CSotD: Professional Cosplay Championships
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I went to a costume party Saturday and a demonstration broke out.
And, in case you thought “One riot, one Ranger” was a law-enforcement philosophy confined to Texas, it seems to apply in Vermont as well. We had an estimated 5,000 people turn out, which is not bad for a town of 10,713, though there were a few ringers from the other bank of the river, and I only saw one police officer controlling the crowd. Well, walking around, anyway.
It reminded me of a Yippie poster I saw back in the ’60s that encouraged people to bring Frisbees and other fun stuff to a demonstration to mellow out the speeches. There was a time when demonstrations meant you’d gather in one place and march to another place and then have speeches, but here people just showed up and waved signs and laughed.
It also reminds me of Abbie Hoffman yelling “Where’s your social consciousness?” and then bursting into laughter, because showing up was the point, and showing up in funny costumes with naughty signs was a bonus.
And Duginski is right that some people can clown around in silly costumes without being in the least bit funny and certainly without exhibiting any sort of social consciousness, though my mother-in-law used to do a Charley’s Angels impression that cracked me up, pointing both hands together and shouting “Freeze!” but still looking like my kids’ grandmother.
Kosplay Kristi, on the other hand, expects to be taken seriously. That’s unintentional humor.
Though no more absurd than this couple thinking that they’re going to get their damage deposit back.
Speaking of failed cosplay, it appears that the Prince Formerly Known as The Prince is stepping aside or being fired or whathaveyou. According to the announcement, he’s giving up his duties, which should certainly leave a gaping hole in the form of ribbons waiting to be cut and crowds of people being forced to wave at an empty limousine during parades.
Back when people used to dress up like that for real, they’d have snicked off his head and mounted it on London Bridge, but I don’t think they’ve done that for some time. Ex-Prince Harry and his wife manage to be in the news somewhat often and the Duke of Windsor hung around for decades after giving up his throne for the woman he loved and being hidden away as a fan of German paperhangers.
Baron doesn’t seem to find a lot of humor in the nickname “Randy Andy” that the press had given the fellow. She’s done enough traveling to places like Ukraine and Sudan to appreciate the difference between life as it has to be lived in some places and what it means to voluntarily leave a trail of entitled slime wherever you go.
Meanwhile, Charlie is off to visit the Pope, which makes Jennings suggest he not bring Andy with him, since confession may be good for the soul but might not be so good for the monarchy, as it could tend to focus attention on how much the British pay for royal cosplay.
There are, of course, accountants who can explain how the cost of royalty is more than repaid in the form of tourist dollars, but the people who wander around Disneyland dressed as Mickey and Donald and Snow White are paid by the corporation, not by the citizens of Anaheim.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Still on the topic of people dressing up as things they are not, poor OAN is catching a lot of flak for having agreed to being neutered so they could enter the Pentagon without lifting their leg on anything. But, to be fair, there were also a couple of Turkish news agencies that signed, and the Federalist Society signed without anyone knowing they even employed reporters.
Also on the list of Good Little Girls and Boys is Epoch Times, which has apparently cleaned up its act, or, at least, had until now. This doesn’t help.
In any case, when we talk about jobs being replaced by AI, just take a look at social media and you’ll see how artificial intelligence can produce cascades of positive government releases.
Facebook just purged 10 million fake accounts, which is like catching a mouse in a mousetrap. You need to reset it, because if you caught one, you’ve surely missed several others. Not only are there people working in overseas troll farms but there are millions of bots just waiting to tell you why the porridgebird lays its eggs in the air.
That article explains that Facebook wasn’t hunting bots and trolls but, rather, accounts that swipe material from other accounts and thereby profit from material they didn’t produce themselves, which I thought was a pretty good description of Facebook’s business plan.
Meanwhile, Hegseth is working in the opposite direction, getting real reporters to refuse his silly pledge so that we may assume anyone who escapes his purge is working for the administration.
I’m beginning to feel that Substack is where the ethical reporters hang out, including several former Washington Post writers and others who have no interest in earning a government stamp of approval or that of the venture capitalists who now own and guide their former outlets.
It isn’t necessary to clash with the authorities in order to be a good reporter. Well, not often, and certainly not regularly. But sometimes it’s necessary to work a runaround, which can be as simple as being turned away at a crime scene and going around the corner to find another entry point, or reading something upside down on the desk of an official while they stonewall you.
Thus while Hegseth is providing pre-digested information to his approved outlets, the real reporters will be holding up bunny ears behind his head.
Meanwhile, over at CBS, Bari Weiss has been cosplaying as editor-in-chief for two weeks and, according to the Times and Reliable Sources, has met with senior staff and, among other things, “complained about a flurry of leaks concerning her early tenure, urging executives to identify the leakers in the newsroom.”
Which sounds more like a beleaguered substitute teacher than the head of a major news organization.
Can bunny ears be far off?
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