OK, we're 37 minutes in to the movie and I have to ask: does this damn thing have a plot? Right now it feels like someone took some funny ideas for scenes and then strung them together in the hope they'd make a movie.
Update: Not much of a plot; however, the ending did seem to make sense. That said, it's rather difficult to recommend a movie that isn't driven by a plot, by it characters (they're one-dimensional and generally unlikeable), or by the setting (ooh, hey, Idaho... neat).
Two out of five monkey heads for this one.
Zombyboy is celebrating two years of blogging and having not wet the bed. Yay!
...when I agree with Oliver Willis (on matters other than just how delicious a Hostess Swiss Cake Roll can be), but if the guys at Powerline want to be the bleeding edge of blogdom, they've gotta do better than this:
That was a mistake, of course. One "Chris Rock," the host, whom I've never otherwise heard of, led off with an idiotic anti-Bush tirade. $70 trillion? Interesting statistic. What was noteworthy was not the host, who obviously knows nothing, but the crowd--every single person there laughed and applauded. So much for the Academy Awards. I'm curling up with a good book, about which more later.Never heard of Chris Rock? Can't grasp that comedians distort the facts in order to make this thing called "humor?" Can't let go of your own ideology-humping biases to realize that Chris Rock is a funny guy, at least when he can use bad words?
Sorry, but this is either the most subtle form of blog humor to zip right over my head, or the Powerline guys need to step away from the blog and check out the world around them*.
Note: The Powerline author, Hindrocket, is also the one who - a couple of years ago - said:
As the empirical foundations of Darwinism have crumbled under attack by a new generation of biologists, especially microbiologists, its advocates have become increasingly shrill and sectarian.I'm sorry, dumbass says, "What?"
Update: Heh.
Is it me or are the Power Line dudes replacing thought with knee-jerk Lefty paranoia? Anytime you make O-Dub look good is a defeat for the Right in the blogosphere.* But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and that frightening, glowing orb is the sun. Perhaps we should step away from the Xbox and come out of the basement more often.
Some folks might liveblog the Academy Awards; others might not.
But I bet I am the only one who is liveblogging about another blog that is ignoring the awards show!
So, let's get started...
...ok, nothing new over there yet.
Update: Phil Dennison is liveblogging the awards, touching on subjects as diverse as British dentistry and butt-crackery
Update 2: No changes over at Zomby's site. He's got this "ignoring the Oscars" thing down pat. A true expert. A genius!
Update 3: Zomby has now expounded upon the brotherly love he has for yours truly. I am touched, and I raise my glass of wine to him as a show of respect, and because it puts it that much closer to my mouth (the wine, not Zomby - you people!).
Update 4: Not that I'm watching the Academy Awards, and not that I actually rewound the digital video to verify this, but did Morgan Freeman just say "Heavens to Murgatroid?"
That's nifty.
Update 5: Still nothin' new over in Zombyland. What a slacker.
Update 6: Actual live blogging and more links over here.
Update 7: I spent five years of my life working for Price Waterhouse. I never got asked to count the votes at the Awards, and - to this day - I blame that for Jethro Tull winning the Oscar for... no, wait, sorry, that was the Grammy awards. But I did work there.
Update 8: Hooray for Che? Hollywood is so screwed up (as is the "he-makes-me-cream-myself-for-the-poor" journalist who wrote the profile to which I just linked). But, hey, let's not let his murderous Communist ways or his desire for martyrdom get in the way of our really nifty t-shirts.
Roger L. Simon says:
Santana in a cornball Che t-shirt. So far, I like the French song best. This is dull schmaltzy fair. If Che hadn't died young, people wouldn't worship him so blindly and we wouldn't have to listen to his sentimental crap.Oh yeah, Zomby is talking about something or other.
George Bush knew Vladimir Putin would be defensive when Bush brought up the pace of democratic reform in Russia in their private meeting at the end of Bush's four-day, three-city tour of Europe. But when Bush talked about the Kremlin's crackdown on the media and explained that democracies require a free press, the Russian leader gave a rebuttal that left the President nonplussed. If the press was so free in the U.S., Putin asked, then why had those reporters at CBS lost their jobs? Bush was openmouthed. "Putin thought we'd fired Dan Rather," says a senior Administration official. "It was like something out of 1984."A few thoughts:
Now, of course, CBS didn't have to fire them for all of that, but it was a wise move to save what little face remained.
The essential difference, however, is that private enterprise in America punishes journalists for lying, while - in Russia - the government punishes journalists for even hinting at the truth.
Beep...beep....beeeeeeeeeeeep.
It's been 20 years since Philip Bailey and Phil Collins recorded "Easy Lover?"
Sorry, just surfing the web, listening to Music Choice 80s and 90s channels on the digital cable, and realizing that - despite my best efforts to wish it otherwise - I'm getting old.
I mean, uh, less young.
Yeah, that's it.
P.S. Why the hell is Darius Rucker doing Burger King ads now? Didn't he sock away his Hootie money into a range of index funds* ensuring that he'd never have to work again while maintaining a well-to-do lifestyle?
* Or perhaps tax-free munis?
Tried a new one last night: North Coast Red Seal Ale. I'd tell you lots about it, but after six or so of them in the course of the night, all I really recall is that it was "good."
For, oh, about thirty years or so:
Dennis Rader, 59, of Park City, Kan., a Wichita suburb, was arrested without incident during a traffic stop Friday afternoon...authorities said Saturday they are confident the arrest will end the search for BTK, the serial killer who police now believe murdered 10 people between 1974 and 1991....It'd be swell if that ominpotent and omnibenevolent god up there decided to do something powerful and good every once in a while, wouldn't it? But, no, he leaves it up to us mere mortals to try to put things right.Authorities wouldn't say where Rader, a Cub Scout leader who was active at his Lutheran church, is being held.
I suppose he's probably too busy* cooking up another tsunami or maybe a typhoon to bother with petty things like serial killers.
Thanks, Big Guy!
Lots more, without the Puppy-Crushing Evil Atheist Anti-God Slant, here.
* Or perhaps he just doesn't much like Lutherans.
Nanny statists killing business in Alabama:
The manager of a downtown Montgomery restaurant and bar said he is losing customers and his business has decreased sharply since the city's smoking ordinance went into effect Jan. 1.Having called Montgomery home once upon a few years ago, I'd like to say that business declined because - well - the beer at the brewpub just isn't very good. However, given the timing, it looks like the healthy government do-gooders have worked their magic.Chris Ellis, manager of the Montgomery Brewing Company, said January sales were down 22 percent from last year, alcohol sales dropped 37 percent and all sales after 9 p.m. were down 40 percent.
[Councilman] Cook and Mayor Bobby Bright said the ordinance has made several restaurants a much more pleasant environment. Both commented on Waffle House and the dramatic change since they opted to be non-smoking.Nevermind that the right to a "pleasant" dining environment isn't exactly enshrined, or even hinted at, in either the Constitution of the United States of America or the Constitution of the State of Alabama*: I just wanted to laugh at the fact that the shining example of fine dining offered up by the Councilman and Mayor was the Waffle House.
Hooray for my moving to Denver.
* However, while we're having fun at the expense of the good people of Alabama, let's not forget that interracial marriage was constitutionally verboten in the Heart of Dixie until 2000 - and, even then, some forty percent of the people still wanted to keep them dirty tar babies from ruining white purity.
So, I'm - for an unknown reason, although being too lazy to find the remote is probably a start - watching this Peter Jennings ABC special on UFOs.
My summary: Wow, there are some mighty dumb and gullible people in this country.
'Cause I came in Alabama with a vibrator 'tween my knees.
Oh wait, No I didn't*.
The Supreme Court declined Tuesday to review the constitutionality of a state law banning the sale of sex toys, rejecting an appeal that said consumers have a right to sexual privacy.As I said before, and as others have said better, it always comes back to uber-conservatives being worried that someone might be having more fun than they are.Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling that said Alabama had a right to police the sale of devices that can be sexually stimulating.
And they're usually right that we are.
* This is a metaphorical "I" and should not be construed to mean that I walk around with a toy wee wee in my hiney hole or anything like that. Thank you for your time and attention. God bless. Amen.
Zombyboy prompted this. And I must obey Herr Zomby.
Gimme gimme more more more »
Unlike the September 11 fake WTC tourist picture that made its rounds on the net a couple of years ago, these final tsunami photos appear to be tragically real.
Photographs from the camera of a Canadian couple killed in Asia's tsunami include their final shots of a huge wave as it rushed toward them at their beach resort in Thailand.If nothing else, perhaps it will serve to educate others that when a giant wave is surging toward you, running is probably smarter than snapping a couple of photos. It probably wouldn't have been enough to save them, but I guess we'll never know.
Who would have thought it possible?
Pro-evolution scientists are getting their tailbones kicked by the creationist folks. The Darwinians are getting outmaneuvered every step of the way, mainly because they are not organized and do not communicate well. If the current trend continues, the survival of the fittest will be the creationists. The evolutionists will find themselves on the heap of history.He goes on to give his advice for turning this sorry state of affairs around.
Unfortunately, some of it deals with dumbing down the topic. In the short term, perhaps that is the answer; in the long term, we need to raise the thinking abilities of the population. While we're waiting, though, evangelicals will continue to warp and misuse the idea of "science" to promote their agenda (for an example I found last night, clicky clicky here here here).
Faith is not scientific. Creation science is anything but. And until we can get the layman to appreciate the difference, well, we're pretty much screwed when it comes to a general shift in public views.
You can cease with the e-mails pleading to know what I'm reading. Why? Because I, right this moment, shall tell you:
Gimme gimme more more more »
Convert / Zealot
(No one told you there'd be a test, did they?)
Undisclosed sources, continuing their pursuit of truth, have released more excerpts from the secret Bush tapes indicating that, despite never touching on the subject in his entire political career, George W. Bush has - in fact - ripped one in public and exclaimed "Whoops! Stepped on a frog!"
Original story here.
Follow-up here.
Korn guitarist does one too many drugs and finds God:
Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch has parted ways with the hard rock act, citing a recent religious awakening.You know, bully for him and all that. I think he's just stepped off the cliff of rationality, but then he was already teetering at the brink by thinking Korn was a worthwhile band.
If this brings Korn any closer to breaking up, then thank the Lord for small miracles.
Amen.
Found via Ms. Malkin
Imagine a boot stamping on a human face:
Moscow: President Vladimir Putin of Russia, in an apparent response to criticism by George Bush, said his country was committed to the democratic ideal but would pursue it in its own way.A way that doesn't involve all that messy "voting" and "liberty" nonsense. I imagine Putin dreams of the day when he can win 99% of the vote just like Saddam Hussein.
Under Mr Putin's presidency, the Kremlin has tightened its control over the media, the legal system, parliament and regional governments.Trust us, comrade, we're the government. Something about Ben Franklin, liberty, safety, and trade-offs as well.Mr Putin has sought to justify these steps by arguing that Russia must build a stronger state to fight terrorism.
Sorry, I meant Pope John Paul II.
They sound so similar, surely you can understand my confusion.
Homosexual marriages are part of "a new ideology of evil" that is insidiously threatening society, Pope John Paul says in a new book published Tuesday.Or perhaps a giant case of slippery-slopism, further complicated by the idiotic assertion that two men or two women being lawfully wedded in any way decreases the value of someone else's marriage or family. Here's a hint: if it does, YOU have the problem, not the gay people."It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man," he writes.
The Pope, like an everlasting Catholic Mr. Smithers, seems determined to hang around as long as possible. While I don't wish death on the man - barring a sudden conversion to a philosophy of tolerance - a quick drift into complete irrelevance would be nice.
...the blogosphere star.
Perhaps "killed" is an overstatement, but I bet she'll come back to us with a big ol' head, refusing to blog for the unwashed masses, drunk on the power and fame and joy that comes from now being in Paris Hilton's cell phone.
Former British Prime Minister John Major says that Tony Blair's actions are a cancer in the body politic.
Yeah, well, my wife was in Huntingdon Youth Concert Band in Cambridgeshire with John Major's daughter, Elizabeth, and has this to say:
I was a tuba player and she played the E flat clarinet, and she thought she was special because she played the E flat clarinet. And in band, woodwind players always think they're better than the brass players. She was a snob. Her hair was always pefect, in a Princess Diana do.So there! Take that, Mr. "Cancer in the Body Politic" Major!
Don't mess with our pal Tony, Johnny-boy!
Note: Yes, my wife, measuring in at 5 feet tall and 110 pounds played the tuba. Weird, huh?
Undisclosed sources tell us that the recently publicized "Bush tapes" also indicate that the President, despite his silence on the subject during his entire political career, has - in fact - experienced one or more nocturnal emissions.
Details soon.
Hunter S. Thompson has killed himself.
Can't say I much cared for his stuff, but I know other people would beg to differ.
I also tend not to ooh and ahh much when someone seemingly pointlessly takes their own life, unless they're suffering from an incurable illness or such (but then that wouldn't be pointlessly).
I enjoyed the work of both Andrew Wood and Kurt Cobain, but when they offed themselves - one with drugs and one with a shotgun - I'd be lying if I said I ever thought "poor, poor pitiful them."
Moving right along.
And, no, McGehee, you're not alone.
Update: We have more company.
CNN reports:
Private conversations with George Bush secretly taped by an old friend before he was elected president foreshadow some of his political strategies and appear to reveal that he acknowledged trying marijuana, The New York Times has reported.Off the record, a New York Times reporter also indicated that the tapes appear to reveal that he acknowledged trying masturbation.
Lots.
In other words, who the hell cares?
I mean, aside from someone like Kaye Grogan?
Michael Powell's legacy lives on:
At least two TV stations will show an uncensored documentary about soldiers in Iraq despite a warning from PBS that it can't insure stations against FCC fines stemming from bad language.Your attention, please, "more conservative parts of the country."The documentary contains 13 expletives spoken by soldiers. But "Frontline" producers also made a separate version with the words edited out, for use by some of PBS's 170 stations in more conservative parts of the country.
Ahem.
Many, if not most, of you, as well as myself, supported President Bush's agenda for war in Iraq. We damn well better be willing to see the good, the bad, and the ugly from that decision.
What's sad is that broadcasters live in fear of offending someone with a bad word or a bare bottom, but know that wanton violence will fly right by the FCC without comment.
What's even more sad is that this is a result of the strange and often times backwards morality that has taken shape in our nation, particularly in the "more conservative parts of the country."
Putin: Iran not developing nukes
...which is about as comforting and believable as this:
Putin: I am not trying to be an iron-fisted dictator of Russia.
Dubya, it's time to stop playing cuddly-bear footsie with the Russians before we find ourselves in another cold war.
I do enjoy watching The Apprentice, primarily for the gritty reality, the high drama, and the fabulous business education one can receive from the mouth of The Donald.
OK, fine, maybe it's really about this.
Kaye Grogan, a freelance writer who looks remarkably like someone you'd expect to see at Landover Baptist, claims at RenewAmerica that freedom of speech has turned the nation into a pig sty.
How sad that something as powerful as "freedom of speech" has brought a great nation down. The very freedom that should be cherished has turned a nation into a quagmire of pig sties. What a sad state of affairs, that the freedom patriot Patrick Henry was willing to die for, has become so soiled, and beyond recognition.My IronyMeter just exploded. Apparently the proper way to cherish our freedom of speech is to prevent people from exercising theirs; makes perfect sense.
To a kooky uber-conservative, I suppose.
Turn on the television, and you'll be inundated with ads, sitcoms, movies, saturated with violence, vulgarity, and scantily clad men and women engaging in sexual encounters. Flip over to the news talk shows, and you'll be exposed to congressional members as guests, who complain about how things are so out-of-control. Tell us something we don't already know! Like how you're planning on getting things back under control . . . for starters.I take control via this magical gadget called a "remote control." It's really neat, Kaye: I just point it at the box with pretty moving pictures and can change to other pretty pictures - or even to a blank screen! Wow!
Why is it that conservatives are all about small government until they think someone might be having more fun that they are?
And how sad money has caused such a magnitude of corruption. When some of the rich powerful people realize to what extent they've been willing to sell their souls out for, in favor of fat bank accounts, it will be way too late . . . when the funeral march plays.Because Jesus hates the naked boobies, and in his Eternal LoveTM and Boundless ForgivenessTM, he will damn those rich fat cats to Hell for all eternity. To his credit, he will blow them a kiss first.
There comes a time and place, when crossroads should make a person reevaluate their lives, and see if they are going down the wrong street and opt to get on the right street. No amount of endorsing bad behavior is going to make it right. Even if street drugs are made legal, this will not stop the destructive one-way street to doom, the drug users are on. The drug users are already shackled to an addiction, and legalizing the drugs is not going to miraculously take away the end results, which is eventually death from heart failure, overdoses or suicide.What this has to do with freedom of speech is completely beyond me. I believe this is called "confusing the issue," or - more likely - "rambling aimlessly in the hope I'll find a point."
Many people who thought the nineties were bad — would probably welcome those years back, in comparison to how things are going in the 21st century so far.I sure would, simply because getting old rather sucks. As for the way things are going, we're still a great people in a great nation because of our many freedoms, not in spite of them.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — has laid the law down about obscenity laws being violated on television and radio. So, how does the Fox channel get by with airing a commercial where a young woman is used to poke fun at a ruling made by the FCC last year, concerning the exposure of Janet Jackson's chest, by pretending her top is falling off? A good question, and one that definitely needs answering.Easy - because the advertisement didn't show any bare booby nipply goodness. Also, making fun of the FCC is perfectly legal (at least right now), and should be encouraged at every opportunity. Such should be the fate of all moralistic nanny-statist weiner heads.
Evidently, these folks are getting a kick out of defying rules. Probably, because they know a smack on the wrist is worth their end goal.Well, yes, controversy sells, which is neat because it's the moralistic nanny-statist weiner heads like Ms. Grogan that, in their quest to stamp out the possibility of people enjoying sex from behind, actually make people curious about the very things they want to ban.
Life is funny like that. They just need to realize the joke is on them.
What happened to the three minute delay before airing commercials in a Super Bowl time slot, by responsible television officials? This is responsibility at its worst.Was there ever such a thing? And wasn't the original controversy about the half-time show and not the commercials? And is this another case of Ms. Grogan rambling aimlessly in the hope of finding a point?
The Internet is a great tool for education, but the World Wide Web at your fingertips has turned into a cesspool reeking of vile pornography, in which pornographers use emails, and URL addresses (that seem innocent), to peddle their filth. Even if the filth was covered under the "freedom of speech" and "freedom of expression," the freedom ended the minute the "unsolicited" disgusting trash arrived in my email box. This is called "infringing" on someone else's rights. And the freedom buck stopped there — the minute they violated the "spam" law. It's one thing to go and buy the filth, and another all together, to have it shoved "unwillingly" down your throat.I agree. Don't be shocked, kids: even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Recently, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin posted a few vulgar, nasty emails that she received via email from liberals who disagreed with one of her articles, for all to see just how vicious they can be. Good for her! Ms. Malkin is smart enough to know — the more liberals attack conservatives, the more determined they are, to express their personal opinion. No, you don't have the right to intimidate writers like Ms. Malkin. There's a way to disagree with opinions without being mean-spirited. Didn't you learn this in high school during debates?Apparently, our dear Kaye doesn't get around to read what Freepers write - or doesn't remember the silly "Clinton death list" - or read Ann Coulter, who is still disappointed that Tim McVeigh didn't blow up the New York Times instead.
Kaye, Kaye, Kaye - conservatives do not have a corner on the courtesy market. Nor do liberals. Nor do libertarians. There exist irrational, crude, and rude yahoos in each camp; they just tend to be on the extremes (sort of like, oh, you).
Bloggers use anonymous nicknames to trash people they don't agree with. If you read some of the nastiness they post, you'd be hiding behind a nickname too. Makes one wonder what kind of upbringing did these people have? It's apparent they didn't learn to respect themselves, so it's not hard to understand how they can be so disrespectful to those they trash.I had a great upbringing and am generally very courteous and well-behaved. I also am not anonymous on this blog. I also happily call a moralistic nanny-statist weiner head a moralistic nanny-statist weiner head when I see fit. Smoochies.
Internet Service Providers, (ISP) and Internet search engines need to be held to the same kind of standard as the FCC is supposed to be holding broadcasters to. After all, Internet connections are over the airwaves, the same way as other broadcasting systems operate.Yes, because the answer is more regulation - more government - more taxes to support the new regulations! We must ensure that no one gets the idea that someone's mouth on their hoohah is pleasurable!
Here's an idea: take responsibility for what you watch and what you read. Best of all, it requires no new government institutions and it's free.
Just because pornography filth is "universal" and available online, does not excuse the United States from being responsible for what goes on in the United States. It's time (way past time) — for lawmakers to get on with fulfilling their "sworn to uphold" duty obligations.And just because you don't like to see hoohahs and dangly-wanglies tangled up in goo doesn't mean you're absolved of responsibility for turning off your television, not clicking on dubious links, and singing "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" everytime you get tingly in the pleasure patch.
The notion that "freedom of speech" gives one the right to defame, and slander someone publicly is a "misconception." Giving an opinion, and calling someone bad names is two different things.Ramblin', ramblin', ramblin'. How did we go from porn to slander? Ms. Grogan, your argumentative essay skills are the literary equivalent of Sybil. Didn't you learn how to write in high school?
When all is said and done, the way you choose to exercise freedom of speech, says a lot about who you really are inside. And it's obvious, there's a lot of "pitch black" hearts out there . . . that will eventually become self-destructive.So if all the black hearts are going to self-destruct, leaving you free to flagellate yourself for thinking of Brad Pitt's bare, sweaty chest without their immoral interruptions, why do you have such a hard on for government action?
Sounds like someone needs a dangly-wangly in the hoohah if you ask me.
And no, that's not an offer.
Via Drudge comes this from the New York Times:
New intelligence information strongly suggests that Al Qaeda has considered infiltrating the United States through the Mexican border, top government officials told Congress on Wednesday.Those terrorists, they're so smart. Gosh, who could have imagined they would look to the Mexican border as a point of entry? I mean, it's common knowledge that it is a hardened, impenetrable barrier between the US and Mexico. What derring-do!
Seriously, if this information comes as a surprise to Congress, we're neck-deep in homeland security doo doo.
Heh.
And, uh, heh again.
The Bush administration said Wednesday it would seek to reinstate an indictment against a California pornography company that was charged with violating federal obscenity laws. It was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' first public decision on a legal matter.Next up I bet he'll wade into the War on Drugs, pursuing legal matters almost as useless as bad porn, while crimes with actual victims are conveniently ignored. Because, you know, it's for the children!
If allowed to stand, Lancaster's ruling [in favor of the porn company] would undermine obscenity laws as well as other statutes based on shared views of public morality, including laws against prostitution, bestiality and bigamy, the department said in a statement.While I smell some slippery slopism here, I philosophically don't see much problem with undermining laws against prostitution and bigamy. As for the bestiality bit, it's nice to see that, a little more than a year after I conceived of it, Andy's Law is being fulfilled by the upper echelons of our government.
Prosecutors charged Zacari and Romano and their company with distributing videos to Pittsburgh through the mail and over the Internet. Mary Beth Buchanan, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, has said the case was not about banning all sexually explicit materials, just reining in obscenity. Extreme Associates' productions depict rape and murder, Buchanan said.Rape and murder? Wow, just like every major crime drama on network television, any number of movies, and multiple works of literature?
WE MUST BAN TESS OF THE d'URBERVILLES IMMEDIATELY!
You high school students who just want to get out of reading it can shut up now.
in his opinion, Lancaster said the company can market and distribute its materials because people have a right to view them in the privacy of their own homes.One would think, but - then again - statue boobies were too much for the illustrious Mr. Ashcroft, and this guy doesn't seem much better on that front.
Does anyone remember the made-for-TV movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble?" And does anyone remember a scene where John Travolta's character steps free of his bubble and goes horseriding or whatever with his sweet sweet love? And does anyone remember the song that played during that scene?
Yes?
OK, what the hell was it called?
I could, of course, be confusing one or more scenes and songs from the movie, as my memory grows weak after 33 long years of life. I Googled and came up with the John Travolta-sung song that was the theme of the movie, but I'm thinking of something else (unless, as noted above, I'm on the fast tram to Dementia Disneyland).
Anyone know the answer and not ashamed to say so?
Alternate question: Hey, who likes beer?
Update: The only song that is coming to mind is Dan Hill's "Sometimes When We Touch," but that was written in 1977 (according to All Music), while the movie in question came out in 1976. Here's hoping that's not it anyway.
You canceled "Dead Like Me?" One of the two shows* on your entire crummy pay-per-view channel that made it worth watching?
I curse you and your children and your children's children, Showtime!
Feh.
(this bit of bad news found here).
Update: Matt, in the comments, reminds me of the show "Huff." OK, fine, three good shows. Showtime's children's children shall be spared.
* The other being Penn & Teller's "Bullshit!"
Something like this:
The Tulsa World copyrights its entire newspaper and specifically each of the articles and/or editorials at issue. The reproduction of any articles and/or editorials (in whole or in part) on your website or linking your website to Tulsa World content is without the permission of the Tulsa World and constitutes an intentional infringement of the Tulsa World's copyright and other rights to the exclusive use and distribution of the copyrighted materials.I'd equate the blogosphere to a meteorite crashing into the Yucatan of the Mainstream Media, but that would be a bit over-the-top. Suffice it to say, though, that the MSM seems to be peopled with individuals about as dense as our long extinct friends.
Update: Wizbang seems a bit... perturbed.
Well, this is just a sad story:
At 2 years old Savannah Weaver cannot read, but years from now the letter hanging on her bedroom wall will help her understand just how much her dad loved her.You can read the text of the letter at the site.Aaron Weaver, Savannah's father, was killed over a year ago in Iraq.
The letter was actually written a month before Aaron Weaver was killed. But he never mailed it. The letter arrived home with Aaron's personal items 2 months after his death.
I've long intended to sit down and write a letter to the wee Fiona each year, tucking them away, sealed, in her scrapbook or in a dresser drawer. Should anything unfortunate befall me before she's old enough to remember me properly, she'd at least have something to cling to when thinking about a father she never really knew.
If nothing happens and I make it to a ripe old age (minus the assorted pickled organs), then when she's 13 and tells me how much she hates me, hates me, hates me, slams the door to her bedroom, and pouts all because I wouldn't let her go to some party where kids will play Twister and other deviant activities, I can show her the letters and tell her that I love her anyway.
Because guilt trips are cool.
However, life has continued to get in the way, with events like watching "Trading Spouses" in high-definition somehow seeming more important in the moment. I just can't find the time to write my mind the way I want it to read.
How screwed up is that?
I mean thinking that high-def would somehow make "Trading Spouses" a better show, a vital mirror being held up to our culture, instructional and fulfilling beyond compare.
Anyway, I need to get to writing.
About to take some time to rename the comment and trackback scripts, update the configuration files, and rebuild the site as part of the ongoing efforts to put a halt to the rampant spam.
Stay tuned.
Update: All done.
From the "Yawn-Somebody-Please-Tell-Me-When-To-Care" department comes this:
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will announce the cancellation of the 2004-05 season at a news conference Tuesday in New York, following the failure of both sides in the labour dispute to get a deal on paper by his weekend deadline.My life just hasn't been the same during the strike.
Oh, wait, yes it has.
An observation made while out purchasing groceries for tonight's meal:
King Sooper's Floral Department: When you care enough to wait until the very last minute and end up buying whatever is cheapest at the grocery store thinking your significant other won't know, but I hope you enjoy sleeping on the sofa anyway.As for the happenings at WWR Global HQ, I'm set to whip up Chicken Francese, Potato Croquettes, and Roasted Vegetables, served with a bottle or two of Pinot Grigio. Details, recipes, and such to follow.
Update: OK, not my best work in the kitchen, but it's not the fault of the recipes. Rather, Comcast showed up whilst I was cooking to replace our cable box, resulting in some uneven cooking time as I discussed problems and such.
Anyway, the recipes:
Roasted Vegetables: Set oven to 400F. Slice and dice and chop some red onion, carrot, zucchini, red pepper, and garlic. Toss with extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, and freshly-cracked black pepper. Dump into an oiled pan and roast for one hour; turn halfway through.
I'd tell you about the wine, but the bottle is upstairs. Maybe later.
Happy V-day, y'all.
Having been foiled by steps I and others have taken to prevent comment spam, the spammers seem to have ramped up their efforts to use Trackback pings instead (judging by the 112 that hit the site in the last couple of hours). Looks like it's time to randomize some file names and rebuild once again.
You know, if someone were to find out who these spammers are and drive very large iron spikes through their foreheads, I'd be tempted to urge the law to look the other way.
Update: OK, I am going to disable Trackback until this evening when I can get home and play around with file names, etc. Apologies to any of you hoping to trackback to my genius this afternoon.
First it was McCain sticking the federal nose into the private affairs of professional sports, and now it's Rhode Island:
Sen. Roger Badeau said he is fed up with athletes charging upwards of $100 for an autograph at large-scale autograph signing events. What really irks him is that children have to pay for the signatures of their sports heroes.The wrong message apparently being that no one, even a child, has a right to your labors, no matter how minimal, for free.Badeau's bill would ban professional athletes, entertainers or promoters from charging a fee for an autograph to a child under age 16. They would be fined $100 for each violation.
Badeau said it didn't matter that some of those signed baseballs and bats will end up online or with sports memorabilia dealers. He said it still sends the wrong message.
Update: And from England, we have this:
A new credit card aimed at millions of low-income families is to charge interest at up to 70% - the highest ever charged by a credit card company.Right, because credit card companies shouldn't be allowed to balance the interest rate they charge with the credit risk a borrower presents. We wouldn't want to send the message of "you are responsible for your finances," now would we?But Debt on our Doorstep said it will now increase pressure on the government to amend the consumer credit bill to include a clause allowing the government to impose a maximum interest rate cap.
Pope John Paul, still convalescing after 10 days in hospital, told the world's sick on Friday that their suffering was "precious", but did not deliver his message in person at a special service for sick people...Um, because seeing people suffering, dying in agony, really reinforces the belief in a loving God?"Your suffering is never useless, dear sick people. Moreover, it's a precious thing," the speech said. "If you bring together your suffering and pain, you can be his (God's) privileged helpers in the salvation of souls".
Errr...
Wait, does that mean people who aren't suffering can't be privileged helpers? And, if they can, does suffering make them somehow more privileged?
Doesn't this imply that to provide medical help to someone, to work to reduce their suffering, is to actively work against their being "privileged helpes in the salvation of souls?"*
Isn't this quite possibly one of the most insane things you've ever heard?
I'm not sure what to call a philosophy that apparently so despises the well-being of man. "Sick" is a start, but "evil" might be better.
* Had to edit because the "wee flying baby" story was complete crap, as detailed below.
Rae has submitted her entry (to date) in the "First However Often World Wide Rant Random Concepts Leading to Coherent Stories, If We're Lucky" non-contest. You can find it below the fold.
As for my own, it's taken on a life of its own and - assuming I reach deep down and find some stick-to-it-ness inside of me - is going to undergo a major rewrite, a restructuring, and a plot change to the backstory which will drive the current events in a whole new direction.
Your excitement is palpable.
Gimme gimme more more more »