{"id":22192,"date":"2025-04-29T14:32:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T14:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=22192"},"modified":"2025-04-29T14:32:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T14:32:31","slug":"revisiting-bizarro-trump-and-an-upcoming-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=22192","title":{"rendered":"Revisiting “Bizarro Trump,” and an upcoming hike…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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“At least you could easily tell the Bizarro<\/a> version \u2013 seen above \u2013 from the real <\/strong>Superman<\/a>\u2026<\/em>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Welcome to the \u201cGeorgia Wasp\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

This blog is modeled on the Carolina Israelite<\/a><\/em>. That was an old-time newspaper<\/a> \u2013 more like a personal newsletter<\/a> \u2013 written and published by Harry Golden<\/a>. Back in the 1950s<\/a>, people called Harry<\/a> a  \u201cvoice of sanity amid the braying of jackals.\u201d (For his work on the Israelite<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s now my goal as well. To be a \u201cvoice of sanity amid the braying of jackals<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on the blog-name connection, see the notes below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently I went back and checked out a post from February 2017, “Meet Bizarro Trump<\/a>?” (And boy was that a weird experience.) To do that I had to enter “bizarro trump” in the search box above right, but for some reason that search also brought up an earlier 2017 post, from August 24, Training for the Camino<\/a>. As in training for my first Camino hike in 2017, which led to five more in the years since then? (And BTW: I define a Camino hike as one where “at the end of each day you look forward to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer.”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post I’ll review both memories from 2017. One was very<\/em> pleasant to remember and one – “Eh<\/em>, not so much.” And by the way, this August 2025 I’ll be doing my seventh<\/strong><\/em> Camino hike. This one is better known as the Canterbury Trail, but officially it’s the Pilgrims’ Way<\/a>. I’ll hike 133 miles from Winchester in England “to the shrine of\u00a0Thomas Becket<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0Canterbury<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Kent<\/a>.” \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting back to Bizarro Trump, the\u00a0allusion<\/a>\u00a0is to\u00a0Bizarro<\/a> Superman<\/a>. But trying to see which is which is way<\/em> <\/strong>more complicated than I could ever imagine. Mostly because it\u2019s increasingly difficult these days to tell which version of \u2018the Donald<\/a>\u2018\u00a0is more weird:\u00a0Bizarro or the real thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So which is the real \u201cDonald,\u201d and which is the \u201cBizarro Trump?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could call this a new\u00a0\u201cBizarro\u00a0parlor game<\/a>.\u201d The goal is to come up with whatever crazy responses, arguments and comments that may pop into your mind.\u00a0And which were \u2013 or are \u2013 the complete opposite of what the real<\/em> <\/strong>Donald would say. That\u2019s getting harder and harder to figure out these days, but there is one thing Bizarro Trump<\/em> could do: Blame everything wrong in this country on right-wing conservatives. That would be the bizarro opposite of 70 years of hard-line conservatives blaming liberals<\/em><\/strong> for everything bad in this country. Bizarro Trump would simply say \u201cNo, every conservative<\/em><\/strong> cause is based on a lie, all assassins are conservatives<\/em><\/strong>, and conservatives<\/em><\/strong> are assaulting America!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could say all this hubbub started in 1947, the year conservatives started blaming liberals for everything bad in this country. (That trend would continue in the election of 1950 and beyond.) That is, in 1950 \u201cTricky Dick\u201d Nixon accused his opponent in the California Senate race of being \u201cpink<\/a> right down to her underwear.\u201d His suggestion that his opponent \u201csympathized with the Soviet Union<\/a>\u201d referred to Helen Gahagan Douglas<\/a>. As\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0noted,\u00a0Nixon implied that Douglas was a Communist \u201cfellow traveler<\/a>.\u201d The end result? Nixon won the election with more than 59 percent of the vote, and Gahagan Douglas\u2019 political career came to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which seems especially ironic given the results of the 2016 presidential election, when hard-line conservatives seemed to say it was fine if the Russians affected election results, so long as their candidate won. And a historical note: Douglas \u201cin return, popularized a nickname for Nixon which became one of the most enduring nicknames in American politics: \u201cTricky Dick<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, the idea for this Bizarro Trump<\/em> came when I remembered an old Seinfeld<\/a> TV episode, The Bizarro Jerry<\/a>.  The Seinfeld episode in turn referred to the earlier twin concepts of both the Bizarro<\/a> Superman<\/a> and the Bizarro World<\/a>, as described in by DC Comics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bizarro is depicted as having all the abilities of Superman, although these traits are reversed,<\/strong> such as[:]  \u201cfreeze vision\u201d instead of heat vision[;]  \u201cflame breath\u201d instead of freeze breath[; and] \u201cvacuum breath\u201d instead of super breath\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Like I said, it’s harder and harder these days to tell which version of the Donald<\/a> is stranger. But one thing we know, the reverse-trait Bizarro Trump<\/em> would be the very model of moderation, cooperation and compromise. But I supposed that isn\u2019t going to happen any time soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning to the second half of this post, and Training for the Camino<\/a>: In 2017 we hiked the Camino Frances<\/a>, in my case from Pamplona to Santiago. But this August we’ll be hiking in England, meaning I should be able to understand most<\/em> of what the locals are saying. Still, some things stay the same. The boatload of paperwork. Booking your air line flight. \u00a0Getting travel insurance. Getting your pack ready, and making sure it weighs no more than 10% of your body weight. In 2017 that was 16 pounds. These days it should be 15 pounds – or less, on a good day – but starting on the 2023 hike I opted for 20 pounds. (Still, I may cut back some this year.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to getting ready to hit the trail itself, the hardest part is still getting your feet ready.\u00a0But over the years I’ve changed methods. For example, here’s what I wrote before the 2017 Camino:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been hiking 12 or more miles a day, once a week, for the last several months. \u00a0And<\/em> <\/strong>making sure my feet are in good enough shape the next morning to hike another five or six hours. \u00a0And for the past several weeks I\u2019ve been doing my weekly hikes on the\u00a0Pine Mountain Trail<\/a>, near F.D. Roosevelt State Park<\/a>, near Warm Springs, GA.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That was the last time I hiked the Pine Mountain Trail to get ready for a Camino. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years I’ve come to realize you can\u2019t train to hike six or eight hours a day \u2013 not counting breaks \u2013 unless you put in the time to hike six or eight hours a day. (Back home you have way<\/em><\/strong> too many other things to do, which is why finally starting a Camino hike is relaxing. Your days are focused and life becomes simple.) Over the years I developed more time-efficient ways. By early 2023 I’d taken to time-efficient practice-hikes with ten pounds of ankle weight. Then – usually in July and August before heading over – I add a 20-pound weight vest. That all made quite a difference; on the 2023 GR 70<\/a> hike in France I only got one small left-foot blister, first day out. But it healed up overnight, and I had no more blister problems the rest of the 150 miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compare that with my first Camino in 2017. On that 450 miles \u2013 from Pamplona \u2013 I developed blisters over blisters. By the end of our 30 days \u2013 28 hiking \u2013 the soles of my feet had developed a thick-callus layer of hide that didn\u2019t peel off completely until months later. (Like when \u201cwe of a certain age\u201d<\/em> got sunburned as kids, before they developed all those fancy sunscreens? And days later peeling off that dead skin?) Which led to my routine at the end of each 2017 hiking day. I\u2019d put my pack up at the foot of the bed, then flop down on<\/em> the bed and prop my feet up on top of the pack. (So blood could flow back from my swollen feet.) Then I\u2019d tell my brother – my hiking companion at the time – to go ahead and take his shower first. Each day\u2019s end was agony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on the upcoming hike see A mid-May \u201cRecon,\u201d then on to Canterbury<\/a>, and Next up \u2013 Hiking the Canterbury Trail<\/a>. But now it’s time for a practice hike at the nearby Ridge Nature Area<\/a>, complete with 10 pounds of ankle weights. Then, since we’ll be hiking in August instead of September, I’ll start lugging the 20-pound weight vest in July. Here’s to Happy Hiking!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Part of the Pilgrims’ Way<\/a>, an “ancient trackway to climb St Martha’s Hill<\/a>…”<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The upper image is courtesy o<\/em>f Bizarro Superman \u2013 Image Results<\/a>. The original post \u2013 I tweaked it on February 26, 2025 \u2013 had a lead image fromkotobukiya created a statue that the bizarro version of jerry seinfeld would totally get on board with \u2026<\/a> dailydead.com<\/a>: \u201cStanding eight inches tall, this Bizarro anti-Superman statue is based on DC Comics\u2019 New 52 version of the popular villain and will be released in November [2016].\u201d (Which is actually kind of appropriate\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: Camino hikes since 2017. The French Way that year, from Pamplona to Santiago, the Portuguese Camino in 2019, hiking over the Pyrenees to Burgos in 2021 (the part I missed in 2017), the Way of St. Francis<\/a> in 2022, the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail<\/a> in France, in 2023, and the Camino Finisterre<\/a> and Camino Ingles<\/a> in 2024. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“133 miles.” See Pilgrims\u2019 Way Stages: Winchester to Canterbury | One Step Then Another<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GR 70<\/a> is better known to us as the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail. (Check Wikipedia for more.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: “My brother \u2013 my hiking companion at the time.” I now have two hiking companions, starting with the 2019 Portuguese Camino, after his wife retired from the IRS. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lower image is courtesy of Pilgrims’ Way – Wikipedia<\/a>. Caption: “In the Middle Ages the pilgrims’ route left the ancient trackway to climb St Martha’s Hill<\/a>.”<\/em> According to Google Maps, “St Martha’s Hill – Guildford Lane Car Park, Guildford Ln, Albury,” is some 40 miles from Winchester and 77-78 miles to “Canterbury Cathedral, Cathedral House, 11 The Precincts, Canterbury CT1 2EH, United Kingdom.” (Assuming I got the right hill.) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Re:  The Israelite<\/a>.  Harry Golden<\/a> grew up in the Jewish ghetto of New York City, but eventually moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.  Thus the \u201cCarolina Israelite.\u201d  I on the other hand am a \u201cclassic 73-<\/strong>year-old \u201cWASP\u201d \u2013 White Anglo-Saxon Protestant<\/a> \u2013 and live in north Georgia.  Thus the \u201cGeorgia Wasp.\u201d    <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, in<\/strong> North Carolina Harry wrote and published the \u201cisraelite\u201d from the 1940s through the 1960s.  He was a \u201ccigar-smoking, bourbon-loving raconteur<\/a>.\u201d  (He told good stories.) That also means if he was around today, the \u201cIsraelite <\/strong>would be done as a blog.\u201d  But what made Harry special was his positive outlook on life<\/a>.  As he got older but didn\u2019t turn sour<\/a>, like many do today.  He still got a kick out of life<\/a><\/strong>.  For more on the blog-name connection, see \u201cWasp<\/a>\u201d and\/or The blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*   *   *   * *   *   *   * Welcome to the \u201cGeorgia Wasp\u2026\u201d This blog is modeled on the Carolina Israelite. That was an old-time newspaper \u2013 more like a personal newsletter \u2013 written and published by Harry Golden. Back in the 1950s, people called Harry a  \u201cvoice of sanity amid the braying of jackals.\u201d (For his work on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22192"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22192"}],"version-history":[{"count":67,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22803,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22192\/revisions\/22803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}