"We cannot continue this out of control spending. It is basically economic child abuse," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) during an interview on Fox News."
PS: Having gone to the Tenn well twice today, I feel compelled to say again: I have no Google Alert or something like that tripped to email me when stories about The State of Insanity appear. They just find me.
Because it's usually good fun and also underlines some things I take pride in avoiding in my own work. Case in point: Your Highness; the female characters therof:
I mentioned boobs. Yes, there are a lot of boobs in this movie. But not much interest in women. Zooey Deschanel plays the intended bride of Franco, the son of the king. She's brought onstage, quickly kidnapped by an evil sorcerer, spends a good deal of time as a captive in his lair, is rescued and lives happily ever after. She might as well be a mannequin, for all she's given to say and do. This intelligent, nuanced actress, standing there baffled. Used as a placeholder.
Natalie Portman is the Xena clone, a fierce warrior, laid on for anime fans who seem to regard such characters as masturbatory fantasies. She too has no personality, although she has more dialogue, all of it expressing cliches of steely determination.
"I believe the teachers in New Jersey in the main are wonderful public servants and care deeply. But they're union – their union are a group of political thugs."
Emphasis mine.
Then I was going to say, "I like a story about criticizing teachers that ends up showing the need for good ones."
(I'm on a grammar kick today.)
As I say, that's what I was going to do. But when I tried, I got:
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Now, I don't know if it was the use of the word "thugs" or just that in combination with "political." But I feel like it's got to say something about something that a U.S. Governor is using language you're not allowed to use on Facebook.
All in order of criticizing people for having the temerity to expect a decent wage and respect in the workplace for educating his constituents. Why wouldn't the GOP want the U.S. to have an educated populace?
The painting, "Two Tahitian Women," went back on display Tuesday after conservators determined that the painting, which was covered by Plexiglas, sustained no damage after a visitor attempted to pull it off the wall and hit it Friday.
The woman charged in the attack, Susan Burns, of Alexandria, Va., is expected to appear in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday.
Sigh...wouldn't you just know she'd be from Virginia? (My mother comes from there.)
According to court documents, Burns told investigators: "I feel that Gauguin is evil.
Um...no, Gauguin was an artist. And while I don't know enough about his life to say whether he was a moral man personally-and I suspect my definition differs from hers...doesn't matter. We're talking about one of his paintings, which can be neither evil nor virtuous.
He has nudity and is bad for the children.
Look lady, there's a little thing called context. Not all nudity looks like it comes from the pages of Playboy.
He has two women in the painting and it's very homosexual.
As we all know, two women = homosexual. It's just the way it works.
Just as any combination of six men and women leads you to an omni-sexual orgy:
Oh BTW, this is the painting:
You can clearly see how in this case, the work is not just homosexual, it is very homosexual.
I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head.
You know...I'm beginning to think this woman just may be crazy.
This is derived from a long meme I found on Becca's blog. She answered all 30 questions in one post; I think the original idea was to answer one a day for a month. I'm shooting for something in-between, breaking it down into three parts...which seemed appropriate.
1. All-time favorite character in Star Wars
Yoda. According to one of those quizzes (which as we know are never wrong) he's the Attack of the Clones character I'd be.
2. Favorite member of the Rebellion
Luke Skywalker. Or Leia Organa. Or Han Solo. Or C3PO...this is hard!
3. Favorite member of the Empire
I suppose I can't say Galen Marek, can I? He was Vader's apprentice but never actually a...so, ooh, Juno Eclipse!
4. Favorite Jedi
Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi. Honestly it's a toss up between him and Yoda for all-time favorite or favorite Jedi.
5. Favorite droid
R2D2
6. Favorite type of ship, or specific ship
X-Wings
7. Favorite planet
Kamino. I like a watery world, so it was either this or the Gungan part of Naboo, and that was never going to happen.
8. Favorite movie in the original trilogy
Empire Strikes Back
9. Favorite movie in the prequel trilogy
Attack of the Clones
10. Favorite photo that’s related to Star Wars The Yoda-Buddha!
This naturally begs the question: Which fantasy world would I like to live in?
I'm tempted to choose the world of Back to The Future, a world wherein it can be both constantly 1985 and Lea Thompson forever young and hot (now she's merely older...and hot).
However, the drawback to this is, it would be a world directed by Robert Zemeckis and there's no way that would agree with me for very long.
Plus it's a world where Elisabeth Shue is unrecognizable, and you know that's wrong.
And sadly, not George Lucas' universe either. Sure the music would be great, and it would look very pretty.
But a reality wherein everyone speaks Lucas-style dialogue would force me to hang myself.
So here's what I came up with.
1. The world in which Republicans keep telling me we are living. Where we have a really progressive, even--gasp!--liberal president. I swear if we were living in the world they seem to be tearing their hair out over, I wouldn't need to take pills to go sleep at night.
2. The world of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. All you need to know is: It's Gilliam, plus it has a couple of beautiful girls in it, one of whom grows up to be an incredibly talented director and writer-
3. Canada. Don't tell me it's real. No, I'm kidding.
3. Tolkien's Hobbiton. The one scored by Jules Bass and Maury Laws, pls.
4. The Muppets world.
If I have to explain this one, get the hell out of my blog and don't let me see you back here until you've seen the first two Muppet movies and every single episode of The Muppet Show. I'm sorry, but I have to have some standards.
5. SawWorld.
No, I'm kidding again. The world I live in has enough bleak endings, thank you.
5. The world of Wall-E. It's a world of enduring love and greatly animated beings, which is all I need in order to be happy to be alive.
You in my vast reading audience are well aware of my feelings regarding the state of Tennessee (in two words: They're insane). We could get into why I feel that way, but most of you either know the story, or don't care.
Suffice it to say I have come to depend upon Tennessee to give me periodic examples of that insanity. So when I saw this New York Times headline--
--I clicked away with great interest. What I found was a treasure trove of insanity beyond my wildest dreams. The deeper you go, the crazier it gets. To begin:
SPRING HILL, Tenn. — Earlier this month, at a news conference in an empty field on the east side of the city, a man named Dennis W. Peterson announced that he was bringing a theme park to the Tennessee countryside.
People had a few questions: Who was this man? What was his background? Where was he getting the money for all this? What happened to his front teeth? (They were recently lost, he explained to reporters, to a crispy chicken wing at Hooters.)
Already, I love this. A bumpkin would-be theme park owner. But as I promised...there's more...
Michael Dinwiddie, the mayor of Spring Hill, was one of the only people to know about the project, having quietly worked on it with Mr. Peterson for two months. It thrilled him. For a small city like Spring Hill, 45 minutes from Nashville, it was the magic kingdom of economic development.
"Mayor Dinwiddie." The man's name and title is "Mayor Dinwiddie." What is this, an 18th-century children's book?
"Mayor Dinwiddie and the Mystery of the Empty Chair."
"Mayor Dinwiddie and the Ice-Cream Social."
"Mayor Dinwiddie Takes a Wife."
"Mayor Dinwiddie Has Two Mommies." (OK, maybe that last one's not from the 18th century)
We continue:
Still, there was something curious about the whole thing. For one, no one had contacted state authorities about the plans.
Hmmmmm. Yes, that does seem curious. You'd think Mayor Dinwiddie would've thought of that.
Local reporters and bloggers uncovered more oddities, starting with Mr. Peterson’s company, the Big International Group of Entertainment. The company, it was discovered, had its license revoked last year by the State of Nevada. The company’s president, Roger Kidneigh, who did not return messages seeking comment, had declared personal bankruptcy, claiming assets of less than $200,000.
Okay...first of all...just how Pythonesque is that company name? "Mr. Peterson now formed a big international group, which he called, 'The Big International Group." Further:
Reached by phone, the woman listed as the company’s treasurer said she had never actually worked for Big International Group and did not want her name associated with it.
"I don't know them, I tell you! Leave me alone!" Before the cock crows, you will deny the Big International Group three times.
Festival Tennessee was not the company’s only dream. Several music magazines had been discussed, as was a theme park in Las Vegas. There were plans for “The Way of the Unicorn,” an animated movie about an orphan named Sailor — to have been voiced by Michael Jackson — who saves the world with the help of some endangered species.
They fell through.
Pity, that sounds as if it could've been a right winner. I'll bet you Robert Zemickis is still kicking himself (not hard enough for my liking...but that's another post).
Thomas Maierle, who is listed as a former officer of Big International Group, said Festival Tennessee would be different.
“It’s not easy putting something like this together,” said Mr. Maierle, who has something of a troubled record himself but says he still advises Mr. Peterson on business dealings. Asked what his position was with the company now, Mr. Maierle, who is on parole in Michigan for possession of “child sexually abusive material,” said that was “a subjective question.” But he said he had faith in Mr. Peterson.
Follow along with me now: A "Magic Kingdom"-style amusement park, which by definition would attract a largely child clientele, and they also wanted to be in business with Michael Jackson, and one of their former officers is a pervert. Are you beginning to sense why this article simply made my heart sing?
Still something missing, though...
David Anthony, a Nashville lawyer, had heard about Festival Tennessee before just about anyone around here. Last year, he said, a man facing foreclosure on several homes came forward with a promise that a millionaire in Florida was planning to buy three of the homes, at an inflated price of around $7 million. As proof of his financial resources, Mr. Anthony said, the millionaire — Mr. Peterson, as it turned out — sent the man a packet of material about vaguely planned projects, including Festival Tennessee and the “Unicorn” movie, with promises that the money would come later.
“These were magic beans,” Mr. Anthony said. The bank he represented in the case was unmoved.
That's it! Magic beans!
But of course, you know, not all the lawmakers of this Tennessee town can be such credulous fools.
This sort of thing gives pause to many Spring Hill residents, including Jonathan Duda, a city alderman. Mr. Duda said he had the same concerns now as he did last year when a man identifying himself as a Nigerian king — a claim viewed skeptically by everyone from the State Department to the Spring Hill police chief — was received with a ceremony on the steps of City Hall.
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, I mean err um, see?
(He didn't even have to do it through Cyberspace, for god's sake...)
Finally, to return to our hero, Mayor Dinwiddie...
“It should be a very positive story,” Mr. Dinwiddie said in an interview at the Cracker Barrel, where the hostess urged him to ignore all the negativity and asked if her daughter-in-law’s Irish dance troupe could get a show at the theme park.
"In an interview at the Cracker Barrel."
I just love any article that can justifiably use that phrase.
In April 1997, Anne Leibovitz shot one of her series of three page cover foldouts for Vanity Fair featuring a group of young actresses who were considered, at the time, "The Next Wave." For no particular reason, I thought it might be fun to see what those actresses are doing today.
From left to right:
Cameron Diaz. Diaz is at least as well known today for who she's dating, but is still considered a big star, in spite of not having made a well-reviewed film in years.
Kate Winslet. Stars in HBO's series remake of Mildred Pierce for which, I'm going to make a prediction without having seen a foot of film, she will almost certainly bring her a nomination for and/or win her an Emmy. Has also become something of a godmother to younger actresses, particularly on the subject of whether or not they should go nude for a film; she tends to be quite pro-strip. For which I am thankful.
Claire Danes. Still considered a beauty, though I find her considerably lacking in charm, and can still be seen at "Hollywood elite" events. Best remembered for a TV series she made when she was 15.
Minnie Driver. Driver is working the indie-film circuit; filming a pilot for CBS. Was allegedly so disliked by the crew of her film High Water that they took the opportunity to relieve themselves prior to her having to film an in-the-water scene.
Alison Elliott. If your response is "Who?" You're not alone. In 1996 she attracted attention as the lead in The Spitfire Grill, which seems to have developed a cult following. Since then, however, she seems to have made a series of films most of which either nobody wanted to see, nobody liked, or both. It is unclear whether this is due to poor choices or just plain bad luck, but I'm inclined to suspect the latter, if only because she probably has fewer choices than Diaz and Zellweger.
Jada Pinkett. At present best known as the mother of Willow and Jaden and wife of Will Smith, also stars in and exec-produces the TNT series Hawthorne, which from the one episode I saw last year is actually pretty solid.
Jennifer Lopez. American Idol judge, diva, still a popular singer, launching a new fragrance. Probably fair to admit, she's aging better than I might've thought.
Charlize Theron. Will appear in new Snow White movie; a sexy & photogenic young woman.
and Fairuza Balk. In some ways has it even worse than Claire Danes, in that she's best remembered for a film she made when she was 11, and which film (Return To Oz) absolutely died at the box office when it was first released, tho it has a cult following today. Seems to get a lot of "girlfriend" roles, playing Adam Sander's in The Waterboy and Moby's in the video for "Natural Blues." Appeared in the Sundance-winning Personal Velocity.
In his two years in office, Obama's approach to foreign policy has emphasized the limits of American power more than its reach.
This is probably an obvious question to ask, but is it possible his approach appears that way because the last president overreached to such a horrific degree?
"Did you see 'Glee' this week? Sickening! And, besides shoving the gay thing down our throats, they made a mockery of Christians – again!
Believe me, Victoria: No one wants to shove anything down your throat. And "Glee" doesn't have to make mockery. "Christians" like you are doing that themselves.
In a non-campaign stop for the 2012 presidential race, former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-9/11) lashed out at President Obama for “dithering” (or engineering a UN-led no-fly zone over Libya, instead of overcommitting the US military to another Middle East quagmire. Tomato, tomahto.), and mocked the President’s manner of speech with a stuttering impression. From The Associated Press:
Speaking at a Manchester Republican Committee fundraiser, Giuliani said he hasn’t decided yet whether he will again seek the GOP nomination. But he sounded a lot like a candidate, calling Obama’s handling of the uprising in Libya in the last week the worst foreign policy-decision making – or lack thereof – he’s ever seen.
When France proposed instituting a no-fly zone, “Our president, the leader of the free world, said, ‘A what? That’s hard! A no fly zone is r-r-r-really hard!’ ” Giuliani said to laughter.
That's the way most sites are reporting this, focusing on Giuliani saying President Obama was Colin Firth in The Kings Speech or sumthin'. But I noticed something else. A president blubbering about how hard his job is, while stumbling over his words?
For what it's worth, I think I agree with our intervening in Libya. Certainly the reasons for it make a lot more sense to me than our invading Iraq did, even back before we learned all we have about Bush & Co's lies.
Yes, we have our own problems. But I think I agree with this intervention because, when I think of my country sending people to risk their lives in the name of all of us...this is what I want them to be doing it for.
One of the many faults with the Iraq war, as I have come to see i,t is that we couldn't spark a rebellion at the point of a gun. In the case of Libya, the rebellion has clearly already been sparked...and not by us.
What we're doing, and fortunately we're not alone, is going in to stop a rebellion from being violently quashed. That's what we should be doing, I think (this puts me in a minority, BTW). I look at it this way:
You're walking along and across the street you see a man and woman fighting outside a cafe. From what you can hear, she's leaving him. She gets up from the table and starts to walk away. Whereupon, he says "Oh no you don't," grabs her from behind and smashes her head onto the sidewalk.
Do you go over and try to stop it? I sure hope I would.
The CBS late show lineup gave me a look at a couple of young stars on their shows last night.
First, David Letterman had as his second guest (following Steve Martin, a position I wouldn't give to a monkey on a rock) the young actress/singer Selena Gomez, 18.
I know one or two of my readers (hello, Calvin) have crushes on or otherwise admire Miss Gomez, and who am I to call them creepy old guys?
But for myself, what I saw in the interview was a perfectly attractive young woman...with whom I have no references in common.
In the past, thinking like this is what led me to my Women my own age series, which turned out to be a good idea, being devoted to appreciations of women who remember the same television as me.
But then something made me wonder: Is it truly age? Or is someone like Selena Gomez someone who I'm just not going to have much of anything to talk about? No matter how lovely she is; how wide or narrow the gap in our ages? Here's what happened.
Craig Ferguson's second guest was Brie Larson, 21, also an actress and singer, whose work was unknown to me. She knocked me out. Why would I find Selena Gomez to be someone I could either take or leave, and Brie Larson so very charming, in consecutive television appearances?
(Hell, Larson even makes me want to see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, something I had no interest in previously.)
But back to Brie Larson vs. Gomez: Look at all they have in common. Here are two young women, in the same situation (being interviewed by a late night host), who do exactly the same jobs.
Who are quite close to each other in age. Certainly more so than either is to me. Though, I would imagine that a girl could learn a lot in those three years. For the record, that last line wasn't meant as a smutty comment. For once.
Both started acting as pre-teenagers, and recording in their mid-teens. I had a look at the videos for their most successful songs (successful in this case being a relative term--neither has exactly burned up the top 40).
They even make approximately the same kind of music: "Power girl" with a touch of the Lolita.
(Gomez tends towards dance and Larson a little more towards pop rock.) And they both sound as if they've been helped to greater or lesser degrees by studio technology.
Gomez's solo single, "Tell Me Something I Don't Know," strikes me as a fine mass-market teen pop song, but what I can't quite see is what she brought to it.
What makes her performance better than any other adorable young lady in a recording studio with Autotune might have done? (Or, bending over backwards to be fair, any worse.)
Larson's "She Said" I don't think is as good a song as "Tell Me Something," (though it's definitely better in the radio mix than on an in-studio live clip I saw), but as the old saying goes, it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.
So why my preference? Let's start with the obvious: As Feguson says, Brie's adorable.
Just look at that dress. To say nothing of the way she practically flies into his arms for a hug when she comes out. (This reminds me...I must kill Craig Ferguson.)
(It's a joke, Craig, we're cool).
But seriously: What is the difference? Is it simply a matter of taste? Probably at least in part, tho I think it's also partly that Larson appears to have a vocabulary. Girls who can talk are so sexy.
But maybe that's another part of the answer there. Based on these clips--and what better way to judge two women you've never met and don't know than by seven minute clips of them on television? Based on these clips, Gomez is still a girl.
Nothing wrong with that. All the women I've ever liked were girls once. But Larson seems to me to be already a young woman.
(Again, I'm not making a cheap sex joke there. There's a lot more to being a woman than just having had sex, just as there is to being a man.)
I've actually got two of their greatest hits collections (in my defense, they were going cheap). I think they're better when they keep to the clubs ("Sunrise") instead of trying to make dreary rock albums (the rest of that album), but that's a matter of taste.
And I especially like this interview. Here's a taste, on what one member (Nick Rhodes) thinks of:
Testosterone-fuelled ROCK critics...If you look at musicians, we've always been very respected for what we created, whereas a certain breed of [music journalist were never gonna like us.
Elsewhere in this interview, you may learn some things you didn't know. I did. Such as that, one of their former guitarists is now in the gay porn world and is selling models of his own penis. Fancy.
