Spin

One of the many accepted definitions of the word "spin" is to impart information with a favorable interpretation. When you think about it, we all engage in spinning of this sort throughout our lives . As children we might say "the dog ate my homework (or perhaps today disconnected the internet)", as teens it might be "but I really love you" and on college and employment applications a sort of "robust" resume might be included. Some would call these lies (little white or otherwise), others might describe them as harmless exaggerations or just doing what everyone else does. But really they're early forms of Spin.

But the real, professional, serious Spin occurs not only in say the business world with unsupported marketing and advertising claims but of course in politics. No matter what, there's a favorable interpretation immediately available of the results of an election, a poll, a debate, a gaffe, an endorsement. You name it. If the candidate does poorly, he or she was the underdog anyway and has certainly exceeded expectations. This only makes sense sometimes if expectations are for a complete failure. Nobody admits that in advance.

It's really curious that the most expert practitioners of this are known as "Spin Doctors"because another accepted definition of "spin" is to give a sensation of dizziness. After the interminable primary season, are you as dizzy as The Normal Blogger? If only the "Spin Doctors" could prescribe something. Probably, the side effects would be horrible (like watching John McCain try to bond with poor blacks) and in any event we'd have to "ask our doctor" (the real one).

This and That

Did you know that after Dick Cheney (!) the current Presidential succession consists of, in order, a sixtyish white woman, an aged Senator and an African-American with a strange first name? No, not Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama. How about (really) Nancy Pelosi, Robert Byrd (very aged) and Condoleezza Rice. If the latter three were the candidates, could it get any more depressing? The latest Democratic debate certainly was incisive and enlightening, wasn't it? Instead of the surrogates (Geraldine Ferraro, etc.) making the gaffes it's the contenders themselves. But do these offhand remarks really provide any evidence on fitness to lead the nation, which is rapidly becoming obsessed with sound bites instead of substance.

Just when the primary season might actually be winding down, last Fall's TV writers strike has inadvertently come to the rescue. Most of the scripted shows (Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, etc.) have been on hiatus, meaning reruns, but thankfully they're all returning. Their outrageous plots are certainly no more bizarre than today's headlines (e.g., pregnant man). And how about the polygamy sect in Texas? There was an HBO series last year called Big Love that might have been based on this real life drama. One of the wives, played by Chloe Sevigny, had a hairdo identical to the women in this sect. The next fashion craze?

Diehard baseball fans are breathlessly awaiting the return this season of three involuntarily retired superstars with lots of baggage--Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa. If none of them gets a contract offer, they'll all be first timers on the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot. Could be interesting.

Sports of Sorts

Honestly, how many Americans seriously care about the quadrennial Summer Olympics? About as many as who are passionate about the World Cup of football (soccer to us Yanks). We care about American football, basketball, baseball (see below) even NASCAR over the Olympics. Quick, name some gold medal winners from the 2004 Athens games. But NBC has paid $900 million for the rights to the upcoming Beijing games and has signed up a bunch of increasingly nervous sponsors to bring us many hours of taped results (available real time on the Internet and elsewhere). The sponsors are nervous because once again politics has raised its ugly head (remember Moscow 1980?) pushing drug tests into the background. Caused by protests of China's abysmal human rights record (Tibet, Darfur) but curiously not their penchant for exporting defective and poisoned goods, the torch relay has been interrupted in San Francisco as well as London and Paris. This relay originated not with the ancient Greeks but as part of the infamous 1936 Berlin games. Worse yet, British PM Gordon Brown won't attend the opening ceremonies. Probably President Bush will attend recognizing who exactly owns our country.

Baseball is back and a certain team is attempting to celebrate the centennial of William Howard Taft's election as president by winning the World Series (even getting into it would be the first time since Harry Truman's initial year). All this excitement, coupled with 15 major league games played almost daily provides enormous material for that weird form of verbal blogger known as the caller to sports talk radio. If that's possible, most of these men (there are few females) are less informed and more opinionated than us "real" bloggers. Of course, the callers don't run the same risk as some of the professional bloggers, that is actually keeling over from the stress of coming up with daily or hourly blogs. Unfortunately, even a few deaths have been reported. Don't worry-- the Normal Blogger is certainly not stressed out, and certainly won't be until five or ten thousand people are totally dependent on this blog for unusually perceptive information.

The Entertainment Scene

Once the Democratic race is finally over (but don't count out Hillary yet) what are the late night comedians going to do for topical jokes? Can you expect there to be another Eliot Spitzer or Larry Craig to provide daily material? Probably yes, which is what makes our country great! Out of desperation, I've noticed that even poor George W. is being used to fill the insatiable need for someone to make fun of. Is there no end to the same old, same old jokes about Bush 43? Everyone has the message already. Let's move on to some new targets. Any candidates?

Some readers of the Normal Blog (there aren't very many--yet) feel that the comments about John Adams were unfair to him. But blame HBO and Paul Giamatti for portraying him as totally lacking in personality and charm, unlike his wife Abigail. Contrast him with his opposite number (sort of) on Sunday night on Showtime--- Henry VIII in The Tudors. Now there was a stud, not a dud. Of course, he did have a few of his wives executed, but hey, those were different times. Even the sex on The Tudors is graphic, not discreet as in the Adams household (maybe because John and Abigail apparently never frolicked in the woods with only their horses nearby).

Israel was criticized in some movie circles for not entering The Band's Visit as their official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 Oscars. But, after seeing it, I can understand why. Although it's subtitled in entirety, it's primarily spoken in English with some Hebrew and Arabic. By the way, it's an excellent film and you'll love the luminous Israeli actress, Ronit Elkabatz. Speaking of multilanguage movies, there's also the current The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, mostly in Portuguese but with some Yiddish. A very unusual combination.