Bruner Blog

‘The First Gate’ by Peter Solymosi

Let’s face it, most of one’s friends who are “artists” are talentless boobs. Not so Péter Solymosi. He’s the real deal. We just wish he’d hurry up and move back to Brooklyn after his self-imposed exile in India for the last couple of years, that lovable wacko. Anyway, he just posted a bunch of new works to his site.

Recent new of the Pentagon’s failed attempt to create a weapon that would turn enemies gay reminds me of the dreadful Maxwell Smart film The Nude Bomb and Monty Python’s deadly Funniest Joke in the World. Except, this was really the Pentagon.

I’m always annoyed by news media that return too regularly to the same expert sources over and over. One such example is Hugh Johnson, a favorite economist of NPR and the PRI business show Marketplace. Seems like rarely a week goes by that I don’t hear him interviewed on some public radio show. And every time I do, I have to grin about his name. Is it just my juvenile mind, or do you suppose this guy’s nickname was Huge Johnson all the way through high school? Good friends, no doubt, with Hugh G. Rection.

From my brother:

President George W. Bush visits a primary school classroom.

They are in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asks the President if he would like to lead the discussion on the word “tragedy”.

So, the illustrious leader asks the class for an example of a tragedy. One little boy stands up and offers: “If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs him over and kills him that would be a ‘tragedy’.”

“No, says Bush, that would be an “accident” A little girl raises her hand: “If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a ‘tragedy’.”

“I’m afraid not,” explains the President. “That’s what we would call a ‘great loss’.”

The room goes silent. No other children volunteered. Bush searches the room. “Isn’t there someone here who can give me an example of a ‘tragedy’?”

Finally, at the back of the room, ‘little Johnny’ in a quiet voice says: “If Air Force One, carrying you, Mr. President, were struck by a ‘friendly fire’ missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a ‘tragedy’.” Fantastic!” exclaims Bush. “That’s right. And can you tell me why that would be a ‘tragedy’?”

“Well,” says Johnny, “because it certainly wouldn’t be a ‘great loss’ and it probably wouldn’t be an’accident’ either.”

This is the best photo to come out of the Asian tsunami tragedy for sure. Orphaned Kenyan hippo baby cuddles up to ancient giant tortoise at a zoo. Click here for a larger version.

Jay has been visiting. He’s funny. Still, we are thankful his visit was mercifully short.

Now I can’t get the lyrics to his favorite rap song out of my head. It’s his own creation, which, to his mind, sums up the essence of vitually all rap songs. It’s quite catchy, rythmically and its haiku-like simplicity, and it can be sung to virtually any rap beat:

Bitches on my dick
Bitches on my dick
Bitches on my dick
Death to whitey!

Another film you won’t find in my “Seen Any Good Movies Lately” links (left margin, just under the Firefox button) would be Sideways. Highly over-rated. Maudlin mainstream male mid-life-crisis schmaltz. Clear case of Cassavetes-wannabee-ism. Needless to say, Adi was disappointed. (But I do think I saw my visiting step-brother wipe away a tear of self-recognition at one point. Or maybe it was a booger.) When they crashed into the tree, had they died, she might have cut it some slack. (Or it would have even been much better had it ended when he was drinking the expensive wine in the crapy burger joint.) What’s up with the critical raves? Big ho-hum, and a mind-numbing sound-track that screamed “This Is the Sad Part” or “This Is the Wacky Part” in West Coast smooth jazz tones. Sheesh.