Let's see...I mentioned when I ran the video for "Lucky" that my first rock concert was Greg Kihn, didn't I? I don't know what else I can add except that this is his biggest hit.
Oh, maybe that I think I heard the spoof by "Weird Al" before I heard this original...
And the video is spooky.
Friday, January 16, 2009
You know, I'm really beginning to like this Eric Holder fellow
As you know, Holder is Obama's nominee for Attorney General.
Via Think Progress, check him out replying to Texas republican Sen. John Cornyn's softheaded attempt to justify torture using a hypothetical derived from...well, if you've been reading this blog more than, say "24" hrs...you can probably guess what it's derived from.
Holder doesn't merely smack him down. He can hardly keep himself from laughing in the senator's face. It's pretty cool. Like, whoa--an actual adult in a presidential administration!
And by the way, a word about Cornyn's understanding of civil rights: This is a man who thinks it would be perfectly okay to amend the Constitution to make it illegal for gays to marry. But waterboarding? That's all right.
Via Think Progress, check him out replying to Texas republican Sen. John Cornyn's softheaded attempt to justify torture using a hypothetical derived from...well, if you've been reading this blog more than, say "24" hrs...you can probably guess what it's derived from.
Holder doesn't merely smack him down. He can hardly keep himself from laughing in the senator's face. It's pretty cool. Like, whoa--an actual adult in a presidential administration!
And by the way, a word about Cornyn's understanding of civil rights: This is a man who thinks it would be perfectly okay to amend the Constitution to make it illegal for gays to marry. But waterboarding? That's all right.
Oh. My. God.
Say, you know what would be a really great model for Rick Warren's "christian" operation?
Hitler youth.
Or communists.
You know who says that?
Rick Warren.
I am not kidding. I am not joking. I am not exaggerating. Watch the video clip embedded in the comments of that entry (no, not the Monty Python one). President-Elect Obama: You're giving a dangerous psychotic a world-wide platform.
This is not the way to bring change.
Hitler youth.
Or communists.
You know who says that?
Rick Warren.
I am not kidding. I am not joking. I am not exaggerating. Watch the video clip embedded in the comments of that entry (no, not the Monty Python one). President-Elect Obama: You're giving a dangerous psychotic a world-wide platform.
This is not the way to bring change.
No!
Oh, dear god, this cannot possibly be true. According to The Star, via PopCrunch, Anne Hathaway is considering getting breast implants.
The Star...well, that's a reliable source, right?
I'm sorry--even if there's a way-less-than 50% chance that this is correct, I must say something. Anne: You have the breasts of a goddess. Please don't go changing 'em.
The Star...well, that's a reliable source, right?
I'm sorry--even if there's a way-less-than 50% chance that this is correct, I must say something. Anne: You have the breasts of a goddess. Please don't go changing 'em.
I think it's time to start the countdown
How long before Pamela Anderson starts working at The Bunny Ranch?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Obama supported marriage equality before he was against it
Came across the darnedest thing on Pam's House Blend:
So what do you think? Is he just biding his time, or is he copping out?
1996 documents surface proving Obama publicly supported marriage equality
It's unequivocal support:
[And here Pam's quoting from an article by Tracy Baim][A]s Obama has run for higher office, from senator to president, he has further shaped his views on marriage, and now he does not back same-sex marriage. In a January 2004 interview I conducted with Obama at the Windy City Times' office, Obama clearly stated that lack of support for full marriage equality was a matter of strategy rather than principle, but in even more recent comments, it appears he is backing off even further, saying it is more of a religious issue, and also a "state" issue, so he favors civil unions.
Obama's answer to the 1996 Outlines question was very clear: "I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages."
As long as full marriage equality isn't overwhelmingly approved by Americans, when it comes to running for federal office pols -- including Obama -- believe there's more to lose than gain if they take an honest position supporting full equality.
So what do you think? Is he just biding his time, or is he copping out?
A question.
Does anybody else think it's interesting that two men who starred in television series set on islands where, to say the least, unique things happened, died within a day of each other?
I refer of course to Patrick McGoohan and Ricardo Montalban.
I refer of course to Patrick McGoohan and Ricardo Montalban.
Tender, too.
Mike Huckabee says Katie Couric Was "Extraordinarily Gentle" With Sarah Palin.
Tender, too. Their bodies coming suddenly together, a scared little tounge darting out from between--
I'm sorry.
Tender, too. Their bodies coming suddenly together, a scared little tounge darting out from between--
I'm sorry.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
It suddenly seems all too fitting that George Bush was-famously-reading "My Pet Goat" on 9/11
Because it's become apparent that the right wing still believes in fairy tales.
That's right kids, you knew it was coming:
A new season of 24, and the wingers go all soft in the head. Per Media Matters:
That's right kids, you knew it was coming:
A new season of 24, and the wingers go all soft in the head. Per Media Matters:
Fox & Friends hosts Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson, as well as Glenn Beck, cite fictional congressional testimony by 24's "Jack Bauer" in defense of torture
It's irrelevant, guys.
Headline:
I'll believe this is going to happen when the AP stops putting 'abuses' in quotes. As though any but the most foolish don't agree that Bush has abused his power at this point.
Still, you gotta admire the courage of the Democrats, waiting until Bush has exactly seven days left in office to seek such a probe.
No. You don't.
...Charge him, try him, convict him, send him to jail for a decade. Doesn't matter. Doesn't mean one goddamn fuck of a thing. What we needed was for him to be driven from office before he could do more damage.
He wasn't. And he did. Now the Democrats just look like they're picking on the guy who was on his way out anyway. Let the man go, let Karma be his judge, and Get On With It.
Democrats seek criminal probe of Bush 'abuses'
I'll believe this is going to happen when the AP stops putting 'abuses' in quotes. As though any but the most foolish don't agree that Bush has abused his power at this point.
Still, you gotta admire the courage of the Democrats, waiting until Bush has exactly seven days left in office to seek such a probe.
No. You don't.
...Charge him, try him, convict him, send him to jail for a decade. Doesn't matter. Doesn't mean one goddamn fuck of a thing. What we needed was for him to be driven from office before he could do more damage.
He wasn't. And he did. Now the Democrats just look like they're picking on the guy who was on his way out anyway. Let the man go, let Karma be his judge, and Get On With It.
Horror news about a film franchise starting with "S," with a very courteous sicko (he always says "Hello") at the center
But not the one you're thinking of.
There's an outside chance that Scream 4, now in early development, might be worth watching.
Why? Because they've brought back Kevin Williamson.
Oh, and by the way...
Saw V will hit DVD on January 20th.
(You see? You see how I fake you out, and then double back?)
Dear Dick...
Via Think Progress:
Dear Dick...
Do the words "to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable" mean anything to you?
I thought not.
On Dec. 16, 2005, the New York Times published an article by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, revealing that President Bush had secretly authorized the NSA to “eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States…without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying.” The blockbuster article, which exposed one of the Bush administration’s biggest secrets, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2006.
Discussing the wiretapping program on Bill Bennett’s radio show today, Vice President Cheney called the program “important,” adding that it “always aggravated” him that the Times was rewarded for its reporting...
Dear Dick...
Do the words "to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable" mean anything to you?
I thought not.
President Bush is a stupid dirty crooked liar who should've been impeached years ago
Yeah, I know: So what else is new? What's new is...now it's personal.
Now, thanks to the fact that besides all of the above he's also such a bad actor he can't recognize the time to GET THE FUCK OFF THE STAGE...
...I have to wait another week for the return of Bones.
Dirty guy.
Now, thanks to the fact that besides all of the above he's also such a bad actor he can't recognize the time to GET THE FUCK OFF THE STAGE...
...I have to wait another week for the return of Bones.
Dirty guy.
Damn.
You know, for someone who for much of his public life has been an arguably thug-ish, albeit entertaining, activist and troublemaker...sometimes Al Sharpton makes for a good poet.
Via Pam's House Blend:
Via Pam's House Blend:
"...We know you're not preaching the Bible, because if you were preaching the Bible we would have heard from you. We would have heard from you when people were starving in California--when they deregulated the economy and crashed Wall Street you had nothing to say. When [accused Ponzi scammer] Madoff made off with the money, you had nothing to say. When Bush took us to war chasing weapons of mass destruction that weren't there you had nothing to say.
"But all of a sudden, when Proposition 8 came out, you had so much to say..."
"There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people's bedrooms and claim that God sent you. It amazes me when I looked at California and saw churches that had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when they overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being [relegated] into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting adults from choosing their life partners."
I'd be shocked, but Chloe Sevigny has already swallowed cum on film, so...
Big Love's Chloe Sevigny picked up big bucks to celebrate New Year's Eve, the New York Post reports.
The 34-year-old Kids actress was among the many celebs to host New Year's Eve soirees this year. Chloe held court at the Gansevoort Hotel's celebration in Miami's South Beach.
For this task, Sevigny picked up $50,000.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Hmmm...
Some of us had a small problem with the choice of the bigoted Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at Obama's inauguration. Sometimes offered as counter to that was the fact that the benediction--my favorite kind of ediction--will be delivered by the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery. Lowery is an acclaimed and outspoken civil rights activist who worked with Dr. King.
But two other pastors will be appearing in the inaugural festivities.
Via The Washington Monthly:
Is it just me, or is Obama starting to look like a stronger liberal than we may have feared?
But two other pastors will be appearing in the inaugural festivities.
Via The Washington Monthly:
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who became the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop in 2003 and last year entered into a civil union with his gay partner, will deliver the invocation for Sunday's kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, with President-elect Obama in attendance.President-elect Barack Obama has selected the Rev. Sharon E. Watkins to deliver the sermon at the national prayer service that is held the day after the inauguration.
Ms. Watkins, the first woman ever selected to lead the service, is the president and general minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a small, liberal-leaning Protestant denomination with 3,754 congregations and about 690,000 members in the United States and Canada.
For those unfamiliar with the Disciples of Christ, it's a pretty liberal denomination, closely associated with the United Church of Christ (Obama's denomination), and Watkins' record on hot-button social issues is strong.
Is it just me, or is Obama starting to look like a stronger liberal than we may have feared?
It's called acting.
Interesting article here about how kissing another man is sometimes--more often than it should be--seen as the bravest thing an actor can do.
Excerpts:
Excerpts:
Judging from their interviews over the years, actors who have filmed scenes in which they have pointed a revolver at someone's head and pulled the trigger still think gay kissing is the grossest thing they've ever had to do for a movie.
Women actors who've kissed other women in love scenes, meanwhile, sound like an enlightened other species in interviews about kissing. For them, it's no big whoop. The men, on the other hand, talk as if they've outdone themselves and are now ready to accept their golden statue.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
A word about Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf
...which DVD I borrowed from my nephew's mother yesterday. That word is "sucked."
Ok, a few more. First of all, to call what this movie features "animation." Um, no. Toy Story 2 has animation. The Incredibles has animation. Even Sleeping Beauty has animation, and it's far from my most fave Disney movie.
See, making cartoon drawings move, by itself, isn't animation any more than putting piles of meat on sticks and moving them around--Meat Puppets, to coin a phrase--would be acting. For real animation, you need (not to be too didactic)...soul. And Beowulf doesn't have a drop of it.
The voice performances don't help either then. With the possible exception of Anthony Hopkins, a stooge on the Abbott and Costello radio show could give better performances than these.
So it's not good as animation, then. What about simply as a visual experience? Sometimes--not always, but sometimes, artful visuals make up for a few cracks in the characterization and such (look at Tron or even The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers).
And again...no. Visually, Beowulf is a computer game, and computer games cannot be art. As I'm at least half-convinced James Cameron is going to find out this year, to his frustration.
Ok, a few more. First of all, to call what this movie features "animation." Um, no. Toy Story 2 has animation. The Incredibles has animation. Even Sleeping Beauty has animation, and it's far from my most fave Disney movie.
See, making cartoon drawings move, by itself, isn't animation any more than putting piles of meat on sticks and moving them around--Meat Puppets, to coin a phrase--would be acting. For real animation, you need (not to be too didactic)...soul. And Beowulf doesn't have a drop of it.
The voice performances don't help either then. With the possible exception of Anthony Hopkins, a stooge on the Abbott and Costello radio show could give better performances than these.
So it's not good as animation, then. What about simply as a visual experience? Sometimes--not always, but sometimes, artful visuals make up for a few cracks in the characterization and such (look at Tron or even The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers).
And again...no. Visually, Beowulf is a computer game, and computer games cannot be art. As I'm at least half-convinced James Cameron is going to find out this year, to his frustration.
Holy Frijoles!
That was much easier than I thought it was gonna be (getting the changed layout back, I mean).
Blogger is just made for the electronically inept, like myself.
Blogger is just made for the electronically inept, like myself.
national apathy about scandals?
Mark Evanier linked to Frank Rich's Times Op-Ed column yesterday, saying,
For what it's worth, I don't agree. I think a lot of us care very much about these and all the other misdeeds of the Bush administration; would like to see them investigated and dealt with.
It's just that we're so incredibly freaking overloaded right now. We need jobs. We need health insurance. We need the war to end.
The walls are closing in and most of us just want it to stop. We don't have the strength anymore to get to the people who set the wheels in motion. We did once. Then the '06 Congress did jack-shit, and wondered why their approval rating hovered around Bush's.
It's not that we don't care. It's that we've accepted the bitter, hard reality that nothing is going to be done. And most of us, I think, would rather concentrate on those few things in this life we think that we do have some power over.
Or maybe it's just me.
A lot of us apparently don't care if billions of our tax dollars just wound up in someone's pocket.
For what it's worth, I don't agree. I think a lot of us care very much about these and all the other misdeeds of the Bush administration; would like to see them investigated and dealt with.
It's just that we're so incredibly freaking overloaded right now. We need jobs. We need health insurance. We need the war to end.
The walls are closing in and most of us just want it to stop. We don't have the strength anymore to get to the people who set the wheels in motion. We did once. Then the '06 Congress did jack-shit, and wondered why their approval rating hovered around Bush's.
It's not that we don't care. It's that we've accepted the bitter, hard reality that nothing is going to be done. And most of us, I think, would rather concentrate on those few things in this life we think that we do have some power over.
Or maybe it's just me.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Friday, January 09, 2009
my 'tronic ineptitude is showing
With any luck, the changed layout will be back sometime in the next 24 hours.
Who do I root for in a case like this: James Bond 007
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen vs. Terminator Salvation.
Ok, maybe, maybe the Transformers--but only because John Connor is Thomas Dekker, dammit.
(and by implication, not Christian Bale).
Ok, maybe, maybe the Transformers--but only because John Connor is Thomas Dekker, dammit.
(and by implication, not Christian Bale).
It's not nice to fool with mother nature
Remember ol' "Heckuva Job" Brownie?
Sure, that's right: He was that way-in-over-his-head guy who was the head of what Bush sniggeringly called his "emergency management" program, when Katrina happened.
As such, he is remembered as one of the symbols of the Bush administration's criminal incompetence alongside such jokers as the vile Don "Fight with the army we have" Rumsfeld.
Been wondering what Brownie's up to these days?
"We never think of the fact that something like this can happen."
Again: Michael D. Brown, former director of FEMA.
"We never think of the fact that something like this can happen."
Nice.
Sure, that's right: He was that way-in-over-his-head guy who was the head of what Bush sniggeringly called his "emergency management" program, when Katrina happened.
As such, he is remembered as one of the symbols of the Bush administration's criminal incompetence alongside such jokers as the vile Don "Fight with the army we have" Rumsfeld.
Been wondering what Brownie's up to these days?
Michael D. Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was among those forced to flee his home by the Olde Stage Road Fire.
"We never think of the fact that something like this can happen," Brown said. "One minute I'm sitting in my office and the next there is a deputy in my driveway telling me I have to leave.
"We never think of the fact that something like this can happen."
Again: Michael D. Brown, former director of FEMA.
"We never think of the fact that something like this can happen."
Nice.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
So you meet this guy...A regular galahad. A real house-trained barbarian! So you drop him, Like a bad habit, anything that comes along, You grab it!
ABC faking to the whimsical "15 Story Halo."
Although it mentions her, there are no pictures of Anne Hathaway in this post
Because I figure if you've been reading any of my blogs for even a day you know what she looks like.
As opposed to Holly Hunter and Kate Winslet, who are practically obscure around here.
Ahem. Now: As much as Saving Grace w/Holly Hunter has become one of my favorite television series, I can't help wishing Hunter had made (another) Oscar-hyped movie last year.
Because if she had, I might have been in for The Best Oscar Night Of My Life with nominations for Holly, Kate, and Anne.
As it is, at this point it'll be more surprising if Annie and Kate aren't nominated than if they are.
But, maybe god will "Grace" me and Holly will be a presenter.
Yes, I hate myself for that play on words too.
As opposed to Holly Hunter and Kate Winslet, who are practically obscure around here.
Ahem. Now: As much as Saving Grace w/Holly Hunter has become one of my favorite television series, I can't help wishing Hunter had made (another) Oscar-hyped movie last year.
Because if she had, I might have been in for The Best Oscar Night Of My Life with nominations for Holly, Kate, and Anne.
As it is, at this point it'll be more surprising if Annie and Kate aren't nominated than if they are.
But, maybe god will "Grace" me and Holly will be a presenter.
Yes, I hate myself for that play on words too.
Almost exactly.
Rep. Bobby Rush, the South Side congressman who has injected racially charged language into the {Burris] appointment, said on MSNBC that the sight of Burris holding a news conference in the rain after being refused admittance to the Senate floor Tuesday was akin to "the dogs being sicced on children in Birmingham, Ala."
You go, girl!
Anne Hathaway was asked how she thought our soon-to-be-President would do. She replied she was sure he would do great things...but only after she mentioned the horrendous Rick "God is hate" Warren mistake.
It's times like this I think I should be building a shrine to her in my basement.
(However, I still deny that rumor completely)
It's times like this I think I should be building a shrine to her in my basement.
(However, I still deny that rumor completely)
I just thought this was kinda cool
It's an illustration (by Rob Kelly) of X-Men, Goldeneye and Nip/Tuck star Famke Janssen that ran with this article. The article is nothing to write home about--I just liked the illustration.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
'He grew bogus; hence Dicky'
(It's an anagram I love, brought to mind by this via Think Progress:)
In December, President-elect Obama asked the White House if he and his family could move into Blair House — the White House’s guest house — a week early, so that his daughters Malia and Sasha could start school. The White House rebuffed them, saying the house was already booked for another guest. A White House source added that “Blair House was appalled” by the request.
After weeks of speculation, the mystery guest that trumps the President-elect and his family has finally been revealed. The White House offered the house to John Howard, the former Prime Minister of Australia who is set to receive a Medal of Freedom. Instead of arranging other accommodations for Howard’s one-night stay, the Bush administration told the Obama family to stay in a hotel for two weeks. (Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, who are also receiving the Medal of Freedom, opted to find other accommodations.)
Last night on MSNBC’s “Countdown,” Bloomberg journalist Margaret Carlson revealed that when the White House turned down Obama’s request in early December, it had not yet even invited Howard to stay at the Blair House:I reported…on December 11 and 12 that there were no foreign dignitaries booked into Blair House during that period of time. … I have the feeling they asked him [Howard] to come and stay so that there might be some plausible reason for not letting the Obamas stay there.
Dear President-Elect Obama
I don't mean to dis Jimmy Carter, he is an honored elder statesman.
But please, don't follow his advice.
I'm just sayin'.
But please, don't follow his advice.
I'm just sayin'.
Alan Moore notwithstanding, maybe this is going to be good
If it ever gets released, that is.
Watchmen Japanese Trailer.
Watchmen Japanese Trailer.
Oh sure, now you have a spine.
Harry Reid says that he isn't going to bend over and take it up the ass screaming "More! More! More! Harder!" for Obama, the way he did for Bush.
I'd say this was cheesy...but I like some things that many consider cheesy
Married...with Children, for instance. Queen's score for the Flash Gordon movie. The Flash Gordon movie itself. The Archie comics of my youth. Saw IV & V. Many great '80s hits (But if you call those cheesy around me, you better be prepared for a fight). The Back to the Future movies.
You get the idea. All (arguably) cheesy to greater and lesser degrees, but I like them all, to greater and lesser degrees. So, faced with the supposed lyrics to a song John Mayer wrote for Jennifer Aniston...
"Cheesy" doesn't quite cut it.
This just stinks.
You get the idea. All (arguably) cheesy to greater and lesser degrees, but I like them all, to greater and lesser degrees. So, faced with the supposed lyrics to a song John Mayer wrote for Jennifer Aniston...
You’ve brought luck to love/ I’ve been hit by a truck in love.”
"Cheesy" doesn't quite cut it.
This just stinks.
Dude.
Ok. We've already established how nerdishly anxious I am to see the upcoming Tron sequel, yes?
Well if you're like me, you might want to read this short talk with co-star Olivia Wilde. Quotes...
Well if you're like me, you might want to read this short talk with co-star Olivia Wilde. Quotes...
Wilde: Jeff Bridges is going to be in this one, too.
And Bruce Boxleitner?
Wilde: And, yes, Bruce Boxleitner. He's so fantastic, Bruce. He's been telling us all about the process of making the first one. And it's just great. Like, they were on an entirely black velvet set, wearing white bodysuits that they weren't allowed to sweat in, even though there was a bank of lights so powerful that they caused a brownout in Burbank. So they weren't allowed to sweat. They're running around in white suits on black velvet with these lights. And they were saying terms that for the time had no meaning for them. They didn't know what a "program" was. Bruce was saying they were ... pulling these things out of, like, sci-fi dictionaries. I mean, they had no idea. And actually, they were saying a lot of the technology now that is going into the new film and going into films of today, to them was like a dream at the time, was sort of complete fantasy while they were making Tron 1.
Will you be shooting against green screens?
Wilde: They're going to build a huge amount of the set. The director, Joe Kosinski, has made some unbelievable commercials. People can check out his Web site. He's just a really talented guy. And he's a really big fan of using as much sets as you can, because he's an architect as well, so he likes to build these worlds. And with something like Tron, I think it helps to create the environment as much as possible without too much green screen so that these characters can exist within this world, ... with the feel ... as real as possible.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Updates
...on a couple of stories I've been following.
And:
Two men and a teenager were charged Tuesday in the alleged gang rape of a lesbian in the San Francisco Bay area.
Humberto Hernandez Salvador, 31, and Josue Gonzalez, 21, were charged with kidnapping, carjacking and gang rape in the attack last month in Richmond.
They face a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty, prosecutors said.
Darrell Hodges, 16, was charged as an adult with similar offenses Monday. A 15-year-old boy whose name has not been released was also arrested last week on suspicion of participating in the attack.
And:
The nation's largest government-run utility ignored two small leaks that could have provided a warning years before a coal ash pond collapsed, flooding a neighborhood with a billion gallons of sludge, a former federal regulator contends.
Three homes were destroyed and 42 parcels of land damaged when one such pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Steam Plant collapsed Dec. 22.
Also on Tuesday, a coalition of environmental groups including the Sierra Club notified TVA it plans to sue the utility on behalf of 40 families, arguing TVA broke federal law by not fully disclosing the extent of spill contamination. A TVA spokesman said the utility would respond in court.
Ok, the Panetta thing
What Art Brodsky said.
Obama comes into office with a clear election mandate, and the last thing he needs is the public view of a bunch of squabbling Democrats (see: Burris, Roland) doing the GOP's work for it.
Once you're born, you're on your own
It seems that the "pro-lifers" are concerned that Barack Obama will not be forwarding their-- entirely humane--agenda.
Two things. First of all, here's 10 minutes of George Carlin (RIP) on the inconsistency of "pro-life."
And second, the GOP thinks--they actually think...they're going to back Obama into a corner by pushing the Terry Schiavo thing again.
Good luck with that.
Do they really not remember what a mess that turned into for them?
Two things. First of all, here's 10 minutes of George Carlin (RIP) on the inconsistency of "pro-life."
And second, the GOP thinks--they actually think...they're going to back Obama into a corner by pushing the Terry Schiavo thing again.
Good luck with that.
Do they really not remember what a mess that turned into for them?
Monday, January 05, 2009
Bill Cunningham is a sore loser
Cunningham, a b-list radio host, said this yesterday:
Found via Media Matters. Where one poster calling themselves "shadow8pro" wrote in a comment:
Suck it up, Bill. Obama won. Stop being such a sourpuss and accept it gracefully.
"poor people were not and are not poor because they lack money. They're poor because they lack values, ethics, and morals."
Found via Media Matters. Where one poster calling themselves "shadow8pro" wrote in a comment:
because obviously Paris Hilton is among the most moral Americans, and say, Mother Theresa (though obviously not an American) is among those lacking morals, values and ethics.
Suck it up, Bill. Obama won. Stop being such a sourpuss and accept it gracefully.
Then Again, Maybe I Won't
Funny--just the other night I was saying to my friend Jennifer on the phone that I thought I was pretty much done with "Scrubs." Over the years it's been very spotty, to me--sometimes I'll catch an episode that I think is really good, sometimes I wonder why anyone ever kept it on the air.
So I wasn't all that hard over its switch to ABC. After reading this Q & A with series creator Bill Lawrence, though, I'm not so sure. I like the way he describes the end of the series.
I may give it one more chance after all.
So I wasn't all that hard over its switch to ABC. After reading this Q & A with series creator Bill Lawrence, though, I'm not so sure. I like the way he describes the end of the series.
Exclusive: 'Scrubs' boss (sorta) spoils series finale!
I may give it one more chance after all.
What could you do with $235 k?
Take a second. Really think about it. Think about the health care visits that could pay for, the education.
Or hell, think about the new car that could buy you, or if you already have a good car, the work you could have done keeping it up. Got it? Fine.
Now think about this.
Via Think Progress:
You know...I was gonna toss this one away with a little "It's too easy...make up your own joke here" thing.
I was thinking, something about Kempthorne having misunderstood the meaning of Secretary of “the Interior,” ha ha, ha ha, ha.
Then I took a second look at the numbers.
$235 k on a bathroom in an office.
Are you kidding me?
Or hell, think about the new car that could buy you, or if you already have a good car, the work you could have done keeping it up. Got it? Fine.
Now think about this.
Via Think Progress:
The Washington Post’s Al Kamen reports today that outgoing Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne recently spent about $235,000 in taxpayer funds to renovate the bathroom in his fifth-floor office. The renovations included “installing a new shower, a refrigerator and a freezer and buying monogrammed towels.” An internal investigation by the department’s inspector general, however, found no wrongdoing on Kempthorne’s part “because the GSA had approved the project“:The General Services Administration approved and partially funded the project, an Interior Department official said. The GSA paid about half the cost to refurbish aging plumbing, which needed to be replaced within four years.
But department officials say much of the money was spent on lavish wood paneling and tile.
You know...I was gonna toss this one away with a little "It's too easy...make up your own joke here" thing.
I was thinking, something about Kempthorne having misunderstood the meaning of Secretary of “the Interior,” ha ha, ha ha, ha.
Then I took a second look at the numbers.
$235 k on a bathroom in an office.
Are you kidding me?
A question.
Am I the only person who wants to see Kate Winslet in a live show version of Grease 2?
Apparently, I am not.
Apparently, I am not.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
This is one of the Looney Tunes that just missed my list of the 10 Greatest
It's so funny that if you don't laugh, it's your failure, not the cartoon's.
GHWB, master of understatement.
Via The Washington Monthly..
Ex-President Bush...remember Nixon's "You won't have Nixon to kick around any more" press conference? That's where your clan should be taking it's lead from right now. Yes of course, Nixon eventually made a comeback--and look how well that worked out for him.
You've done all the damage you can do. Either volunteer to put the whole family into one of those charity booths where people can line up to hit you in the faces with balloons filled with white paint...
Or better still, just go. The fuck. Away.
George H. W. Bush, after conceding that he'd like to see Jeb run for the Senate, added, "I'd like to see him run, I'd like to see him be president someday." After Fox News' Chris Wallace expressed some surprise, the former president added, "I mean, right now it's probably a bad time. We've had enough Bushes in there."
Ex-President Bush...remember Nixon's "You won't have Nixon to kick around any more" press conference? That's where your clan should be taking it's lead from right now. Yes of course, Nixon eventually made a comeback--and look how well that worked out for him.
You've done all the damage you can do. Either volunteer to put the whole family into one of those charity booths where people can line up to hit you in the faces with balloons filled with white paint...
Or better still, just go. The fuck. Away.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
I mean, it's not like I didn't know that Steven Moffat knows what he's doing...
Especially vis-à-vis Doctor Who. He's won Hugo Awards for it and all. Still, I like this quote from Moffat, who's takng over as head writer and executive producer for 2010, about Matt Smith, who'll be playing the part of the 11th Doctor*:
ETA: Here's a "coming out" interview with Smith:
He looks a bit goth, but I can see this working (and of course, the way he is now is not necessarily the way he'll be as the Doctor).
On the other hand, something just sank in as I was watching it. This Doctor actor is younger than me.
I may have to stop watching the series.
*If it were up to me, 10th, as I'd really rather not count McGann...but it's not up to me, and I suppose that's OK.
"The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe. As soon as Matt walked through the door and blew us away with a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord, we knew we had our man. 2010 is a long time away but rest assured the Eleventh Doctor is coming - and the universe has never been so safe."
ETA: Here's a "coming out" interview with Smith:
He looks a bit goth, but I can see this working (and of course, the way he is now is not necessarily the way he'll be as the Doctor).
On the other hand, something just sank in as I was watching it. This Doctor actor is younger than me.
I may have to stop watching the series.
*If it were up to me, 10th, as I'd really rather not count McGann...but it's not up to me, and I suppose that's OK.
Hmm...
We all know I think Summer Glau is as cute as cute can be, but I'm not so sure about this dress. You?
Eyes Wide Shut
Oh, she tells me tears are something to hide
And something to fear
And I try so hard to keep it inside
So no one can hear
(verse from Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry")
Friday, January 02, 2009
Thursday, January 01, 2009
It's happened again
One of my reviews being cited as a source for a Wikipedia page, I mean. In this case it's the page on Don Henley's song "The Boys of Summer."
I dunno how much low-class midriff blouses and tacky pumps can do in a case like this, but I wish her the best of luck
Erin Brockovich is coming to Tennessee. Seriously, I hope she can help.
A take-me-to-the-movies meme for the new year
(Sort of as a balanceweight to the Watchmen post)
Real simple. Name six comic book, fantasy or "shocker" movies you're looking forward to (or at least mildly curious about) seeing in 2009, and say why.
Mine are (in no particular order):
Race to Witch Mountain. I think the odds are probably better than even that this movie is going to suck. There's an outside chance that it might not, though, and the original movies were so big when I was a kid, so how could I not be curious?
Wolfman. I have the feeling this may turn out to be a guilty pleasure. I thought director Joe Johnston brought some much-needed young blood to the Jurassic Park franchise with his III.
Coraline. Now this one, I have full-on high hopes for. It's based on a bestselling book by Neil Gaiman (which I haven't read); I saw the trailer for it before seeing Bolt with my nephew, and it looks good.
I'm also glad to see director Henry Selick getting some credit for Nightmare Before Christmas, sometimes called "Tim Burton's" Nightmare Before Christmas, despite Burton's neither writing the screenplay for nor directing it.
Up. One word: Pixar.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I follow the movies, not the books...not purely because the books don't have Emma Watson, but...
And G.I. Joe. Sort of like the Witch Mountain re-launch, wherein I can't help being curious because of how big the originals were in my childhood, in this case it's because I played with the toys.
With "honorable mentions" to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and of course...Saw VI.
I'm tagging Alan Coil to see if he's out there, anyone else who wants to play is welcome.
Real simple. Name six comic book, fantasy or "shocker" movies you're looking forward to (or at least mildly curious about) seeing in 2009, and say why.
Mine are (in no particular order):
Race to Witch Mountain. I think the odds are probably better than even that this movie is going to suck. There's an outside chance that it might not, though, and the original movies were so big when I was a kid, so how could I not be curious?
Wolfman. I have the feeling this may turn out to be a guilty pleasure. I thought director Joe Johnston brought some much-needed young blood to the Jurassic Park franchise with his III.
Coraline. Now this one, I have full-on high hopes for. It's based on a bestselling book by Neil Gaiman (which I haven't read); I saw the trailer for it before seeing Bolt with my nephew, and it looks good.
I'm also glad to see director Henry Selick getting some credit for Nightmare Before Christmas, sometimes called "Tim Burton's" Nightmare Before Christmas, despite Burton's neither writing the screenplay for nor directing it.
Up. One word: Pixar.Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I follow the movies, not the books...not purely because the books don't have Emma Watson, but...And G.I. Joe. Sort of like the Witch Mountain re-launch, wherein I can't help being curious because of how big the originals were in my childhood, in this case it's because I played with the toys.
With "honorable mentions" to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and of course...Saw VI.I'm tagging Alan Coil to see if he's out there, anyone else who wants to play is welcome.
One of my favorite mystery writers has died
Donald E. Westlake, a prize-winning author and Oscar-nominated screenwriter, has died in Mexico, apparently of a heart attack, his wife said. He was 75.
Westlake, who won three Edgar awards for his novels and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1991 for the screenplay for "The Grifters," died Wednesday night as he prepared to go to dinner, his wife, Abigail Westlake, told The New York Times.
Westlake was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of American in 1993.
The 1999 Mel Gibson movie "Payback" was based on a Westlake novel, and he wrote the screenplay for the 1987 thriller "The Stepfather." The 1972 Robert Redford action comedy, "The Hot Rock," was based on one of Westlake's series of crime novels featuring one of his most popular characters, the small-time criminal John Dortmunder.
Born July 12, 1833, in New York, Westlake attended several colleges but did not graduate.
Hup! Hup! Heads up!
As you may have heard, the release of the "Watchmen" film, which was planned for March, has been delayed thanks to a lawsuit by Fox about the distribution rights.
There's a possibility--I dunno how good it is, but there's a possibility--it won't be released at all.
Some fans feel, not entirely without reason, that Fox is being rather "dickish" about it. For myself, though...I don't say I wouldn't go to see the film, especially if it gets good reviews (assuming it is ever released).
See, like many of you, I loved the original comic book. But I've always been (extremely) skeptical about filming it. And when I learned of comic book creator (with Dave Gibbons) Alan Moore's dark feelings on the subject...
Well...I'm not exactly displeased by its hitting this stumbling block. More amused. Anything that gets a bunch of comic book/fantasy fans to start acting as their civil rights will be violated if a movie isn't released...now that's funny.
There's a possibility--I dunno how good it is, but there's a possibility--it won't be released at all.
Some fans feel, not entirely without reason, that Fox is being rather "dickish" about it. For myself, though...I don't say I wouldn't go to see the film, especially if it gets good reviews (assuming it is ever released).
See, like many of you, I loved the original comic book. But I've always been (extremely) skeptical about filming it. And when I learned of comic book creator (with Dave Gibbons) Alan Moore's dark feelings on the subject...
Well...I'm not exactly displeased by its hitting this stumbling block. More amused. Anything that gets a bunch of comic book/fantasy fans to start acting as their civil rights will be violated if a movie isn't released...now that's funny.
Read this.
This is lengthy--and in two parts (fair warning) but it's rather wonderful. At Pam's House Blend, a diarist calling themselves "Stuffed Animal" has written an essay taking off from Dr. King's famous Letter From A Birmingham Jail.
They make a point-by-point comparison with the grievances, suffering and oppression of African Americans then, and lesbian, gays and bisexuals now.
Part One
Part Two
They make a point-by-point comparison with the grievances, suffering and oppression of African Americans then, and lesbian, gays and bisexuals now.
Part One
Part Two
I feel like a dumb joke (or two)...join me, won't you?
Ahem. From an Usmagazine.com post on Stars' 2009 New Year's Resolutions...
Lindsay Lohan might be able to help you with that, Eva.
Don't feel you have to do all that, Cameron.
(Read the post and if you think of any other dumb jokes, send 'em in)
EVA LONGORIA PARKER
"To give up meat."
Lindsay Lohan might be able to help you with that, Eva.
CAMERON DIAZ:
"I have always had the same New Year resolutions: to stop smoking, to start wearing a bra and to stop shopping."
Don't feel you have to do all that, Cameron.
(Read the post and if you think of any other dumb jokes, send 'em in)
Jesus Christ.
Well, here's a little bit of good news and bad for the new year.
The good news is, three arrests have been made in the case of the Northern California lesbian who was gang-raped. If this leads to convictions, I hope they're thrown underneath a jail for the next 20-25 years.
The bad news is, two of the arrestees are teenagers, 15 and 16 years old.
15 and 16 years old.
15 and 16 years old.
So young to do something that should be so unthinkable.
The good news is, three arrests have been made in the case of the Northern California lesbian who was gang-raped. If this leads to convictions, I hope they're thrown underneath a jail for the next 20-25 years.
The bad news is, two of the arrestees are teenagers, 15 and 16 years old.
15 and 16 years old.
One man and two teens have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a woman last month in the San Francisco Bay area while allegedly taunting her for being a lesbian, police said Thursday as they searched for a fourth suspect.
The 45-minute attack started when one of the men approached the woman in the street, struck her with a blunt object, ordered her to disrobe and sexually assaulted her with the help of the others, according to detectives.
When the group saw another person approaching, they forced the victim back into her car and took her to a burned-out apartment building. She was raped again inside and outside the vehicle and left naked outside the building while the alleged assailants took her wallet and drove off in her car, police said.
15 and 16 years old.
So young to do something that should be so unthinkable.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Balanced, well-acted, entertaining but never glib
Mickey Rourke has been going around saying that Sean Penn is a homophobe. I don't really know why. If Penn is, privately--and I'm not aware of much evidence, certainly in the last 10 years, to support that, in fact rather the opposite--I don't really care.
Unless you can show me that Penn has been using his stardom to promote intolerance, all I'm really interested in is him as an actor. And he is an extraordinary actor.
I think of him in Mystic River, for which he deservedly won an Oscar, as the man who turns his ferocious anger against a friend he thinks has killed his daughter.
And I try to tell myself that the same man gave the exquisitely human performance--though that's the wrong word, as it didn't feel like a performance at all--I saw tonight in Milk. Let me back up a minute.
The film itself succeeded with me where other films about gay men and/or politics have not for three main reasons.
It didn't seem stuffily to be trying to Teach Me A Lesson.
I think most of you who have read this blog for even a day know my feelings on civil rights for homosexuals. Nevertheless, my tolerance threshold for screen or stage dramas where the theme seems to be "But honest and truly, gays really are people too!!" is remarkably low.
I just think we should be past the point wherein that kind of statement arouses any reaction other than "Well...duh." I understand that we're not; you can make an argument that we need such works to play in more conservative parts of the country than those in which I've lived. But I don't think I'll ever have respect for them creatively.
Milk, on the other hand, I don't think sets out to Teach A Lesson. It sets out to tell a man's story. Since he was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in America, the story does inherently have some historical and even educational value.
But all praises to Jesus, it's about a man who was gay, not just a Gay Man.
(This is not to say that the film denies his sexuality in any way--which would be hard to do in the first place, tho' not impossible. But it makes it a part of the picture, not the whole thing.)
It didn't get thrown off by movie stars.
Apart from Penn, James Franco as Milk's longtime partner (later friend) and Josh Brolin--who we won't count because he's unrecognizable as Dan White, Milk's assassin--there aren't any.
I don't know if it's what a film student would call "cinéma vérité," but those are two of the words that came to mind. As I understand it, that means the sort of film which opens up a door upon real life, and that's what this felt like to me.
You almost never catch any of the cast acting. Penn's an actor, not a movie star first; in this movie, Franco shows signs for the first time (at least that I've seen) he might be one, too.
Like them, Brolin disappears into his character. And inhabiting White, he makes him full bodied. The performance, and the movie, does not take the cheap shot of presenting him simply as a belt-suited bigot, rather as someone who was messed up.
When we get to the (beautifully terrible) ending, you hate him for what he's going to do and does, yet you don't, not completely. (And yet I was glad to know, and the film reminds us, that White eventually took his own life.)
Just as White, though a villain is not a caricature, Milk, though a hero is not a plaster saint. We see his blind spots and his weaknesses, both personal and professional, and get an idea of his flaws.
Aided by Gus Van Sant's direction and Dustin Lance Black's screenplay, Penn and Franco--both straight AFAIK--convincingly portray something I've seen too little of in movies: A loving, intimate gay relationship.
It has its ups and downs--but that is because relationships have their ups and downs, not that this one is somehow false.
(They even kiss innumerable times, something that was beyond certain other acclaimed movie stars who shall remain Tom Hanks.)
The movie is smart and funny, but that is because Milk and his friends were smart and funny, not because a writer is trying to make them (and thus the writer) appear so. At least, that's the way it played to me. Which leads me to:
It didn't work too hard to entertain us.
This relates to my first reason in that it's kind of the flip side.
Political dramas, when they aren't solemnly trying to Educate The Public, can sometimes err in the other direction and become so "audience friendly" that they lose sight of whatever they might have been trying to say.
Milk unquestionably has something to say, but it says it the way drama says things best, by showing us part of the life of a person. Making us care about him; not just because we care about the same things he does.
Despite the fact that it's a tragedy, it's moving (honestly so) but not depressing. And it has dignity. It doesn't beg for it like some Lesbian Series for the Showtime network (I could mention) does. It just has it.
This is a great biopic.
I'm saying, I really think you should see it.
A bigoted one?
President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation drew one kind of protest. Whether the evangelical pastor offers the prayer in the name of Jesus may draw another. At George W. Bush's 2001 swearing-in, the Revs. Franklin Graham and Kirbyjon Caldwell were criticized for invoking Christ. The distinctly Christian reference at a national civic event offended some, and even prompted a lawsuit.
Warren did not answer directly when asked whether he would dedicate his prayer to Jesus. In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, Warren would say only that, "I'm a Christian pastor so I will pray the only kind of prayer I know how to pray."
The Bush hawks: They love war like Christopher Walken loves cowbell
John Bolton sez: Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran....
Just when you thought I couldn't find any new reasons to worship Summer Glau
I mean as if it's not enough that she's as cute as it gets; that she moves like the dancer she is. That her acting as the almost-but-not-quite feeling cyborg deserves more respect than it's thus far gotten.
And now I find this photo--
--of her and other members of the Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles cast showing their support for the writers of the show during the strike earlier this year.
Sigh. Could she possibly be any more wonderful?
And now I find this photo--
--of her and other members of the Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles cast showing their support for the writers of the show during the strike earlier this year.
Sigh. Could she possibly be any more wonderful?
You'd think they'd deliver
Britney Spears reportedly snuck out of her home in disguise for a secret sex session.
The 'Womanizer' singer apparently defied her father Jamie's ban on men to enjoy the saucy rendezvous with a mystery friend - and even bragged of her romp when she got home.
A source said: "She's been a prisoner in her own home and began to crave affection and attention from someone other than her parents, which is only natural.
Actually, I think if she'd gotten affection and attention from her parents, her whole personality could have been avoided.
Monday, December 29, 2008
So you say you want to see a hottie fake-beating some guy's brains in
What good luck that I just happen to have one, then.
Your spine isn't going to grow back, Rather
Via Pam's House Blend:
Dear Dan:
CBS were idiots. Everybody knows it.
Trouble is, you were an idiot, too, and CBS did a good thing for a bad reason when they "allowed you to resign." Or maybe you thought we forgot about your going on the Letterman show after September 11, getting down on your knees and sucking Bush's cock on national television.
I believe you were a good reporter once, Dan, but that was yesterday, and I think it went to your head.
This lawsuit isn't about doing anybody any good except your ego, Rather, and there's much more important things than that. It isn't going to change the fact that Bush was elected (not re-elected) in 2004. It isn't going to make CBS News any smarter.
The time of network news is over, Dan, and you helped it come to a bad end.
Go the fuck away.
A $70m lawsuit filed by Dan Rather, the veteran former newsreader for CBS Evening News, against his old network is reopening the debate over alleged favourable treatment that Bush received when he served in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam war. Bush had hoped that this controversy had been dealt with once and for all during the 2004 election.
The story originally broke two months before the 2004 election, CBS went on to retract the story and Dan Rather was fired after the election. The conservative media went ballistic claiming the documents had been falsified.
Dear Dan:
CBS were idiots. Everybody knows it.
Trouble is, you were an idiot, too, and CBS did a good thing for a bad reason when they "allowed you to resign." Or maybe you thought we forgot about your going on the Letterman show after September 11, getting down on your knees and sucking Bush's cock on national television.
I believe you were a good reporter once, Dan, but that was yesterday, and I think it went to your head.
This lawsuit isn't about doing anybody any good except your ego, Rather, and there's much more important things than that. It isn't going to change the fact that Bush was elected (not re-elected) in 2004. It isn't going to make CBS News any smarter.
The time of network news is over, Dan, and you helped it come to a bad end.
Go the fuck away.
Mightier.
A little late, but I only just found out about this and wanted to say something about it here: Larry Gelbart, the playwright, screenwriter; personal hero and inspiration was
Emphasis mine, of course.
How fitting is that?
presented with the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Literary Awards Festival gala dinner (LitFest) Dec. 3.
PEN USA is the West Coast center for the renowned writers' organization International PEN.
"In a salute to the range of his accomplishments in multiple genres, award-winning television writer, screenwriter, playwright and author," two-time Tony Award winner Gelbart ...received the PEN career award from award-winning writer and producer Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing," "Charlie Wilson's War," "A Few Good Men").
Emphasis mine, of course.
How fitting is that?
Thasright!
Say what you will about Seattle...and I have...but we are one of the two most literate cities in the U.S. Tied with Minneapolis for first place.
Los Angeles? Not in the top 10.
That's all I'm saying.
Corey.
Los Angeles? Not in the top 10.
That's all I'm saying.
Corey.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
To quote The Smiths: "because you're evil, and you lie"
Via Think Progress:
Only 29 percent of Americans approve of the job Dick Cheney is doing as Vice President. In an interview with his hometown Wyoming newspaper, The Caspar Star-Tribune, Cheney expressed his bewilderment over his low approval numbers:
QUESTION: How do you explain your low approval rating?
CHENEY: I don’t have any idea.
I intend calling this guy "R.G."
Via TPM Election Central (where there's two or three other good links), here's an ABC News story about incoming Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs.
Known as a bit of a political knife-fighter on Capitol Hill for his work as something of a rogue operative after he left Sen. John Kerry's campaign amid a staff shake-up, Gibbs became a close adviser to Obama in the Senate and took an even more prominent role in the senator's 2008 presidential campaign.
Now, however, he is preparing for the actual act of governing, which can be even tougher. Is he prepared for the intense scrutiny of his every word? Is he ready to serve as a media piñata? And, given that he could likely have served as a senior adviser to the president-elect, why would he want the gig?
What's the buzz? Tell me what's a-happening...
The PopEater web site counts down the top 30 celebrity news stories of 2008. Among them:
Jennifer Anistion's Photoshopped GQ cover
Kate Winslet's not retouched GQ photos
Lara Logan becoming a parent
Tom Cruise not being a parent (oh please, let this one be true!)
And the death of Heath Ledger.
Jennifer Anistion's Photoshopped GQ cover
Kate Winslet's not retouched GQ photos
Lara Logan becoming a parent
Tom Cruise not being a parent (oh please, let this one be true!)
And the death of Heath Ledger.
A Minute in (what I wish was) America
This is the final scene from another of the strongest episodes of The West Wing, the two-part "20 Hours in America."
As you see, the person who posted it to YouTube wanted you to associate it with Obama. I'm not so sure about that. Still...it's a dreamy speech.
As you see, the person who posted it to YouTube wanted you to associate it with Obama. I'm not so sure about that. Still...it's a dreamy speech.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
big mess, i mean a really big mess, a big big mess, he was all mixed up and a big mess! he was a big mess!
Ok, back to feeling bad for Tennessee. Why?
Because that disaster is now being called almost 50 times worse than the Exxon Valdez.
Because that disaster is now being called almost 50 times worse than the Exxon Valdez.
And balance has been restored to the universe
Remember yesterday when I posted oddly sympathetic thoughts (for me) about some residents of Tennessee? You knew that wasn't going to sit right for long.
Sure enough, this morning I come across this video of a college student missing the very first question on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?
No points if you guessed from which state this idiot dumbass hails.
Sure enough, this morning I come across this video of a college student missing the very first question on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?
No points if you guessed from which state this idiot dumbass hails.
Friday, December 26, 2008
"Marley & Me" set a Christmas Day record with an opening-day gross of $13.9 million
As one or two of you probably know, I dreamed about Jennifer Aniston recently. Clearly, showing up in my dreams is good luck* because
Personally, I have no plans to see either, but "Marley" might get a look-in when it plays cable. Acclaimed or not, "Button" has "We really, really, really want Oscars" written all over it to me.
*I thought of trying to put some kind of joke together here, about how Jennifer found it was good luck to push this Benjamin's button...maybe even working in some sort of ungentlemanly aside about her tail (get it, huh, because her movie's about a dog).
I think fortunately for all of us, I decided against it.
her latest film, "Marley & Me," beat out ex Brad Pitt's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" at the box office.
Brad's film is more critically acclaimed than Jen's and will certainly be a big hit, but we're betting that Jen is highly unlikely to care much about that on her way to the bank.
Personally, I have no plans to see either, but "Marley" might get a look-in when it plays cable. Acclaimed or not, "Button" has "We really, really, really want Oscars" written all over it to me.
*I thought of trying to put some kind of joke together here, about how Jennifer found it was good luck to push this Benjamin's button...maybe even working in some sort of ungentlemanly aside about her tail (get it, huh, because her movie's about a dog).
I think fortunately for all of us, I decided against it.
Oh, bloody hell
...as I read this item, I found myself reminded of Nik Kershaw's song "Roses"...the post maybe best read listening to it:
Even I don't think that Tennessee deserves this:
But have no fear, the TVA is here!
(BTW...is it just me, or if the water and enviroment was safe--meaning Free from foreign matter or pollution; unadulterated--would they not need to clean it up?)
Even I don't think that Tennessee deserves this:
It looks like the surface of the moon. The black sludge that poured out of a Tennessee coal burning plant now covers entire neighborhoods.
"It's just scary," said Chris Copeland, a resident of Harriman, Tenn. "I have two young girls, and I'm afraid for their health."
This stuff is a witch's brew of toxic heavy metals that needs to be contained and controlled," said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
But have no fear, the TVA is here!
we've just come from a meeting
and we're sure you'd like to know
there'll be deep blue skies and clear blue waters
everywhere you go
"The water is safe," said Amanda Ray of the Tennessee Valley Authority. "The environment is safe. And we're going to clean this up."
(BTW...is it just me, or if the water and enviroment was safe--meaning Free from foreign matter or pollution; unadulterated--would they not need to clean it up?)
The Copeland family doesn't know who to believe.
"People tell you all the time things are safe, and later down the road you find out that they aren't," Copeland said.
but it's an awful price we pay
believing everything they say
here tomorrow gone today
Thursday, December 25, 2008
You'll never guess who sent me this image of Santa on a train
Somewhat puzzlingly, I've ended up on the newsletter mailing list for Amy Ephron's One For the Table site and now I've gotten a Christmas E-Card from her. It's even "signed" XOX Amy.
This is strange because in my sole E-Mail exchange with Ephron, she hardly left me feeling bathed in her warm embrace. Actually she threatened to sue me for libel.
Still...nice, innit?
the fun has just begun; So don't you mess around with me, you won't know what to do, 'Cause I'll put on my cha cha heels and walk all over you!
Eartha Kitt died. So here's a little three-part tribute.
First, this is a teaser trailer from The Emperor's New Groove, a film I'm a big fan of; in which she was the voice of Yzma.
This is some interviews with Kitt and Bronski Beat about their 1989 collaborative single "Cha Cha Heels," followed by the video.
And this is a great montage that a YouTuber called privatedancer74 put together to Kitt singing Stephen Sondheim's "I'm Still Here." If you watch only one of these, this is the one to watch.
First, this is a teaser trailer from The Emperor's New Groove, a film I'm a big fan of; in which she was the voice of Yzma.
This is some interviews with Kitt and Bronski Beat about their 1989 collaborative single "Cha Cha Heels," followed by the video.
And this is a great montage that a YouTuber called privatedancer74 put together to Kitt singing Stephen Sondheim's "I'm Still Here." If you watch only one of these, this is the one to watch.
Ah, the Star Wars Holiday Special. It was pretty bad.
It will never receive a proper DVD release, and I think (even) if I showed it to my nephew, who loves Star Wars, he would burn his Star Wars Lego video game.
But it's a strange memory in the minds of those of us who grew up in the '70s playing with the old Kenner Star Wars figures that are now worth a lot of money.
It's generally reckoned to be the most ill-conceived Star Wars product ever made. Worse than the (not-so) "special editions," worse than the dialogue in Episode III...well, no...Nothing is worse than the dialogue in Episode III :
But it was so bad, in fact, that many of us have oft-times wondered...just how did it get so bad?
Vanity Fair wondered that too.
Excerpts:
Thanks hâi jor nôk dtam-raa yiw, Corey Klemow.
But it's a strange memory in the minds of those of us who grew up in the '70s playing with the old Kenner Star Wars figures that are now worth a lot of money.
It's generally reckoned to be the most ill-conceived Star Wars product ever made. Worse than the (not-so) "special editions," worse than the dialogue in Episode III...well, no...Nothing is worse than the dialogue in Episode III :
[After the massacre at the Jedi temple]
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Not even the younglings survived!
But it was so bad, in fact, that many of us have oft-times wondered...just how did it get so bad?
Vanity Fair wondered that too.
Excerpts:
Although Lucas has subsequently had the special disappeared from American television—it has never again been officially aired or released in any video format—Star Wars geeks have not let the world forget that, even more than Jar Jar Binks, this is the one true embarrassment attached to the mostly superlative Star Wars universe.
While flipping through a book of production stills, [writer Bruce] Vilanch says, the Star Wars creator came across a particularly provocative-looking creature. “Lucas, who had been pretty stolid the whole time, turned to me and said: ‘Oh yes, we call him Cuntface.’ And that’s what it looked like, actually. I noticed in a later movie”—Return of the Jedi—“that Lucas had, like, a huge vagina in the desert that sucked things in. So, I think this is one of his leitmotifs.”
Twenty-eight years later, [writer Lenny] Ripps says he still hears from fans and fanzines that want to know about the special. “I think in a bigger sense, it’s nice to know that Star Wars does have feet of clay,” he says. “Ultimately, when all is said and done, it’s an outer-space movie. It’s not sacred. And what has amused me the most is that somehow people think the special discredits the image of this sacred text.”
Thanks hâi jor nôk dtam-raa yiw, Corey Klemow.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
All Bing Crosby samples and cash-register sounds
“Eye Of A Needle,” The Art Of Noise.
This is a live version. The original is a rather obviously “satiric” look at the commercialization of Christmas, but so well arranged that I like it both because and in spite of that.
If there is such a thing as rockin' genially, this is it.
This is a live version. The original is a rather obviously “satiric” look at the commercialization of Christmas, but so well arranged that I like it both because and in spite of that.
If there is such a thing as rockin' genially, this is it.
"This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole."
Speaking of The West Wing, here's the penultimate scene from the season two Christmas episode, Noël, one of the best of the series. If you don't know the episode, here's the backstory. And here's the scene.
Brad Whitford won his Emmy for this episode.
Brad Whitford won his Emmy for this episode.
"Abigail! Your breasts are magnificent!"*
Stockard Channing is a former star of The West Wing, for which she won an Emmy, and an Academy Award-nominated actress who's been in such films as Twilight, Smoke, Six Degrees of Separation, Staying Together, Grease and The Hospital. As if that weren't enough, she also won the 1985 Tony Award for a revival of Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.
I mean, she knows what she's doing up there. So you might like to see what she has to say about it in this Q& A piece.
Best part (IMO):
* British Ambassador Lord John Marbury, "Dead Irish Writers," The West Wing.
I mean, she knows what she's doing up there. So you might like to see what she has to say about it in this Q& A piece.
Best part (IMO):
What’s the best piece of professional advice you ever got?
It’s [from] John [Guare], and it’s in the text of Six Degrees. I’m paraphrasing, but the character Flan asks why paintings in the second grade are clear and beautiful, and then by third grade they all look like mud and camouflage. And the teacher says, “I know when to take their paintings away from them in the second grade.” John and I went out to dinner one night and he equated those lines to acting, where you have to know when to stop. There has to be a point where you say, “The painting is done.” There’s a real temptation in acting to always fiddle with it, and sometimes you ruin the color balance when you do that.
* British Ambassador Lord John Marbury, "Dead Irish Writers," The West Wing.
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