Some of you will have already noticed that the original Wall of Paul slogan, "Paul Tatara on Movies (and so forth)," now reads "Paul Tatara on Pop Culture (and so forth)." In the winter of 2007, when we launched this site, I knew I'd initially draw readers who were familiar with my CNN and Goodauthority movie coverage, so I mostly wrote about movies. But I live in the same world everyone else inhabits, and I contemplate a lot of things besides motion pictures. It was my goal, then, to eventually examine music, sports, politics, religion, firecrackers, action figures, babies, fast food, heroes, hypocrites, air conditioning, parades, cream puffs, and a slew of other topics that have come to shape my consciousness. Thus the altered, and far more accurate, slogan.

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May 5, 2010

Emmett Kelly 3

I almost never mention any Wall of Paul readers by name within the body of Wall of Paul, not because I have a problem with the rest of mankind, although I obviously do, but because most of the stuff I write is lodged somewhere deep within my cerebral cortex, where no one else can get at it. Sure, other people inhabit my sphere of existence, especially here in Manhattan, where they’re even rumbling below my feet in over-stuffed subway cars. You can’t get away from the dumb bastards. But this bad boy’s called “Wall of Paul,” not “Wall of People Paul Comes Into Contact With.” Do your own writing if you want to see your name in print.

Understand, I only said I “almost” never mention my readers because I’ve done it exactly once before, in a recent post having to do with the other-worldly shittiness of the 2010 Cleveland Indians. In that one, I mentioned Jody Whipp (and his wife, Deanna, who’s simply being referenced here in a cross-reference to the previous reference, so this one doesn’t really count) because he was the one who hipped me to a piece of video I used in the article. I figured at the time that that would be it for any Jody allusions. But, oddly enough, I’m about to mention him again. Go figure.

The other day, after I posted my heartfelt dissection of the ongoing BP oil spill horror, Jody posted a note on my Facebook page saying he really enjoyed the article, but he had just told a bunch of his friends to start visiting Wall of Paul because of how funny I am, so I needed to get back to being funny.

Okay, I can dig that, and I appreciate that Jody has apparently laughed at a some of my past...well...I guess sarcasm would be the proper word. But I have neither the time nor the inclination at this exact moment to be funny. It’s 10:30 on a Saturday night, I’m exhausted, the air conditioner is cooling maybe three square feet of the living room, and Jill and I still have to clean up after the kids. So, instead of dropping the ball with a bunch of dud puns or another easy bitch-slap at Sarah Palin, I’ll just let this clip from “The Pink Panther Strikes Again” do the job for me.