God bless the outspoken ones

Opie's hot.
Mah boy doesn't look so great in this shot.
He's looking like one of the puppets
from Labyrinth.
Anthony has depth to his eyes.
There's kindness hidden in there.
See?
I can judge people
on their appearance, too.
Hmph!

I'm listening to the kings of chauvinism and trash talk, Opie and Anthony.
WHY?
Yeah, good question.

Well, I want to hear my Jimmy Norton.

But I don't think I could make this a habit.
I dunno.
Talk radio, no matter what the subject matter, is difficult to listen to...for me.
It's choppy.
I get nervous and embarrassed when jokes don't go well
or there's a lag in the conversation
or someone stutters or screws up somehow.

I'm listening and blogging at the same time.
It's difficult to write while listening to talk radio.

Opie and Anthony's show is guy-world.
Straight-guy-world.
Straight-middle-class-white-guy-world.
Guys ripping on each other.
Hurling sharp words at each others' vulnerability.
Playground one-up-manship.

Laughing like Beavis and Butthead at sexual innuendo.
Mean spirited commentary on EVERYTHING.

Now, don't get me wrong, some of this stuff is really funny.
I've laughed outloud a few times already this morning.

It's liberating to be able to laugh at taboo subjects,
to let go and be politically incorrect,
nay, downright subversive.

And my Jimmy is just a terror of hilarity.

I'm laughing and cringing.

It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here.

It's too rough.
And I'm too tender.
Too soft.
I bruise easily.
I have too much empathy for others' feelings, too.

These guys are brutal.
They judge women (they judge everyone)
based on how they measure up to the Hollywood-porn-star-body-ideal and they do it with malice.

That's the price for being able to laugh at everything.
Nothing is sacred.
Nothing has a compassion-shield protecting it.
If one thing is funny then everything has to have the potential to be funny.

Bodies are punching bags for these guys.
Men get ripped on for being fat, flabby or out of shape.
Women get ripped on for being less than perky in the breasts, fat, old, whatever.

So what DO I find funny about these guys?
They make fun of hypocrisy.
They don't tolerate disingenuousness.
If you're full of sh*t they will poke at you till you deflate.
Their commentary on politics, pop culture, sports (yawn), and headline news is edgy.
They're unconcerned with good taste which leaves them room to be honest...real.
And Jim's self deprecation is frikken adorable.

We need controversial commentary that transgresses the edge of acceptability.
I may not listen to these guys every day, but I'm happy that they're there.

Even if it's just so we (we = sensitive women? sensitive anyone?)
know what to avoid
or see how not to act
or need a microcosm of patriarchal chauvinism to criticize.

From a social justice or humanist or feminist standpoint, we get to see exactly what we don't like.
Rubbing up against them might help us (us = sensitive women? sensitive anyone?)
be clear about what we're FOR and what we're AGAINST in the media today.

They add to the fabric of diversity.
What would the world be without actual choices between stuff?
Even if they're there for folks like me to say NO to, I'm glad they offer me that option.

I don't want them silenced
and if I do, I'll just stop listening.

For the duration of my free trial of XM radio,
I'll enjoy the edgy mean spirited choppy yap-fest.
I'll enjoy my Jim Norton and his kvetchy self-deprecating weirdness.

You can listen to and leave personal-style messages for Jim Norton by calling his
fan line (917) 267- 2602.

It's a GREAT service.
It's like audio blogging.
It's like Twitter for listeners.
I love it!
As soon as I'm working full time, I'm getting one for all you readers so you can listen to my histrionics at will.

Ok, time to think about more high minded, spiritual subjects, you know for that thing I call my job!
hahaha

God bless the outspoken ones.

*Lisa's Video Pick of the Day*
Scrubs fan?
Even if you're not, this is such a great acoustic version of 'Overkill'
with Men at Work's Colin Hay.
I play this over and over and over to get me going in the morning.
Love it!
Enjoy.
click here or click below