Thanks a lot, Soo Chee!
Because of your misheard lyrics post....I've had this song stuck in my head for days.
Days!
Out in the street!
Out in the playground!
On the dark side of town!
Vets Shred Uniforms to Heal Themselves
17 years ago
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Springsteen, Young join anti-war soundtrack
Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:30pm EST
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Pearl Jam have contributed tunes to the anti-war soundtrack for a documentary about a U.S. soldier paralyzed in Iraq.
The 30-song, two-disc album "Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran" will be released March 18 via Warner Music's Sire Records label. All proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit Iraq Veterans Against the War.
"Body of War" focuses on Tomas Young, an Army soldier paralyzed upon arriving in Iraq. It will open on March 13 in Austin, Texas, and expand nationally in subsequent months. Talk show veteran Phil Donahue directed the film with Elaine Spiro.
The album was put together by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, who composed the first single, "No War," specifically for the film. Pearl Jam's live version of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" also graces the soundtrack.
Springsteen contributed "Devils & Dust," and Neil Young "The Restless Consumer." Other tracks include "Yo George" from Tori Amos, "Son of a Bush" from Public Enemy, and "Bushonomics" from Talib Kweli & Cornel West.
Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:30pm EST
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Pearl Jam have contributed tunes to the anti-war soundtrack for a documentary about a U.S. soldier paralyzed in Iraq.
The 30-song, two-disc album "Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran" will be released March 18 via Warner Music's Sire Records label. All proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit Iraq Veterans Against the War.
"Body of War" focuses on Tomas Young, an Army soldier paralyzed upon arriving in Iraq. It will open on March 13 in Austin, Texas, and expand nationally in subsequent months. Talk show veteran Phil Donahue directed the film with Elaine Spiro.
The album was put together by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, who composed the first single, "No War," specifically for the film. Pearl Jam's live version of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" also graces the soundtrack.
Springsteen contributed "Devils & Dust," and Neil Young "The Restless Consumer." Other tracks include "Yo George" from Tori Amos, "Son of a Bush" from Public Enemy, and "Bushonomics" from Talib Kweli & Cornel West.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
An Oldie and Moldy....
Originally posted at the other place on 12/13/05.
The Vengeful Dog Walker: A Short Play in Two Acts
I am sometimes petty. And from time to time I can be vindictive.
I was looking at satellite photos of New Orleans tonight and was checking out the post flood condition of the neighborhood where I lived some years ago when I was reminded of my sometime vindictive nature...
Dramatis Personae: Me, My dogs Jake and Kelly, Redneck Asshole
Act I
Redneck asshole lived just around the corner from me. He was fanatical about the care and appearance of his lawn. One day, while walking my dogs past his house, my puppy Kelly happened to wander about 6 inches onto the lawn of Redneck Asshole to sniff at something. Redneck Asshole happened to be on his front porch and exploded into an apoplectic rage complete with red face and near incoherent screaming. Even though I apologized and scooped up Kelly before she could perchance evacuate onto the pristine grass...the rage continued with the threat to kill me and my dogs with his shotgun.
I said nothing more.
Act II
I let six weeks pass.I bought a plastic spray bottle of Round-Up Grass and Weed Killer.I began walking my dogs late at night while wearing a sweatshirt with one of those pouches in the front for your hands. Except instead of my hands...I concealed the grass killer inside.
As I walked past the abode of Redneck Asshole each night I would casually spray the poisons from inside their hiding place and onto the lawn of our villain.I did this every night for 10 days. I surreptitiously examined the damage. I spied Redneck Asshole working to repair the huge swaths of brown, dead grass that slashed through his prized lawn like saber scars.
Over the next few days he had to reseed, resod, whatever the hell a person does to bring an immaculate lawn to fruition. I drank in his obvious anger like sweet nectar.I let two months pass and I did it again. And again. And again.
At least five times each year for the next three years.Jake and Kelly were also complicit. Since I worked nights I would feed them a huge dinner in mid afternoon...ensuring they'd be percolating all night and eager to use their vast leavings to further sully the lawn of Redneck Asshole.
Looking back, I'm a little embarrassed by my behavior...my inability to let go a simple verbal transgression. Had I not moved after three years I probably would have continued.I feel no guilt though. None. In fact, I still laugh about watching this guy worry over his ruined lawn.
I wonder how many character defects this post points to?
Originally posted at the other place on 12/13/05.
The Vengeful Dog Walker: A Short Play in Two Acts
I am sometimes petty. And from time to time I can be vindictive.
I was looking at satellite photos of New Orleans tonight and was checking out the post flood condition of the neighborhood where I lived some years ago when I was reminded of my sometime vindictive nature...
Dramatis Personae: Me, My dogs Jake and Kelly, Redneck Asshole
Act I
Redneck asshole lived just around the corner from me. He was fanatical about the care and appearance of his lawn. One day, while walking my dogs past his house, my puppy Kelly happened to wander about 6 inches onto the lawn of Redneck Asshole to sniff at something. Redneck Asshole happened to be on his front porch and exploded into an apoplectic rage complete with red face and near incoherent screaming. Even though I apologized and scooped up Kelly before she could perchance evacuate onto the pristine grass...the rage continued with the threat to kill me and my dogs with his shotgun.
I said nothing more.
Act II
I let six weeks pass.I bought a plastic spray bottle of Round-Up Grass and Weed Killer.I began walking my dogs late at night while wearing a sweatshirt with one of those pouches in the front for your hands. Except instead of my hands...I concealed the grass killer inside.
As I walked past the abode of Redneck Asshole each night I would casually spray the poisons from inside their hiding place and onto the lawn of our villain.I did this every night for 10 days. I surreptitiously examined the damage. I spied Redneck Asshole working to repair the huge swaths of brown, dead grass that slashed through his prized lawn like saber scars.
Over the next few days he had to reseed, resod, whatever the hell a person does to bring an immaculate lawn to fruition. I drank in his obvious anger like sweet nectar.I let two months pass and I did it again. And again. And again.
At least five times each year for the next three years.Jake and Kelly were also complicit. Since I worked nights I would feed them a huge dinner in mid afternoon...ensuring they'd be percolating all night and eager to use their vast leavings to further sully the lawn of Redneck Asshole.
Looking back, I'm a little embarrassed by my behavior...my inability to let go a simple verbal transgression. Had I not moved after three years I probably would have continued.I feel no guilt though. None. In fact, I still laugh about watching this guy worry over his ruined lawn.
I wonder how many character defects this post points to?
I would like to thank the following women for easing my transition into puberty. Each of them helped serve as an anchor...and a focal point during a confusing time.
Wonder Woman
Catwoman (Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt. Lee Meriwether not so much)
Jamie Sommers, The Bionic Woman
Batgirl...because even good girls wear leather
Wonder Woman
Catwoman (Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt. Lee Meriwether not so much)
Jamie Sommers, The Bionic Woman
Batgirl...because even good girls wear leather
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Bueller....Bueller....Creationists....
Ben Stein Wins Intelligent Design Money
by Gary Stix
Ben Stein Wins Intelligent Design Money
Feb 15, 2008
Ben Stein was the goofball host of the cable show “Win Ben Stein’s Money.” A Christian University in southern California has just announced that it is honoring Stein for his upcoming movie that makes the case for taking intelligent design seriously. The press release, issued today, declares: “Ben Stein Wins Money from Intelligent Design Community.”
Stein is scheduled to receive from Biola University the Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth, named after a well-known creationist. “The award,” according to the release,” recognizes Johnson’s pivotal role in advancing our understanding of design in the universe by opening up informed dissent to Darwinian and materialistic theories of evolution.”
The release does not mention how much Ben Stein won, but it does cite Stein’s upcoming movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed:” “In his new movie “Expelled,” Stein wonders whether humans were designed by an intelligent being or whether we were simply the result of an ancient natural accident. In his search for an answer, he discovers an elitist scientific establishment that punishes the scientific proponents of Intelligent Design because they reject some of the claims of Darwin’s theory of evolution. ‘Big science in this area of biology has lost its way,’ says Stein. ‘Scientists are supposed to be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, no matter what the implications are. Freedom of inquiry has been greatly compromised, and this is not only anti-American, it’s anti-science.’ “In light of Stein’s contribution to the pursuit of liberty and truth, particularly as it relates to the field of Intelligent Design, he is being honored with the 2008 Johnson Award.
...
...
Perhaps more egregious than the movie is Stein’s contention in his writing that "Darwinism, perhaps mixed with Imperialism, gave us Social Darwinism, a form of racism so vicious that it countenanced the Holocaust against the Jews and mass murder of many other groups in the name of speeding along the evolutionary process."
===============================
I like Stein's droll sense of humor...and I was hoping this was some form of joke. But it appears not. Stein has taken up the banner of junk science for the cause of conservative ideology.
Ben Stein Wins Intelligent Design Money
by Gary Stix
Ben Stein Wins Intelligent Design Money
Feb 15, 2008
Ben Stein was the goofball host of the cable show “Win Ben Stein’s Money.” A Christian University in southern California has just announced that it is honoring Stein for his upcoming movie that makes the case for taking intelligent design seriously. The press release, issued today, declares: “Ben Stein Wins Money from Intelligent Design Community.”
Stein is scheduled to receive from Biola University the Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth, named after a well-known creationist. “The award,” according to the release,” recognizes Johnson’s pivotal role in advancing our understanding of design in the universe by opening up informed dissent to Darwinian and materialistic theories of evolution.”
The release does not mention how much Ben Stein won, but it does cite Stein’s upcoming movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed:” “In his new movie “Expelled,” Stein wonders whether humans were designed by an intelligent being or whether we were simply the result of an ancient natural accident. In his search for an answer, he discovers an elitist scientific establishment that punishes the scientific proponents of Intelligent Design because they reject some of the claims of Darwin’s theory of evolution. ‘Big science in this area of biology has lost its way,’ says Stein. ‘Scientists are supposed to be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, no matter what the implications are. Freedom of inquiry has been greatly compromised, and this is not only anti-American, it’s anti-science.’ “In light of Stein’s contribution to the pursuit of liberty and truth, particularly as it relates to the field of Intelligent Design, he is being honored with the 2008 Johnson Award.
...
...
Perhaps more egregious than the movie is Stein’s contention in his writing that "Darwinism, perhaps mixed with Imperialism, gave us Social Darwinism, a form of racism so vicious that it countenanced the Holocaust against the Jews and mass murder of many other groups in the name of speeding along the evolutionary process."
===============================
I like Stein's droll sense of humor...and I was hoping this was some form of joke. But it appears not. Stein has taken up the banner of junk science for the cause of conservative ideology.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
the previous posts wouldn't take pictures for some reason...so here are some pics of the little hobo cats I'm caring for...(so you can see why I want to look after their welfare)
My dog doesn't know what to make of them. She's not aggressive towards them at all...more like she thinks they are mobile squeaky toys. She's stepped on a few of them while trying to play with them.
And yeah...on a few of the sub-zero nights...I let them crash in my pad. Most slept on a blanket I put in the back hall...but the gray one helped herself to my bed.
My dog doesn't know what to make of them. She's not aggressive towards them at all...more like she thinks they are mobile squeaky toys. She's stepped on a few of them while trying to play with them.
And yeah...on a few of the sub-zero nights...I let them crash in my pad. Most slept on a blanket I put in the back hall...but the gray one helped herself to my bed.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
I May be About to Do Something Unethical
I've mentioned my trasherrific neighbors before...the screaming matches at all hours...the wading pool stuffed with adults and beer cans.
Now there's a new situation...one in which I'm considering some direct involvement. They have a history of getting animals then neglecting them. They used to keep a dog chained by the neck to their back porch...no food, no shelter...in all weather and the poor thing would howl and cry and bark all night every night. Finally...enough neighbors called the police on noise complaints that the cops made the city Animal Officers do something about it.
Well...last year these fine people decided it would be a good idea to get a couple of cats. They didn't have them fixed and let them roam freely in their yard. Those cats had a litter...a few months later some of the growing kittens had their own litters...there are now three generations of increasingly inbred cats running around.
They are kept outside to fend for themselves. No shelter...in all weather...and we've had a brutal winter this year. These people "own" the cats...but the herd of them are spreading out to include the yards of all the surrounding houses as their territory. And a few found their way under my back porch. They were burrowing into some old leaves as a rudimentary shelter and insulation from the cold. They were lethargic and emaciated and, I was pretty sure, on the verge of dying.
So...I've started a sort of Hooverville...and a soup kitchen. I bought a few cat shelters (the kind that normally are used an indoor playpens) and lined them with old clothes to at least provide protection from the elements...and I've been supplying them with food and water every day. It's like a little camp set up under my porch. Now almost the whole herd comes over to eat, drink and sleep. And they are no longer on the edge of death...even the skin & bones kitten I was sure was going to die is looking good. The cats spend their days in their own yard and their nights under my porch.
OK. So I have called Animal Control on these people...twice. I reported it as a case of animal neglect. They said they would send out an investigator. This was two months ago. I've sent follow up mails to the agency...none have been answered...hooray for city workers. I can't even call the police to have them force action...I checked. I called the local precinct and spoke to the officer who handles Quality of Life issues. He told me to call animal Control again. Sigh.
What I'm thinking of doing that is so unethical...is stealing the cats and finding homes for them. I already have a few people interested in taking one. Their owners obviously don't care about them...but they aren't exactly the kind of folks you can approach with something like this. One of them already screamed at me when she saw me tossing snacks to the cats over the fence. She got hyper-defensive..."What, you think I can't look after my pets?!?!" To which I succinctly replied "Fuck off." Yeah...we are on that kind of terms (I'm certain they know it's me who has called the cops on them in the past).
If they even notice that some of the cats are missing...they'll probably think they just ran away...or died. If they even care.
I hate to have to do it this way. I mean...it's stealing.
What do you think? Is this an Ends justifying the Means situation?
Christ...I just don't understand some people. Why get an animal if you are only going to make its existence miserable?
Here are some pics of the cats:
I've mentioned my trasherrific neighbors before...the screaming matches at all hours...the wading pool stuffed with adults and beer cans.
Now there's a new situation...one in which I'm considering some direct involvement. They have a history of getting animals then neglecting them. They used to keep a dog chained by the neck to their back porch...no food, no shelter...in all weather and the poor thing would howl and cry and bark all night every night. Finally...enough neighbors called the police on noise complaints that the cops made the city Animal Officers do something about it.
Well...last year these fine people decided it would be a good idea to get a couple of cats. They didn't have them fixed and let them roam freely in their yard. Those cats had a litter...a few months later some of the growing kittens had their own litters...there are now three generations of increasingly inbred cats running around.
They are kept outside to fend for themselves. No shelter...in all weather...and we've had a brutal winter this year. These people "own" the cats...but the herd of them are spreading out to include the yards of all the surrounding houses as their territory. And a few found their way under my back porch. They were burrowing into some old leaves as a rudimentary shelter and insulation from the cold. They were lethargic and emaciated and, I was pretty sure, on the verge of dying.
So...I've started a sort of Hooverville...and a soup kitchen. I bought a few cat shelters (the kind that normally are used an indoor playpens) and lined them with old clothes to at least provide protection from the elements...and I've been supplying them with food and water every day. It's like a little camp set up under my porch. Now almost the whole herd comes over to eat, drink and sleep. And they are no longer on the edge of death...even the skin & bones kitten I was sure was going to die is looking good. The cats spend their days in their own yard and their nights under my porch.
OK. So I have called Animal Control on these people...twice. I reported it as a case of animal neglect. They said they would send out an investigator. This was two months ago. I've sent follow up mails to the agency...none have been answered...hooray for city workers. I can't even call the police to have them force action...I checked. I called the local precinct and spoke to the officer who handles Quality of Life issues. He told me to call animal Control again. Sigh.
What I'm thinking of doing that is so unethical...is stealing the cats and finding homes for them. I already have a few people interested in taking one. Their owners obviously don't care about them...but they aren't exactly the kind of folks you can approach with something like this. One of them already screamed at me when she saw me tossing snacks to the cats over the fence. She got hyper-defensive..."What, you think I can't look after my pets?!?!" To which I succinctly replied "Fuck off." Yeah...we are on that kind of terms (I'm certain they know it's me who has called the cops on them in the past).
If they even notice that some of the cats are missing...they'll probably think they just ran away...or died. If they even care.
I hate to have to do it this way. I mean...it's stealing.
What do you think? Is this an Ends justifying the Means situation?
Christ...I just don't understand some people. Why get an animal if you are only going to make its existence miserable?
Here are some pics of the cats:
Thursday, February 14, 2008
I Love When Someone Makes My Point for Me.
See previous post...
Yet another person who got angry with me because they were convinced something I put in my blog was ALL ABOUT THEM...fired off an angry mail, etc, etc, etc.
(Should a membership there come with a free tinfoil hat to keep out the radio waves?)
Yet another woman who wrote a long series of posts about being betrayed by a man.....only to write a few days later about wanting to get together with another...complete with clucking hen choir.
Same woman writes goodbye post because she can no longer be on Alt after SUCH A BETRAYAL...only to decide she's going to stay after all! Oh the love! Oh the cycle of self-destructive behavior!
Sigh...it's getting so that you can barely avoid the crazies.
Friday, February 01, 2008
The Lady Doth Protest Way Too Fucking Much
At what point does having a helpful opinion to offer cross over into being judgmental?
And should you just let a person you see as a tragedy-in-waiting just crash and burn?
I ask because...
It's almost a stereotype to be found on BDSM websites...profiles, blogs, etc. Every female submissive has to loudly proclaim how stong they are. To the point where they OVERSTATE the point about how wonderfully strong they are (with the type of strength rarely defined).
But...
What happens when you know a person who claims this strength is really a basket case? Someome who paints a picture of themself that's not quite accurate...and you've seen their other, less stable face.
There have been at least eight instances of this for me. I've received e-mails from some women regarding things in my blog...things that to the other 99.999999% of my readers were benign.
I've received extremely angry letters...some to the point of incoherency. I honestly don't know what they were trying to say.
But my point here is...some of these women are houses of cards emotionally. Some slight trigger tripped them...something they saw written in my blog, something they most likely read into what I was saying...and sent them off the deep end.
Is someone this emotionally fragile ready for a BDSM relationship? What happens when they physically engage?
I received one letter (several really) from this women on alt...I wish I had saved it. It was the longest e-mail I've ever read. All in one letter she went from wanting to do me harm...to begging for my forgiveness and everything in between, It read like textbook Bi-Polar Disorder. I was disturbed...but I also felt sorry for her. She was obviously unstable. So, in one of her own posts in which she was complaining about some potential dom who broke off contact (he probably figured out she needed psychatric help) ...so I gently suggested that maybe she take some time off and reasses her needs, etc, etc.
Hoo boy. That led to another e-mail about how I had "devastated" her...and a coterie of clucking hens on that blog post laid into me...bleating about how I was so judgmental and so on.
So I said "Fuck it." You can't help those who can't realize they require it...and have a support group of (strangers) overly protective pals.
I do feel sorry for whatever men hook up with these basket cases though. I'll probably wind up posting their stories in my News of the Weird selections.
It's not just me, right? You all see the Tragedies in Denial as well...right?
At what point does having a helpful opinion to offer cross over into being judgmental?
And should you just let a person you see as a tragedy-in-waiting just crash and burn?
I ask because...
It's almost a stereotype to be found on BDSM websites...profiles, blogs, etc. Every female submissive has to loudly proclaim how stong they are. To the point where they OVERSTATE the point about how wonderfully strong they are (with the type of strength rarely defined).
But...
What happens when you know a person who claims this strength is really a basket case? Someome who paints a picture of themself that's not quite accurate...and you've seen their other, less stable face.
There have been at least eight instances of this for me. I've received e-mails from some women regarding things in my blog...things that to the other 99.999999% of my readers were benign.
I've received extremely angry letters...some to the point of incoherency. I honestly don't know what they were trying to say.
But my point here is...some of these women are houses of cards emotionally. Some slight trigger tripped them...something they saw written in my blog, something they most likely read into what I was saying...and sent them off the deep end.
Is someone this emotionally fragile ready for a BDSM relationship? What happens when they physically engage?
I received one letter (several really) from this women on alt...I wish I had saved it. It was the longest e-mail I've ever read. All in one letter she went from wanting to do me harm...to begging for my forgiveness and everything in between, It read like textbook Bi-Polar Disorder. I was disturbed...but I also felt sorry for her. She was obviously unstable. So, in one of her own posts in which she was complaining about some potential dom who broke off contact (he probably figured out she needed psychatric help) ...so I gently suggested that maybe she take some time off and reasses her needs, etc, etc.
Hoo boy. That led to another e-mail about how I had "devastated" her...and a coterie of clucking hens on that blog post laid into me...bleating about how I was so judgmental and so on.
So I said "Fuck it." You can't help those who can't realize they require it...and have a support group of (strangers) overly protective pals.
I do feel sorry for whatever men hook up with these basket cases though. I'll probably wind up posting their stories in my News of the Weird selections.
It's not just me, right? You all see the Tragedies in Denial as well...right?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Yawn that Roared
(CNN) -- Former Sen. Fred Thompson on Tuesday ended his run for the presidency, coming off the heels of a disappointing third-place finish in South Carolina's GOP primary and heading into the showdown state of Florida next week.
=======================
Wasn't Thompson supposed to be the next Ronald Reagan? A "real conservative" who was going to energize the party? All that "will he or won't he?" run stuff seems a little silly in retrospect. All that buildup and the only payoff was repeated clips of The Hunt for Red October. Media pundits must get paid by the word (or cubic foot of hot gas).
He swept in like a lazy old man and left like a sleepwalker.
(CNN) -- Former Sen. Fred Thompson on Tuesday ended his run for the presidency, coming off the heels of a disappointing third-place finish in South Carolina's GOP primary and heading into the showdown state of Florida next week.
=======================
Wasn't Thompson supposed to be the next Ronald Reagan? A "real conservative" who was going to energize the party? All that "will he or won't he?" run stuff seems a little silly in retrospect. All that buildup and the only payoff was repeated clips of The Hunt for Red October. Media pundits must get paid by the word (or cubic foot of hot gas).
He swept in like a lazy old man and left like a sleepwalker.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
At The Movies
A few films I've seen recently...
1) The Orphanage (El Orfanato)
A foreign language film from Spain produced by Guillermo del Toro. It's about a woman (and family) who buys the orphanage in which she grew up to re-open it as a school for handicapped children. Strange things begin to happen...her sickly child begins to talk to unseen people...things go bump in the night...a strange woman appears and a series of murders years before is slowly revealed.
It's basically a ghost story but with much deeper subtexts of love and loss. And it works on both levels. There's a minimum of gore (only one scene really) and at least a half dozen moments that will make you jump. But there's a general overall creepy feel to the movie that makes the story more disturbing than at first glance...particularly as more and more plot points are revealed.
If you saw and enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth or The Devil's Backbone...you'll definitely enjoy this one. The same themes of human cruelty and bittersweet loss pervade it.
2) Sunshine
A sci fi film by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) about an international group of astronauts and scientists (Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh) on a mission to re-ignite our dying sun by firing a massive fission bomb into its core.
Sounds like standard sci fi fare, right? It differs though in visual style. Boyle has a distinctive look that sets this film apart. It's possibly one of the finest looking films of the genre since 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The story has the genre standards of mission failure and how the crew adapts to survive and save themselves and continue their mission in the face of almost hopeless odds. Where it takes a twist or two is when they seek out another spaceship that had the same mission as theirs but disappeared. They detect a slight signal from it and proceed to try and salvage some parts so they can complete their own job. Things get a little creepy then.
The story also interjects the aspect of the crew's mental states...when they know that some of them will die...and how it hits each of them. Some react in a resigned way, some heroic...some almost have mental collapse...some angry...and at least one decides that perhaps they shouldn't succeed at all...that maybe it's god's will they are going against.
If you like above average sci fi with an emphasis on the human rather than the technological...you'll like this film.
===========================
A few films I've seen recently...
1) The Orphanage (El Orfanato)
A foreign language film from Spain produced by Guillermo del Toro. It's about a woman (and family) who buys the orphanage in which she grew up to re-open it as a school for handicapped children. Strange things begin to happen...her sickly child begins to talk to unseen people...things go bump in the night...a strange woman appears and a series of murders years before is slowly revealed.
It's basically a ghost story but with much deeper subtexts of love and loss. And it works on both levels. There's a minimum of gore (only one scene really) and at least a half dozen moments that will make you jump. But there's a general overall creepy feel to the movie that makes the story more disturbing than at first glance...particularly as more and more plot points are revealed.
If you saw and enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth or The Devil's Backbone...you'll definitely enjoy this one. The same themes of human cruelty and bittersweet loss pervade it.
2) Sunshine
A sci fi film by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) about an international group of astronauts and scientists (Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh) on a mission to re-ignite our dying sun by firing a massive fission bomb into its core.
Sounds like standard sci fi fare, right? It differs though in visual style. Boyle has a distinctive look that sets this film apart. It's possibly one of the finest looking films of the genre since 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The story has the genre standards of mission failure and how the crew adapts to survive and save themselves and continue their mission in the face of almost hopeless odds. Where it takes a twist or two is when they seek out another spaceship that had the same mission as theirs but disappeared. They detect a slight signal from it and proceed to try and salvage some parts so they can complete their own job. Things get a little creepy then.
The story also interjects the aspect of the crew's mental states...when they know that some of them will die...and how it hits each of them. Some react in a resigned way, some heroic...some almost have mental collapse...some angry...and at least one decides that perhaps they shouldn't succeed at all...that maybe it's god's will they are going against.
If you like above average sci fi with an emphasis on the human rather than the technological...you'll like this film.
===========================
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I find that my patience for that other blogging site is wearing thin. I keep trying to make the best of what it is...because, you know, it is what it is. (or something) But it's becoming increasingly more difficult to avoid the vast annoyances.
And that's too bad. Because I really like some of my acquaintances from there. And I love seeing them riff on my silliness. There are some truly funny people there who take some black humor and just run with it.
And then there are the gems. Those are the people who have sent me private messages about certain posts...offering help, etc. I had someone from there send me a huge package of photography materials when I was first encouraging my brother to take it up as a hobby for both our benefit. This person sent rolls and rolls of film, frames, photo albums. I almost cried with gratitude. They didn't have to do that. And wouldn't take no for an answer. Someone else offered to send me several old cameras they no longer used. Yet another person offered to perform fund raising for my work so my Iraq vet won't have to move out for lack of money.
They didn't have to do that...they are just a few people who care.
Unfortunately, they are vastly unnumbered by the scuzzy assholes, the preeners, the attention whores, etc...who seem to multiply exponentially. It's nearly impossible to cruise the blogs now without major annoyance.
At best...I guess I can beat a tactical retreat into my own blog and only read those who come to me.
I'm just tired of the silly attempts at manipulation. Particularly of the ranking lists...that long standing bone of contention for some and Holy Grail for others.
For fuck's sake...I hate going through the daily lists of new bloggers looking for interesting new posts (and possibly people who haven't been tainted) only to find that a certain few bloggers have been there before me...leaving little messages not related to the posts but rather to get the attention of people who can provide them with an increase in their unique comment counts. It's always the same two people. Always the same two messages no matter what the blogger has written an an intro. "Hi, nice blog! ~wink~" or "Hi, welcome to the blogs!"
Alt really should dump that whole ranking system. Maybe it would relieve my sore eyes of of cruising past boring blogs designed as nothing more than comment catchers. Christ...some of them sound like five year old children. "Why is the sky blue? Why is grass green? What's your favorite heavy metal song?"
Maybe if they dampened the child-like bloggers...the rest of the adults would act like...grown ups?
==============================
I'm feeling so beaten down over there that I can't even raise the energy to call someone on plagiarism. I became suspicious when someone had a few things in their blog that seemed too polished...and sure enough...found they had been lifted whole from a web site. I couldn't be bothered to bring up ethics when weighed against the shit that would be raised...because the person was a popular, front page face. And we've all seen the shit caused by slavish devotion to personality even in the face of evidence there, right?
==============================
That site is what it is. A blogging section on a hook up site. Maybe I created too large of a series of expectations for it. No, that's not exactly correct. When I first joined...I learned a lot. The earliest group of people spent a lot of time writing great pieces. Then came the rankings system...thrust upon a population overrepresented by fragile egos and over sized egos...and the rest is history.
It just gnaws at me that a lot of great writers who put out fantastic, emotional, enlightening posts...get overlooked...no, more than that...shunted aside in the stampede every time some Pretty Young Thing arrives on the blog scene and cyberly shakes her tits. The herds of horndogs are usually comprised of all the same dumb fuckers. Sigh...but at it's heart it is a dating site...and I got to expect that most of the population (being male) will flock to where they believe the pussy is.
I guess I'm just disappointed that only a small percentage of the population can rise above that.
====================================
Whatchagonnado?
And that's too bad. Because I really like some of my acquaintances from there. And I love seeing them riff on my silliness. There are some truly funny people there who take some black humor and just run with it.
And then there are the gems. Those are the people who have sent me private messages about certain posts...offering help, etc. I had someone from there send me a huge package of photography materials when I was first encouraging my brother to take it up as a hobby for both our benefit. This person sent rolls and rolls of film, frames, photo albums. I almost cried with gratitude. They didn't have to do that. And wouldn't take no for an answer. Someone else offered to send me several old cameras they no longer used. Yet another person offered to perform fund raising for my work so my Iraq vet won't have to move out for lack of money.
They didn't have to do that...they are just a few people who care.
Unfortunately, they are vastly unnumbered by the scuzzy assholes, the preeners, the attention whores, etc...who seem to multiply exponentially. It's nearly impossible to cruise the blogs now without major annoyance.
At best...I guess I can beat a tactical retreat into my own blog and only read those who come to me.
I'm just tired of the silly attempts at manipulation. Particularly of the ranking lists...that long standing bone of contention for some and Holy Grail for others.
For fuck's sake...I hate going through the daily lists of new bloggers looking for interesting new posts (and possibly people who haven't been tainted) only to find that a certain few bloggers have been there before me...leaving little messages not related to the posts but rather to get the attention of people who can provide them with an increase in their unique comment counts. It's always the same two people. Always the same two messages no matter what the blogger has written an an intro. "Hi, nice blog! ~wink~" or "Hi, welcome to the blogs!"
Alt really should dump that whole ranking system. Maybe it would relieve my sore eyes of of cruising past boring blogs designed as nothing more than comment catchers. Christ...some of them sound like five year old children. "Why is the sky blue? Why is grass green? What's your favorite heavy metal song?"
Maybe if they dampened the child-like bloggers...the rest of the adults would act like...grown ups?
==============================
I'm feeling so beaten down over there that I can't even raise the energy to call someone on plagiarism. I became suspicious when someone had a few things in their blog that seemed too polished...and sure enough...found they had been lifted whole from a web site. I couldn't be bothered to bring up ethics when weighed against the shit that would be raised...because the person was a popular, front page face. And we've all seen the shit caused by slavish devotion to personality even in the face of evidence there, right?
==============================
That site is what it is. A blogging section on a hook up site. Maybe I created too large of a series of expectations for it. No, that's not exactly correct. When I first joined...I learned a lot. The earliest group of people spent a lot of time writing great pieces. Then came the rankings system...thrust upon a population overrepresented by fragile egos and over sized egos...and the rest is history.
It just gnaws at me that a lot of great writers who put out fantastic, emotional, enlightening posts...get overlooked...no, more than that...shunted aside in the stampede every time some Pretty Young Thing arrives on the blog scene and cyberly shakes her tits. The herds of horndogs are usually comprised of all the same dumb fuckers. Sigh...but at it's heart it is a dating site...and I got to expect that most of the population (being male) will flock to where they believe the pussy is.
I guess I'm just disappointed that only a small percentage of the population can rise above that.
====================================
Whatchagonnado?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Saturday, January 05, 2008
It's a Sad State of Affairs....
when Geraldo Rivera starts making sense.
I was kinda hoping when Billo's bellowing commenced he wouldn't be able to turn it off...and his head would go like that guy in the movie Scanners.
It's ain't exactly the Lincoln-Douglas debates...but it's entertaining in a guilty pleasure sort of way.
when Geraldo Rivera starts making sense.
I was kinda hoping when Billo's bellowing commenced he wouldn't be able to turn it off...and his head would go like that guy in the movie Scanners.
It's ain't exactly the Lincoln-Douglas debates...but it's entertaining in a guilty pleasure sort of way.
More Video Difficulties
Allegedly...one can load video directly from their computer to these posts. In reality...it does not work for me. I figured out the YouTube thingie (thanks to Trinity) but I'm still baffled by the inability to load my own film clips.
You see...I received a digital camcorder for x-mas and have been making short film bits. I was hoping I could also use this as a visual diary...maybe show some parts of Boston, etc.
I don't know...the goddamned clips just won't show up after I load them into the post.
Allegedly...one can load video directly from their computer to these posts. In reality...it does not work for me. I figured out the YouTube thingie (thanks to Trinity) but I'm still baffled by the inability to load my own film clips.
You see...I received a digital camcorder for x-mas and have been making short film bits. I was hoping I could also use this as a visual diary...maybe show some parts of Boston, etc.
I don't know...the goddamned clips just won't show up after I load them into the post.
Friday, December 21, 2007
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