“Your god must feel a bit disappointed,” Doctor Colin said, “when he looks at this world of his.” “When you were a boy they can’t have taught you theology very well. God cannot feel disappointment or pain.” “Perhaps that’s why I don’t care to believe in him.” — Graham Greene, _A Burnt-Out Case_ Read more →
Author Archive: Paul Epps
Incompetents
Politics and political office are not and never have been the method and means by which we can govern ourselves in peace and dignity and honor and security, but instead are our national refuge for our incompetents who have failed at every other occupation by means of which they might make a living for themselves and their families; and which as a result we would have to feed and clothe and shelter out of our own private purses and means. — Faulkner, The Mansion Read more →
Just Like Santa
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. — Proverbs 15:3 Read more →
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Jake Scott
Jake Scott was a free safety best known for his work with the Miami Dolphins. Scott was a key member of the 1972 Dolphins’ undefeated season, and the championship teams of Super Bowl VII and VIII. He was a legendary closer and finisher, a punishing tackler and a superb pass defender. He had 35 interceptions in six seasons with Miami, most in team history, and also holds the career interceptions record at the University of Georgia. Scott was a five-time Pro Bowl selection, twice a first team All-Pro and was voted MVP of Super Bowl VII, a 14-7 win over the Washington Redskins in which he had two interceptions. RIP Jake Scott Read more →
No More Lockdown
No more lockdown No more threats No more Imperial College Scientists Making up crooked facts No more lockdown No more pulling the wool over our eyes No more celebrities telling us Telling us what we’re supposed to feel — Van Morrison, “No More Lockdown” Read more →
Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls, it’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world . . .
Wanna Get It Right This Time
Well, sorrow is an angel that Comes to you in blue light Then shows you what is wrong with you To see if you’ll set it right And I’ve fucked up so many times in my life Wanna get it right this time — Poi Dog Pondering, “Complicated” Read more →
I’ve been trying to get down to the heart of the matter but my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter, but I think it’s about . . . forgiveness . . . forgiveness . . .
My Boyhood Sports Icons are Dying: Bob Gibson and Joe Morgan
Between games, [Willie] Mays came over to me and said, ‘Now, in the second game, you’re going up against Bob Gibson.’ I only half-listened to what he was saying, figuring it didn’t make much difference. So I walked up to the plate the first time and started digging a little hole with my back foot…No sooner did I start digging that hole than I hear Willie screaming from the dugout: ‘Noooooo!’ Well, the first pitch came inside. No harm done, though. So I dug in again. The next thing I knew, there was a loud crack and my left shoulder was broken. I should have listened to Willie. — Jim Ray Hart RIP Bob and Joe Read more →
U-C-L-A Sucks
Forty years ago, @mickfleetwoodofficial, @stevienicks, and @lindseybuckingham presented the USC Trojan Marching Band with a platinum record for “Tusk.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Spirit of Troy (@usctmb) on Oct 4, 2020 at 3:28pm PDT Read more →
EppsNet Album Reviews: Rough and Rowdy Ways and Red Dirt Girl
One new, one old: Highlights: “False Prophet,” “Goodbye Jimmy Reed,” “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You.” Rating: Highlights: “The Pearl,” “Michelangelo,” “My Baby Needs a Shepherd.” Rating: Read more →
How to Kill a Boycott
“I’m disappointed to see that this yogurt I’m eating is the official yogurt of the NFL. I’m not happy about it. Don’t like it.” “Why is that?” “Because I’m boycotting the NFL.” “Why?” “Too much bullshit.” “You’ve never watched the NFL anyway.” “Yeah, well don’t let that get around. It’ll dilute the impact of my boycott.” Read more →
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Tom Seaver, Lou Brock
RIP Tom and Lou Read more →
Would There Be No One to Remember
Did you suffer at the end Would there be no one to remember Did you banish all the old ghosts With the terms of surrender And could you hear me calling out your name Well I guess that I will never know Michelangelo Last night I dreamed about you I dreamed that you were weeping And your tears poured down like diamonds For a love beyond all keeping And you caught them one by one In a million silk bandannas that I gave you long ago Michelangelo — Emmylou Harris, “Michelangelo” Read more →
The Silence is the Voice of God
Our path is worn our feet are poorly shod We lift up our prayer against the odds And fear the silence is the voice of God, of God, of God And we cry Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we cry Hallelujah It is the heart that kills us in the end Just one more old broken bone that cannot mend As it was now and ever shall be amen, amen, amen — Emmylou Harris, “The Pearl” Read more →
There’s a Fine Line Between Comedy and Elder Abuse
Nailed it.???? pic.twitter.com/3hT6ZOOgZ6 — Praying Medic (@prayingmedic) August 31, 2020 Read more →
I Blame Donald Trump
Former Socialists on Socialism
The RNC 2020 speaker who’s made the biggest impact on me thus far is Maximo Alvarez, a Florida businessman whose family fled Cuba when he was 13 years old. Here’s an excerpt: I heard the promises of Fidel Castro. And I can never forget all those who grew up around me, who looked like me, who could have been me, who suffered and starved and died because they believed those empty promises. . . . Those false promises — spread the wealth, free education, free healthcare, defund the police, trust a socialist state more than your family and community — they don’t sound radical to my ears. They sound familiar. . . . But the country I was born in is gone – destroyed. I may be Cuban born, but I am 100-percent American. This is the greatest country in the world. I said this before. If I gave away… Read more →
I Blame Donald Trump
On this date, Aug. 24, in the year 79 A.D., an estimated 20,000 people died when Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash. Read more →
Michelle Obama Fact-Checked by Associated Press
Surprising! Normally as a Democrat you really have to go off the rails to motivate a media organization to fact-check you. “Trump used facilities that were built during the Obama-Biden administration to house children at the border. They are chain-link enclosures inside border facilities where migrants were temporarily housed, separated by sex and age,” AP fact-checkers said. It noted that photos of children in housing centers that were circulated by Democratic officials online to criticize Trump were actually taken in 2014. These pictures actually “depicted some of the thousands of unaccompanied children held by President Barack Obama,” AP said. The “ripping migrant children from their parents and throwing them into cages” distortion was the most urgent issue in the world right up till the day everyone forgot about it, so why the AP is fact-checking it at this late date I do not know, but better late than never I… Read more →