Spring Spheres 2014: That’s How We Roll!!!

Was the Spring Sphere Eggstravaganda a success?

Absolutely. There was no video of Big Guy missing a baker’s dozen shots in a row like last year.

If I miss this one, confiscate all the iPhones

We’ve been practicing shooting our hoops ever since last year’s embarrassing showing. Too bad we didn’t put as much time into practicing our foreign relations.

And the old tennis game looked pretty good too:

Big Guy, showing Putin and David Brooks that he’s got balls too.

As always, this year’s Roll kicked off on the Truman balcony with the National Anthem. For those of you wondering why Lady M didn’t have her hand over her heart like BO and the Bunny, here’s a little behind the scenes shot that explains:

Sunny and Little Bo were looking to their handler for a signal it was time to break loose.

Alas, no such luck:

Since the Wee Wons decided to go to school this year instead of participate in the Roll, that left just Sunny and Little Bo for the family photo ops.

There were plenty of stand-ins for the kids though: From Hollywood, professional juvenile Jim Carrey.

And from Disney hit “Jesse,” all sizes and flavors of kids; here Skai Jackson and Karan Brar try Lady M’s “superfood:”

Yeah, this kale frappe is really yummy.

“Jesse” star Arianna “whoops-I-forgot-my-skirt” Grande

There were other, normal, adorable kids in every flavor too:

Hey girl, don’t worry. My hair used to look like that too!

Watch it honey – that’s a real egg! It could have been a free range chicken, butt for Lady M .

“Look Mommy, Lady M’s table cloth matches my shirt!”

Having a good time, kids?

Our Hollywood star power was definitely toned down this year. No Willow and Jaden Smith with mom Jada Pinkett Smith, no Glee cast, no Justin Bieber…no wonder the Wee Wons decided to go to school instead. Heck, we couldn’t even get a first string FoodTV chef this year. Like pastry chef Yosses, they don’t like making “healthy” food either.

Oh well, Lady M did get an opportunity to chat with Kelly Ripa (remotely) and Mike Strayhan. They talked about – what else - church:

Lady M: “We try to go to church as much as possible, but when the kids get older, you know, Sunday is some kind of practice, rehearsal, birthday party, you know. So getting us all together on a Sunday is becoming more difficult now that the girls are getting older. But if we’re not going to church, we really try to use Sunday as family downtime where we can kind of breathe and catch up and maybe take a little nap every now and then if we’re not working.”

So I guess “as much as possible” is twice a year, three times during an election cycle, because, you know, we’re busy. And tired. You know?

And now, just because it is our custom here on MOTUS’ little blog, I’m rerunning our first historic Spring Roll Run-Through in 30 Seconds, with Peeps.  If you’ve been around awhile you know that before our first  annual Spring Sphere Roll we did a trial run through with the Staff’s children. It didn’t go so well, and in the turmoil, the actual footage of Lady M greeting the little children was unfortunately lost. So this is a little reenactment that I prepared for you, with Peeps. I hope you enjoy it, butt it is loud so you might want to turn the volume down a little if you’re at work.

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Obama as a Literary Conceit

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness ,or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Odd, isn’t it? I mean, just last Saturday,  JDOlson posted the above quote from The Great Gatsby in the comments on “Who, Really, Won the Cold War?” and next thing you know, Big Guy shows up for Easter Services wearing his Gatsby suit (the 2013 Dicaprio version). He must be reading my little blog again.

“The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

For her part, Lady M played along, dressing up as Daisy Buchanan (the 1974 Redford version):

“It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Although in reality she looked more like she was going to her First Communion than a party on the Long Island Sound.

(First Communion dress available on Etsy)

It does become clear, however, that David Brooks was correct about this man all along:

“I remember distinctly an image of–we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant,” Brooks says, “and I’m thinking, a) he’s going to be president and b) he’ll be a very good president.”

His observation subsequently produced the now widely used journalistic scale of human intelligence and moral fortitude known as the “creased pants” theory. It has also been successfully employed by Chuck Todd to assess BO’s humility and veracity.

That was a brilliantly parsed apology, Mr. President; and BTW, may I say you’re looking sharp tonight!

Ah yes, the brilliance and internal fortitude of a well dressed man. Gatsby would approve, I think:

“Ah,” she cried, “you look so cool.”… “You always look so cool.”  ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Indeed, Big Guy would have made a great literary figure. No, not Jay Gatsby, that’s too easy. I was thinking more along the lines of Tom Buchanan:

“As angry as I was, as we all were, I was tempted to laugh whenever he opened his mouth. The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

 

Not a man in full, butt full of himself.

“It occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Oh, and by the way, here’s the lead-in to the above quote from JDOlson about Tom and Daisy Buchanan:

“I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused.”

 

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, whatever we did to deserve a fictional character of such little import as our President?

Well, enough literary analysis for one day. I’ve got to run: the Spring Sphere Roll is about to start (alas, with real eggs) and I don’t want to miss anything. I’ll report back tomorrow, complete with video.

Feel free to post your own favorite lines from The Great Gatsby; there are a zillion good ones that seem to apply.

Linked By: @batfreight, @Standlow, @saddletrap on twitter, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and Free Republic, Thanks!

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Easter Sunday 2014

A Happy and Blessed Easter to all of MOTUS’ Christian friends, and everyone who takes this day to reflect on the life of Christ.

  “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” - Matthew 28:6

Who, Really, Won the Cold War?

As a rule I abhor the modern English language practice of using nouns as verbs. However, given that it is Holy Week and given that it is the perfect allusion, allow me to paraphrase Daniel Henninger: Big Guy just “Pontius Pilated” the Ukraine. It is an accurate, if awkward, construction.

"The White House reiterated that no lethal assistance was planned" to help Ukraine defend itself. The U.S., however, did send ready-to-eat meals. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney's comments were antiseptic: "The Ukrainian government has a responsibility to provide law and order." It is fitting that churchgoers the world over this week are hearing the story of Pontius Pilate.

Mr. Henninger’s point is that the Ukraine is about to fall to Russia without much more than a whimper from the West.

The West didn't lose Ukraine, an independent nation of 45 million people. It simply let it go.

Having learned the wrong lesson from history, the really big brains are doomed to repeat it.

The West's intellectuals often diminish the significance of the Cold War. They say it didn't matter much, that the Soviet Union unwound on its own. No small number of these thinkers were half-sorry to see this "flawed" experiment in income-equality fail.

Ah yes, with progressives it’s never the idea of collectivism that fails, butt rather the flawed implementation of that noble idea. Rather than change the ideal, they change the facts.

Bow-chika-bow-wow! It’s back to college week for the Obamas.

Both Lady M and Big Guy went back to college this week; MO was at Howard University:

On Thursday, first lady Michelle Obama and rapper-slash-actor Bow Wow joined 37 students from Chicago public high schools for a tour of Howard University, our colleague Krissah Thompson reports. According to the first lady’s office, Obama specifically requested Bow Wow for the event, an annual college visit called “Escape to the Mecca” — a nod to the university’s nickname “the mecca.”

The first lady said she was “very fond” of Bow Wow, whom she met during a 2013 appearance on BET’s “106th and Park,” the hip-hop talk show he co-hosts.

Lady M and Bow Wow on the set at “106th and Park” – Lil Bow Wow’s on the left.

She praised his commitment to education and encouraged the students to pursue higher education.  “No longer is high school the bar. That is not enough in today’s globalizing economy.”

Lady M advised her touring entourage to check out the dorm rooms, saying “You might be living here. I’m just visiting.” Be advised, however, that sometimes she visits and decides to spend 8 years.

And Now, A Word From our Sponsor: Maxwell House...Haggadah

Slow news day, so let’s catch up on details of our annual White House Seder dinner, held Tuesday, the second night of Passover.

Woops! Big Guy forgot his beanie!

For starters, we had to bring in extra help to cook everything:

But this year, a secret culinary detail was called in – not celebrity chefs, but Washington caterer Vered Guttman, who writes the Modern Manna blog for Haaretz.com, and filmmaker Susan Barocas, a food aficionado who helped launch the Jewish Food Experience in 2012.

Stand up Boston, let 'em see you. Oh, God love you. What am I talking about?

 

 

Surely You Jest: A heartbeat away?

“My God you have survived and you have soared. It was worth it, I mean it sincerely, just to hear you speak.”  - Joey Biden, Biddening his own remarks  at the Boston Marathon Memorial.

We really need to get someone to follow Joey B around with a mop and bucket to clean up the pieces of his brain that he leaves scattered in his path. On second thought, a tea cup might be sufficient.

I don’t remember falling down this rabbit hole!

Me neither!

Oh well, it’s not as if Joey was hired for his brains.

It Ain’t Over Till the Little Banty Rooster Stops Crowing

Remember kids, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings. Or in this case, until the Little Banty Rooster’s Little Banty Hen crows:

Reid tells News4's Samantha Boatman his take on the so-called cattle battle in southern Las Vegas. "Well, it's not over. We can't have an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from it. So it's not over," Reid said.

Wait, what?  We can’t have an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from it?

They may not walk, butt they sure can run.

I presume he was not talking about the ruling class, because if you’re a Congressman you may be publically shamed (censured) butt you’ll still be free to walk away  - and even get re-elected for another term. Because members of the ruling class have superpowers, or at least they believe they do.

“I believe I can fly.”

Nor, I assume, was Harry speaking of illegal aliens, because if you count illegal aliens as “Americans” – and I know Joey B does:

“You know, 11 million people live in the shadows. I believe they’re already American citizens,” Mr. Biden said during a Thursday address to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, The Hill reported. “These people are just waiting, waiting for a chance to contribute fully. And by that standard, 11 million undocumented aliens are already Americans, in my view.”

there sure are a lot of them who “violate the law and then just walk away.”

All with the assistance of Ricky’s Justice Department - previously required to enforce laws, not ignore them. And when they are allowed to “just walk away” they often commit more crimes. 

Of course a lot of the illegality involved with illegal aliens “dreamers” is due to the fact that Harry also wasn’t talking about the Supreme Leader of the ruling class: Big Guy is also exempt from the contention that “we can’t have Americans that violate the law and then just walk away.” Otherwise Barry would have to heed the Constitution's stipulation (Article II, section 3) that a president "shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed...." And that would mean that he’d be “violating the law” if he didn’t protect the borders and deport illegal aliens, especially, I would think, the ones who have already committed a felony.

Butt I guess all bets are off if you elect a President and then give him a magic pen. That gives him special superpowers to “violate the law and then just walk away.” For instance, with his special pen

he can:

• illegally order the NSA to conduct warrantless wire tapping and spying on U.S. citizens
• illegally order the IRS to harass and silence conservative groups
• illegally and unilaterally change “the law of the land” by granting multiple waivers, changes and extensions to Obamacare.

Yes, it is good to be king.

“With my pen and my phone, I will smite mine enemies.”

Where is that fat lady when we need her?

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