Slithy Blog

2003-05-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Final Words

Haiku's very short---
Over much too soon; and yet,
It lasts forever.

2003-05-13T00:52:00.000-07:00

Lazy Sluggard

So you found me out. I'm lazy. I haven't posted much the last few days because I didn't feel like it.

Friday night, Susan went off to some female party where everyone dressed to represent their current life transition. Yeah. I am so very, very glad I didn't have to go to that.

Then Holly begged, pleaded, and promised everything if she could spend the night with her friend. So, of course, I relented.

Suddenly free, I humped off downtown to the Unitarian Church for an evening of singing in the Southern Indian style. It was sponsored by the local "Rasika" Indian cultural society, and there were maybe 200 Indians in attendance, families and all, plus, me and, maybe, 9 other caucasians. Accoustics were bad, but what a voice that woman had. The female singer from India sat in the center of the three male musicians. She was emphatically in charge. This was traditional, but not classical. One guy sat cross-legged and played a violin that he held in place with his foot. Another played enthusiastic tabla, and the third, well, he played a mouth harp---what was, in my younger day, called a juice harp or jews harp, depending on your accent and region of the country. They were incredible. She sang (like a gandarva) and they played for over three hours straight, electronic shruti box humming. Music is obviously more than a career for them. It's their life and love. They must have spent years perfecting their art, including the guy on the mouth harp. He even did a solo on the thing, and it was enchanting.

Then, Saturday, I did stuff like run three miles and mow the yard. Oh, and I won a seed spitting contest at Holly's school's "Country Fair."

Sunday, Mothers Day, was a borderline disaster. We don't need to go into it. Pain and misunderstandings. Divorce on the horizon like mid-western storm clouds. But it just hangs there. Nothing to do but wait.

Monday was a little better. I'm nuts.

Oh, and tonight I saw "A Mighty Wind. Amusing enough. I liked it. Not as good as Spinal Tap. But worth seeing.

I may stop this blog. I should focus on writing fiction. This is a distraction, and, to be honest, a lonely waste of time. Me and the computer screen. Late into the night.

2003-05-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

Dangerous Propaganda

Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine was, from many credible sources, a complete hatchet job on the gun control issue, full of distortions and outright lies. Now it looks like he's got funding for more of the same, but this time it's Bush who is in for the treatment. Rather than being shamed out of Hollywood, Moore is being rewarded and encouraged for making "a great movie". Triumph of the Will was a great movie, too.

2003-05-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome, O' Seekers of the Clean

Heh. I noticed a drastic increase in traffic on this site (up 300 - 400%) over the last few days. I would never have guessed the reason. In one of my posts a couple of days ago (May 3), I casually included a phrase from an old Mr. Clean TV commercial jingle: "...cleans your whole house and everything that's in it."

It turns out that most of the people coming this site, lately, were searching for that phrase. Why? I'm curious.

So, please, do me a favor. If you came to this site after a search for that phrase, please take a second and comment on your motivation. Was it nostalgia? Are you a marketing student? Has there been a Mr. Clean event of some sort that I missed?

I know, I know. You're all asking yourselves, "What does John think is the single most successful TV commercial jingle of all time?"

And here it is. This one has echoed in my head for at least 40 years:

Premium Saltines, reclosable pack
You open 'em up, and you close 'em back.
No crackers to split up, they're evenly stacked,
And they stay fresh
'til
The very last cracker.
Premium Saltines.

I suspect it was originally broadcast as part of some sort of under-funded government mind-control plot.

2003-05-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Evil Laughter

Am I wrong to hate someone I don't know just because of their laugh? Some guy here at work has a loud, obnoxious laugh, more of a roaring chuckle, actually, and I detest him. Each laughing outburst starts with a short, open-mouthed "heh, heh..." and quickly becomes an endless, tight-lipped "hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc, hnnc..." that echoes loudly in his, apparently, hollow skull. At this very moment he stands in the door to the Dilbert cubicle across from mine, periodically laughing insanely at minor points of humor that he himself has made. This scenario repeats often, and on a daily basis.

Now, I like people to be happy. I, myself, have a warped and active sense of humor. I often stand around in the hallway laughing at stupid jokes and outrageous observations. So maybe this is karma.

I still despise the guy. I get a strong, strong urge to mimic him loudly. I resist. He laughs. I get the urge again. I clamp my hands over my ears and can still hear him. Finally, finally he strolls away. Blessed (relative) silence.

On a related note, this looks like a good book. I think I'll look it up at the library.

2003-05-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

And I'll Bet He Was Bald

Otzi the Iceman wasn't some chickensh*t sheep herder who fell in a hole. He was a warrior or adventurer (or outlaw) killed in battle. What a great story someone needs to write. hmmmm. Or maybe Robert E. Howard already did with the Conan stories.

And he sure looks bald to me...

2003-05-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

Iraqi Euphoria Continues

Why am I not surprised? Apparently many reporters are greatly exagerating the "anti-American" demonstrations. According to this article, they still love us there.

2003-05-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

And Now for Something Completely Different

So I got this bright idea of saving a few dollars and getting my 10 y.o. daughter (who is up for any adventure) to cut my hair. She dutifully buzzed away at it per my instructions and left me with a mediocre to embarassing look. I decided to touch it up myself. Holding a small mirror for a reflection of a reflection in front of the bathroom mirror, I took more and more off. Awkward to cut like that, but it was actually coming out not too bad. Short, but not too bad. But wait. As I artistically whisked away fluffs of hair with the electric buzzcutter, the little plastic teeth popped off, the ones that assure a reasonable distance between head and blades. I didn't notice in time. I carved a canyon from the top of my forehead to the top of my head head. A closely shaved canyon.

It's very interesting being bald. It's different. If I pull my ears into points, puff my cheeks, and make big eyes at the mirror, I can look like a goblin. I have a single gold ear ring, so if I fold my arms and stick out my chest I can look like Mr. Clean (cleans your whole house and everything that's in it). Or I can just relax and maintain a neutral expression and look a little like Lex Luthor Kojak Picard and a quite a bit like Kennewick Man, who was, after all, discovered only about 70 miles from where I live. (My nose is smaller and my cheekbones less pronounced.) But here's the real kicker.

I'm starting to like it.

It got rid of a lot of grey hair. Makes me look younger. Now I'm sort of a handsome devil. This may be my look.

Plus. I won't have to comb my hair in the morning (saving 5 minutes/day x 365 days = 30.4166 hours per year). I will use almost no shampoo. I will have no more bad hair days. I will save over $100 per year in barber fees. And, I will fear no lice.

2003-05-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

Creeping Socialism from Socialist Creeps

What socialist country contains the local governments that this Fox news article refers to:

"According to examples from the report, governments condemned a family's home so that a manager of a planned new golf course could live in it; evicted four elderly siblings from their home of 60 years so developers could build a private industrial park; and removed a woman in her 80s from her home of 55 years in order, they said, to expand a sewer plant. Instead, the municipality ended up giving the woman's home to an auto dealership."

I know, I know. This wasn't socialism. These were probably cases of corrupt officials using the power of their office to help their friends, line their own pockets, and accumulate more power. But that is exactly what happens in socialist countries. Just look at Europe, China, Russia, California, etc...

2003-04-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hillary Apologizes to Bush

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. -- In a tearful speech Monday night, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized to the Bush administration and to the American people for having been such a "lying, spiteful, power-hungry bitch" and promised to do better in the future. She admited that her husband's administration had the worst economic policies since the "catastrophic presidency" of Jimmy Carter and had passed on to Bush an economy on the edge of collapse. But Bush, she said, is on the right track with his planned tax cuts, noting, "There is no better way to get the economy jump-started than to allow the workers of America to keep and spend more of the money they have earned."

Clinton, D-N.Y., told about 1,550 Connecticut Democrats that an increasing number of Americans are happy with Bush's policies.

"There is a sense of quiet elation," she told the party faithful gathered at the Democrats' annual Jefferson Jackson Bailey dinner in Southington. "People have stopped listening to the hateful demagoguery of the Democrats and, instead, believe what they hear and what they see."

Hillary disputed the claim made by some that she is totally devoid of integrity. She pointed out that if she had been totally devoid of integrity she would have used this keynote speech to spew hatred and false accusations at the Bush administration as a way of sucking up to the hard-line Democrat party faithful in attendance. "I would have played you like the obsequious party hacks you are," she said. "You would have been cheering every lie and sneering insult I could level at Bush. I would have had you chanting 'Four legs good, two legs better,' by the end of the evening," she quipped, in an apparent reference to the simple-minded sheep in Animal Farm, Orwell's famous satire of duplicity and double talk by the power-hungry leaders of the Communist Party.

---Read the Entire Speech---

2003-04-28T01:36:00.000-07:00

Patriot Act

What's with this?

2003-04-28T01:35:00.000-07:00

Dubouble Fubeatuber

That's in Ubaduby.

Beer, chips, and a DVD with El Mariachi on one side and Desperado on the other.

El Mariachi: the budget so low that, although it's in color, it seems like black and white; silly, bloody, predictable plot; unknown actors; Mexican Spanish with English subtitles; however, through some magic of enthusiasm, sincerity, and talent it works really, really well. Wonderful movie. How did they do that?

Desperado: Hollywood's bigger budget sequel. Real actors; bigger booms; Salma and Antonio naked; slicker editing; guitarcase rocket launchers---it's an abominable piece of crap. It almost works if you think of it as a parody of El Mariachi, but not quite. Why would they do this? (Oh, yeah, now I remember. Money.)

2003-04-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

Original Platitude

Self confidence is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

2003-04-23T22:41:00.000-07:00

SAD

I'm bidding on a light therapy box on Ebay. Thus far I have the highest bid---there have been 5 other bids to this point. I keep getting an image of all my fellow bidders for this particular device staring glumly at their screens and saying things like, "I don't know...should I buy this thing? If I don't win the bid, I'll kill myself..."

Oregon has a dark and rather cynical climate through the winter, and I've noticed a definite lifting of my chronic depression when I get sunlight. Two days ago at work I felt a horrible, sad, claustrophobic, almost panicky sense of inertia. Stuck in a boring, boring job. Marital disasters looming. Bad. But when I went outside for a few minutes and the sun came out for the first time in maybe a week, bingo. The depression drained away like dirty water out of a bath tub. Plus, I recently read another study about the beneficial effects of bright light therapy. So, bright light it is. But, if I don't win this bid... I'll probably buy a half gallon of fudge brownie ice cream and eat it watching an old movie.

In fact, I did that very thing the other night with Mad Max.

2003-04-21T01:39:00.000-07:00

Holes

So, if you have some kid that you'd like to treat to a movie, this is one of two films that are out right now that you should take them to. If they cancel at the last minute, go ahead and go by yourself. It's not Fellini, but it's really fun. People spontaneously applauded at the end.

I took my 10 y.o. daughter and her friend. They sat apart from me. I told them they could do that, and, delighted, they slid right into the opportunity, only coming back to where I sat to collect the two pops I smuggled in for them (what a dad). They were about 10 rows in front of me (I like sitting in the back row, because I hate having people in back of me during a movie, crunching popcorn and talking). I watched them, while the lights were still up, heads together, talking intensely, as little girls do.

Oh, and the other is Spirited Away. Definately see Spirited Away and Holes.

2003-04-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

8 1/2

Fellini, again. I rented the DVD and got through the first 45 minutes or so. Really excellent books and movies always have the effect of making me feel, "I could do that." Organic simplicity, with all the parts fitting together and flowing naturally from each other, makes a real work of art seem so obvious, so easy. Like life. This movie has it.

I wish I could do that.

UPDATE: Sunday. I finished it. I love it. There just isn't another filmaker like Fellini. Dreams, art, life, illusion, humor, reality. Truth and the frustration of trying to express it. It's hard not to sound pretentious when dealing with these things. Somehow he manages it; I can't, so I'll leave it at that. This movie is poetry.

2003-04-18T00:35:00.000-07:00

A Confession

Ok, this seems weird, I know, but I find I actually like Monica Lewinski. I've seen her a few times on various TV shows, and there's something charming about her, sexy even.

Right. Go ahead and laugh at me. Ha, ha.

Ok. You can stop now.

I said, you can stop laughing now---for Christsake it's not that funny.

2003-04-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

You Just Never Know

And here's proof. Would you have pegged this kid as someone on his way to becoming the richest man in the world?

2003-04-16T00:33:00.000-07:00

The Value of a Bad Memory

I watch the fish in my aquarium swim to one end, turn around and swim to the other. I get the impression they are surprised each time they reach a wall. Sometimes I get the feeling that's me.

I can remember that certain books and movies are good or boring, but after about 10 years I can't remember exactly why. So, I revisit the ones I remember as being good, and hey, I was right! My taste in art exactly matches my own. (Or something like that) Often, and this is especially true for science fiction, of which I've read a ton, I get halfway through a book before I realize I've read it before. But it's generally still fresh and amusing, and I seldom remember the ending, so I read on. I've read all the Nero Wolfe mysteries at least twice, starting circa 1975, and I figure around 2005 I'll be ready to start working my way through again. I'm looking forward to that. (I hope I remember to do it. Maybe I should leave myself a note...)

I rented Amadeus the other night, and bingo, it's a great movie, just as I had it so incitefully classified (although it has about as much in common with the real Mozart's life as Shakespear In Love does with the life of that Stratfordian fraud, Shaksper). It left me wanting to listen to "The Magic Flute," and "Requiem." And now that I think of it, that's just the effect it had the first time I saw it. (Oh, and one other opera who's name I will remember when I see it... ahhh, I've got it---low baritone, rising then sinking at the end: "Don Giovaaaaaaaaanni")

2003-04-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

Airtoons

Heh, Heh. You're gonna want to visit this link pointed out by Buttafly. Reminds me a little of MST2K (only different).

2003-04-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

Amnesia International

Amnesty International is apparently already prepared to forgive and forget Iraq's human right's abuses. AI's main concern, after all the emerging evidence of torture and murder by Sadaam's regime, is "...about the mounting toll of civilian casualties in Iraq and the reported use of cluster bombs by US forces in heavily populated areas." Reported by whom? They don't present credible evidence that these things were widespread, or even existed. Oh, wait! They cite the BBC and Robert Fisk.... Like I said, no credible evidence.

And, instead of celebrating the fact that the US has freed Iraqis from the grip of human rights abuse of Biblical proportions, AI complains about,

"Widespread looting and arson. Lawlessness and reprisal attacks. Water shortages and power cuts. Overwhelmed and ransacked hospitals. Disorder hampering humanitarian relief agencies. This is the grim reality facing millions of Iraqi civilians in areas newly under the control of US/UK forces."

True, I suppose, but these are all expected side-effects of any war, and, more importantly, none have been inflicted by the US on purpose. In fact the US is trying hard to ameliorate them. If these problems turn out to be anything other than short term, then I may pay attention to leftists' whining complaints about them.

And, after the U.N. basically left the Iraqis hanging out to dry (by their thumbs) for the last 12 years:

"Amnesty International calls for the urgent establishment of a United Nations (UN) commission of experts to develop proposals for a program that would address comprehensively the issue of justice in Iraq, with the participation of Iraqi civil society."

A UN commission of experts...right. What an excellent idea. The commission could put Turkey in charge of the Kurdish region, as a reward for refusing entry privileges to the US aggressors. To Syria could go the job of managing Iraq's northern oil fields and the Saudis could be in charge of the southern oil fields.They could put Chirac in charge of Iraq's economy and Putin could handle rebuilding Iraq's defense forces. China should be an excellent choice for covering up, I mean disposing of, Iraq's WMD, since they probably know where they are all located. Oh, and they could put Libya in charge of investigating Sadaam's human rights abuses.

AI has an article about "excessive use of police force" against war protesters by the United States. But nowhere on their site can I find even a mention of the torture chambers, electric torture devices, and mass graves that are the scummy residue of Sadaam's fithy regime. It has a high-sounding name, but what is Amnesty International really about?

2003-04-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Law Suit Implications

Someone here at work just said that the peace protesters in Chicago are suing the city because they weren't provided porta-potties at their march. Hmmm... Does this mean they're admitting the marchers were full of sh*t?

2003-04-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

Found It.

Really fun zoomable satellite image of Baghdad here at Space.com I was able to zoom in and locate the famous traffic circle where the statue was pulled down. It's also the location of the camera delivering the picture named "Baghdad Live" on many web places like cbsnews.com. To find it, click once with the cursor on one of the two big islands just above the upper bend of the river. Let the picture sharpen, then click on the circular object in the middle of the first major road to the right of the river, about level with the bigger of the two islands. When you zoom all the way in on that circle, you can see the turquoise dome of the mosque and the statue itself, still standing when the pic was taken. It's near the lower right edge of the park in the middle of the traffic circle. About half a block to the left of that circle is the roof of the hotel where the camera is located and where the reporters are staying. At least that's how I interpret the image.

2003-04-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

Worth the Price of Admission

From Page Six.com

BILL Clinton was booed Wednesday night when he took the stage at the Beacon Theater at the start of a Willie Nelson concert. "The place went wild when [Clinton] was announced," said our spy. "There was loud booing and yelling." Clinton "seemed angered" and made a comment about "angry Republicans," which stirred the crowd on more. "There was so much anti-Clinton booing and yelling that when Willie came back out, he asked if everyone was all right . . .

Willie should take notice of the Ditsy Twits' career limiting maneuver and think about who he's inviting on stage at his concerts. I would have loved to be there, just to have Clinton actually hear me boo him.

2003-04-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

Liberal Take

So this is how the Left will deal with the jubilance of the liberated Iraqis. They will simply ignore all the good and focus on the temporary confusion and disorder. Robert Fisk is truly despicable.

2003-04-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

From the Lampost

Oliver North reported on the radio, just back from a patrol with Marines through Sadaam City. It was very moving. The Iraqi people are finally rising up against those who have tormented them. He said a man with a “Baath Party Official” sign around his neck was hanging from a lampost not far from where he stood. Put there by his former subjects. Wherever the patrol went they were greeted by cheering crowds and people holding up children so they could see the Marines. North says that without exception the fanatical Fedayeen have turned out to be non-Iraqis. They were Egyptions, Syrians, Somalis, etc, but not Iraqi. He said people are pointing them out to Marines. North also said that he has travelled widely in the world but has never seen such abject poverty as Sadaam had created in Sadaam City.

2003-04-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

You Gotta Look at This One

Balloon Juice has a great photo essay.

2003-04-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

Iraqi-Americans Finally Show Up at a Demonstration

Ever wonder why there were no Iraqi-Americans at those "anti-war" pro-Sadaam protest marches? From Fox News:

Iraqi-Americans Rejoice at Saddam Defeat
(4/9/03 - Dearborn, MI) — Standing on car roofs, cheering and waving American and Iraqi flags, members of Michigan's Iraqi community rejoiced Wednesday at the apparent collapse of Saddam Hussein's government. "Today is my birthday," said Ali Al-Ghazali, 46, a native of southern Iraq. "But it's also the birthday for all Iraqis." "If President Bush will allow, I would like to shake his hand," he said, standing alongside his 74-year-old father, Musa Al-Ghazali.

The sense of jubilation was echoed by the dozen or so men watching the news on the Arabic language television network Al-Jazeera. The relief was clear on their faces as they watched the images on TV. But even as they celebrated, it was clear that the wounds left by Saddam's regime would take much longer to heal. "Don't kill them," said Hadi Al-Baghdadi, a 42 year-old Iraqi living in Dearborn, referring to Saddam and members of the ruling Baath party. "Put them in cages in a zoo. And then we can use the admissions fees to rebuild Iraq."

2003-04-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

Healing Moment

New Agers speak of the importance of "healing." Well, on the morning of 9/11/2001 as I was supposed to be getting ready for work, I was traumatized watching events unfold on the television. Clearly, in New Age parlance, I needed healing. Today as I got ready for work in the same bedroom the same TV set showed American Marines help dancing crowds of Iraqi citizens pull down a statue of Sadaam. The moment was jubilent and beautiful as only a truly spontaneous event can be. It marks the crossing of the continental divide of this war. There's no going back. It was a healing moment.

2003-04-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

Horrible

"All day and night you would hear terrible screams, and some were from children."

It's not fun to read this article, but if you still have doubts about the war on Sadaam you should take a couple of minutes and read it.

Sadaam and his cohorts did these unspeakably evil things, and that's the reason we had to disarm them. They are (were) beasts, psychopathic brutes. They could not be allowed to be in possession of the sort of weapons that could infict mass damages on the rest of us. They proved beyond any doubt that they were capable of using such weapons on a whim.

2003-04-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Basic

Travolta uses his Scientology stare a lot, if you like that sort of thing. The female lead, Connie Nielsen, is cute, but you don't get to see her naked.

If the plot of this movie were a mathematical formula it would be something like this:

435/12 + 978 + (947 * ½) *3,564 = 459,098± 46%

Trouble is, if you bother to work it all out, it doesn't add up. Don't bother.

2003-04-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Global Non-Warming

Another bit of information to help you to stop worrying. The global warming theory is a myth promoted by people armed more with political agendas than with scientific evidence.

2003-04-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

Smile

Having a bad day? Look at this picture.

2003-04-03T16:32:00.000-08:00

Wow

Someone posted a reference to an amazing story on the Command Post. Read this article about the truly heroic acts by a family of Iraqis that led to the rescue of Pfc Lynch.

Unfortunately I can see a made-for-TV movie coming out of this. These stories of courage and compassion in the face of horror and brutality deserve better than to be trivialized by the trashy Hollywood left. We need a modern Dickens or a Kipling to write about these things. Let's hope one is embedded with the troops.

2003-04-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

Bowling for Bull

Buttafly features many fun links, including this one to a complete debunking by David Hardy of Moore's Acadamy Award winning "documentary," Bowling for Columbine. I was never able to drag myself to see the movie as I figured it would probably be full of distortions. Hardy shows that it's even worse than I had feared. It's fraudulent.

And Dave Kopel at NRO provides another excellent article detailing even more perfidy in the movie.

"In fact, the two killers ditched bowling class on the day of the murders...so the title itself is a deliberate falsehood."

Michael Moore should have been given the Academy Award for Most Truly Despicable Hollywood Personage. Surely they have that category, don't they? Look at all the actors actively competing for that distinction.

UPDATE: Courtesy of Rachael Lucas, visit this site that calls for revoking Moore's Oscar.

2003-04-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

The Structure of Space and Time

I enjoy articles that contain little tidbits like the following:

Taken together, the independent research findings might force physicists to reexamine the scientific underpinnings of the quantum theories of gravity, time and space.

Seems the Hubble is upsetting all sorts of theoretical Newton's Apple carts. Careers, I expect, are in jeopardy. They deserve it, those physicists, most of the ones I've met are quite arrogant.

2003-04-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

Service and Devotion

A spiritual human lives from the heart and puts the well-being of others ahead of his own. Compare the people discussed in this posting listed in Best of the Web by the WSJ Opinion Journal with the supposedly spiritual people described in this article about nuns protesting the war. Which of the two groups strikes you as more noble and spiritual? hmmmm... Didn't Jesus say, "Greater love hath no woman than she who defaces a missile silo and grandstands about it in the press?" Am I getting that quotation wrong?

2003-04-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

Your Shoe Laces are Untied

And there's a bug in your hair.

2003-03-31T16:30:00.000-08:00

Soldiers With Compassion

Here's a firsthand account of the fighting for Hindiyah. Note that the Americans risk their lives to save an old woman, while the Sadaamites use women as shields.

And here's a different report of a heroic trek to deliver important supplies. These embedded reporter articles are providing about the only worthwhile hard news stories coming out of the war. Otherwise the news services are giving us the "Generic War Update" (see below) sort of non-stories.

2003-03-31T14:03:00.000-08:00

Generic War Update

Massive explosions rocked Baghdad. Coalition forces engaged in fierce firefights with Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guards. Waves of coalition warplanes hit targets throughout Iraq.

2003-03-31T13:45:00.000-08:00

Did the US Arm Sadaam?

Anti-war sophists often assert that it was the USA who armed Sadaam in the first place. But looky here at this.

2003-03-30T15:29:00.000-08:00

Read This

An essay that places the current war in historical perspective. That may sound boring, but how many historical essays have you read that bring tears to your eyes? Just read it.

2003-03-29T12:12:00.000-08:00

The Real Pigs

Back in my young idiot days we called the police "the pigs." This article in City Journal identifes who the real pigs are today.

Cash-strapped police departments are already stretched to the breaking point by their new anti-terror obligations. Every officer taken off his beat to prevent street violence or arrest civil disobedients is one less set of eyes to notice a cell member surveilling a power plant or leaving a bomb in a train station.

Here in Portland, where a slumping economy and over-spending by liberal politicians have resulted in the need for recent painful cuts in education, social services, and law enforcement, the mayor recently admitted that policing the anti-war marches is costing upwards of $200,000 per day. At time when our country is at war with an enemy that won't hesitate to lash out with terrorism, war protesters are hogging not only our streets but our police resources, as well. Resources that could be crucial if, and when, the next terrorist strike occurs.

2003-03-28T00:25:00.000-08:00

Fellini's Roma

One of his later movies. I remember being a little disappointed and confused seeing it when it first came out around 1972. But I used to find all his movies a bit obscure. I'd look for "symbolism" in them like a tourist looks for a movie star in Hollywood and I'd never quite find it. Now Roma makes total sense to me. Maybe I just needed to be as old as Fellini. Or maybe Fellini's vision has slowly seeped into mainstream movies, and from there it has seeped into me---his movies have created their own appreciating audience. Roma is a documentary about Rome in the form of a fake documentary about Rome that comprises memories, daydreams, and mundane observations. It jumps around in time and it switches plots with a total lack of reverence. Who's in charge: time and story form, or Fellini? Fellini, of course. An eclesiastical fasion show, stoned hippies bathing in Roman fountains, a burlesque show in Musselini's Italy, a film crew in a rainstorm on a highway, human flesh from the disgusting to the sublime. It's very personal. Fellini is the director, and Fellini, young and old, is the main character (if there is one). But it still, somehow, defers to Rome herself as the real star. Fellini's self-absorbtion is more honesty than it is ego. He says, "Yes, it's me making this film. Now, here, look at this wonderful city."

I'm going to have to watch "8 1/2" again, now that I've caught up in age with Fellini. Oh, and "Juliette of the Spirits." I saw that at the "Hemisfair" in San Antonio circa 1969. It made absolutely no sense to me. I can hardly wait.

2003-03-27T16:24:00.000-08:00

Than Never

Still against liberating Iraq? Read this article about yet another benighted anti-warrior who has finally seen the light. It's not too late to come into the fold, you know. Our president's house has many mansions. And it's better late than never. Come on over to the side of truth, justice and the American way. Join the anti-anti-war movement. A switch in time saves nine. We will welcome you with open arms. Nothing is worse than a mind that won't change. Oh, and this is your brain on peacebabble.

2003-03-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

More on the War

In a worthwhile article in the Spectator, Mark Steyn discusses the weird bias of the press. I like this line about Sadaam's psychotic---and, we hope, dead---son, Uday, from the article:

Alas, it seems that, in that opening salvo, Saddam’s baby got thrown out with the Baath water.

2003-03-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

What's a Pooka?

This week's movie features James Stewart in his best role, as Elwood Dowd, the man with an invisible friend. One of the few comedies of my youth that are still hilarious in the autumn of my years: Harvey. My one quible with the movie is that, at first glance, it seems to somewhat glorify drinking. I don't like the idea that Elwood is a drunk. So I'm going to practice intense Personal Movie Revisionism to rationalize away my nagging feeling of cognitive dissonance. Ostensibly, drinking gives Elwood a wonderful personality. And, it's Elwood's wonderful personality that kindles the affection everyone has for this film. This is problematic. Have you ever known anyone to become a wonderful human being because they drink? I mean not just in the drunk's own mind, but to those around him. However, pay close attention to what goes on in the movie and you'll see his character actually has little or nothing to do with alcohol. In fact, it seems obvious that Elwood is not an alcoholic at all. (And I speak as one who knows alcohol.) You never see him stagger or hear him slur his speech. The problems that his sisters attribute to alcoholism turn out to be not problems at all. He invites everyone he meets to come over for dinner, not because he's drunk but because he likes everyone he meets, he sees the good in them. And, as we find out, Harvey, the giant, invisible bunny---who initially appears to be a gentle gift of the DT's---is not so imaginary after all. Elwood does enjoy a drink, but he retains his lovable qualities despite hours without a drink at the asylum. If anything, his ability to accept everyone and resent nothing makes him more of an enlightened saint than an alcoholic.

The line that best expresses the theme of the film comes when Elwood relates what his mother told him:

She said, "In this world, Elwood, you must be either oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart---I recommend pleasant.

So that's my preferred take on what's really going on in the movie. Elwood isn't a deluded alcoholic, he's an enlightened being walking among us accompanied by a minor woodland deity. But don't take my word for it, rent Harvey, then, if you need to, look up "Pooka" in the dictionary...

2003-03-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

Thunder Road

Here's a nice essay by David Warren (pointed out by Sullivan) that summarizes the fantastic success of our operations in Iraq so far.

One explanation of why we have made such speed on the road to Baghdad occurred to me: most of those tanks, Humvees, and Bradleys are driven by young men between the ages of 18 and 25. These are the same young guys who squeel tires in front of my house at 2:00 am, who swerve into the slow lane to pass me at 95 on the way to work, and who all too often kill themselves playing with their cherry-red Mustangs and turbo-charged, devil-blue Cameros on our highways. They probably race each other across the open stretches of Iraqi desert. God bless 'em all.

2003-03-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

Unpatriotic Protesters

A "patriot" is someone who loves, supports, and defends their country. The anti-war protesters often claim to be "patriots" because they are exercising their constitutional right to free speech. They reject all criticism of their actions, because political protest has a long tradition in this country and it's their right to take part in it. These things are true, but they are also beside the point. I don't call them unpatriotic because they are exercising the right to free speech, but because the content of that speech is anti-American. Of course they have the right to protest, but when the effect of that protest is to hurt our country, demoralize our troops, and encourage the enemy, the protesters are being very unpatriotic. They have the right to say what they want, but they have the responsibility not to hurt their country with what they say.

2003-03-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Sadaam's Tactics of Disgust

Andrew Sullivan's assesment of Sadaam's tactics are chillingly in accord with my own fears.

2003-03-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

Liberation

From an article in a Canadian newspaper, the National Post:

"All the peasants were cheering us, even the soldiers. They gave us the thumbs-up, they blew us kisses. I couldn't believe all the boots that were lying on the road. The soldiers just left them there.

"Man, this is an army in full retreat."

So, why don't they all just surrender? They still feel the terror inspired by Sadaam.

2003-03-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

War Updates

If you've surfed here looking for current info on the war, I recommend the Command Post.

2003-03-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

Are The Stars Out Tonight?

Boycott the Academy Awards.

2003-03-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

Still Anti-War?

Please read this article from UPI (courtesy of LFG).

"A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today with 14 hours of uncensored video, all shot without Iraqi government minders present."

Guess what the human shields discovered in Iraq...

Update: Don't guess. Read this and find out.

2003-03-21T10:33:00.000-08:00

Yep

Liberation begins. "Americans very good," Ali Khemy said. "Iraq wants to be free."

2003-03-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

Self-Righteous Party Animals

It's a little obscene. While 200,000 plus young Americans are risking their lives half-way around the world to liberate Iraq, here in Portland the news tonight was dominated by scenes of about 1,500, at most, "war protesters" strutting around the street in desultory crowds, blocking bridges and freeways, breaking windows, and confronting stoic police officers with sophomoric rants. Looks like the crowd has dwindled to a few hundred standing around in the middle of Burnside near Chinatown. (Cut to scenes of a tightly choreographed tank ballet in Southern Iraq, then back to the streets of Portland) A little over 30 years ago I was there (except, I was in the mid-west), sitting in the middle of an intersection to protest Viet Nam. I know what they are all about. Some of them are having a party with a self-righteous, anti-war patina, some are living out personality problems that this event allows them to project onto Bush and the government, and a few have intellects seriously absorbed in obscure Marxist/socialist fantasies. Oh, and there are a few who were there with me 30 years ago and who are tonight reliving their youths. Sweetness and light, love and joy.

Meanwhile, I think we've just about already won in Iraq. What a world, what a world.

2003-03-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

War Updates

If you've surfed here looking for current info on the war, I recommend the Command Post.

2003-03-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

The Long Bomb

Now we see where that expression comes from. With an action that indicates a strong, decisive quaterback, America threw a surprise long bomb on the opening play of the game. Still waiting to see if we scored a touchdown.

2003-03-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

This Explains a Lot

According to the radio this morning Sadaam is a lawyer.

2003-03-18T09:21:00.000-08:00

Am I Blind?

If this study is true, then why do all my kids have great eyesight, while my own eyesight went bad by the time I was twelve? hmmmmmm.... And not only don't they see like me, they don't look much like me either....

2003-03-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

Sadaam's Strategy

I had been wondering why Sadaam would think he might actually stay in power in the face of U.S. attack. This article poses a strategy Sadaam might have in mind: "We shall see how many Iraqis the aggressors are prepared to kill."

He's going to try to make us kill so many of his people that we lose the will to fight. That may be what appeared to him to have happened in the last gulf war: we slaughtered so many on the road back from Kuwait that we didn't have the heart to continue. He's right that we didn't have the stomach to slaughter more. It's a moral qualm he doesn't share, so he considers it a weakness. But that wasn't what stopped us. We stopped because Bush Sr. had given his word to allies that we wouldn't continue to Baghdad. This time Bush Jr. will keep his word that Sadaam's regime is over.

2003-03-17T22:17:00.000-08:00

The French

They still think they are the center of the world. Someone clue them in. They are an illmannered backwater country with bad breath. And someone please tell Chirac to take off the Napolean hat. He's starting to appear insane.

2003-03-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

Patton

Horsefeathers has a great essay with excerpts from a speech Patton made just before D-day. Well worth the read. And, one might note, appropriate for the moment. Patton was slightly opinionated and did not mince words. If he were alive today, he would have a great blog. A quote from the speech:

"Men, this stuff some sources sling around about America wanting to stay out of the war and not wanting to fight is a lot of baloney! Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. America loves a winner. America will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise a coward; Americans play to win. That's why America has never lost and never will lose a war."

2003-03-16T23:39:00.000-08:00

Bright Idea

Blogger just went comatose long enough to wipe out a brilliant, brilliant post I wrote.

Oh, well. Fuckit. I'm tired.

Just one quick kick at the fecal-brained appeasement mongers who would rather see Sadaam torture children than have America assert power in the world, then it's off to bed.

Sweet dreams.

2003-03-15T23:11:00.000-08:00

Tears

Ok. So I'm a sentimental pussy. Tears of the Sun made me cry.

Don't believe the lily-livered liberal SOBs who say, "...its patronizing message is that only saintly, stoic Willis is capable of helping the poor..." African refugees. That's from the Oregonian. I can only think the bastard is afraid that glorifying Navy Seals will encourage The War. Or maybe he's afraid his leftist friends won't think he's cool if he likes a pro-military film.

The message of the movie is that beneath the stoic, professional shell of American warriors, is a tender, caring heart. That is truly what drives our soldiers. Courage in the face of brutality. Strength in the face of evil. Love in the heart of darkness.

Sure there are many implausible things in this movie. But the basic premise is solid and true.

2003-03-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

Aha!

I knew it! They love to make us sweat...

2003-03-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Meat Good

For over 1,000,000 years our ancestors ate lots of fatty meat---and stayed healthy. From Cholesterol Myths:

There is no evidence that too much animal fat and cholesterol in the diet promotes atherosclerosis or heart attacks. For instance, more than twenty studies have shown that people who have had a heart attack haven't eaten more fat of any kind than other people, and degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy is unrelated with the diet.

According to the the Yourish.com blog, Saturday is Eat an Animal For PETA day. Eat lots of animals (except for bunnies).

2003-03-14T08:57:00.000-08:00

Depraved Because I'm Deprived?

I've got to start getting more sleep.

2003-03-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

Warlord Safe

John Carter won't die of thirst, after all.

2003-03-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

Cost of the Anti-War Parades

I've got a new chant for the French and the pro-sanction peace marchers who have delayed the liberation of Iraq:

"Hey, hey, more delay! How many kids can we kill today?"

2003-03-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

Peace

From a great article by Oriana Fallaci in the WSJ.com Opinion Journal:

"When peace stands for surrender, fear, loss of dignity and freedom, it is no longer peace. It's suicide."

Sure, "war is unhealthy for children and other living things," as the old poster said, but some things are worse than war. And, sometimes, to gain true peace we must first endure a searing purgation. This is as true for civilizations as it is for individuals.

2003-03-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

Accident?

A UN inspector was killed in a car accident in Iraq on his way home from some inspection site. I wonder what he had found at that site...

2003-03-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

Anti-American

Our well-intentioned friends who take part in the organized "peace marches" against liberating Iraq refuse to understand that they are being patsies for viscious anti-American forces. How can they be so blind? They are not simply being "un-American" a term that has been ridiculed since the days of Joseph McCarthy; they are actually fighting against the interests and actions of our legally elected government. And they are supporting governments that persecute homosexuals, suppress women, and trample on the human rights of, well, all humans. How can they be so blind? The rift in our society is deeper today, in my opinion, than it was back in the early '70s.

2003-03-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

Sophistry

My word for the day. Sophistry. Sophistry. Sophistry.

There may be a single wrong conclusion, presented as if it's obvious and profound: "war is wrong." But, it's based on so many fundamentally flawed assumptions and faulty arguments that you don't know where to start. Like when a flock of quail flies up suddenly in front of you. Which bird do you shoot down while the rest of the flock gets away?

2003-03-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

Scheer Idiocy

Here's a sadly amusing example of mind-numbing, blithering sophistry from someone who has probably signed several of the "not in our name" type petitions. Caution: Contains peacebabble and may make you ill if you've recently eaten anything.

2003-03-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

Perdition Petition

An article in the Wash. Post conveniently lists all the main web sites promoting Anti-War Save Sadaam appeasement foolishness. You can fill out a form to send a propaganda letter to the UN. along with a little comment. I filled out one in the name of "A. Stupid Idiot." Ok, sure, it was childish, petty, malicious, and even silly, but if enough stupid idiots fill out the stupid form with pro-war comments perhaps the pro Sadaam faction will waste enough effort weeding them out to significantly cut into their marching time. These bastards deserve every possible impediment we can supply. I suggest flooding their petitions with obviously bogus names.

2003-03-11T00:53:00.000-08:00

Killing People With Kindness

I checked my handy star program tonight. It shows an almost full moon over Baghdad on the 17th. Rising early and setting late. I hope it won't make any difference, but I remember being in Ishfahan Iran during a full moon. Crystal clear midnight skies. Little vegetation, so the silvery light reflects back up into the Arabian night bathing objects and people in soft light from above and below. Everything gets magical, the stars, the domed mosques, the minarets, the distant jagged hills, all clearly visible in the bright moonlight. The peace mongers have delayed the liberation of Iraq until it must take place under conditions much more dangerous for the liberators.

2003-03-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

Hide the Salami

A caller on the G. Gordon Liddy radio show just asked an interesting question: what else is Hans Blix hiding?

2003-03-09T01:40:00.000-08:00

Disgust

Former U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter confirmed today that he is an asshole.

2003-03-09T00:28:00.000-08:00

Shocking

A play called "Sex" is shocking audiences in Spain with, of all thngs, sex. Unsuspecting theatre goers on first dates had attended the play, called "Sex", expecting to see a Christian drama about Jesus and his twelve disciples. Instead, they were shocked to discover that the play included people having SEX.

I like Spaniards.

2003-03-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

Longest Cameo

So I finished The Longest Day tonight. At least, I don't guess I was supposed to flip over the DVD for the rest of the movie. It didn't really have an ending; it just sort of stopped. Eddie Albert got put out of his misery (I liked the actor, but he did *not* belong in a war movie. I kept waiting for that Gabor sister to pop up and make him fasten the chin strap on his helmet), Robert Mitchum took Omaha Beach, and suddenly the movie credits were rolling. I liked a lot about the movie---glimpses into archetypical D-day scenes, rather than what one might call realism. More like D-day as remembered years later by someone marginaly involved. A great PBS documentary about the Oregon trail I saw a while back had a bit about a big picnic/reunion of people who had actually been on the trail. It was held 15 or 20 years after everyone was finally well settled and comfy in a homestead. People were all nostalgic with memories until one woman started bringing up the incredible misery the trip had involved. Nobody wanted to hear it. "Let's just talk about the good stuff," she was told. I get that feeling about this movie. The war had been over less than 20 years when it was made and I think the pain was still too fresh. They made a movie about all the good stuff. It's basically a series of cameos featuring every male actor with an agent in Hollywood in 1961. But having short parts meant the actors didn't have too many lines to remember and they could get in more rehearsing ahead of time. So lots of the little vignettes are really pretty good. The down side is that each episode promises something that never gets delivered. It was as if the opening scenes of 8 or 10 potentially excellent war movies were strung together, each with a major star---John Wayne, Robert Wagner, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Rod Steiger, Henry Fonda, and more. But you never get to see how any of them end. Imagine, for example, if this review just

2003-03-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

Lies and Fear

Most people, except for extreme pacifists, support military action in defense of the country. That's why I think the current spate of "anti-war" demonstrations in this country actually represent anti-Bush sentiments. Some of demonstrators, especially the leaders and organizers, are also demonstrably anti-American, but the majority of ordinary rank-and-file peaceniks, among my friends and acquaintances, at least, do not consider America to be the source of the problem, but Bush. They don't trust him, because they have let themselves be sold the Democrat propaganda that he "stole" the presidency from Gore. They revile him and his administration, and refuse to believe he is telling the truth about Iraq and Sadaam; rather, the coming war must be about oil and greedy Republican big business interests. This must be what they truly believe. Because if you really believed all the evidence Bush and Powell have provided about Hussein, how could you possibly oppose disarming him? Who could possibly be in favor of allowing a murderous madman who hates America and has direct connections to terrorists develop nuclear and biological weapons after the events of 911? It's scary. I'm not a Republican, but I think the Democrats are doing a major, major disservice to this country with the extended hissy fit they've been engaged in since starting to lose power. By opposing and vilifying Bush at every opportunity, telling self-serving lies even on issues of national security, and answering peoples' fear with demagoguery, they have placed their own petty personal careers above the interests of their country. It's despicable.

2003-03-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

Poossy Wheeeped

This is one more kick at French men. Is it true? I don't know, but I have seen a similar trend among certain elements of American males.

2003-03-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

A Real Woman

Wow. Asparagirl is on fire.

2003-03-06T00:23:00.000-08:00

Longest Night

I began another old movie last night. As it opens, nearly 250,000 soldiers, most of them Americans, wait restlessly for conditions to be right to start the invasion of a country that is under the thumb of a megalomaniac dictator who hates jews and aspires to dominate the world. I remember when The Longest Day came out. It was something of a big event in the small midwestern town I grew up in. One of the local residents had been a paratrooper on D-day, and an idealized version of his adventures is in the movie, with Red Buttons playing his part. He's the guy who has to feign death as he hangs for hours by parachute lines snared on a steeple. I was 11 or 12 years old and the hero in question was the uncle of one of my class mates. I envied the kid then, but years later I came to realize my own father had been, in his own way, at least as much of a hero in that war. He flew missions under fire over Italy and Germany as a Gunnery Sergent on the bombers known as "Widow Makers." We had a plastic model of a B-26 similiar to what he flew in hanging from a string in our hallway for years. I think I assumed everyone had models of the war planes they had flown hanging around their houses, but I know now he was a member of a relatively small group of specialized warriors. He was reluctant to talk about his experiences, though, even to me, so, as a kid I was largely unaware of the significance of that model plane. He did relate being knocked unconscious by the concussion from flak on one flight, and he remembered slowly coming to awareness lying on the bomber's vibrating floor and hearing someone ask, "Is he dead?" Yes, you're right; I've drifted far off topic, but this is my web page, so go suck an egg. I'll talk about the movie more when I've watched more of it. It's very good. However, the French are, thus far in the film, all noble freedom fighters, so I think the movie may idealize a lot more than just the adventures of my friend's uncle. But that's just what I'm in the mood for after the incessant squawk of anti-American cant of the last few months.

2003-03-05T17:24:00.000-08:00

I Didn't Know This

I wish I had known it back in the 70's when I used to shout in anti-war marches. From a NY Post article:

Uncle Joe Stalin "...was the father of the first "peace movement," which for years served as an instrument of the Kremlin's global policy. Stalin's "peace movement" was launched in 1946 at a time when he had not yet developed a nuclear arsenal and was thus vulnerable to a U.S. nuclear attack. "...

Pablo Picasso, a "fellow traveler" with the French Communist Party, designed the famous dove of peace as the emblem of the movement. French poet Paul Eluard, another fellow traveler, composed an ode inspired by Stalin.

Ahh, the innocence of the young. As a college student/radical, I thought the peace movement concept had started in the U.S. when Viet Nam became a problem. We used to laugh when accused of being stooges for the communist party. Now I know who was actually having a good laugh.

2003-03-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

Yep

From an article in the Times Union:

Saddam Hussein's mouthpiece, the newspaper Babel, which is run by his son, Uday, has praised the demonstrators for inflicting "humiliating international isolation" on Britain and the United States and for ushering in "a new chapter in the global balance of power." Seeing that his enemies are divided, Saddam has continued to not fully cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors. In his defiant interview with Dan Rather, he even sneered at the United Nations' demand that he destroy his Al Samoud 2 missiles.

The demonstrations are thereby making war more -- not less -- likely.

The article goes on to review the not so glorious history of peace protests and their consequences. Worth a read.

2003-03-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

Net Worth

Just heard on the radio that Sadaam Hussein is worth $7 Billion. They got that wrong. Fact is he's not worth the camel shit on the bottom of his $500 shoes.

2003-03-02T00:28:00.000-08:00

Russian Ark

At a local artsy theater (read run-down, but cool) tonight, where I smuggled in a few beers and some almonds in my big, black leather coat, I saw what was essentially a tour of a museum, an ancient Russian palace, the Hermitage, filled with maybe five hundred years worth of art treasures; however, the movie, Russian Ark, is unlike any other official tour guide you've ever seen or any other movie you've seen of any kind, for that matter, because it follows a pair of somewhat confused but personable men, one of whom you never actually see and both of whom, you finally realize, must be ghosts, as they wander through the immense structure, which housed Russian Romanov nobility for centuries, and either interact with or avoid other characters who may be ghosts themselves or may be real people, you can't always tell, because time shifts as doors are opened, and our ghosts drift past fabulously dressed ladies and uniformed soldiers from various epochs as they go from lavishly decorated room to golden staircase to art-rich gallery to private hallway to dancer-filled ballroom, and witness Catherine the II one moment or Peter the Great the next or the ambassador from Persia the next, and flirt with a mysterious blind woman or dance with feather-bedecked beauties glittering with jewels or get shushed away by finicky servants from buffet tables loaded with rare delicacies on silver settings and priceless porcelains, and you get the sense of all the lives that have been lived and the history made here, and you want to visit Russia just to see this palace (though it is, after all, simply another museum) because the film makes it and the unbroken and fantastic history it embodies breath with life and magic, and does it with thousands of enthusiastic, costumed extras having a ball (literally) and with a single, long, uncut, unedited, amazing and wonderful, ninety minute (but the time breezes by) shot.

It's a strange movie. I liked it. Check it out.

2003-02-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

[±¤°í] Æ¯Çã¿Í »óÇ¥ Ãâ¿ø ¾È³»

Cool. I got an email containing not a single word of English. Not only that but none of the words even used a western alphabet. At first I thought, oh great, Sadaam Hussein has read my opinions and is giving me a last warning. This was a flattering surmise and a wonderful surprise, since only about three, maybe four, (plus, of course, you) people in the world have read my slithy blog, and for me to have hit the jackpot by having one of those lucky few who have seen it be among the very people I want to insult, and this sentence is getting too long, so you finish it yourself, etc..

But clicking on what looked like a link in the message got me to this web site. It appears to be Korean. It may be someone's blog. It may be a commecial site to which I have been lured by Korean spam. I don't know. But whatever it is, it reminds me that I haven't actually mentioned North Korea on this blog.

The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, is a disgusting, evil, little spoiled turd who should be in an institution for the criminally insane, and I hope he is visiting one of his nuclear weapon-making facilities when we bomb it so he can join his alleged father, Kim il Sung, in the ninth circle of hell.

There. Should I have that translated, do you think?

2003-02-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

Encouragement to a Psychopath

After Sadaam's big interview with Dan R, he reportedly had some questions of his own for the great newsman. Sadaam must have been in a good mood, because he didn't employ his usual methods of extracting information, and Dan apparently got to leave with his testicles (such as they are) intact. But guess what Sadaam asked about... He wanted to know about "public opinion" in the U.S. Isn't that interesting?

So be aware, o' noble war protesters, as you try to sway public opinion. Though Sadaam can't be with you in the flesh, his thoughts go with you. And rest assured, he's on your side!

2003-02-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

Dark of the Moon

Starting around now in Baghdad the moon doesn't rise until almost dawn. The nights there are getting to be very dark and probably beginning to seem very long for Sadaam Hussein and his lackeys.

2003-02-25T20:38:00.000-08:00

Serious

If you need a nice shock to convince you that these guys are out to *kill* you, follow the links Spiced Sassy provides. She's outraged. Why aren't you?

2003-02-25T16:13:00.000-08:00

Boycott the Academy Awards

What a great idea! Someone just phoned in to the Jayne Carroll radio talk show with this suggestion. I like it.

I especially like it because for me it will be painless, since it's a lot like telling me to bocott my local mosque or to stop eating escargot. No problemo. My kind of protest. Last year my participation in the Academy Award mania consisted of checking the list of winners the next day and gritting my teeth in disgust that Lord of the Rings didn't get Best Picture. Oh, and I usually look at the photos of starlets in low-cut transparent dresses. But I'm willing to forgo all that in the name of sending a message to the movie industry that the No War Chic will hurt them financially.

And if a large enough movement like this could get rolling, it would indeed get the attention of the posturing celebrities and sugardaddy producers. So, pass the word.

2003-02-25T13:01:00.000-08:00

Buy Bulgarian

Sophia Sideshow has a fascinating discussion of the attitude of East Europeans towards America.

2003-02-25T08:48:00.000-08:00

Jaw Dropper

This article seems like it should be in Onion News, but they appear to be serious:

Iranian leader Mohammad Khatami issued an extraordinary assessment of U.S. foreign policy Monday, accusing the United States of positioning itself as a violent "big brother" driven by "fanatic fundamentalism."

2003-02-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

No War

Hey, I'M ANTI-WAR TOO! Damn it. Who isn't? From the ones I've met, heard, and read, most of the people in our military are also anti-war. Celebritities and peace protesters scream "No war!" and argue that war is horrible and go on to list a long litany of ills and evils that may come from a war with Iraq. War, they say, is bad. Well, duh. The argument is a red herring and a straw man (a straw herring?). It's arguing something that isn't even the issue just because nobody can easily disagree with it. It's a way to sound high and moral without actually having to really think about anything. None of us want war or the horrors of war. It's just that right now the alternatives are worse and some of us have the guts to look that fact in the face. If we don't go in and take out those weapons of mass destruction, one way or another those same weapons are going to come to take some of us out.

2003-02-24T11:13:00.000-08:00

Hate the French?

Don't. Many of them are wonderful human beings. And not all the French are in lockstep with the pompous and corrupt Chirac. Thanks to the inimitable Road Sassy for calling attention to The Dissident Frogman.

2003-02-22T23:58:00.000-08:00

The Baloney Sandwich Horror

Tonight's movie was The Dunwich Horror (1970). H. P. Lovecraft's semi-classic horror story is given a low-budget run for the money. It starts out ok and goes downhill at a nice steady pace, but it doesn't stop when it reaches the bottom of the figurative hill. It plunges straight into the figurative earth and actually picks up speed as it burrows deeper and deeper and passes through B-Movie hell to come out on the other side where it has you laughing out loud better'n The Three Stooges in Opryland.

The big special effect in this film is to make the picture go red-negative and then to cut (again and again) to scenes of the sea crashing on rocks. And, for some reason, they filmed many of the scary scenes on beautiful, sunny california, blue-sky days. Made me want to be there.

Young Dean Stockwell is a gas as he apparently makes up satanic rituals on the fly, holding fists to his temples with thumbs out and saying "Mog wagga hoc" over and over. And catch the gay little flourishes he does with the ritual knife.

But the best part, and this is almost worth the price of the rental, is Sandra Dee---at 28 past her prime as a teeny star, but posessed of a truly hot bod---spreadeagled in a black nighty on the ritual altar. Delicious lingering shots of her thighs and even a glimpse of a nipple, yes this is the "Tammy, Tell Me True" Sandra Dee, as fiendish Dean Stockwell caresses her creamy breast while (offcamera) impregnating her with...THE UNBORN HORROR.

I also like the "dream demon" scenes, where what appear to be painted hippies on LSD chase a mildly perturbed Sandra around through beautiful, sunny california fields. Geez, where was I when they made this? I would have loved to have played a dream demon in this film.

The one real mystery in this movie is, what happened to the DUNWICH HORROR? When last seen, it is chasing townspeople through the woods and killing them by making them scream themselves to death. (By the way, notice how the Dunwich townspeople all hang out in a crowd and travel around together in a single pickup truck.) Then we cut (ok, this is a spoiler, if you have the IQ of a grapefruit and actually care what happens at the end), then we cut, I say, to Ed Begley turning Stockwell into a flaming marshmellow by counter-chanting at him. But, as near as I can tell (and I may have looked away at my aquarium for a critical second, I admit) the DUNWICH HORROR is never actually dispatched and must still be roaming those woods. Oh my.

2003-02-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

Lesson of Viet Nam

Here's a great article on the "Immorality of Losing" by Hillel Halkin. On peace protesters:

"If anyone has failed to learn the lesson of Vietnam, it is they. Nothing could be more justified than overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein, destroying all weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and helping the Iraqi people lead a better life that might be a model for others in the Middle East. The only thing unjustified about an attack on Iraq would be its failure to meet these goals."

I've met several of them in person now, and you know, I really like Israelis.