For Jason and all the other dads who are away on Father's Day

The reason why Obama's Dept. of Justice can't release Cheney's records is...

...they're scared of The Daily Show.

Seriously.

That's their own argument.

I am neither joking nor exaggerating.

To wit:

Justice Department lawyers told the judge that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them.

“If we become a fact-finder for political enemies, they aren’t going to cooperate,” Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith said during a 90-minute hearing. “I don’t want a future vice president to say, ‘I’m not going to cooperate with you because I don’t want to be fodder for ‘The Daily Show.’”

Yeah, I don't want a vice president (or president) to say that either...because it would be utterly ludicrous.

Fear of ridicule by professional comedians is not good and sufficient reason to withhold information from the public. If it was, think how many times the likes of Garry Trudeau or SNL would've been cited by administrations of the last 30 years alone.

Oh, and you don't want to be "a fact-finder for political enemies?"

How 'bout you just become a fact-finder to, oh I don't know, actually find the facts and report them to us?

To coin a phrase: If you report, we'll decide...what's worthy of ridicule.

Thank you.

We all want peace, we don't want misery/So many of us won't let us be these things

I have nothing of even slight wisdom more to say about it, but for those interested, HuffPo is running a good "Live-Blog" of what's now being called the uprising in Iran.

Oh, come on...

I was going to just write a short little note here, saying I was sorry to read that former West Wing lead Bradley Whitford (he played Joshua Lyman) and his wife, Jane Kaczmarek of Malcolm in the Middle, have chosen to end their marriage.

I never really got into her show but most of you reading this know how closely I followed his, at least for the first four years. In fact, a story that Whitford tells about his wife on a WW DVD commentary gave me an idea for something in my novel.

But anyway, I was just going to say, I'm sorry to hear about that, and I have no interest in further speculation. And it's true, I do have no interest in speculating on the whys and wherefores of their decision.

However. I do speculate on the intelligence of a Hollywood website which, in reporting a marriage that is ending, chose to illustrate it with a photo of the couple in front of a sign that says "Beat the Odds."

Sometimes, a really stupid joke is just what's called for

Two prominent gay rights lawyers litigating high-profile cases against the Obama administration tell me that their requests to meet with administration lawyers to discuss the cases were rebuffed — something that will further anger gay rights activists who feel badly stiff-armed by Obama on gay rights issues.

Normally, they like a good stiff-arming as much as the next man, but...

Seriously. This whole thing is making me remember stuff like that Obama used to talk abot how much he admired Ronald Reagan...

How did I miss this?

In Tennessee an e-mail created and distributed by Sherri Goforth, an executive assistant to Tennessee State Republican caucus chairwoman Diane Black is the latest attack garnering national attention. Goforth e-mailed a picture of all the U.S. presidents, except Obama, on a poster captioned "Historical Keepsake Photo."

The photo where Obama would have been pictured was entirely black except for two white eyes. After complaints following the first reports on the blog newscoma.com, Goforth's boss decided to give her a verbal reprimand and place a note in her file. Black said she isn't going to fire Goforth, unless she does something like this again.

Damn! I must be slipping...

For my favorite Dakota fan who is (for the moment) still living under a hot desert sun

Miss Fanning, with a bottle of Gatorade.

Oh, this just gets better and better.

Child pornography was found on a computer belonging to the white supremacist charged with shooting and killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the FBI said in court documents.

Investigators said they also found a notebook in [his] car with handwritten notes saying, "The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America's money. Jews control the mass media."

That's ludicrous, of course. Why, if that were true, Corey would work more...

If Darren Lynn Bousman directed for Disney

And now, a brief commentary

Thank you.

Do they even care about civil rights, or just money and votes?

Kos has a good round-up of reaction in the gay blogger community to the Obama administrations's latest evidence of not "getting it."

Michelangelo Signorile:

Scrambling to do damage control re: the DOMA brief the Obama administration is throwing us a pathetic bone.

John Aravosis:

So, because of Obama's inaction on his main presidential campaign promises to our community - DOMA and DADT - we have a scenario in which gays will get fewer benefits than their straight colleagues, and some gay federal employees will get benefits (civilians) while others (military) will not. See how complicated it gets to do anything when you fail to keep your basic promises?

He's got Heather!

This is one of my favorite clips from South Park. It's from the episode called "Asspen." If you haven't seen it, all you need to know is that in the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Butters spend the weekend in Aspen...only to find that everybody else there seems to be stuck around 1985.

And as Stan soon finds out, it's catching.

Some of you won't believe me when I say this, but I say, good for her

Via ohnotheydidn't:

Summer Glau turns down role in ‘Trophy Kids’

...Sources say Glau ("Terminator") passed up her chance at becoming an indie queen when she turned down the lead in "Trophy Kids," which started filming this week in the city. "She wanted to cut a risqué dream sequence where she kisses Taniya Raymonde and Ryan Eggold," said an insider. But writers Josh Sugarman and Brandon Yankowitz refused to change the script and the part went to "Wolverine" starlet Tahnya Tozzi. A rep for Glau told Page Six, "She passed on the film due to creative differences."

...even if the producers probably are just trying to use her cult following to get some attention for their movie.

Caption this photo 2

"Mommy, the animals at the zoo remind me of something, but I can't think what."

Kim Kardashian; Heidi Montag (Pratt) get together to discuss trials of being talented, Christian young women in Hollywood

...I'm kidding, of course, they talked about whether now was the right time in her career for Heidi to be nude in Playboy.

Parables from the Buddha's life, Tharlam Monastery shrine walls, Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal

Parables from the Buddha's life, Tharlam Monastery shrine walls, Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal
Originally uploaded by Wonderlane

True Facts You Didn't Know About Canada*

*Except for the two of you in my vast reading audience who are yourselves known Canadians. You presumably know all this stuff. In fact, you probably don't need to watch this...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Ok, so I like this, all right?

Speaking of things I love...(updated to add fanvid)

Ex-TSCC Showrunner/Executive Producer Josh Friedman, on the sinking of his brilliant show.

On the nature of the loss:

Losing your show is ... like a surprise divorce where you get served papers in the morning and your (ex)wife is fucking Human Target by three in the afternoon using the same time slot your child was conceived in and also where she did that one thing that one time on your birthday.

On being reunited with the wife you haven't seen for a couple of years cos you've been busy on the show:

WIFE: Oh...It's you.
EX-SHOWRUNNER: Hey baby.
WIFE: You look...different than I remember.
EX-SHOWRUNNER: I've gone a little grey.
WIFE: Or a little fat.
EX-SHOWRUNNER: Pretty sure it's grey.
WIFE: Pretty sure...fat. Was I...drunk?
EX-SHOWRUNNER: Drunk? When?
WIFE: I don't know. The whole time?

On leaving the lot:

ME: Frank! I'm that someone! It's my show! I am the someone that I'm looking for!
GUARD: Wait. Who are you?
ME: I'm Josh Friedman, Frank! And until I drive past this guard shack I am the Executive Producer of this tv show! I am the someone! Can't I give myself permission to leave?

Have I mentioned how much I'm gonna miss this guy's show?

For those of you who may have wondered whether my love for the Saw series knows any bounds...

I understand why you wonder. With the fervor of a recent convert, I can even find things to enjoy in Saw V, which objectively is not a creatively successful movie. (And I did believe how it ended. I was happy w/how it ended, but I believed it).

And I've seen the goriest of 'em (III) enough times I could use it as a lullaby.

So, I understand why you wonder. Does my love for the Saw series know any bounds?

...why yes, yes it does.



This is pointless...

I' ; le VE s'est demandé, combien font le MIT de you...com vous-même ? Attrapé dans le piège. Il ne finit jamais…

Saw, in one panel

As more than one reviewer, professional and blog alike, has observed, as the Saw films go on, for the plots to work, you have to believe that Jigsaw can correctly predict what anyone is going to do at any given time.

And that he can do so far in advance, given that most of his traps tend to take just a little time to set up. Unless you happen to have handy, say, a device that both gouges people's eyes out and tears off their limbs.

So, this...



...this would explain a lot.

Dude, seriously: Shut the fuck up.

It may not have escaped your notice that I do not like Marilyn Manson a whole awful lot. Not to put too fine a point on it, I believe I may have used the words "unrelenting evil" to describe him.

I'm not even talking about his music. True, I don't like it, but that's a matter of taste. No, what I really don't like is his habit of dating talented young women who he makes look exactly the same and then disappoints.

Now, however, I think it's time for me to swear one of my occasional vows. This will be the last mention of Marilyn Manson in any of my blogs for quite some time. Why? Because it's been made clear to me (again) that all this attention is just what he wants.

How was this made clear to me?

Like this:

"I essentially lost everything because of Columbine but, if it happened now, it just wouldn't have the same impact. There has to be that first person who takes the arrows in the back and I guess that was me.
"If there was a Grammy Award for death toll, it would be mine. I don't think anyone has been blamed for as much violence as me."

Dude, seriously: Shut the fuck up. You "lost everything," if indeed you have, because people lost interest in your son-of-Alice-Cooper act. That's all I have to say to you.

Neil Innes of Python and Rutles fame

Further to previous entry

And because i'm still pissed at how Not Cool this is.

From Daily Kos:

Purely as a political matter, this is a campaign promise that it makes sense to keep -- and the quicker the administration takes concrete steps forward, the better.

More importantly, as the President himself said during the campaign, this is about doing the right things. You can't have half-equal rights. Everybody knows we might not get there overnight, but until we're moving in the right direction, it won't feel like it's happening at all.

It's time to start delivering on those campaign promises.

Ever feel really, really lied to and used?

Keep fucking around, President Obama.

in a legal brief submitted to a federal judge, Obama's Department of Justice, writing in the name of the United States government, whose CEO is Barack Obama, argues that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is appropriate, carefully balanced and justified by reason, and not by animus toward gay people. A lot of the same rhetoric used to justify actual discrimination against gays is cited in the brief as a reason why DOMA is necessary. (Child abuse precedents, all of that.) The brief even resorts to the argument that DOMA doesn't deny gays anything because they're still entitled to all the benefits that heterosexuals get -- if they act heterosexually.

That's it. Really. Just keep fucking around.

Suck it, CSI: Housewives; Monk & Betty!

'House' is the most popular TV show in the world.

US drama "House", starring Britain's Hugh Laurie as unconventional medical genius Doctor Gregory House, out-gunned rivals in 2008 to become the world's most watched show on television.

According to ratings agency Eurodata TV Worldwide, House and his team of canny diagnosticians last year gathered more than 81.8 million viewers in 66 countries, representing a potential 1.6 billion viewers.

That was far more than the 2007 and 2006 winners in the same TV drama category, "CSI: Las Vegas", about a team of forensic experts, and its spin-off "CSI: Miami".

In the TV comedy category, the US female-star cast of "Desperate Housewives" for the second year running beat "Monk" (US) and "Ugly Betty" (US), attracting 65.3 million viewers worldwide in 2008.

Senator Obama calls on President Obama to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Here's a good pandagon entry by Pam Spaulding on the reaction of too many "progressive" bloggers to being reminded that when it comes to equality for all citizens, President Barack Obama thus far has been cowardly (at best).

The response of those bloggers is best described as "Now is not the time," which more than ever, begs the classic response if not now, when?

There are many things that he could be doing, and isn't, things that would help this nation. Things like putting a halt to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which he promised to do during the campaign.

And which more than 70% of Americans now want repealed, BTW, so it's not like there'd be any heavy political cost.

Talking of cost, he could also put much-needed money into our coffers, and regain what goodwill he's lost here, if he believed in totally equal marriage rights.

But, at least he's been honest (I think) about the fact that he doesn't.

Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," on the other hand...

The long, needlessly drawn-out fight to get Minnesota a second Senator today has an offshoot that ought to raise at least a grim smile

Norm Coleman owes Al Franken $95,000 in court costs.

As someone says in the comments on that page, though, it's really only funny until you reflect on the reality of the thousands of dollars and months of time wasted.

And all this because Coleman didn't want to give up the fight even after court after court, and recount after recount, told him he had fallen short.

Sheesh...

G.I. Shmoe?

If rumors are to be believed, director Stephen Sommers has been fired from the G.I. Joe movie while others try to edit it into a releasable status.

Sommers has made some good...well, maybe not good, but dumb-but-fun movies (the first two Mummys, Deep Rising). And "dumb-but-fun" is mostly all I was expecting from a G.I. Joe movie.

So, I have no idea A if this is true, and B, whether the firing is deserved if it is true. What I do know is that if they gave a "Razzie" for the worst trailer, this would win in a heartbeat.

First...try not to notice that eighth Doctor Who (I don't count McGann) actor Christopher Eccleston is apparently in this, something I either didn't know or had forgotten. I guess he wanted to know what it was like to do a big-budget, small-ideas project for a change.

Second, notice how the global icon destroyed is the Eiffel Tower so the John-Kerry-looked-French crowd won't be offended.

Third, ask yourself if this doesn't look as if it had been made by somebody who didn't know that Team America: World Police ...was a satire (more effectively of '80s action movies than of 21st century politics, IMO, but that's another post).

Fourth, take a drink every time there's an explosion and/or bodies go flying. If they crash through a window of any kind, take two drinks.

Fifth, dig the incredibly clichéd end-of-an-action-movie trailer, where everything gets louder and LOUDER until suddenly it all stops, someone says something meant to be portentous but only pompous, and then the explosions start again before the opening date appears on the screen.



Phew!

I Never Met a Rose

This is from the film of Antoine De Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince. The music was written by Frederick Loewe, the lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Rather dismissed in its day, it was also the subject of criticism by Lerner, who felt director Stanley Donen had interfered with the music to its detriment.

It has since attracted at least a small cult of fans, of which I am one, based on the strong performances of the actors and the very enjoyable (despite Lerner's criticism); memorable score.

The actors include Richard Kiley, who you'll see in this clip, Bob Fosse, in his definitive performance onscreen as a mature dancer and Gene Wilder, as a sensitive fox.

Steven Warner, who played the titular Prince, only made one other film, one I've never seen and I'm quite sure that no one remembers, only I do because it was featured in Dynamite magazine and I have that kind of memory. I remember being told I looked quite a bit like him when I was 8.

Oh, and I should mention that the only clip of this song I could find is from a dubbed version. But luckily, only the dialogue is dubbed, not Kiley's rich, Tony Award-winning (he created the lead in Man of La Mancha) singing voice. It's the song I really want you to hear anyhow.

Enjoy.

I definitely preferred Letterman over Leno as a late night host, but I've got nothing against Conan...

It would appear as though Conan O'Brien is not doing as well as NBC must've hoped.

For First Time, Dave Tops Conan
By Bill Carter

Just seven days into the new competition in late night, there was a new leader Tuesday night, at least in the preliminary ratings, as David Letterman passed a still-sliding Conan O’Brien to take over first place among the late-night shows.

Mr. O’Brien’s numbers fell in the so-called overnight ratings for a seventh straight night since his premiere as the host of NBC’S “Tonight Show” on June 1. Mr. Letterman, meanwhile, scored some of his best recent ratings with a Tuesday show that featured Julia Roberts and the Black-Eyed Peas.

There have been times when of all the late night guys, Conan was the only one I'd think of watching even if I didn't like the guests. (Now, Craig Ferguson has that distinction.)

I watched the first couple episodes of Conan's Tonight Show, and for one thing, Mark Evanier is right: They're not making the best use of Andy Richter. Sit him down next to Conan and let 'em trade stories about their families for a few minutes each episode, I say.

If better material comes out of the time with the guests, the Conan & Andy stuff can always be cut, but I think it could be really funny and charming. I'm basing this on some of Richter's returns to Late Night as a guest.

But anyway, my point is, I have no interest in seeing Conan fail; I hope he finds a way to make the show his own and succeed, as he did on Late Night. However. With the same ghoulish fascination that causes us to slow down at the scene of an accident, I have to admit I am at least mildly tickled to see NBC's fortunes failing.

You see, when the network decided to give five hours of Prime Time a week to Jay Leno*, they took away five timeslots that could've gone to, oh, hmm, gee I don't know...Life. And now they're dying on the vine.

Is it wrong for me to savor the sweetness of that taste?

*Leno has this in common with Ellen DeGeneres: In both their cases, their doglike "Like me, like me, like me, like me, like me!" shtick periodically has the effect of making me not like them.

One more nice random thing I found on them interwebbys

(her name is Jamie Lawrence)

My Side of Your Story

Does it really surprise anybody to learn that my response to this bit of statuary is...

"Get away from the dragon, you big bully!"

So...confused...so...confused!

See, I have here a dilemma.

On the one hand, I like Mary-Louise Parker, I think she's a very rewarding actress (esp. as Amy on West Wing) as well as just, let's not kid ourselves, a vixen.

Despite this, I have never really taken her series Weeds to my heart. I tried it back when I had Showtime, and it just didn't give me that much pleasure.

Maybe because I don't and never have smoked the pot, tho I've yet to hear many reasons that make sense why it should be illegal.

I think green is a really pretty color, as you may know. I am also an arachnophobe. I think it stems from a glimpse of Tarantula on TV at way too early of an age, like when I was about five or sumthin'.

So, taking all of the above in mind, maybe you can understand why my reaction to this photo...


...is one of utter, utter confusion.

Four out of five ain't bad

You Are Imaginative

You are a creative, innovative person. You're not afraid of great risks. Right now, you are seeking peace and tranquility in your life. You are drawn to people who are philosophical and thoughtful. You feel like there is nothing in your life that needs to be changed. You find that any decision you have to make needs to be slept on... often for multiple nights.

The Jungle Test

And now...a few words on behalf of the sane

How to be a sometime crush of mine in my favorite color and still look like a messy bed (and not in a good way)

Ladies and gentlemen, Rose McGowan.

A happy little picture of a dog

What more do you want to know?

How you know when you've seen too many horror movies

When you can't even look at a perfectly lovely photo called "Cool Clear Water"...



...without wondering how many members of The Firefly Family are hiding in it.

Am I the only one who isn't sure if this is a good idea?

7 Up
Originally uploaded by kevindooley

Christina Ricci broke up with her fiancee

Now's my chance.

Well, that certainly spoils the illusion

Via MSNBC:

Kate Winslet tells Allure in the June issue that when filming “The Reader,” she had to grow in the hair “down there,” so to speak. She tells Allure, “because of years of waxing, as all of us girls know, it doesn’t come back quite the way it used to. They even made me a merkin (wig) because they were so concerned that I might not be able to grow enough.”

A favorite TV show of mine that's still on the air? How did that happen?

Holly Hunter doesn't take roles based on what she thinks viewers want to see.


"I have, frankly, very few expectations when it comes to audience," the acclaimed actress said. "I've done features, I've done stage and I've done television movies."

"I'm used to having the experience of perhaps missing an audience where your feature, for some reason or another, may not have a large audience, while some of my features have found large audiences, so I am used to both. My expectations are adaptable and they are low."

Hunter need not worry, because she has a hit on her hands with TNT's "Saving Grace," which is soon to debut its third season.

The television drama follows the decidedly messy life of Oklahoma City Police Detective Grace Hanadarko, who lives and works hard while being shadowed by a no-nonsense angel.

"She wants to have conversations about sex, she wants to have conversations about faith," Hunter said. "She is very comfortable with the darkness in herself and with the darkness in others and I want to talk about that. There are not a lot of opportunities to have that conversation in features."

Maybe this is why according to at least one source, she's just my type

Britney Spears was prescribed Prozac—used for depression and panic attacks—at the age of 18. The singer, who rose to stardom in her teens, had stunning looks, bags of talent, a multi-million dollar fortune, and worldwide fame.

According to this test, I could grow accustomed to her face...I question the "bags of talent" part, but anyway, that's not important right now.

Her anxiety was not drug-induced, but was her natural state, which got further aggravated by fame. Britney’s moods noticeably started swinging— high and happy one minute, sad and brooding the next.

And thus, the ‘Womaniser’ star was prescribed Prozac. However, she treated it like headache tablets, and took a pill only on the days she awoke depressed—this seemed to make her more hyper.

Wow.

From The Washington Ind.

Manny Miranda, the chairman of the Third Branch Conference and the author of a letter that has asked Senate Republicans to consider a “Democratic filibuster” against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, just spoke at a Heritage Foundation luncheon for conservative bloggers. One point he hammered home was that questions about Sotomayor’s 2001 “wise Latina” speech and her support for affirmative action could be asked without alienating Hispanic voters as long as the party reached out to Spanish-speaking media on the substance of legal issues. “I want to get to answer the wise Latino man side of it,” joked Miranda, who is Hispanic.

“Hispanic polls, Hispanic surveys, indicate that Hispanics think just like everyone else. We’re not like African-Americans. We think just like everybody else.

Wow. That's all. Just...wow.

Why Sinfest is my favorite webcomic (#138 in a series)

(click image to read)

No! No! No no no no no no no no!

Winona Ryder's talking up a Heathers sequel again.

Dear Winona,

I'm sorry to make a fuss, but really, this is a terrible idea. You just got yourself back into a hit movie for the first time in a decade. Why do you want to waste any regained box-office clout on a totally unnecessary sequel to the most perfect film of your career?

What's your damage, Heather?

Tucker Carlson is beneath contempt according to...Tucker Carlson

On Crossfire in 2002, Carlson stated that "dismissing your opponents by calling them racists and bigots" is "name calling" and "beneath contempt."

in a June 1 washingtonpost.com online discussion, Carlson said of Sonia Sotomayor...

"she's a racist kook and ought to step down from the bench right now."

Gotta love it. For years now, I have referred to Carlson as "an awful human being," and "a weasel." Both with cause. Now, however, should I feel the need to refer to him in the future, I can say, "Tucker Carlson, who himself admits that he is beneath contempt..."

Gotta love it.

The hollow defense of something indefensible

Ok. As you might've guessed, the reason for all the happy little video clips is because I don't want this to become a too dank and depressing place. But, we do need to revisit the shooting.

First some more information about the murdered man. This comes from Cara at Feministe.

Dr. Tiller was one of the few late-term abortion providers in the country. He had previously been shot, his clinic burnt down, harassed by ideological anti-abortion attorney generals, and threatened with death countless times. We’ve written about his many trials and tribulations here numerous times. Still, Dr. Tiller continued to provide abortions to women who desperately needed them, to save their own lives or health, or due to tragic fetal deformities. He put the health of women above his own life.

And now he is dead.

Cara also has a link to a statement from the victim's family, which reads in part:

"Today we mourn the loss of our husband, father and grandfather. Today's event is an unspeakable tragedy for all of us and for George's friends and patients. This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace.

And as Jesse Taylor writes at Pandagon:

pro-lifers, there may be something wrong with your movement when you have to send out press releases making clear that you don’t actually condone cold-blooded murder.

Pro-gun control liberals don’t show up at gun shows and hector attendees. (And if your response is, “Damn right they don’t, because they’d get shot,” you’re proving my point.) Fundamentalists don’t have to worry about fleets of bike-riding hippies showing up at the entrance to their church every Sunday, telling them that their God is false. Religious “family planning” clinics don’t live in constant fear of a Molotov cocktail flying through their plate glass window, don’t have to train their employees on how to handle bomb threats, don’t need to worry about their clients’ safety on the way from their car to the front door. But if you provide abortion services - even if you’re not actually providing an abortion to the person coming in the door, even though it has been repeatedly declared legal - you live in fear.

Now we come to what has the "abortion foes" worried about all of this.

Say what you will about Randall Terry, but at least that loon flat-out says what most if not all of them mean:

Tiller was "a mass murderer and horrifically, he reaped what he sowed," Terry told the National Press Club in Washington.

Unlike those who just twitter (note the small t) around it:

Some anti-abortion leaders said they didn't believe people were paying enough attention to Tiller's abortion practices.

"What he did is being glossed over," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

Glossed over? Is there any way to read that where it isn't saying, on some level, that the man deserved to die? How much gloss do you need to forget that?

"It's possible that the pro-abortion side will try to use an instance like this to avoid discussing the abortion issue itself, but that's not new," said David O'Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee.

There it is.

They're worried it could give people a bad opinion of them.

Holy. Heavenly. Christ!

a great novelty record of the ’80s

Rodney Dangerfield - New Music - More Music Videos

Some more moments of hilarity

one of the best records (and one of the videos I remember best) of the Eighties.

Prepare to feel really, really sad

You've probably heard by now about George Tiller, the abortion doctor who was killed in Kansas over the weekend. I didn't say anything about it because there didn't seem to be that much to say.

Aside from the obvious and oft-commented-upon irony that "pro-lifers" seem to have no trouble commiting murder. And as I say, that's both obvious, and oft commented upon.

This, however, is new. A question. If someone was going around saying about a person that:

He "destroys fetuses for just about any reason right up until the birth date for $5,000."
He's guilty of "Nazi stuff,"
a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida
"This is the kind of stuff that happened in Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union"
"operating a death mill"
"has blood on his hands"
"executing babies about to be born"

Well...would you think that someone was supporting and promoting violence against that person?

Guess what.

These are all things that Bill O'Reilly has said about Tiller.

Oh, man.

Via an article in Buffalo Report:

A friend sent along this 1902 cover from the first Life Magazine of GI's waterboarding Cuban prisoners...



...while soldiers from other countries comment, "Those pious yankees can't throw stones any more."

I never thought of it this way before, but it's true: The Bush-Cheney crowd set us back more than 100 years.

I thought it was terrorists that did that sort of thing...

Popular culture lies to you

What Leonard said (because I meant to mention the score in my post and forgot)

From Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy:

Up celebrates life as the greatest adventure of all, whether you’re a young boy just starting out or an old man. It paints its unpredictable story on a broad canvas with engaging characters, wonderful visual ideas, perfect voice work (by Ed Asner and company) and the attention to detail that defines a Pixar movie. I’m also very fond of the character design, which is based on the idea of caricature rather than a replication of reality: one more reason Up is such a pleasure to watch. It’s also a joy to listen to, thanks to Michael Giacchino’s evocative score.

You know...it's not like I was expecting Transformers 2 not to be a bad movie...

But in a way, it's comforting to know there isn't a chance in hell of its being a good movie.

Talking at this weekend's BotCon, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman explained the unusual genesis of Revenge's story, which started two weeks before last year's WGA writers strike, when the two had to pound out a 20 page outline for the movie that would be used as a pre-production guideline while the strike was going on. Once the strike finished, months later?

When the strike ended in February, Mr. Kurtzman and Mr. Orci were asked to get moving, post haste, on a full script for a movie that was already barreling toward the screen.

Yes! Die! Die die die die die!

Last week's #2 movie, TERMINATOR SALVATION, dropped like a hooker on New Year's Eve, losing 63% of its audience from last weekend, while nabbing another $16M along the way. The film has now grossed $90M in the first 10 days of its release, which isn't a great number considering that it apparently cost about $200M to make.

Sorry. It's just that it's not often you get this kind of immidiate satisfaction after a smart, exciting and stellar TV series that you loved and are really gonna miss is...terminated.

I mean, Life has said bye-bye, and as you know I'm sorry about that. But in a way, I'm sorrier still that I didn't get to see someone try to "reboot" the idea without Rand Ravich or Damien Lewis...and fucking die at the box office.

Yee-ha!

This is the part of the show we like to call "It's too easy..."

Don't expect Paris Hilton to tune in to The Hills anytime soon.

"The show is, like, so lame and fake...

Up to something...

Pixar's latest feature, Up, for me is slightly lower-level Pixar...but that means I would only give it, say, 95.5% instead of 100. It's been said more than once, by more people than me, but even when they don't hit 100% they're so far and above what anyone else is doing...

For me Pixar's greatest achievement, and the one against which I judge all others either consciously or unconsciously, remains Finding Nemo. Then on the low-end we have movies like Cars and Monsters, Inc.

You see my point.

It's certainly possible that this one could inch "up" in my regard on repeated viewings--Ratatouille did. I liked Ratatouille just fine when I saw in the theater; through repeated viewings on DVD and cable I'd now say it's one of my favorite films.

As an achievement in animation, Up is really something; like WALL-E, it has the confidence to tell large parts of its story without dialogue. And you're really struck--I was, anyway--by how deeply its characters feel, and just how much of that feeling is conveyed by, well, pixels.

If they gave awards for animated performances, Carl Fredricksen would be a shoo-in. He's well-voiced by Ed Asner but, as I'm sure Asner would be the first to agree, his is only one part in this memorable and substantial character. The whole Pixar team, led by director Pete Docter on this project, would have to share in the award.



Even Carl's conception is something fresh for a family film.

As Roger Ebert wrote in his Journal, he is a

cranky old [man], which is a wonder in this era when the captain of the Starship Enterprise must be three years out of school, lest fans be asked to identify with a veteran officer. "Up" doesn't think all heroes must be young or sweet, although the third important character is a nervy kid.

Chuck Jones used to tell a story of being introduced to a child as "the man who draws Bugs Bunny," and having the child reply, affronted: "He does not! He draws pictures of Bugs Bunny"--implying that Bugs had a separate existence from that of his representations--which, of course, he does.

So does Carl Fredricksen.

Get used to it!

Many had long assumed Frasier and Spamalot star David Hyde Pierce was gay, but he only "came out" quietly a couple of years ago. And now...

After keeping his private life out of the spotlight for years, David Hyde Pierce has announced his marriage to longtime partner Brian Hargrove.

The actor and Hargrove, a producer, are still legally wed despite the California Supreme Court's decision Tuesday to uphold Proposition 8. The gay-marriage ban was approved by voters in November, stopping legal nuptials going forward.

Angered by the ruling, Hyde Pierce said Thursday: "It's like, `Oh great, we made the cut.'"

He called it a "very odd thing" that strangers have a vote on his private decision to marry.

Very odd indeed...

Get this...

Via ohnotheydidn't:

In an unprecedented effort to crack down on self-serving edits, the Wikipedia supreme court has banned contributions from all IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates.

the muzzling of Scientology IPs marks the first time Wikipedia has officially barred edits from such a high-profile organization for allegedly pushing its own agenda on the site.

a former member of Scientology's Office of Special Affairs - a department officially responsible "for directing and coordinating all legal matters affecting the Church" - says the Office has organized massive efforts to remove Scientology-related materials and criticism from the web.

I suppose it's time that I admitted something...I recently made my own first-time contribution to a Wikipedia entry. It's one line (and footnoted link) in the "Impact" section of the Saw film entry. You guess which one.

But, that's not so much self-serving as it is defending something that I (however inexplicably) love...

That's probably not about what I think it's about, is it?

The Ricci Effect

So you want to know what it would sound like if somebody played my entire record collection at once

Pretty much like this, I'm thinking.

A word of explaination

In creepier news, this blog has been found today by at least a couple of people who were searching for variations on "Montana" "Hannah" and "fuck."

The reason they found this blog is because I once titled a post

Fucking Hannah Montana makes 52 million and this movie was ignored?

It is not, I repeat not, because you are going to find any images, photo-shopped or cartoon, of Hannah Montana (or Miley Cyrus) engaging in the act of love here. Or on Dancing Girls.

First of all, I don't care that much about her one way or the other (the above-titled post notwithstanding), apart from thinking she did a good job in Disney's Bolt, and liking that she spoke out on gay rights.

But most importantly...she's a child, you pervs!

Which brings me to this cartoon I found by Kevin Moore...

Good stuff.

This is unquestionably me reading something into this that the person who did it almost certainly didn't intend. But I think you can hear this "mashup" as a dialogue, if you will, between the lighter and darker sides of all of our natures. But even if not, it's still pretty fantastic.

I wouldn't say that I was bitter, no...

Seems weird to still be pushing a series that's already been dropped, but that's what Summer Glau and Brian Austin Green are doing for my beloved T:SCC...in Tokyo, where it'll be released on DVD.





Fucking Terminator Salvation...

In case you were wondering

...we ain’t what we ought to be; we ain’t what we gonna be, but thank God, we ain’t what we was.

There seems to be a growing consensus that, despite the California decision yesterday, the momentum of history is on our side. I found myself thinking of the quote I've used here as a title. It comes from a Martin Luther King speech, but he was quoting a former slave turned preacher.

Here "the other" Rob Thomas--meaning it's not the Veronica Mars creator but the singer/songwriter--speaks out in support of gay marriage.

Definitely read the whole thing, but he ends up with:

We've been here before, fighting for the rights of African Americans or women to vote, or the rights of Jewish Americans to worship as they see fit. And, just as whites fought for African Americans or Christians for Jewish Americans, straight people must stand up and be a voice for gay people.

I've heard it said before, many times, that if two men or two women are allowed to join into a civil union together, why can't they be happy with that and why is it so important that they call it marriage? In essence, what's in a name?

A civil union has to do with death. It's essentially a document that gives you lower taxes and the right to let your faux spouse collect your insurance when you pass away. A marriage is about life. It's about a commitment. And this argument is about allowing people to have the right to make that commitment, even if it doesn't make sense to you. Anything else falls under the category of "separate but equal" and we know how that works out.

Great article.

Man, this is weak.

Do you ever begin to get the feeling that maybe the GOP is opposing Sotomayor just because they think they're supposed to? I mean, you'd like to think that if the right-wing had a stronger, less-easy-to-demolish case than this to make, they'd make it.

But they're not.

So...

The games have just begun.

or "Ok, the Sotomayor Nomination thing."

First read this from Daily Kos:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), reacting to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States:

Senate Republicans will treat Judge Sotomayor fairly. But we will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law even-handedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences.

Now, it's being pointed out by some that "apply the law even-handedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences," in this case, is code for "vote conservative and pro big-business." Probably rightly.

But what stands out for me is the condescension of saying they will "ensure she understands the role of a jurist."

A few of Judge Sotomator's qualifications (I got these from Jamelle):

...graduated from Princeton summa cum laude, edited the Yale Law Journal and sat on a federal bench for fifteen years.

Now, who do you suppose better understands the role of a jurist? Such a woman as that...or the senate minority leader?

Now read Dylan Lowe in HuffPost:

...the GOP is angling for a fight. Among the few who graced Obama's short list, Sotomayor was largely considered the most progressive of the bunch. But as the Republican leadership gears up, they may be walking squarely into another political trap, carefully designed by the president.

Saw IVOriginally uploaded by DauragonCMikado

Oh Stephen, do shut up, won't you, there's a good chap.

Or, "Actors shouldn't talk: The concept crosses oceans."

via ohnotheydidn't:

Stephen Fry--who I begin to suspect has a bit of jealousy over Hugh Laurie's American success, tho I'm sure he'd deny it, and I have no way of knowing--has been quoted as saying:

“I have met so many retired politicians and they are all unhappy and bitter.”

You sure that's not just because they were British?

Of the American President, he predicted: “If he has two terms I do not think the second term will end on an up. I think that all political careers end in failure and to be sure he is facing a lot of problems. He has got a lot of credit but he will go through it in the end. Nobody can know what will happen in the future. Who could have foreseen 9/11?

Actually, Stephen, Bush had plenty of warning of 9/11. He just chose to ignore it. We're hoping the new guy pays better attention.

That's what friends are for

So I was looking for a classy way to reply to my beloved California's really hateful decision to uphold the ban on gay marriage. I mean, apart from ordering my free I Support Gay Marriage sticker, which I invite you to do. And Corey sends me this:



Gotta love it.

This is beautiful...

So, it's hitting the gossip blogs that a new "Buffy" movie may be in the early planning stages...without a script, or indeed any participation, from Joss Whedon. Now, the likelyhood or advisability of this actually happening doesn't really interest me.

However. If, like me, you enjoy watching the little Whedon-zombies rattling their cages in impotent rage...you can't beat this, boys and girls...

(Be sure to read the comments)

You know that recent NY "terror plot?"

Don't believe the hype. The FBI ginned it up for self-promotion.

And to hip some people into feeling good

From column by Frank Rich:

The civil rights lawyer Evan Wolfson, who is executive director of the advocacy group Freedom to Marry, notes that the current stasis in Washington is a bit reminiscent of early 1963, when major triumphs in the black civil rights movement (Brown v. Board of Education, the Freedom Riders, the Montgomery bus boycott) had been followed by stalling, infighting and more violent setbacks. Victories were on their way but it took the march on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to galvanize John Kennedy and ultimately Lyndon Johnson into action. Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Johnson had to step up big time — and did — to prod Congressional passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (now under imminent threat from the Roberts Supreme Court).

So what’s stopping the Democrats from rectifying that legacy now? As Wolfson said to me last week, they lack “a towering national figure to make the moral case” for full gay civil rights. There’s no one of that stature in Congress now that Ted Kennedy has been sidelined by illness, and the president shows no signs so far of following the example of L.B.J., who championed black civil rights even though he knew it would cost his own party the South. When Obama invoked same-sex marriage in an innocuous joke at the White House correspondents’ dinner two weeks ago — he and his political partner, David Axelrod, went to Iowa to “make it official” — it seemed all the odder that he hasn’t engaged the issue substantively.

There's nothing to be said about this, but so you'll understand why I removed the Kylie post from earlier:

A stampede at a world music festival in Morocco's capital Rabat that featured the likes of Stevie Wonder and Kylie Minogue left at least 11 people dead, most of them women and children, police said Sunday.

Some 1,700 foreign and local performers had converged on Rabat for the eighth edition
of the Mawazine festival, which was opened on May 15 by Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue.

Performers this year included US soul legend Stevie Wonder, Algerian rai singer Khaled, South African singer Johnny Clegg, Brazilian bossa nova artist Sergio Mendes and Italian composer and conductor Ennio Morricone.

Republicans fight against perception that they are unfeeling hollow shells

Or, "Emotions are dumb, and should be hated."-Bender, Futurama.

The Senate's No. 2 Republican on Sunday refused to rule out a filibuster if President Barack Obama seeks a Supreme Court justice who decides cases based on "emotions or feelings or preconceived ideas."

Sen. Jon Kyl made clear he would use the procedural delay if Obama follows through on his pledge to nominate someone who takes into account human suffering and employs empathy from the bench. The Arizona Republican acknowledged that his party likely does not have enough votes to sustain a filibuster, but he said nonetheless he would try to delay or derail the nomination if Obama ventures outside what Kyl called the mainstream.

Pst! Kyl! You wanna see outside the mainstream, go listen to Emperor Cheney.

"You have to have not only the intellect to be able to effectively apply the law to cases before you," Obama said in an interview carried Saturday on C-SPAN television. "But you have to be able to stand in somebody else's shoes and see through their eyes and get a sense of how the law might work or not work in practical day-to-day living."

Obama also has said he wants someone who employs empathy, "understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles," when arriving at decisions that could influence the nation for decades.

Fuck Yes!

Apparently, sometimes people don't want to watch (apparently) crap films.

This one's for you, Josh Friedman!

ETA: And you too, Summer "Maybe the new Lara Croft" Glau!

Fur Is Dead (and Pamela Anderson looks like a zombie)

Und jetzt, für einen Handelsbruch!

Jest a random piece of wallpaper that I found and liked.

Fair enough--he's not so much of a has-been, more of a never really was

AP headline:

Don't call ex-Vice President Cheney a has-been

Here we see, again, the bizarre obsession the press seems to have with giving weight to the opinions of absolute failures (also see: Gingrich, Newt).

At this point, Cheney's speaking up should be greeted roundly with,

"Go fuck yourself, Emperor Cheney."

But instead, they insist upon treating him as if he were the statue of Lincoln come back to life.

This was five blocks from my nephew's school.

A distraught father described as suicidal and threatening a “bloodbath” was shot by police after holding his 20-month-old son hostage Friday.

The toddler is OK.

The father’s wound is considered non life-threatening.

The child will be cared for by family members.

We didn't find out about it till I got the kid home. His mom asked him if there'd been a lockdown at his school today, and explained what that was. When he asked why she told us about the hostage situation. "Your mom's saying she was worried about you," I told him.

"Lockdowns" "Hostage situations"...these are problems we didn't have, when I was in school.

Dear Roger, like, I love you, man, but are you only just now figuring that out?

From Roger Ebert's review of Terminator Salvation:

One of Hollywood's oldest axioms teaches us: The story comes first. Watching "Terminator Salvation," it occurred to me that in the new Hollywood, the storyboard comes first.

dragons dancing on the wind

This illustration is by Ros Baron.

Alright, what's going on here?

What is up with the stars of my favorite TV series ending up in the remake of Nightmare on Elm St? First it was Thomas "the real John Connor" (burn in hell, Fox) Dekker, now it's the totally gorgeous; totally good actress Connie Britton, of Friday Night Lights.


Go figure.

Come with me, and we'll be, in a world of total Schadenfreude

Ahem.

The reviews for Terminator Salvation are out.

The Rotten Tomatoes consensus:

With storytelling as robotic as the film's iconic villains, Terminator Salvation offers plenty of great effects but lacks the heart of the original films.

Gee, I wonder where storytelling with heart might've gone?

Now, just for fun, let me quote from a few of the reviews...

There's not much here in the way of way of humanity, even with the strong feminine presence of actresses...It seems the machines have already won.

Christy Lemire
Associated Press

Gee, I wonder where the humanity might've gone?

there's not so much acting here as there is yelling at different volumes.

Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

Gee, I wonder where the acting might've gone?

(BTW, just as an aside: "Goodykoontz?" Best name ever.)

Fails because it doesn't really get you excited about the return of the franchise... and a lot of that comes down to the cheesy writing and bad acting.

Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Gee, I wonder where the excitement might've gone?

Way to put all your money on the right horse, Fox.

Could somebody please hit this guy in the face with an oar?

[Christian Bale] kept on saying no to this role of John Connor, until the script got to a place where he could find something interesting.

Bale says he didn't do "a -- of a lot of research" into the back story of John Connor.

And he explains that "Terminator" is not high brow stuff and people do come to see the machines but adds, "the human story is something that is our job to flesh out."

Dear Mr. Bale:

Your film, Terminator 4, was directed by someone whose best film remains Charlie's Angels.

Shut the fuck up.

(What have we learned, people? Actors. Shouldn't. Talk.)

If that's true, then first of all, I'd tell her that outfit has got to go

I feel like this would be more apt if it were read by my man Tobin "Jigsaw" Bell

You Are Red

You are lively and fiery. You embrace the world and live passionately. You are moody but generally enthusiastic. You love so many things. You are able to have a lot of drive and focus. Some people would call this obsession. You are aggressive about getting what you want in life. You look out for yourself first.

What Primary Color Are You?

This, on the other hand, is a good song.

It's not your fault, Dita, it was just a bad song

Following up on my last Dita Von Teese post...

Dita Von Teese has expressed her shock after landing a lowly 20th position in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday. The Queen of Burlesque, who shared the stage with Germany’s Alex Swings Oscar Sings, was left facing disappointment after she failed to grab the top spot in the competition that saw participation of 25 countries

Buddha at the hairdresser.

Oh...god...

Ok. I've been following what's apparently being called the "MySpace hoax" (this week) for at least several months now. As ever, I object to dragging the technology into it--this is a case of allegedly grown people who decided to be cruel to a 13-year-old. For sport. And did so till she killed herself. The method they used is immaterial.

But anyway. There's many things about this case that keep giving me sour jolts. The latest is in this item saying that sentencing is being delayed for Lori Drew, the woman convicted, while a judge reviews testimony.

[The Judge] was concerned that sentencing Drew for violating a Web site's service terms might set a dangerous precedent. He said millions of people either don't read service terms, as happened in Drew's case, or give false information.

Millions of people don't take it upon themselves to drive children to suicide, either, your honor. The father of the mentally abused girl, Megan Meier, said it in your courtroom today:

Ron Meier, his voice trembling, said he's lived in seclusion since his daughter's death and believes Megan was bullied by Drew.

"It just sickens me that it was an adult who was playing with the mind of a 13-year-old," he said as Drew looked on. "I truly believe prisons were made for people like Lori Drew."

But sadly, bitterly, this part of the story is old news.

Here's what brought me up short. Because, you know, what is really missing from this story? What could possibly make me revise my opinion of the grown-ups involved--who I already think of as having left the human race and left no forwarding address--lower?

That's right, kids.

Homosexual panic.

Prosecutors said Drew sought to humiliate Megan Meier by helping create a fictitious teen boy with the help of her then-13-year-old daughter Sarah and business assistant Ashley Grills on MySpace and sending flirtatious messages to the girl in his name.

Prosecutors believe Drew and her daughter, who was friends with Megan, created the profile to find out if Megan was spreading rumors about Sarah. Grills testified she received a message from Megan in mid-2006, calling Drew's daughter a lesbian.

Emphasis mine.

So you see, they were entirely justified in hounding a child into death.

She'd called one of them a lesbian...and them's fightin' words, where they come from.

I can't stand it.

How to teach my nephew about the presidents

Trust me, he'll love it.

(Click, of course)

More proof that the best shows don't do well in the ratings (with the possible exception of House).

Oh, well. As expected,

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is NOT on the schedule for next season.

I'm saddened, but of course, not really surprised. As most if not all of you know I was a devoted fan, but it just wasn't delivering the ratings it deserved. A lot of folks will be blaming Fox right about now, but I don't feel like doing that.

As I said about Life, I try really hard not to expect television executives not to act like television executives. They kept it on the air two years, even when it couldn't be what they were expecting from a Terminator show.

Although...again as with Life, there is one thing I do blame Fox for: They tried to sell the show almost entirely on the basis of "Summer Glau is hot." Which she is. But the show (and Glau's character) was about so much more than that--strong women not being the least of it.

And the teeth do grind to think that Bones, which this year started going downhill and picking up speed, has been renewed two more years. Whereas Terminator, which hadn't even peaked yet, has not. But you can't blame Fox for that--Bones wins its timeslot.

I hope that as time goes on, when both seasons are available on DVD, people will realize what a rare series Terminator was. It really shone. Exciting, with Emmy-worthy (if anybody had been watching the damn show) performances.

And from some unexpected sources: Who knew someone as hot as Shirley Manson could be so chilling? From top to bottom, the cast was made of actors I'll be watching for in the future...heh..."in the future..."

If you judge a show by the caliber of guest stars it attracts (and that's certainly one way), Terminator was good enough for a couple of veterans of West Wing (Richard Schiff and Josh Malina) to drop by.

At least I still have Friday Night Lights...

And I'll still be hoping for the new film to suck.

ETA: ABC has cancelled Samantha Who? and I'm not sorry. It started out as a really strong vehicle for Christina Applegate, but couldn't sustain for a second season.

The Unusuals also won't be back, and now that I am sorry about.

"Friends, just heard The Unusuals will not be back for a second season," series creator Noah Hawley shared Sunday via his Twitter account. "Thanks for all your amazing support. Last [four] episodes start May 27."

I wanted more. But here again, I don't really blame the network...if I blame anyone it's whoever came up with the awful title. Something like "Walsh's House," after lead character Jason Walsh, might've been more appropriate.

One of the things that was most "unusual" about this series was the character development. Exactly six episodes have aired so far and I can honestly say that the people we met in the pilot are not the same as those we left in the sixth.

Well they are, but they aren't. Which was kind of one of the points of the show, I think.

I wish I could've gotten to know them even better...

I'm sorry. Something involving Dita von Teese should not possibly leave me this cold.

Maybe it's because the song is such cheesy crap, not even Dita in a corset can save it.