Over the last week or so, there has been a lot of talk about celebrities running for President. Although I appreciate the words celebrities like Oprah and Dwayne Johnson have been saying, I ask one question. Haven't we learned our lesson from voting someone in office that has no experience what so ever serving the public in a position of politics? I think both of those two are very smart, but if they really want to serve the public, then they should start out at a local level. The area Oprah lives in was just devastated by mudslides, and earlier this year by wildfires. Why doesn't she run for Mayor of that town, or even State Senator or Congressperson? Same goes for The Rock.
This has been my longstanding problem with the Green Party. You always see them show up for Presidential elections, but you never see a Green Party candidate running for local office. I like what they stand for, but until they start supporting candidates in local elections, I have no belief in them. It seems to me, that they only want the notoriety of a big election, and forget about people in the grassroots areas. It has been proven time and time again, that you can do more to help your community in a local election than you can in one that is nationwide. Start from the ground up, learn what the people really need. Get your hands dirty. I don't know of any person on this planet that learned to run before they learned to walk, and our current President proves that on a daily basis. Sentiment and words are nice, but they don't get things done. Actions based on knowledge of what is going on in the areas that are overlooked get things done. That is what this President ran on, and instead of doing something in then black community on MLK Day like former Presidents before him, he played golf. That should tell you everything about the job that he is doing. Celebrities should only be political figures, after they have been an actual political figure.
Enough of that rant, and on to something a little less of a rant, but still a little bit of one. I watched the premier of Black Lightening tonight. First, I have been looking forward to this show, and I wasn't disappointed. It was great. Ok, here comes the rant, but more of a history lesson for you. The show had me hooked at the start, when they played Strange Fruit in the opening. Sadly it wasn't Billie Holiday's original version, but it was by the incomparable Nina Simone. Fantastic version, bur for my money, I want Billie. Billie was the first to record it, and quite frankly, the best. it was originally a poem written by teacher named Abel Meeropol. If you've never heard it, you are missing out on a bone chilling song. It is a song in protest of lynchings, in particular lynchings by the klu klux klan. Yes, it was intentional that I didn't capitalize the name of that group. Anyway, I have posted that Billie Holiday's version as a FSOTW, but instead of posting a video for you to listen to it, I want to give you the first few lines of the song to read.
Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Like I said, bone chilling, and when Billie sings it, you feel pain and agony in her voice. I might be a little jaded, since I am a big Billie fan, but if you didn't catch when I posted it, and you've never heard it, please go look it up.
Back to Black Lightening. As I said earlier, it was great. It was everything I wanted Luke Cage to be. I enjoyed Luke Cage, but it lacked a bit of grittiness to me, and BL had it. When I think of the superhero TV shows, Netflix reigns supreme, and everything else is good, but lacking a little bit. This show, on the first episode, well, it could be a Netflix production. It is good. It doesn't just deal with a hero versus a villain, it deals with all the ugliness that is going on in this country right now. It deals with price brutality, gang violence, drugs, sexual assault, and everything else that is vile in this world. It is the grittiest superhero show I have seen on a network cable show, and I am already in love with it. I can't wait until next week. It writing is spectacular, the acting is superb and the action is extreme. It is all a part of the CW list of superheroes, and I hope that it is here to stay. I don't know how they will spin him into their crossovers (they have done a yearly crossover that gets all the shows involved for the past two seasons) or if they will even want to. I kind of want it to be stand alone from the rest. As dark as the others shows will go from time to time, this one is darker and looks like it is going to stay dark for the whole run. It's like Gotham in that aspect. Gotham has been dark since day one, and just stays on the edge of the shadows. Give it a watch and see what you think.
Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan is swirling in the ether tonight. She died suddenly in London on Monday, while there to record a new album with The Cranberries. She is known for her angelic voice with a little touch of Irish yodeling. The band burst onto the scene in the early to mid 90's with Linger. The song was quickly followed by Dreams. I can remember stories about how Dolores had terrible stage freight and would have her back faced towards the audience when they played live. I remember seeing this on a televised performance once. It was incredible to watch, but she found a way to over come that and by the time their biggest hit, Zombie was released she was facing the audience. Zombie was a protest song against the IRA. At the time the set bombs in trash bins outside of businesses in England that took the lives of two small children and wounded many more. I don't know for sure if the IRA still exists, but it is believed that they disbanded in the late 90's. That attack along with another one, were the beginning of their end. Their public perception had gone from a group that was fighting for freedom, to one that killed children. Dolores was at the forefront of that. She wrote all the lyrics to their songs, and was a co-writer on the music. She set a fashion trend with her pixie cut hair and also began a yodeling fad. No one could really do it like her though.
When I think back to 90's music, I'm not a big fan, but The Cranberries and Dolores always stood out. They had a creative sound that was all their own. A bit pop with Irish melodies. For me, the 90's was dismal for music, but there were some bright spots, and none shown brighter than them. In honor of Dolores, I'm dedicating the Favorite Song of the Week to her and those close to her. I know you are thinking that Zombie is the song coming up, but you would be wrong. I love that song, but the first one I heard is still the best on, so here is The Cranberries with "Linger".
If you stuck through all of the political talk, you made it to a little bit of fun. That song above, as said as it is, is fun. Beautiful and somber, but brings hope.
I did a little playing around with the old blog here, and I almost had a way to group The Patchwork Knight in one area, but I failed. I did however come up with the next best thing. I added a search window for the blog, so that you can find it that way. Here is the catch though, if you want a specific thing, you have to type it exactly as I did. So, if you are looking for chapter 1 of The Patchwork Knight, you would have to type in The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 1). Exactly like that, if there is anything slightly amiss, you will either get nothing, or you will get every blog post that mentions The Patchwork Knight. That means that this post was just added to that list, since I have mentioned a few times now. I tried it out myself, and it works. I typed it in exact, and it was the only thing that popped up. That could change now, since I've written it here so many times, but you can still find it.
Speaking of The Patchwork Knight. This weeks chapter is going to be a big one, full of action. This is the one I've been waiting to write, and I'm really looking forward to it. I may start writing early in the evening instead of my normal just before bed. I'm going to need time for this one. I'm really excited about this one, and I hope you like it. That being said, it is getting late, and I have work tomorrow, so you know what that means. Peace in and goodnight.
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