Shostakovitch's revenge; Mormons v Christians

Well, today is my birthday and my list of presents leaves me much to be grateful for. Suzanne gave me a wonderful edition of several Dashiel Hammett stories. We're also going to the Calgary symphony's presentation of Shostakovitch's symphony no. 10. "The pinnacle of Shostakovitch's’s creative power was his famous 10th Symphony. This fascinating work is exhilarating, reflective, violent and triumphant as it represents Shostakovitch's’s personal victory over the oppressive Stalinist regime." That this concert dovetails with my birthday is most fortunate.

My other present, this one from the universe, was the entry of Mitt Romney into the presidential race. What makes this so great is that he is a Mormon. Of course Mormons are completely repulsive to Baptists, the cornerstone of the American religious right so we can expect their critical examination of his Mormonism to be the irony of the century. Ostensibly, I think the christian right likens the Mormons to Aaron's golden calved brethren. The Mormons, 11 million strong, are the victims of a hilarious con man who was finally charged with fraud. The story of Joseph Smith and his founding of Mormonism reads like a Monty Python sketch with a healthy dose of Mark Twain and the fact that Mormonism is still around, and in such numbers is a mind-numbing confirmation of the stupidity of human kind superseded only by its uglier Christian sister. One who would be tempted to wonder how successful a candidate could possibly be when they profess to believe such silliness, need only witness the success of the Bush regime, whose beliefs are no less preposterous but believed by a majority. In any case, I look forward to the stupid cross-examining the foolish.

For those managing their portfolios, I would put a "sell" on bizarre rhetoric since the surplus in the coming year is sure to drive prices down.

Transvestite Impersonators:The new heroin chic

Of course I rabidly watch Beauty and the Geek, a reality show that pairs age old rival stereotypes together to compete for cash and prizes. Each week the geeks have a social skills challenge and the beauties have some light thinkwork. The show innoculates the viewer with its 'we're all just people on the inside' antibiotics. What is most interesting to me is that one of the beauties pictured here is clearly a transvestite. This is just one example of a growing trend in the beauty zitgeist for transvestite-looking women. I'm not sure when I started noticing this but I sure see more and more women in the media that are being flaunted as good looking but have this tranny vibe lingering about them like axe body spray on a frustrated frat boy. I'll admit, there seems to be no lacking for good looking people on television and movies, but I wonder what this gender-bending trend is all about. Any graduate students in "gender studies" (yes the parenthesis are meant to demean the subject but I could just as easily placed them around "student") please feel to make use of my queery as a germ to grow a graduate thesis from.

Speaking of the transvestite invasion, said poster girl died today. Anna Nicole Smith apparently meant much more to CNN than I. They were broadcasting the story non-stop all afternoon doing their best to convince me I should care. Lest I seem callous, I do care. About 2 things:
1) did she die of a Hoodia overdose?
2) What female transvestite impersonator will take her place?
Internest rumors (that's right Internest rumours,) already suggest that Courtney Love has an investigative committee in place but her intentions to run have yet to be verified. She certainly has the drug abuse down pat and struggles to make money off her dead husband. The similarities are eerie. As eerie as CNN spending all day on a trivial gold digging attention whore when their county's leadership violates its constitution on a daily basis and spirals its ignorant population into the abyss.