BillSaysThis

Apparently not only is our President never wrong, he must always be celebrated: ‘Pony Up’ and Then ‘Party On,’ Inaugural Officials Say. So much for showing good taste or even empathy by our Administration. Perhaps celebrated isn’t quite the right word, perhaps venerated is more what he wants…

Malcolm Bricklin, the man who brought Yugos to America in the ’80s, has set up a joint venture that will bring Chinese cars to our shores. Reminds me of this 1986 SNL classic…

I came to an important realization yesterday, after reading of the latest pronouncements from right wing intellectual leader James Dobson, though it may have been obvious already to others. Dobson and others in his circle don’t care one whit about whether their tactics and speeches are fair, truthful or consistent with past positions on the same issues. Redefining the meaning of politically-loaded terms or shaving the context from what opponents say is absolutely acceptable. The only concern is advancing their agenda because they know in their hearts of their righteousness; the rest of us had better accept this devious strategy and account for it in our own efforts if we really want to return them to the political fringe where they belong.

Spent a bunch of time today watching EPL matches and updating the Big 2005 Movies page.

Best wishes to you all for 2005, may it be wonderful and yet the worst year of the rest of your life!

Relief: Even at Charity Used to Aiding, It’s a Scramble: “We are looking at this as the disaster of the decade,” said Patrick C. Johns, Catholic Relief Service’s director for security and emergency services. We all hope he’s right, but the pessimist/cynic in me remembers there are still six years left in this decade.

Mark Cuban had the same idea as I wrote up yesterday: Cancel the party, extravaganza functions at Bush’s inauguration. Given his much higher visibility, perhaps the idea will actually get some traction.

A: “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”

B: “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work, Frodo, than the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring. In which case you also were meant to have it, and that is an encouraging thought.”

Another epistle after reading News Analysis: Diplomacy: It’s About Aid, and an Image in today’s Times:

In response to the horrific tragedy of Sunday’s Asian Tsunami and the need to bring substantive resources to bear for the area’s recovery, a simple suggestion of where many millions of additional dollars are to be found: President Bush’s inaugural celebration. Estimates forecast over $35 million will be spent on this event, and I doubt that total includes the money spent on travel and food by the thousands in attendance. To show solidarity and care, cancel the vast majority of the events and travel and donate that money instead.

Now I think Amazon is to be commended for being the first (AFAIK) commercial web site to open up a generally available, easy to use, right on the front page donate to tsunami victims functionality. I thought enough of this to actually use it. Since my finances are not what they would be if I were actually employed, TS1 and I agreed to use a gift certificate from Amazon that we recieved as a gift last week.

But nooooooo, Amazon is only set up to accept credit cards to pay for donations. I wrote to ask why, since they already actually have the money in their bank account that paid for the certificate but the only answer was “sorry we’re not set up for that.” How lame! Anybody want to buy the certificate (for face value) so I can have the cash to donate?

When I read stuff I’ve written on the web, especially comments like this one, I would swear it was my father talking through my body.

Jerry Orbach Dies: In a week of extraordinary sadness, another patch of darkness.

Navy SEALs Sue Associated Press Over Iraq Photos. Because prison torture is embarrassing, I guess.

Released in 2002, this Canadian feature from writer/director Kari Skogland, this film will generally be compared to Colin Farrell’s Phonebooth from the same year. Both have the same basic framework of a sniper hidden from everyone but a trapped, specially chosen target though in Farrell’s film–which I haven’t seen–the shooter had a very different motivation.

Starring Wesley Snipes as the man with the gun and bombs, Linda Fiorentino as his victim, and Oliver Platt as her husband, Liberty Stands Still essentially comes down to an extended conversation between Snipes and Fiorentino. He’s the father of a girl killed by a classmate with a (legally acquired) gun and she’s the vice-president of a family-owned company which manufactured it. Platt is the company president, responsible along with her father (now a US Senator), for all sorts of nefarious dealings. All other roles are played by serviceable, if little known Canadian actors as Vancouver stands in for an anoymous American city

The film plays out in real time as Fiorentina is driving to see her lover in the last performance of a play and a more intimate post-show encounter. She stops in a park across the street from the theater to buy some coke from a hot dog cart vendor and her cell rings when she takes a snort; Snipes is on the other end and a red laser target dot is convincing enough to begin the encounter.

Two key issues for me overall:

1. Given the core theme, that a modern urban society is not well-served by maintaining slavish adherence to an unrestrained interpretation of our right to bear arms, I felt that far too little of the conversation actually concerned it. Who cares if the gun company executives bribe politicians, shave corners of the laws or sell to any buyer (domestic or foreign), and why have Fiorentino rationalize her position and then rapidly cave in? The company’s been owned and run by her family since before the Civil War, would she really (without the pressure of being under the gun) agree with Snipes in less than an hour?
2. No attempt is made to disguise the Canadian shooting location even though the film revolves around America’s 2nd Amendment and political machinery; the police and television newspeople are completely generic even though placing this in a specific city, such as, say, Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, would have made a difference.

Further, there’s too much clutter brought in to make sure the film fills a minimally required 90 minutes. Fussing around the lover’s play, for instance, and chatter among the SWAT team serve no other purpose. Liberty Stands Still almost feels like it was initially written as a two character stage play.

not recommended

Scribbling.net: How to fix Mom’s computer [via Zawodny]

I understand why Thirteen drew such a high level of critical acclaim and appall. The story, partially based on the life of co-star/co-writer Nikki Reed, shows how Reed’s Evie comes into the life of Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood), another sweet young (13 year old) girl, and nearly destroys her with drugs, sex, thievery and lies. Not sure why director/co-writer Catherine Hardwicke felt the need to use the nearly cliched opening scene that’s set just before the climax and then jump back to the story’s beginning after the credits but it doesn’t add anything for me.

The movie’s intense and frightening yet also seductive; is as often wishing that Tracy will pull Evie out of her pit as worried that Tracy’ll be pulled down; the ending, interestingly, is ambiguous so we’re left to our own conclusions. The performances are everything–little of the plot is surprising in general terms–and besides outstanding work from the two girls, Holly Hunter is impressive as Wood’s mom while Brady Corbet as her brother and Jeremy Sisto (6 Feet Under, and the title character in USA Network’s Julius Caesar) as Hunter’s reformed addict boyfriend do what they can. 24‘s Sarah Clarke (the deadly worm Nina), Cynthia Ettinger (the soon returning Carnivale) and DW Moffat have small parts as well.

moderately recommended

The California Nonprofit Corporation Kit

Know Your Stuff Home Inventory from the Insurance Industry Institute seems like useful software for people who have insurance on their home(s) or the contents of same. Windows only, YMMV. Not sure why but Slashdot rejected a post I submitted on this, oh well.