This video documents my attempt to write a novel in a month. Nanowrimo is an online writing project that I have completed 5 times.
This is the first year I did it as an unemployed person. Having had more time to work on the book, I noticed a few things. E.G. There is a plot. There are fewer long passages copied from the Internet and some of the writing makes sense. Along the way, I checked in on FACEBOOK with Chiwrimos and they are a diverse and interesting lot to be sure. There is a wrap party on Sunday, December 2 that I am planning to attend. Unless I chicken out which I have done every other year. It is fun to be a writer for a month. My question is where do I go from here. Obviously staying in the basement is imperative. But the funny thing is I don't HAVE to do anything. I could post something every day. Edit Hong Kong Blues. Use my Hong Kong footage and make it a mini-doc. Practice guitar. And/or do something for other people. Any suggestions on that. Seriously. Here is today's video. Thanks for subscribing to Don's Basement.
Today in a special holiday edition, Don's Basement suggests that we treat Thanksgiving as a day of peace and reconciliation. We can go back to fighting with each other on Friday.
The guy from Hobby Lobby and his friends are opening a Museum of the Bible in DC. They made a classy video. It called out to me.
This is the result.
( I could not have made this video without um, borrowing clips from movies, songs, comedy routines and other assorted silliness. A few thoughts. Most people I know only heard about Hobby Lobby because of their opposition to a provision of the Affordable Care Act. Hobby Lobby specifically objected to several forms of birth control including the IUD which they believed terminated a living fetus. As such, it violated their religious principles. I personally think this was a hypocritical move because as a corporation they bought much of their product from China, a country that allows and encourages abortion as a method of population control. I also had a personal dog in the fight. When I was still working, Hobby Lobby tested one of our companies products but did not reorder. So, the hell with them and their Biblical crap. In their video, they take the viewer on a Biblical Acid Trip which ends up at their new museum. Scene 1: Mt. Sinai. I could have used the Mel Brooks gag from History of the World Part 1 but I had just used it in the 5 Minutes of Krinsky post. Instead, I went with Wholly Moses starring Dudley Moore and Laraine Newman (and many others including Richard Pryor.) Scene 2: Writing the Torah Scrolls and having the Romans barge in. This was a no-brainer. The Life of Brian has a wonderful Roman shakedown scene. Youtube only had a grainy portion of it available and I didn't want search through the whole movie to get better quality. BTW. Everything you need to know about partisan politics and religion is included in The Life of Brian. Scene 3: A guy on a white horse whom I am guessing carrying the scrolls somewhere. It reminded me of Lawrence of Arabia. If I recut the video, I would have included Peter O'Toole and those piercing blue eyes. Scene 4: Then the Hobby Lobby video skips about 1500 years to Gutenberg and printed bible. A Youtube group called the History Teachers make these parody videos. This one is to Blondie's Sunday Girl. It's a pretty cool video. Scene 5: Martin Luther. Spent probably an hour gleaning through Prairie Home Companion, Lutheran Joke Sites. (You might a Luthern if...you have more than five flavors of Jell-O in your pantry.) Finally found another parody song by the History Teachers to the tune of Manic Monday by the Bangles. Scene 6: Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel had me thinking about the Jackie Mason joke, "It took Michelangelo 20 years to paint a ceiling. The man was a putz. I've got a brother-in-law. Two rooms and a toilet. A couple of days. But Jackie Mason has lost his mind and I couldn't find a clip. I had to with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Scene 7: Galileo, I guess. Not sure how it relates to the Bible but it made me think of Bohemian Rhapsody which I had just used for my Scare-a Mooch post. Remember that guy. Lasted a week. Instead, here is Jake Shimabukuro's incredible version of that tune. Scene 8: Some white people crossing the ocean to come to America. I say it was the pilgrims. I used Malcolm X's Plymouth Rock explanation. Scene 9: The signing of the Declaration of Independence. Had to be Stan Freeberg Presents The United States of America This is the scene where Thom asked Ben to sign the document because "We've had it with that Royal Jazz."
Scene 10: Abraham Lincoln working on the Emancipation Proclamation. Immediately, I thought Bob Newhart Abe Lincoln vs Madison Avenue. Prescient comments about the power of advertising in politics.
Scene 12: The final scenes show the freedom of the slaves and Martin Luther King addressing the crowd for his "I Have a Dream Speech." This was somewhat dispiriting search. The Internet can be a nasty racist place so I stopped looking for jokes. Instead found a scene from Forrest Gump where he runs through the reflecting pond to embrace Jenny, the love of his life.
That's how I spent my Monday. Thanks for reading, viewing, being a friend or relative.
President Trump and First Lady Melania are in the midst of their visit to Asia. According to the White House "President Trump will venture to China where he and President Xi Jinping will discuss ways to continue to apply pressure on North Korea. During the State Visit, President Trump will also stress the unsustainability of China’s unfair trade practices that have produced a massive trade deficit, and the President will reaffirm his determination to defend America’s economic interests." I think we can all agree and say good luck with all of that. Based on my several trips to China, I can offer practical and fun suggestions. Hand Sanitizer: Apply liberally (pardon the expression)
Yang Chow Fried Rice: From an early draft of Hong Kong Blues; "The Chinese think they are more worthy to rule the world than America. That could be. It’s possible in our lifetimes we will find out. As of now, it’s an open question. but let me have my Yang Chow Fried Rice and don't judge me " Funny Signs: Hilarious Great Wall:Click to see the top 30 Great People to Have Visited the Great Wall.
Oddly left off the list of 30 Great People (I think I was 31st.)
Mao Zedong is still kind of revered over there: This painting by Peggy Shearn is available for 1990.20 Yuan or $300 USD.
16" x 20": Acrylic/Mixed Media
Today's video is a reimagining of an opera. But it only has a running time 2 minutes and 45 seconds. (That woman is Japanese.) Thanks for being Don's Basement readers. (You can subscribe by adding your e-mail to upper right corner box. Never miss another week.)
