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Now it's just getting funny Channel surfing the other night, we came across a movie called Ginger Snaps--a pretty decent werewolf film, at least as far as late night TV viewing goes.   Today I'm checking out the reviews section at SciFi.com and I come across this... "In recent times, there have been a number of low-budget, direct-to-video werewolf movies that accomplished chills well out of proportion to their respective budgets: Ginger Snaps , for one, and Dog Soldiers, for another."   So where's my damn theme music!

Synchronicity Update… There's an old Sean Connery film called Zardoz that I saw years ago in San Diego (it was part of a double feature at the local cinema with Wizard of Oz, which makes sense once you've seen Zardoz). Like I said, it's been years, but the movie's always stuck with me. So last week, I rented it from Netflix and saw it again. (Just an aside--it did not age well.) So yesterday I'm reading the Entertainment Weekly Summer Preview issue and they're talking to Sean Connery about League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and he refers to the movie as being "a bit far-out". Then he goes on to say that it's never stopped him, "that it didn't stop me from doing Zardoz."   AND THEN... I was dubbing a copy of a CD this morning and, as I finished the label on the CD, the DJ back-announced the song that had just finished playing and it's a song from the CD I just finished burning.   I'm really ready for the Twilight Zone t...

In Today's New York Times... Really, do I need to say anything?   Bush Takes Tax Cut Battle on the Road President Bush raced across Ohio to try to pressure the state's deficit-hating senator, George V. Voinovich, to support a "robust" tax cut plan.   I.R.S. to Ask Working Poor for Proof on Tax Credits The Internal Revenue Service is planning to ask certain members of the working poor to provide the most exhaustive proof of their eligibility ever demanded of any class of taxpayers.

An interesting take on today's war rhetoric We call language a terrorist organization to illustrate the real effects of language on citizens, especially in times of war. Language, like terrorism, targets civilians and generates fear in order to effect political change. When our political leaders and our media outlets use terms like Anthrax, terrorist threat, madmen, and biological weapons, a specific type of fearfulness emerges, both intentionally and unintentionally. We are all targets for this type of language, and we are all affected by it as well. Regardless of the truth of the words, collateral language produces effects beyond its meaning. --John Collins, American academic, Collateral Language, 2002   There's a discussion of the book here: Collateral Language... a discussion on the Radio National site for the Australian Broadcasting Company.

I give up... I just saw an online poll on one of the local news channel sites asking if Dale Petrosky made the right decision canceling the Bull Durham event because of Tim Robbins & Susan Sarandon's views on the war with Iraq. 75% of the respondents said yes. (19% no and 6% don't care.)   Now, the question wasn't whether you agreed with Petrosky, but whether you thought he did the right thing. 75% said yes. I know, I know, online polls are more a reflection of the audience visiting that site than an accurate representation of public opinion... but still! 75% said yes!   Amazing.

Words to live by... Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. —Hanlon's Razor

Ladies & Gentlemen, for your consideration… In the category "Worst Movie Title of the Year" I humbly submit (drum roll, please!)...       2 Fast 2 Furious      Now what the hell is that supposed to mean? And what grammar challenged marketing genius came up with that one?      This one may even top last year’s winner—Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. At least that one’s got an excuse, since it’s tied in with a Japanese videogame. Their titles never translate well.      2 Fast 2 Furious... yeah, sure. Whatever you say.

Synchronicity Strikes Again... Just finished watching Grave of the Fireflies (a beautiful, brilliant, depressing-as-all-hell piece of anime) and turned on the TV to be greeted by a commercial for Aveeno--using fireflies. Have I mentioned that synchronicity is messing with my head?

Cooperstown Muffs One Even MORE love for Petroskey from the New York Times. Did this guy put his foot in it, or what?

The Hall Tolerates No Dissent Dale Petroskey gets his props from the New York Times.

Baseball Hall Cancels 'Bull Durham' Event Can I just say Dale Petroskey is an idiot? Actually, I think Tim Robbins said it better, but I figured I'd put my two cents in anyway.

And, while I'm at it... "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." —Benjamin Franklin

Another great quote... To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. —Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1858-1919)

"WASHINGTON - After falling nearly a dime in three weeks, gasoline prices are expected to keep sliding to a national average of $1.56 a gallon this summer thanks to lower oil prices and optimism about the war in Iraq, the government says. "A month ago, before the war in Iraq, the agency predicted gas prices would average more than $1.70 a gallon through the summer, hitting 1.76 this month. "Instead, gasoline prices have dropped about 10 cents a gallon over the past three weeks from a high of $1.73 a gallon in early March. The national average was $1.63 a gallon on Monday, according to the EIA." Gas Prices Will Keep Falling, U.S. Says $1.73?!? FUCK ME! If we're paying $2.25 a gallon here, than somewhere in this freaking country it's considerably under $1.73... once again, we get screwed in California. Boy, one of these days, we're gonna secede and the rest of you a-holes just watch out! We'll start charging a premium for all those...

All right, so in the interest of fairness I have to admit that, after reading the New York Times article on the Supreme Court's cross-burning ruling ( States Can Outlaw Burning of Crosses, Justices Rule ), O'Connor doesn't sound half as scary as she did in the earlier article I'd read. Guess that'll teach me to go off on a premature rant. *sigh*

It's the end of the world as we know it... (come on, sing it! You know the tune!) In yesterday's Daily Variety, MTV's President of Programming, talking about their new slate of reality shows for the upcoming season, says they're "not interested" in the kind of brinksmanship that the broadcast nets are engaged in. "We reached a decision to tack back in the other direction. You come to a point where you can't outdo your competitors in terms of insanity." So MTV has become the voice of reason? The apocalypse is nigh, I tell you! Oh, and Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are reportedly in talks to star in a remake of Casablanca. You can't WRITE punchlines like that one!

Pop Music, Abba and the dreaded Earworm... I read recently about a program that some company was testing that would be able to indicate the likelihood that a pop song would be successful. I don't remember the details, but their original intent had something to do with analyzing pop songs for some other purpose (which now escapes me). They were surprised to find that all the successful songs they analyzed showed marked similarities when their results were charted. Using these results, they proposed using their software on unreleased songs to see how they stacked-up against their success rate charts, thus making it possible to rate the potential success of the unreleased song. Reportedly, record producers and music industry types are interested in the results of further tests. (This last sentence to be read in a dry, sarcastic manner.) One of the items I bet they're tracking (whether they're aware of it or not) is the "earworminess" of each song. An Ear...

From today's Supreme Court ruling upholding a Virginia state ban on cross burning... "The protections afforded by the First Amendment are not absolute," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote. Not that I'm in favor of cross burning, but that statement gives me chills.

Potlatch... Year's ago, in some story I can no longer remember, I came across the term "potlatch" used in reference to the idea of conspicuous consumption (those of you who've read my earlier Vegas entry will know where this is going). In this forgotten story, potlatch was described as "a Native American celebration wherein a large bonfire was built and the wealthiest members of the tribe would cast some prized possession (or possessions) into the fire as a way of showing how little that actual wealth mattered." In other words, they could afford to waste these possessions because they were wealthy enough to simply replace them. As I've said, I long ago forgot the book that I read this in, but the word has stuck with me. And every time we go to Vegas and I see the Bellagio and its damn fountains, I think of that word. Before posting this blog, I figured I'd do a little research on the word potlatch just to see if the definition I remembered ...

More about Mama Mia One thing I noticed during the production had nothing to do with the acting, the singing, the score or any of that... it was the moon. During the opening scene, there was a small gibbous moon hanging in the back of the scene--one of those "photo-real" shots where you can nearly count the craters in the face of the moon. And, it being early in the show when I'm still in an easily distracted state, I thought about it being kind of sad that, since we've been to the moon a few times and we now have all these high resolution pictures of the face of the moon, that it's no longer fashionable to just hang a plain moon up in the sky. Kind of takes all the romance out of it. Well, in the final scene of the show, the moon comes back. And this time it's a really big, full moon that basically fills the back of the scene. And it's that old-fashioned, plain-faced moon. No craters or photo-realism allowed. And it occurred to me that it was a nice j...

Dreamcatcher Dreamcatcher… I walked out of this one not hating the movie, but severely unimpressed and I think I’ve finally figured out what’s bothered me about the film. The problem isn’t that the plot doesn’t tie the disparate elements in the movie together—it does. But the real problem is that they simply shouldn’t be in the same movie. You’ve got the Stand By Me kids flashbacks, evil alien invasions (a la Independence Day), Alien-style chest busters (that blow out of your ass—more on that later), out of control military type (think Outbreak) and his noble foil, psychic powers and the annual aren’t-we-a-goofy-buncha-guys getaway all going on in the same movie (those last two courtesy of countless Stephen King stories). It’s like the producers took a bunch of treatments, threw them in a blender and then made a movie out of the elements that stuck together. (“The All New Script-O-Matic! Get Yours Now!” I need to patent this idea right away!) And it’s not like Jason Lee was in a ...

Vegas, baby, Vegas! So, a couple of days & nights in Vegas and I have to admit I had a much better time than I have in recent Vegas trips. Unlike Dani (and several of our friends) I’m only mildly excited about Vegas trips. Partly it’s the casinos… obnoxious, bell-ringing, smoke-filled buildings designed to do one thing—suck the money out of your wallet. (Naw, I’m not prejudiced.) But the reality is, coming from California (where no one smokes indoors) and having asthma, cigarette (and cigar and pipe) smoke and I are not friends. And the unnatural quality of casino air BEFORE you pump in the smoke (I don’t know if the casinos actually do pump in oxygen or if that’s just a myth, but there’s something about their air that’s wrong) just exacerbates that problem. Then, turn it into a marathon session of nickel, quarter, dollar slots with the occasional blackjack or roulette thrown in and I end up feeling like I’ve wasted several hours of my life (and several hundred dollars) with n...