...with music written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (lyrics by Tim Rice) who were the songwriting half of Abba.
This is "Endgame," from that original score.
22 years after first hearing, it still makes me tear; the hairs on my arms stand up.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
How can you be anything but lowdown saggy and blue?
Here's another scene from the Williams Raggedy Ann & Andy. Corey Klemow sent me a DVD for my birthday. Watching the whole movie again for the first time since I was little...it hasn't aged all that well.
But it does have a sweet moment or two. Like this one featuring character animation by Art Babbitt, a name known to all lovers of animation.
When I was little I felt sorry for the blue camel, now I identify with him.
But it does have a sweet moment or two. Like this one featuring character animation by Art Babbitt, a name known to all lovers of animation.
When I was little I felt sorry for the blue camel, now I identify with him.
a totally frivolous opinion
Teri Hatcher is one of those women who looks better in soft focus and from far away.
Well, I see the writing on the ol' wall. It's time to check myself into the funny farm (Edited w/addition)
John McCain was finally asked some hard questions on television.
It was on "The View."
I suppose you gotta give the (now) anti-choice senator credit for going into the lions' den...but then again, no, you don't. You really don't.
PS: Remember when I was pissed at McCain for making me think something Paris Hilton did was (deliberately) funny? Now Sarah Palin's making Pamela Anderson look like a genius.
ETA: I agree with just about every word of this opinion piece published in The Nation (unsigned, but presumably written by the editor or editors)
It was on "The View."
I suppose you gotta give the (now) anti-choice senator credit for going into the lions' den...but then again, no, you don't. You really don't.
PS: Remember when I was pissed at McCain for making me think something Paris Hilton did was (deliberately) funny? Now Sarah Palin's making Pamela Anderson look like a genius.
ETA: I agree with just about every word of this opinion piece published in The Nation (unsigned, but presumably written by the editor or editors)
An awesome night for gay (and gay-friendly) geeks
Former Star Trek cast member George Takei will wed his longtime partner, Brad Altman, Sunday evening.
The wedding party includes two of Takei's former Star Trek castmates – best man Walter Koenig, who played Chekov on the series, and Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura. (Takei played Mr. Sulu.)
Watch this clip.
Not because it's a Republican boob lying about the money for the "Bridge to nowhere." At this point, that doesn't really shock any of us. Not even because he gets called on it (although Norah O'Donnell, I think I love you).
Watch it because of the way that the truth just bounces right off him. He hardly even blinks.
George Carlin, may he rest in peace, used to talk about people who had "Kind of a neutral zone around their heads"...
and a well-thought-out, wise plan at that
The Obama campaign seems to be stepping up their attacks on McCain--slowly but surely, almost as if they had a plan. Please god, let 'em have a plan. One example is this statement by Obama spokesperson Bill Burton (via TPM Election Central):
Another is this ad, which I kinda like.
"We will take no lectures from John McCain who is cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern Presidential campaign history. His discredited ads with disgusting lies are running all over the country today. He runs a campaign not worthy of the office he is seeking."
Another is this ad, which I kinda like.
The rollin' Coasters
I feel the need for something out of left field. I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking all I'm saying about politics and stuff needs to be leavened with a little pure entertainment. Now. It is well known that I "Just Can't Get Enough" of New Wave Hits of the '80s.
But did you know that I also have a love for '50s and '60s recording artists The Coasters?
This is their 1958 single, "Sorry But I'm Gonna Have To Pass."
According to the liner notes of the compilation I have, this song was originally written for Johnny Cash (or at least, with Cash in mind as a model). You can totally hear it.
But did you know that I also have a love for '50s and '60s recording artists The Coasters?
This is their 1958 single, "Sorry But I'm Gonna Have To Pass."
According to the liner notes of the compilation I have, this song was originally written for Johnny Cash (or at least, with Cash in mind as a model). You can totally hear it.
Ok, McCain's right about something--listen to what Joe Biden said...
Clearly I think John McCain and Sarah Palin's accusations against Barack Obama and Joe Biden are (among other things) hugely unethical. However, in the spirit of even broken clocks being right twice a day, and considering myself a fair-minded man, it falls upon me to acknowledge things that I think they get right.
Look at this statement that Joe Biden made yesterday.
This statement is clearly disrespectful, unpatriotic, and sexist. Just because Biden served on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee for three decades, becoming chairman this January, he thinks he is more on top of the issues than Palin. He is--if you will forgive the vernacular--trying to wave his great, big dick in her face.
And--
Ok, yes, I'm setting you up.
No, Joe Biden did not say that.
But it was said.
By whom? Well, that's a funny story.
By John McCain. When he was running against a mayor (Giuliani) and governor (Romney).
Look at this statement that Joe Biden made yesterday.
"I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security...I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism," the Senator declared. "I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."
This statement is clearly disrespectful, unpatriotic, and sexist. Just because Biden served on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee for three decades, becoming chairman this January, he thinks he is more on top of the issues than Palin. He is--if you will forgive the vernacular--trying to wave his great, big dick in her face.
And--
Ok, yes, I'm setting you up.
No, Joe Biden did not say that.
But it was said.
By whom? Well, that's a funny story.
By John McCain. When he was running against a mayor (Giuliani) and governor (Romney).
I hope they're right
From an editorial headlined "Campaign of lies [Hey, they used the L word!--BV] disgraces McCain," in the St. Pertersburg Times:
McCain's straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak. It is leaving a permanent stain on his reputation for integrity, and it is a short-term strategy that eventually will backfire with the very types of independent-thinking voters that were so attracted to him.
Black is white. Night is day.
Via Americablog, this is from an email that is apparently making the rounds. It's the kind of thing that should be "viral'd."
Let me see if I have this straight.....
* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you teach children about sexual predators, you are irresponsible and eroding the fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America’s.
* If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that hates America and advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
Leave "skirt facts" to Coco Chanel, John McCain tells lies
Ok. I should be writing my daily entry over at my other blog right now. But once again, something in my iGoogle Most Popular Yahoo! news box has caught my eye. It is this:
Analysis: McCain's claims skirt facts, test voters
As glad as I am that this news is getting out there...you know what really tests voters (especially this one)? The number of excuses which the press--Associated and otherwise--can come up because they're skittish about saying a plain, simple truth.
John McCain tells lies. He doesn't "stretch the truth." He doesn't make "dubious claims."
He tells lies.
(I know this isn't the first time I've vented about this, and I'm not the first or only person to do it either. But I wanted to get it out.)
Analysis: McCain's claims skirt facts, test voters
McCain's persistence in pushing dubious claims is all the more notable because many political insiders consider him one of the greatest living victims of underhanded campaigning. Locked in a tight race with George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, McCain was rocked in South Carolina by a whisper campaign claiming he had fathered an illegitimate black child and was mentally unstable.
As glad as I am that this news is getting out there...you know what really tests voters (especially this one)? The number of excuses which the press--Associated and otherwise--can come up because they're skittish about saying a plain, simple truth.
John McCain tells lies. He doesn't "stretch the truth." He doesn't make "dubious claims."
He tells lies.
(I know this isn't the first time I've vented about this, and I'm not the first or only person to do it either. But I wanted to get it out.)
Friday, September 12, 2008
This is work by a photographer named Michelle Sank
Oh yes, I'd been wondering about this.
In her recent ABC News interview, Sarah Palin was asked if she'd ever met a head of state. She replied that she had not, but that she reckoned most of the other VP candidates in living memory hadn't before they got the job, either.
I suppose I can't say I'm surprised that she is (again) totally full of shit...
I admit it, I like posting Agnew and Palin's names close together. But it's true:
I suppose I can't say I'm surprised that she is (again) totally full of shit...
Based on their pre-veep resumes, only Agnew jumps out as a possible candidate for Palin-level isolation.
I admit it, I like posting Agnew and Palin's names close together. But it's true:
every veep in the last 32 years has met a head of state before taking office.
Not only sexy actress-models, they're sexy actress-(role)models!
This is just cool:
Gisele Bundchen wearing nothing but water and sandals to promote (it says here) the preservation of fresh water in Brazil. There's 14 more supermodel types using their powers for good at that link, BTW.
Meanwhile, Sophie Monk goes for a bike-ride.
Ah, the benefits of exercise.
Gisele Bundchen wearing nothing but water and sandals to promote (it says here) the preservation of fresh water in Brazil. There's 14 more supermodel types using their powers for good at that link, BTW.
Meanwhile, Sophie Monk goes for a bike-ride.
Ah, the benefits of exercise.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Observation
Sarah Palin has been to exactly one more foreign country than I have--and I've only been to one. And that was Canada, which is one of the two she's been to as well, and is as close to north America as makes no odds. The other? Mexico.
A scene from "The West Wing: The Movie."
Ok, really it's The American President, the movie which started my devotion to Aaron Sorkin's writing. Going along with my found theme today of fantasizing about what it would be like to have a smart president.
One thing: The bit at the end about guns stands out to me as out-of-place, somehow. Not because I don't agree with the position, I do. But because, well, I think I have a pretty good ear for Sorkin dialogue (it warms my heart) and that doesn't sound like him.
For me it's like listening to a Beatles song and suddenly Ringo Starr takes over for John Lennon. I don't know this for a fact, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear that section of the speech was dropped in by director Rob Reiner or maybe Michael Douglas.
PS: For a West Wing fan, the weirdest thing is having Martin Sheen standing at the back of the room...
PPS (ETA): This editorial from WaPo seems to go well with that speech. It begins:
One thing: The bit at the end about guns stands out to me as out-of-place, somehow. Not because I don't agree with the position, I do. But because, well, I think I have a pretty good ear for Sorkin dialogue (it warms my heart) and that doesn't sound like him.
For me it's like listening to a Beatles song and suddenly Ringo Starr takes over for John Lennon. I don't know this for a fact, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear that section of the speech was dropped in by director Rob Reiner or maybe Michael Douglas.
PS: For a West Wing fan, the weirdest thing is having Martin Sheen standing at the back of the room...
PPS (ETA): This editorial from WaPo seems to go well with that speech. It begins:
IT'S HARD to think of a presidential campaign with a wider chasm between the seriousness of the issues confronting the country and the triviality, so far anyway, of the political discourse.
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