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Navy to mask Coronado's swastika-shaped barracks I mean, seriously, in 21st Century USA, don't we have better things to worry about than whether a set of Navy barracks is sending some kind of subliminal Nazi message to aliens from space? Obviously the jackhole that started this uproar doesn't, but after just a few moments on his site, I understand where this nonsense comes from. But the rest of us can't seriously care about this, right? Silly me… of course we do: …in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, the Navy has budgeted up to $600,000 for changes in walkways, "camouflage" landscaping and rooftop photovoltaic cells. Yes, that's right, the US Navy will be spending $600,000 this year to disguise something that can only be seen from space. I'm either getting too old for the bullshit, or our collective cultural IQ is plummeting into the basement faster than anyone could anticipate.  

We got into a discussion the other day, during rehearsal, about the contemporary problem with this word. It came up because there's a line in Twelfth Night where one character refers to another as niggardly. The actor who has that line has changed it to "tight-fisted", an adequate replacement, and one I can't, in all honesty, argue with, mainly because it's not worth the possibility that anyone in the audience would be sidetracked by the word. It also bears acknowledging that this actor is African-American, which just adds another layer of potential confusion to the issue. But where I got hung up on the discussion was the actor defending this choice, not simply for the above reasons, but because he felt that there's some justification for the confusion… that because the words sound alike, 'niggardly' has become a potentially offensive word. He then went on to argue that words change meanings all the time and that this is just one of those cases. (This ...

I've been working with a Shakespeare group in Burbank ( Shakespeare at Play ) for the past several months and have done a few workshops and shows with them. (I realized recently that I've been seriously submerged in Shakespeare when I used the phrase "fulsomely false" in my recent post on the movie Invasion, and didn't even notice I'd used it till days later.) The most recent show we wrapped was As You Like It, a part of their Summerfest 2007. When I heard that HBO was doing a version of As You Like It , I couldn't wait to see it. HBO, known for its quality programming and movies, Kenneth Brannagh who's shown that he knows Shakespeare (between his incredible Henry V and entertaining—despite Keannu's wooden Don John— Much Ado About Nothing ). Fine actors in the main comedic roles (Alfred Molina as Touchstone and Kevin Kline as Jaques) and a pack of British actors to handle the majority of the rest of the play… what's not to like, right? (Ah, ...

Southwest Airlines Tells Woman Her Attire Is Too Revealing Maybe we DID need that Invasion .  

As any number of reviewers are wont to point out, the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers was an allegory for the creeping conservatism of the Eisenhower years. The story of seemingly normal people being replaced by emotionless alien pod-people IS a great analogy for the way conservative thought processes seem to suck the life out of otherwise healthy individuals.* So it's probably no surprise that every few decades, as our politics swerve to the conservative side, someone feels the need to trot this story out again. (It's funny… I distinctly remember the 80's remake of Invasion —the one with Donald Sutherland, for those not inclined to click the link—as being Reagan era. But according to IMDB, it came out in '78, during the Carter administration. Maybe the backsliding into that Reagan mindset had already begun and that's why it seems so much a part of that time period.) Then again, I just discovered the Abel Ferrara version from '93, so maybe my whole ...

All debate about the merits or evils of Pinkberry aside, have you SEEN the latest in motorcycle headgear? I can't find an example of it online, so it gives me hope that this is an isolated incident, but I've seen this several times in the past few weeks and I can't believe I'm seeing the same guy with the same helmet each time. But it's gotta be seen to be believed… Proudly displayed along the crown of the helmet are a row of bristles, somewhat like a those on a Roman helm (similar to this ). The latest example I saw was a blue and white helmet with a row of bright blue bristles jutting up along the top of the helmet. The first time I saw this, as the guy zipped past me on the 105, I figured I had to be seeing things. But as I mentioned, I've seen it several times since, and all I can say is you've GOT to be kidding me. Without a doubt, the most inane transportation related decoration I've seen since exhaust spinners .  

I've never heard of Pinkberry before today. (I'm more geek-trendy these days than pop culture trendy.) But apparently, this is the latest legal drug of choice. Let's face it, they only sell 2 flavors ('regular' and 'green tea') and are what sounds like stupid expensive ($9 for a large with toppings… that's nearly twice what Coldstone Creamery charges for ICE CREAM, and this stuff isn't even frozen yogurt). Suddenly you've got people lining up dozens deep to buy this stuff? This is one serious meme . Unless, of course, the secret ingredient (and maybe the reason the FDA won't let them call their product frozen yogurt) is some heretofore undiscovered incredibly addictive element that they've innocuously slipped into the recipe. Judging from the number of people calling in to KROQ this morning to say they couldn't understand it, but after one trip to Pinkberry's they just couldn't get enough of it, I'm kinda tending toward t...

White House Declares Office Off-Limits Anyone surprised by this move has NOT been paying attention to the Bush White House.

…You'll see Mr. Bean's (wait for it…) Silly Dance! ?!? The scariest thing is that I've seen the trailer for Mr. Bean's Holiday . And the quote above (from their oh-so-cutesy radio campaign) is the height of sophistication compared to what I saw in the trailer. I swear, it almost makes me long for the days of Benny Hill !  

I don't usually post links like this… MoveOn.org Political Action: Help get the word out about Dick Cheney's Quagmire I may be a political loudmouth, but I tend to limit this stuff to email, where I can quietly spam my friends, rather than posting it here. But when you hear what Cheney said in '94, you've gotta wonder what the hell happened to his grasp on world politics between then and 2001. And no, I don't think you can blame it all on 9/11. Have I mentioned, recently, how much I hate these pricks? Oh yeah, I guess I have .

Can I just say, good GODDAMN riddance: Rove to leave the White House, return to Texas The only disappointing thing here is he's going home, instead of to a prison where he frankly belongs for what his machinations have done to this country. Good riddance, Karl. Rot in hell.  

First off, I want to say that I enjoyed The Bourne Ultimatum immensely. I liked where this story went (and frankly dismiss the few complaints I've seen about "thin story" or nonsense plot) and found the ultimate resolution to the series quite satisfying. I really appreciated the "echoes" of moments from the previous films, especially the one in the final moments of this film. (Talk about bringing things full circle.) Somewhat similar to my reaction to seeing the latest Harry Potter, this one made me want to go back and watch the first two films to see those original moments, and maybe find others that I'd forgotten. I'd also like to see if there's anything in those first two films that foreshadows (oh so very subtly) the relationship they tease for the briefest moment in this one. (God, I'm being so circumspect here about not giving anything away. I must really want people to be able to experience this one on their own.) One other thing that I ...

The production team for the Harry Potter films has it rough. They're sitting on the rights to the best selling book series of all time, and they've made a series of highly successful adaptations of the first books in the series. But each book keeps getting longer, darker and more adult in tone. Meanwhile, their actors are ALSO getting more adult. That's the first thing that struck me when watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix . As the credits finish, the camera swoops down to eventually find Harry sitting on a swing in the park and the first thing I thought was "look how freaking OLD he's gotten!" Not that he's old, of course. But he's certainly not the fifteen year old you're expecting. He's too tall, too mature, for the role. Fortunately, within minutes you forget about it. Partly, it's because all the REST of the 'kids' in the movie have grown up as well, so there's a consistency that makes it easier to accept t...

A kind of obvious title for any post talking about a Michael Bay film, but let me reiterate… Transformers is one big, dumb, loud movie. With a healthy emphasis on dumb. I guess I should acknowledge that I've never been a Transformers fan. They came along too late for my childhood cartoon watching, and too early for my adult appreciation of all things animated, so they got lumped into that "my god, another cartoon designed to shill toys" category. And it's never really left that category for me. So my excitement level over this would have been hard to find, let alone measure. Suffice it to say, I had an afternoon to kill, I'd heard it was a fun time at the movies and I figured, if I'm GOING to watch the damn thing, I'd better do it in a theatre where I can get the full effect of all those exploding robots. I'm going to opine, first off, that the "fun time at the movies" comment is really one of those "all a matter of taste" moments...

I've got a degree in Theater from UCI . Currently, I'm a website producer for a Fortune 500 company. In the past I've waited tables (how cliché), been a restaurant manager (decidedly NOT cliché… and soul-crushing) and held numerous other odd jobs (some more odd than others). I usually joke that my degree in theater means that I can act like I know what I'm doing in any situation. Sadly, this has been more true than I may have wished, and I've certainly bluffed my way through more than a few of those odd jobs on the pretense that I knew what I was doing. Until this year, it's been ages since I've done any acting. It's been so long that my wife, who's done her share of acting and directing, had never seen me act. But I've talked a lot about getting back into it, especially in the past few years. So, when a friend of mine asked me if I'd like to do a scene for her in the Shakespeare Festival at the Huntington Library this year, I jumped at the ...

Bush claims oversight exemption too Beyond "no surprise" I've really got nothing more to say about that. Arrogant pricks. (OK, so maybe ONE more thing.)  

Everybody knows that Dick Cheney is an arrogant prick. Some may admire that arrogance, attributing it to the "courage of his convictions" or other such BS, but I presume those are people that, for the most part, agree with Cheney's actions. I just see an arrogant motherfucker, solely focused on his own agenda and damn the Constitution or consequences. But seriously, this truly may be the height of arrogance: Cheney Power Grab: Says White House Rules Don't Apply to Him —Justin Rood; ABC News I love the comments in Rood's blog (linked from the above article). As at least one of those posts mention, if he's not part of the freaking Executive Branch, then what part of the government does he think he's working for? (And how does he explain the President extending his Executive Privilege to include the VP back at the beginning of his term in office, if he's not part of the Exec? Not that that would explain how the VP qualifies for executive privilege in the ...

Seriously? When I first heard the phrase "Certified Pre-Owned" a few years ago, I thought it was an unbearably pretentious way of referring to used cars, an example of euphemisms gone awry. It didn't help that it was always used when talking about Mercedes, BMW, Lexus… cars that, apparently, can't be sold "used". After a while I've come to accept that the phrase does have some value, in that the "certified pre-owned" car, presumably, undergoes screening and servicing and repairs prior to being offered for sale. It also, I assume, stems from the increase in the number of leased vehicles being returned to dealers for sale to their clientèle. If my experience of leasing is at all indicative, the car I returned to the dealer was in nearly pristine condition, compared to the car I now own, which I couldn't wait to make "my own"—swapping out the car stereo, adding an amplifier, etc. But Volkswagen is running an ad campaign on KROQ this ...

I'm as willing to argue that Paris Hilton is a spoiled little rich girl, desperately in need of a reality check, as the next person. But this is seriously starting to smack of piling on: Hilton Transported To Twin Towers Jail And, if that weren't enough, the fact that the Sheriff's Dept. is calling a press conference to address "the Paris situation" is bordering on the absurd. Seriously, isn't there ANYTHING more important going on in the world right now? We are still warring in Iraq, right? And wasn't there something about our President and the Russian President facing off over weapons in Europe or the Middle East? I don't really know, since the news was too freaking busy with the Paris Hilton travails.  

I obviously haven't seen it yet, but you've gotta love a reveiw quote like this one: I know full well I'm expected to Suspend My Disbelief. Unfortunately, my disbelief is very heavy, and during "Ocean's Thirteen," the suspension cable snapped. RogerEbert.com Maybe I'm not going to rush out and catch this one this weekend after all.