Film Club

Christmas in Connecticut- 1945

"Never Forget." Until Now.

This just has be wondering, are Congressional Republicans more evil or more stupid?  For the party that pretty much created the 9/11-started-it-all-terror-is-lurking-everywhere (no matter how dubious, disrespectful, or manipulative) message, this is pretty low.  Denying coverage to 9/11 first responders because you're afraid of taxes on the richest 2% of Americans going up 3%?  That's well, just awful.  If this is how terrible Republicans behave while in the minority, I'm horrified to see how they'll behave in the majority.  When I learn of their positions on pressing policy issues, and hear their rhetoric, I'm usually taken aback and can only ask myself, are all Republicans petulant children?

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Lame-as-F@#k Congress
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Moment of "Gawah?!"

This bumps Bea Arthur up a few notches on the "Alright, That's Pretty Cool" list.

Brighten Your Day

I came across these clips of Julie Andrews appearing on The Muppet Show and they turned my day around.  After a rough, and somewhat depressing (I feel like a small piece of my soul dies each time I walk in), night at work these clips brought a much needed smile to my face.  They make me pine for the old days of television, though; variety shows were incredibly well done.  The Muppets are also all kinds of amazing.  It's fun to see Julie Andrews playing along, too.  It makes me wonder how many "serious" actors and actresses from the current bunch- excluding Katy Perry- would do something like this and have such an obviously fun time; celebrities used to be so much more cool.  

Booklist 2010

File This Under...

File this under "things that need to die."  


Disney has ordered two more Pirates of the Caribbean installments.  The fourth in the franchise, On Stranger Tides, will be released next summer.  Penelope Cruz will be starring in it alongside Johnny Depp who is reprising his role as Captain Jack Sparrow.  


I'm wondering if Ms. Cruz will get another Oscar nomination for this.  It seems like she's the Academy's new pet and they'll just nominate her for whatever movie she stars in(Nine, anyone?)

Thought For The Day

It should be no secret that I abhor Sarah Palin.  The mere mention of her name sends shivers down my spine and causes me to convulse.  (In fact, I think I just threw up a little typing her name.)  The sound of her voice calls to mind the screeching wraiths of Hell.  She is, it could be said, a dementor straight out of the world of Harry Potter.  She's a single-minded, thoughtless, soul-sucking creature whose only intention is sucking all the good out of the world.  Well, the world that rational intelligent people inhabit at least.  She dismisses facts that don't congeal with her demented and small world-view out of hand, blaming them on lib'ral distortion and bias.  She seeks to remake the world in her image, and in Sarah's world everything  is Sarah.

The media's (well mostly Fox News') juvenile obsession with her is embarrassing.  It's like an 8th grade boy fawning over his unattainable crush.  Here we have a woman with no thoughts on actual policy, who speaks in platitudes, panders to the public, and stoops to the lowest common denominator at every chance, who dominates media attention for no good reason.  Memo to the media: Grow up and stop taking her seriously.

In short, Sarah Palin is what happens when the most obnoxious kid in class gets all the teacher's attention.

Good Question, Sir

Lewis Black is one of the best comics in the business.  He's also a very astute political commentator.  His comments here particularly resonate with me.  His question toward the end, why can't we have the best government in the world if we're supposed to be the best country in the world, is notably relevant given the results of the elections.  The coming surge of tea partiers into Congress who seek to dismantle and destroy it are dangerous and do not have the nation's best interest in mind.  

Warning: Strong language.

Tina Fey's Full Speech

It's funny.  Trust me.

Watch the full episode. See more Mark Twain Prize.

This'll Make You Feel Good

This video comes from Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto.  It is a time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions that have taken place between 1945 and 1998.  


This should serve as a reminder that nonproliferation and disarmament of nuclear weapons is an important issue and just why the new START talks are so important.  


Secretaries Clinton and Gates have urged the Senate to ratify the new START treaty and I sure hope they do.  There could be major foreign policy consequences if they don't.  Keep in mind that nonproliferation and disarmament should not by any means be a Democrat vs. Republican issue; arms-control is in the interest of everybody.  


(h/t Crooks and Liars)


Also, this chart really worries me.

All I Want Is My Own Tina Fey

I'm not going to lie about this or try to cover it up in any way, I'm just going to come right out and say it: I love Tina Fey.  Like love Tina Fey.  She is, in my opinion, the perfect woman.  Smart, funny, brave, and for all of her accolades and wealth, she's just so normal, and I want my own Tina Fey. If you know one, send her my way, please.  Thanks.

Also, she was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor last week and her acceptance speech was hilarious.  Watch it, please. Alright, it's not the whole thing, but there's nothing I can do about it but it is still hi-freaking-larious. 

My favorite line has to be the "Nathaniel Hawthorne Prize for Judgmental Nature."  Ha!  He was such a snob.

I will post the full speech as soon as it is available and I am able to find it.  

Schweet Schtuff

Batman Returns

Shaun of the Dead

Iron Man

The Joker

The Wizard of Oz

Star Wars IV: A New Hope

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back

Gremlins

Fight! Fight! Fight!

The Maddow/Stewart debate discussion is not only an enlightening and candid conversation on the political media, it is also a great example of how our national political discourse should be conducted.


The interview is almost 50 minutes long, but it's worth watching.

My Totally Non-Boring Paper!

So for my American Political Thought class I have the privilege of writing papers every five weeks or so.  It's a lot of fun.  Here's my most recent paper.  I don't think it's my best, but I sure hope the professor does!

John Rawls vs. Robert Nozick

John Rawls and Robert Nozick may have been colleagues, but they had very, very different ideas about society, justice and the state.  Were Rawls and Nozick running for public office and they were my only two options (why is it we always seem to be pressed to decide between the lesser of two evils?) I would have to vote for Rawls, not because I agree with him more, but because I agree with Nozick less.  First I will explain why I disagree with Nozick and then I will proceed to explain why I prefer Rawls.   

In The Event of a Zombie Apocalypse

So I've been watching The Walking Dead on AMC lately, okay well the first two episodes- it's awesome, thanks AMC for making good television!- it's not too gory, which is good, because I do not handle gore well.  When I see excessive amounts of blood and guts I get all kinds of queasy.  But this show is terrific.  


Anyway, where was I?  Oh right, zombies.  So the show got me to thinking, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, would I survive?  The obvious answer is clearly no.  I would probably be one of the first persons to be eaten.  


But the most ideal situation I can come up with is that when the zombie virus breaks, I'm one of the first persons to catch it.  So look out, y'all Imma gonna bite ya.

Watch this show; it's good.  I wouldn't lie to you about television.

Also Known As Identity Theft....

Not only is Tucker Carlson a sorry excuse for a journalist and a partisan hack, he's also an identity thief.  

Carlson, reached by phone Tuesday night, confirmed he impersonated Olbermann in the email responses to Bykofsky.

"Could you resist?" Carlson said. "It was just too funny. The flesh is weak."

Carlson said he didn't expect the email exchange to be published. 

I've always said identity theft is hilarious way of playing "gotcha!" and that more Fox News personalities should engage in it; it's an excellent way of staying fair and balanced.  

Welcome Back, Coco

Team Coco, for the win.

Ryan Murphy Has No Idea What He's Doing

Yup, I said it.  Glee creator Ryan Murphy has absolutely no idea what he's doing.  


I was a big fan of Glee when it premiered.  I enjoyed it well into the first season.  And then it started to suck.  Bad.  Plot lines were inconsistent, or were dropped altogther.  Character's personality traits are rarely consistent. 


One of my major beefs from season one was that Rachel (played by the wildly talented Lea Michelle) was always talking about lawyering up, but then when she is assaulted (more or less) by a group of students from another school, she doesn't say anything.


Another more recent plot hole I picked up on was in an episode that aired last month.  Kurt claims to be the only out gay person in town.  Wait, what?  I thought Rachel had two gay dads?  Who is writing this thing?  Why is there no consistency in this show?  Why won't anyone listen to me when I'm right? 


Turns out the reason there's so much inconsistency in Glee is because it's written by the show's three creators-Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan-and each of them have competing ideas about what Glee should be.  Murphy is more interesting in making the show a dark funhouse mirror version of his experiences in high school.  Brennan wants to focus on the sadness that is at the show's core.  And Falchuk is interested in bringing the two ideas together.  


This could be an explanation as to why it seems that the characters all suffer from multiple personality disorder and why so many plot-holes and inconsistencies exist.  


I demand they fix it and I demand that they take my advice on the matter.  The best solution is for all three of them to give up and let Dreamgirls director Bill Condon take charge of Glee's future.  After all, Dreamgirls is not only a near perfect movie-musical, it's a near perfect movie.  Condon clearly understood what he was doing and deftly demonstrated how movie musicals should be made.  


In Dreamgirls the songs grow out of the situations and out of the dialog, like they're supposed to in musicals.  But not in Glee.  In Glee they go through painstaking measures to give an explanation for every single song.  Mr. Shu has to give assignments.  Rachel has to first tell the class she's sorry and then tell them that the only way she can express how sorry she is is through song.


You're killing me!  Just let the songs grow out out of the situations naturally.  That would be the first best step in fixing Glee. 


The next step would be getting rid of the "theme episodes."  Another thing about musicals is that they can be thematic without having their themes being blatantly blurted out.  West Side Story is a fantastic example of this.  The musical never comes right out and says "gang violence is bad!  Prejudice and bigotry is bad!  Hope for the future can reside with the youth if they can overcome these problems!"  Glee, however, laboriously lectures its audience instead of letting the themes subtly arise through the show's structure and storytelling.  


Well, that's my take.  Hopefully this ends up in the hands of Ryan Murphy and he'll take my advice, because he'd be stupid not to.  

I Was Once, But I Quit.

Tina Fey makes the perfect analogy regarding Fox News' persistent references to Sarah Palin as "governor."  

"Which is like calling me Dairy Queen Employee; I was once, but I quit!"

Buckle Up, Buckaroos

Anne Lamott's rousing, although brief, article in today's Salon.  Here's a sample.

And that Obama is nothing if not brilliant. This guy has had some liberal victories legislatively, and when word of these victories -- the realities of healthcare, financial reform, student loan reform, etc. -- trickles out, we will have pride and stamina again....Let's all go have some well-earned rest. A new day dawns.

In Heavy Rotation

Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend, 2008

This Would Be Infuriating

And I don't even play chess!

Election Night Thoughts

• Some may assume that Republicans regaining control of the House is an indicator of significant change.  I'd like to remind them that when you assume, you make an ass out of "u" and "me."  The political pendulum in the United States does not swing as broadly as many pundits claim it does; when the pendulum moves either to the left or the right, it's a very small, tight swing.  The system is designed to ensure that the likelihood of majority factions forming in Congress is minimal.  So basically, the system, although crazy, is working as it should.

• The Democrats kinda had this coming.  Because they're Democrats, they're horrible at marketing themselves and actually, you know, capitalizing on their achievements.  They should have shown more backbone the last two years.  Hindsight is 20/20, and in the words of Michael Scott, "we should have had hindsight."

• Hawaii is too freaking far away!  I'm covering Hawaii 1st District for a class and have to announce the winner tomorrow in class, it's 10:23 and the polls in Hawaii are still open for another hour!  I've been up since 5am and just want to go to sleep.

• Christine O'Donnell is what you'd call "crazy."  In her concession speech she claimed that "we have won."  No, I'm serious. 

• New Rule: When making concession or victory speeches, do not bring your children and extended family up with you to the podium.  They talk and chatter and are very, very annoying. (Don't sue me, Bill Maher!  Also, you're views on Muslims are wrong.)

• Chris Matthews' boisterous, interrupting style of "reporting" bothers me almost as much as Glenn Beck's incessant, disingenuous crying. But just almost.

• The next two years will be absolutely horrible.  I mean, even worse than this year.  The Republicans that picked up seats will do all in their power to ensure that absolutely nothing gets accomplished.  This of course, will only be good for Obama, he'll be able to say "listen, you gave the House back the Republicans and they did nothing for you, why let them keep it?"  Thanks, Tea Party!

• Short term politicking makes for bad long term legislating.  Keep that in mind when casting your ballot.  I will never understand how people who don't believe in effective and competent government get elected.  

That's it for tonight. There may be more tomorrow. 

Exit Polling Observations

This morning, I had the opportunity to participate in the Utah College Exit Poll.  It was fun tiring.  Here are some generic observations.

• People who voted Constitution Party were more likely to admit vocally to the pollsters who they voted for.
• Constitution Party voters were also more aggressive and more likely to vocalize their opinions outside of the voting area where they were audible to other voters.
• The more conservative the participant, the more paranoid they were that the poll would not be confidential; also, the more paranoid they were in approaching the survey in general.
• The more liberal the participant, the more willing they were to participating in the survey.
• The more liberal the participant, the more friendly they were with the pollsters.
• The more conservative the participant, the more abrasive they were with the pollsters.  
• Liberal participants were less likely to react negatively to being asked to participate in the survey.
• Weber County did a really poor job at informing people which precinct they're supposed to vote at; one lady said that our polling location was the fourth place she'd tried.  

Looking Back/Looking Forward

Earlier this week I went into Salt Lake City to have lunch with my mom.  I met her at her office and while waiting for her, I perused the miscellaneous items on her desk.  One item in particular caught my eye. A picture. This picture.  

That's me on my last day in the Philippines.  We were just about to enter the airport to head home; I weighed 150 pounds.  

When I got home, I went back to working at Winger's.  (I still work there, by the way, and I will probably work there forever because there is no escape.)  Anyway.  Now I weigh...not 150 pounds.  

I actually didn't really notice my weight gain at all- until I started seeing pictures of me on Facebook.  This picture, I've decided, is the last straw.  

That's me in the grey cardigan, in case you were wondering.

I'm really quite embarrassed by this picture.  Especially after a fellow missionary commented on it.  "Ang laki ng batch ko," she wrote.  I'm not that much bigger than I was, am I? I thought.  Apparently I am. 

So, here's a confession.  I, like so many other people, have body image issues.  It is common to think that only women suffer from body image issues, but research has shown that it affects more and more men each year.

Recent research has shown that Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a preoccupation with an imagined physical defect, affects just as many men as it does women.  BDD is not just limited to weight and body image, it also affects complexion, body hair, hair loss, and wrinkles.  

I'm determined to get back down to my on-the-mission weight.  It won't be easy.  But I'm gonna get there.  I have some really cool t-shirts and pants I desperately want to fit back in to. 

When Down Meant Up

Reagan's "trickle-down" economics in chart form!  

Let's Be Honest...

I came across a friend's blog (which hadn't been updated since early 2009) that had a list of links.  One of the links read as follows: "People Who Are Openly Biased."  Curious as to where this link lead, I clicked on it and was led to CNN's website. 


This struck me as odd for a number of reasons.  1) It was CNN.  I'm surprised they're still relevant.  2)CNN has such a wide assortment of hosts and contributors that it is near impossible for the network to have a prevailing bias.  3) Labeling CNN as "Openly Biased" is just plain stupid.  If there is an open bias at CNN that is still better than the obvious but denied bias (and bigotry) found at Fox News.  Remember, Fox News maintains that they're "Fair and Balanced," an Orwellian mantra if there ever was one.  


Assuming that CNN is an openly biased network, then it is still a more honest and genuine source of news when compared to a network like Fox News, that is obviously biased and persists to masquerade under the pretense of being "fair and balanced."

Die, Narrative, Die!

Die, Narrative, Die! will be an ongoing column in which I will air my frustration with narratives that are perpetuated in the media.  First up, the economy!

"It's the economy, stupid!" was one of the popular phrases used in Bill Clinton's successful 1992 Presidential campaign.  While it is true the state of the economy is one of the determining factors in the way people vote, the narrative that the economy is easy to fix, is quite frankly, false. 


Fixing the economy is a narrative that nearly every politician runs on.  Democrats say it.  Republicans say it.  And they all believe that they know how to fix it.  (And they're all probably lying.)


To blame the state of the economy on the government alone is disingenuous.  I am so tired of hearing people, who don't want government involved in the economy at all, complain the that the  government didn't do enough to prevent the recession and that it isn't presently doing enough to fix the economy.  Guess what, folks?  You can't have your cake and eat it too.  You can't say you stand for one principle but then affirm another when it's convenient.  


So many people (they're usually on Fox News) assert that they know how to fix the economy; to make it recession-proof.  They'll make the claim that all that needs to be done is pinpoint the areas of weakness in the market and correct them.  


This is, of course, a big fat lie.  The economy is not simple, at all, so don't buy into the narrative that it's an easy fix.  

Papers, Please

Welcome To Fabulous Terrible Arizona!

Separation Anxiety

Watch this video. Be smart. Be awesome.

I'm So Glad I'm Not That Guy

There is a fantastically devastating piece in this week's New Yorker on the paranoid roots of the tea party movement and their leader, Glenn Beck.  


The movement's ideology originates from a combination of Robert Welch's John Birch Society and W. Cleon Skousen's bizarre writings.  And neither man was notably sane.  They were each a strange brew of ideologue, conspiracy-theorist, and madman.  


How paranoid was Welch?  He saw Communist "goings on" everywhere; he even accused President Eisenhower of being a shadow-Communist.  And just bizarre was Skousen?  The Mormon journal Dialogue once wrote that Skousen was guilty of "inventing fantastic ideas and making inferences that go far beyond the bounds of honest commentary."  He clearly was not a man grounded in reality.  


Both men were loons, but their fringe beliefs were not allowed to enter the mainstream.  William F. Buckley (come back!), then the leading conservative thinker, would have none of their conspiracy theory peddling and dismissed them both.  But now, with the Rise of Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance, it seems that the crazier the theory, the more likely it is to enter the mainstream and be given credence; and that's just plain dumb.  


Giving the "out there" theories of Welch and Skousen any credibility diminishes the credibility of all political thought; conflating liberalism with totalitarianism isn't a mistake, it's sad, sorry, and just plain wrong.  Because of Beck's deliberately misleading and factually incorrect (or completely lacking) ramblings, conspiracies that were once left in the shadows of the right have been brought out into the sunlight and given an unfortunate form of legitimacy.  It's frustrating, infuriating, and I want it to stop.  


So for reason's sake, please stop listening to Glenn Beck, he's just making you look bad.  

And They Do It Sitting Down!

We sang this song in high school and it's a doosey of a song.  Anyway, I found this recording of it on YouTube and two things struck me about it.  First, that it's from the Philippines; I love that place! And second, they do it sitting down and it still sounds freaking amazing!  Good job, mga kapatid.  

Bad News For People Who Love Worse News

New research suggests that the ancient Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012 may be off by anywhere between 50 to 100 years.  Hooray!  I told you you can never take a Nicolas Cage movie seriously.


Please follow this link for the article.  

Rosebud For A New Generation

I saw The Social Network last night (finally!) and it was really great but I left it with one question: did Rooney Mara confirm Jesse Eisenberg as a friend?  


Also, on Mad Men, did Joan go through with it or not?  

That's Your New Spiderman, Movieland

,
Andrew Garfield, otherwise known as "that guy from the Facebook movie," has been cast as Peter Parker in the newest Spiderman film.


Emma Stone, has been cast as Gwen Stacy, aka, Black Cat.  This is an odd choice considering that Gwen's a blonde and Emma Stone is well, not blonde.

I'm actually pretty hopeful about this reboot. Alvin Sargent ("Paper Moon") was brought in to help write the script and Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight," "Inception) is reportedly the script doctor.  Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) is directing.  


After the sad, sad experience that was "Spiderman 3," the only direction to go is up.  My expectations at this point are considerably high, so keep your fingers crossed people.  

Film Club

The Social Network- 2010

See. This. Movie. Now.

Le Royaume

The Joke Is On You

It Was Only A Matter Of Time

Yet another reason to add to the "Reasons I Love Kristen Wiig" list.  Check out her hysterical send up of Christine O'Donnell's campaign ad.

Film Club

Wait Until Dark- 1967

I first saw Wait Until Dark when I was in 7th grade and it FREAKED me out.  No matter how many times I view the film, the climax still makes me jump out of my seat.  For those of you who have seen it, you know what I'm talking about.  

Now I Get It

Your source for hyper-partisan bullsh*t

Required Reading

Idiot America- Charles P. Pierce 

Selections

Since right-wing populism has at its heart an "anti-elitist" distrust of experience, talk radio offers the purest example of the Three Great Premises at work. A host is not judged a success by his command of the issues, but purely by whether what he says moves the ratings needle. (First Great Premise: Any theory is valid if it moves units.) If the needle moves enough, then the host is adjudged an expert (Second Great Premise: Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough) and, if the host seems to argue passionately enough, then what he is saying is judged to be true simply because of how many people are listening to him say it (Third Great Premise: Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is measured by how fervently they believe it.) Gordon Liddy is no longer a gun-toting crackpot. He has an audience. He must know something.

After an extensive study of talk radio, and of the television argument shows that talk radio helped spawn, Professor Andrew Cline of Washington University in St. Louis came up with a set of rules for modern American pundits.

1. Never be dull.

2. Embrace willfully ignorant simplicity.

3. The American public is stupid; treat them that way.

4. Always ignore the facts and the public record when it is convenient to do so.

"Television is an emotional medium," Cline explains. "It doesn't do reason well. This is entertainment, not analysis or reasoned discourse. Never employ a tightly reasoned argument where a flaming sound bite will do. The argument of the academic is sort of dull, but a good pissing match is fun to watch. To admit anything more complicated is to invite the suggestion that you may be wrong, and that can never be. Nuance is almost a pejorative term-as if nuance means we're trying to obfuscate."

There is some merit in being skeptical of experts. It is one of the most American of impulses. It drove almost all of the great cranks in our history. However, there is something amiss, in the notion that someone is an expert because of his success in another field as far from the subject under discussion as botany is from auto mechanics. If everyone is an expert, then nobody is. For example, Rush Limbaugh's expertise as regards, say, embryonic stem cell research is measured precisely by his ratings book, but his views on the subject are better known than those of someone doing the actual research, who alas, likely is not as gifted a broadcaster as he is. Consequently, Limbaugh's opinion is as well respected. Often, the television news networks-CNN is particularly fond of this-will bring on an assortment of talk show hosts to discuss issues even though, on the merits of the issues, most of them are fathoms out of their depth. But they all are good enough at what they do to stay on the air, so enough people must agree with them to make what they say true.

By adopting the ethos of talk radio, television has allowed Idiot America to run riot within all forms of public discourse.