Saturday, September 4, 2004
PBS Priced Out of the Market
More on Doctor Who, PBS, and the Sci-Fi Channel. Very few PBS stations show it any longer and the BBC is about to make it harder for them to do so as it closes in on a deal with Sci-Fi. Pluses and minuses here. Boston and RI PBS don't carry it, so Sci-Fi would be increasing the show's presence around here. And really, with the DVDs coming out, it doesn't really matter much to me either way. I can still get my fix. It's still a moneymaker for the PBS stations that carry it, so in that regard it'd be a shame to see move solely to Sci-Fi where it'll probably be on at times when it can't possibly find an audience -- and be full of commercials.
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Why Do Republicans Hate Our Troops?
Saw a brief clip on the Evening News last night of a woman at the RNC wearing a band aid on her chin with a little Purple Heart on it. Evidently, this is meant to be a critique of Kerry. Republicans never fail to impress me with the lengths they are willing to go to showcase their hypocrisy. I don't understand how people can be so proud and happy to be such total f***ing tools. I'm trying to imagine the thought process behind putting that band aid on: "Hmmm. My guy took a rich kid's pass on his generation's war and wasn't even able to honorably fulfill the minimal obligations of his service, compounding his depravity by lying about it later. The other guy served honorably, putting his life on the line in a war that he -- like most rational people -- couldn't support. I am so full of hate and vile feelings that I can't bear the thought of the better man winning; therefore, I must somehow disparage his military record and stick my fingers in my ears and loudly praise God if anyone points out my obvious idiocy!"
Over at Altercation, there's a letter today from a Vietnam Vet who shares my revulsion, quoted here because it'll probably be gone tomorrow:
Over at Altercation, there's a letter today from a Vietnam Vet who shares my revulsion, quoted here because it'll probably be gone tomorrow:
Name: Robert DruryHometown: Dubuque, IA
I write again in extreme anger at the way the Republican campaign has treated Vietnam Vets and now, with the "Cute Purple Heart bandages," all Veterans. For those who have never seen the business end of a rifle or RPG or other weapon of personal destruction it might be cute. But to those of use who have been there on the ground, in helicopters, in swift boats, in Jets over Hanoi, The Purple Heart is the one medal you don't want, but cherish if you get it. It is not cute!!!! Carrying shrapnel in your body for 30 years is not "cute." It is disgusting to see all those people (I'm willing to bet that 99 per cent have not a clue about service to their country) wandering around thinking they are funny, desecrating the sacrifices that any man or woman who has gone to war has made. And worse yet, desecrating the medal that represents the horrible reality of any war and many times the ultimate sacrifice (along with the notification that your son, daughter, husband, wife, mother is dead you also get a Purple Heart "with the thanks of a GRATEFUL nation").
If it weren't so sick the bandages would be funny. If it weren't so hurtful I might even laugh.
It just shows that the Republicans don't get it.
Their leader clearly doesn't get it. And I'm sick of it!
Friday, August 27, 2004
Friday, July 2, 2004
Off Again
Dark Horizons is reporting that negotiations between the BBC and the estate of Terry Nation have broken down; consequently, no Daleks in the new Who ... until negotiations begin again. Then break down again.
Enough with the Daleks already. The continuity around them is so hopelessly muddled it hardly seems worth the bother anyways. New Doctor, new Tardis (think I read somewhere the blue police box might be gone), new creative team, new baddies,let's make like the McGann and McCoy Doctors never happened and take the show in a new direction, eh?
On a related note, checking to see what Colin Baker's been up to I found (to my complete surprise) that he played a character called "The Stranger" in a series of direct to video releases from an outfit called BBV. Nicola Bryant, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and other Who regulars apparently also took part in what appears to be some sort of alternate universe Doctor Who continuity. The description of the first Stranger video at IMDB doesn't sound very promising and I can only assume the production values must be even lower than the BBC standard, judging by the number of typos one can spot on any given page of the BBV website ... still there's the curiosity factor.
Enough with the Daleks already. The continuity around them is so hopelessly muddled it hardly seems worth the bother anyways. New Doctor, new Tardis (think I read somewhere the blue police box might be gone), new creative team, new baddies,let's make like the McGann and McCoy Doctors never happened and take the show in a new direction, eh?
On a related note, checking to see what Colin Baker's been up to I found (to my complete surprise) that he played a character called "The Stranger" in a series of direct to video releases from an outfit called BBV. Nicola Bryant, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and other Who regulars apparently also took part in what appears to be some sort of alternate universe Doctor Who continuity. The description of the first Stranger video at IMDB doesn't sound very promising and I can only assume the production values must be even lower than the BBC standard, judging by the number of typos one can spot on any given page of the BBV website ... still there's the curiosity factor.
Saturday, June 26, 2004
"Don't reelect that fool."
Sure, we were the choir (for the most part -- I don't imagine the uniformed servicemen in the audience fit neatly into the conservative media's idea of Moore's audience) but the applause from the packed house at Fahrenheit 9/11 this afternoon was still heartening. It's got some of the usual Moore-ism's that tire even those of us who like him in general and it's not hard to see where the conservative media will fire their shots ... still, there's plenty there to satisfy even the jaded lefties.
Even if you haven't seen it, you probably know the list of scenes that reviewers are pointing to as the most effective: Mrs. Lipscomb reading the last letter of her son, Sgt. Michael Pederson, the several minutes W. spent at his photo-op after learning of the attacks, the comparison of his service record obtained prior to its release and the censored version released by the White House, the scenes of American soldiers wondering what they're doing in Iraq, etc. The scene that got the biggest chuckle out of me was the one were Mrs. Lipscomb, walking up to the White House talks with a protester about losing her son, is rudely accosted by a (very typical) smug women who tells her the protester is "staged" and starts sniping at Mrs. Lipscomb, demanding to know where her son died, as if she were a prop as well. Finally realizing she's horribly wrong, the women stomps off, dismissively telling the mother of the dead serviceman: "Well, lots of other people died, too." Republican manners exemplified: shrill denunciation ending with one last spit in the face before ducking away the from the issue to resume wallowing in self-righteousness.
[Update: Movies.com box office results for this weekend shows Fahrenheit 9/11 number one with $21.8M from just 868 theaters compared to the second place movie's $19.6M from 2726 theaters.]
Even if you haven't seen it, you probably know the list of scenes that reviewers are pointing to as the most effective: Mrs. Lipscomb reading the last letter of her son, Sgt. Michael Pederson, the several minutes W. spent at his photo-op after learning of the attacks, the comparison of his service record obtained prior to its release and the censored version released by the White House, the scenes of American soldiers wondering what they're doing in Iraq, etc. The scene that got the biggest chuckle out of me was the one were Mrs. Lipscomb, walking up to the White House talks with a protester about losing her son, is rudely accosted by a (very typical) smug women who tells her the protester is "staged" and starts sniping at Mrs. Lipscomb, demanding to know where her son died, as if she were a prop as well. Finally realizing she's horribly wrong, the women stomps off, dismissively telling the mother of the dead serviceman: "Well, lots of other people died, too." Republican manners exemplified: shrill denunciation ending with one last spit in the face before ducking away the from the issue to resume wallowing in self-righteousness.
[Update: Movies.com box office results for this weekend shows Fahrenheit 9/11 number one with $21.8M from just 868 theaters compared to the second place movie's $19.6M from 2726 theaters.]
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