The last few weeks President Obama has demonstrated the awesome power of wishful thinking, and as a result of his brilliant tactical thinking and crack leadership team that fool - Colonel Gaddafi - is left with only two options.
In one he crushes the rebels quickly.
In the other he crushes them slowly and painfully.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Un-freaking-believable.
From the Delaware Supreme Court's ruling in Boggerty v. Stewart (Del. Sup. Ct. Feb. 17, 2011) - AND I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP:
Government employees are not all bad, of course. But an awful lot of them are.
And those who were offended by this announcement should be publicly humiliated in some way.
[Appellants claim] that [theater manager] Stewart “insulted, humiliated, and demeaned” them by making a public announcement asking a movie theater audience to turn off their cell phones, remain quiet, and stay in their seats before a movie showing at the Carmike Cinemas Dover location. After conducting a hearing, the Delaware State Human Relations Commission (“Commission”) found that Stewart’s conduct violated Section 4504(a) of the DEAL, and awarded [the 23 separate] Appellants $1,500 each in damages, and attorneys’ fees [$21,510 –EV] and costs [$194 –EV]; and also ordered Carmike Cinemas to pay $5,000 to the Special Administration Fund .... On appeal, the Superior Court reversed the Commission’s decisions, and the Appellants appealed to this Court. For the reasons next discussed, we affirm....
On October 12, 2007, the Appellants, all of whom are African-American, went to Carmike Cinemas in Dover, Delaware, to see a new Tyler Perry movie, “Why Did I Get Married?.” Anticipating a large turnout based on the number of advance ticket sales, Stewart, who was a Caucasian male and the theater manager, scheduled the movie to be shown simultaneously in three auditoriums. The largest auditorium seated 130 people; the other two each seated 50 persons. When Appellants arrived at the theater, they handed their tickets to the ticket agent and received a ticket stub in return. Approaching the auditorium, they saw two security guards. The security guard standing outside the door to the largest auditorium asked to see Appellants’ ticket stubs. Appellants displayed their ticket stubs and were admitted into the largest auditorium. That auditorium was full. Of those attending, 90–95% were African-American.
Before the show, the theater screen displayed messages reminding patrons to turn off their cell phones and to refrain from talking during the movie. Before the movie began, Stewart also made a live announcement to the same effect. He asked the patrons to turn off their cell phones, to stay quiet, and to remain seated throughout the movie. After that announcement, Stewart left the auditorium. After Stewart left, Appellant Larry Bryant followed him outside and told Stewart that his remarks were not well-taken. Stewart immediately returned to the auditorium and apologized to the audience, explaining that he did not mean to offend anyone and that he was required to make the announcement under Carmike Cinemas’ current policy.
At some point during this episode a woman, who later was identified as Juana Fuentes-Bowles, the Director of the State Human Relations Division, stood up and told everyone that she felt that Stewart’s announcement was racist. After identifying herself — not by her official title but as an attorney or someone who worked for an attorney — Fuentes-Bowles circulated a sign-up sheet and asked all audience members who were offended by Stewart’s announcement to write down their contact information. The Appellants all did that, after which the audience then proceeded to watch the movie in its entirety without further incident. After the movie ended, Stewart waited at the auditorium exit door to say “good night” and thank the audience members for attending the show....
[Some of the Appellantes testified] that they were offended by the tone and manner in which Stewart made his announcement (but not by his actual words), and that Stewart’s tone was offensive and condescending, as if he were speaking to children. Those three testifying Appellants also believed that Stewart made the announcement because the audience was primarily African-American and who, therefore, would not know how to behave properly in a theater. None of the Appellants had ever heard such an announcement ever made before. Nor was the presence of a security guard checking their ticket stubs anything that they had ever experienced in previous Carmike Cinemas showings....
[T]he Commission found that although all Appellants were permitted to watch the movie, the circumstances under which they did that were “hostile, humiliating, and demeaning,” and thereby constituted “receiv[ing] services in a markedly hostile manner and in a manner which a reasonable person would find objectively unreasonable.”
The Commission also concluded that nonmembers of the protected class [blacks –EV] had been treated more favorably. The Commission arrived at that conclusion first, by finding Stewart’s and Bridgman’s testimony concerning the announcement policy (and its non-racial purpose) to be “not credible,” and second, by then inferring that the announcement must have been racially motivated....
Government employees are not all bad, of course. But an awful lot of them are.
And those who were offended by this announcement should be publicly humiliated in some way.
Must Read
if you only read one thing today, read this.
It mentions Charlie Sheen, so on that basis alone you have to read it.
Why are we in Afghanistan?
Why do we worry so much about collateral damage during war time? We sure as hell didn't worry about at Hiroshima or Nagasaki. What's really changed?
It mentions Charlie Sheen, so on that basis alone you have to read it.
Why are we in Afghanistan?
Why do we worry so much about collateral damage during war time? We sure as hell didn't worry about at Hiroshima or Nagasaki. What's really changed?
Saturday, January 29, 2011
This is Bad in So Many Ways
A total marketing nightmare. Mr Brain? Whose mouth wouldn't start to water with a name like that?
Oh, and FYI - “Faggots are traditionally made from pig's heart, liver and belly fat meat as well as other meat cut offs.”
Two words: Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Good.
Best Dance Video. Ever.
Not a bad cover of a Whitney Houston, either - which I understand is hard to do without the drugs.
Go ahead and watch. You know you want to. Focus on the older, balding gentleman (with the semi-comb over). The next John Travolta, perhaps?
Friday, January 28, 2011
Investment Club Names
My friend Debbie has started an investment club. She asked me today to see if the name "WIN Investment Group" was available with the Tennessee Secretary of State. I guess this was because the copyright value of that name will be HUGE someday.
Then again, maybe Debbie is a little too detail oriented. (Debbie is so focused I think they should inject her blood in people with ADHD).
Anyway, it's an all-female investment club, so I suggested these as alternative names:
Then again, maybe Debbie is a little too detail oriented. (Debbie is so focused I think they should inject her blood in people with ADHD).
Anyway, it's an all-female investment club, so I suggested these as alternative names:
Stocks R Us
Victoria’s Financial Secrets
Stocks…or Shoes?
Babes Beating Buffett
Soon Parted
Berkshire Debbie J
Somewhat sexist, I know, but still better than WIN Investment Group, no?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Glenn Beck & Frances Fox Piven - WTF?
This is an interesting story, though confined mainly to the blogosphere (so I can't talk to my wife about it).
Glenn Beck rails against the ideas of an avowed, lifelong, far left liberal college professor by ACCURATELY QUOTING HER? This is retarded.
Death threats are bad, although if I had a quarter for every death threat or unpleasant comment posted on the internet I would also have a Lear Jet on 24 hour standby. And I am not a big Glenn Beck fan in general. But all the guy did was to QUOTE HER ACCURATELY. If that generates a bad reaction, isn't that, uh, HER OWN DAMN FAULT?
I had never heard of this Frances Fox Piven until recently, and if I had heard of her, it didn't register. But I have been doing some reading about her. She's a socialist, and I do not like socialists. She is well intentioned, I think, but in that uniquely Orwellian way that socialists tend to be - that is, we need to do X, and if you disgare with that you need to be censored and/or shipped off to the gulag.
I am most disturbed by her connection to President Obama. If this is someone who influenced him, he needs to be out of the White House.
On his daily radio and television shows, Glenn Beck has elevated once-obscure conservative thinkers onto best-seller lists. Recently, he has elevated a 78-year-old liberal academic to celebrity of a different sort, in a way that some say is endangering her life.
On Jan. 5, 2010, Glenn Beck delivered one of several attacks on Richard Cloward, now deceased, and his wife and collaborator, Frances Fox Piven, who wrote about ending poverty.
Frances Fox Piven, a City University of New York professor, has been a primary character in Mr. Beck’s warnings about a progressive take-down of America. Ms. Piven, Mr. Beck says, is responsible for a plan to “intentionally collapse our economic system.”
Her name has become a kind of shorthand for “enemy” on Mr. Beck’s Fox News Channel program, which is watched by more than 2 million people, and on one of his Web sites, The Blaze. This week, Mr. Beck suggested on television that she was an enemy of the Constitution.
Never mind that Ms. Piven’s radical plan to help poor people was published 45 years ago, when Mr. Beck was a toddler. Anonymous visitors to his Web site have called for her death, and some, she said, have contacted her directly via e-mail.
In response, a liberal nonprofit group, the Center for Constitutional Rights, wrote to the chairman of Fox News, Roger Ailes, on Thursday to ask him to put a stop to Mr. Beck’s “false accusations” about Ms. Piven.
Glenn Beck rails against the ideas of an avowed, lifelong, far left liberal college professor by ACCURATELY QUOTING HER? This is retarded.
Death threats are bad, although if I had a quarter for every death threat or unpleasant comment posted on the internet I would also have a Lear Jet on 24 hour standby. And I am not a big Glenn Beck fan in general. But all the guy did was to QUOTE HER ACCURATELY. If that generates a bad reaction, isn't that, uh, HER OWN DAMN FAULT?
I had never heard of this Frances Fox Piven until recently, and if I had heard of her, it didn't register. But I have been doing some reading about her. She's a socialist, and I do not like socialists. She is well intentioned, I think, but in that uniquely Orwellian way that socialists tend to be - that is, we need to do X, and if you disgare with that you need to be censored and/or shipped off to the gulag.
I am most disturbed by her connection to President Obama. If this is someone who influenced him, he needs to be out of the White House.
The Oscars
This year I am going to have Oscar commentary. I have no idea why. I hate the Oscars. And all I saw was Inception and Harry Potter, so my analysis will be more succint than the acceptance sppech for best costume.
Here are the Nominees:
BEST PICTURE
127 HOURS (Fox Searchlight)
An Hours Production Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
INCEPTION (Warner Bros)
A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
A Relativity Media Production David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
THE KING'S SPEECH (The Weinstein Co)
A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
A Columbia Pictures Production Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
TOY STORY 3 (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Production Darla K. Anderson, Producer
TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
A Paramount Pictures Production Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
WINTER'S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
A Winter's Bone Production Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers
I only saw Inception. It was okay but not great. The Black Swan has lesbians. It should win.
BEST ACTOR
JEFF BRIDGES - TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
JAVIER BARDEM - BIUTIFUL (Roadside Attractions)
JESSE EISENBERG - THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
COLIN FIRTH - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
JAMES FRANCO - 127 HOURS (Fox Searchlight)
Jeff Bridges won last year. While I think he should win every year, he's out. Javier Bardem? Give me a break. Jesse Eisenberg? Should have been nominated for Zombieland. I can't believe the Social network is better than Zombieland. James Franco? I heard he was good, but he loses points for being in those Spiderman movies, which sucked. So the Oscar goes to Colin Firth. I heard he was good, so I can accept this.
BEST ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
NICOLE KIDMAN - RABBIT HOLE (Lionsgate)
JENNIFER LAWRENCE - WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
NATALIE PORTMAN - BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS - BLUE VALENTINE (The Weinstein Co)
Two lesbians. Hmmm...that makes this tough. I'll go with Natalie Portman.
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
CHRISTIAN BALE - THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
JOHN HAWKES - WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
JEREMY RENNER - THE TOWN (Warner Bros)
MARK RUFFALO - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
GEOFFREY RUSH - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
The Oscar goes to Jeremy Renner here because he was so good in The Hurt Locker and because if you can get nominated in a movie that has Ben Affleck in it you have to be good.
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
AMY ADAMS - THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
HELENA BONHAM CARTER - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
MELISSA LEO - THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
HAILEE STEINFELD - TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
JACKI WEAVER - ANIMAL KINGDOM (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Fighter must be good. We need more boxing pictures. I'll take Helena Bonham Carter for her work as Bellatrix LeStrange.
BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (DreamWorks Animation)
TOY STORY 3 (Walt Disney)
THE ILLUSIONIST (Sony Pictures Classics)
Toy Story 3. Buzz and Woody rule.
BEST DIRECTOR
DARREN ARONOFSKY - BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
DAVID FINCHER - THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
TOM HOOPER - THE KING'S SPEECH (The Weinstein Co.)
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN - TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
DAVID O. RUSSELL - THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
Got to go with the Coen Brothers.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANOTHER YEAR, Mike Leigh (Sony Pictures Classics)
THE FIGHTER, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (Paramount)
INCEPTION, Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros)
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg (Focus Features)
THE KING'S SPEECH, David Seidler (The Weinstein Co)
I'm sure Inception will win because no one understood it, which in Hollywood means it's original and edgy.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 HOURS, Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy (Fox Searchlight)
TOY STORY 3, Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich (Walt Disney)
THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Aaron Sorkin (Sony Pictures)
WINTER'S BONE, Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini (Roadside Attractions)
TRUE GRIT, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Paramount)
Please, not Aaron Sorkin. Other than that I don't care.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Algeria, Hors la Loi (“Outside the Law”) (Cohen Media Group) - A Tassili Films Production
Canada, Incendies (Sony Pictures Classics) - A Micro-Scope Production
Denmark, In a Better World (Sony Pictures Classics) - A Zentropa Production
Greece, Dogtooth (Kino International) - A Boo Production
Mexico, Biutiful (Roadside Attractions) - A Menage Atroz, Mod Producciones and Ikiru Films Production
Who cares?
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) - Matthew Libatique
Inception (Warner Bros.) - Wally Pfister
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) - Danny Cohen
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) - Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit (Paramount) - Roger Deakins
Again, steamy pictures of lesbians making out always win. Duh!
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Exit Through The Gift Shop (Producers Distribution Agency) A Paranoid Pictures Production Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
Gasland - A Gasland Production Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job (Sony Pictures Classics) - A Representational Pictures Production Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo (National Geographic Entertainment) - An Outpost Films Production Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land (Arthouse Films) - An Almega Projects Production Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley
Bor-ring.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Killing In The Name - A Moxie Firecracker Films Production Nominees to be determined
Poster Girl - A Portrayal Films Production Nominees to be determined
Strangers No More - A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
Sun Come Up - A Sun Come Up Production Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
The Warriors Of Qiugang - A Thomas Lennon Films Production Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon
Warriors of Qiugang. I think it might be based on the original Warriors film from 1979, which makes it AWESOME.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter (Paramount) Pamela Martin
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) Tariq Anwar
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Jon Harris
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
Probably should go to Apple.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) - Production Design: Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) - Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
Inception (Warner Bros) - Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) - Production Design: Eve Stewart, Set Decoration: Judy Farr
True Grit (Paramount) - Production Design: Jess Gonchor, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
Don't care.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) - Colleen Atwood
I Am Love (Magnolia Pictures) - Antonella Cannarozzi
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) - Jenny Beavan
The Tempest (Miramax) - Sandy Powell
True Grit (Paramount) - Mary Zophres
Don't care.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
Barney's Version (Sony Pictures Classics) Adrien Morot
The Way Back (Newmarket Films with Wrekin Hill Entertainment and Image Entertainment) Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman (Universal) Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
Care even less. Clint Eastwood movies have the least amount of makeup and they are always good. So this is a stupid category.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount) - John Powell
Inception (Warner Bros.) - Hans Zimmer
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) - Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) - A.R. Rahman
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Do you own any of these soundtracks? Do you want to? I didn't think so. Enough said.
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Coming Home” from Country Strong (Sony Pictures/Screen Gems) - Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from Tangled (Walt Disney) - Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from 127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) - Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) - Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
I think it is a rule that Randy Newman has to win avery few years. You know why? Because Hollywood is run by short people.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Day & Night (Walt Disney) - A Pixar Animation Studios Production Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo - A Magic Light Pictures Production Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let's Pollute - A Geefwee Boedoe Production Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing (Nick Batzias for Madman Entertainment) - A Passion Pictures Australia Production Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) - A Sacrebleu Production Bastien Dubois
No one ever sees these anyway.
Best live action short film
“The Confession” (National Film and Television School) A National Film and Television School Production Tanel Toom
“The Crush” (Network Ireland Television) A Purdy Pictures Production Michael Creagh
“God of Love”
A Luke Matheny Production Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe” (Premium Films) A CUT! Production Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143” A Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures Production Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
Again, why have this category?
Achievement in sound editing
“Inception” (Warner Bros.) Richard King
“Toy Story 3” (Walt Disney) Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy” (Walt Disney) Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit” (Paramount) Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable” (20th Century Fox) Mark P. Stoeckinger
Seriously. I'll bet you have to adjust the sound when you get the DVD, so no one should win.
Achievement in sound mixing
“Inception” (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King's Speech” (The Weinstein Company) Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit” (Paramount) Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
How about "Achievement in making fart noises"? Now that would be funny. Can't you just picture the guy coming up to get his award and they play his work in the background?
Achievement in visual effects
“Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney) Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” (Warner Bros.) Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter” (Warner Bros.)
Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception” (Warner Bros.) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount) Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick
Okay, I'll go with Inception here because the collapsing city stuff was pretty cool.
Now you don't even have to watch. I won't.
Here are the Nominees:
BEST PICTURE
127 HOURS (Fox Searchlight)
An Hours Production Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
INCEPTION (Warner Bros)
A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
A Relativity Media Production David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
THE KING'S SPEECH (The Weinstein Co)
A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
A Columbia Pictures Production Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
TOY STORY 3 (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Production Darla K. Anderson, Producer
TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
A Paramount Pictures Production Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
WINTER'S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
A Winter's Bone Production Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers
I only saw Inception. It was okay but not great. The Black Swan has lesbians. It should win.
BEST ACTOR
JEFF BRIDGES - TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
JAVIER BARDEM - BIUTIFUL (Roadside Attractions)
JESSE EISENBERG - THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
COLIN FIRTH - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
JAMES FRANCO - 127 HOURS (Fox Searchlight)
Jeff Bridges won last year. While I think he should win every year, he's out. Javier Bardem? Give me a break. Jesse Eisenberg? Should have been nominated for Zombieland. I can't believe the Social network is better than Zombieland. James Franco? I heard he was good, but he loses points for being in those Spiderman movies, which sucked. So the Oscar goes to Colin Firth. I heard he was good, so I can accept this.
BEST ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
NICOLE KIDMAN - RABBIT HOLE (Lionsgate)
JENNIFER LAWRENCE - WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
NATALIE PORTMAN - BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS - BLUE VALENTINE (The Weinstein Co)
Two lesbians. Hmmm...that makes this tough. I'll go with Natalie Portman.
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
CHRISTIAN BALE - THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
JOHN HAWKES - WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
JEREMY RENNER - THE TOWN (Warner Bros)
MARK RUFFALO - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
GEOFFREY RUSH - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
The Oscar goes to Jeremy Renner here because he was so good in The Hurt Locker and because if you can get nominated in a movie that has Ben Affleck in it you have to be good.
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
AMY ADAMS - THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
HELENA BONHAM CARTER - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
MELISSA LEO - THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
HAILEE STEINFELD - TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
JACKI WEAVER - ANIMAL KINGDOM (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Fighter must be good. We need more boxing pictures. I'll take Helena Bonham Carter for her work as Bellatrix LeStrange.
BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (DreamWorks Animation)
TOY STORY 3 (Walt Disney)
THE ILLUSIONIST (Sony Pictures Classics)
Toy Story 3. Buzz and Woody rule.
BEST DIRECTOR
DARREN ARONOFSKY - BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
DAVID FINCHER - THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
TOM HOOPER - THE KING'S SPEECH (The Weinstein Co.)
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN - TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
DAVID O. RUSSELL - THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
Got to go with the Coen Brothers.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANOTHER YEAR, Mike Leigh (Sony Pictures Classics)
THE FIGHTER, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (Paramount)
INCEPTION, Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros)
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg (Focus Features)
THE KING'S SPEECH, David Seidler (The Weinstein Co)
I'm sure Inception will win because no one understood it, which in Hollywood means it's original and edgy.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 HOURS, Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy (Fox Searchlight)
TOY STORY 3, Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich (Walt Disney)
THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Aaron Sorkin (Sony Pictures)
WINTER'S BONE, Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini (Roadside Attractions)
TRUE GRIT, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Paramount)
Please, not Aaron Sorkin. Other than that I don't care.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Algeria, Hors la Loi (“Outside the Law”) (Cohen Media Group) - A Tassili Films Production
Canada, Incendies (Sony Pictures Classics) - A Micro-Scope Production
Denmark, In a Better World (Sony Pictures Classics) - A Zentropa Production
Greece, Dogtooth (Kino International) - A Boo Production
Mexico, Biutiful (Roadside Attractions) - A Menage Atroz, Mod Producciones and Ikiru Films Production
Who cares?
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) - Matthew Libatique
Inception (Warner Bros.) - Wally Pfister
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) - Danny Cohen
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) - Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit (Paramount) - Roger Deakins
Again, steamy pictures of lesbians making out always win. Duh!
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Exit Through The Gift Shop (Producers Distribution Agency) A Paranoid Pictures Production Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
Gasland - A Gasland Production Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job (Sony Pictures Classics) - A Representational Pictures Production Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo (National Geographic Entertainment) - An Outpost Films Production Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land (Arthouse Films) - An Almega Projects Production Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley
Bor-ring.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Killing In The Name - A Moxie Firecracker Films Production Nominees to be determined
Poster Girl - A Portrayal Films Production Nominees to be determined
Strangers No More - A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
Sun Come Up - A Sun Come Up Production Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
The Warriors Of Qiugang - A Thomas Lennon Films Production Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon
Warriors of Qiugang. I think it might be based on the original Warriors film from 1979, which makes it AWESOME.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter (Paramount) Pamela Martin
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) Tariq Anwar
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Jon Harris
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
Probably should go to Apple.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) - Production Design: Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) - Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
Inception (Warner Bros) - Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) - Production Design: Eve Stewart, Set Decoration: Judy Farr
True Grit (Paramount) - Production Design: Jess Gonchor, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
Don't care.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) - Colleen Atwood
I Am Love (Magnolia Pictures) - Antonella Cannarozzi
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) - Jenny Beavan
The Tempest (Miramax) - Sandy Powell
True Grit (Paramount) - Mary Zophres
Don't care.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
Barney's Version (Sony Pictures Classics) Adrien Morot
The Way Back (Newmarket Films with Wrekin Hill Entertainment and Image Entertainment) Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman (Universal) Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
Care even less. Clint Eastwood movies have the least amount of makeup and they are always good. So this is a stupid category.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount) - John Powell
Inception (Warner Bros.) - Hans Zimmer
The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company) - Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) - A.R. Rahman
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Do you own any of these soundtracks? Do you want to? I didn't think so. Enough said.
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Coming Home” from Country Strong (Sony Pictures/Screen Gems) - Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from Tangled (Walt Disney) - Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from 127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) - Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) - Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
I think it is a rule that Randy Newman has to win avery few years. You know why? Because Hollywood is run by short people.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Day & Night (Walt Disney) - A Pixar Animation Studios Production Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo - A Magic Light Pictures Production Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let's Pollute - A Geefwee Boedoe Production Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing (Nick Batzias for Madman Entertainment) - A Passion Pictures Australia Production Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) - A Sacrebleu Production Bastien Dubois
No one ever sees these anyway.
Best live action short film
“The Confession” (National Film and Television School) A National Film and Television School Production Tanel Toom
“The Crush” (Network Ireland Television) A Purdy Pictures Production Michael Creagh
“God of Love”
A Luke Matheny Production Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe” (Premium Films) A CUT! Production Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143” A Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures Production Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
Again, why have this category?
Achievement in sound editing
“Inception” (Warner Bros.) Richard King
“Toy Story 3” (Walt Disney) Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy” (Walt Disney) Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit” (Paramount) Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable” (20th Century Fox) Mark P. Stoeckinger
Seriously. I'll bet you have to adjust the sound when you get the DVD, so no one should win.
Achievement in sound mixing
“Inception” (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King's Speech” (The Weinstein Company) Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit” (Paramount) Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
How about "Achievement in making fart noises"? Now that would be funny. Can't you just picture the guy coming up to get his award and they play his work in the background?
Achievement in visual effects
“Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney) Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” (Warner Bros.) Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter” (Warner Bros.)
Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception” (Warner Bros.) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount) Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick
Okay, I'll go with Inception here because the collapsing city stuff was pretty cool.
Now you don't even have to watch. I won't.
Monday, January 24, 2011
I Fell in the Fountain While Texting and It Got on YouTube and That Hurt My Feelings
Gee, I'm sorry and all that, BUT GET A SENSE OF HUMOR! It was funny. Laugh at yourself.
And if you can't then I am happy to do it for you.
And if you can't then I am happy to do it for you.
Keith Olbermann, RIP
To be fair, I cannot stand Keith Olbermann. I find him to be so loathsome and fundamentally dishonest that it is beyond my descriptive powers to convey the depth of my contempt for him both intellectually and personally.
But this was funny.
But this was funny.
Education in America
A Washington Post commentary I think is spot on.
It's not that kids today are dumber or college professors are failing us (although many probably are), it's that they don't learn the way they used to. I could care less about who might be to blame, and I am sure that's a complicated issue anyway.
All I care about is fixing the problem. A discussion like this is a start.
I have, however, become increasingly concerned in recent years - not about the talent of the applicants but about the education American universities are providing. Even from America's great liberal arts colleges, transcripts reflect an undergraduate specialization that would have been unthinkably narrow just a generation ago..
As a result, high-achieving students seem less able to grapple with issues that require them to think across disciplines or reflect on difficult questions about what matters and why.
Unlike many graduate fellowships, the Rhodes seeks leaders who will "fight the world's fight." They must be more than mere bookworms. We are looking for students who wonder, students who are reading widely, students of passion who are driven to make a difference in the lives of those around them and in the broader world through enlightened and effective leadership. The undergraduate education they are receiving seems less and less suited to that purpose.
An outstanding biochemistry major wants to be a doctor and supports the president's health-care bill but doesn't really know why. A student who started a chapter of Global Zero at his university hasn't really thought about whether a world in which great powers have divested themselves of nuclear weapons would be more stable or less so, or whether nuclear deterrence can ever be moral. A young service academy cadet who is likely to be serving in a war zone within the year believes there are things worth dying for but doesn't seem to have thought much about what is worth killing for. A student who wants to study comparative government doesn't seem to know much about the important features and limitations of America's Constitution.
When asked what are the important things for a leader to be able to do, one young applicant described some techniques and personal characteristics to manage a group and get a job done. Nowhere in her answer did she give any hint of understanding that leaders decide what job should be done. Leaders set agendas.
I wish I could say that this is a single, anomalous group of students, but the trend is unmistakable. Our great universities seem to have redefined what it means to be an exceptional student. They are producing top students who have given very little thought to matters beyond their impressive grasp of an intense area of study.
This narrowing has resulted in a curiously unprepared and superficial pre-professionalism.
Perhaps our universities have yielded to the pressure of parents who pay high tuition and expect students, above all else, to be prepared for the jobs they will try to secure after graduation. As a parent of two teenagers I can understand that expectation.
Perhaps faculty members are themselves more narrowly specialized because of pressure to publish original work in ever more obscure journals.
I detect no lack of seriousness or ambition in these students. They believe they are exceptionally well-educated. They have jumped expertly through every hoop put in front of them to be the top of their classes in our country's best universities, and they have been lavishly praised for doing so. They seem so surprised when asked simple direct questions that they have never considered
It's not that kids today are dumber or college professors are failing us (although many probably are), it's that they don't learn the way they used to. I could care less about who might be to blame, and I am sure that's a complicated issue anyway.
All I care about is fixing the problem. A discussion like this is a start.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
A Thoughtful Person
An interview worth reading
Read the whole thing.
Seasteading was thought up by acolytes of Milton Friedman. The idea is that we need to create competition between governments. If it’s very hard to reform existing ones, we need to create new sovereign states — in the oceans or elsewhere. There’s a technological question about how far away we are from these kinds of things. It’s probably not around the corner. But these technological projects are worth pursuing.
It’s one of the ways in which I see things in the U.S. as having declined from the 1950s, when people had a real sense of the future, and the future was an important subject for public discussion. We thought about being on the moon, or living underwater, and what we were going to do about farmlands and forests and so on. Different ideas about how technology would change in the future played an important role in our society. That sort of collapsed with everything else in the late ’60s and into the ’70s. I want to go back to the future and back to a time when people were thinking about how to use technology to make the world a dramatically better place — not like the present, where technology is largely seen as irrelevant and specifically as bad.
Now, the broader issue with seasteading is that a lot of people are quite sympathetic to the idea that we need more competition in government, though you can debate whether seasteading is the best way — or a possible way — to bring it about. If there weren’t some competition between governments, the overreach would be dramatically worse than what we’ve seen. A lot of state governments would like to dramatically increase taxes and increase regulations on businesses, rather than reform their bad ways. But they’re under extraordinary pressure because people may just choose to leave.
The U.S. government is under somewhat less pressure, because it is a lot more difficult to leave the U.S. But it’s under more constraints today, because the U.S. is now living in a much more competitive world than it was in the 1970s. It’s hard to simply devalue the dollar, or simply inflate, or tax in a confiscatory way. So competition among governments is an extremely valuable and very good thing. The seasteading netroots are best seen against that larger background.
Read the whole thing.
Kill Bill
I had never seen Kill Bill Volume 1 or Volume 2. Now I have.
While I have a fondness for Quentin Tarantino in general, and these were not bad movies, I'd not rank them among his best work. Entertaining, but I am not quite sure why.
Other observations:
It's hard to eat after seeing a closeup of Uma Thurman's feet.
Uma Thurman is strangely more appealing when her face is covered with dirt.
I owe it to my Dad not to hate on an homage to Kung Fu, the classic 1970s TV show.
Michael Madsen gives me the creeps, though I do think he is a good actor.
So that's what happened to Daryl Hannah.
While I have a fondness for Quentin Tarantino in general, and these were not bad movies, I'd not rank them among his best work. Entertaining, but I am not quite sure why.
Other observations:
It's hard to eat after seeing a closeup of Uma Thurman's feet.
Uma Thurman is strangely more appealing when her face is covered with dirt.
I owe it to my Dad not to hate on an homage to Kung Fu, the classic 1970s TV show.
Michael Madsen gives me the creeps, though I do think he is a good actor.
So that's what happened to Daryl Hannah.
Regarding Loughner
He was a nut job.
Period.
Anyone who suggests that he was in any way motivated or influenced by political rhetoric is a moron. Which proves, rather conclusively, that most of the national media is comprised of morons.
Which I think most of us already suspected anyway. It's just nice to have some hard evidence.
Period.
Anyone who suggests that he was in any way motivated or influenced by political rhetoric is a moron. Which proves, rather conclusively, that most of the national media is comprised of morons.
Which I think most of us already suspected anyway. It's just nice to have some hard evidence.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Cats
Random thought: you know that saying-"who let the cat out of the bag?"
Doesn't that imply that they used to did they used to keep cats in bags?
Wonder why they started letting them out?
Doesn't that imply that they used to did they used to keep cats in bags?
Wonder why they started letting them out?
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
iPAD
Yep.
Got an iPAD for Christmas.
Freaking awesome.
I wish that Apple ran the government. Then it would work.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Got an iPAD for Christmas.
Freaking awesome.
I wish that Apple ran the government. Then it would work.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Friday, December 24, 2010
More Movie Trivia
Clint Eastwood, Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Mel Gibson, Richard Attenborough and Kevin Costner are the only directors best known as actors who have won an Academy Award as Best Director.
Actors with One Hit Wonder Songs
So at lunch a week or so I ask the young kids I am eating with if they can name any actors who have had a hit song. Blank looks followed.
Kids today.
Anyway, this list contains many names that only those over 45 will know. It omits John Travolta "Let her In" & several from Grease), Shelley Fabares (Johnny Angel"), Clint Eastwood ("Bar Room Buddies"), Sondra Locke, John Belushi and Dan Akroyd (as the Blues Brothers), Robert Mitchum ("Thunder Road").
I took the liberty of omitting David Hasselhoff from this list on general principles.
Artist Andy Griffith Year 1955
Song Make Yourself Comfortable Chart 26
Artist Jerry Lewis Year 1956
Song Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody Chart 10
Artist The Tarriers (Alan Arkin) Year 1957
Song The Banana Boat Song Chart 24
Artist Anthony Perkins Year 1955
Song Moon-Light Swim Chart 26
Artist Jim Backus & Friends Year 1958
Song Delicious! Chart 40
Artist Sheb Wooley Year 1958
Song The Purple People Eater Chart 1
Artist Connie Stevens Year 1960
Song Sixteen Reasons Chart 3
Artist Bill Dana (as José Jiménez) Year 1961
Song The Astronaut Chart 19
Artist George Maharis Year 1962
Song Teach Me Tonight Chart 25
Artist Lorne Greene Year 1964
Song Ringo Chart 1
Artist Bill Cosby Year 1967
Song Little Ole Man (Uptight, Everything's Alright) Chart 4
Artist Richard Harris Year 1968
Song MacArthur Park Chart 2
Artist Ernie (from Sesame Street) Year 1970
Song Rubber Duckie Chart 16
Artist Benny Hill Year 1971
Song Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West) Chart 1 UK
Artist Joey Heatherton Year 1972
Song Gone Chart 24
Artist Vicki Lawrence Year 1973
Song The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia Chart 1
Artist Telly Savalas Year 1975
Song If Chart 1 UK
Artist Keith Carradine Year 1976
Song I'm Easy Chart 17
Artist David Soul Year 1977
Song Don't Give Up On Us Chart 1
Artist Steve Martin & the Toot Uncommons Year 1978
Song King Tut Chart 17
Artist Cheryl Ladd Year 1978
Song Think It Over Chart 34
Artist David Naughton Year 1979
Song Makin' it Chart 5
Artist Kermit the Frog Year 1979
Song Rainbow Connection Chart 25
Artist Bernadette Peters Year 1980
Song Gee Whiz Chart 13
Artist John Schneider Year 1981
Song It's Now or Never Chart 14
Artist Bob & Doug McKenzie Year 1980
Song Take Off Chart 13
Artist Frank Stallone Year 1983
Song Far From Over Chart 10
Artist Jack Wagner Year 1984
Song All I Need Chart 2
Artist Tracey Ullman Year 1984
Song They Don't Know Chart 8
Artist Eddie Murphy Year 1985
Song Party All The Time Chart 2
Artist Don Johnson Year 1986
Song Heartbeat Chart 5
Artist Art of Noise featuring Max Headroom Year 1986
Song Paranoimia Chart 34
Artist Billy Crystal Year 1986
Song You Look Marvelous! Chart 58
Artist Bruce Willis Year 1987
Song Respect Yourself Chart 5
Artist Patrick Swayze Year 1988
Song She's Like The Wind Chart 3
Artist The Simpsons Year 1990
Song Do The Bartman Chart
Artist Jasmine Guy Year 1991
Song Just Want to Hold You Chart 34
Artist Joey Lawrence Year 1993
Song Nothin' My Love Can't Fix Chart 19
Artist Jamie Walters Year 1995
Song Hold On Chart 16
Artist Chef (from South Park) Year 1998
Song Chocolate Salty Balls (PS I Love You) Chart 1 UK
Artist Tatyana Ali Year 1998
Song Daydreamin' Chart 6
Comedians and the Oscars
Comedians, if you didn't know it, have the highest IQs of any profession. Amazingly, they tend to make better dramatic actors than dramatic actors. here is a list of comics who have won Oscars or Oscar nominations for dramatic roles.
Amazingly, they omit Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Jim Carrey and Dan Akyroyd from this list.
Best Actor - 1949 - Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator (Nominated; lost to Jimmy Stewart, The Philadelphia Story)
Best Supporting Actor - 1957 - Red Buttons, Sayonara (Won)
Best Supporting Actor - 1975 - George Burns, The Sunshine Boys (Won)
Best Actor - 1977 - Woody Allen, Annie Hall (Nominated; lost to Richard Dreyfuss, The Goodbye Girl)
Best Actor - 1981 - Dudley Moore, Arthur (Nominated; lost to Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond)
Best Actress - 1985 - Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple (Nominated; lost to Geraldine Page, A Trip to the Bountiful)
Best Actor - 1987 - Robin Williams, Good Morning, Vietnam (Nominated; lost to Michael Douglas, Wall Street)
Best Supporting Actor - 1987 - Albert Brooks, Broadcast News (Nominated; lost to Sean Connery, The Untouchables)
Best Actor - 1989 - Robin Williams, Dead Poet's Society (Nominated; lost to Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot)
Best Supporting Actor - 1989 - Dan Aykroyd, Driving Miss Daisy (Nominated; lost to Denzel Washington, Glory)
Best Supporting Actress - 1990 - Whoopi Goldberg, Ghost (Won)
Best Actor - 1991 - Robin Williams, The Fisher King (Nominated; lost to Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs)
Best Supporting Actor - 1997 - Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting (Won)
Best Actor - 2003 - Bill Murray, Lost in Translation (Nominated; lost to Sean Penn, Mystic River)
Best Actor - 2004 - Jamie Foxx, Ray (Won)
Best Supporting Actor - 2004 - Jamie Foxx, Collateral (Nominated; lost to Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby)
Best Supporting Actor - 2006 - Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls (Nominated; lost to Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine)
Best Supporting Actress - 2009 - Mo'Nique, Precious (Won)
Amazingly, they omit Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Jim Carrey and Dan Akyroyd from this list.
Inspirational Video
Not really. It's 3:51 of your life you'll never get back.
But for some strange reason it will make you start laughing. And you do have to admire the perseverance.
But for some strange reason it will make you start laughing. And you do have to admire the perseverance.
Humorous Nazi Allusion
There really are not a lot of humorous Nazi allusions, but believe it or not (and I know you will believe it because, after all, everything you read on this blog is true) there is a website called CATS THAT LOOK LIKE HITLER.
With creativity like this there is no way we are going down to China.
With creativity like this there is no way we are going down to China.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Thought Provoking. Seriously.
At some point someone has to stand up and say, "No more vampire movies!"
There.
I said it.
Best Places to Live in America
We are a nation of lists.
CNN Money just released their annual listing. Everyone wants to see their town listed, of course, but Tennessee did not fare well - only Franklin made the list, and they were well into the bottom 50.
Shockingly, Mount Pleasant, SC made the list at 100, which makes me seriously question the the list in its entirety, but then I love the SC coastal area near Charleston in general.
I've never lived in Minnesota or Iowa or Oklahoma, but they seemed to me to be disproportionately represented. Minnesota had 6 of the top 20 I believe. I don't like cold weather or mosquitos, so naturally I am biased against Minnesota and Iowa. But I suppose they are very nice places to live if you like the pasty white skin look. Oklahoma, like Minnesota and Iowa, is very flat. Which is nice for cycling. Also for tornadoes.
Connecticut had several towns make the list. I grew up there; there is much to like. Also much to hate. As one of the commenters observed about Hamden: "Grew up ther. It's a dump." That is a bit harsh, but overall not completely irrational.
CNN Money just released their annual listing. Everyone wants to see their town listed, of course, but Tennessee did not fare well - only Franklin made the list, and they were well into the bottom 50.
Shockingly, Mount Pleasant, SC made the list at 100, which makes me seriously question the the list in its entirety, but then I love the SC coastal area near Charleston in general.
I've never lived in Minnesota or Iowa or Oklahoma, but they seemed to me to be disproportionately represented. Minnesota had 6 of the top 20 I believe. I don't like cold weather or mosquitos, so naturally I am biased against Minnesota and Iowa. But I suppose they are very nice places to live if you like the pasty white skin look. Oklahoma, like Minnesota and Iowa, is very flat. Which is nice for cycling. Also for tornadoes.
Connecticut had several towns make the list. I grew up there; there is much to like. Also much to hate. As one of the commenters observed about Hamden: "Grew up ther. It's a dump." That is a bit harsh, but overall not completely irrational.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
In Which I See the World with Stunning Clarity
I believe there is more than one way to skin a cat.
I believe in freedom of expression.
I believe that Holmes was essentially correct when he said that freedom of speech was not about protecting the speech we like, but rather the speech we hate.
So I am fine with the following article on Nestle's entry into the Amazonian jungle market.
I don't know who Michele Simon is, but I I do know this - she is absolutely, completely, 100% wrong. And those who agree with her and the ideology which informs her comments (which regrettably informs a goodly portion of those who fall on the left side of the political spectrum) should never, ever, be in charge of anything. For all her noble ideas - and I believe she is quite idealistic and more than likely well-intentioned - it is people like her her make the world a much worse and poorer place than it need be. It is people like her who, through the law of unintended consequences, have indirectly sent millions of innocents to their deaths (albeit indirectly). It is people like her who sow the seeds that lead to the Josef Stalins of the world.
My good friend Vig would disagree with me on this point and assert than I am being too extreme in my judgment. I rarely dismiss his comments out of hand, but in this instance I believe I have history - and facts - on my side. And I believe that Miss Simon has nothing more than emotion and good intentions on hers. As such, Miss Simon is the paradigm example of the useful idiot.
Here's why:
In 1776 an Englishman named Adam Smith made the following observation:
Smith concluded that men, driven primarily by their own self-interest, would through some unknown force that he famously described as the "invisible hand" somehow allocate scarce resources in manner in which maximized the benefit for the whole of society. It is a simple yet impossibly complex phenomenon that has played out over and over again during the intervening centuries, and it has made the United States the richest nation on earth. By extension, the absence or suppression of the invisible hand has led to the downfall of communism and keeps a large portion of the planets inhabitants mired in poverty.
What Michele Simon sees as the purity and nobility of the simple life of the Amazonians (i.e., "people out there so backwards to still be subsisting on food found in nature") and the "unsavory marketing practices" of Nestle is nothing more than the invisible hand at work. And to that end, the people of the Amazon, and nestle, will both find themselves better off.
It really is that simple.
Will it be perfect? No. Will there be externalities and new problems created by this voluntary exchange that do not exist today? Of course.
But on balance, both parties will be better off. This is, thankfully, a fact of life.
And as for Ms. Simon? Well, I think I speak for all sentient beings when I say, simply, "Shut the fuck up you ignorant slut."
I believe in freedom of expression.
I believe that Holmes was essentially correct when he said that freedom of speech was not about protecting the speech we like, but rather the speech we hate.
So I am fine with the following article on Nestle's entry into the Amazonian jungle market.
I have many things to do today and writing this post was not on my list. But as I was cleaning out my in-box, an especially disgusting news item caught my attention and writing about it is the only way I know to release my outrage. My version of screaming from the rooftop.
The offending article, on Bloomberg.com (Nestle to Sail Amazon Rivers to Reach Consumers) describes how the world’s largest food company will soon “begin sailing a supermarket barge down two Amazon river tributaries as it competes with Unilever to reach emerging-market customers cut off from branded goods.”
A supermarket barge? Has Big Food already run out of customers in cities and other locales that are more readily accessible by land? Cut off from branded goods? I don’t think these people are lost or have been camping out too long, they’re just living their lives. They probably don’t even realize they are missing out on Toll House, Raisinets, and Sno-Caps. But no matter, if there are people out there so backwards to still be subsisting on food found in nature, Big Food will find them, by land or by sea, and set them straight.
The boat, with more than 1,000 square feet of supermarket space, will journey to 18 cities, reaching 800,000 potential consumers in Brazil, and will even provide access for the disabled and elderly.
But how can these poor Bralizian residents even afford to purchase processed foods when they are probably struggling as it is? No worries, Nestle has that little problem all figured out too. According to the article:
Nestle sells 3,950 products in “popularly positioned” formats designed for low-income consumers. Smaller packs allow poor consumers to afford branded goods like richer shoppers rather than turn to generic alternatives. The Swiss company has a team of 7,000 saleswomen who peddle packs of Nestle goods door-to-door in Brazilian slums.
Translation: Because Nestle knows that poor people cannot afford the same super-sized packages commonly sold in the West, the company sells starter products to get poor customers hooked on their brands. The threat of “generic alternatives” looms large because, god forbid, these people figure out that juice is just juice and brand really makes no difference. The strategy of hooking poor people on smaller, cheaper goods is commonplace but was pioneered by the tobacco industry, which still sells single cigarettes in developing world. (The practice is banned in most other nations.)
And what, pray tell, will the floating supermarket carry? Surely, necessary food items for these hard-to-reach residents. Bloomberg.com notes, “The vessel will carry 300 different goods including chocolate, yogurt, ice cream and juices.” Yup, all the essentials. But wait maybe Nestle is taking care of the poor’s nutrition needs after all: “The company often adds nutrients such as iron, zinc, iodine and vitamin A to address deficiencies among the poor.” How heartwarming.
Nestle’s press release proudly announcing the vessel’s voyage adds:
The floating supermarket develops another trading channel which offers access to Nutrition, Health and Wellness to the remote communities in the north region of Brazil.
Who better to teach nutrition than the maker of Drumstick ice cream?
As I wrote about previously here, with Western nations becoming more and more saturated while regulatory pressures mount in the U.S. to curb unsavory marketing practices, Big Food has no choice but to step up the sales pace in the developing world. As the article explains:
Nestle had 2009 food and beverage sales growth in emerging markets of 8.5 percent, more than double the rate of its total business. The company has said it aims to boost the proportion of sales from developing countries to 45 percent in a decade from 35 percent now.
Just in case you missed that: Within ten years, the world’s largest food company will do almost half of its business in the developing world. That’s astounding by any measure of any industry.
And yes, Brazil is already showing signs of diet-related health problems. This article from Time magazine last year describes the concern over rising obesity rates found by Brazil’s own Health Ministry. While the numbers there are still small compared to here, as Nestle keeps reloading its ice cream barge to reach more “brand-deprived” poor people, it won’t take long before that gap narrows.
I don't know who Michele Simon is, but I I do know this - she is absolutely, completely, 100% wrong. And those who agree with her and the ideology which informs her comments (which regrettably informs a goodly portion of those who fall on the left side of the political spectrum) should never, ever, be in charge of anything. For all her noble ideas - and I believe she is quite idealistic and more than likely well-intentioned - it is people like her her make the world a much worse and poorer place than it need be. It is people like her who, through the law of unintended consequences, have indirectly sent millions of innocents to their deaths (albeit indirectly). It is people like her who sow the seeds that lead to the Josef Stalins of the world.
My good friend Vig would disagree with me on this point and assert than I am being too extreme in my judgment. I rarely dismiss his comments out of hand, but in this instance I believe I have history - and facts - on my side. And I believe that Miss Simon has nothing more than emotion and good intentions on hers. As such, Miss Simon is the paradigm example of the useful idiot.
Here's why:
In 1776 an Englishman named Adam Smith made the following observation:
Among the savage nations of hunters and fishers, every individual who is able to work, is more or less employed in useful labour, and endeavours to provide, as well as he can, the necessaries and conveniencies of life, for himself, or such of his family or tribe as are either too old, or too young, or too infirm to go a hunting and fishing. Such nations, however, are so miserably poor, that from mere want, they are frequently reduced, or, at least, think themselves reduced, to the necessity sometimes of directly destroying, and sometimes of abandoning their infants, their old people, and those afflicted with lingering diseases, to perish with hunger, or to be devoured by wild beasts. Among civilized and thriving nations, on the contrary, though a great number of people do not labour at all, many of whom consume the produce of ten times, frequently of a hundred times more labour than the greater part of those who work; yet the produce of the whole labour of the society is so great, that all are often abundantly supplied, and a workman, even of the lowest and poorest order, if he is frugal and industrious, may enjoy a greater share of the necessaries and conveniencies of life than it is possible for any savage to acquire.
The causes of this improvement, in the productive powers of labour, and the order, according to which its produce is naturally distributed among the different ranks and conditions of men in the society, make the subject of the First Book of this Inquiry.
Smith concluded that men, driven primarily by their own self-interest, would through some unknown force that he famously described as the "invisible hand" somehow allocate scarce resources in manner in which maximized the benefit for the whole of society. It is a simple yet impossibly complex phenomenon that has played out over and over again during the intervening centuries, and it has made the United States the richest nation on earth. By extension, the absence or suppression of the invisible hand has led to the downfall of communism and keeps a large portion of the planets inhabitants mired in poverty.
What Michele Simon sees as the purity and nobility of the simple life of the Amazonians (i.e., "people out there so backwards to still be subsisting on food found in nature") and the "unsavory marketing practices" of Nestle is nothing more than the invisible hand at work. And to that end, the people of the Amazon, and nestle, will both find themselves better off.
It really is that simple.
Will it be perfect? No. Will there be externalities and new problems created by this voluntary exchange that do not exist today? Of course.
But on balance, both parties will be better off. This is, thankfully, a fact of life.
And as for Ms. Simon? Well, I think I speak for all sentient beings when I say, simply, "Shut the fuck up you ignorant slut."
Monday, June 21, 2010
In Which I Finally Come to Understand Congress
Every Monday I spend some time to catch up on events of the Weekend, and usually make an effort to read at least one article that is philosophical or spiritual in nature (I define "spiritual" very broadly, as in it could be an article on scotch, bicycling, golf or beer).
Anyway, I came across this article, which I found absolutely fascinating and strongly recommend.
The underlying story behind the article was this: a 5'7", 270 lb. bank robber was dismayed when he was caught because he had rubbed lemon juice all over his face before the broad daylight robbery which was, of course, all caught on surveillance tape. Lemon juice, of course, is the key ingredient in "invisible ink;" he had convinced himself this made him invisible to cameras because after trying it he took a picture and he wasn't in it. Clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
A Cornell psychologist who had come across this case history then asked a fateful question:
And with that knowledge you too can fully understand Congress and why its members say and do the things that they do.
Anyway, I came across this article, which I found absolutely fascinating and strongly recommend.
The underlying story behind the article was this: a 5'7", 270 lb. bank robber was dismayed when he was caught because he had rubbed lemon juice all over his face before the broad daylight robbery which was, of course, all caught on surveillance tape. Lemon juice, of course, is the key ingredient in "invisible ink;" he had convinced himself this made him invisible to cameras because after trying it he took a picture and he wasn't in it. Clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
A Cornell psychologist who had come across this case history then asked a fateful question:
If [the robber] was too stupid to be a bank robber, perhaps he was also too stupid to know that he was too stupid to be a bank robber — that is, his stupidity protected him from an awareness of his own stupidity.
And with that knowledge you too can fully understand Congress and why its members say and do the things that they do.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Wow. Really Bad Parenting and a Complete Absence of Self-Awareness.
I generally believe that you can do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t hurt me or my family or cost me any money. I think that is a liberal and sensible viewpoint, and one that is shared by most Americans (though admittedly there would be a vocal minority of dissenters).
Then there is this:
It doesn't hurt me or my family and it doesn't cost me any money. So why do I care?
I probably shouldn't, but I do.
Not because of the kids, but because of the parents. Clearly they are too stupid to be allowed to reproduce. I demand that they be sterilized immediately on general principles.
Do they even know what "out of context" means?
What part of having your young daughter dress like a stripper is wrong don't they understand?
I am now openly advocating secession. I can no longer peacefully co-exist with so many idiots.
Then there is this:
It doesn't hurt me or my family and it doesn't cost me any money. So why do I care?
I probably shouldn't, but I do.
Not because of the kids, but because of the parents. Clearly they are too stupid to be allowed to reproduce. I demand that they be sterilized immediately on general principles.
Do they even know what "out of context" means?
What part of having your young daughter dress like a stripper is wrong don't they understand?
I am now openly advocating secession. I can no longer peacefully co-exist with so many idiots.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Obama Woods
I continue to find it interesting that Obama has played golf more in the first 16 months of his Presidency than Bush played in his entire 8 years in office, especially since it was, like, winter for at least 6 months in that time span.
It doesn't especially bother me that he plays a lot of golf.
It bothers me that the media excoriated Bush for playing golf in times of crisis, but there isn't a peep out of them for Obama doing the same thing. There was a major flood in Nashville. Perhaps he hasn't heard about it yet?
I also recall the hilarity that ensued when George Bush I discovered scanners in grocery stores (although he'd been Vice President and President for the intervening 12 years and probably didn't make a lot of trips to the supermarket during the period
when scanners were introduced. Over the weekend Obama claims he doesn't know how to work an iPod or an iPad.
Again, nary a word is said.
Obama is awfully thin skinned; the man has zero tolerance for criticism. Then again, I can't name a single fascist leader who was terribly open to criticism.
"You're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank all that high on the truth meter," Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia.
He's right about that. I mean, Janet Napolitano told us, mere moments after the failed Times Square bombing, the the responsible party was probably an isolated nut job and not a terrorist, and NY Mayor Bloomberg told us it was probably some guy who hated Obamacare. That's just crazy talk!
Why, how many Americans were shocked to learn it was some Muslim named Faisal? Outside of the administration and the media, I'll bet the answer is zero.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The Nashville Flood
I went to school in Nashville, I have many friends and co-workers that live there and I cannot believe the pictures from the flood. Honestly, this looks a lot worse than Katrina, yet the media coverage is practically non-existent.
To paraphrase Kanye "Fishsticks" West: does this mean Obama hates white people?
To paraphrase Kanye "Fishsticks" West: does this mean Obama hates white people?
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Well Said
Here is a must read commentary from David Harsanyi of the Denver Post, and you really must read the whole thing. He's writing about the Times Square SUV bomb and the absolutely idiotic response of so many political and media types.
Anyone who acts surprised that it was yet another Islamic Jihadi is retarded!
People like to blame Islamic terrorists for blowing stuff up or trying to blow stuff up because, well, 99% of the time they are responsible. Duh! If a Muslim finds that offensive that's just too bad, and if you believe in political correctness you're a moron anyway.
Janet Napolitano is a moron. On her best day. She really isn't very bright, and I don't say that just because I dislike her and disagree with her. She doesn't know when to shut up, and she gives me a very bad feeling about the safety of the Nation. (FYI - I was and am opposed to the Patriot Act simply because government power grabs always end poorly.)
Mike Bloomberg? Dude, I thought you had a little sense.
Great line, huh? Maybe some crazy from the fundamentalist faction of around 56 percent of us who opposed health-care reform. After all, in the deep recesses of some imaginations, conservatives are not above murdering hundreds of tourists to make a point about Obamacare. Now I have some liberal friends who will think that is extreme. Yet there were liberal talk show hosts and politicians who said exactly that. The thin-skinned Obama crowd is all about demonizing the opposition.
Man, that's like Johnny Carson-quality humor. These jihadis don't work alone. They are vermin, yet we treat them as if they have rights. They don't - not under the law of war. I believe we have authority to summarily execute them, and while I have reservations about the death penalty in the context of our own judicial system, in this instance I have none.
Seriously, what is the downside? If we were wrong the world would have one less guy named Faisal. No sane person would have any issues with that.
Ouch! Could it be that Obama and his administration are really just a bunch of pussies? (I'd give Rahm Emanuel a pass on that one. I don't like him and I disagree with him on most everything, but I don't think he is a pussy.)
Ouch again.
Insurance companies, oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, Wall Street executives, Tea Party activists and the Israeli government? Evil.
An Islamic terrorist? Not so much.
To be perfectly blunt, we just have a bunch of folks in the media and in politics who need an ass-whupping. If they didn't get into fights as kids, well, they should have. It would have made them a little tougher, a little smarter.
Anyone who acts surprised that it was yet another Islamic Jihadi is retarded!
People like to blame Islamic terrorists for blowing stuff up or trying to blow stuff up because, well, 99% of the time they are responsible. Duh! If a Muslim finds that offensive that's just too bad, and if you believe in political correctness you're a moron anyway.
Even as investigators were hunting for the perpetrator of the botched "man-caused disaster" in Times Square, our cool Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was reassuring a frazzled nation that the failed bombing appeared to be an isolated incident — a "one-off" — and avoided the notion of (much less the word) "terrorism."
Thankfully, law enforcement agencies refrain from leaping to conclusions before they have all the facts. Not Janet. And citizens should not infer anything based on a litany of historical and anecdotal evidence, even after the fact, lest some group feel demonized.
Janet Napolitano is a moron. On her best day. She really isn't very bright, and I don't say that just because I dislike her and disagree with her. She doesn't know when to shut up, and she gives me a very bad feeling about the safety of the Nation. (FYI - I was and am opposed to the Patriot Act simply because government power grabs always end poorly.)
Mike Bloomberg? Dude, I thought you had a little sense.
"If I had to guess 25 cents, this would be exactly that," explained Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who has plenty of quarters to spare — during the investigation's early stages. "Homegrown, or maybe a mentally deranged person, or somebody with a political agenda that doesn't like the health care bill or something. It could be anything."
It could be anything, said the mayor of New York City. A mentally deranged person, perhaps? Maybe some crazy from the fundamentalist faction of around 56 percent of us who opposed health-care reform. After all, in the deep recesses of some imaginations, conservatives are not above murdering hundreds of tourists to make a point about Obamacare.
Great line, huh? Maybe some crazy from the fundamentalist faction of around 56 percent of us who opposed health-care reform. After all, in the deep recesses of some imaginations, conservatives are not above murdering hundreds of tourists to make a point about Obamacare. Now I have some liberal friends who will think that is extreme. Yet there were liberal talk show hosts and politicians who said exactly that. The thin-skinned Obama crowd is all about demonizing the opposition.
Or it could be something totally unanticipated! Like Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old naturalized American citizen from Pakistan, who was taken into custody at JFK Airport in New York as he attempted to escape to Dubai. A senior U.S. official said Shahzad already admitted to interrogators that he received (not very effective) bomb-making tips during his five-month trip to Pakistan. Reason dictates Shahzad wasn't upset about reconciliation.
It is also clear that Shahzad worked "alone" in the same way that Nidal Hasan or Najibullah Zazi or Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab or that bumpkin who threatened the South Park creators or the 9/11 terrorists or Umayyad and his armies worked alone.
Man, that's like Johnny Carson-quality humor. These jihadis don't work alone. They are vermin, yet we treat them as if they have rights. They don't - not under the law of war. I believe we have authority to summarily execute them, and while I have reservations about the death penalty in the context of our own judicial system, in this instance I have none.
Seriously, what is the downside? If we were wrong the world would have one less guy named Faisal. No sane person would have any issues with that.
If I had to guess 25 cents, I'd bet the administration makes no mention of fundamentalist Islam even when it reluctantly admits we're dealing with "terror."
Ouch! Could it be that Obama and his administration are really just a bunch of pussies? (I'd give Rahm Emanuel a pass on that one. I don't like him and I disagree with him on most everything, but I don't think he is a pussy.)
Yet, such an obvious admission is neither a condemnation nor endorsement of any brand of foreign policy. It is neither a condemnation nor endorsement of the idealistic notion that we can "eradicate terrorism" nor the naive idea that a charismatic president can plead for friendship enough times that jihadists worldwide will be lulled into submission and awe.
After all, the administration has never been scared to call out despots and extremists, such as insurance companies, Wall Street executives, Tea Party activists and the Israeli government. This is the Department of Homeland Security that issued a report alerting us to potential violence from "right- wing extremists" who are ginned up about "illegal immigration," "federal power," and the Second Amendment. (So at least half of you qualify.)
Ouch again.
Insurance companies, oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, Wall Street executives, Tea Party activists and the Israeli government? Evil.
An Islamic terrorist? Not so much.
To be perfectly blunt, we just have a bunch of folks in the media and in politics who need an ass-whupping. If they didn't get into fights as kids, well, they should have. It would have made them a little tougher, a little smarter.
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