Memphis Beat

Watched it last night, had to.

The thing is, it didn't keep my attention very well. I'll give it another shot (or two), but I can't help but think this show was written by people who never spent any time in Memphis, let alone grew up there.

First, there's Jason Lee. He's a good enough actor, and I think he's right for the role, but, an Elvis fan? Really? He talks about how he grew up listening to Elvis, how Memphis is "sacred ground" - the kind of stuff a New York/LA script writer would say.

Here's a reality check - Jason Lee/his character is the exact wrong age to be a fan of Elvis. Why? Because by the time he was old enough to listen to Elvis (and remember it), Elvis was dead. His mom on the show is too young to be an Elvis fan, for crying out loud! Maybe he grew up listening to grandmas' records or something.

Another thing; although Memphis claims Elvis as its' own, Elvis spent most of his time in Las Vegas, especially in the '70's. I know. I lived two blocks from Graceland. I worked at the gas station (which is now a souvenir shop) across the street from Graceland. Uncle Vester used to bring the Cadillacs in for oil changes from time to time, but never an Elvis sighting. My mom thought she saw Priscilla once, leaving Graceland, but that's about it.

The whole "sacred ground" thing is very post-Elvis, brought on by his death and deification. Very not-Memphis.

Here are some reviews that add to what I'm saying (emphasis mine):

The Memphis location is meant to add distinction, but it doesn’t quite work. The setting and the musical references seem oddly artificial, right down to Lee’s stage performance, for which his voice has been dubbed.

That's because it's shot in New Orleans, maybe?

Everything about Beat, from the accents to the Elvis impersonators lining the police station, from Hendricks' after-hours hobby singing at a bar to his underdeveloped co-workers, suggests a series working too hard to achieve the evocative atmosphere and offbeat characters that come so effortlessly in FX's superior Southern-set drama "Justified."

Working too hard- at the wrong stuff, I agree wholeheartedly.

More often it is labored and belaboring, from the eccentric station-house staff- including Abraham Benrubi, wearing Willie Nelson's old pigtails, as a Chickasaw desk sergeant, and DJ Qualls as a slack-jawed Cletus of a patrol officer--to the Elvis imitators on the street and Dwight's constant promotion of Memphis as "sacred ground" to people who, after all, live there too.

Memphis ain't New Orleans. Of course, you'd have to spend time in Memphis to know that.

This review, however, points to what irritates me the most:

In many respects, Dwight is Memphis. Or at the very least, he’s a man who exemplifies all of the things that I expect Memphians pride themselves on. He’s a polite, intelligent, Elvis-loving gentleman who seems to genuinely believe in serving and protecting his community.

Yep, that's Memphis, all polite and Elvis-like. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

By the way, the police here don't have "wards" they have "precincts". Hey, New Orleans has wards, doesn't it? Don't get me wrong, I love New Orleans, but they are who they are, Memphis is what it is.

I wonder if we'll ever hear Saliva play on this show. They're from Memphis, ya know.

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Titan Thoughts

Well, there you have it. The Titans drop a game.

Not only that, but it looks like the Rustmeister prediction oracle went on the fritz as well. Best I can go is 8-8 if my prediction for tonight's game pans out. Geez.

Back to the Titans, I have to say we looked bad. Part of that was Favre looked so good*. We managed to pick and sack him early, but that quick passing game caught us flat-footed and wore us out.

Speaking of passing games ...

What. The. Hell.

Who turned on the wayback machine and took our WRs to last season? They couldn't catch a cold out there. Where was our running game? LenDale (I'll get to his comments in a minute) was not out on the field at all. I heard he might have been dinged up, but still, playing hurt is something that happens in the NFL.

Now, to LenDale's comments on how he "didn't care". What is his problem? Has he got Vince Young-itis now? I know getting beat sucks, especially looking as bad as we did yesterday, but come on.

If this is something creeping into the locker room, it needs to be stomped out, pronto. Last thing we need is a bunch of weenie-whiney poo-butts crying about their hurt feelings.

Ok, so the Titans were handed their assess yesterday. Big deal. No one really thought we were going to go undefeated. Here's a couple things I agree with:

The Titans are better off having finally lost a game: I know it's not a popular mindset right now, particularly in the Tennessee locker room, but in time I believe it will serve the Titans' purposes better to have missed out on the hype-fest that would have continued to build if their undefeated season had stayed intact.

And, from the same article, this:

"We got embarrassed at home,'' Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "It's time for us to turn the heat up. A lot of these teams are in playoff mode, and we were sitting there at 10-0. Now it's time for us to really put our game face on, and get back to the ball that we were playing in the first five, six and seven games of the season.''

They've been saying all season that they haven't put a complete game together. It always seemed that one part of the team would rise to cover the weakness of another part.

Yesterday, no one rose.

* You have no idea how hard it was to write that. Let's just say, a world-class bender is in order. Continue Reading

Now I Agree With Bill Schneider

On this one bit, he's right:

I’ve learned that most gun owners aren’t hunters and some have nothing but scorn for hunters because we’re soft and care about other amendments. So, they mock us, calling us Elmer Fudds.

Emphasis mine.

Of course, that's the only part of his diatribe against gun owners I agree with. Ride Fast does an excellent job taking apart the rest of it.

But.

I've always had a nagging little pain concerning the term "Fudd". I don't know where it came from, probably from one of those big gun boards I can't get on because I can't get my name approved (I haven't tried all that hard, really). While Ride Fast says it's used in a joking manner, I don't see it that way. It's a slur, like any other. Elmer Fudd is arguably the dumbest cartoon character ever conceived. Grouping a whole section of gun owners that way is stereotyping, plain and simple.

I understand where the sentiment comes from - the perception that hunters sold gunnies down the river over the assault weapons ban and other gun control measures. However accurate the perception is, it's done now. Grow the hell up.

If we're really concerned with the rights of all gun owners, if we're really concerned with "eating our own", then that term needs to go away. It's not helping, and it's giving our opponents a wedge issue to use against us.

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Political Correctness

Kicked square in the ass.

Thanks to JayG for the link.

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Naifeh Does it Yet Again - With Camper's Help

TN House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh has put the screws to gun owners again. Via Serr8d and Uncle comes this news:

Naifeh shoots down latest gun permit bill

House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh pulled out the big guns Wednesday, using the powers of his post to shoot down a bill making the records of handgun carry permit-holders confidential.

After a House panel Wednesday had unexpectedly approved sealing from public inspection permit-holders’ information, Naifeh took action. He effectively appointed a new member of the House — just sworn in Wednesday — to the panel that had just approved the bill.

Once appointed, Naifeh and the new representative, Rep. Karen Camper (D-Memphis), voted to reconsider the panel’s previous approval of the bill, and then Naifeh and Camper gave the opposition enough votes to kill the measure.

As a result of the new member and Naifeh’s vote, the bill was defeated on a 5-4 vote.

For her part, Camper denied that Naifeh directed her how to vote.

“If she’s going to be paid today, she needs to be working,” Naifeh quipped of Camper.

I'm sure Speaker Naifeh and his handmaiden protege were simply on the side of transparent government. No gun bias whatsoever.

Like I said here, this cannot be allowed to continue, but it does.

As I'm writing this, I get even more disturbing information: Karen Camper is a retired Army Officer, among other things I'll refrain from saying for now.

Oh the hell with it -

Karen D. Camper, you are a dirtbag among dirtbags. For over twenty years you served in the Armed Forces of this country, protecting the freedoms we hold dear. Now, you're taking part in the destruction of these same freedoms by being Jimmy Naifeh's lapdog. You obviously don't remember where you came from, and I hope you lose in your effort to be elected to the post you now hold.

Update: Link fixed

I'm ashamed for my branch. What self-respecting Army officer would stoop so low? Continue Reading

Banning Guns That Look Like Toys - Updated

First off, banning any gun for any reason is unacceptable. That being said, I can understand why people are trying this:

Nassau County proposes ban on brightly painted guns

Owning or selling brightly colored guns may soon be illegal in Nassau County under a proposed ban because the painted weapons could pass as toys, police and county officials said yesterday.

Suffolk County officials are considering a similar ban.

I've said it before, and I will continue to say it until someone can give me a valid reason not to, making a real gun look like a toy is stupid to the extreme.

While I'm not really down on those camo pattern guns hunters use these days, I have to ask, why camouflage the gun when you're wearing a bright orange vest? Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

Also, a gun is not a fashion accessory. It's not supposed to "go" with anything except your holster. Pink is cute on a lot of things, but a gun is not one of them.

Don't get me going on those cartoon patterns offered by various companies, that's just childish. If you want a yellow/orange/mauve pattern gun, get a Super Soaker. And grow the hell up.

Anyway, back to the legal issue here. It is a safety issue, and they may actually succeed in banning these guns. If they do, it's our fault because we got cocky. Cocky and short-sighted, and now we may see a gun ban that appears "reasonable" to the average American.

Guns aren't toys. They shouldn't look like toys. We're giving the banners an "in", and they are going to take it. As they take it, they will point to the childish appearance of these guns in an effort to paint all gun owners (including hunters) as immature and irresponsible. And they will succeed.

Update: Stile over at The Gun Blogs has more.

Update the Second: MostlyGenius makes a good point:

The circumstances dictate whether or not a police officer is going to shoot. If you quick-draw a cell phone a the wrong time you are going to get shot, because your behavior consistent with being a threat.

[snip]

By the same token an adult running from the scene of a crime with a rifle painted like hello kitty is still going to look like a threat.

Update the Third: Ahab reiterates his sage advice:

the biggest rule with toy guns is that if you ever here “drop the gun” you drop the damn gun right then and there. Obviously, in this specific instance it’s a little different, but I want my kids (and everyone else) to understand that when it comes to fake guns and cops, it really is better to err on the side of caution.

Looks like I will become a grumpy old man in the future. I just hope it's not the near future. =)

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What He Said

Kim du Toit points us to this article written by Anthony Esolen, and in doing so says (to our troops):

Forget the childish chirps and querulous wails of the Commies, the hippies and the little boys and girls come fresh from the mall. Compared to them, the number of men, real men who stand behind you is enormous.

Never forget that

Damn skippy. But that's not the half of it. The rest is below the fold.

The article is entitled "Over Our Dead Bodies" and it addresses many points I see bandied about from time to time.

Like Kim's "Pussification" essay, Mr. Esolen addresses one plight of today's man:

Men cut the rock, and the rock cuts back. We men who have neither been born eunuchs nor made ourselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven, but who have allowed others to make eunuchs of themselves and of us, all for a watercolor impression of peace, a safe life of Monet purple, with even erotic love blurred into the bland, as we pretend to courage while rutting in padded cells with helmets and shin guards and other soft and slack prophylactics of the soul—we nannied men could not have carved this place.

He also addresses something near and dear to my heart - those who carried their country's flag into battle.

The lad who carried the flag in the old fields of war was unarmed and most conspicuous, but most necessary for the rallying and ordering of his comrades. He was indispensable in his choosing the honor of being the single man least likely to survive the battle.

The same people who pee all over themselves at the thought of the movie "300" wouldn't think twice about letting someone desecrate their country's flag. Just a piece of cloth, my ass.

Of course, not all heroes are in uniform:

A man need not bear a saber to be a true soldier. When Louis Pasteur was searching for cures for infectious diseases, he had not our same luxury of safety. He was a devout Catholic who attracted to himself young men of high ideals and similar devotion. Those men knew that to be Pasteur’s assistant meant constant exposure to, and experimentation with, disease. Theirs was less a profession than a creed. They went forth in the wake of a plague in Egypt, to seek knowledge and cure the sick.

There's so much there, do yourself a favor and read it all.

One last bit:

Or, more outlandish still, it is as if men themselves were to forget their manhood and were to coddle their flesh, prinking it and bedaubing it and festooning it with trinkets,

That goes out to all you boys out there walking around looking like you've been hit in the face with a tackle box. Grow up. That goes for you "Metros" too. Continue Reading

Ralph Peters Blasts NYT

In follow up to what I posted here, let me share this with you. All emphasis mine.

Insty points to an Op-ed in the NY Post entitled "The New Lepers", by Ralph Peters. And yes, ol' Ralph really lets loose with both barrels:

The Times is trying to make you fear our veterans (Good Lord, if your daughter marries one, she's bound to be beaten to death!). And to convince you that our military would be a dreadful place for your sons and daughters, a death-machine that would turn them into incurable psychopaths.

The Times, Hollywood, many others. Glenn does use this quote in his posting, but it's too funny to pass up:

To a darkly humorous degree, all this reflects the Freudian terrors leftists feel when confronted with men who don't have concave chests. But it goes far beyond that.

I chuckle every time I read that. I've never heard of Ralph Peters before, but I sure did like this.

Read it all.

Fuckin leftists are so hungry for the glory days of the '60's, they'll try anything. Continue Reading

Memphis/Shelby County Consolidation

You wanna talk about a hot button issue? Get folks talking about consolidating Memphis and Shelby county Governments. Ho-lee sheepshit, you'll get yourself an earful.

For those not in the know, here's a quick rundown:

Memphis- mostly poor and black

Shelby county - mostly affluent and white

There is a massive duplication of services in the area, and taxation is high. Seeing as Memphis takes up most of the county, the governments there are wanting to consolidate. Have been for a few years now.

The problem is, whenever it's put to a vote, Memphis votes for, Shelby votes against. One side cries "racism", the other side says "we don't want your crime/crappy schools/crappy politicians dragging us down."

I can understand why the county wants nothing to do with the city. The mayor's a joke, the city council's more worried about selling beer in titty bars than doing anything about crime. Police and firefighters have been getting the shaft since I can remember. Who wants that?

Memphis, the place I've called home since 1969, has turned into a cancer. Crime, both on the streets and in government, is at an all-time high. The people of the county are afraid the cancer will spread if consolidation takes place.

Sooner or later, though, it will take place. Right now some local politicians are attempting to amend the State constitution. They want to do away with the citizen's right to vote on the issue so they can go ahead with consolidation regardless of their citizens' wishes.

Is it any wonder the county wants no part of this? I know AC Wharton is one of Tennessee's anti-gun mayors, but compared to King Willie Herenton, he's a saint. Continue Reading