Impending Doom In Texas On The Ides Of November

As you can see looking out the window of my computer room, it is yet one more nice day in Texas.

It is already the Ides of November, Monday, November 15.

It seems just like yesterday I was lamenting it being the Ides of October, with time zipping so quickly Halloween would soon be upon us, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My least favorite time of the year. I think possibly due to repressed memories of childhood Christmas trauma.

I had myself a night of nightmares last night. It was not pleasant.

My night of nightmares last night has me filled with a sense of dread this morning. The overarching feeling that something real bad is about to happen.

I don't know if this premonition of impending doom is something that happens to me personally. Or some awful other event, like a nuclear bomb accidentally exploding.

All I know, for sure, is I've got the jitters and drinking coffee this morning is not helping.

DOOM Presents The 3rd Annual Kennedy Assassination Race In Dallas November 28

It is not easy to disgust me with a display of bad taste. Like what Adam Lambert did on Sunday at the American Music Awards didn't disgust me, instead I was sort of embarrassed for him and his incredibly bad judgment.

Now the poster you see here, that does disgust me due to the extreme display of bad taste. I don't know who or what DOOM is. I do know DOOM convinced the Oak Cliff Bicycle Company in Dallas to display their race poster that says...

DOOM PRESENTS 3rd ANNUAL KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RACE, NOVEMBER 28, 1PM at GLENCOE PARK.

I assume it is bikes being raced.

What does "AFTER ALL, IT WAS YOU AND ME" mean? Again, I don't know.

I'm not alone in finding this poster to be a very bad thing. It has generated a lot of comments on the Oak Cliff Bicycle Company website. From reading the comments I think I gleaned this is a bike race, with one of the comments coming from the guy behind the DOOM poster, Alain, who writes a very long reply to Galen, explaining his rationale for the poster. You can go to the link to read what Alain had to say for himself. Below are some other comments...

The poster and, indeed, the whole idea is in very poor taste. I take it the folks behind the Assassination ride didn’t live through that terrible time.

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While I understand this flyer may be deemed offensive to many, our intention is to promote cycling and cycling events in our community. Period.

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Oh, I understand now. It’s like if I lived in NYC and owned a bungee jumping equipment store. OK, I want to promote bungee jumping, so I organize a 9/11 Twin Towers Memorial Bungee Jump, and on my flyer, I have pictures of the poor souls jumping to their death from the Twin Towers. Wow, what a great idea! It would really drum up support for my store and bungee jumping, wouldn’t it?

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In my mind, this poster is a symbol of so much that is wrong with our society. It is a reflection of how so many people, especially those of Gens X and Y, have become numb to images of graphic violence. From video games to movies, these young people have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of scenes of exploding brains, steaming entrails, and other gratuitous gore. It also expresses that desire to shock people’s sensibilities, just for the sake of being shocking.