Chamblee54

There are a couple of stories in the news that PG feels the need to comment on. One involves race and police, and the other involves sex and football. The latter is more fun, except for the accused. It should be a nice payday for some lawyers. For the non football fans reading this, Ben Roethlisberger is the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They won the last Super Bowl.
The story is that Ben Roethlisberger was staying at a casino in Lake Tahoe while playing in a golf tournament. He got to know the accuser. Later, he said his TV was not working. The accuser was unable to find a technician, and went to the room to look at the TV. The tale is that Mr. Roethlisberger raped the accuser in his room.
The accuser said she informed her employer of the incident, and was told to forget it. Later, the employer got a key to her residence, went in, and deleted passages from her computer. Once again, this is the story of the accuser.
The incident was in 2008. The accuser, this past week, filed a civil lawsuit. The complaint is here. PG will not use the name of the accuser, although it is all over the internet. A google search of her name this morning showed 155k hits.
There seems to be a divide on the internet about this story. There is the “feminist” side, which decries “rape culture”. This is the side that PG first heard about. PG does not watch TV, and only heard of the incident on the internet. To PG, it is irrelevant whether ESPN covers the story.
PG left this comment at the “rape culture”blog : “What if Mr. Roethlisberger is innocent? What if the lady is lying? If he was not a high profile celebrity, would anyone care? This rush to assume guilt is another part of “rape culture”. At the time of this report, the comment was “awaiting moderation”.
This is a media story, and casinos know how to play that game. Things are starting to leak out about the accuser. There is this story:
Sources connected with the case say that a former co-worker of *Accuser*’s at Harrah’s came forward with the story that around the time *Accuser* hooked up with Roethlisberger, she was allegedly involved with a married man. One who never existed.
The man’s wife created an email account, posing as a U.S. soldier in Iraq. The wife began corresponding with *Accuser* to gain information.
Her co-worker *Accuser* fell in love with this fictitious soldier and began telling people they were engaged. When the correspondence stopped, *Accuser* then began telling people the soldier was killed in action.
According to TMZ, *Accuser* told at least one co-worker she began seeing a psychiatrist because of the phantom soldier and not because of Ben.
Would this be an issue now if Mr. Roethlisberger was not wealthy and famous?

PG read the comments at Puntabulous, and heard about a site called textsfromlastnight. Below is a selection. The texts are labeled with the area code of the sender. Special preference is given to Georgia area codes.

(254): you could play connect the dots with the people ive fucked in this room ///(254): Turns out I’m a social drinker… I just happen to be REALLY social///(302): I’m giving you permission to use the abortion money to pay for your DUI. ///(678): Think about all of the events that have led to this: me sitting in the back of my classroom drinking beer out of a taco bell cup, telling the teacher I have to leave early to go to an AA meeting.///(770): Dear Mark, please dispose of your crusty mcdonalds napkins used to jerk it at my desk…(678): discrete masterbation is a lost art/// (678): you were calling yourself Ulickes S. Cunt./// (770): I just needed to know whether or not to wear panties to work tomorrow./// (770): Masturbating after my cheeseburger. It’s unavoidable./// (770): Anddd after the worst sex of my life, he said..”do you mind taking off the condom, tying it up, and throwing it at the door?” Weird.///(770): I know its time to do laundry… i cant even find a dirty sock to wear because they all have jizz in them///(770): Should I feel badly because I just bought a really hot pregnant girl a drink after I lit her cigarette?///(770): I got drunk and threw up on a kid at the amusement park. I think they’re pressing charges./// (770): I wanted to tell him he wasn’t actually in me, but my god, awkward?///(770): I kind of had a moment like that kid whose mom cancelled his WoW subscription, except I didn’t try to shove a remote control up my own ass.///(404): her nose should be used as a dorsal fin///(404): Watching Miami Social reminded me of how much I miss snorting coke with burger king straws in a life guard hut on the beach until we noticed someone was drowning///.(813): i wonder if i could find a boyfriend who would call me big papa…(404): sure if you go to prison///(404): Words of wisdom-never eat a peanut-butter covered banana on a construction site ever again/// (706): Was it a mistake telling him I couldn’t get the abortion until I was 2 months along on the first date? ///(706): so i decided not to tell her that her fiance is cheating since i already bought the bridesmaid dess ///(219): I have a deodorant stick dedicated to my balls///(318): Just caught my bro jerking off to a lane Bryant catalog ///(616): theyre doing shots to celebrate her boob jobs anniversary///(706): Just found my girlfriend’s stash of animated Japanese porn…(706): And to think, I actually considered breaking up with her///(706): Did we have sex?…(1-706): No you put the condom on then passed out on the bed so I left/// (706): Now that I’ve come to graduate college. I realized the only discernible skill I learned was how to roll a joint properly. go me….(1-706): Well thats $24,000 well spent.///(706): i just met rob pattinson in italy. he’s so stupid, i feel like i would have to say “your penis goes here!”///(706): So I’m going back to my apartment just to get my vibrator….(404): I thought you were moving in with your boyfriend for the summer?…(706): Well….one will keep me from having to pay rent and the other satisfies. I’ll let you figure it out.///(706): hitting rock bottom=girl fakes converting to christianity in order to get out of having sex with you./// (478): Dude. I haven’t taken a shit in a week…(706): Try anal, it works wonders.///(760): Dude I just picked up a married chick while her husband was playing pool….(912): What do you mean you picked her up? How are you gonna leave the bar?…(760): I didn’t. I fucked her in the men’s room. Come get me before he finds out.///(912): i woke up with socks on this morning…(485): so?…(912): i didnt wear socks last nigh///(814): I overheard a kid saying to his mom at Walmart: “Mommy.. should we buy cups for daddy’s spit?”

Q: What does “Jimmy crack corn” mean, and why does he not care?—Matt, Columbus, Ohio
PG was trolling “stupidquestion.net” when there was a convergence of stupidity. All his life he had heard “Blue Tail Fly”, and been embarrassed. And there, in (pardon the expression) black and white, was someone who wondered the same thing.
It seems as though “Blue Tail Fly” started out as a minstrel song. For those who don’t know, minstrelsy is when white people put on black makeup and imitated African Americans. It is politically incorrect these day.
The story of BTF involves a slave named Jim. A fly bit the pony the old massa was riding, the pony was offended, and threw the old massa off. He was hurt  landing and died. Jim still has to crack corn, but he doesn’t care anymore, because old massa has gone away.
Dave Barry took a poll once to find out the stupidest song of all time. The overwhelming winner/loser was “MacArthur Park”. The combination of over the top show stopping, while singing about a cake left out in the rain, makes this ditty a duh classic.
In the spirit of stupidity convergence, the video is a karaoke version featuring Donna Summer. Miss Summer is a talented singer, who happened to audition for Giorgio Moroder. There are lots of singers who would have hit the big time if they had fronted those records, but Donna Summer hit the jackpot.
For a proper post, there needs to be a third stupid song. This is not about stupid bands, singing about being D U M B. Even though they totally don’t belong, there is a video of the Ramones included. PG saw the Ramones at the Agora Ballroom in 1983. This was after their prime, and before a homeless man caught the Ballroom on fire.
We still need a third stupid song, and PG wants to get this posted with as little research as possible. Just like some writer was once given twenty minutes to write a song, and he decided to do the worst song he could think of. The result was “Wild Thing”. PG used to have a 45 of someone who sounded like Bobby Kennedy singing “Wild Thing”.

It started when PG downloaded some music. The tune was “Sister Morphine” and the Rolling Stones had a guest vocalist, Marianne Faithful. PG learned later that Miss Faithful had a creditable claim to writing the song. When he heard this number, PG was amazed.
The idea hit to assemble a cd of other female vocalists, all of whom create the same mood as SM. The cd was burned, and the idea for a series of tributes to these divas was hatched. This is the first of the series. There are 17 ladies on the first cd. They are:
Billie Holliday, Patsy Cline, Nico, Janis Joplin, Marianne Faithful, Dorothy Ashby, Joni Mitchell, Etta James, Francoise Hardy, Carole King, Annie Lennox, Sarah Vaughn, Emmy Lou Harris, Nouvelle Vague, Bessie Smith, Gillian Welch, Patty Smith
This is far from a complete list. There are enough moody, edgy female singers to fill two or three more cds. We could probably start a new blog just for the tributes. If someone is looking for an idea for a blog, you are welcome to the thought. Today, we are going to pay tribute to the first three names on the list.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915. ( The copyright to “Lady Sings the Blues “is given to Eleanora Fagan and William Dufty) She got her stage name from her probable father, Clarence Holiday, and the film star Billie Dove. There are many legends about her.
Lady Day was known for her singing and her drug problems, not always in that order. She was arrested for heroin possession in the hospital, on her deathbed. She died July 17, 1959, technically still in police custody. The song on the cd is “You’ve Changed”. It is on “Lady in Satin”,  Miss Holiday’s last album.
Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932. Her stage name came from her middle name, and Gerald Cline, her first husband. Miss Cline got her first break singing “Walking after Midnight” on the Arthur Godfrey show. ( Mr. Godfrey got a lot of bad publicity later when he fired singer Julius LaRosa on the air). In 1961, Miss Cline joined the Grand Ole Opry, and was in a near fatal car wreck.
After the wreck, she recorded “Crazy”, written by Willie Nelson. That became a hit, and Patsy recorded what was to be her last album. The song on the cd, “Sweet Dreams”, was released after her death. Patsy Cline died in a plane crash March 3, 1963.
Nico was born Christa Päffgen, 16 October 1938. She was given her stage name by photographer Herbert Tobias. He had a former boyfriend named Nikos Papatakis.
Nico was a model and actress, with a minor part in Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita”. She somehow got into the crowd surrounding Andy Warhol, and became the vocalist for The Velvet Underground. She left them before long, but was musical cohorts with John Cale the rest of her life.
She made some solo albums, and took heroin. She was reportedly clean when she had a minor heart attack while riding her bike in Ibiza, Spain. She hit her head on the pavement when she fell, and died the next day, July 18, 1988.
The song on the cd is “These Days”. It is from the album “Chelsea Girl”. “These Days” was written by Jackson Browne, who was Nico’s boyfriend when he was 17 years old.

PG just finished reading “Gossip“, by Christopher Bram. The Chamblee Library gets another thank you.
“Gossip” is the story of Ralph Eckhart. He works in a New York bookstore and has a few friends. One night, Ralph meets a man in Washington, D.C., in a computer chatroom. They arrange to meet.
The meeting goes very well at first, until Ralph and Bill get to know each other. Bill writes for a conservative magazine, and has a book coming out about the horrors of Hillary. Ralph, a liberal New Yorker, is not amused.
The romance goes on well enough, despite the misgivings of Ralph. Bill invites Ralph to a conference in Miami, and Ralph becomes even more upset with Bill’s lifestyle. Ralph decides to break off the affair, and sends Bill an angry email.
Bill appears on TV to promote his new book. At some point in the interview, he comes out. Bill does so in a clumsy manner, and the few people paying attention are upset. Bill phones Ralph to tell him that this coming out was for Ralph, and that he wants him back. Ralph says a few, poorly chosen, angry words. Ralph is not aware that Bill records his phone calls.
The next time the Ralph hears about Bill is when he reads of his murder. It gets more personal for Ralph later, when he is arrested for the murder. (spoiler alert) The reader should not worry. The charges are thrown out, and we learn who did the deed.
“Gossip” is fun for the nostalgia. It is set in the early nineties, in the infancy of the internet. No one has a cell phone, you unplug your phone to use your computer, and the Clintons are the worst people on earth. For a fairly apolitical southerner, the New York/Washington angle of the story reads like science fiction.
“Gossip” is a gripping story. You will be eager to see the next turn of the plot. After a while, though, you begin to wonder how real it is. After the trip to Miami, the plot turns get weirder and weirder. The reader does not worry about reality should have a good time.

Road building is the job of the government. Very few people question this fact. While there is corruption, inefficiency, and other big government problems, millions of motorists travel billions of miles on government roads every year.
Likewise, armed forces to defend America is the job of the government. Regulation of various markets, public education, and tax collection are all conceded to be the job of government. Perhaps it is time to include Health Care.
There is an ongoing debate about health care in America. There are many who say it is too expensive, and that we do not get a good return on our investment. There is profiteering, inefficiency, and unfair treatment of human beings. The ballooning cost is one of the problems with our economy. Will a Government takeover make things better?
PG has mixed feelings, as do a lot of people. The shrill voices of the naysayers are frequently financed by the health industry, who wants to keep a  license to print money. Those who do not trust government to do a good job cannot be ignored. But the fact remains that in many ways the system is broken. Too many people are without insurance. The medical/insurance oligarchy is notorious for playing games, at the cost of human suffering.
PG suspects that it is time for a “Paradigm Shift”. It is time to concede that health care is the domain of government. There are going to be rough spots in the transition. In the end, it is what needs to be done.

PG got an email with a few “clever” pictures of BHO. They will not be reprinted today due to copyright issues. ( The edited picture he did print is from Proceed at Own Risk. )If you want to see a few, go to the source. While you are there, you might get a clue as to why BHO got elected.
The Repubs made a mess. We got mixed up in wars, where the only victories will be ruinously expensive. The economy is a mess. And yet, the “right wing” continues to point fingers, and play any number of rhetorical games. We were offered Sarah Palin as a Vice President.
On the other hand, BHO has a fanatic constituency now that is hypersensitive to criticism. It is going to be a long four years. The POTUS is a magnet for criticism, satire, humor, and meanness. It is just the way it is. BHO is a product of Chicago politics, and can more than take care of himself.
Yes, BHO is the first dark skinned President. He had a white mother, and his father was from Kenya. He is not the descendent of slaves. By the Jewish tradition… i.e. the children of a Jewish mother are Jews….BHO is white. And yet, African America claims BHO as one of their own. People are being set up for disappointment.
On the other side of the fair and balanced fence, the conservatives are a piece of work. PG looks at sites like iowntheworld and is reminded of how little he has in common with the conservative movement.
It makes you wonder why anyone would want to be POTUS. As firebug William T. Sherman said:
“If forced to choose between the penitentiary and the White House for four years, I would say the penitentiary, thank you.”

There is a dandy little squabble going on right now. On the one hand there is Corey Lynxx. He makes videos without wearing a shirt, or lighting his face. He might have other talents, but that is not evident from his videos. Mr.Lynxx got upset with a local restaurant owner, and decided to call the man at work to discuss this problem. The restaurant owner, a man named Shaun, was busy at the time and declined to discuss Corey’s problem.
The next player in this miniseries is Andisheh Nouraee. Copy and paste is wonderful for Persian names, even when he is usually called Andy. Mr. Nouraee writes a column for Creative Loafing that PG seeks out every time he gets a copy. The column makes tries to make sense of the world beyond the lower 48, and manages to crack a joke or two along the way. Andy was offended by the manner in which Corey was dealing with his problem, and made a video of his own.
The next two entries in this exchange were made my Mr. Lynxx ( Which is a handle. PG is not sure what his “real” name is.) The video monger manages to light his face, not that it is especially attractive. He eats a sandwich and continues to talk. Numerous comments are made about the hirsute Mr. Nouraee. Apparently, Corey Lynxx does not like bears.
The last chapter, for now, of this melodrama shows Andy, speaking in the style of Chris Crocker. It is not as funny as his column. It should be noted that writing a column for publication takes a bit more skill that putting a talking head video on youtube.
Andy wrote a cover story at CL a while back about the best five blogs in Atlanta. A lady named Spacy Gracey was not included, and said lots of mean things about Andy. Nor was Chamblee54 mentioned.
Meanwhile, PG took a look at Andy’s twitters. A Federal Judge ruled in favor of Alabama and Florida, in the tri state lawsuit over the water of the Chattahoochee River. The Atlanta area has grown astronomically in recent years, without attending to the basic need of people for water. The Georgia legislature would rather worry about the State Flag, than provide water for the unstoppable development in the metro area. The Judge has ruled that Congress will need to solve this problem in the next three years.
You really have to look carefully at the fishwrapper to find this story. When PG opened the page to get this link, the headline about water was “below the fold”. Above it was a story about how “Long, hot days have inspired these six cool cocktails. Bottoms up!” PG wonders about the priorities in Cox Country.