Local NPR talk-show host's surprise on-air resignation. Also: Taking a different path isn't crazy.

The revolution will not be televised. The revolution is live.

This is fascinating. I've been wondering for a while now why Jabulani Leffall has not been the voice of KCUR's "Central Standard," the show he took over a couple years ago when its long-time host Walt Bodine lost his ability to think clearly (a useful trait for a talk-show host). But the show has been hosted by others lately, none of them stating, "Filling in for Jabulani Leffall." Surely people don't take two-month vacations, so what's up? So I asked The Google about the guy.

Turns out that his last show was on January 16, when he resigned in the last 30 seconds or so. The Pitch has a very interesting article about his resignation and the interviews they did with him: "Leffall steered the conversation into strange territory, referencing race, eavesdropping, space aliens and God's existence." Whoah, cool. Wish he'd talked more about his visions and paranoia than the just chatting through the tedious shows he usually hosted. Got me wondering if maybe this particular show makes people lose their minds.

The Kansas City Star's story has a flattering interview with him, including these insights:

"The objectivity we learn as bright-eyed, bushy-tailed journalism students, after a while you discover it's illusive. It's a lie. Journalism is changing. Questions need to be approved before asked; advertisers need to be placated. It's about ratings and Internet hits and business relationships ... Who wants to be a journalist in this environment? ... This is not what I signed up for, and it's certainly not what I should still be paying student loans for."

He's planning to pursue his creative interests, including music and writing. At the end of the Star's story, he sums up his feelings: "Your job is not your life, and what you do is not as important as who you are."


Click the image to see the Star article (this shot is from Lefall's spoken-word album).

Maybe the guy is crazy, maybe not. Then again, I've been toying with a hypothesis that we're all crazy: That is, every one of us has some issue that prevents us from being happy or being accepted by others or fitting in or whatever - something that makes us different, that others fear or loathe or can't understand. If everyone is crazy, then no one's crazy, right? I mean, if there's no standard for sane, the words become meaningless.

Quitting a job that makes you unhappy, that makes you feel like you're just a tool of a machine, seems the sane thing to do.

Interesting how it took his resigning in this way to get me to admire the man.

Chris

"School of Thrones" and "Heathers"

Now for some fun, especially for those who've watched HBO's "Game of Thrones" show.

And they've also posted Episode 2:

For some reason, this reminds me of the movie "Heathers," which chernobylred and I just watched for the first time last night. HOW DID I MISS THIS ONE? Check out this freaky trailer:

Last night, I kept asking aloud how I've never seen Heathers before. Here's what I came up with, which is both telling and ironic, considering what the movie is about:

I think it's because it came out in 1988, when I was in college and not dating anyone, and boys then saw it as a "girl's movie." That's right: Boys didn't allow themselves to see "girl's movies," and might still keep themselves from enjoying such. Not that Heathers is either a boy's or girl's movie, but it was perceived as such, partly because the lead is a girl (Winona Ryder). I never had that issue, but I've also never liked going to movies alone, so I missed out. BECAUSE OF THE DAMNED PATRIARCHY. I stopped myself from enjoying a film that would have blown me away at the time, because of cultural normativism. I'm a white guy in the US, yet I've been harmed by the retro-patriarchy. Just goes to show that we're ALL harmed by outmoded cultural norms.

Chris