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March 31, 2009
"Little Town...It's a Quiet Village..."
My daughter's favorite movie right now is "Beauty and the Beast." Looks like I'm going to see it on the big screen next year.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Walt Disney is going 3-D on a lot of future films — and some from its past.I've seen this movie enough times to start over-analyzing it. It's become clear to me that Phillipe is the worst horse in existence, Lefou has a massive man-crush on Gaston and beautiful enchantresses really should have more respect for the private property rights of spoiled young princes. And Belle? Don't roll your eyes at the baker who's just trying to make a living.The studio announced Tuesday that 3-D versions of the computer-animated tales "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" will be released Oct. 2 for a two-week run as a double feature. Disney also is preparing a 3-D version of its hand-drawn animated musical "Beauty and the Beast" for release Feb. 12, 2010.
Yeah, I've watched this movie far too many times.
Posted by slublog at 11:10 PM | Comments (142) | TrackBack
Excessive Honesty
I suppose we should be thankful our legislators are honest...
Proponents said annual inspections are burdensome and costly, especially for lower-income Mainers. They also said manufacturing improvements have done away with the need to have cars checked on an annual basis.It's nice to see that our legislators have their priorities in order. Thanks to Rep. Mazurek, folks like me will remain at the mercy of some garages who use inspections as the opportunity to find things to 'fix' rather than as a civic obligation.Rep. Edward Mazurek asked House members to kills the bill. The Rockland Democrat, who co-chairs the Transportation Committee, said two-year inspections would put Maine out of sync with other states in the region and cause the state to lose federal money.
Posted by slublog at 10:54 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
Great. Another Close Election
Looks like NY-20 is going to come down to the absentee ballots.
Fantastic.
Posted by slublog at 10:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 30, 2009
Culture of Corruption
Stories like this make me wish the GOP wasn't the stupid party. Remember, Nancy Pelosi promised the most ethical Congress ever. And she wanted to make Murtha her majority leader.
And now her Democrats are blocking the investigation of a man who has been caught up in corruption before, and apparently hasn't managed to keep his nose clean since.
So...why is this not yet an advertisement?
Posted by slublog at 10:02 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
March 26, 2009
Maine Dems Getting a Little Too Cocky
Guys...this is Maine, remember?
Two anti-gun bills are pending action in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.40% of people who live here (including me) own guns. That's a pretty large constituency to irritate. Do these folks even remember 1994?LD985, introduced by State Senator Nancy Sullivan (D-4), requires that a federally licensed gun dealer facilitate all sales, transfers, and loans of firearms. Dealers could subject these transactions to a fee that cannot exceed $10.
LD814, sponsored by State Representative Anna Blodgett (D-56), requires that a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check be performed by a federally licensed gun dealer prior to the sale or transfer of a firearm at a gun show.
Posted by slublog at 08:15 PM | Comments (50) | TrackBack
March 24, 2009
The President's Press Conference:
A Guest-Blog by Peggy Noonan*
It is late March, and yet still feels like the deepest part of winter. The earth warms and the days grow longer, but the hearts and souls of Americans continue to feel the chill of our times; the feeling that Shakespeare so beautifully termed the winter of discontent.
As I travel from my townhouse in Virginia to my beach house in Nantucket, I sense an unease plaguing the American people. A malaise, if you will. The president's steely gaze and direct, simple solutions to this country's problems cut through that ill-will and helped reassure the bleating masses, showing them someone was in charge.
Tonight, as Barack Obama spoke to the American people, his words fell upon my ears like the first rays of warm sunlight fall upon my face in the spring; he is both the proverbial lion that sets the month of March in motion and the lamb that ushers it into history. Tonight, we saw a president who is as comfortable with righteous anger as he is with reassuring rhetoric.
The sweet words of Obama dropped out of his mouth like the finest morning dew, effervescent in the winds of hope and change. There was a sparkle to his tone that communicated both confidence and bemusement. From the moment he entered the room, striding with confidence and just a small amount of swagger, his command of the moment was evident.
When asked about whether his budget would increase the deficit, Obama shifted blame masterfully. It was like watching Mozart not only compose a symphony, but play all of the instruments himself. While conducting. There are those who claim that the president is overexposed, but I cannot get enough of that rich velvety voice. It's like being washed with pinot grigio. French pinot, of course. Only a monstrous, embarrassing hick from a backwater state such as Alaska would go with something from Napa, or worse, Australia.
While watching the press conference I was again impressed by his use of presidential anger. His righteous indignation refreshes the American soul and casts light upon our path - the glow of his anger lights our way. After all, when Jesus wanted to clear the temple, He didn't meekly ask for the money lenders to leave. He took charge, wove a whip and started overturning tables. Obama's seeming testiness is simply a slightly toned down anger of the gods. Like the Lion of Judah, the president suffers the taunts of the crowd and wears the inherited problems from the Bush administration like a crown of thorns upon his beautiful brow.
The way he rushed through his answers showed his sense of urgency at the situation facing the American economy. As I listened to Obama I was struck by the simplicity of his words, the cool tenor of his demeanor. If he were a cube of ice, his essence would defy thermodynamics - he would refuse to melt.
When the president spoke of sacrifice, I was with him. The dire economy has forced me to switch from free-range arugula to the horrid greenhouse grown variety. It's been awful. As I watched the president face the press, I felt as though he understood my struggles, and was trying to tell me everything is going to be okay.
When Obama said the dollar is strong, he may not be communicating factual information, but is instead acting as a conduit for essential truth - the American people need to be reassured that the little green pieces of paper in their wallet have actual purchasing power. Left to their own devices, the average American would doubtless use that paper to wipe their dirty posteriors instead of stimulate the economy. Such is the nature of a disjointed and uneducated populace.
In short, President Obama's shoulders may seem meek, but they bear a great weight. Critics of the president are so cynical regarding his seeming inarticulateness as they criticize every verbal tic. The president's use of the 'uh' and 'uhhh' are not the mark of a shallow mind, but a thoughtful one. They are like verbal commas, forcing the reader or in this case, listener, to pause and consider the weight of his words, the rightness of his thoughts.
And after facing the slings and arrows of a press more interested in ensnaring than engaging, President Obama strode confidently into the bowels of the White House. It was clear to me, judging by his visage and demeanor, that he is a man both enslaved and freed by his responsibilities as president. He is wrestling with an angel, and looking forward to a magnificent defeat. He wants to be humbled.
In the end, the president's striving for humility made me root for him in an essential way...in an American way. Anyone who calls him or herself an American should feel the same.
*Okay, not Noonon, but my best attempt to sound Noonan-ish, anyway. Seems I succeeded. Thanks for the comments, all.
Posted by slublog at 09:19 PM | Comments (124) | TrackBack
March 23, 2009
Buyer's Remorse?
Allahpundit's quotes of the day are worth a read.
Posted by slublog at 10:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Blech
Apologies for the lack of blog content. Today was grand jury day, and the cases were extremely depressing. A lot of violent crimes, and crimes against kids.
When hearing cases like that, I can't help but think that Dexter Morgan's approach to criminals really has some merit.
Posted by slublog at 10:25 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
March 20, 2009
Brother, Can You Spare $1800?
That's what Obama's own analysts calculate your energy bill will go up per year if his budget is passed.
President Obama’s energy tax plan -- a version of the failed European “cap and trade” global warming fiasco -- may cost families $1,800 yearly in higher utility bills, far exceeding his promised $800 a year tax cut for 95% of Americans.For those who don't want to do the math, that would add an extra $150 a month to the average American's energy bill. My wife and I are doing pretty well financially, but an extra $150 a month would make things pretty tight.While campaigning, Obama admitted that his energy plan would cause electric bills to “skyrocket.” Few took note, perhaps because Sen. John McCain also backed some form of a “cap-and-trade” energy tax.
Obama’s official budget claims that his proposed energy tax would add $646 billion to energy costs over 8 years. But that’s low-balling it.
As angry as I'm tempted to be at the 52% of Americans who voted for Obama, intellectual honesty forces me to acknowledge that McCain would have done the same thing. Thus proving our political class is disgustingly out of touch with the average American. (H/t: Jenfidel's Twitter)
Posted by slublog at 08:19 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
McCain: Leave the Lying, Incompetent Tax Cheat Alone!
But of course. The Maverick cred must be maintained.
Tim Geithner, the embattled US Treasury secretary, should be given a chance to succeed, says John McCain, the former presidential candidate, who is the first prominent Republican to speak up in Mr Geithner’s defence amid growing calls for his resignation.So let's get this straight. John McCain is saying we should go easy on a man who lied about when he knew about the AIG bonuses, has yet to announce his plan to save the banking industry and who was only given a pass on his tax-cheating ways because we were assured he was the only man who could fix the economy.Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr McCain said that the “perfect storm” over AIG “has been as explosive in a short period of time as anything I have seen”.
I'm almost willing to forgive Geithner his inability to come up with a plan to fix the banks, because the mess we're in is so complicated. I'm not a big fan, however, of public officials who lie in order to make it easier for their boss to demonize private citizens who did nothing more than ask that their contracts be honored.
Needless to say, I'm even less impressed by elected officials who ask us to be patient with such behavior. Good job, Johnny Mac. You're well on your way to making me regret my vote, even after we've seen and lived under the alternative.
Posted by slublog at 07:48 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
March 18, 2009
Rove: Obama is Giving the GOP an Opening
President Barack Obama and his West Wing lieutenants are playing on the world's largest stage, yet act as if no one is watching them when they contradict their campaign promises. That behavior is unwittingly giving the Republicans an opening.The attack ads practically write themselves. Or rather, they will if the GOP is on the ball and ready to go on the offensive during the 2010 election season. Obama's sudden lurch to the left, combined with stupid stunts that communicate a lack of seriousness are slowly eroding his political capital. If he's not careful, history could repeat itself.For example, Team Obama thinks the president, having spent a good portion of the campaign decrying the $2.9 trillion in deficits during the Bush years, can now double the national debt held by the public in 10 years. Having condemned earmarks during the campaign, the Obama administration now believes it can wave through 8,500 of them in the omnibus-spending bill, part of the biggest spending increase since World War II.
With the Dow at 7,486 and unemployment at 8.1%, Mr. Obama says the economy is fundamentally sound. Does he suppose the nation won't recall him attacking John McCain last September for saying the same thing -- when the Dow was at 11,000 and unemployment at 6.2%?
Candidate Obama vowed to end "the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics." Yet his administration geared up MoveOn.org to lead a left-wing coalition to pressure Republicans and centrist Democrats, organized a daily conference call to coordinate liberal attack dogs, and strategized with Americans United for Change on ads depicting the GOP as the party of "no."
Posted by slublog at 11:36 PM | Comments (21) | TrackBack
Oops
Lots of computer glitches at Maine DHHS.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is once again blaming a computer glitch for incorrectly notifying recipients of food stamps that they're ineligible for aid because they're felons on the lam.You've got to wonder what sort of 'computer glitch' would cause a problem like this. Whatever it was, those darn glitches just seem to haunt the poor DHHS.The glitch, similar to one in December, caused more than 200 bogus letters to be mailed out Monday. Spokesman John Martins says calls are being made to warn recipients of the mistake.
Posted by slublog at 11:10 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
March 17, 2009
Sure, the AIG Bonuses are Outrageous...
But how much taxpayer money do you think it takes to host all of these people at the White House?
After all, ham, smoked salmon and scallops aren't cheap.
And on the subject of the bonuses - Greg Mankiw points out that the amount of time and money spent decrying the bonuses is probably not an "optimal allocation of resources" on the part of our elected officials.
Posted by slublog at 11:14 PM | Comments (38) | TrackBack
Just a Thought, Mr. President...
When you've got the Huffington Post writing "Democrats hate your wounded veteran health care plan" stories, it might be time to reconsider. This plan has obviously forced a lot of incumbent Democrats to see visions of ads that tie them to the plans of 'Obama/Pelosi/Reid,' as the plan is a nice slow underhand pitch to the GOP.
I'm the son and grandson of veterans, and non-profane words cannot describe how outraged Obama's plan makes me. So thank heavens we've got Rachel Lucas - I'll allow her post to give voice to my anger. (content warning - language)
Posted by slublog at 10:52 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
It's Good to Be the (former) Mayor
What happens if you commit a crime and violate the terms of your bail twice?
If you're a former mayor, you get...bail again. $500.
Posted by slublog at 10:06 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Posted by slublog at 09:11 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
March 16, 2009
The Extinction of the American Newspaper?
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer just announced it is now a web-only publication.
Hearst Corp. will run its final printed edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer tomorrow and shift the entire publication to the Web after failing to find a buyer for the money-losing newspaper.Unfortunately for the news industry, this is not an isolated story, but a trend. Newspapers are simply not attracting subscribers or advertisers. The main reason for this, I think, is simple - newspapers are a product of the industrial age. Every day, a newspaper takes a huge staff, enormous machines and a lot of money to produce. In an age when news is discovered, analyzed and forgotten in the time it takes to post it in HTML or talk about it on cable, the idea of 'breaking' news on paper hours after it has been thoroughly dissected by the networks and the blogs seems ridiculous.The New York-based publisher sought unsuccessfully to sell the Post-Intelligencer after the daily posted a $14 million loss last year. Hearst may close the San Francisco Chronicle if it can’t negotiate cost-cutting concessions from its unions.
“They are the first major metropolitan newspaper to flip the switch and go online only,” said Ken Doctor, an analyst with Outsell Inc. in Burlingame, California. “This is going to be an important model for people to watch, whether this can survive as a Web-only presence.”
Since December, four newspaper publishers have filed for bankruptcy protection, including Tribune Co. and the owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer. E.W. Scripps Co. last month closed its Rocky Mountain News in Denver after failing to find a buyer and Gannett Co. said it will shutter the Tucson Citizen in Arizona if it can’t sell it by March 21.
In addition, newspapers have alienated half of their audience. Of course, certain attention-seeking columnists have other theories. As if we needed more reason to ignore Kathleen Parker.
Personally, I think the future of newspapers is local. By the time our local paper runs national news headlines, the news in question has already been reported by cable news and digested, analyzed and in some cases deconstructed by blogs and online news outlets. Local news, however, has not. Newspapers that focus on the local may suffer a bit now, but will survive in the end. Those that do not will continue to lose readers.
Posted by slublog at 11:48 PM | Comments (368) | TrackBack
The Return of Bad Ideas
Everything old (and economically terrible) is new again!
Posted by slublog at 09:37 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Maine Tax Day Tea Party
I'm not a protest sort of guy, but I might just attend this one. Details:
Maine Tax Day Tea Party
Wednesday, April 15
5:30pm - 7:00pm
Capitol Park
Augusta, Maine
If you're not angry about the amount of spending the Obama administration is doing, consider what they want to stop spending money on.
Yeah...see you in Augusta.
Posted by slublog at 08:29 PM | Comments (73) | TrackBack
March 13, 2009
Father Knows Best
Just watched "Taken."
As the father of two daughters, all I have to say is...YES!
Posted by slublog at 11:44 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
March 12, 2009
Obama's Gift
Slashfilm has a list of the movies President Barack Obama gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Overall, not a bad list. Includes:
Citizen KaneI visited Amazon.com and tallied up what it would cost to purchase all of these movies, assuming Obama purchased the special editions.
The Godfather
Casablanca
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Star Wars, Ep. IV
The grand total? $418.26. Compare that to the gifts Brown gave the president.
Special relationship, indeed.
Posted by slublog at 09:41 PM | Comments (628) | TrackBack
March 11, 2009
Pelosi Loves the Air Force
In her own special, entitled, way of course.
Three months ago, turmoil erupted over Queen Nancy’s demand for the military to reposition her plane to fly out of Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., closer to where she had “business,” instead of San Francisco Airport/SFO (1.5 hours away). A special air missions official wrote: “We have never done this in the past. The deal is…that the Speaker shuttle is from DC to SFO and back. We will not reposition. We do not reposition for convenience even for the SECDEF. It is not [too] far of a drive from Travis to SFO. Did the escort suggest to the Speaker that this is ok? If so, I hope you guys correct them immediately. If you agree with me that I am correct, then you need to stay strong and present the facts to the Speaker’s office.”Carbon footprint? Taxpayer dollars? Such things are for the little people. Queen Pelosi has her needs, after all.Another official stated bluntly: “We can’t reposition the airplane such a short distance. It is not a judicial use of the asset. It is too expensive to operate the jet when there is truly no need to do so.”
Posted by slublog at 09:42 PM | Comments (109) | TrackBack
A Rebuttal to Spencer
No, evangelicalism won't fail, says Mark Galli.
Posted by slublog at 09:14 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Priorities...Priorities...
Maine is in a financial bind. The obvious solution?
Posted by slublog at 04:05 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 10, 2009
Is Evangelicalism Doomed?
A thought-provoking column at the Christian Science Monitor.
Oneida, Ky. - We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.Cheery, no? I'm a pessimist by nature, but halfway through this oped I was thinking Wow. Cheer up, dude.Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.
This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.
Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I'm convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.
Spencer has some interesting thoughts on the shallowness of evangelical culture, but I think he makes too many unwarranted assumptions about the current state of evangelical churches. Not all churches are dying or consumed with 'selling' Christianity. I'm probably as suspicious of megachurches as Spencer, but a few of them have more depth than one would expect. The new small group movement is largely coming out of those churches.
If anything, I believe fundamentalist churches are in more trouble than the evangelical megachurches because many of them refuse to acknowledge the existence and needs of a younger generation. I am a member of a church that is fundamentalist and evangelical in doctrine, but not culture.
I have read Spencer's blog, and largely agree with him in principle, even if I do find his tone off-putting at times. Plus, I cannot agree with him on the issue of worship music. Some contemporary Christian music lacks theological grounding, but I do not believe the answer lies in hymns, since many of them are just as doctrinally shallow. Insisting on hymn-centric music, to me, shows a lack of trust in God's ability to influence creativity, and makes me wonder whether those who hold that opinion are willing to claim that God-inspired creativity ended when the last hymn was written.
Still, I think this article does, or should, lead to some soul-searching among those of us who claim the title of evangelical.
Posted by slublog at 08:30 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Crisis Management, Obama-Style
Imagine a child falls down a well. Now imagine I offer to lend the parents my ladder to save her, but only if they promise to paint my house. Would you applaud me for not letting a crisis go to waste? Or would you think I'm a jerk?The best part? The thus-far ignored double standards. Read the whole thing.I ask because I'm trying to come to terms with Rule No. 1 of the Obama administration.
"Rule 1: Never allow a crisis to go to waste," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told the New York Times right after the election. "They are opportunities to do big things."
Posted by slublog at 07:56 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
March 09, 2009
Is America Less Religious?
The short answer: yes.
(CNN) -- America is a less Christian nation than it was 20 years ago, and Christianity is not losing out to other religions, but primarily to a rejection of religion altogether, a survey published Monday found.This isn't all that surprising to me, and I'm not sure why the story has been so controversial to people of faith, considering we've spent the last few years decrying the coarsening of our culture. To me, this poll is confirmation of what I've observed - culture suffers when God is diminished. I hope the results are not dismissed out of hand, but are taken as a call to action by the church.Seventy-five percent of Americans call themselves Christian, according to the American Religious Identification Survey from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1990, the figure was 86 percent.
Posted by slublog at 11:36 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack
Ghoul: Others Must Die, So I May Be Healed
Yes, that's bitter, but I'm in a bad mood.
"Today is a new day. I could not be more thrilled to see President Obama live up to his commitment to get politics out of science. We have seen, for the past eight years, how much damage the opposite approach has done to science and patients," Fox said in a statement released to Access Hollywood.Of course, GWB's order only stopped federal funding of such research. Nothing prevented private research, so no one was stopping Fox from funding the research himself. I guess progress can only be made if I'm paying for it, though."Now that the President has taken this critical action, I am excited by the prospect of American scientists carrying human embryonic stem cell research forward toward better treatments and cures that will affect countless millions of lives," the actor continued.
Posted by slublog at 11:16 PM | Comments (38) | TrackBack
Obama and Stem Cells
Watched and heard clips from his speech.
He really can't help but take shots at George W. Bush, can he?
Posted by slublog at 11:09 PM | Comments (25) | TrackBack
March 08, 2009
Buckley Tries, Fails to Explain His Vote for Obama
I've got to say, I almost feel sorry for Christopher Buckley at this point. Almost.
So much for my secular prayers. Maybe I should have tried the old-fashioned kind instead. For now, he is raising taxes and proposing Brobdingnagian government spending and expansion. It would thus seem that I was wrong about him.A sudden attack of intellectual honesty? A sincere mea culpa?
No.
Our choice, last fall, was between an angry 73 year old with a legislative record far from consistently conservative, who nominated as his running mate a know-nothing religious extremist; on the other side was an appealing, thoughtful man who--for a brief shining moment--seemed to be more than the sum of his ideological parts.Take a moment to ponder what Buckley is saying. He thinks Obama is ruining the economy, but so thorough is his disdain for McCain and Palin (well, mostly Palin) that he would vote for the president again. Hermit Dave, commenting at doubleplusundead (where I found the link to this article), I think has the right take - in the end, Buckley seemed to trust Obama more because the president was 'his kind of people.'If I had to vote all over again, I'd pull the same lever.
In the post-election and inauguration foodfight that's broken out among Republicans, the conservative base has been accused of being 'anti-intellectual' for rejecting the Buckleys and David Frums. The question I have yet to see the critics answer, though, is why should the so-called intellectuals who were wrong about Obama lead those who saw right through his facade?
I like Buckley's books quite a bit, and if he keeps writing at the level of "Thank You for Smoking" and "Little Green Men," I'll keep reading them. But then again, I don't need to respect those whom I look to for entertainment.
Posted by slublog at 11:37 PM | Comments (25) | TrackBack
March 06, 2009
"Watchmen"
Every time I watch a Hollywood adaptation of a book I like or have fond memories of, I'm always looking for 'the moment.' For me, 'the moment' is when a particular scene communicates that the filmmaker gets it. Until then, I find it hard to relax and enjoy the movie as a movie. For example, when I watched "Fellowship of the Rings," 'the moment' was when Peter Jackson revealed Hobbiton, and the scenery matched my imagination.
'The moment' in "Watchmen" came pretty early. After a vicious fight scene and a truly amazing credit sequence, Zack Snyder recreated the image of the detectives looking down at just how far the Comedian fell to his death. The image on the screen matched the image in the comic book, and then when I heard Rorschach's voice and narration I knew this was going to be faithful.
And was it ever. Hours after watching it, I'm still amazed that Snyder was able to fit so much of the book into a just-under three hour running time. Even the Mars sequence, one of my favorite from the book, was kept intact.
I agree largely with John Nolte's review - the movie is great, but a bit overly-violent. Plus, I could have done without such an, er, enthusiastic representation of the love scene between Silk Spectre and Nite Owl II. Still, those are quibbles.
The music choices were sometimes odd, but always worked in the moment. I especially loved the subtle use of Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." This movie is not for everyone - the violence is harsh and the themes are dark. As my brother said when we saw some kids in the line with us, 'They do know this isn't Spiderman, right?'
On that note, what on earth are some parents thinking? At the screening I attended, there were kids who looked maybe 10-12 years old watching this movie. This was not a movie for kids, and I almost hope the kids who were allowed to see it keep their parents up for the next few nights with their bad dreams as punishment.
Update - Trailer addict has the opening title sequence for the movie available online. Outstanding. Okay, maybe not. Lawyers have been busy.
Posted by slublog at 10:31 PM | Comments (24) | TrackBack
March 05, 2009
Hope I'm Not Paying for This
At 47, Obama is the fifth-youngest president in American history, and as the Democratic nominee, his youthfulness - in comparison with 72-year-old John McCain - was often a selling-point. But Zariff's appearance in the pages of the Washington Post and New York Times led to speculation that the White House is deliberately pushing the "greying Obama" line to emphasise how hard he is working to rescue the economy.My haircuts cost $15 and since I walk to the barbershop, there is no carbon footprint. Can Obama say the same?Zariff says he is still Obama's barber, and has reportedly been flown from Chicago to Washington to cut the president's hair.
Posted by slublog at 10:19 PM | Comments (26) | TrackBack
Shock: Obama Needs His 'Prompter
Resting on top of a tall, narrow pole, they flank his podium during speeches in the White House’s stately parlors. They stood next to him on the floor of a manufacturing plant in Indiana as he pitched his economic stimulus plan. They traveled to the Department of Transportation this week and were in the Capitol Rotunda last month when he paid tribute to Abraham Lincoln in six-minute prepared remarks.Shouldn't a president who is supposedly famous for his oratory be better at speaking extemporaneously? As the story notes, his inability to make a speech without the technology means he's constantly looking to his sides, not directly at the camera, and by extension the American people. And again, the double-standard is jarring. Obama has made some pretty ridiculous statements when he's not on prompter. Yet we don't see Slate or other members of the media creating sites to track and mock "Obama-isms."Obama’s reliance on the teleprompter is unusual – not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events large and small.
After the teleprompter malfunctioned a few times last summer and Obama delivered some less-than-soaring speeches, reports surfaced that he was training to wean himself off of the device while on vacation in Hawaii. But no luck.
On that note, it's really too bad the late-night comics or SNL can't find anything funny about Obama.
Posted by slublog at 05:50 PM | Comments (33) | TrackBack
March 03, 2009
Our Logo-Happy President
Just when you think the administration couldn't get more ridiculous...
Put a stamp on it -- that’s what the White House says.Yup, this one begged for the Photoshop treatment. And Allah's right...the shape is so coincidental...President Obama announced today that his administration will begin stamping an emblem on projects funded by the economic stimulus package so that people can easily recognize the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
All projects will be stamped with the ARRA logo (short for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and lists the recovery.gov website on the emblem.
Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers.
This one is kind of obvious.
Posted by slublog at 06:36 PM | Comments (151) | TrackBack