I've been getting a ton of feedback lately on various subjects, so I figured it was time to do a Simmons-style mailbag. Some of these are in response to comments, some to e-mails, and others are to things people wrote on other blogs in response to my comments. Here we go:
On the WWE Hall of Fame inductions, John the Catholic Packer Fan writes:
Are you kidding, those are all of the 'originals' of the WWF. Piper and his kilt, Volkoff the 'evil enemy' during the waning Cold War years, etc. Most of those guys brought wrestling into the forefront of entertainment at the time.
I must be too young to remember Volkoff’s heyday, since I only know him as half of the very, very old Soviet tag team the Bolsheviks. Though it was pretty amusing when, after the Baltic states broke off from the USSR in 1989, the WWF had Volkoff suddenly become “Lithuanian,” and switch to being a good guy.
On the NFL’s new jersey policy, Jeff S. writes,
Hey you can use "Quick Silver." Now's the time to get your 100 mile club t-shirt steve-o
Coming from my high school cross-country teammate, I nominate this for oldest joke in the history of the blog, since it references what I had on my team t-shirt my freshman year of high school, 13 years ago.
On the “24: Liberal or Conservative?” question, Sean writes:
I don't care if 24 is conservative or liberal. It's still an awesome show. And I disagree with both Mr. L and Mr. C: bring back Kim for the eye candy alone. Season 4 is really good, but it needs some hot babes.
Kim’s an interesting case- she goes in the Jenny McCarthy/Stephanie McMahon pantheon of women so annoying that their own fanboys turned against them, regardless of how hot they are/were. As for the “24 needs hot babes” thing, Sean wrote this before Michelle returned last week. Ah, Michelle…
Meanwhile, the show seems to be copying its template verbatim from Season 2: the villains in the first half of the year are evil Islamic terrorists, while the villains in the second half are evil corporate executives. Let’s hope it doesn’t also follow the Season 2 template of utterly sucking in the second half.
On the horrible Peter Vecsey, Matty D writes:
You should see Vecsey's daughter's work. She is absolutely terrible for the Baltimore Sun. Most of what she writes is absolute worthless drivel, and the rest is just a bit worse. She's got a loyal following in Baltimore of people who hate her work.
Ah yes, I know of Laura Vecsey- the time she accused Curt Schilling of faking his bloody ankle was a particularly nice touch. But she’s actually Peter’s niece, not his daughter; her father is PV’s estranged brother, the NYT’s much less loathsome George Vecsey.
On the Harvard/”heteronormative” issue, Downtown Lad writes:
I think the reaction to this story is probably overblown. I highly doubt that any students were actually upset by her statements. I think they were just making a point. And maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but I back those students 100%.
Having now seen the leader of that student group interviewed on a cable news show, I’m prepared to concede this point, especially since it doesn’t seem as though -contrary to the Crimson's reporting- anyone was actually offended by the statements. The real villain here isn’t the gay student group- it’s the reporter for the Crimson, who both created a controversy seemingly out of thin air, and failed to even include the “damning” quotes in her original story.
Still, getting to the crux of the matter: of course it's unfair to gays that people assume that they're straight unless they have reason to believe otherwise. But the fact is, straight people are the majority, and believing such things is inherent to majorities. I just feel like the fight for marriage equality and the inclusion of gays in the military- two causes that I wholeheartedly support- are much bigger fish to fry than whatever Will Smith's wife's opinions are on gender roles in society.
And speaking of gay, Dawn Summers has a question about everyone’s favorite weatherman, in reference to my Oscar recap:
umm...Sam Champion is happily married with kids. What do you know that I ...and well, his family...don't?
I don't know for an absolute fact that Sam is gay, although he's been identified as openly gay in the local press more than once, and has appeared at numerous gay community events, including one which he co-hosted along with Harvey Fierstein, Frank DeCaro, Bill Brochtup, and Nick Lachey. Sam is also the inspiration for local band Sam Champion, the frontman of which said in a recent interview that "our band is named after a gay weatherman."
Then again, according to her lifelong friend Karol, Dawn also thinks Clay Aiken is straight.
Also on the Oscars, the reader who happens to share my name has an interesting idea for next year:
The one Oscar moment I'd MOST love to see that will NEVER EVER happen: Lewis Black wins the Academy Award for best actor, then thanks his "very esteemed personal ball washer."
That's not too likely- since as far as I now, Black has never actually acted- though I'd personally love to see him host the show. Even if, like with Rock, the producers' squeamishness detracts from his strengths and prevents him from using any of his best material. What did you get- another car?
In reference to my recent iPod purchase, and my approving link to Slate's "bloggers are just like rappers" piece, "A" writes,
Rappers?? I think not...most of them actually get paid for what they do! You are a part of 2 cults now..I am glad you can admit it.
Only two? Guess you're not counting the Twins Nation. Or Reform Judaism.
And also, just to clarify, if you thought the serial commenter known as "A" was just some random troll, you were only half-right: she's actually a good friend of mine who likes to bait me by doing provocative things such as bashing blogs and (even worse) praising the Yankees. She also claims to hate the Blogosphere, but commenting seems to amuse her so much that I predict she'll have a blog of her own by this time next year.
And finally, on the Game/50 Cent feud, LilB has a crucial insight that you may have missed:
The "lollipop" that 50 refers to in "Candy Shop" is not a lollipop in the literal sense. It actually refers to his penis.
Wow. Now that I know this valuable information, my perspective on the situation has changed completely. As has my perspective on life itself. Next thing, you'll tell me "Magic Stick" isn't really about magician tricks.
UPDATE: The latest Simmons mailbag is one of the best ever, putting mine to shame. The part where his reader drew an elaborate analogy between the upcoming steroid hearings and "Godfather II"- with Jose Canseco in the Frankie Pentangeli role and Ozzie as Frankie's brother- had me howling with laughter, right in the middle of Cosi.
Posted by Stephen Silver at March 11, 2005 04:36 AM