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    FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Jesus toasters, Gray Panthers, Raging Grannies, and Fun with Medicare

    By Ramona on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 1:08pm | Politics, Humor & Satire, Media
     

    WARNING:  Hot graven images ahead.  Turn back if you believe Jesus' image on toast should remain a miracle and not be used as a promotion by clever, sacrilegious Vermonters for a Made in China toaster.  (It's International Blasphemy Rights Day today but I swear I didn't know that when I chose this segment.  Not that I'm not okay with it.  I am.)

    As serendipity would have it, I was thinking about making myself a piece of toast in my conventional Fire Engine Red toaster last week when I happened to glance at my newest Twitter followers and saw that "Virgin Mary Toasters" was following me.  I was about to write them off because, really, @VirginMaryToast? Why me, faGodsake?

    But I bit.  I clicked.  And now I'm crazy about Vermonters Galen and Owen (AKA Virgin Mary Toasters) and their website, Burnt Impressions, Inc. They have a growing line of actual toasters that entertain with pictures, but the Rapture Toaster is my so-far all-time favorite.  (Not yet for sale.  Must be a prototype):
     



    In Honor of Older Persons Day, October 1 (and because I'm one of them, now entering my fourth year of septuagenarian bliss) I would like to take this time to remind the (relatively) young that we're not all out there playing Bingo or whining about gas or sitting on icebergs waiting to die.

    Remember the inimitable Maggie Kuhn and The Gray Panthers?  She and a small group of retired friends organized the tiny grass-roots organization, using word-play on "The Black Panthers" to suggest an aggressiveness that probably wasn't really there, first to protest the Viet Nam war, and later to protest social and economic inequities.  They're still out there doing their thing, making my heart glad, but now they've got more friends and allies.



    "Speak your mind - even if your voice shakes. Well aimed slingshots can topple giants."
     


    Now we have The Raging Grannies, with chapters all over the country and all over the world. They joined the Wall Street protesters last week when members of the Canadian-based Grannies for Peace (Not be be confused with the Granny Peace Brigade) were pepper-sprayed and arrested.
     

    Amongst those detained were two members of New York's Grannies for Peace. Both ladies are in their 70s and they were amongst the younger people, handcuffed and corralled, into orange mesh pens, in the street. The Raging Grannies saw their friends and decided it was time to show their support too.
    "We have helluva job on our hands," said 96 year old Lillian Pollak, [Raging Grannies member] as she arrived in Zuccotti Park to join the Occupy Wall Street protesters camped out there. "We thank you. This is wonderful. I was getting down in the dumps about what was going on, but you have raised my spirits."

     
     Note:  We Senior Citizens also have another day, called "Senior Citizens Day", that falls on August 21.  That one was signed into remembrance by Ronald Reagan, the guy who started that whole Kill Social Security thing, from the party that hates Medicare, so I'm still a little wary about that one.  Plus, I hate that phrase, "Senior Citizen" and besides that, all Reagan expected on that day was for people to be nice to their elders.  I would say it's a start, but it wasn't.  His party is still trying to kill us off early.(Reminds me of deer hunters who rave over the beauty of the animal but lust after its blood.  Very odd.)
     Cartoon of the Week:
     
    Nick Anderson - Houston Chronicle
     
     
    (Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices.)
    Topics: 
    Politics
    Humor & Satire
    Media
    Series: 
    Friday Follies

    Comments

    What's even odder is that the older demographic is exactly the one that predominantly votes Republican. I won't hold you personally responsible for the actions of your peers, however. wink


    by Verified Atheist on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 1:20pm

    Yeah, those crazy kids.  I've been trying to tell 'em....


    by Ramona on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 4:02pm

    septuagenarian bliss?

    Is that for people who give up hamburgers and pork chops?

    I don't know if I could give up hamburgers!


    by Richard Day on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 1:30pm

    It's another way of saying, "Just happy to be alive."  ;>)


    by Ramona on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 4:01pm

    Ramona, as always, you hit the spot! I am going to tell my pals here at DagBlog that tomorrow, October 1st (otherwise known as OLDER PERSONS DAY). WTF? I am meeting, for the first time in 42 years, my high school sweetheart. I had been told he died in Vietnam, but no. Funny how you can re-connect and the years just fade away. I am so excited!

    Probably too much to share, but I don't care. It feels like I am in a movie. Jan


    by CVille Dem on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 7:53pm

    What a story, Jan.  Were you really told he died in Vietnam?  Incredible!  I'm so glad you have the chance to hook up again.  Hope it works out well for you.  (I've often wondered what happened to my high school BF.  He has a common name so it would be almost impossible to find him.  And, what the heck -- he's probably a Republican. lol.)

    Take notes so you can report back, okay?  ;>)

     


    by Ramona on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 8:55pm

    Wow! Although he states he is Independent, he is with me on the big issues. the main place we disagree is that he is much more forgiving of the Conservative view than I am. What a wonderful experience, to re-acquaint myself with someone I knew as a boy and who went to war (twice) and who is now 63 years old, as am I. In the mean time he learned Shakeoearean sonnets, he learned how to fly helicopters, airplanes and jets (and now teaches pilots how to fly them). What a weekend! I feel so fortunate! thanks, Ramona, for letting me share this. Jan

    by CVille Dem on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 8:47pm

    Oh, did I forget to mention that he grew up to be a wonderful man?

    by CVille Dem on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 8:49pm

    Okay, I was on pins and needles... Thanks for sharing.  And, yes, what a guy!  What an interesting life. 

    But I knew it all along.  You surely would never have spent time with him, even when you both were young, if there hadn't been something about him.

    Glad it worked out well.  (And maybe even better than expected.)  And I'll bet he's saying the same about you.  Wonderful woman.


    by Ramona on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 9:09pm

    Don't underestimate those grannies. Just ask Artie Johnson.


    by cmaukonen on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 8:02pm

    Since I live deep in the heart of Texas, I'm definitely a raging granny.  Although I insist my grandsons call me Kat.

    http://katnovian.com/?p=192

    Loved the post and I'd buy a Rapture Toaster to see if I could get the toast to hit the ceiling. 


    by Kat Nove on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 9:29pm

    Hi Kat, I went to your website.  You're funny!

    As much as I admire it, I would be a little afraid of that rapture toaster myself.  What if the toast didn't fly up, but just rose a little and then fell back again?  What would that say about the toast?  Or the toaster?  Or me?

    That's just way too much drama.  (I think these things through, you see.)


    by Ramona on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 7:20am

    Thanks for visiting my website.  As you can see from my posts, I rarely think things through so I still would like a rapture toaster.  Or perhaps a velociraptor toaster.  That would keep my damn cats off the counter!


    by Kat Nove on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 6:11pm

    Lol.  Great to have you here.  Hope you'll stick around.  Could be fun.  ;>)


    by Ramona on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 6:48pm

    Or...what if when you pull the levers down, a clown pops up, thumbs in ears, fingers pointed skyward, tongue sticking out at you, saying "Ha! Joke's on you!!!" 

    You and Kat are hilarious!


    by AmericanDreamer on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 12:12pm