationship with Rosa Saks, who becomes another of their comic book heroes, Luna Moth. The book follows Joe and Sam as they work in the early comic book business prior to World War II. It then progresses through WWII and then a bit after to finish up the story of these two and the comic book business of that era.

This is an interesting story which chronicles the Golden Age of Comics of the mid to late 1930 through the 1940s. Since I am not a huge comic book collector, it was interesting to see the way in which many of the comics began and the rise in popularity of comic books. This book also looks at the ways in which the comic book artists and writers did not benefit from the rise in the comic sales to th same extent as those who were in the management offices of the companies. Also the way in which the nation was reacting to the rise of fascism through the superheroes fighting the Nazis even prior to the eventual entering of the United States into WWII.

It took me a while to really get into this book as I just couldn't seem to find the time to sit down and really read it, but once I did, I really liked it and had no problems reading forty to fifty pages at a sitting. This was generally a light book that kept moving well with some slow parts toward the middle where the story deviates away from the comic book business and Joe Kavalier has to deal with some of his own personal demons. Overall, it was a good book that was fun to read.

Fuck the Republicans

I am shamelessly stealing this from Shakesville. The Texas Republicans have been redistricting in an effort to disenfranchise key Democratic constituencies. So what did the students of Prairie View A&M do when their local polling station was placed 7 miles from the school? They marched to the polling place and brought a highway to a standstill. I will repeat that, they fucking marched down the middle of a fucking highway and stopped traffic. They were doing their civic duty and voting and when people tried to screw them out of this, they said fuck you and took over a local highway. And the Republicans are scared that the Democrats might win this election, I say "hell yeah they will win." And people say that this generation is lazy and apathetic toward politics, I say "do people who are apathetic march seven miles to vote? Hell no." So fuck you Texas Republicans!

YouTube Friday

Cause this song reminds me of when I took dance class in elementary school. I just remember the "older kids" doing a routine to this one. It also has Gilligan and Mary Anne, I may be more of a Ginger fan, but still...


Ad Libs- The boy from New York City

I can remember listening to this one while i was just playing with cars in my parents' little den growing up. Not exactly sure why, but I have been a fan of this song for a long time.


Jim Croce- Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

War- Edwin Starr

In memory of Kurt Cobain, 1967-1994

Today would be his birthday.


Nirvana- Lake of Fire


Nirvana- Lithium