I didn’t mention it.

One of the things that I partook of (or indulged in) over the last month (December really) was attending an event at MoCCA; Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art. Speaking of which, if they use the ‘o’ in of, why aren’t they using the ‘a’ in and? Would wind up being MoCaCA – sounds a bit vulgar, no?

Anyway, the event was “THE CRAFT OF COMICS WRITING:THE LONG AND SHORT OF PLOTTING” (I don’t use all caps for things but I’ll be damned to retype instead of copying and pasting). It was conducted by Paul Levitz and I had high hopes for it.

Thing was, Levitz was woefully unprepared. It‘s a bit surprising in a way, I had attended something given by Denny O’Neil and I have to say for what it was worth Denny is a damn good teacher, Unfortunately, Paul wasn’t anywhere near as good which was something of a disappointment. While I was going to approach Paul after the event and suggest some ways to tighten up things, the truth was there simply was a preponderance of fanboys in attendance.

If there is anything I grow to despise with time it’s fanboys. The last NYCC I went to was just crammed with them and I don’t know if it’s a matter of my tolerance getting lower or fanboys becoming more obnoxious, I would think it’s the latter. The first convention I went to was the MarvelCon in 1976 at the old Commodore hotel (now the Grand Hyatt). It was small, it was fun and I had a great time (along with my friend Don). I got to meet everyone from Stan Lee, John Buscema and a whole slew of other people.

Now I find if I’m going to one of these events, it’s with a very specific purpose and in this case it‘s more about finding technique that will help me move ahead with my skill set. The Levitz thing was sparse on any of that and as a result a waste of time. Considering Levitz’s lofty position within the industry, I just expected more but then again one thing that did come through was Levitz’ love of books. You really can’t fault a guy who loves to read.

Generally.

I look upon the house as something of an albatross. I simply don’t find myself with either the time or the energy to do the work I want to around the house and it’s a lot of work that needs getting done. I often feel like I’m in a ramshackle hut of a dwelling that is falling down around my ears and never is as orderly as I would like.

For instance... a few weeks back I came home one fine Friday evening noticing the house was a bit on the cold side. After puttering around I realized it was something I couldn’t fix myself. Being a homeowner means learning how to fix whatever you can on your own, when you can but in this instance there was no other choice but to call someone in.

Since it was on a Friday, it meant either sticking it out for a few days (because these kinds of things always happen on a weekend or a holiday) or paying a premium. I was lucky in that it was a warm weekend and with the help of space heaters I was able to soldier through a few days. As the days progressed though it did get colder and colder so when the plumber finally came to fix everything on Tuesday I was particularly glad to see him.

Yet, there was one discovery I made that was both a surprise and a pleasure – my fireplace which I hadn’t used in some time for no other reason than I just got out of the habit, is still wonderfully, fully functioning:

And really on a cold winter day or night there just is no beating sitting in front of a warm fire. :)

Under the wire or is it underwire?

I post this explicitly for Elayne Riggs and Ragnell to potentially run with it (although to my knowledge Ragnell has never visited this blog). Great article on Jezebel dotcom that makes me think Russ Meyer could in fact be the brains behind the development of DC Universe Online.

Superheroines Always Get Superboobs

...The argument could certainly be made that the available female body types simply reflect the standard silhouette of women in mainstream Western comics, like the DC Universe. For me, however, that argument went out the window when I stood next to Batwoman (pictured on the right) and realized that her chest looked one to two cup sizes smaller than my avatars. And DCUO has an an army of female NPCs wearing jackets, suits, minidresses (see below left), and even police uniforms, who have completely average builds. Only the player-controlled female avatars seem to be subject to these particularly ridiculous breast proportions. Given the option, I don't think any of my characters would have large breasts; none of them seem to have a personality or concept to match them...

We are not playing on a level field!

The Chinese move appeared to be aimed at protecting three government-controlled phone carriers — China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile — that provide the bulk of China's telephone services.

The South China Morning Post quoted an unidentified ministry official on Thursday as saying VoIP services could only be provided by the big three Chinese operators.China has been known to play hardball with foreign businesses. After a months-long stand-off over censorship, China finally gave Google approval in July to keep operating its Chinese search page.

Skype has 20 million users in Asia Pacific, or 16 percent of the company’s total users as of the end of June, according to a U.S. regulatory filing. The filing did not break out China's user numbers and a Skype spokesman in the United States said he did not know how many Chinese users it had.

No single country other than the United States represented more than 7 percent of Skype’s average monthly user, according to the filing.

Whenever we talk about the direction of our country and what is happening in the world vis-a-vis capitalism and trade we must constantly remind ourselves that China is not an open market and the Chinese play by their own set of rules. As we move forward into this new century we have to have the vision that will allow us to open up markets in China and address the glaring trade imbalance that is sucking the life out of our economy.

This is something that affects not just our economic health and well-being but also our global security. China is an increasingly dominant player and our nation needs to take the steps necessary to allow us to sell into China or barring that take the steps needed to protect our own markets – it really winds up being the only leverage we have and if our economy is going to get better it’s something that has to happen soon!

Pretty, no?



I take delight in the simplest of ways and one of the things I find I’ve been enjoying quite a bit, is the official White House stream of photos that’s up on Flickr. I think a lot of Americans feel very removed from what happens in Washington and particularly the White House but I have to say this one thing does more to open up the mechanism of government to me in a way no other outlet does.

Some really beautiful and unique peeks into life in the Obama administration.

Tuesday RSA.

Movie Mondays!

No new ground here in this gory thriller. However, it is able directed and acted to provide fans of the genre with an entertaining ride. The squeamish should stay away and definitely not for children. There are a few twists and turn plot wise but nothing a long time film fan won’t see coming. The majority of the film is shot on a set and the filmmakers did a wonderful job capturing the claustrophobia to heighten the tension of the film.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

Don’t say I never gave you anything.

I came across this yesterday, I’ve been trying to track down different old music and one of them was an old Paul Simon song which led me to the Wikipedia bio of Paul Simon which led me to Paul Simon’s official site where you can download the MP3 of this song for free. And I haven’t heard much of Paul Simon’s music lately but I have to say he hasn’t lost his touch:

NOW REMEMBER! You can get a copy for free! Just point your browser to: http://www.paulsimon.com/

Fuck Comics!

I’ll never buy another comic again and i stopped trudging off to the comic book store every week two (or is it three) years ago. And what’s great is I now have a lot more money in my pocket to boot!

What the hell was I thinking?

Besides, you see the pile of books above? All free! FREE! FREE, NO COST TO ME WHATSOEVER!

And all obtained through my local library. If you think any of the things are especially dense or hard to get through you have another thing coming.

Comics are dying, on their way out! The very same way newspapers are dying because they simply cannot justify the price point any longer for the monthly comic book. I know I pushed back from the table because it was getting far too pricey for my tastes and now I come to understand that the price point on a comic earlier this year scooted up to $3.99! Of course, the flip side to this is that sales this past year for comics have plummeted! As evidenced by the article I came across today:

Direct-market comics sales fell 12 percent in July versus the previous year, with only Marvel’s X-Men #1 breaking the 100,000-copy mark, thanks to incentive covers and heavy marketing behind a series relaunch. The sixth issue of DC Comics’ summer crossover, Brightest Day, came in at No. 2 with about 94,600 copies.

Why would someone spend $3.99 on a single issue of something when a graphic novel (compilation) can be had for much less than the single issue price? Further, if the high price point is necessary to turn a profit, maybe it’s time publishers go back to printing on cheaper (read newsprint) stock and more basic production to further differentiate the monthly book from the graphic novel.

I really don’t care, they priced me out of the market long ago but I have to admit to having a certain smug satisfaction about the fact I appear not to be the only fan who found comics were getting a little too rich for their blood.

Besides, from what I’ve been reading, there is a preponderance of dreck being foisted on the buying public as it is. I got a graphic novel from the library called ‘Hulked Out Heroes,’ what an absolute waste!

I only recently starting looking at comics for the first time in a few years via what I get through the library and honestly, I don’t feel I’m missing much.

Funny how the mind works.

The other day for whatever reason, I either heard something or came across something that made me think of original rap - rap when it made its first appearance way back around 1980 (Oh! Now I remember, I’ve been reading a book and it had a couple of music quizzes in it).

So, thinking about that made me think of Blondie and the song Rapture but also the song Rapper‘s Delight. That lead me on to thinking about another tune I remember from the time that although it wasn’t a rap song would probably make for a good one if someone decided to come along and do a little with it.

So, I sought out the song and sure enough I found it online and it’s not a true song but actually a bit by Cheech and Chong. I listened to it again (for the first time in many, many years) and it was hilariously funny.

Thing was, it was funny now for an entirely different set of reasons than it was at the time it was released and in large part that has to do with me being in the neighborhood of 20 at the time and being in the neighborhood of 50 now.

Either way, it still elicits laughs and what couldn’t be more perfect for a groggy New Year’s Day than Earache My Eye!?

Some art.

I came across this the other day. I’ve just been too busy these last few weeks leading into the holidays to think let alone post and thankfully the stupidity that is the holiday season is almost behind us (BAH! HUMBUG!).

Anyway, so the story behind this... back in the early nineties (or was it the late eighties) sometime around the time I was doing some work for Marvel or shortly afterward, I got an illustration job. It was for an insert (there is a series called Newspapers in Education and this was one of them) to go in the local paper on AIDs.

While I was happy to get the job it was a bit of a double edged sword because I was also a bit nervous too. I remember doing most of the work very, very quickly (overnight?) after procrastinating and making a bunch of false starts.

At the end of everything, the client was pretty happy with how everything turned out. Everything was in full color but the spot illos below weren’t accepted. As a matter of fact, a friend wound up doing that part of the job after the fact because the client wanted more realistic shots for the particular section of the insert (the shots in question looked more like life drawings). It was supposed to portray people who can have AIDs (I think) and the illos of course were keyed to the supplied copy.

I never really think about showing off my drawing or looking for praise over it. I’ve never stopped drawing and wind up doodling something every day whenever I have a moment. It winds up being more of something I do for myself rather than other people but I’ve been posting art to the comic art fans website lately and when I came across this I figured what the hell.

Tuesday RSA.

Movie Mondays!

A wonderful film for young and old alike! Adapted from the series of books of the same name, The Spiderwick Chronicles is a charming story that tells the tale of three siblings and a magical book one of them finds. The book is a doorway into a fantastical world populated by fairies, sprites, ogres and goblins but there are those who would turn it’s knowledge to evil ends. While it might be a bit scary at times for younger viewers, anyone above the age of five should find this to be a truly charming tale. Family viewing at its finest!

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

Tuesday RSA.

Movie Mondays!

A lot better than I expected! A solid cast, Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman, do a stellar job in this singular take on the superhero. Hancock (Smith), a man without a past, is what might be considered a marginal superhero at best. A disgruntled loner with a drinking problem, Hancock more often than not makes matters worse when he uses his powers causing more damage and harm than if he remained uninvolved. A chance meeting with a PR flak puts him on the path to redeeming his image but is the meeting truly a matter of chance or of fate? Peter Berg ably directs this piece that received some script doctoring from Vince Gilligan of X-Files and Breaking Bad fame. Worth catching though not necessarily something for the kiddies.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

I never had much use for Kathleen Turner.

I was never one of those people who fell with Kathleen Turner. There always seemed to be a lot of people who were really in love with her, her voice or what I would hear is something along the lines of her having some kind of allure or seething undercurrent of her sexuality that people would rave about.

I never got it and I was never really altogether crazy about her either.

I didn’t think Body Heat was such a great movie and although I saw the Romancing the Stone series, I wasn’t a gigantic fan of that franchise either.

I’m pretty sure she was on Friends at some point as Chandler’s father who had undergone a sex change but then since I’ve never been a rabid Friends fan I can’t be sure of that either.

However, I have been making my way through the third season of Californication and Turner has a prominent supporting role in it. And she is funny in a way that is way over the top and it’s something that works well in the role she was cast in.

While watching it though it got me to thinking about another actor’s stylings and how much I would like to see them play opposite each other because they work in the same emotional meadow, it would be a good matching and probably quite funny.

The actor I’d like to see Kathleen Turner play against?

William Shatner.

I haven’t been following Shatner’s series on CBS but if they have any smarts they should cast Turner as his ex-wife or something because I think together they would really chew the scenery.

Pity the moronic Yankee fan.

Maybe it was a bit of prognostication on my part but back in October I wrote:

In Cliff Lee though, there is something of a proven commodity and while I am sure Lee and his agent want the Yankee in on the bidding (if only to drive up his price), anyone who thinks his wife’s experience won’t factor in somehow in the decision of where to continue his career is really living in a state of denial.

You had to see this coming, New York was only an option inasmuch to drive the price up but as a destination, I think not and Yankee fan have only themselves to blame.

More Facebook for (you) dummies.

It continues to fascinate me just how ignorant people are. People who would hesitate about giving out their home phone number or their address willingly, freely give out to the world the most private of info under the guise of “social” networking.

Once more another article brings to the fore what Facebook really brings a person:

Armed with your e-mail address, data miners can hit Facebook and match it up with your user ID. That key unlocks a treasure trove of personal information.


At bare minimum, your ID provides access to your name and profile photo, no matter what privacy settings you have. Those who stick with Facebook’s recommended settings will reveal even more: their location, hometown, list of friends, lots of photos, and many of their “likes,” such as activities and interests.


That’s a goldmine for companies that are trying to target their products to you.


“Once you have an ID you can look up the person,” said Axel Schultze, CEO of Xeesm, a social media marketing software developer. That gives you access to all the information publicly available in their profile, and from that, ”you can build correlations between all sorts of other data.“


Robin Dindayal, director of product management at social marketing software company Awareness Inc., ran an experiment and plugged my Facebook ID into Facebook’s Graph API. That’s a tool Facebook makes available for programmers who want to connect to the site’s platform.


The API returned a smattering of information about me, including my gender and geographic settings. A person – or a machine – can retrieve that data after starting with nothing more than my e-mail address. (You can follow our instructions on how to run the experiment with your own Facebook ID.)

Tuesday RSA.

Movie Mondays!

The Kentucky Fried Movie is one of those films you have to see - why? Well, it’s the first film directed by John Landis, before he did Animal House, the Blues Brothers or American Werewolf in London (or directed Michael Jackson’s Thriller video) and it's also one of the first efforts by the Abrahams/Zucker team that would later go on to give us the Naked Gun series and the Airplane movie. Tame maybe by today’s standards, it was so fresh and topical in its day it became a cult classic. It captures TV and movies from the late seventies so well, it manages to be a bit of a relic because of it. Still there is enough slapstick humor here to enjoy and it should probably best be enjoyed as part of a double feature including that other underground comedy of the decade The Groove Tube.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

Sunday matinee.

I just watched this again, I hadn’t seen it in quite some time and I remember catching it on the ABC Sunday Night movie at one point (this very much dates me). It’s a good flick:

The Heartbreak Kid is a 1972 dark romantic comedy film directed by Elaine May, written by Neil Simon, and starring Charles Grodin, Jeannie Berlin, and Cybill Shepherd.

Turns out even if you don’t have NetFlix you can watch the whole thing streaming online, it’s really worth it and beats the remake hands down.

Best movie this year!

So far the best thing I’ve seen in quite some time is a movie I caught a week ago. I am sure this will win an Academy Award because I rarely find something that will appeal to as many ages as this one did.

I’m talking about Tangled

Probably one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Good for all ages, decent story, great voice acting, terrific animation and the 3-D I saw it in wasn’t so much of a gimmick as much as it was an enhancement. Plus there were some wonderful songs too!

Tangled, previously known as Rapunzel, is a 2010 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The film features the voices of Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi and is the 50th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. The story is largely based on the German fairy tale Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm. It premiered in theatres and in 3D cinemas on November 24, 2010. To date, it is the second most expensive film ever made, and the most expensive animated film, with a budget of $260 million.

To the dismay of feminists everywhere.

I post this picture of a model in a Catwoman costume. Aside from my prurient response to the picture (which is considerable), what struck me about the pic when I came across it on Flickr was that this was just about one of the best pics of someone in a Catwoman outfit I have ever run across. I mean, SHE REALLY LOOKS LIKE CATWOMAN!

The whole cosplay/costume thing often goes awry. This is not just for men either, believe me I’ve been to enough cons and seen enough pics online of overweight, dirty looking clowns dressed up like a superhero to have had more than my fill of the whole thing. Ladies though don’t come off any better in this, I’ve seen enough bad Supergirl, Powergirl, Wonder Woman, Phoenix wannabees to last a lifetime too.

When someone does a really good job though, there’s something to be said for it. Although that is rather the exception than the rule.

I guess I always was a Pop lovin’ little f**ker.

Listening to music the other day and I wound up listening to this song (and what’s great is I was able to find a live HQ version on YouTube!):

 

This is one of my all time favorites, I hear it and it can bring tears to my eyes (tears of joy because I like it that much). There is something about it, maybe it was the time in my life when it was released. I can remember it on the radio. Also it probably confirms how much I love a certain kind of pop, top 40 airplay and how there will always be a special place in my heart for some of it.

Wings in particular. Man! There was this period when I was a teenager just a few years where they were HUGE! I loved those albums then and they’re still special to me today.

A week ago today...

I took my cousin to a very special event for his birthday:

Joe Torre interviewed by WFAN’s Mike Francesa at what is billed as a ‘Breakfast of Champions.’

Torre is exactly what you see on screen, in person. He is measured, even and thoughtful in his answers. It turned out to be quite entertaining event even allowing for Francesa’s alternating fawning and braggadocio mien.

Tuesday RSA.

Movie Mondays!

Not bad, just not for me. The classic play is updated, set in present times with a backdrop of the underworld of crime. One must wonder if this isn’t a failed experiment, if certainly interesting to watch. By choosing to give everything but the actual language modern trappings, the film though staying partially true to the original Shakespeare is still a bit inaccessible to its target audience.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

Where I’ve been.

So, it’s been quiet around here lately because I haven’t had much of a chance to write. Between work and juggling everything else in life (and failing miserably outside of the work thing) there simply isn’t that much spare time to get anything else done.

Consequently my weekends of late have been spent mainly recuperating from the week.

Still we’re in the headlong rush to the end of the year, I will happily celebrate January 1st (or 2nd) because it signals the end of the insanity (Bah! Humbug!).

In the meantime, there is simply too much other stuff to do to really give the holidays even the slightest notice. I am realizing if I am going to do cards this year, it has to happen in the next few days or it won’t happen (this is a struggle each year).

I also realize why I hate this time of the year so very much...

There simply isn’t enough light for my tastes. Case in point, Friday I got out of work right at 5pm but it was already dark out! Over the weekend, I don’t even start to get going until late in the morning and even then there is usually a nap involved at some point in the day (likely after lunch) and by the time I get up again it can be dark out or almost dark.

I really despise that!

Throw in the cold too and blechhh!

Getting back to matters at hand though...

One of the few things I have been working on and making some kind of remote progress at is getting all my original art scanned, cleaned up and into my gallery over at the Comic Art Fans website. Like a lot of things, it’s been packed away waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. Packing it away is a good thing because things laying about usually wind up getting destroyed one way or another around here.

So, check out the gallery! There’s still a lot more I have to put up (I’m only about halfway through what I have) but some of it is really neat!

As it is some of the pages are so old there has been a bit of deterioration and I discovered you can’t ask sprayment to do rubber cement’s job.

This looks really, really good!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

First, there’s great voice casting but even better still is that they use a favorite song of mine.

Musings on Thanksgiving.

Now that the holiday is past and we have completed the first hurdle in the race to insanity that is the holiday season, let’s talk a little about the recently past Thanksgiving holiday.

I’m not big on holidays at all... as a matter of fact I’m trying to come up with a holiday I like and off the top of my head I can’t think of one. There isn’t a single of those days earmarked on the calendar for some special notice or celebration that warms me to the depths of my being.

If anything there are a bunch of days I get a holiday like feeling from that aren’t holidays. I’m talking here about the day pitchers and catchers report to spring training and the first day of the baseball season.

Other than that, holidays can basically... we’ll let’s just not go there.

Anyway, getting back to the orgy of turkey eating:

Thanksgiving kind of snuck up on me this year, fine in one way.

When the day finally did get here though, I found myself trying to recover from a 30 hour work day. Yes, you read that right, I’ve been fortunate to be working lately and Tuesday I was in the office at 9:30 am only to leave at 3:30 the following day. I’m not at liberty to go into detail other than to say the birth was a difficult one but ultimately the proud parents were well satisfied with the result.

By the time Thursday rolled around, I still was trying to recharge and schlepping over somewhere for a dinner wasn’t high on my list of things to do – napping more, yes. Driving somewhere to idle away an afternoon interspersed with gorging oneself with food, not so much.

I’m also getting to the point where I have come to realize it is time to start some new traditions, especially where holidays are concerned. Thanksgiving is a time for family, a time when we come together if only to see how much we have grown apart.

There are people I love dearly in my family, people I really cannot get enough of and then there are others I could distinctly do without.

Highpoint of the day - playing pool and getting a glimpse of some spectacular art hidden away in the most subtle of places.

Lowpoint - Dealing with the same mewling brats.

There are a couple of things that stand out:

When I hear over the course of the dinner that bringing back public hanging would be a good idea and it is voiced in all earnestness, I find myself choking back words of rebuke and marveling at the stupidity of otherwise educated people. The thing is, in a lot of circles I am very much considered quite conservative and so shocking me takes a fairly significant effort, so this is somewhat amazing.

Also, if I only see your kids once or at most twice a year and they blatantly misbehave while you pretend not to notice, it colors my opinion of you as both a parent and a person. Further there is a certain irony in listening to the litany of complaints the selfsame parent has about having to deal with other people’s misbehaving menaces while ignoring the same thing a bit closer to home.

Perhaps, it is more about dealing with such things when I have my one, raw nerve left after a grueling week. Perhaps it is about restraining myself from screaming at your brats myself because you cannot be bothered to control them but ultimately they are not cute, they are not endearing, they are misbehaving little terrors who you indulge at your own peril as they will one day become self indulgent teenagers.

Some people are at these things but they are absent. I have to figure out how to do that maybe if I want to continue to go to them but, it may well be that their time has past. I can’t go anymore without thinking about the people who are absent, the people who I miss greatly and that magic simply cannot be recaptured. So again, it’s a time to make a change I think.

In the meantime, I think about those people who weren’t at the table... Gerry and Ena (because they were the hosts), Tommy, Pop, Bob, Grandma, Mario and Mildred, Tina and Dan, Walter, Jill and Jerry and even Jill A (who had to work). Thanksgiving isn’t quite the same without them and I have to admit what remains has lost a great deal of its luster.

Tuesday RSA.

Movie Mondays!

I really enjoyed this quiet character piece about a hardcore gambler (Famke Janssen) trying to get custody of her son. Pool and (to a lesser extent) Poker provide the backdrop as Kailey tries to win enough money to realize her dream. Rip Torn mines familiar territory in a supporting role as the proprietor and backer of Janssen’s character. Overall the movie doesn’t break any new ground but is more about performance and dialog than anything else. It’s the kind of film I believe actors can appreciate as well as anyone who is interested the more subtle nuances of film.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

More on screening

On one of the biggest travel days of the year:

Such figures don’t mollify critics. “Nobody should be forced to choose between naked scans and groping by strangers in order to keep our airports safe,” says Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s legislative office in Washington, which is sifting through a torrent of complaints in an attempt to assess whether the new policy is a violation of the Fourth Amendment statute against unreasonable searches. Scientists have clashed over the health impacts of absorbing additional radiation, opponents argue that the bill for the machines - which cost more than $150,000 apiece - outweighs the benefits, and some experts say the extra layer of protection does little to close existing loopholes in aviation security. Still, others deride the screenings as little more than “security theater,” a performance designed to deter terrorists or make travelers feel safe that in fact provides few tangible benefits.

You need to watch this.

And more than anything you need to listen carefully to the conversation going on. This is something that happened recently at an airport because someone decided to decline going through the new totally invasive scanner at the airport.

It’s important you listen to this because what is currently going on is a total abuse of government authority under the guise of making people ‘safer.’ In the days after 9/11, one would often hear the phrase ‘The Terrorists Will Have Won!’

My opinion is that they have.

However the terrorists are our government. They have just used exigent circumstances to deprive us of the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution of our nation. Laws that have in the past made us the shining beacon of personal freedoms the world over. It merely takes us one more step down the road to a totalitarian society.

If you believe this is not another step along the path to the government of Big Brother depicted in Orwell’s 1984, I suggest you take note of the looped audio playing intermittently in the background of the clip.



Security is everyone’s business? If that’s the case, then everyone and I mean EVERYONE! Should be subjected to the same screening if only to lead by example and this includes all our political leaders from the President on down. If they are going to dehumanize our population and tell us it’s not a big affront then they should at least have the smarts to show us by subjecting themselves to the same rules.

Ah, but there’s the rub now?

Because it underscores how there are very much two sets of rules and it’s another reason this bullshit needs to stop and people have to speak up about it.

I don’t care what you call it.

Call it Socialism, call it ObamaCare, call it Communism it really doesn’t matter because at the end of the day everyone in society benefits when there is a solid health care system in place that services everyone without them going into the poor house...

More than 100 million people are plunged into poverty every year by illness or “catastrophic” medical bills, the World Health Organisation said Monday, launching a global drive for universal health care.
“In my view, universal coverage is an admirable goal and a timely one. We have to bite the bullet,” said WHO Director General Margaret Chan, presenting the report in Berlin.
“This year’s WHO report is designed to encourage every country in the world to adopt policies that will extend policies to more people and reduce the number of people who risk financial ruin,” added Chan.

Here’s a funny thing I’ve noticed. There are a lot of opponents to socialized medicine but, in my own sphere of people the thing that strikes me as somewhat ironic is that the people who voice their opposition the loudest, the most vociferously are people who enjoy full health coverage at the behest of the government.

It’s this odd game in the sense that now that they have ‘theirs,’ perish the thought anyone else should avail themselves of affordable, government directed health care. The whole health care system in our country is very, very broken and hearing people go on at length speaking about how the health care system in this country is one of the best in the world usually means they either don’t pay for it themselves or have little problem footing the bill.

I’m tired of these disingenuous arguments and think it is well past time to arrive at some kind of solution and IT WILL COST MONEY. But, the alternative is really a non starter – there is a belief somehow corporate welfare is fine but any other kind of government largesse is anathema and this is just a load of garbage. It’s well past the time for serious reform and the last proposal (the Health Care reform bill) is just the first step down a road that will hopefully take us there.

You’re next!

To all you pseudo anarchist militant cyclists who roam the streets of Manhattan, the clock is now ticking for you as well. Up to now, cyclists have believed they would be able to do whatever they wanted to do when riding their bikes but it may well be times are changing. As the city has installed these pretty little bike lanes, the other shoe is dropping. Cyclists are now viewed as another source of revenue for the city, another target for tickets:

The point of the crackdown, police sources said, is to show cyclists they're not above the law.


Cyclists and pedicab drivers are subject to the same rules of the road as motorists, a source said.


Similar to drivers, some summonses are for traffic court, while others are for criminal court — which means a cyclist or pedicab driver could be issued a bench warrant if he doesn't show for his court date.

Excuse me while I laugh heartily, it’s probably only the beginning. File this under: Be careful what you wish for.

Tuesday RSA.

I think this is only fitting to run around the holidays...

Movie Mondays!

What was once quirky now seems prescient, David Byrne’s collaboration with Jonathan Demme is an amazing commentary on what America has become. Released at the height of the Reagan years, more than two decades past, this film has a timeless quality. Set in mythical Virgil Texas, the stark high-plains mirrors the emptiness the characters seek to escape in a society increasingly focused on consumption. Songs from the Talking Heads album are effortlessly woven through the framework of the movie and Byrne’s understated narrator is the perfect guide to this charming romp into our nation’s soul. John Goodman in one of his first lead roles, Swoosie Kurtz and the sorely missed Spalding Gray round out an interesting cast. Well worth seeing not just for the musical performances alone (which are excellent) but also for what stands up as a gem of independent cinema.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

That’s called a job.

I’ve been so very busy lately, I haven’t had much time to think much less write. The days seem to slip by so readily and I find myself wondering how I am on this treadmill but at the same time thankful to be busy and working.

Often, the only time I will really have for any kind of reflection (if that is what you can call it) is bookended into the day as I walk from Grand Central to the job in the morning and then back again at night. It’s a pretty direct route so there really isn’t any solid reason to take one of the two or three regular routes back and forth.

Not much changes from day to day, over time yes, but it’s imperceptible for the most part... scaffolding goes up, a building gets repaired, another one is built, a storefront goes blank and the windows are pasted over in that white gook until a new tenant moves in but that’s really about it.

Still it’s a nice walk for the most part.

One of the things I have noticed though is how certain spots have been staked out.

If I walk along one side of Park Avenue, I can be assured of passing three people during the course of my travels. When I say I can be assured, I mean to say that it is almost guaranteed each day they will be there rain or shine.

Doing what?

Why begging of course!

It seems these two or three individuals have marked out their little corner of Manhattan to conduct a social experiment and to play upon the generosity of their fellow urbanites. Everyday there is the same woeful pitch as you pass or the same pleading handwritten sign detailing the tale of woe (one of them has the fact that he’s a traveler but interestingly enough he appears stuck to one spot).

You would think I have a very hard heart and in some ways I do, not because I don’t believe in charity but more because I believe these people have suspect motives.

See... think about it in these terms. These people, get up in the morning, go to the same place, spend hours there and all the while trying to make money. I can’t help but think to myself they have another name for that... it’s called A JOB! If you can sit in one place for hours, HEY! You can get a f$%^&ng job and work like the rest of us.

In the words of someone I used to know, “Suck it up!”

Tuesday RSA.

Once a sleaze, always a sleaze.

Seen recently:

Movie Mondays!

Not as good as Raiders, better than Temple and marginally superior to The Last Crusade, the Indiana Jones series is bought to a satisfying conclusion. A decade has passed since the end of WW2, the Nazis are defeated and the new threat (the Reds!) of Russia looms. Doctor Jones is older and carries the bumps and bruises of a life of adventure. This time, he finds himself drawn in to the hunt for another artifact, The Crystal Skull. The film bears less resemblance to the serials of the 40s and more to the scifi/horror films of the 50s, the time period in which it is set. The story is predictable but it’s all about the ride. Even more amazing is the fact Harrison Ford did all his own stunt work for the film. The subtle message here is we all get older but that doesn't mean the adventure has to stop, well done.


I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

Farting Friday.

Because farts are funny (and this will have to do until I go through some more old magazines and get a bunch of Photo Funnies scanned)

I started to write about this TWO YEARS AGO! At the time the headlines were full of this story:

“When a nerve fires, it releases a bit of neurotransmitter. Then it fires again, very quickly, and releases more of the neurotransmitter, which is always in reserve and at the ready in large storage pools called vesicles. However, gasses can’t be stored; they diffuse. So every time there’s a nerve impulse, an enzyme must be activated to make it,” he says.

So, if you want to lower that blood pressure... well, you can probably see where this is going although I have to say to I have done empirical studies in the ensuing years and as yet have no evidence that this is in fact true!