Posts

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.

The saga of the anonymous CIA author continues. According to the Boston Phoenix, Michael Scheuer is compelled to publish anonymously because of CIA restrictions. He’d rather let his name out, but can’t. This means I was more or less wrong in my fevered speculations a couple of weeks ago. He’s pissed off, but he’s not a kamikaze. Although I suppose if he gets fired in the next couple of months, there’s something to be said for the notion that he’s too angry to care about his career.

Minor blogroll readjustment: people whose blogs I read because they are a friend (among a multitude of other estimable qualities) have been moved to my Bloglines account. If you would like to share my brainspace in this regard, you can read those blogs there in one easy-to-manage chunk.

Nader is cozying up with the far right, yes. He’s cutting into Kerry’s support, yes. It is still wrong to play legalistic games (original) in order to keep him off the ballot (original). I don’t doubt that Nader may have violated the letter of the law in Arizona, and maybe he doesn’t yet qualify for the Florida ballot on a technicality. Great. Does that mean it’s morally right to control ballot access? Fuck no. Controlling ballot access is a method of controlling who can be elected, pure and simple. It is a way to say “minority opinions of a certain size don’t count.” I dislike Nader vastly, but let the hypocritical bastard run.

So Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, Anthony Bourdain, Emeril Lagasse, Frederic van Coppernolle, Jamie Oliver, and Alton Brown get kidnapped by Princess Florimel to compete for the post of Head Chef of Amber Castle… Cooking ensued. Lots of fun, despite the fact that I am somewhat Food Network challenged. Mostly posted for the sake of my foodie friends, who can now proceed to be properly amused.