Thursday, August 31, 2000

Must See CTHD

I almost forgot to mention, the other day when I saw "The Tao of Steve," I also saw a trailer for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the new Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh film by Ang Lee. It looked fantastic.

Another Big Brother Post (What Is Wrong With Me?)

The Revenge Of the Nice People: You read it at Triptych Cryptic first though (yesterday around 10:30am). TC is one step ahead of the infotainment press! (I knew I could reach my full potential if I stopped going to work.) Next Big Brother headline: "Brittany's Gone, Already Low Ratings Plummet Further." My prediction: the last episode of the show will be Curtis and Cassandra playing chess.

Here endeth the lesson

I take it McEnroe's comments are by way of a reply to the WNBA's "We're Better Than You" campaign. I don't know if that's really the case, but I hope it's something other than jealousy over the fact that women's tennis is more popular than men's at the moment. Is he trying to provoke another Riggs v. King match between himself and Serena? Women's sports always get dogged for being inferior to men's. I don't get it. Sure, men and women are different, it's hardly an earth-shattering bit of news. Is that a reason though to dismiss women's sports? People write these elegiac odes to sports and go on about the will to win, the dedication to excellence, the discipline to train, the honor of taking one for the team, performing under pressure, refusing to lose, ad nauseum ... all the things that are supposed to make sports about more than just playing a game for money. Is McEnroe implying that these qualities are unique to men? Despite the WNBA's slogan, I don't think anyone is saying we should watch women's sports because the female athletes are as strong or fast as male athletes. It bothers me to keep hearing claptrap like McEnroe's and all the fat-assed guys who call in to sports talk shows to argue that they could beat Cynthia Cooper at one-on-one or wipe the court with Venus Williams. Dismissing the female athlete's training, dedication, and achievements is like saying that one half of humanity is excluded from being representative of the qualities we admire in athletes. It's bigoted and mean-spirited. Am I getting preachy? I must be. I just heard Sean Connery's voice from the Untouchables in my head: "Here endeth the lesson." That's how I'm going to end all my morally outraged posts from now on. Here endeth the lesson.

Tennis Today

Yahoo! Sports: Tennis - McEnroe reverts to childish blather - or does he? I like tennis, but the culture of pro-tennis is really strange. The US Open is going on, yet all the stories about tennis now are about McEnroe being a jerk, the controversy over the Arthur Ashe statue, and Damir Dokic -- the rowdy, boozehound paranoiac who makes Steffi feel good about her dad. Tennis just can't get a decent image. Pete Sampras is probably the greatest player ever and this should be considered a high point in the history of tennis, but the only tennis player I can remember seeing on the cover of SI is Anna Kournikova -- and she didn't get there by winning tournaments. There's the argument that Sampras doesn't have a foil to make his reign interesting, but neither does Tiger and golf seems to be doing OK.

Bichette? Hmmmm.

Bosox news: ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - Bichette deal frees up money for Reds. Dante Bichette doesn't sound like as bad an acquisition as Ed Sprague was, but his outside-of-Coors-Field numbers really aren't that great. He's a crappy outfielder; I wonder if they plan to make him DH and play first. Bosox already have plenty of outfielders.

Identity Crisis

New Scientist: Coffee without the kick. "The adverse effects of caffeine include palpitations, high blood pressure, and insomnia." There are more philosophical issues behind this genetic engineering stuff than just the "playing God" issue: strip away my palpitations, high blood pressure, and insomnia -- and what's left of my identity? It's an existensial crisis as well.

Wednesday, August 30, 2000

First Stinkymeat, now this ...

The Peculiar Art of Mr. Frahm. Mikey's been hard at work finding studies of the odd and unsavory.

The Tao of Steve

Caught a matinee showing of The Tao of Steve. Not a "great" movie, but a really good one. It's one of those guy-tries-to-figure-out-how-to-understand-relationships movies in the vein of a Swingers but with a more Southwestern laid-back groove. Dex, the protagonist, is a Don Giovanni gone to seed. He's got a whopper of a beer belly and needs to shave, but he's got a philosophy of life that helps him "succeed" with the ladies, if you want to call it that. Of course, he falls in love and it disrupts his life ... until he figures things out in the end. Not exactly revelatory, but still fun to watch. It's one of those movies that is carried by the performances and willingness not to take itself too seriously, like it's got all the answers. Good soundtrack too. Less hip than Swingers, sunnier than High Fidelity -- if you liked both or either of those two, fair chance you'll dig this one much more than, say, going to work.

Love Pedro

Quote of the Day: Pedro Martinez, after pitching a 1 hitter last night in which his first inning beaning of Gerald Williams sparked a series of brawls, retaliations, and ejections -- "There's no crying in baseball."

Dnews

I'm one of the guys who found DNews via Jimbo's World. I've been going through the "Blog" subfolder in my Favorites list this morning and purging the ones I don't read anymore -- DNews is one that I'm adding.

Be Careful What You Wish For (Reality TV Edition)

Shameful admission: I watch Big Brother once in a while. It's a bad show. Boring. Ironically, because the people on the show seem to be genuinely nice and not interested in hurting anyone's feelings. Consequently, no matter what the producers try to do to rile things up, the contestants just band together and decide they are going to protect each other. Occasionally, you get good viewing ... well, the only time I found myself really paying attention to the show was when Curtis refused to out and out tell Karen that he didn't nominate her because he believed in the principle of not sharing that information for the good of the house. Except for Brittany (and Eddie, who sometimes looks like he's about to go ballistic), the remaining housemates are too well-adjusted and smart to want to screw with anyone. Good for them. On the other hand though, it makes you kinda wish they filled the house with nutjobs and goofballs so we could see what the Brits are seeing on their Big Brother ... Big Brother's Mel strips on camera. They've got a lesbian ex-nun and some flirts we've got brainy Curtis and Cassandra. I'd rather know Curtis and Cassandra, but I'd rather watch the kids in Britain.

Sick Day

Why am I blogging now when I never blog on weekdays on account of work? Reasonable question. I can't even remember the last time I took a sick day, but when I woke up this morning the thought of dragging my tired body into that hellhole made me so nauseous I simply couldn't get out of bed until I hit on the happy idea of calling in *koff* sick-like. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself all day. I'll probably finish "American Tabloid" ... the events of the novel are rapidly approaching the Kennedy assassination and I'm curious to see if Ellroy is going to spin a theory about it. I could see him making J. Edgar Hoover the brains behind it, but he's also got plenty of FBI/CIA/Mob figures floating around with motive. After I finish that up, I may go take in a matinee. Not sure though what's there I might wanna see. I mowed the lawn last night, so I don't have any "chores" that need doing, well, except apt. hunting, but I've already done some of that this a.m. How would you spend your day if you were playing hooky? Drop me an e-mail and if I like your idea I'll do it and you, stuck at work -- poor sap, can live vicariously through C-Dog. :)

Please, No.

Jackie in talks to play Stretch Armstrong for Disney. I'm not finding much good news this morning.

Blade 2

Snipes and screenwriter Goyer talk about Blade 2. To me, this sounds like bad news. Maybe I'm gunshy after being so disgusted with Snipes in "Art of War," but genetically engineered super vampires? I guess I'm having a hard time figuring out where the demand would come from to get that research off the ground.

Tuesday, August 29, 2000

Baseball Is Better

People complain about baseball being boring all the time, but I'm here listening to the Bosox at Tampa and you've got some kind of drama with a Pedro beanball sparking a brawl that got Sox third baseman Merloni out of the game with a concussion, Tampa pitchers targeting Daubach (he's been thrown at 3x tonight) and all kinds of ejections going on ... plus, it's bad mojo to mention what Pedro's six innings into throwing, so I won't, but there's always a chance --- and as I write Daubach got thrown at for a fourth time and the benches are clearing and there's a big time brawl firing up ... crazy.

Monday, August 28, 2000

Wes Anderson In Progress

A spoiler-free review of the next Wes Anderson / Owen Wilson script. Rushmore and Bottle Rocket are two of my favorite films, Anderson's 3rd movie may be the one that pushes Brazil out of the C-Dog Top 10.

Friday, August 25, 2000

"The Art of Snore"

I rushed home soon as I could to warn everyone not to get their hopes up for the new Snipes "action" pic. It sucked monkey. Horrible script, full of holes, yet jam packed with every cliche in the action movie lexicon. Bad guys, when will they learn to make sure the chauffeur is actually the chauffeur? Evidently, never. It's protocol to announce spoilers in web reviews, but why bother in a case like this? The movie is one giant spoiler to begin with. Ugh, I can't get over how stupid it was, how illogical -- it was insulting. I could feel myself getting stupider as I watched.

Thursday, August 24, 2000

Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Bosstones in Providence tonight ... sweet. They still rock. They played a few new songs but primarily stuck to the crowd faves. I picked up the new album and listened to it all the way back home. I didn't care much for Question the Answers and Don't Know How to Party, but they're on a roll with these last two studio efforts. I noticed a week or so back that the old T I picked up at one of the shows at UConn has gotten a bit thin and holey, so I splurged on one of the new deluxe long sleeve bright red Bosstones shirts. Mighty Mighty.

Wednesday, August 23, 2000

How do the Chinese people endure their government?

Chinese officials kill baby to enforce birth rule.

Compulsive Blogging

I have to get to work early tomorrow so I can get out early and trek to Providence for the Bosstones show and yet I'm still sitting here blogging. Blogger, yer killin' me!

Tuesday, August 22, 2000

Side Effects Include ...

Scientists discover key to invisibility. Sounds cool until you read the last line:

"The team has yet to look into the toxicity of the technique, which Prof Welch admitted was 'an important question'."

Michael Richards = One Trick Pony?

Some not-so-encouraging news about the new Michael ("Kramer") Richards show.

Sunday, August 20, 2000

Wednesday, August 16, 2000

LOTR

Salon.com article on Jackson's LOTR trilogy. (via Ghost in the Machine, one of Triptych Cryptic's favorite places to go and snatch links!)

Ne'er-Do-Well, Too

It occurred to me today that if I end up moving and taking the job with the new firm in RI, I'll have lived in three states in the span of nine months. After years of writing "itinerant bunco artist" and "migrant farm worker" in the occupation box on my tax returns ... it's finally starting to come true.

Sunday, August 13, 2000

"Assign The List Thing To Anyone ..."

There's a lot of great tv sci-fi missing from this list of Great moments in sci-fi dramas. Hard to believe someone got paid for writing a list of standout sci-fi drama series and left out: Babylon 5, Nowhere Man (underrated and unwatched UPN series that was part The Prisoner, part The Fugitive), Blake's 7, Star Trek: TNG, Doctor Who, and Farscape.

Saturday, August 12, 2000

Stumbled On

Invisible Broadcast System: Not often, but every once in a while I find a blog by checking out the fresh updates at blogger that I'm actually interested in reading. The top post on this one when I went there was about sci-fi and post-modernism: cool.

Friday, August 11, 2000

Hat Tip

Thanks to re-run for the name props. The name's only the tip of the iceberg though, baby, it's all good! Well, except the layout. And the way I'm always posting whatever nonsense flies between these flesh-toned satellite dishes I call ears.

Thursday, August 10, 2000

Bloodlines

I just heard on ESPN radio that Paul O'Neill (of the Yankees) is a direct descendant of Mark Twain. I still hate the Yankees. And .... yup ... still don't like O'Neill either.

Wednesday, August 9, 2000

Screw The Gatekeepers

Cool. My whole Nader schpiel just turned into an enormous broken link. *Sigh* I wonder, too, if all the people who wanted Nader to win voted for him, he would actually win? The "Nader can't win" argument is a powerful example of media gatekeeping and manipulation. People believe Nader can't win because the networks say he can't win, therefore he can't win.

Let's Check The Record

Lieberman's Voting Record . At Counterpunch.

Settle Down C-Dog, Settle Down

It seems to me, there are only 3 reasons someone wouldn't vote for Nader:

(1) They prefer one of the other candidates
(2) They aren't going to vote at all
(3) They prefer Nader, but don't want to "waste" their vote

Three reasons. Three bad reasons.

(1) Bush? I won't dignify that with a response unless I have to. Gore? The last time I had a party affiliation, it was to the Democrats. (And then only so I could vote for Jerry Brown in the primary.) I recognize that people might feel a loyalty to a political party for historical reasons, or family reasons, or whatever ... and while I don't mean to imply that Gore is the worst nominee the Dems ever put forward, I have to wonder: is this guy a Democrat in whatever vestigial sense of meaning that word retains? Should there be any party loyalty there? Will Bush or Gore destroy the country if elected? Probably not. Reagan was a complete tool and though we were nearly driven into the ground by his insane economic theory and demented foreign policy, we still have roads, electricity and didn't get nuked off the planet, so we can probably survive either of the two current big party puddin'heads. Even if you don't like Nader, do you think he could really do more harm as well-meaning public servant not beholden to corporate America than two politicos whose greatest desire seems to be to throw our tax dollars into the already overstuffed coffers of the rich in return for ... ? (We'll probably never know what.)

(2) The only reason not to vote is the feeling that voting only feeds "the machine," that voting implies acceptance of the current system, that something other than voting (revolution) is needed to set things right -- but there is no revolution. There could be reform though. We could elect Nader.

(3) When did voting become a game? It's not the Kentucky Derby; you don't get paid if you bet the perfecta 1-2. It's ridiculous that a vote for a candidate you actually believe in could be described as wasted. The whole gamesmanship thing with it's air of realpolitik, which is so much bullshit, that's what's making it so easy for the big money parties to prevent the development of a strong third party. There's this: "If I don't vote for Gore, then Bush might win!" For one thing, either your vote matters or it doesn't, and if you think it does and you don't vote for the candidate you think is the best, then you are just as much a tool as G.W. The other thing is, if you vote for Gore to keep Bush from winning, you moron, you just helped elect another Republicrat/Demopublican.

I'd rather Gore than Bush. But I'd rather Nader than either of them, that's why I'm going to vote for him. If my vote is the one that costs Gore the election, as if that were a sensible way to talk about an election, then so be it.

Tuesday, August 8, 2000

Defending Digimon

I like this blog, it's very un-Cluttered in it's layout. I found it by searching Blogger for sites that referenced Digimon recently. I was a little disappointed to see the reference was a dig, but otherwise it was good reading. Digimon is good, dammit. Good, I say.

Saturday, August 5, 2000

High Rise

Seeing the new Aldiss book at the local Barnes Ignoble got me thinking about other old "new wave" Brit writers I've lost track of ... like J.G. Ballard. I still think "High Rise" is his best. (Didn't see a listing at Amazon, o/p? That'd be a shame.)

Friday, August 4, 2000

Feeling Puzzled

Can anyone tell me why Brian Aldiss felt the need to re-write Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy? Aldiss is a fine writer, but this puzzles me.

Like Bone Daddy, I thought W's speech was unnervingly Democratic, from it's themes to it's references. Honestly, I hadn't listened to any of his previous campaign speeches so I didn't know what to expect, what I heard though certainly wasn't it. (Compassionate Conservatism, in the modern context you don't have to try very hard to equate that with some other popular oxymorons.) Some of his talk points sounded nice-n-friendly, but I guess I didn't believe he believed a single word he was saying. When he talked about that kid in prison all I could think of was Travolta in "Primary Colors" telling a stretcher to the folks at the adult literacy group. Even if I'm wrong and he did believe in what he was saying, wouldn't matter, it's all about the benjamins and he's bought and paid for, beholden to the deep pockets. I'm throwing in for the Nader / El Guapo ticket.

There Is Only One El Guapo

Darn it. I thought someone had put together a tribute to svelte Bosox hurler Rich Garces: The Official El Guapo Website. No such luck. Just some band.

A&W Is Good Enough

My grandfather was over tonight and we got to talking about homebrewing (he does a little, but he makes more wine than beer -- he has fruit trees in his yard) and it turns out that not only can you home brew beer, but you can make your own root beer. I thought I'd give that a shot, but after reading about it a bit, I'm a little concerned about safrole poisoning and the possibility of having a fermenting bottle of root beer blow my head off.

Wednesday, August 2, 2000

Fuzzy Con Memories

Stuff that J. Michael Straczynski had to say at Comic-Con. Help me out fellas, what was the last con we went to? Arisia? Or was that the first? It's been so long it's a blur. Anyone else remember that dipshit with his stash of pre- New Coke original Coke?

I Shoot With My Mind

Linking to I Shoot ... because it was in the referral log and he, rightly, sings the praises of Making Movies -- though I gotta admit I'm not big on the song "Les Boys".

Tuesday, August 1, 2000

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