The only time you will ever catch me saying anything less than hateful about a Philadelphia-area sports team. This was a very classy display.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Little Miss Sunshine
I really wanted to hate it, because it was so overhyped, but I'll be honest, I liked it. I thought it would be like The Royal Tenenbaums, some insufferable, too-cool-for-school, irony-filled hipster comedy. But it isn't! And these days, that's saying a lot!
The DVD had alternate endings, and, interestingly enough, one of them is actually much better than the real ending. Best of all, according to the commentary, that superior ending was thought up by Abigail Breslin, the young girl who (with help from Alan Arkin, a favorite of mine from Slums of Beverly Hills) steals the movie. The whole point of the movie is that the youthful exuberance of the girl and her grandfather trumps all the self-absorbed, overserious worries of everyone around them. Yet the directors' ignore their own point, and instead of ending with Abigail's very fun and unique idea, end on a completely typical and overused note.
Anyway (spoiler alert I guess), the movie is nothing too special, but it certainly has its moments, and the best among them is the instant classic dance scene, so here it is, hope you like it!
The DVD had alternate endings, and, interestingly enough, one of them is actually much better than the real ending. Best of all, according to the commentary, that superior ending was thought up by Abigail Breslin, the young girl who (with help from Alan Arkin, a favorite of mine from Slums of Beverly Hills) steals the movie. The whole point of the movie is that the youthful exuberance of the girl and her grandfather trumps all the self-absorbed, overserious worries of everyone around them. Yet the directors' ignore their own point, and instead of ending with Abigail's very fun and unique idea, end on a completely typical and overused note.
Anyway (spoiler alert I guess), the movie is nothing too special, but it certainly has its moments, and the best among them is the instant classic dance scene, so here it is, hope you like it!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Too Good Not to Link
I know Relapsed Catholic already has it, but I have to link to this Iowahawk piece. As I was telling a friend the other day, I'm afraid the backlash has already begun. Yesterday, I saw a taxi drive right past this poor young lady as she was frantically trying to hail it, just because she was wearing her hospital scrubs!
p.s. do you need any more proof that the world is cruel and unjust besides the fact that Dave Sedaris is rich and famous and Iowahawk isn't?
p.s. do you need any more proof that the world is cruel and unjust besides the fact that Dave Sedaris is rich and famous and Iowahawk isn't?
Friday, July 6, 2007
Amazing article
On the Great Siege of Malta, in 1565. Via HotAir.
As I was hinting before, I think that recent events may spark a dramatic revival of revisionism, as the Crusades and other battles involving Islam may come to be seen in a fundamentally (ha! get it?) new light.
As I was hinting before, I think that recent events may spark a dramatic revival of revisionism, as the Crusades and other battles involving Islam may come to be seen in a fundamentally (ha! get it?) new light.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Summer Reruns
I thought this little pause between Canada Day and the Fourth of July would be an appropriate time to link to this old essay once more. Hey, if you haven't seen it, it's new to you!
Dawn Patrol
Been catching up over at Dawn Eden's blog, and wanted to make a couple points.
First, on her prostitution post. I love this: "It's an important question because, taken from the ultra-liberal or libertarian side, it could be taken as an argument in favor of legalizing prostitution. After all, if casual sex is transactional in every aspect save for actual money changing hands, why penalize those who do it for money?" I hear that argument a lot - 'well, what's the big difference between buying dinner and a movie or just giving the money up front?' or something like that. In other words, I've heard legalizers say, as Dawn anticipates, that if women are screwing strangers anyway, it's crazy to punish the ones who are the most honest about it. I always find that argument funny. I don't know, maybe instead of legalizing prostitution because it's no different from the norm, we should, you know, try to change the norm and perhaps even, if we want to get really crazy about it, actually encourage men not to treat women like whores. [UPDATE: and women not to see themselves in that light, either] Hey, just a suggestion.
Another post, on depression, is really gonna get me in trouble. Basically, I don't think that depression exists. At least, not as an illness - I think it's just a natural state. Life, if you look at it a certain way, is incredibly depressing, empty, devoid of meaning, etc. To borrow the old saying, if you're not depressed at some point in life, you're not paying attention. No amount of medication is going to change that. The trick is in not looking at it in that way, at least not for dangerously long periods of time - yes, your life is devoid of greater meaning, it's nothing but dust to dust, ashes to ashes, but so what? Doesn't mean you can't create your own meaning, or at least enjoy yourself trying. So you can stay in bed all day moaning, or you can go out and choose to have a good time or help someone or something. As Dawn tells it, for her the cure was in God. That's not the case for me, but there are lots of other places to find reasons to live: in duty, in loved ones, and, of course, in a right bit of silliness. As my idol, Woody Allen, so eloquently put it, "Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um... Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. uh... Like what... okay... um... For me, uh... ooh... I would say... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh... um... and Willie Mays... and um... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony... and um... Louis Armstrong's recording of Potato Head Blues... um... Swedish movies, naturally... Sentimental Education by Flaubert... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra... um... those incredible apples and pears by Cezanne... uh... the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face... "
Obviously, I am not talking about legitimately insane people (of which I have, in truth, known a few). But as for all the 'depressed' people these days on Valium or whatever, I don't buy it for a second [UPDATE: And you thought all I had in common with Tom Cruise was my stunning good looks]. Get off the meds, don't take yourself and your problems too seriously, have some fun, try and do something worthwhile, and things will be all right!
UPDATE: Speaking of Dawn, her blog leads me to this great article, I love it!
First, on her prostitution post. I love this: "It's an important question because, taken from the ultra-liberal or libertarian side, it could be taken as an argument in favor of legalizing prostitution. After all, if casual sex is transactional in every aspect save for actual money changing hands, why penalize those who do it for money?" I hear that argument a lot - 'well, what's the big difference between buying dinner and a movie or just giving the money up front?' or something like that. In other words, I've heard legalizers say, as Dawn anticipates, that if women are screwing strangers anyway, it's crazy to punish the ones who are the most honest about it. I always find that argument funny. I don't know, maybe instead of legalizing prostitution because it's no different from the norm, we should, you know, try to change the norm and perhaps even, if we want to get really crazy about it, actually encourage men not to treat women like whores. [UPDATE: and women not to see themselves in that light, either] Hey, just a suggestion.
Another post, on depression, is really gonna get me in trouble. Basically, I don't think that depression exists. At least, not as an illness - I think it's just a natural state. Life, if you look at it a certain way, is incredibly depressing, empty, devoid of meaning, etc. To borrow the old saying, if you're not depressed at some point in life, you're not paying attention. No amount of medication is going to change that. The trick is in not looking at it in that way, at least not for dangerously long periods of time - yes, your life is devoid of greater meaning, it's nothing but dust to dust, ashes to ashes, but so what? Doesn't mean you can't create your own meaning, or at least enjoy yourself trying. So you can stay in bed all day moaning, or you can go out and choose to have a good time or help someone or something. As Dawn tells it, for her the cure was in God. That's not the case for me, but there are lots of other places to find reasons to live: in duty, in loved ones, and, of course, in a right bit of silliness. As my idol, Woody Allen, so eloquently put it, "Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um... Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. uh... Like what... okay... um... For me, uh... ooh... I would say... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh... um... and Willie Mays... and um... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony... and um... Louis Armstrong's recording of Potato Head Blues... um... Swedish movies, naturally... Sentimental Education by Flaubert... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra... um... those incredible apples and pears by Cezanne... uh... the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face... "
Obviously, I am not talking about legitimately insane people (of which I have, in truth, known a few). But as for all the 'depressed' people these days on Valium or whatever, I don't buy it for a second [UPDATE: And you thought all I had in common with Tom Cruise was my stunning good looks]. Get off the meds, don't take yourself and your problems too seriously, have some fun, try and do something worthwhile, and things will be all right!
UPDATE: Speaking of Dawn, her blog leads me to this great article, I love it!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Back to the Classics?
I hope so! The rest of that article is just depressing, though. Reminds of a line from 30 Rock (very funny show, best on tv last season I think). A ditzy blonde is talking baby names, and says, "I already have all the names picked out. If it's a girl, Bookcase. Or Sandstorm. Or maybe Hat. But maybe that's more of a boy's name." [Note: I googled that quotation and came across this wonderful blog, which has a much better post on the same topic, and this one is good, too]
This phenomenon reminds me of flags. I think it was Mark Steyn who made this point, but I'm not sure. The Canadian flag is a design, a logo, completely cheap and meaningless, something that could have been cooked up after an afternoon of brainstorming in a marketing firm. The American flag, on the other hand, is full of meaning and history - it's not just a logo, not just a neat design. I prefer the meaningful approach to flags, and to names.
Anyway, one of my favorite names is Cordelia, from King Lear , except I could never name a kid that because of Cordelia Chase in Buffy!
This phenomenon reminds me of flags. I think it was Mark Steyn who made this point, but I'm not sure. The Canadian flag is a design, a logo, completely cheap and meaningless, something that could have been cooked up after an afternoon of brainstorming in a marketing firm. The American flag, on the other hand, is full of meaning and history - it's not just a logo, not just a neat design. I prefer the meaningful approach to flags, and to names.
Anyway, one of my favorite names is Cordelia, from King Lear , except I could never name a kid that because of Cordelia Chase in Buffy!
"Why Hungary exported so much talent in the 1930s is hard to explain."
Um, no it ain't. We're just that good!
Oh, and as for what unusual phenomenon happened after the thirties to halt the genius of Hungarian Jews, the author is kidding, right?
Oh, and as for what unusual phenomenon happened after the thirties to halt the genius of Hungarian Jews, the author is kidding, right?
Wait a sec...
Appeasing our crazy fascist enemies doesn't work??? It emboldens them? How on earth does that happen? This seems contrary to everything that the people around here in Cambridge, all much smarter and more learned than I am, have been so very eloquently and convincingly arguing. I just don't know what to believe anymore. If only there had been some hint, some past example of the failure of appeasement, that we could have looked at to warn us about this. If only...
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Be My Baby
Just trying out the youtube embed function, figured I would use this video, as I have watched it maybe twenty times today. I'm chaperoning a high school dance tomorrow, it's going to be full of awful modern teenage music (kids these days and their rock and roll!), so I'm seeking refuge in the great teenage music of yore!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
A Profane Post on Politicians
(like the title says, profanity warning here. sorry, but when it comes to talking about politicians, to borrow a line from the Trailer Park Boys, if I can't smoke and swear, I'm, well, you know).
Scrolling through all the C-SPAN video of the immigration debate at HotAir, it strikes me quite clearly that these congressmen are the exact same a-holes who run Harvard's undergraduate government and the various major campus political clubs. A few years older and a few pounds heavier, perhaps, but the exact same love for the sound of their own voice. I'm actually very much in favor of student government, because my take on it is basically that it keeps all the douchebags busy. If they're lobbing points of order at each other in three-hour long meetings every day, that means they're not around to annoy the rest of us. The problem is that, as this immigration debate has shown, the time will come, if only decades down the road, when they emerge from irrelevance and their idiotic bloviating actually has an effect on all of us. I can't figure out a solution. Sure, you can send the worst ones to stay harmlessly full-of-themselves at the UN (every overtaxed penny Americans spend on that disgusting jew-hating organization is worth it to keep the likes of Kofi Annan out of real government*), but there will still be far too many left around with nothing to fulfill their egos except a run for congress and a quickie with the intern. Really the only thing to do is to fight for a smaller government. The nature of politics guarantees that only the pompous jerks end up as politicians, the best that the rest of us can hope for is to limit the reach of their self-important, sonorous stupidity. Except I suggest that this smaller government come with really fancy robes and required Latin, like Harvard Commencement. We have to be clever about this, you see, and I suspect that we will only be able to limit their power if we do so after first flattering their grandiloquence.
*well, okay, maybe not. I really do think we should end all funding ASAP, and kick 'em out of New York while we're at it. And if they then do get involved in local governments and start cooking up some real trouble, bomb 'em or something.
Scrolling through all the C-SPAN video of the immigration debate at HotAir, it strikes me quite clearly that these congressmen are the exact same a-holes who run Harvard's undergraduate government and the various major campus political clubs. A few years older and a few pounds heavier, perhaps, but the exact same love for the sound of their own voice. I'm actually very much in favor of student government, because my take on it is basically that it keeps all the douchebags busy. If they're lobbing points of order at each other in three-hour long meetings every day, that means they're not around to annoy the rest of us. The problem is that, as this immigration debate has shown, the time will come, if only decades down the road, when they emerge from irrelevance and their idiotic bloviating actually has an effect on all of us. I can't figure out a solution. Sure, you can send the worst ones to stay harmlessly full-of-themselves at the UN (every overtaxed penny Americans spend on that disgusting jew-hating organization is worth it to keep the likes of Kofi Annan out of real government*), but there will still be far too many left around with nothing to fulfill their egos except a run for congress and a quickie with the intern. Really the only thing to do is to fight for a smaller government. The nature of politics guarantees that only the pompous jerks end up as politicians, the best that the rest of us can hope for is to limit the reach of their self-important, sonorous stupidity. Except I suggest that this smaller government come with really fancy robes and required Latin, like Harvard Commencement. We have to be clever about this, you see, and I suspect that we will only be able to limit their power if we do so after first flattering their grandiloquence.
*well, okay, maybe not. I really do think we should end all funding ASAP, and kick 'em out of New York while we're at it. And if they then do get involved in local governments and start cooking up some real trouble, bomb 'em or something.
Hillary's Greatest Weapon
I usually stay away from talking about political strategy, because I don't know a thing about it. Still, humor me to forward a theory. I think the absolute greatest thing to happen to Hillary's chances is the candidacy of John Edwards. I used to think I was the only one who despised Edwards - I mean, I harbor for him a digust I've never felt for any other politician. But, as Hot Air proves today, I'm not alone. He's %100 pure sleazebag, and folks just can't stand the s.o.b. Why does this help Hillary? Well, lots of Republicans used to hate her. It used to be Anybody-but-Hillary. But now I think a lot of that energy has been taken up instead by Anybody-but-Edwards. I myself would much rather have Hillary than Edwards. At least I know she would have the balls to bomb something, even if it was only to distract us from the latest scandal. Anyway, that's the extent of my strategical insight into this matter, sorry for rambling!
Hey, It Could Be Worse
Relapsed Catholic links to the news that Ontario will be sending free copies of An Inconvenient Truth to all of its public schools. Before anyone starts harping on how cruel and abusive it is to feed this fearmongering, dishonest propaganda to impressionable young kids, an anecdote: my Grade Five French teacher fell ill one week, and the substitute couldn't speak French, so she figured she would just show us a movie for a couple days. The movie? Poltergeist. (I mean, what was she thinking?) I must have had nightmares for a month. So, compared to that, I think it's fair to say Al Gore is child's play. Um, no, not that (though the resemblance is uncanny), you know what I mean.
Besides, if Ontario's required curriculum is anything like Quebec's, trust me that the kids are a lot better off sleeping through Gore's dull slide-show than actually having to pay attention to their teacher's state-mandated p.c. babble. I went to one of the best private schools in the province, but even there they were required to follow the government plan for certain subjects, and boy could you ever tell the difference between the free-thinking classes (World History) and the state-controlled ones (Canadian History). Canadian History, by the way, was actually Quebec History - or, to be precise, Why English People are Stupid and Evil and Have Inferior Sauces (... and yet still managed to oppress us for 200 years). My classmates and I got the last laugh, though. Our teacher never read our homework assignments, he just checked to see if the lines in our workbooks were filled in. So we all got together and wrote incredibly vulgar stories about him and his wife in our workbooks, turned them in, and got full marks. Good times, good times.
Besides, if Ontario's required curriculum is anything like Quebec's, trust me that the kids are a lot better off sleeping through Gore's dull slide-show than actually having to pay attention to their teacher's state-mandated p.c. babble. I went to one of the best private schools in the province, but even there they were required to follow the government plan for certain subjects, and boy could you ever tell the difference between the free-thinking classes (World History) and the state-controlled ones (Canadian History). Canadian History, by the way, was actually Quebec History - or, to be precise, Why English People are Stupid and Evil and Have Inferior Sauces (... and yet still managed to oppress us for 200 years). My classmates and I got the last laugh, though. Our teacher never read our homework assignments, he just checked to see if the lines in our workbooks were filled in. So we all got together and wrote incredibly vulgar stories about him and his wife in our workbooks, turned them in, and got full marks. Good times, good times.
Sicko Update
I wrote about this earlier, so I thought I should post a link to this article, via Relapsed Catholic.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Okay, I'm excited
The Belles of St.Trinian's is one of my all-time favorite movies, great British comedy with Alastair Sim. Anyway, just found out there's a remake coming out later this year. I like Colin Firth and Rupert Everett (fun movie, this), and I'll try to pretend that I didn't see Mischa Barton's name involved. In any case, even if the remake stinks, at least it might get TCM and some others to show the original.
Good Point
About the hair. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that neanderthals had significantly better hygiene than actual hippies.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Good Intro
Tried reading Wodehouse's Leave it to Psmith today, but was too busy, only got through the introduction. Still, the intro, by Wilfrid Sheed, is very entertaining. Here are the first two paragraphs:
"Somewhere between the Romantic Revolution and the Great Victorian Exhibition of 1851 in England, suet pudding entered the English soul, after which it became almost impossible for that country to produce a pure artist. Despite generous help from Ireland, America, and even Poland, any Englishman who had been to a public school felt and looked like a perfect chump, a tourist, in the world of Flaubert and Rimbaud.
It was almost as if these schools, founded in the 1830's, had it for their main object that Shelley and Byron would never happen again. When such a one showed up, he was immediately laughed at, plunged into cold water and taught to laugh at himself for twelve grueling years; after which he was either hopelessly maimed, or would retreat with the crowd into humor, crossword puzzles, detective stories and the burdens of facetiousness."
Another section I liked:
"In the last days Wodehouse observed mildly that his childhood seemed to be just like Kipling's, except that he'd rather enjoyed his. But this was some triumph of will and selection. For just as George Orwell made a hell of his schooldays by fanning the right memories, Wodehouse made a heaven of his; and it is a clue to how close these processes are that Orwell and Kipling, the laureates of unhappiness, were among Plum Woodhouse's most ardent admirers. They knew the score."
And a heartening tidbit: "By all accounts, he was a friendly and obliging fellow; but no less an admirer than Evelyn Waugh described him privately as the dullest man he ever met. And socially he was famous for fleeing the kind of jolly scenes he wrote about to walk his dog."
Leaving a party for a quiet walk with the dog - that's my kind of guy. I love all the Jeeves books, can't wait to read Psmith.
"Somewhere between the Romantic Revolution and the Great Victorian Exhibition of 1851 in England, suet pudding entered the English soul, after which it became almost impossible for that country to produce a pure artist. Despite generous help from Ireland, America, and even Poland, any Englishman who had been to a public school felt and looked like a perfect chump, a tourist, in the world of Flaubert and Rimbaud.
It was almost as if these schools, founded in the 1830's, had it for their main object that Shelley and Byron would never happen again. When such a one showed up, he was immediately laughed at, plunged into cold water and taught to laugh at himself for twelve grueling years; after which he was either hopelessly maimed, or would retreat with the crowd into humor, crossword puzzles, detective stories and the burdens of facetiousness."
Another section I liked:
"In the last days Wodehouse observed mildly that his childhood seemed to be just like Kipling's, except that he'd rather enjoyed his. But this was some triumph of will and selection. For just as George Orwell made a hell of his schooldays by fanning the right memories, Wodehouse made a heaven of his; and it is a clue to how close these processes are that Orwell and Kipling, the laureates of unhappiness, were among Plum Woodhouse's most ardent admirers. They knew the score."
And a heartening tidbit: "By all accounts, he was a friendly and obliging fellow; but no less an admirer than Evelyn Waugh described him privately as the dullest man he ever met. And socially he was famous for fleeing the kind of jolly scenes he wrote about to walk his dog."
Leaving a party for a quiet walk with the dog - that's my kind of guy. I love all the Jeeves books, can't wait to read Psmith.
Friday, June 22, 2007
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