purple prose, no purple haze

You have an unprecedented and growing number of options for distraction.

Thank you for choosing this blog for the moment.  Worldwide, the top choice

right now has to be the riveting birth pangs of democracy in Egypt.  It just took

on even more primacy when CNN’s Anderson Cooper got jostled in a street

demonstration in Cairo.  Fortunately, his hair was too short to be mussed.

Then there’s the humble offerings of Glenn Beck.  He has the same measured

reasoning of a vagrant at Venice Beach.  Although Beck lacks a scraggly beard

and bottle of MD 20/20, he does live in the tattered cardboard box that is Fox

“News”. His ratings are off the cliff, though.  You can Cuisinart only so much

history, I guess.

There’s his soul sister, S. Palin.  Neither of them are deterred by “gotcha” facts

and statistics.  Her synthesis of purple prose, neologisms and mangled syntax

still sells well.  She’s a source of constant amusement.  Her reality show approach

to politics is adorable.  I like to imagine how much an Arab leader would appreciate

her winking at him, and how the Pope would be impressed by her ability to kill and

field dress a moose.

I even speculate on who would be in her cabinet if she were POTUS.  Certainly

The Situation from “Jersey Shore” would be Secretary of Defense, and Snooki

Secretary of State.  She’s dealt with all kinds of people.  And Palin would be wise

to recruit one of the chaps from “Swamp People” for Homeland Security.  Those

guys wrestle alligators.

Should Palin decide to run for President, I think she could count on hefty

donations from the Obama re-election committee.

But if she or Beck or gaming or TV or movies or whatever aren’t piquing your

interest any more, try http://thepulpreader.blogspot.com/.  Pulp Reader is a

fantastic (literally) collection of articles, excerpts, interviews, profiles and

video and audio clips about the science fiction, mysteries, thrillers, horror,

radio serials and other stuff that invigorate our lives.  Recent posts include

“The Green Hornet’s Great Uncle”, “The Lone Ranger’s Cave of Terror”

and “Brood of the Witch Queen”.

The master of this domain is a man so mysterious and modest that he doesn’t

even have his name on the blog.  I can tell you that he lives in San Francisco and

that he makes his living in the fantasy industry.  That’s vague enough to respect

his anonymity, since that describes half the population of the Bay Area.

I can also reveal that he’s closely related to me.  He’s my daughter’s brother-in-

law, which nearly makes us twins.  He’s been a good get for the family.  I’m

adding Pulp Reader to my blogroll.