Sleeping in the Bed You Made

I only had to watch the first 10 or so minutes of the presidential debate last night before realizing that Joe Biden would shit the bed last night...and he did. Aside from his meandering answers to the moderators' questions (when he did actually try to answer without losing his train of thought), I was amazed at how clueless he looked throughout the debate. At one point, there was a split screen of Biden and Trump while Trump was gesticulating and spewing his usual lies and exaggerations and Biden was standing there with his mouth agape. He looked like a nursing home patient waiting for the health care worker to bring him a juice box. Seriously. What a disaster for the Democrats that this is our candidate. What a disaster for our country that Biden and Trump are the best we can do for this next presidency. Neither of these old guys deserve our votes. Why can't we get decent candidates for POTUS? Because all of the decent candidates are smart enough to NOT get caught up in the shit show that is our American political system.

The Democrats are freaking out today and rightly so, but this is the bed they made for themselves. In my opinion, this goes all the way back to Hillary Clinton. If Biden had run against Trump back in 2020 instead of stepping aside so Hillary could run (because it was "her time" you know/s), I'm pretty confident he could have been victorious and stayed in office for two terms. Even if Biden had done as initially promised and agreed to serve just one term and the Dems had got on the stick over the past four years and got someone ready and waiting in the wings to step up as the next POTUS candidate, we'd be in a better position against Donny T. But none of that happened and now we are where we are. 

RIP, Angela Bofill

Great people in the music industry just keep passing away. A few weeks ago, it was David Sanborn and now it's Angela Bofill. I grew up listening to Angela Bofill's music in Detroit mainly on the defunct station WJZZ. She was so talented and never really got the audience or the kudos she deserved. It annoys me when "singers" who can't sing or have a limited vocal range often get pushed to mega-star status while truly talented singers like Angela Bofill, Phyllis Hyman, and Chante Moore are given the short shrift. I understand the music industry (especially these days) is more than just a great voice. You have to have a marketable persona to get fans and fame, but it still angers me that true talent is so often overlooked.

RIP, Angela Bofill.

Don't Touch!

I mentioned a few posts back that my tour group in Madeira, Portugal last month was filled with Brits and I said there'd be more to come on them. Well, that time has come! The British folks on my tour were largely nice, older people who did a lot of travelling to far-flung places. They were seasoned travelers, but some of the stuff they did was a little odd to me as an American. First, they would use me (the lone American) as a sounding board to criticize their fellow countrymen/women. I guess they figured since I didn't have a dog in that fight, I was the person to confide in. One guy complained  to me about another guy having a beer at 11 in the morning when we stopped at a location. One woman complained to me about another woman who she thought talked too much. (Honestly, I thought they ALL talked too much and I said this to the Portuguese tour guide during a moment when just the two of us were in an elevator together. He said something like, "They have a lot to say." And I responded with, "Do they? Really?" He laughed. 

There was one British woman who was traveling with a friend she hadn't seen in a long time and she would shove you out of the way to get to this other woman if they became separated. It was so bizarre. I started making sure I was far away from both of them to avoid being anywhere near the shover because I didn't want to have to let the Detroit out and go off on her ass. 

But my complaints about the group were few and far between. They really were lovely people and I had a great time in Portugal with them. Yes, a little of them went a long way, but they were funny and I learned some British expressions like a mozzie bite is a mosquito bite and a cozzie is a swimming costume (aka a bathing suit). They were very interested to know what I thought about Trump and Biden (and tell me how they loved Obama when he was in office--yeah, didn't we all). The last thing I wanted to do on vacation was talk about American politics, but I answered their questions as best I could without being annoying. 

One subject that came up while talking with one of the British ladies was about Americans touching people when we talk to them. The British woman I was talking with mentioned Trump touching the Queen when he wasn't supposed to during his visit when he was POTUS. Yeah, Americans like to touch folks when we talk to them (not all, of course). I did it when I was talking to our tour guide once, like a pat on the back. It's a cultural thing. Plus, I think it's ridiculous not to touch someone because they're royalty and untouchable. Give me a break. (Again, I'm an American, so I don't get the whole Royal Family thing. I think the monarchy is outdated and largely irrelevant, but I digress.) There was minor controversy this week with Emmanuel Marcon's wife trying to take Queen Consort Camilla's hand last week during a ceremony in France and how Camilla refused the gesture. Maybe Camilla felt she didn't want to be touched because she's married to the King of England and that's a no-no. Can't blame the Americans for that one since Marcon's wife is French, but I guess the same standards apply. Look, don't touch, folks. Insert eye roll here. 

The picture below is from the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens I visited during my trip. A lovely place and well worth the scary cable car ride to visit.