Day: December 18, 2019

Almost Interminable

Fandango6 Comments

321C01BF-CD18-4161-945F-1E4C26C28485Hal started frantically pushing the buttons on the car’s radio. “I can’t take anymore of this shit,” he shouted.

“Calm down, buddy, and focus on driving,” Hal’s friend, Ralph, said. “Man, you really woke up on the wrong side of the bed, didn’t you? What’s eating you?”

“What’s eating me? I’m sick and tired of all Christmas music all the time on just about every radio station,” Hal said. “It’s pretty much been going on since Halloween.”

“What did you expect?” Ralph asked. “It is the Yule season, after all. Try getting into the spirit of things.”

“Seriously?” Hal said. “For how many other holidays do we start celebrating two months in advance? The duration of these awful Christmas songs playing on the radio is almost interminable.”

“You used to be so taciturn,” Ralph said. “Now you are so damn outspoken. I think you need to sit back and examine why this makes you so angry.”

“I told you,” Hal said. “Christmas music goes on way too long. I’m not saying we should stamp out all Christmas music. I just think that they should use some discretion and wait until no earlier than two weeks before Christmas Day.”

“Yeah, good luck with that buddy,” Ralph said. “This is America and we’re a Christian nation.”

“Yeah, I keep hearing that crap from our asshole president,” Hal said as he pulled the car into the tavern’s parking lot. “But I swear to God, Ralph, if they’re playing Christmas songs on the jukebox, I’m outta here.”

Written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (expect), Word of the Day Challenge (yule), Your Daily Word Prompt (duration), Ragtag Daily Prompt (taciturn), The Daily Spur (exam), and Daily Addictions (stamp).

One-Liner Wednesday — Absurdities and Atrocities

Fandango19 Comments

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“Those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher, Voltaire

Voltaire, who also said, “If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him,” was likely making reference to religion in this week’s one-liner. Followers and believers are expected to unquestionably accept the teachings of the church and the stories in holy books such as the Bible, which to my rational mind, can be quite absurd. After all, look back across human history at the myriad atrocities that have been committed through the ages in the name of God and religion.

But I have a more contemporary interpretation of Voltaire’s quote that has to do with the way Donald Trump keeps saying and doing a absolutely absurd things, which his loyal base, the Republicans in Congress, and the “on-air personalities” and viewers of Fox News not only believe but embrace.

And his atrocities that they seem to turn a blind eye toward include, but are not limited to:

  • separating migrant families at the border and putting children in cages
  • attempting to ban immigration based upon religion
  • calling neo-Nazis “very fine people”
  • obstructing investigations into Russian meddling in our 2016 presidential elections
  • extorting a foreign leader to dig up dirt on a political opponent in advance of the 2020 presidential elections
  • obstructing Congress with respect to its impeachment hearings
  • rolling back virtually every regulation designed to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat
  • calling climate change a hoax and pulling out of worldwide effort to combat climate change
  • selling out our country to Vladimir Putin and Russia
  • profiting financially from his office as President
  • abusing the power of the presidency

I could go on and on, but I think I’ve made my point. Besides, this post has gone way beyond being a one-liner.

Written for this week’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt from Linda G. Hill.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #53

Fandango14 Comments

FPQWelcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

My provocative question today has to do with music. I chose to ask this question for two reasons. First, many of us respond to music prompts on WordPress. Prompts like Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday, Laura Venturini’s Weekly Song Challenge, and Paula Light’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, which always features some song lyrics. These music related prompts are very popular.

Second, one of the great debates in the blogosphere at this time of year has to do with Christmas music. Some love it, some hate it, and others can take it or leave it.

So the question today is this:

Do you consider music to be a “universal language” that transcends national borders and resonates across different cultures? Why or why not?

If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Expect

Fandango29 Comments

FOWCWelcome to December 18, 2019 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “expect.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.