i m N s h o

On Writers…   Writers aren't supposed to be life models or religious prophets, clean of mind, clean of body. Nor are they supposed to be loved. Their only job is to make language work for the reader. That is the basis of free speech. Whatever the vested interests of the day may be, they invariably favour an obscure language of insider's dialects and received wisdom. So the writer turns nasty. It's a public service. —John Ralston Saul, Canadian essayist, novelist, and critic, "The Doubter's Companion", 1994   "It's a public service." I like that… I'm not just mouthing off here, I'm performing a public service! (And before you ask, no, I don't have any modesty issues.)

Thoughts on The Hulk (part 2)…   Turns out there's a limit on how long these posts can be! So here's the last of my Hulk rant… the things I liked about The Hulk:   So after all that ranting, what did I like? The Hulk scenes were great. He’s really well animated and expressive, and they impart the feeling of movement and strength well… I could go back and see the movie again just for those scenes. And the overall arc of the film was enjoyable. I needed WAY less “daddy done me wrong” and way more “what am I and what am I becoming”. But there’s an interesting story buried under the rubble of that failed potential. (Like you can see the germs of a good story underlying all the overwritten posturing in Star Wars Episodes I & II.)   Okay, so a multi-page rant about all the things that bugged me and one vague paragraph about what I liked? And I didn't think it's a bad movie? Hmmm, might have to rethink that assessment.

Thoughts on The Hulk…   First things first… The Hulk is NOT Spiderman. It’s not even Daredevil (we’re not talking quality here; we’re talking content. Hulk is MILES above Daredevil in terms of quality.) Hulk is an old-fashioned movie monster story—it owes more to Frankenstein and Godzilla than it does to Spiderman, Superman, Batman or any other superhero you want to name. The fact that he got his start in the comics like the rest of this gang does not mean his stories are going to be the same type of stories.   What this all means, is that all the people whining about how bad the movie is because it isn’t a popcorn-action-superhero movie should just stop whining because it wasn’t meant to be. If you don’t like Hulk because it’s not like Spiderman or X-Men, that’s your own baggage and you really needed to check it at the door before seeing the movie.   This is not to imply that I thought Hulk was a great film. Just that you’re all whining about the wron...

This applies to SO much more than just language…   It is in vain to set up a language police to stem living developments. (I have always suspected that correctness is the last refuge of those who have nothing to say.) —Friedrich Waismann, Austrian philosopher, "Analysis", 1952   (Wow, nothing to say for nearly a week, and the best I can come up with is a damn quote! And before that, all I post is a link? Sad.)

So Dennis Miller has been sounding more and more reactionary to me every day…   Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks that: THE MILLER'S CROSSING.   Love this one! Thanks Tally!

May spoiled me…   I mean, really… let’s look at it: May 2: X-2: X-Men United. Overall, loved the movie. I thought they did a great job of handling all the different mutants and their different powers and abilities, they were able to get some good character stuff in there and tell a pretty good story, all while providing all the big effects and loud explosions that the summer ADD crowd need in order to watch a film. Yeah, the third act might have gotten a little messy, but it was still a great time and a lot of fun.   Nothing big opened the next weekend—too scared of X-Men, I guess. (Yeah, sure Daddy Day Care and the Lizzie McGuire movie… like I said, nothing big.)   May 16th: the Matrix Reloaded , of course. Despite some niggling complaints from the fanboy crowd, I have to say that overall, I liked the movie. Sure, almost every action scene could have benefited from some judicial editing, but when you’ve got 5 hours or so to tell your story (counting fall’...

Ok, this is sad, I know…   Dani’s sister Tisza & her fiancé Mel are getting married next week. Shortly after deciding to get married, they called and asked if I’d be willing to get ordained so I could perform the ceremony for them. (For those of you wondering, this isn’t the sad part—just the backstory.)   Being a confirmed agnostic (with strong pagan inclinations) I was a bit hesitant to go that route. Not that I actually believe the ground would open up and swallow me whole for impersonating a cleric, but could you think of a worst time to be proven wrong? So I said I’d be glad to officiate, if we could find some way that didn’t involve me logging onto the Church of Universal Life website and getting ordained in 3 minutes flat.   Turns out that the State of California has been dealing with these requests for a long time, and all I have to do is get deputized to perform the ceremony. I’ll be a legal Deputy Commissioner of Civil Marriage for one day (and...

Paraskevidekatriaphobia …   How's THAT for a useless word, huh?   It's the word for fear of Friday the 13th and it's pronounced: (pair.uh.skee.vee.dek.uh.tree.uh.FOH.bee.uh). Just in case you were wondering.   Today's useless word brought to you by The Word Spy .

Ok, so I'm sure my choice of quotes says a lot about my current mindset… But I just can't help it.   Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on "I am not too sure." —H.L.Mencken   The list of people that we could apply this to today boggles the mind.

Is Gary Hart Running for President Again? I can't keep track of who's running among Democrats, but I do like what he says here: Where Is Bush Leading Us?

Another good quote… When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826)

So do you give them kudos for owning up to the truth now?   U.S. Official: Bush Used WMD Argument For Politics According to this story, "Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is downplaying Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction as the reason for the U.S.-led war. Instead, he said officials settled on the weapons issue for what he calls "bureaucratic reasons" —because that was the one reason everyone could agree on."   Well, I sure am glad they straightened THAT out, aren't you? "Hi, we lied, but it was the only reason we could all agree on, so we figured that was all right. And hey, at least we freed all those Iraqis from Saddam, huh?"   JESUS, the BALLS on this administration. And the most contemptible thing is that NONE of this will bother anyone—at least according to the polls. We really are sheep.   Can't wait for the weekend to start and I can go back to ignoring these a-holes for a couple of days.

I get grief over this stuff from Summer… But sometimes I just can't resist. Tax Law Omits Child Credit in Low-Income Brackets "A last-minute revision by House and Senate leaders in the tax bill that President Bush signed today will prevent millions of minimum-wage families from receiving the increased child credit that is in the measure, say Congressional officials and outside groups."   Apparently, this was done to keep the tax cut under the arbitrary $350 Billion mark. Of course, the cut on dividends made it through. I'm sure all those low income families that won't be seeing any child credit are pleased about that.

Sometimes I just find quotes I have to share… An obsession with polite or correct public language is a sign that communication is in decline. It means that the process and exercise of power have replaced debate as a public value. The citizen's job is to be rude—to pierce the comfort of professional intercourse by boorish expressions of doubt. Politics, philosophy, writing, the arts—none of these, and certainly not science and economocs, can serve the common weal if they are swathed in politeness. In everything which affects public affairs, breeding is for fools. —John Ralston Saul, Canadian essayist, novelist, and critic, The Doubter's Companion, 1994

Just in case you miss the politics... Sign the petition to oppose extremist court nominees, because maintaining a balanced judiciary is probably more important than anything else going on in Washington right now... Support the Democrats' Fight Against Bush's Extreme Judges Just in case, you know?

The Matrix   Ok, so here's our theory on what's going on with The Matrix. Now if you're like me and you hate when people spoil the end of a movie by telling you the ending, and you haven't seen The Matrix Reloaded yet, DON'T READ THE REST OF THIS POST! That's the only warning you get, so don't blame me if you read something you didn't want to see.   No, really, I'm not kidding... if you haven't seen Reloaded yet, don't read any more!   Ok, don't say I didn't warn you...   The Architect gives Neo the choice between 2 doors... take the right door, save humanity and restart Zion; take the left and save Trinity. Neo's predecessor's all took the right door (not only a direction, but a value judgment, perhaps) and chose to save humanity. An imminently logical decision.   But Neo chooses Trinity--love--over the human race. An intensely human choice and one that, presumably, a machine would be unable to make.   W...

The best thing about weekends?   It's so damn easy to ignore the news, politics, whatever the hell is going on outside my own little world and just enjoy life.   Not that this was a particularly great weekend for that... Saturday was a visit to the vet gone horribly bad and Sunday Dani was sick. Monday we decided to get out of the house for a little while and went to dinner at Morel's French Steakhouse, in the Grove, a restaurant we've been meaning to try for months. They made up for being ridiculously overpriced by providing bad service and mediocre food! (To be fair, the cheese plate was very good, and the Apple Tart dessert was surprisingly much better than we expected. And they had good coffee. Too bad the meal sucked.) Thanks Morel's.   We didn't get to the Aquarium in Long Beach, something we've been wanting to do for months. Nor did we make it down to the beach to ride the bikes we bought last month. One of these days! No, really!   But there w...

Ok, I've finally determined that I can't read MSNBC news anymore...   A cut that looks to heal voters   Despite EVERYTHING that I've read about this tax cut and it's effects--namely that the vast majority of the benefit will be felt by the smalled minority American taxpayers (you know, the really wealthy 1 or 2%), MSNBC spins the tax cut with this opening line:   "Congress is likely this week to pass a tax cut measure that will mean middle-class voters will pay hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars less in federal income tax over the next several years."   Guess we know where their "editorial" bias lies. I think I'll pass from now on. Well, at least until the FCC rules change happens, then it won't matter where I read it, it'll all be the same anyway.   There's an ancient Chinese curse (at least, that's the way it's always presented--"an ancient Chinese curse"--it could be apocryphal for all...

I'm Speechless...   Texas OKs Disputed Abortion Legislation   "Texas approved one of the nation's most sweeping abortion counseling laws Wednesday, requiring doctors, among other things, to warn women that abortion might lead to breast cancer.   That link, however, does not exist, according to the American Cancer Society and federal government researchers, and critics say the law is a thinly veiled attempt to intimidate, frighten and shame women who are seeking an abortion."   So, if all else fails, let's lie to women so we can keep them from getting those abortions. Our government at work, once again. (All right, maybe I'm not speechless. Just filled with an appalling level of contempt.)

Looks like this one’s finally getting some attention…   On June 2nd, the FCC will vote on whether or not to ease restrictions on media ownership across the country. Both the LA Times & New York Times this week have had columns talking about this and what a horrible idea this is.   LA Times Howard Rosenberg: In media, Goliath edging out David New York Times William Safire: The Great Media Gulp   Now might be a good time to write your Senators and Representative and tell them to get involved in this process and put a stop to it.