War is Stupid

The Josh Wells Weekly, Episode 341

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I was recently a guest on the Staten Island Comedy Show. I hear you can see it on public access TV in NYC. Also, it should be on YouTube at some point. Fun was had.

Random Thought

The night before the war with Iran began, a very good friend of mine went to go see Boy George live. I don’t know a lot about Boy George but i do remember Culture Club had this song in the 80s called, ‘The War Song’ (although I thought it was called ‘War is Stupid’ all these years and was just corrected on the title while googling it), and I told her, “I hope they play that,” because it’s the only Boy George song I could think of that I’d maybe like to hear.

The next day she told me Boy George didn’t play ‘The War Song’ and that’s too bad because the next day, we went to war. When I say “we,” I don’t mean you and I, of course. I don’t want this war. You probably don’t either. If you do, I imagine you’re in line somewhere waiting to get a gun and fly over there and are much too busy to read this anyways.

I’m not trying to insinuate that if Boy George would’ve played, ‘The War Song,’ that none of this would’ve happened. But the timing of the convo was odd. Maybe Boy George figured there was no imminent threat of war, so why perform the song? But if I had an anti-war banger, I’d probably play it at every show ever. To me, war is always imminent. People are stupid (as a line in ‘The War Song’ states) and some of those people are in charge and start wars. They’re not going anywhere. The threat is always there.

Boy George sings the words, “war is stupid,” and it seems so obvious and it’s like almost anyone who hears that thinks, “duh, we know that, Boy George.” Then I start to wonder if Boy George would make a better president than the current guy. Then I start to wonder who wouldn’t make a better president than the current guy?

This war with Iran is stupid. All wars are stupid. The people who bring us to war are stupid. I’ll never forgive them for all the unnecessary bloodshed. The blood is on their hands. The politicians who make the decisions are just as guilty of murder as the soldiers and bombs they command to do the killing.

‘The War Song’ came out in the year 1984. Trump was there. He probably did cocaine and threw himself at inappropriately young women while it was on the radio. Here we are 42 years later, and we still haven’t evolved as a society to come to an agreement on some of the simplest lyrics ever offered to the pop stratosphere:

War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters.

The anti-war voice of 1984.

Movie I watched this week: Triangle of Sadness

(Netflix)

This was a pretty fun movie about rich people on a cruise that ends up turning into a disaster. It’s always fun to watch wealthy people get their comeuppance, even if it only seems to happen in fictitious settings. The movie can mostly be divided in half. There’s the before the bad thing happens and after.

Before the bad thing happened, the highlight of the cruise was probably watching the Captain (played by Woody Harrelson) get drunk with one of the wealthy passengers and debate communism with him. This debate pretty much takes place right up until the bad thing happens.

After the bad thing happens, some of the survivors find themselves stranded on an island and the wealthy people’s wealth is no good to them here. Things go in reverse and we see a new temporary societal order that benefits skill over wealth and things get a little Lord of the Flies-ish.

I’m very conflicted about the ending. I hated it at first. But then I kept thinking about it a lot and that helped me realize that this movie had a lasting effect of sorts on me. Maybe watch the movie for yourself and we can discuss the ending.

Here are some of the survivors stranded, not aware of how serious shit is about to get.

TV show I watched this week

It’s been a busy week, and we didn’t get a chance to watch any new Mr. Robot episodes. Oh well. They’re still there on Tubi, waiting. We’ll get to them soon.

I did watch some Jeopardy of course.

I’m also currently binging Daria (for the second time). Daria is the best. I mean, some of the episodes are just okay, but Daria the character is always a fun time. I think I’m guilty of having an inner-Daria as I’m sure a lot of people are. Her outlook and behavior hold up real well 20+ years later in our current Sick Sad World.

Album I listened to this week: Nothing’s About to Happen to Me / Mitski

I don’t really listen to a lot of new singer-songwriter types. I mostly only dip my toe in that water if the lead singer of some band I was already a fan of releases a solo album. But Mitski has a lot of hype and I’m always seeing and hearing good things about her. Plus, a couple of times many years ago, I saw her open for other bands I went to go see and I dug her stuff. I guess I just never dug it enough to listen to a whole album.

That changed this week. I gave her newest album a spin and I really enjoyed it. It’s very well done. I wouldn’t call it a solo-type album. There’s a lot of instrumental accompaniment but Mitski is the driving force in all of it. A lot of it is emotionally heavy. She somehow delivers her songs in an alternative rock sort of fashion and that helps take a bit of the edge off of it so it’s not just pure, condensed sadness. It’s at times even a fun listen.

There are two songs about cats on this album so I guess it makes sense that there’s two cats on the album cover. I’m sure the cat thing helped win me over a bit.

Book I’m currently reading

I’m not reading anything this week. I never got into anything new after the last book. But fear not, a new book is on the horizon. My friend lent me her copy of Kevin Smith’s Diary. It’s a book he published that’s just a bunch of diary updates. So, you know… more to come…

Random Sports Thought

Igot nothing. I haven’t been paying much attention to sports.

Random Pro Wrestling Thought

I didn’t think I’d be as stoked as I am about the debut of Danhausen in WWE but for whatever reason, I’m very caught up in it. His first appearance was at the Elimination Chamber PPV where he came out of a box with a bunch of dancing women in ghoul make up. They hit the ring, did a little dance, and then disappeared. The next day or so, the internet didn’t seem too into it. That’s when I realized I was into it because I was bothered by the backlash.

For whatever reason, the Chicago crowd began to boo the segment as soon as Danhausen and his ghoulish entourage disappeared. Was Danhausen doomed? Does someone with a gimmick like his, as undersized as he is, really stand a chance in the WWE environment?

I think he does. I think he can make his own unique space for himself. WWE loves a comedy character, and he can definitely fill that role. WWE bounced back well with Danhausen when he was featured in a segment on Monday Night Raw where among other things, he cursed Dominik Mysterio who would go on to lose his Intercontinental Title to Penta later that night after being cursed. So, I guess the curse worked?

Danhausen’s gimmick is cool and fun. I don’t think he’ll ever be a contender for World Champion, but who cares? I think he’ll offer a brand of entertainment that will make fans want to see him on their screens. Danhausen has a chance to be a scene stealer and also a dude who fans talk about the next day. People will be invested in whatever his latest antics are.

Move over Attitude Era, the Danhausen Era of WWE has begun.

Top 5 Anti-War Songs

1- War Pigs- Black Sabbath

2- Fortunate Son- Creedence Clearwater Revival

3- War- Edwin Starr

4- Civil War- Guns N’ Roses

5- Masters of War- Bob Dylan

Weekly Quote

“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.”

-Jeannette Rankin

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