The Obamanator **Additions**

He'll he back. He can be reasoned with. He can be bargained with. And he absolutely will not stop until the middle class is dead. It's the Obamanator.

Just like health care, Obama swept in, took all of his cards off the table and gave the whole shebang away while calling it victory.  And it scares me. Not just for myself, although this pretty much guarantees that I'll be working until I die but for my parents. Both are dependent on Medicare and Social Security to survive. My mum barely can make ends meet as it is and the shared sacrifice of her having to pay more for the doctors, which she needs due to her degenerative arthritis or getting less from her social security just might push her over the edge into poverty. While the rich, big corporations and defense industries sacrifice....oh right, nothing.

My mum lives in a beautiful little town called Coupeville. Don't let the name fool you. It's much prettier than it sounds and her needs are few so I would hate to see her pushed from her home because of this. I keep getting more and more disillusioned with Obama and I didn't even think that was possible. I can see me supporting a strong primary challenger. The progressive movement is trying to start a party like the teabaggers did called the coffee party. There is no chapter where I live but I might try to start one. Even though I have no idea how to. But, change starts with me.

Although I may be overreacting to this. Everybody thinks that Obama is playing three dimensional chess and I should just wait to see how this shakes out. I have heard pro and con and these bills can be so convoluted that the average person just cannot understand. And now we have this thing called the Super Congress. What is that and why does it have so much power. It seems to be something that will be useful to subvert the power of the regular congress. But this article lays it out far better than I can.

http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2011/07/31/president_obama_surrender/index.html

I wanted to add two more excellent articles about my ambivalence with Obama and why I think that he is taking us in the wrong direction.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/what-happened-to-obamas-passion.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

http://www.salon.com/books/history/index.html?story=%2Fpolitics%2Fwar_room%2F2011%2F08%2F04%2Fobama_keynes_fdr
 

Book Review

In the Garden of Beasts by Eric Larson

Just like the wonderful writing of the brilliant Bettany Hughes, Eric Larson can take you back in time with his words. He has the ability to write in a way that informs, entertains and transports. I have read this author before with the wonderful "Devil in the White City." I enjoyed that book so much I ordered this, his latest book, as soon as it became available. I was not disappointed. And neither will you.

The book concerns a personage I have never heard of before in a time I felt that I was pretty educated about. I guess that when I read books or watched documentaries that concerned the Nazis it was usually from a German or European perspective. I rarely thought about it from how it played out in America beyond the periphery. The dramatic attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese seemed to be much more significant, I was wrong. Because there were indeed shifting currents both pro and anti Nazi in our government at the time and when FDR was looking for a new ambassador to Germany during this crucial period,1933, he made no qualms about his reservations about Hitler and how important this post would be. 

Roosevelt choose an academic named William E. Dodd. Together with his wife and two grown children where thrust into the snake pit that saw the rise of Hitler in Germany. Living in Berlin they rubbed shoulder with all of the movers of shakers from Göring to Goebbels to Himmler to Hilter himself. Their diplomatic home was neighboring Ernst Röhm and they were in the thick of his arrest and execution. His daughter, the beautiful, wild and intelligent Martha, had affairs with many high ranking officials and a suspicious (at least to the Nazis fearful of communism) Russian. Most amazing of all, the house they rented during there stay was owned by a Jew who lived on the top floor. This man hoped that living with an American diplomat would protect him and his family.

The book moves fast and is endlessly fascinating. The heart of the book is Martha. She was young, newly divorced and ready to embrace everything. When she arrived in Germany she was enamored of the Fascist regime. We watch as this slowly changes during her time there. Interesting, well-paced, thoroughly documented and educational, this book has something for everyone. Do yourself a favor and read it. While your at it pick up "Devil in the White City."

Goodbye Amy Winehouse

So the 27 club welcomes one more member. What a shame that so much talent and potential will now never be fully realized. She had many demons and battled them for years but the demons were too strong and she too frail to defeat them. In the end, she had become a shambling, slurry mockery of her former self. I think that her voice was the strongest thing about her. I have both of her albums "Frank" and "Back to Black". I played them often and felt many times that she was singing my life. Her voice was like whiskey and cigarettes. She blazed the trail for the sultry female singers that Britain seems to have a profusion of these days. Adele, Duffy, Estelle and even Lily Allen owe their success across the pond to her. I am saddened by all the great music she will never make now. I mourn her passing and I can empathize with the pain she must have been in. I hope she is at peace. Goodbye Amy Winehouse, you will be missed.

Captain Jack makes me Squee!

I watched the first installment of Torchwood brought to American TV tonight. This is a great show, an offshoot of Dr. Who, which is a BBC show that I have loved in it's original incarnation but have never watched in redux. I just love it. It has great characters and imaginative stories that transport. Captain Jack is one of those characters that you think you know but has so much beneath the surface that whole worlds can be built upon not only what is revealed but what is still to come. Is he good? I always thought so, until Children of Earth. Is he evil? No-immoral maybe. But, what would you be if you could never die while feeling the pain of death whenever it happened. Immortality is always sought as the gold standard of life. But life is not breath although I think too much of it is equated as such. To be a vegetable is not life. I won't get into these philosophical discussions tonight. I only want to talk about Miracle Day on Starz.

I didn't know how I would react to this show. I hoped that they would not water down things too much for an American audience. Although, this is the channel that brought us Spartacus so I would expect them to pull no punches. I was not disappointed. When Torchwood came up on screen I got goosebumps and when Captain Jack and his coat of awesome actually showed up I squealed and more than once. I found the translation to be smooth but one thing I noticed right away was the American tendency to glorify violence. From the car accident with poles to releasing a head from its body to a chase on the beach with a jeep and a rocket launcher.  I prefer boobs over bombs but I am happy at this point to ride on the tails of Capt. Jack's coat and see where he takes me. So far, he has never disappointed. This is only the beginning and I can hope that it will get better because I want more. Plus I just adore Gwen. Nothing says modern woman like firing a gun while holding a baby. Because she's a woman, KICK ASS. I am still waiting to see how it plays out but from what I have seen the show is benefiting from the increased production values while retaining what makes it special. I will keep watching.

OMG! OMG! OMG!

There's a party going on right here, a celebration to last throughout the year...well, at least the next three months. TRUE BLOOD IS BACK TONIGHT BABY! It has been a long wait but it is almost over. I have missed all of the characters so much. Even though there is lots of boobs the show is good to the ladies and we get plenty of fine man butt to go around. I also like that shirts are optional many times. The cast is exceptionally good looking and talented. But, Karen, you may ask, what is it about the show that you love so much? I'm glad you asked, here's why.

(There be spoilers here and if you haven't watched the show it probably won't make a lick of sense.)

Hoyt and Jessica- What a love story. When Jessica was introduced at the end of season one she was horrible. Her character is not in the books and I couldn't figure out what they were going to do with her. But she has become on of the most wonderful characters on the show. Watching her transformation from spoiled teen to tentative understanding of her new life as a vampire has been touching. Her relationship with Bill has grown so much but it is her and Hoyt that are so special. They are like the inverse of Bill and Sookie's relationship. He worships her and is helping her to retain the sweetness in her nature that can abandon vampires so quickly if not nurtured. When we left them, they were setting up house together.

Lafayette- He is a breath of fresh air. An openly gay man wearing earrings and false lashes but who will kick your ass if you cross him the wrong way. He will take on a table of rednecks, cook a mean oyster stew, sell you some drugs, dance in gold lame' underwear for his online admirers and face down hypocritical politicians all without smearing his eyeliner. He is funny and vulnerable and one of the best parts of the show.  The actor who plays Lafayette is so talented that even though his character dies in the books they kept him around. Last we saw he had just entered into a new relationship with a La Bruja and was having some hard experiences.

Terry- Oh Terry, how do I love thee. So sweet and so damaged, he is our Iraq war vet with the heart of gold. He fell hard for Arlene and he is trying so hard to do right by her. He has some of the best lines in the whole show and makes you laugh although most times it will be unintentionally. He is trying so hard to heal from what he experienced in the war and you just root for him to find happiness. It is going to be a hell of ride with Arlene this season. And there is nobody I'd rather have be peculiar at me.

Sam- I don't know what to say about Sam other than he is my favorite on the show. He is so deep and has such a painful past and bears many secrets and burdens as Bon Temps resident shape shifter. Plus, he is just so damned hot. I'll let a Merlotte's patron speak for me, "I swear, I'd wear him like a scrunchie." This season he may finally be able to free himself of his unrequited passion for Sookie. After all he has been through I'd like to see him find love and happiness.

Don't get me wrong. I love the entire cast. Sweet but dumb as a bag of hammers Jason, tortured Tara, Godlike Eric and his buns of steel, Scattered Sookie and even Arlene. But the above are my particulars and will draw me back even when other parts can seem too over the top. It is just an all around entertaining romp once a week and I love it. Many times it will layer in meanings and you can sense currents shifting under the surface. And when you see resolutions that you didn't expect and go back and re-watch you will see things with new eyes. So tonight at 6pm will find me in front of the TV with True Blood nacho's (I make these only for this show and the Oscar's. But for the Oscar's they are called Oscar nacho's.) and high expectations. Waiting has indeed sucked!

La Dee Da...

I spend most of my life feeling younger than I am. Even though I see the wrinkles and feel the aches and pains of age, much like all those who are aged, I feel  more young than I am. My life has become a cliche. I always say "in my day kids never wore a helmet when riding bikes and my parents trusted me enough to come home from school everyday and take care of myself." I ate pop rocks and bomb pops, didn't worry about or even know about HFCS,  played video games with quarters, and to me,  presidents were  characters on SNL. One of the things I want most to share with my child ( if I am lucky enough to have one) is how wonderful childhood can be. I want to read to them the stories that transported me when  I was a child in the dark with nothing but my imagination to sustain me. It is almost scary how much the past can ensnare you. The reason I write this is because I just watched H. R.  Pufnstuf. The nostalgia it caused was almost painful in its urgency.  I can feel my childhood in it. That time, the innocence is sometimes, most times, gone, so it feels amazing to touch it again. There are only a few films that can do it. Most are movies made for the child I was. The Muppet Movie, Benji, The Doberman Gang, the Bad News Bears. They may be small things, but I am grateful to have them. Anything that connects me to youth and magic is amazing. The one thing that I want to keep most about myself is the ability to believe. I want to believe in magic always. Even if that means that I am that crazy old women who, alone, claps to keep Tink alive.  Because I do believe in faeries. If that goes away in myself  I might as well be dead.

On the Road Again.

Well, unfortunately it is that time. My bags are packed and soon I will be traveling back home. The trip was far too brief but it was certainly better than nothing. I hope I can make my up here again soon although next time I will fly. I wonder what awaits me on the road this time. I will let you know.