Maya Angelou, Deat at 86

Image from source, ABC News

I will not pretend that I am a Maya Angelou expert. She's one of those people with enormous gravitas, a woman of obvious intelligence and talent. And as such, she left a very positive impression on me, even though I didn't follow her works or career. It's sad when someone with such a bright light passes. But it's also nice that she got to live such a long life, and to have her gifts be appreciated up to the end. How many people get that? RIP, Ms. Angelou.

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Maya Angelou, Celebrated Poet and Author, Dies

Maya Angelou's story awed millions. A childhood victim of rape, she broke through silence and shame to tell her tale in one of the most widely read memoirs of the 20th century. A black woman born into poverty and segregation, she recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history. "I'm not modest," she told The Associated Press in 2013. "I have no modesty. Modesty is a learned behavior. But I do pray for humility, because humility comes from the inside out. . ."

Read more at: ABC News

Herman Cain Quotes "Great Poet" Donna Summer at Debate

"I don't think that I can take it
'cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe
again, oh, no."

I know I'm not quite as gay as Marcus Bachmann, but how did a Donna Summer quote go right by me? I chalk it up to having bleeding eyes and eardrums after by that point, watching most of the painful (but again I will admit, well-staged) FOX "News" GOP Presidential Debate. Well, that, and the fact that this particular Summer song is not on her Greatest Hits collection. But this is almost as funny as Newt Gingrich's ABBA ringtone!


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The Mystery of Herman Cain and the Donna Summer Lyrics

One of the weirdest moments of last night's Republican debate probably slipped completely under the radar for most viewers. This moment occurred in Herman Cain's closing statement, when the former pizza-chain CEO recited a favorite inspirational quote. . .

Read more at: New York Magazine

Countdown with Keith Olbermann: Palin as Poetry

William Shatner Recites "Palin Poetry"

This is not your father's Tonight Show. Conan O'Brien's guest the other night was William Shatner, who is incredibly quirky, and hipper than most 70-something year-olds. And if you remember his bizarre readings of Rocket Man or Mr. Tambourine Man, it will come as no surprise that his rendition of Sarah Palin's resignation speech is pitch perfect. And arguably less strange than Palin's version.

The "Found Poetry" of Sarah Palin

Many on the right have complained (even whined) that left-wing bloggers like me have made a sport out of attacking Sarah Palin. Have we? You betcha! But now that Caribou Barbie is no longer Governor of Alaska, it remains to be seen whether or not she'll continue to have any relevance. So, unless and until she does something newsworthy (or snark-worthy), I'll probably not have much more to say about her.

But the article excerpted below is a great deal of fun. It parses Palin's "word salad" statements, and fashions them into verse. Is it possible that there is more to Palin's manner of speech than meets the ear? Probably not. After all you could easily blend a beauty pageant answer of--say, that Teen Miss South Carolina contestant--into any of Palin's statements, and not notice a difference. But it's a hoot to read this theory anyway.

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Sarah Palin, The Anti-Poet

Watching Sarah Palin resign the other week, I remembered how frustrating it is to listen to her speak. She uses simple words, but combines them into a fog that's hard to penetrate, out of which a few political clichés like "freedom" and "reform" appear. Most politicians, of course, obfuscate to some degree, but Palin is a master, and she does it constantly. Look at how she turns a simple statement into a mind-numbing puzzle. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post