On the Fourth of July, I choose to commemorate the holiday with the words of one of the very first Harvard intellectual leftists, a moonbat and a traitor if there ever was one; a man whose reputation among the ruling classes was far worse than any Moore or Chomsky. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you one of the most important men of the American Revolution, the loud-mouthed angry revolutionary, Samuel Adams. ...

Game quotes are a key part of the Ambercon experience. Thusly, my jotted notes from the weekend. They’re all funny from my perspective, and probably from the perspective of those who were in the games. Maybe not so much for others. Also my note-taking is terrible and unreliable.

Most of the movies which claim to be based on true stories aren’t. Odd, that the one recent work of fiction that really is rooted in fact (original) doesn’t mention the true story at all. And now, over on IMDB, the commenters mock The Terminal for an implausible premise. Funny old world. Anyhow: The Terminal is a really tasty eclair. It’s not deep but it’s awfully yummy and you can’t beat chocolate. It’s a very human movie, with a fine degree of attention towards choices and the difficulty of making them. At the heart, it’s about people caring about each other and it manages this without being schmaltzy. I smiled a lot, and I laughed a couple of times. ...

I’m not so sure about this new Democrat talking point (original). “The Republican National Convention is going to feature at least three guys who aren’t exactly in lock-step with the Bushies. John McCain, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Rudolph Giuliani are all set to get a prime time speaking slot. That’s John McCain who opposed Bush’s tax cut and has been critical on the administration’s disastrous record in Iraq, and the pro-choice Arnold and Rudy.” ...

Hey, did I miss a week? Yes I did, without so much as a word to the wise. I apologize, but I do not promise that it will not happen again. I haven’t produced a mashup I’d really want to run for a month or so and since I’m doing this for myself first and foremost… well. However, this week I got something going. I think. Our mashup for the day is Richard Thompson. Unlike Madonna, I’m thinking of the man’s songs rather than his person, although I suppose if you want to base a campaign idea around a cheerful middle-aged man who sings songs about angst and love lost and pain (original) and happens to be one of the best guitarists on the face of the planet — who am I to stop you? Start your word processors.

In the third Dear Brother letter, Reese gets a tattoo and we meet Danny and Angie. Those who read my blog for the politics are starting to get confused. But it’s really a very political game!

Once again, it turns out that newly discovered WMD aren’t actually WMD after all. However, Poland and the US agree that the chaos in Iraq has resulted in a great opportunity for Al Qaeda to get access to previously unavailable Iraqi scientists with WMD know-how. Well, OK, they don’t put it precisely like that. Sixteen rocket warheads found last week in south-central Iraq by Polish troops did not contain deadly chemicals, a coalition spokesman said yesterday, but U.S. and Polish officials agreed that insurgents loyal to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and foreign terrorist fighters are trying to buy such old weapons or purchase the services of Iraqi scientists who know how to make them. ...

Ouch.

Of course, if I went to Fantasia for a weekend — say, July 30th through August 1st — I could still catch about a dozen movies and have a great time. Say… Hillside Strangler for weird American avant garde serial killer cinema (or Heaven’s Seven for the Thai take on Vietnam, it’s a hard choice). One Missed Call (original) cause who doesn’t love Takashi Miike? This looks like his take on Ringu. Deadly Outlaw Rekka (original). Two hours of Miike is good; four hours is superb! Um. Porco Rosso, Miyazaki, yes. Harry Knuckles and the Pearl Necklace (original), for cheap laughs. Executioners From Shaolin (original), the classic Shaw Brothers movie. Enter… Zombie King! (original), cause masked wrestlers and zombies can’t be skipped. Toolbox Murders (original), because it’s the only thing in that time slot and I like to hurt myself. Malice@Doll (original) (or maybe Freak Out (original)) — ooo, wacky CGI anime! Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles (original), classic machinima, and I would love to see this on the big screen. Robot Stories (original) makes a nice contrast to the machinima. Into the Mirror (original) — Korean horror is not always good but so far in my experience it’s been interesting. The Bodyguard, cause I want to see more Thai martial arts action. ...

Turns out that I’m not, in fact, going to be able to develop a time machine and go back in time and clear off enough of my schedule to make it possible to go to Fantasia Festival 2004. Which is a damned shame. The only silver lining is that I won’t have to make any choices about which movie to see, this way. Pale lining indeed. Well, maybe next year I can arrange to take a month off.