Driving around this morning, I saw something that reeked of such sweet irony that I had to commit it to this very blog! Riverview, Florida (which Blogger does not recognize as proper English, for some reason) is a small burg, a satellite of Tampa, and is known for its, well, river view. The Alafia River, to be exact. It's pretty small and low key, full of simple 1960's era houses set off of windy roads (that river makes city planning rather pesky) with plenty of fallow fields for cattle grazing and even a library for learned types. The kind of place where, after a hurricane, everyone gets in their trucks, surveying damage, helping those in need, and clearing roads of downed trees. I count myself among these fine people and live a very happy life shoulder to shoulder with the denizens of my home city.
Being somewhat self contained and in Central Florida, you could imagine (and you'd be right on the money) that one of Riverview's quaint charms would be it's indigenous population of White Conservatives. We're not talking Westborough level, here. Just folks that keep a tidy house and weren't so happy when Clinton was in office. Anyways, given this backdrop, it's easy to predict that our current Commander in Chief isn't too wildly popular among this population, and you'd be right.
As I navigate the back roads of my town this morning, I see a small sign, stapled at least 20 or so feet upon a power pole. It's black, emblazoned with bold white letters. "FIRE OBAMA". That's it. No riot act. No manifesto. No justification. Just "FIRE OBAMA". 20 feet high. One small sign that, to my mind, is a perfectly apt analogy for our times.
The action of posting that small sign must have been no easy task. It's installation would have had to use at least a 20' extension ladder and some serious intention. I'm not even getting political here (though my leftist, pinko leanings are probably clear in the show). So you make a sign (one sign), and drag a ladder out to a power pole that's sort of remote, pull the ladder out of the ol' truck, climb that ladder, and staple a sign that simply implores the people to "FIRE" the President.
If the whole of that energy was used in any other way it could of been much more efficient. Maybe holding a sign somewhere where you can inform others of the beliefs you feel so adamant about. Perhaps spreading awareness of your cause through writing your ideas down in coherent form and putting it out there? Whichever way. Almost anything is better than posting a small sign in a remote area.
But isn't it perfect, though? Isn't this what we do everyday? The age of outrage; an era in which we will be remembered for leveling an almost absurd amount of venom at the most trite topics. On every news story online there are comments threads that illustrate this confounding absurdity. Is this the result of the smooth, confrontation-less 90's ignited by the jarring fuse of 9/11? Or a sign that we, as a generation, have never had to face anything more serious than Rebecca Black's 'Friday'? Am I running a bit long on this tangent? I don't know. Just sharing something. Let's get outraged!!!
Okay, moving onto the show, here is Episode 13, in the digital flesh! In this issue we cover Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 1, #13 and Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 1, #3. These issues were pretty rough, so if you're in a laughing mood, you're in for a treat. We also manage to discuss Dr. Dre's music and muscles, Master of the Universe (surprise, surprise), Ryan's horrible bar band show, and rat tails.
Things are clicking right along and I am proud to announce that next episode we will be covering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Animated Series (1987), Season 1 in it's entirety! After working our way through the years of build-up from obscurity to indie darlings, we have finally hit the beginning of their overnight fame. It's a good episode as well, so stay tuned (iTuned?). And don't forget about the ol' email, iTunes, and Facebook page...
NEXT WEEK: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series (1987), Season 1!!!!!!
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