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Last week on MSNBC we heard the head of the Senate "Bailout Oversight Committee" (or whatever they're called) talking about the questions they're only now getting a chance to ask (such as, how's the money being spent, for instance), and expressing some concern that we may have rushed to get this bailout approved without fully vetting the whole plan. (At least, that's my take on what she was saying… to which I can only reply "gee, you think?"). Later in the week we learned that, due to a cute little loophole in the whole bailout plan, none of the banks and financial institutions that received money are subject to the restrictions Congress attempted to put on outrageous CEO compensation and other potential abuses. Turns out that the only institutions subject to such restrictions are ones that were bought at auction, as this was the original plan for distributing those funds. Instead, the banks were simply handed their bailout money and, apparently, tol...

About the 90 minute mark or so, I was thinking to myself that at least some of the negative/mixed reviews for The Day the Earth Stood Still must stem as much from an (arguably understandable) overly-reverential appreciation for the original as it did from any faults of the new movie. 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still is, of course a classic piece of 50's sci-fi. But it's not Citizen Kane , so a contemporary update doesn't seem out of the question. This is not to say I hadn't already recognized issues with the remake. The military 'shoot first and ask questions later' single/simple-mindedness for instance, while true to the original, is an antique SF trope that I would love to see retired. (All the while acknowledging that the past 8 years of our current foreign policy and military stance doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that we've really any more evolved than that 1950's mentality would indicate.) And don't even get me started o...

Let me get this straight… We're okay with writing a blank check for $700 billion dollars to bail out Wall Street, no strings attached (no prohibitions on ludicrous bonuses, no salary caps on multi-million dollar CEOs — who certainly seem to be earning those salaries and bonuses — not even a 'maybe you shouldn't have those executive retreats this year' suggestion). But when it comes to bailing out the Auto industry, keeping those three corporations from going under and taking millions of jobs with them (along with those workers making significantly less than those Wall Street CEOs), well $15 billion is just TOO MUCH TO ASK! Especially with that damn United Auto Workers gunking up the works. Let's face it, nobody's had anything good to say about this Congress, and I'm sure we're almost as ready for a new session of Congress to begin as we are for Obama to take office. (Well, those of us that aren't still freaking out that Obama won, of course). But Sen...

We moved out of Hollywood several years ago when it came time to buy a house. Short of winning Lotto, selling that screenplay that's been moldering on my hard drive for years, or getting discovered doing waiver Shakespeare, there was no way we were buying in our neighborhood at that time. When we moved, we expected we'd miss a lot of things. The cool neighborhood we lived in, the coffeeshops, bars and restaurants all within walking distance, the 'life' of the city… turns out that not having to worry about finding a parking space after 6 PM alleviated that need to be able to walk to the cool stuff, and that most of the things we thought we were going to miss we really didn't notice. And not having to deal with the afore-mentioned parking issues, and the daily nightmare that IS driving in LA, tended to outweigh a lot of those lingering doubts. But every once in a while, I get slapped in the face with how 'suburban' it can get here. Take today. I've got a v...

Really, all I need here is a link… Clean Coal Carolers from an Industry Run By Morons : TreeHugger 'nuff said.  

Merrill Lynch CEO Thain eyes $10M bonus I don't care what his argument, if your company lost $10 billion dollars this year, and is only surviving thanks to a massive government bailout and last minute bank merger, telling the world you think you deserve a $10 million dollar bonus because "at least you're still in business" puts the "ch" in chutzpah . (That's the choking sound you have to make to correctly pronounce chutzpah, in case you were wondering about that 'ch' reference.) Fortunately, cooler heads seem to have prevailed .  

Originally , I was amused by the name Quantum of Solace. (Admittedly, I was hardly alone in this.) Then I heard that there was a new villainous organization in this new Bond film, that it had actually been hinted at in Casino Royale, and that the title reflected the name of this new organization. And I thought "well, that could work… SMERSH, SPECTRE, SOLACE. Kinda has a 'Bondian' ring to it. (And, if I stretch my brain far enough, I can find a way to make "Quantum of Solace" make sense, if the bad guys are now SOLACE.) However, a few months ago I read in a preview article that the new organization is actually "QUANTUM", and that the producers have no idea what the name means. (I guess it just sounded cool at the time.) Of course, now we're back to square one, where the title of the movie is, if possible, even MORE meaningless than when it was announced. After all, a quantum of the organization SOLACE could, I suppose, mean something. But if the bad ...

On this past week's episode of Chuck ( Chuck vs. the Fat Lady ), one of the characters, in describing her ex-boss's paranoia, says that "the log-on for his computer was a randomly selected word from a piece of Vogon poetry ." I'm pretty sure that may be the geekiest moment in TV this season. (Which, when you consider you've got both Chuck AND The Big Bang Theory competing in this arena, is really saying something.)  

I've been batting the phrase " paradigm-shift " around for a while now. With all the changes we've experienced in the past 20 years, with the changes imminent on the horizon — both for good and ill — the concepts, problems, ideas and beliefs that simply didn't exist 15, 10, even 5 years ago (when did you first hear the word Google?), could we be in the midst of a paradigm shift? (I am HARDLY alone in this thought, as you can see here .) Watching Tuesday's historic election, and listening to the discussions after Obama's victory was declared, I saw another sign of a paradigm shift. A lot can be made of Obama's victory, and it will take time to see if any of it rings true years from now. But I realized that, for all the overblown rhetoric, all the exaggerated emotion, there's a fundamental change that took place last night. Barack Obama is 47 years old. When he was born, there were parts of this country where his father could not have ridden in the f...

Repudiation was something of a minor buzz-word for a couple of weeks after the last Obama/McCain Presidential Debate. McCain took Obama to task for not repudiating inflammatory remarks made by a Democratic senator, then MSNBC took McCain to task every chance they could for his not stepping up and repudiating similar remarks aimed at Obama during campaign stops and other Republican events. As with most campaign moments, this burned itself out fairly rapidly. Watching the election results last night and listening to the commentators speculating as to what this could mean for the Republican party (which, to listen to the reports circulating today, is eating its own tail trying to figure out who to blame and how to bounce back), I found myself coming back to that concept of repudiation. I felt as if the country had stood up and repudiated the past 8 years of Bush/Republican/Conservative control of this country. Eight years of failed economic policy that's led to the worst stock market ...

Well, not so much, really… No candy for Obama fans | Otago Daily Times Online You've almost got to respect that kind of crazy. Or maybe just be afraid of it.  

Is it too much to ask that the woman running for Vice President understand what the job really entails? Palin Claims The Vice President Is ‘In Charge Of The U.S. Senate’ Apparently she's mistaken "President of the Senate" as meaning she gets to be the boss. (Or maybe it's a more ominous example of her latent megalomania coming to the fore.) Whatever the case, I really wish she'd do a little more reading: The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. You know, I've got a little pocket copy of the Constitution I got at a bookstore a while ago. I could send it her way, just in case she hasn't got one. Yeah, that's a donation I could get behind.  

You know, there was a time when I despised the notion of 'small town values' being somehow better, but at least I understood the argument, much as I might disagree with it. But our small minded Republican VP nominee has extended that notion to mean that the only true, real Americans are from small towns. Maybe that's because that's the only place she relates, and is relating to her. Maybe it's some notion that that's her base and by pandering to it, she'll accomplish something. Whatever the reason, I'm with Jon Stewart on this one: Jon Stewart Clarifies Palin Remarks…  

No, not that one. The "Save as Draft" option in Blogger. Just makes it too easy to start a post, and forget to publish it. Since I'm writing as much for myself as for anyone that MIGHT be reading this, I'm going to go ahead and publish the last couple of posts, even though the topics themselves might be a bit "old news" by now. (Yes, that's hyperbole.)  

Wednesday's debate, seemingly, was all about Joe the Plumber, some guy I assumed was just a hypothetical that John McCain threw out to question Obama's tax plan. Turns out that Joe was a "real" guy (you'll understand the quotes soon enough), and the media's been all over him ever since. Joe apparently braced Obama at one of his campaign stops, telling him about the business he's worked for and wants to buy, but that he's concerned that, since the company makes more than $250,000 a year, he'll have to pay more taxes. Obama answered his question and moved on. McCain took that answer and ran it up the flagpole at the debate to see who'd salute. Turns out, judging from the polls after the debate that people were only slightly less interested in McCain's Bill Ayers jabs than they were Joe the Plumber, which meant Joe came in somewhere around second to the last in important issues raised at the debate. Media politics being what they are these day...

Masochism, I suppose, is what's prompted me to watch the last couple of debates between John McCain and Barack Obama. It's not like I'm still looking for that magic bullet that will help me decide who I'm voting for, like the undecideds the networks keep trotting out on stage after each debate. (Really, at this point in the election, how the hell can you still be undecided? I can understand not wanting to share that info — especially if you're voting for McCain. But undecided? Really? Ah well.) Anyway, the thing I was struck most by was just how much John McCain must truly despise Obama. The infamous "That one" crack is only the most obvious moments of disrespect shared between McCain and Obama. But at Wednesday's debate, he seemed almost unwilling to say Obama's name during his opening thank yous… pausing nearly a full second before coming out with "Senator Obama". And at the end of the debate, he couldn't even bring himself to do th...

See, look at me getting all biblical (sort of) here. I've spent most of the last week or two watching, with a mixture of horror and amusement, as Sarah Palin showed off her ignorance of things inconsequential ( Achilles' Heel , anyone? Buehller?) to critical (you know, that pesky Constitution )*. But late last week I started seeing videos of Palin's appearances and the crowds she's drawing. Seems that her 'everyman' approach — playing to the 'common citizen', reaching for the Lowest Common Denominator in American politics, as it were — has succeeded in bringing out the worst of the LCD in the body politic… the fearful, the hateful and the terribly confused. Watching one of these videos gives you the feeling that every narrow-minded, NIMBY jackhole in the country is flocking to Palin because they somehow see her as a reaffirmation of their convictions that Obama is the devil. What is horrifying here (and has been commented on repeatedly, from both ends...

'Blindness' provokes blind activists nationwide Seriously. I can't even being to express my contempt for this kind of crap. Refusing to see the movie's use of blindness as an allegory is either simple "I'm right and you're wrong" arrogance, or even simpler ignorance. I'll opt for the former, since I doubt that the leaders of National Federation of the Blind are actually ignorant. I don't know what's worse… the insistence that everything must conform to one's world view in order to be acceptable, or the fact that loud-mouthed, pointless protests like this get national media attention. Most likely the latter since, if we all stopped validating the whiners, they'd eventually get tired and go away. Does make me want to see Blindness even more than before, though.  

Old news by now, but it's taken me this long to even try and get my head around this headline. Tab for financial bailout: $700,000,000,000 Then again, Bush was all over the place yesterday, assuring everyone the sky was falling and we're all going to hell in a handbasket if we don't pass his bailout bill. So I guess I haven't missed my chance to rant. What's truly staggering about this plan isn't the price tag, frightening as that is. It's this little tidbit: But the most distinctive -- and potentially most controversial -- element of the plan is the extent to which it would allow Treasury to act unilaterally: Its decisions could not be reviewed by any court or administrative body and, once the emergency legislation was approved, the administration could raise the $700 billion through government borrowing and would not be subject to Congress' traditional power of the purse. That's right, we're going to give the Treasury Secretary a $700 BILLION b...

From the "KNBC Noon News Update" email I just received: Lohan Confirms She's Dating Woman Clay Aiken: 'Yes, I'm Gay' A) These stories cannot possibly be considered "news" to anyone. At best, they are confirmation of long held assumptions. That's not NEWS. B) It's six weeks before the next Presidential Election; the current lame-duck tries to further dismantle the Constitution as he attempts to "address" the Mortgage bank failure; battles over gay marriage and the California budget continue… and we get a pair of fluff pieces to lead off their email update? (And no, this was not the Entertainment email update, though both stories appear there as well.) And the rest of the damn email is just as bad, with a headline about Lionel Richie's NEIGHBORS getting robbed, the latest from the OJ Simpson trial, and a FACEBOOK update. WTF?  

Just because I can always appreciate a little hyperbole… McCain-Palin: 15th Century Solutions for the 21st Century. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I agree with the cause.  

McCain Rips Obama Over Lohan Snub Seriously? It's already this stupid? At least I like Obama's spokesman's reply.

I guess, after 8 years of Bush, Rove & Cheney, I should learn never to underestimate Republican tactics. But I obviously didn't think this one all the way through last week. My initial reaction to the Sarah Palin announcement (along with that of many of my friends) was to view it as a cynical attempt to counter the Obama ticket… "Oh yeah, you're running an African-American? Well we've got a woman on our ticket!" But then I saw this story. Belittling Palin? The latest McCain/Palin ad takes Obama and Biden to task for being "disrespectful" to Sarah Palin. According to the FactCheck.org article, those claims are blatantly misleading. (One could, uncharitably I suppose, call them lies. Let's just say I'm not feeling very charitable today.) But the lying is beside the point. What's disturbing here is the notion behind this attack ad. We can see now that Sarah Palin is not simply there to balance the ticket, to serve as some (presumably misguid...

So Obama makes a remark to the effect that adding Sarah Palin to the Republican party ticket may 'pretty up' the ticket, but that you can put lipstick on a pig and you'll still have a pig. Now the McCain camp is up in arms , accusing Obama of calling Palin a pig. Without debating the accuracy of that particular denigration, can we please GROW UP now? No one with a modicum of sense believes he was referring to Palin with that remark, and McCain himself used the same cliché to describe one of Hilary Clinton's proposals earlier in the campaign. So we should all be aware of what the phrase means. Obviously, this is just a chance to get a little political mileage out of this non-issue, but doesn't it seem a bit disingenuous for a campaign that's been milking Palin's potshot at community organizers at every campaign stop to have a fit over this? (I guess it's OK to take those cheap shots, since that whole "community organizer" thing smacks of hippie-...

If you use a PC* today, you likely know this person. You've probably got at least one friend that's in the cult of Apple, and mocks your bad decision-making on a regular basis. The Mac faithful are quick to extol the virtues of their chosen platform and gleefully seek to enlighten you as to why you should agree with them. (Of course, sharing articles like this one with those Mac faithful tend to fall on deaf ears.) And god help you if they're new to Macs. There's nothing more fervent than a recent convert. What I find amusing about this discussion is the notion that a) the Mac is somehow, inherently, the correct/best choice for personal computing and b) all it takes is to use a Mac and this will be immediately apparent. There's an assumption that the PC user simply doesn't know any better, and the Mac user is simply trying to help him see the light. This, of course, is flawed logic, but not too surprising coming from the Mac camp. The funny thing is, I've ...

So McCain's VP choice was announced on Friday, and everyone's abuzz with his choice… either it's a daring, enlightened choice, or smacks of desperation, depending, I assume, on your political inclinations. (Though judging by this story , that may not be quite so clear a distinction this time around.) Then, over the weekend we find that his new VP's daughter is 17 and pregnant, but we're assured that she'll be marrying the baby's father. Ah, what a relief! It is reassuring to know they're doing the responsible thing here, forcing a 17 year old into marriage to protect mom's career. Truly enlightened. (Of course, being a 21st century Republican, I guess her options are limited… unwed motherhood being second only to abortion as the gateway to hell, and adoption probably smacks too much of liberalism. Good choice for the kids, though, I'm sure — that's mom, dad and the newborn, for those keeping track of the minors involved.) In other news, appa...

I really think it's time for a "thin the herd" clause on the whole concept of media responsibility. We saw Death Race this weekend, and at the end of the movie, there's a legal disclaimer to the extent that all stunts were handled by professional drivers on closed courses, yadda, yadda, yadda. And I kinda think that, if you're stupid enough to think that you can mount automatic weapons (working or prop) to your rig and go out death racing with your buddies, well frankly, we're all better off if you remove yourself from the gene pool, and no one gets to complain to anyone about your stupidity. Maybe I'm being misanthropic there. Or maybe that's just my common sense coming to the fore. You decide.  

So when I first heard this report… US Pushes Troop Immunity, Flexible Deadline in Iraq Pact My first reaction was a simple 'what the fuck?' If we're supposed to be "the good guys" here, aren't we supposed to hold ourselves to a higher standard (damning photographic evidence to the contrary aside). So shouldn't the concept of "immunity" run counter to that? Don't we need to step up and take responsibility for our actions in the region? Then I dug into the story and find that the immunity Bush is holding out for is immunity from Iraqi prosecution, as an early draft of the agreement under discussion holds that private U.S. contractors would be subject to Iraqi law. Now, I may not be a big fan of private military contractors (what a wonderful euphemism for mercenaries), but I'm going to agree that, while I think they need to be held accountable for their actions, it probably should be handled in US courts. But I find it interesting how little...

I started a rant about this yesterday, then realized that I was complaining about the wrong thing. Dozens protest at 'Tropic Thunder' premiere It's not the protest that bugs me… you've got a problem with the use of the word "retard" in Tropic Thunder, protest away. Where I'm having problems lately is that there's no gatekeeper on this stuff. Anyone that wants to make noise about something is immediately paid attention to, gets national exposure and is suddenly on the forefront of the latest pop culture faux pas. The Internet has taken the "active" out of activism… it takes no effort to hit the "send your complaint" link in an email, and one blog post is all it takes to catch the media's attention. In this case, "dozens" protested the Tropic Thunder premier. Dozens. If this is your standard Hollywood premiere, then I would assume there were hundreds, if not thousands, in the stands to see the stars arrive and hundreds m...

In a blatant display of bandwagon-jumping (something I try diligently to avoid) I've been reading a lot of graphic novels in recent years. I always enjoyed comics when I was a kid, and have rediscovered a taste for them as they've matured into the graphic novels of today. But I noticed something recently, when I was reading previews of The Dark Knight and The Watchmen . The Dark Knight article referred to a pair of Frank Miller Batman graphic novels ( Batman: Year One & The Dark Knight Returns ) that I've got sitting in my bookcase today. But the articles made reference to things and events in these comics that I simply had no memory of… despite a firm recollection of reading the damn books only a short while ago. The Watchmen is, hands down, one of the greatest comics ever created (so sayeth the scholars and critics) and I finally got around to reading it last year, but I'm suffering the same problem… scenes and characters that I simply do not remember. Even mor...

Do we really need to know this? No Cue: Paris Hilton Memorized McCain Slam Perhaps more to the point, do we care? (And, while I'm questioning things, since when does the notion that Paris is capable of memorizing her lines equate to her being able to f'ing ACT? You're gonna need Olympic long jump stamina to make that particular leap in logic.) And finally, and perhaps the most cogent question, how is this NEWS?!? MEANWHILE… Mr T's Snickers advert axed… The US Based Human Rights Campaign complained about a UK-only ad campaign in which Mr. T pelts a speed-walker with a Snickers Gatling gun. Aside from the absurdity of Mars taking this complaint seriously enough to remove the commercial from UK TV (and let's face it, a "Get some nuts!" ad campaign was never going to make it to the US these days), lets take a moment to consider the notion that speed-walking = gay, as the HRC is apparently arguing. At this point, if I'm the head of the Olympic Speed Walkin...

It's no secret I'm no fan of our Governor. From his " Vote for me because I'm Arnold " campaign, to his attempt at governing by decree (how else to interpret an attempt to sidestep the legislature by putting all the plans they've rejected onto the state ballot), his style tends to resemble his movies… a lot of noise and heavy on the action, but not the most thought provoking content. (And I like his movies — well, some of them at least.) He's a fan of the direct approach, which has probably served him well in his movie career, but seems to be a hard fit for the governor's mansion. (Arguments that 'being outside the system' brings a breath of fresh air and a chance for change have to be countered with the awareness that, while 'the system' may be burdensome and corrupt, not knowing how to effectively work that system is not going to benefit anyone.) His latest baffles me. Not the idea that "we're in a budget crisis and I'm ...

So this was announced earlier this week: A "Marvin the Martian" Movie You'd think I'd be excited to hear about a Marvin the Martian movie… I'm a big Looney Tunes fan and Marvin was always one of my favorite characters. But there's this little tidbit from the article: The project will blend live action and CGI. Presumably, 'classics' like Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action must lead them to believe that people are, once again, clamoring for more Live Action/Animated Looney Tunes adventures. One would think that the successes of movies like Wall·E , Ice Age , The Incredibles and the entire Shrek oeuvre would lead SOMEONE at the WB to think "hey, why don't we do an ANIMATED Looney Tunes movie!" Apparently, you'd be wrong. Of course, judging from their last lamentable attempt at traditional animation, the unwatchably unfunny Duck Dodgers (in the 24th and ½ Century) , maybe that's just as well.  

Another day, another batch of truly annoying commercials to subject myself to, every time I turn on the radio. There's a school of thought that argues that it doesn't matter if your commercial is annoying… that annoying can be a positive, since what really matters is that your commercial gets noticed, and annoying gets noticed. But these have got to go… Accuvue 1 day disposable contact lenses This one features an overly chipper couple, enthusing about their new 1-day disposable contact lenses. They're "often on the road, and glasses get in the way of working out," yadda, yadda, yadda. I visualize the epitome of the corporate marketing drone. At one point, the guy exclaims, "we're road warriors…" and all I can thing is, "Seriously? Did you really, un-ironically, refer to yourself as a 'road warrior'? What person, in real life, EVER refers to themselves as a road warrior?" And, more to the point, would you ever want to spend time with...

It's hard to believe, but lately there've been court decisions that actually make sense to me! The proverbial "you could knock me down with a feather" moment. Court tosses FCC 'wardrobe malfunction' fine Can we drop it now? Can we PLEASE stop listening to the Parent's Television Council and others of their ilk? They lost any credibility with me, back in the day, when they tried to label Loony Tunes cartoons as the most violent show on TV, and they haven't done anything to improve that opinion in the intervening years. What they have done is become real good at Internet activism, getting their loyal membership to hit that "SEND" button every time they find something they deem objectionable. Sadly, the FCC can't seem to differentiate between legitimate complaints and a spam attack, and the PTC is VERY happy to complain about anything that offends their delicate sensibilities. In the interest of the children , of course. Court rules lesbians...

You hear them all the time… "parents advocacy" groups, screaming about how something is "bad for the kids!" (Never mind that what they're complaining about was never intended for their little tykes in the first place. Nor that they're really just using that argument because "I think this is offensive and you should too!" won't get them anywhere — that pesky Constitution, you know.) But they're boisterous, make for 'good' media, and have mastered the art of Internet activism, so we get subjected to their narrow-mindedness on a regular basis. I've wanted a word to describe the mindset for ages. Now we have one… Word Spy - kindergarchy

One new and one old, but I had a couple of thoughts to share. Donnie Darko I finally got around to watching this one over this past weekend. Dani's out of town and I figured I'd catch up on stuff she's not interested in or already seen. This one came up first on Netflix , so it was the winner. I've got to admit that my first reaction, when the credits rolled, was "Seriously? That's IT? I've been hearing about this movie, and how great it is, for years. And this is what I'm left with?" But the more I thought about it over the weekend, the more it's made sense to me. And I've come to the conclusion that it's really the anti- It's a Wonderful Life . I've long ago expressed my opinion about Wonderful Life, but the gist of that story (for the one or two of you out there that's never been subjected to it) is the story of how horrible George Bailey's world would have been had he left to follow his dreams. Donnie Darko is the a...

I've never been a big fan of serial killer stories. I understand the appeal, from a procedural level. There's a lot of good, juicy stuff for the storyteller, as you dive into the killer's madness and concoct the scenarios that fit his madness. The problem I have is that, from a classical sense, they're not good drama. There's all the buildup and suspense you could want, as your hero stalks the madman and tries to figure out not just what he's going to do next, but why he's doing it. But when you get to the resolution, far too often, the stories simply fall flat. There's no catharsis for the audience… no sense of "there but for the grace of god go I" (though, arguably, maybe there should be). Because ultimately, the reason "Why", the whole cathartic ending of the piece, is simply "Because". "Why did he do it?" "Because he's NUTS!" You can relate, on a visceral level, to the person that kills out of jea...

We're in the middle of a drought here in Southern California. Again. (I've read recently that, judging from geological records, we may not actually be in a drought… it's more like this is what the climate in this region is normally like, and we've just been experiencing wetter weather than is the norm for the past century or two.) Whatever the case, it's been pretty dry. The Metropolitan Water District has kicked into full "Conservation is key" mode and you can't escape their " be water wise " ads on the radio. This is all very familiar, as we experienced very similar conditions just a few years ago. We were living in LA at the time and I remember virtually identical commercials, urging everyone to take shorter showers, water less, etc., etc., etc. And, apparently, we all listened and the campaign was quite successful. I assume this because, about six months later, LADWP applied to the California PUC for a rate increase. (Man, you gotta lov...

I was at the airport today when someone walked past me with a shirt that said: May the F = m a be with you And all I could think was, "what… may the force be with you didn't seem geek enough?"  

This is one of those quotes that I always seem to WANT to throw at someone, and yet can never remember at the time. So now I'm posting it here 'for eternity'. Maybe I'll remember next time. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. A great person does not have to think consistently from one day to the next. This remark comes from the essay “ Self-Reliance ” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson does not explain the difference between foolish and wise consistency.

For the past few weeks, I've seen a billboard off the 105, featuring a rather plastic-looking blond, advertising the upcoming Eye Candy Expo , and each time I see it I can only think, "Seriously?". Are we (and I'm referring to my entire gender here) so desperate for a look at hot chicks in skimpy outfits that we need an entire weekend at the convention center dedicated to that idea? (The successful proliferation of adult web sites, men's magazines and gentleman's clubs should be enough to make that question rhetorical, I suppose.) After visiting the site, I begin to see the genius behind this idea. The organizers of this event have obviously seen the way the booth babes and swimsuit models at trade shows and conventions are mobbed each year by glassy-eyed convention attendees looking for a moment with the pretty girl, and figured out a way to capitalize on this concept. There's a $35 fee to attend all three days ($50 for VIP treatment), which gets you acc...

Ok, so it's not really " new " per se, but seriously… Toy Story Mania in 4D? X2 in 5D? Toy Story Mania Hurry! Hurry! You can step right up and compete in a new, interactive "Toy Story" adventure inspired by Disney•Pixar's "Toy Story" films! Come board a ride vehicle and zip off into a 4-D world of midway-style games hosted by Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Hamm and more! X2 : Now Open! We’ve taken extreme to the next level with X2. Completely redesigned trains and state-of-the-art visual, audio and sensory effects move X from the 4th dimension to the 5th as it transforms into X2! And, lest we forget… the 'grandfather of '4D' entertainment: Shrek 4-D Take adventure to the next dimension in Shrek 4-D™ — the attraction that puts you in the action with hair-raising, eye-popping, butt-busting effects so real, all your senses will be on ogre-time. As far as I'm concerned, until the marketing geniuses that came up with these pitches can MAP O...

A couple of weeks ago, thanks to an article in Entertainment Weekly defending Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I went back and watched the film again and realized that, no matter how much the article wanted to argue that Temple was a better film than most people give it credit for, I still thought it was a mediocre film in general, and a bad Indiana Jones film. The problems with Temple of Doom can be summed up simply enough: Short Round, and slapstick. (One must also point out that Kate Capshaw's one-note — i.e. a high pitched squeal — performance didn't help.) I've already ranted about why adding smart-ass kids to action adventure films are NOT the cinematic version of "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" (two great tastes that taste great together, if you somehow don't get the reference). So I won't belabor the point any further here. The other problem (the slapstick issue) became clear to me as I watched Temple of Doom and its painfully drawn ...