Oh, this looks (potentially) great...

Not to say: Awesome.



Then again, so did the Prequel Trilogy.

Guess I'll just have to wait to see the final product.

There's presidents worse than Bush!

Take heart, Bush Republicans. Turns out, you still have something to be proud of after all.

Quoted in full from Think Progress:

Today, C-SPAN released its second Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership, in which “65 presidential historians ranked the 42 former occupants of the White House on ten attributes of leadership.” Coming in first was Abraham Lincoln, followed by George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman. Finishing last was James Buchanan. George W. Bush came in 36th, just beating out Millard Fillmore, who ranked 37th.

Looks like Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) was wrong when, in 2007, he predicted that Bush’s “ratings among the historians will be greater than his ratings in the polls today.”

Legends From the Cellar: For Valentine's Day

Renee Zellweger to star in big-screen treatment of "Little Jack Horner" nursery rhyme

She'll play the plum.

If only the show were still good

"The Simpsons" revamped opening title sequence.

Alright, people, I'm losing my patience with you...

Nielsen Rating Overnights.

Wife Swap and Howie Mandel beats Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles? Supernanny beats Friday Night Lights?

Bad TV is driving out the good.

For Corey

Because every man should have a stalwart young woman sing a song with his name in it at least once in his life.



Just try not to think about the fact that this one is less than half your age.

(And because I missed his birthday)

Uh-oh.

You know what's a slightly worrying feeling? Finding out that somebody from a U.S. Government domain in Sacramento, California has found your blog via googling your name.

On a completely unrelated matter, I'd just like to take this opportunity to mention my top five favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Terminator, Predator, Total Recall...

The choice is clear.

Well. I had been going to give Dollhouse a try tonight--even though it's only gotten "mixed or average" reviews. I mention that (the reviews) because, if/when the show is cancelled, you can count upon a lot of whining from the Whedon zombies that a Great Work Of Art has been cut down in its prime.

Nevertheless, I had been going to give it a try. However. That was before I realized it was going to be on opposite Friday Night Lights, which as we know is one of my favorite shows and needs as many fans as it can get.

Friday the 13th jigsaw Part III: A New Dimension In Terror...

I have here a lettered list of 13 thriller/horror/action/slasher/mystery/monster/epic space opera movies, followed by a numbered list describing scenes from those movies-often but not always of killings. Your job: Fit 'em together.

A. Body Double

B. Halloween II

C. Saw V

D. Friday the 13th (the 1980 version)

E. Shoot 'Em Up

F. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday

G. Saw

H. Resident Evil: Extinction

I. Halloween (the 2007 version)

J. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

K. Monster Squad

L. Saw III

M. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

1. A thriller's rather stupid alleged hero, an actor, takes a job on a porno to investigate a killing. The "porno," somehow, turns out to be at least as much a video for Frankie Goes to Hollywood as a porn film...

2. We see a detective in a vicious fight with a killer's helper, a woman, who leaves him for dead until he angrily shouts after her and she turns and walks back to him...

3. A future genuine movie star gets an arrow through the neck from under the bed in which he's laying.

4. The evil killer is ambushed by the FBI and exploded into many parts...and that's the first thing that happens.

5. A woman who, as a child, played in one of the only later parts of a thriller series worth a damn, plays a girl almost half her age in a remake of the first.

6. A nurse is drowned in a (scalding) hot tub.

7. An actor who will go on to be a star in a popular television series is about to kill a man. Asked why, he answers, "It's the rules." And then another man, despite having been shot recently, beats him to death.

8. A man stands above a woman and roars "I am the future!"

And she replies: "No. You're just another asshole."

9. A magic ritual is disrupted when the virgin recruited for it turns out to be, well, not so much of a virgin as she at first said...

10. Not even the younglings survive.

11. A cherished boyhood icon is raped.

12. A dapper movie star spanks a woman in public, in order to create a distraction so another woman and a baby can hide.

13. You know all those movies and television shows you've seen where a character is locked into a room with the walls closing together? They always manage to stop the walls or get out before being crushed, don't they? ...Not this time.

Do you ever get the feeling that Karl Rove really, really wants to be punished?

I think he does--he keeps doing things that remind me of nothing so much as the spoiled child acting out. Who does so because even if he's not concious of it, on some, deepest level, he really wants his mommy to step in and set boundaries.

(I know something about such children)

Most recently, he said,

"Secrecy and confidentiality are necessary for every government, especially when you're at war."...

"I love how the last eight years, this White House, the Bush White House, was criticized for being tight-lipped. We didn't leak."

Via Christy Hardin Smith. If you need any reminder of why this has about as much relation to the truth as Fat Tony and his goons on The Simpsons have to legitimate businessmen, follow that link.

Otherwise, reflect on those comments. Is he asking for anything other than to be arrested in as rough a manner as possible--you know, where he "trips and falls" two or three times on his way to jail?

Are you listening, Eric Holder? It's not just what the country wants--and they do--it's what Rove himself wants. Do us all the favor.

Somebody pinch me

Let me get this straight. A synth-pop song, performed by an a capella group made up of female college students. And as if that weren't amazing enough, they didn't even change the sexual pronoun of the song.



This makes stupid amounts of sense to me.

Jest a gorgeous picture

From Lou in Art&Ghosts:

Dragons.

I like 'em.

Ahem.

As we know, this blog (and this blogger) is very pro-gay.

Also, I am a bit of an "anglophile," some of my favorite music , from Kirsty MacColl to the Human League, with too many others in-between to mention, is UK. To say nothing of a little show called Doctor Who. Plus my friend PJ comes from there.

And, as evidenced by the name of this blog itself, I like dragons. As I've oft-times said, they are my favorite mythological beastie.

So, here we are, then. Pro-gay, pro-the English, pro-dragons.

Nevertheless...this worries me.

You know...I know almost nothing about Twilight. But somehow, I have no trouble imagining it's exactly like this.

(click to read)

On second thought...

There is still some reason to think that Barack Obama is the Luke Skywalker we've been waiting for to take down the Republican Empire. Per Think Progress:

According to a CBS poll, 81% of the public understands Obama “is trying to work with Republicans in Congress in order to get things done.”

--and---

A new Gallup poll reports that the GOP is "taking the hit" for resisting the recovery bill.

Oh, joy!

Oh, this is wonderful. I just found out (via Pam's House Blend) that the latest way in which good "Christian" folk like the National Review Online and American Family Association refrain from saying...

"Look, we just don't like queers! Allright?"

...is by perverting the English language to come up with a completely bullshit word.

"Homosexualists."

"Homosexualists."

I love it.

What we have here is an example of how to have a good thing to say, and then kill it by playing it to death

In The Huffington Post, a man named Drew Westen has a piece called

Change vs. Bipartisanship: What Happens When You Throw a Bipartisan Party and Half the Guest List Stays Home?

And as that sounds, it's another piece expressing the frustration of Democrats who don't understand why Barack Obama insists on refraining from opening fire on Republicans.

You know, the Republicans. The ones who got us into this mess. And have shown by their words and deeds that they have no intention of helping us get out.

Westen writes:

The problem with a message of bipartisanship is that it makes it very difficult to tell the story of why things are so bad that we need dramatic change.

These are good things to say, and Westen has more of them. Unfortunately they get completely lost in his almost 35, 000 word mess of an essay. Ironically, at one point he chides The White House for

[sending] out surrogates like Larry Summers, who understands economics but not how to talk to the public about economics, against well-coached, media-savvy Republicans like House Minority Leader John Boehner, who demolished Summers on Meet the Press with well-crafted lines mixed with economic nonsense.

You're not a man who should be chiding anybody on not being able to talk to the public, Drew.

But I'll tell you when I bailed out. It was when he said this:

I would not presume to put words into the mouth of a man who can use the English language as well as anyone alive [Obama], but something like the following might have been appropriate...

And I would not presume to tell a Psychologist; neuroscientist; Emory University Professor and published author he should keep his damn hands off the keyboard, but...

Jedi Ewoks!

Ewok Jedi by ~Shadowbox on deviantART

Coraline is awesome animation.

I mean really awesome. Just on a technical level alone it demands and earns your applause (which it won at the show I attended). As a showcase for animation...things like this should remind those who don't already know it that well, there's animation and then there's animation.

(Technically, the dragon in Dragonheart was animation. You see what I mean?)

I don't know enough about the differences in technique between stop-motion and CGI to say why this is, but there's something about the way the stop-motion figures move which seems more...human. I love what CGI can do in a movie like The Incredibles but sometimes it's missing a beating heart, which Coraline has.

Yet it's an utterly fantastic world, absolutely gorgeous.

I think it'll also prove to be the kind of movie which lingers in the memory: I'm already anxious to see it again on DVD--and wondering about extras--on my own. When I can think about it a little more deeply and not be keeping one eye (at least mentally) on the nephew.

From one viewing I can say this thing: It's smart and funny and...nightmarish. And beautiful.

(That all goes for the score by Bruno Coulais, about which I wanted to be sure to say a special word, too.)

Fair warning if anyone reading this has young children they're thinking of taking: It is a little scary in one or two places. But I think not intolerably so, as long as they can close their eyes when they want to and there's a grown-up nearby.

My nephew is seven now and he was a little scared, but I think he also had fun. Consider the child in question and act appropriately.

Perhaps you shouldn't know much more about the story than you can get from the trailer,

...but I will say this: The cat is alright!

Reportedly the film's done very well for its opening weekend, which doesn't really surprise me. There was a line at the box office and the theater was almost full on a Sunday afternoon.

You want to see this one, you really do.

See, this is why Republicans shouldn't be trusted with computers

Via Think Progress:

Rep. Pete Hoeksra (R-MI), the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, revealed classified intelligence information on Twitter when he reported on his “congressional trip to Iraq this weekend that was supposed to be a secret.” “Just landed in Baghdad,” messaged Hoekstra, who was part of a delegation led by John Boehner (R-OH). CQ reports, “Before the delegation left Washington, they were advised to keep the trip to themselves for security reasons. A few media outlets, including Congressional Quarterly, learned about it, but agreed not to disclose anything until the delegation had left Iraq.” Hoekstra not only revealed the existence of the trip, but included details about their itinerary. In a May 2006 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, Hoekstra wrote:

But every time classified national security information is leaked, our ability to gather information on those who would do us harm is eroded. … I regret that I see little sign of intolerance for unauthorized disclosures of intelligence to the media from some of my Democratic colleagues today. … We are a nation at war. Unauthorized disclosures of classified information only help terrorists and our enemies – and put American lives at risk.

Hit that man with a shoe.

Just checking in...

...you are all watching Friday Night Lights now, right?

Good.

Anybody remember my old blog?

...this is the song from which I took its name. I'm still weirdly proud of what you find if you click on that.



And it's still a nice song. These are fantastic visuals (by "shum65"), too.

I agree with this idea

From "oleeb" at TPM:

The President should get rid of ALL of the foolish tax cuts in the bill, do the things he knows are right, make no compromise with those blithering idiots and demand that they support the bill as he wants it.

What I want to know is, how many of these hot chicks who kick ass is he going to kill this time?

Joss Whedon on Dollhouse.

This made me smile.

Not as much as seeing him do at least a couple years in jail...but it made me smile.

A Dallas hardware store has offered George W. Bush a job as a "greeter."

Can't stop writing them Amazon reviews

This one's of Gary David Goldberg's memoir, Sit, Ubu, Sit.

Random weirdness

When Andrew Sullivan is right, he's right.

And he is right about this:

It has taken Obama two weeks to say something that George W. Bush couldn't manage to say in eight years: "I screwed up." This is change we can really believe in.

It's just that as always with the (generally) conservative Sullivan, you have to take into account the many years he spent believing Bush thought he was a human being. Although he's a hell-bound homo fag.

Information that should be passed along

From Pam's House Blend:

According to final tallies, donors on both sides on Prop. 8 gave more than $83 million. To put this in perspective, here is what $83 million dollars will buy:

Health insurance for 7,000 families for one year;
1628 kidney transplant surgeries;
4.3 million school lunches;
2733 college educations at 4-year private schools;
6486 college educations at 4-year public schools;
Funding for 692 small homeless shelters for one year (10 person capacity); or
Food for 22,800 families of four for one year

Memories.

Remember when the GOP's big strike against Obama was that he didn't have expertise or credibility and so therefore, nobody should listen to him? Boy I miss them days.

Because right now, the GOP's most popular; prominent media spokespeople are Sarah Palin...and Joe the Plumber. Two people so lightweight in the experience department they make Obama look like he was carved out of Mt. Rushmore.

And of course, two people we have John McCain to thank for inflicting on the American Public.

Way to talk straight, John.

What a novelty: Justice in the Justice Department

From TPM Muckraker:

Remember Leslie Hagan, who last April was dismissed by Monica Goodling from the Justice Department's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys because she was rumored to be gay?

Well, the Obama administration has righted that wrong, giving Hagen her job back, reports NPR, which broke the original story of her dismissal.

Dear Anne...

Sweetheart, you know I love you, but we have to talk about that dress.

Ooh!

Say, you know who I like? George Clooney. I like him as a filmmaker. I like him as a movie star. And not to put too fine a point on it, but if I were a girl, I totally would. So I like him.

You know who else I like? Aaron Sorkin--the president of smart, witty, dense dialogue; the romantic language of entertainment.

And now you know what's coming, don't you?

Aaron Sorkin, the creator of The West Wing, is to collaborate with George Clooney on upcoming courtroom drama The Challenge.

Variety reports Clooney's production company Smoke House is to develop the film, based on the trial of Osama bin Laden's driver Salim Hamdan.

The Burn After Reading star may direct the film and is likely to play Navy lawyer Charles Swift who worked with law professor Neal Katyal to ensure Guantanamo Bay detainee Hamdan received a fair trial.

Things you do want to know.

Just a quick follow-up on this post:

When 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers' badly decomposed remains were found inside a plastic box in October 2007, investigators promised they would do at least one thing for the toddler.

"That we would find the people responsible for her death and bring them to justice and we did," said Galveston County Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Barry.

A jury on Monday convicted Riley's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, of capital murder for the little girl's death. The child had been whipped with belts and flung across a room like a rag doll before her body was dumped in Galveston Bay. Until her remains were identified, she was dubbed "Baby Grace" by investigators.

Jurors deliberated less than two hours before reaching a verdict. The conviction brought an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole.

That's the least she deserves.

I can't very well disappoint the boy, now can I?

Social Seppuku linked to this blog today, saying:

For a trip in the Wayback Machine
with beautiful women, I go to:
A Dragon and Buddha Dance

Didn't get the title quite right, but who's gonna blame 'him? And--

a trip in the Wayback Machine:



beautiful women:

Dear Republicans...

...I mean, I'm 99% sure there are no Republicans reading this. But nevertheless: Dear Republicans...

...it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Poll: Republicans Want Party To Be Like Palin

Emma Roberts has her eye on the sparrow

Her role model? Anne Hathaway. Lindsay Lohan? Not so much.

ETA images.

Dude, you're making Terminator 4, ok? Terminator 4. Maybe you want to lighten the fuck up just a little bit.

OMG, Christian Bale is fucking nuts.

Joe Lieberman: Proof positive that all Jews are not funny

Via Think Progress:

Lieberman jokes about waterboarding at black-tie dinner.»

At last night’s black-tie dinner at Washington’s Alfalfa Club, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) couldn’t resist cracking a joke about torture.

More from Senator Lieberman: ‘We had hoped Vice President Cheney would be here tonight. I hope it’s not his back injury that’s keeping him away. Apparently, he hurt it moving some things out of his office. Personally, I had no idea that waterboards were so heavy.'

Last year, Lieberman, who has voted against banning waterboarding, “reluctantly acknowledged” that he doesn’t believe that waterboarding is torture. “It is not like putting burning coals on people’s bodies. The person is in no real danger. The impact is psychological,” he said.

Réutilisant

Des cabines de téléphone (comme aquarium)

Nice one, Mr. Daschle.

Way to embarass the President.

"Are we more homophobic than we are racist? Or more racist than we are homophobic?"

On an early episode of the Michael J. Fox-led sitcom Spin City, there's a joke where Michael Boatman says to Alan Ruck something along the lines of (this is from memory and approximate),

"I know what your problem is, Stuart. See, I'm a black man, but I'm also gay, and you don't know which of your prejudices should win. It's dueling stereotypes."

When I saw this news about the current state of the Republican Party...

David Duke loses it over Michael Steele at RNC

...I thought of that scene.

Between the panda, the dog, and the robot, who would you bet on?

You know...there are animation fans (and professionals) who wonder why the art form is seen in such a negative light in the US. Which it is, or at least, it's seen as being "just for kids."

Well, this is why:

Animated hit Kung Fu Panda was the toast of the 36th annual Annie Awards on Friday (30Jan09) night - triumphing in 10 categories.
The 2008 picture, starring Angelina Jolie and Jack Black, took the top gong for Best Animated Feature beating out competition from fellow Oscar contenders Wall-E and Bolt, as well as Waltz With Bashir and $9.99.

The film also picked up gongs in the Animated Effects and Production Design categories amongst others, while Dustin Hoffman was presented with the Best Voice Acting prize for his role as red panda Shifu.

Now: In the interests of complete fairness it should be pointed out that I have not seen Kung Fu Panda, and so I suppose I should say it is possible it will stand up through the years as a great achievement in films animated or otherwise, as Wall-E almost certainly will.

It is also possible that Jessica Simpson will have her own exhibition in the Smithsonian.

Sheesh.

It pains me to say this, given how much I love his music, but it's true:

Joe Jackson blatantly "borrowed" the melody for his classic "Breaking Us In Two..."



...from "Day After Day" by Badfinger.



You've broken my heart in two, Joe...

Psst...just between you and me...

...that darned actress/writer Amber Benson (perhaps best known as the late, lamented Tara) has hersself a blog.

Yo, Jason...you out there, buddy? This one's for you.

Jennifer Aniston with members of the Marine Corp. More here. The pictures are a few years old, but do you care? I thought not.

If this is any indication, what I like least about the new "Witch Mountain" movie may be the fact it's got the words "Witch Mountain" in the title*

Because otherwise, this looks like it might actually be a movie I'd rather like to watch...

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

*It's a personal thing. I had my first kiss at the school where they filmed the orphanage scenes in Escape to Witch Mountain, see, and...

For the record, I liked most of Buffy, most of Angel, bailed on both in their final years; think Firefly is ridiculously overrated by Whedon fans.

Ok. As I think most of you know by now, I am something of a...iconoclast, shall we say, when it comes to Joss Whedon and his various series.

It's not entirely--or even mostly--his fault. It mainly has to do with my perception that too many of those fans are quite zombie-like in their devotion to their idol.

The man wrote a musical episode that was merely pretty good for someone who'd never written a musical before, and you'd think he was Stephen Sondheim from the way some of them carried on.

(I also think that every single thing regarding the decision to kill Tara on Buffy was a terrible mistake, and that is his fault--but neither here nor there for the purposes of this discussion)

No doubt you're wondering: Why does he tell us all of this, much of which we already know?

Because:

Say what you will about Joss Whedon (and I have), but...the man knows a good TV show when he's paired with one.

What are your thoughts on [new series DOLLHOUSE, starring Eliza Dushku, pictured] being paired with TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES on Friday nights?

I love being paired with THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. I love that show, so it works for me.

Ok, Joss, I'll give you that one...

Times like this, you can either write a long, angry post...or you can just fucking bounce. Guess what I've decided to do.

Times like this:

Shocker (not): Rove has no intention of obeying Conyers' subpoena

Just fucking bounce:

Go!

VH1 TV Shows Music Videos Celebrity Photos News & Gossip

(sorry about the fucking ad you might see)

I was worried recently that Carter might prove to be the model for Obama in the worst way...now I'm not so sure he shouldn't listen to him

Dick, don't let's be L7...

You may have seen this elsewhere, but if not, it's definitely worth seeing. Now, I have to warn you, it involves watching more of Chris Matthews, who I generally think is dumb, than I would normally ask.

But in this case it's worth it, because by the end of the clip, you get to see Dick Armey prove himself to be a classically sexist Republican man. It's pretty cool.



Armey, BTW, is the onetime Majority Leader from Texas who decided to announce Bob Hope's death on the house floor five years before Hope actually died.

That has nothing to do with this...I just think it's the sort of thing which shouldn't be forgotten.

Yes!

Judge: Anti-gay marriage donors must be public

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

A federal judge denied a request Thursday to keep secret the names of donors to California's anti-gay marriage initiative, saying the public had a right to know who gave money to state ballot measures.

Supporters of the Proposition 8 initiative, which overturned a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed gay marriage, had sought a preliminary injunction to remove the identities of those who contributed to their campaign from the secretary of state's Web site.

They also had asked U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. to block the Monday release of the names of donors who either gave money two weeks before the election or shortly afterward. Those names will be publicly released in postelection campaign finance reports.

Suck it, you bigots! You don't get to deny people their human and civil rights and then scurry away under a stone like a spider. We're gonna see you, and we're gonna know what you are.

Own your homophobia, bigots. You might just sleep better at night.

Things I've found in books

So yesterday I'm reading From Earth to Heaven by Isaac Asimov, a collection of his science essays. Tucked between the last page and the back cover is a page ripped from a bible.

Specifically, it's

Genesis 40 & 41: In prison, Joseph interpreteth two dreams & Pharoh's dreams, Joseph interpreteth them.

I have no idea what whoever had this book before me was trying to put forth. I thought it might be an attempt to answer Asimov's known atheism, but he doesn't speak of that in the book. And I don't see anything in the page to answer it in any case.

I do, however, know a song cue when I see one.

The possibility that Obama might actually know what he's doing

...is considered here by Bob Cesca.

That's preposterous, of course. For one thing, Stokely Carmichael never had a booty like that*.

During the January 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, NPR news analyst and Fox News political contributor Juan Williams again baselessly attacked first lady Michelle Obama, claiming that "her instinct is to start with this 'blame America' ... stuff." Williams asserted that "[i]f you think about liabilities for President [Barack] Obama that are close to him -- [Vice President] Joe Biden's up there -- but Michelle Obama's right there." Williams continued: "[S]he's got this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going. If she starts talking, as [Townhall Magazine contributor and Weekly Standard contributing blogger] Mary Katharine [Ham] suggested, her instinct is to start with this 'blame America,' you know, 'I'm the victim.' If that stuff starts to come out, people will go bananas, and she'll go from being the new Jackie O to being something of an albatross."

*I say this with all the respect in the world for our new First Lady, but: Damn, she looks good in a dress.

Oh yes...have I harassed you people about watching Friday Night Lights recently?

If not, consider yourself harassed. It's one of my favorite shows and, like most of my favorite shows with only a few exceptions (House, maybe Bones), that means it needs more people to watch it.

So do, already. Watch a few episodes, see if you don't love it. If you don't, I respect that.

(I don't understand it, but I respect that.)

Oh, man.

If I hadn't already stopped watching The Simpsons (because it hasn't made me laugh in years), this might do it: Nancy Cartwright is using her Bart Simpson voice to push Scientology.

BTW, on a related note: I read an unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise (this one) recently. You know the two biggest rumors about Cruise are that he's secretly gay, and not-so-secretly a batshit nuts scientologist.

Well, if what this book says is factual, the gay thing actually may not be true. But the batshit nuts Scientology thing...is worse than we ever imagined.

How did I not know about this?

Robbie Williams does Stephen Duffy a la Howard Jones.

Things you don't want to know

GALVESTON, Texas - A slain toddler tried to stop her mother and stepfather from beating her to death by reaching out to her mother and saying, "I love you," a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday. The pleas from 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers didn't stop her mother, Kimberly Trenor, from continuing to brutalize her, assistant district attorney Kayla Allen said in her opening statement at Trenor's murder trial.

"To the very end, Riley said, 'I love you' to her mom. She's reaching out," Allen said. "That's her lifeline, to her mother. What does Kim do after hearing her say I love you? She starts beating her."

Oh, I don't feel good about this.

NBC's drama pilot "Lost in the '80s," originally picked up as director-contingent, has firmed up its order with the hire of "Confessions of a Shopaholic" helmer P.J. Hogan.

"Lost in the '80s," from Sony TV and Tantamount, is considered an '80s version of "The Wonder Years" and described as "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" meets "The Ice Storm."

Bob Brush penned the script and is executive producing with Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Mitch Hurwitz.

In addition to the upcoming "Shopaholic," CAA-repped Hogan directed the hit romantic comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding."

Trust me, if you're a Saw fan--which I'm reasonably certain none of you are--this picture is tragic with irony.

Tragic, I say.

Dear Ms. Deschanel...

There is such a thing as overdoing the babydoll bit, you know...

The good news is, I no longer have to even try to remember to watch "Big Bang Theory"

Now that they've cut down Sara Gilbert's part.

A wonderful moment

...marred slightly by the dubbed voices, but those go away for the number itself.



FYI this is from the 2000 film of Love's Labour's Lost.

And now for a pastoral interlude

Jessica Simpson's career is going down for the third time

She's doing state fairs, for god's sake...

You know how I say: Don't mess with my wolves?

This is what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Another one of my Amazon reviews

This for the book: Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street

Ever notice how some girls can just pull off the slutty and some girls can't?

Can't.

Barack Obama hasn't.

Republicans already seem to have forgotten just who won the election. And, by extension, who didn't.

Sock it towards them, baby.

I'm reliably informed that there are some sane people in Tennessee.

This would seem to support that.

Tennessee and Texas were safely in John McCain’s column on Election Day, but over two months later views of the new Democratic president and his agenda are surprisingly high in the two reliably Republican states.

In a snapshot look at attitudes in McCain country, Rasmussen Reports finds that concerns about the current economic situation appear to override traditional political considerations.

Sixty percent (60%) of Tennessee voters approve of Obama’s job performance, including 39% who Strongly Approve. Thirty-five percent (35%) disapprove, 21% of whom Strongly Disapprove.

I never thought anybody could make "the schoolgirl look" undesirable to me

But damn if Katie Price isn't bombing with it here.

No comment...well, I have a comment, but I think I'd better not make it on the grounds that it might incriminate me...

Apparently, one unanticipated silver lining of the economic recession is that women are finding it too costly to keep their vaginas looking the way they did when they were 10.

That's right...the bush is back!

I like this article.

Obama vs. the Media, by John McQuaid.

Obama (correctly, I think) sees the press representing two things that are clear obstacles to his ambitious plans: official Washington and a trivia-obsessed media culture.

The cable maw must be fed with transient panics. Feeding frenzies and micro-scandals dominate. They fuel the chat shows, opinion columns and blogs. These faux crises and dramas, which usually pass with little consequence, can knock a presidential agenda off-stride or even destroy it.

We get it, already!

Although it didn't get great reviews, I was admittedly curious about the barely-released movie Repo! The Genetic Opera, a sci-fi rock musical (!) directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed the first three Saw sequels.

Besides the Saw connection, there was a cast that might almost make it worth seeing by themselves: Anthony Head from Doctor Who and Buffy, Paul "father of Mira" Sorvino, Paris Hilton (!) and Sarah "Phantom" Brightman.

Well, it was released on DVD this week and I've seen it.

In fact, I've seen it three times in two days (what with the commentaries and all). How was it? Let me put it this way: There's a lyric in one of the songs where the heroine, a terminally ill girl played by Alexa Vega tells her over-protective father (Tony Head)

"I'm 17...and it's better than 40."

The Genetic Opera is an interesting failure...and it's better than being a boring success.

As a piece, it's deliberately histrionic, but that's appropriate for an opera, so that's not why it's a failure. There's crude violence throughout, but (although it's not to my taste), that's not why it's a failure either: The story legitimately does have plenty of opportunities for viscera, both emotional and physical.

Some of the music is worthwhile; many of the performers talented.

Head is the greatest thing here as a split personality, part good man trying to raise a daughter on his own...part Sweeny Todd-like "night surgeon".

Buffy fans know that Anthony Stewart Head has a background in show tunes, but Paul Sorvino's trained operatic voice may come as a surprise.

Sorvino plays the owner of "GeneCo," which sells live organs needed for transplant. But if you can't keep up the payments, well, that's where the "Repo" men come in...legal assasins...and yes, Monty Python did do this about 25 years ago.

Alexa Vega is new to me (not having seen the Spy Kids films). She is awkwardly charming here, as one might expect a dying, sheltered 17-year-old to be. If the father-daughter relationship between her and Tony Head doesn't work the whole piece won't work, fortunately, it's one of the parts that works.

Vega's singing voice seems to have been aided by recording studio technology here and there, but that's not a crime (and it's only occasionally obvious).

(Incidentally, Vega herself has a "Saw connection"--her younger sister McKenzie played the part of Cary Elwes' daughter in the first film.)

I said up there that much of this movie was appropriately over-the-top; the problem with Terrance Zdunich's performance is that he isn't over-the-top enough.

His character, the self-descriptive "Graverobber," is meant to be a kind of narrator along the lines of Ché in Evita. But such a role requires a certain amount of star quality that Zdunich, kindly, just ain't got, however, he did co-write the piece.

This brings me to Paris Hilton. If you saw the nominations for the "Razzie" awards, you know that Hilton just got one of her three nominations as "worst supporting actress" for this film.

I never thought I'd be in the position of defending Paris Hilton...but this is not fair; it seems more based on people's negative perception of Hilton herself than on her actual work in the film.

Of that, we'll never know just how much of her performance was "created" in the editing room, but I can say this: She doesn't stink up the joint. Hilton is never going to be in my "holy trinity" of actresses (all together now: Hunter, Winslet, Hathaway), but this movie doesn't ask her to be.

It asks her to play what's essentially a mafia daughter (with Sorvino as the Don) who skips around in lingerie and is addicted to plastic surgery. Anyone here who doesn't think Paris Hilton could knock that role out in her sleep?

In one sense Sarah Brightman, whose first movie this is, doesn't have to stretch too far either: She plays an opera star. But this is one who was born blind but given eyes by GeneCo.

One or two of the best songs in the picture belong to Brightman. In particular, "Chase The Morning" offers an aching glimpse of what this "sci-fi rock musical" could've been if the whole thing had worked as well.

It's a trio sung by Brightman, Vega, and a hologram-sample of the Vega character's dead mother. (The part of the mother is sung by Nancy Long, who is married to Darren Smith, who co-wrote the piece with Zdunich)

As Hilton's violently insane brother, Bill Moseley doesn't have a great singing voice, but the novelty of seeing Otis P. Chop Top belt out a song counts for a lot.

One of Sorvino's other sons in the film must've been in the minds of the Lionsgate promotions people when they designed the poster for Saw V, as the character wears human faces as masks.

Is it (why it doesn't work) the look of the film, then? Well, no--especially considering its evidently-low budget, visually it's kind of dazzling.

So what's the problem? Well, I'm afraid it's the storytelling. The movie plays as though it had been edited by placing scene numbers on a roulette wheel, spinning it, and whenever the needle stops, that scene goes in.

What we get is multiple entrances for each character, accompanied by animated comic-book sequences giving backstory. These are well-drawn (by Terrance Zdunich, who also co-stars in and co-wrote the piece) but insulting.

It's as if someone somewhere decided the audience for this film was incredibly stupid, and had to be told everything three times. So the comic book tells us something. And the characters themselves tell us something. And the other characters tell us something about the other characters...and it's all the same thing. We get it, already!

It's like a long first act followed by a perfunctory second, with very little character development in-between.

In the commentaries, Bousman mentions that he hopes to be able to do a "director's cut" someday, it would be interesting to see if this improved the "running order"

But is it worth seeing (as-is)? Abso-friggin'-lutely, with one proviso: Did you know what I was talking about when I mentioned Sweeney Todd and Evita? Put more simply, do you love (or even like) musicals? Because if not, it's unlikely this is going to reward your viewing.

But if so...

Holy shit.

The State Department appears to be glad to see Mrs. Clinton.



I had (and have) some questions about Hillary at State, but I'm choosing not to be cynical. I'm not saying I have faith...but I choose not to be cyncial.

Good luck, Madame Secretary.

Sounds good to me

Taxing the Catholic Church.

The British are known for their gift for understatement

Hugh Laurie on hearing that House and Cuddy will have sex this season:

"I think it will be a lot of fun,"

Oh. Good. God.

Would be funny, if it wasn't so...ick...

A woman in Albuquerque, N.M., went to a local health clinic to have the long string of her IUD shortened. No big deal -- all it takes is a simple snip. The nurse prodded her with a speculum and then, inexplicably, began pulling on the IUD, causing her sudden, intense pain. Then the nurse said one thing you never want someone to say when they have their hand in your vagina: "Uh-oh!"

Surely, the patient must have been terrified -- but then the nurse offered an explanation: "I accidentally pulled out your IUD. I gently tugged and out it came ... I cut the string than went back and gently pulled and out it came. It must have not been in properly." That might have been somewhat reassuring -- oh well, accidents happen -- only, the nurse continued to explain that "having the IUD come out was a good thing" and then offered, "I personally do not like IUDs. I feel they are a type of abortion. I don't know how you feel about abortion, but I am against them."

Hmm. The nurse continued: "Everyone in the office always laughs and tells me I pull these out on purpose because I am against them, but it's not true, they accidentally come out when I tug." Kidding about removing patients' birth control against their will? Hilarious -- sign me up for a visit to your office! Also: It's happened enough times that you have a reputation for it?

What do we know of Carlin?

Well, we know some of what was in his FBI file.

Among the 12 pages in a file recently released by Carlin's family are a couple of letters from outraged citizens who complained that the comedian had made fun of the FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, during TV appearances in 1969 and 1970.

There's also a letter from Hoover himself thanking one of Carlin's critics for defending his honor, and an internal FBI memo that quotes the director as asking: "What do we know of Carlin?"

Carlin was arrested following a performance in Milwaukee in 1972 for saying the seven words (none of which can be reprinted here).

But can, and will, be here: SHIT, PISS, FUCK, CUNT, COCKSUCKER, MOTHERFUCKER and TITS.

That was for you, Georgie!

One, dated Feb. 12, 1969, refers to Carlin as an "alleged comedian" after he made fun of the bureau during an appearance on "The Jackie Gleason Show."

"His treatment was in very poor taste and it was obvious that he was using the prestige of the bureau and Mr. Hoover to enhance his performance," the memo says.

Turns out, as perceptive comedy fans, the FBI is really great at tapping our phones, shutting down people who copy Buffy DVDs (read the warnings, people!) and killing Marilyn Monroe.

You know my "actors shouldn't talk" rule?

Case in point:

Dirk Benedict, a star of the old Battlestar Galactica show, on why he doesn't like the new one.

Apparently (I say "Apparently," because I don't watch the new show, but I know it has many fans): It's complex, the characters are interestingly shaded, and the women are more than just decoration.

Seriously. That's his argument for why this is a bad show.

Holy crap.

Somehow I missed this. It's "This Land Is Your Land," played by Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen at The Obama Inaugural Celebration Concert. I found it via Mark Evanier, who writes:

Seeger is 89 years old. He was close to half that age when I saw him at the Santa Monica Civic. This was back when they still had segregated schools in parts of the South. I wonder what his response would have been if someone had said to him then, "You'll live long enough to sing that song on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as America inaugurates a black man as President of the United States."

And as if that's not cosmic enough, George-bloody-Lucas can be seen at one point singing and bouncing along.

PS: I love you

Letters, oh we get letters...

A bravely anonymous reader writes to query a post from yesterday. Specifically the one in which I said I didn't understand why any parent would complain about time being taken out of their children's school day to watch Obama being inaugurated.

They ask:

Well did they do this when G W Bush was inaugurated?
Did they?
Just one question is all I'm askin, I don't want a smart ass remark just a simple yes or no will do.

I reply: I don't know, but I don't think so. Of course, a white man had been inaugurated president like three dozen times before. But like Obama or not, yesterday was an honest-to-god historical first.

It hardly seems surprising to me that teachers would want their students to see it. That was my point. I hope that answer was simple enough for you, and that you found it refreshingly free of smart assery.

He, she or it further goes on to say:

Besides me has anyone ever read your CRAP?

A fair question. Yes. As of this moment, I average about 78 visitors a day who spend an average of two minutes and 15 seconds here. You may well ask: Why? I dunno.

In fact, that reminds me. I'm late for for my semi-annual "tell me who you are" post, which goes a little something like this...

Yo, all you homeboys and girls out there!

I'd just like to know a little bit about who you are and where you came from. Or what you like or not about the blog.

So if you wouldn't mind, tap on the comments line down there to the right and introduce yourself. Tell me anything and everything you want me to know, or you think I might like to know about you.

A few suggested questions to answer follow. Use as many or none of them as you like. BTW, this is strictly for my own curiosity, I'm not conducting a demographic survey or anything.

When and how did you find my blog?

When you're not reading this blog, what are you trying to do with your life?

And how's that going for you?

Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

Children?

Pets?

Do you miss the "female appreciation" posts, or have you just moved over to Dancing Girls?

Do you ever watch the videos I post? What makes you more likely or less likely to watch them, if anything?

Does my claiming to watch the Saw movies in order to psychoanalyze Jigsaw and his victims worry you about me?

Is there too much talk about Anne Hathaway around here? Note: If your answer to this one is yes, the door is over there, Jack.

I don't understand this

At a high school in New Hampshire today, exams were stopped so that students could watch the inauguration. That's not what I don't understand, of course--I'm sure it was only one among many. But reportedly, some parents called to complain.

“I had half a dozen phone calls,” said [Principal Bob] Stevens. “(Parents saying), ‘you shouldn’t be doing this,’ about why we’re paying attention to the inaugural at all. Some took their kids out of school. Their argument was, ‘did you do this when George Bush was president?’”

The parents who complained called it a “politically-biased event,” said Stevens.

Politically biased? As some smart guy said the morning after election day:

This morning is probably the only morning I could say something like this with a straight face, but I feel like this is a time for all Americans to revel.

No matter what your color is, even no matter if you voted for Obama or did not, unless you're a racist bigot, you have to feel good that our country has finally gotten to this point.

This is kinda awesome.

It's people in the Kenyan village where Obama's father was born, singing and dancing their pride.



PS: Sorry about the ads. You should be able to click 'em away.

Could Malia and Sasha possibly be any more adorable?

I like their taste in movies, too: According to MSNBC, while their parents are dancing the night away, the girls and children of staff will be having a party at the White House where they'll watch movies including Bolt.

OK, and High School Musical 3--but, maybe it's good, I dunno.














( All I know about HSM3 is that it beat out a certain horror sequel at the box office...)

Good.

The choreography was smooth and the smiles were gracious, but all the same, George W. Bush's exit from Washington carried a measure of pain.

Ladies and gentlemen, President Barack Obama and his family.

I just like typing that.

Poetry and motion (thoughts on the swearing-in ceremony)

1.

Boos echoed throughout the crowd as President Bush, Vice President Cheney and several GOP congressmen were introduced

On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, I think it was, muttered something about that being "bad form." I like Maddow but I think the crowd needed this chance to tell Bush, as directly as they could, just what they think of his incompetence.

There is nothing bad form about that. If his disgrace had ever been dealt with as it should've been, maybe the rest of us wouldn't have been reduced to boos (and shoes).

2. Ok, the Roberts thing. That was beautiful. As RadicalRuss put it in Pam's House Blend:

So I asked rhetorically, "What could George W. Bush fuck up in the last thirty minutes of his presidency?"
I got the answer in the form of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, installed by George W. Bush (and a feline Senate), fucking up a simple THIRTY FIVE WORD OATH!

ROBERTS: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear... that I will execute the office of President to the United States faithfully... and will to the best of my ability... preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

How incredibly appropriate that the final punctuation mark on the Bush Maladministration is his chief arbiter of the Constitution verbally assaulting it, or lacking the intellectual capacity to memorize it.

3. I liked the poem by Elizabeth Alexander.



I liked it because I thought she chose words that were inevitable yet surprising, which is what poetry (if not all writing) should do.

I also thought that I'd like to see it illustrated as a children's book...

4. The closing prayer was great. Made me smile, and moved me, too.



I'd never seen Dr. Joseph Lowery speak before--the way he looks, and sounds, is just the best!

And as for what he said, well, as some others put it some years ago:

You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Amen, brother. It was a terrific end to the morning.

5. And now, to play us out, The Neville boys:



-singing and playing a song by a great, gay, American songwriter.

invoked & evoke

Some people had a good idea. For those of us who are outraged at the nonsensical choice of conservative evangelical pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at President-Elect Obama's inauguration.

The idea was this. Alternative Invocation: The blogswarm.

It's better when you do it yourself.

So I want to start with this song I love.



As most of my friends know I also love this movie (Godspell), but that's not the only reason I'm including it here.

You see, in this cast we have gay men, who Rick Warren is against. We have women. We may have gay women, too, but I'm only sure about two or three of the men.

But straight or gay, if they're capable of growing a person inside them, Rick Warren believes they should have no right to decide whether or not they want to. And that they should not be allowed to divorce their husbands, even if they are being abused.

One of these men and one of these women is black. I have no doubt Rick Warren would tell me he has nothing against black people and celebrates their civil rights. But I have even less of a doubt that the fire with which he burns is that which burned houses and crosses decades ago.

The fire that makes him tell me a woman is bad if she loves another woman or a man if he loves another man. Or that women must be treated like brood mares and if you have to take the whip to them to keep 'em in the pen, so be it.

I think about that, and I think about how, if I believe in god, it's because of people like these singing songs like this. Some of them gay. Some of them women. Some of them black. And all thanking the same lord.

Now, having invoked a movie of love, I will evoke one of derangement.

Of course, I mean Saw V.

(Now out on DVD, not that any of you are going to rush to pick it up).

I ask myself: If I could choose my judge, would I rather it were a man like Warren, or John "Jigsaw" Kramer?

Warren believes no gay person has a chance at true happiness, that women are somehow unworthy, and that his way is the right way. John Kramer believes everyone deserves a chance; the closest connections he made in life were to women.

Ok, he thought his way was the right way too--but in the end, when he saw the results, he felt remorse.

What I'm saying is Rick Warren is hate in love's clothing. John Kramer is love twisted past sanity. And I'll take wounded love, over hate that lies.



And now I move again, from the arguably sacrilegious, to the wholly holy:



Does that move you? Yes? Good.

Peace, y'all.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s last speech

I don't know if he rests in peace because I don't know if there is any peace to be found, after we're dead. But if I had any money, I'd be willing to bet quite a lot of it that if there is, this great man has just found a lot more.

we'd better bite down on the tinfoil--even if it's a shocking experience--'cause if we don't in 35 years or so it's all going to happen again

Okay. As you may recall, I am a little, shall we say, despairing of the chances of seeing Bush and Cheney tried for their crimes. I don't suppose it will come as a surprise to most of you that a lot of this is trying to protect myself from disappointment.

It's not that I don't want to see it, it's that I just don't think it's happening. I'd be pleased to be surprised, but I'm not expecting it.

However.

With an alternative viewpoint, here's Greenwald.

W.D.S.

What Digby Said.

Before we say goodbye, one last look at the people who knew him when

You know...as much as I'm enjoying the last act of The Tragedy of George the Bush...I don't really have a lot of admiration for the people who started abusing him only after it became impossible to ignore just how his eight years in office added up.

(Not that some aren't still trying)

It took two wars, 9/11, Katrina, and the worst recession since the 1930s (just to name a few) for some people to realize how bad he was at his job.

A man who would become so hated that someone who throws a shoe at him becomes a hero.

A man who speaks of life with the blood of thousands on his hands; without shame

A man who should have been impeached; now one to whom we can't wait to say goodbye.

The people who impress me are the people who knew what he was early on. And who said so, loudly, when they ran the risk of being run over by the prideisbacktruck (and some of them were).

Think Progress has a list of more than two dozen people who did just that, and their names are worth remembering.

You can add your suggestions in the comments. I agree with the person who said Jessica Lynch should be among them.

Happy 'Sanctity of Human Life Day!'

Yes, it's a real holiday.

And now, here's Cardinal Carlin to deliver the invocation.



I'd say "may he rest in peace," but what the fuck does he care, he's dead...

You. Have. Got to be. Motherfriggin'. Kidding me!

Just when you think the crazy "Christians" can't make themselves look like bigger dicks than they already are, they go and do something like this. Like what? I'm glad you asked.

You see, the Krispy Kreme company is going to be giving away doughnuts on Inauguration Day. They sent out a little press release including this sentence:

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. is honoring American’s sense of pride and freedom of choice on Inauguration Day

It's a publicity stunt, of course, very much along the lines of The American Way; certainly nothing to which any sane American could object. Uh-huh, that's right, you caught it. I said "sane American."

As opposed to an organization called the American Life League. Which sent out their own press release...

KRISPY KREME CELEBRATES OBAMA WITH PRO-ABORTION DOUGHNUTS

Honest to god, I am not making this up. That's their headline.

"Pro-Abortion Doughnuts." They said that. In print.

You feel the grin spreading slowly across your face already, don't you?

Wait, there's more. Their logic (and I use the word loosely):

The unfortunate reality of a post Roe v. Wade America is that 'choice' is synonymous with abortion access, and celebration of 'freedom of choice' is a tacit endorsement of abortion rights on demand.

That only leaves me one thing to say.

Way to make something totally new into something old again

As you may have heard, Beyonce will be one of those performing at the Inaugural Balls. Reportedly, the song she will be singing for the first dance of the Obamas as President and First Lady will be, "At Last."

Really?

I mean, obviously, nothing against Beyonce (more's the pity). And I'm mindful that the country electing its first black president is the rare, truly historical moment.

I guess it's just that "At Last" is one of those songs which has gone past being a staple into becoming a cliche.

(also see: "I Will Survive.")

And nothing about this Tuesday should be a cliche.

In Pam's case, shouldn't that be "Two Can Make A Difference?"

Sultry actress Pamela Anderson reveals she is planning to give U.S. president elect Barack Obama a book of essays, titled “One Can Make A Difference.”

(Yeah, I know, it's cheap, whadaya want from me?)