Rogue Culture Aficionado

In order to stay true to the voice of RCA, I need to clarify some of what a "Pussy" is for you guys. GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER! If you need "that" definition, there are plenty of sites to help you with that. This is not that kind of blog.

One of the things that defines a Pussy best, is their nature to follow the herd mentality. Like sheep; if one does it, the others follow. The same is true of people. I won't say I've never fallen prey to the herd mentality myself... unfortunately I was once a victim of Hammer Pants... BUT I was a child and that was waaay back in the day. But as man, and as your faithful Padrone, I am not known to follow the herd on any level. In fact, I consistently do the exact opposite of what's expected. My Dad instilled this value in me at an early age, with a bit of tough love.

When I was about eight years old, I recall getting jumped by about 10 bullies. I was surrounded and being pushed around in a cirlce by them like an after school TV special. Then from across the street comes my Dad, 6'2, 220lbs, 20 inch arms, deep Barry White baritone, voice yelling:

"Hey! What are you kids doing?"

They all froze, stopped shoving me , but the little bastards all stood their ground still sneering at my Dad and me. I am thinking to myself: My Dad is here. Whatchagonna do now?!? My dad walks up with his aviator shades on and says:

"Listen, you guys can't ALL beat up on my son."

I am thinking, Yeah! you can't beat up on HIS son, punks! And then he says, "If you want to fight him... Line up, and you will fight him one-on-one. Everybody will get his turn."

I look at my Dad like he had lost his ever lovin' mind... I think I almost started crying. How was I going to fight all of these kids? (including some 11 and 12 years olds)I WAS ONLY 8!! Well... they lined up, I squared up, put up my dukes and took them on one by one. A few punches, a well placed kick or two, some tears, and a choke hold later, (Thanks Jhoon Rhee!) the first 3 or 4 punks could see I was a bit more than any one of them could handle alone . Therefore it ended rather quickly (Thank God). My Dad made us shake hands, some kids apologized, and most of us went on to play. Later that day my Dad says:

"Son, those kids are Pussies. They singled you out because they envy something you have; whether it's your bike, your height (I was pretty tall at 8 years old), they way you speak or whatever... They felt like as group it would be fun to single you out and give you hell. But you gave them hell instead. Always remember to act and speak as if you are standing alone, even when you are in a group, because ultimately, you are alone. You are the only one responsible for your words and actions."

Ok,ok... he didn't really say that. But he did say "Good job tough guy" and then took me to get ice cream. The major lesson here is don't let herd mentality lead your mouth into writing checks your ass can't cash! Which brings me to Son of Anarchy(SoA)...


I am not going to say the show sucks. Or even give it a full review at this point. It just aired last night and may take a moment to garner some heat. Just imagine, The Sopranos, The Wire, or Brotherhood (my current favorite) if they were a Motorcycle Gang. The concept is a bit played out but you have guns, gangs, and girls, so what more do you want from FX. I expect it to get good shortly and FX has a good track record when it comes to original programming. It's nice to see Katie Sagal with an edge and she's looking pretty damn good. The lead character Jax,Charlie Hunnam, will be a breakout star and I am sure Mrs. Padrone and other ladies will love him as well. I am not totally sold on the show but I will give it an opportunity to prove itself. My problem with SoA is of the more personal nature.

I had the misfortune to re-introduce myself to one of the supporting cast of the show, just outside my favorite sports bar Happy Ending. We happened to work together on 2 Fast 2 Furious. Keep in mind your Padrone, has never been star struck in the slightest and couldn't care any less about seeing/meeting an actor. But I know this guy! So as I walk up to the door of the bar with Mrs. Padrone, who looked hot as usual. I see Mr. D-list, with other cast members from the show and I say,"Hey, we met during 2 Fast 2 Furious. How are you? Congrats on the new show?"

He then proceeds to say, to the laughter of the other guys he's with,"Oh yeah... How are you? I see you become a man," as he glances over at Mrs. Padrone.

I laughed it off, and said, "Get the fuck outta here" and kept it moving in to the bar. I was with my lady and didn't really want there to be a Billy Bats-type situation.

(Keep in mind, I am no kid, and haven't been for quite some time. In fact my beard is probably older than half of you reading this! Furthermore you know he only said it because I was with Mrs. Padrone...Ha, the balls on this guy!)

So later on that evening, Mr. D-List steps over to my table with his shit eating grin, and tries to make excuses about his remark, fumbling over his own insecurity, with his half ass apology. I let him know in no uncertain terms that, "Your old Mr. D-List fake wanna-be no motorcycle having pseudo gang member 2 bit actor punk ass!" should not have made me the punchline of a joke especially when I am with my woman. And if I weren't a better man, I would have thrown him a beatin'. This is real life, not television. I said my piece and waved him off with my hand and continued enjoying my drink. Hellboy and Tattoo Head, introduced themselves and then got the hell out of dodge. I think Mrs. Padrone got a little excited by all of this and it was soon time for us to leave too.(wink, wink)

Let's just say, had I been been solo that evening, I don't think there would have been a problem. If there was a problem, most likely, you would have seen this play out completely different.. probably televised on TMZ. So to the men: It's pretty much like my Dad told me, envy breeds contempt, so watch your back and let 'em know whose boss. To the others: Mind your manners when you are hanging with your crew or otherwise... because we all know what happens to Pussies when they come in contact with Men, don't we?

As for me, you can find me smoking the occasional cigar at my favorite sports bar as we kickoff the NFL season and head towards the NBA tipoff. Enjoy.