I have drawn from the well of language many a thought which I do not have and which I could not put into words.
--Karl Kraus
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Quote of the Day (8/1/11) (Karl Kraus Week II)
MOVIE REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
The Other Half and I have seen all of the Harry Potter movies, and I have read all the books. The final installment in the movie franchise is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which was also released in 3-D. I wasn't that enamored with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 but since I had read the books I knew that more than 2/3rds of the action in the book was going to happen in Part 2. We decided to splurge for the 3-D since it was the last time we would be seeing a Harry Potter movie in the theaters plus it was garnering rave reviews from most critics (96% on Rottentomatoes.com).
Surprisingly, the last movie in the Harry Potter series is also the shortest in the series, coming in at a zippy 130 minutes. Also, another surprise about this installment is that it is basically a war movie. There are two competing armies, a large one on behalf of the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort and a small one on behalf of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, called Dumbledore's Army. This movie is so different from the early Potter films which were filmed with the hijinks of school children and featured games of Quidditch.
For the last two movies we have been following the quest of Harry, Ron and Hermione as they chase down magical objects called Horcruxes, which contain the soul of Voldemort. If the horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort will cease to exist. We think that there are six horcruxes, but one of my major quibbles with the the movie adaptation is that it doesn't really do a very good job of keeping the audience on track on how much progress is made on destroying all of the horcruxes.
Another aspect of the story is that when the audience discovers that Harry Potter must die (spoiler alert) we also see that he has the Resurrection Stone, but Harry drops the stone to the ground instead of carrying it with him to his death. It's unclear to the audience (or at least, me) why Harry couldn't just use the stone to die and then be resurrected and the movie doesn't do a good job of answering that question either.
There are several things that the film does do very well. I did think the 3-D effects were used sparingly but very effectively. Alan Rickman, as always, is excellent as Snape, although some have complained about the nature of his character's demise. My favorite character has always been Hermione, and Emma Watson plays her well. Daniel Radcliffe has most definitely grown into the leading role of Harry Potter. Rupert Grint has also grown, and is no longer cringe-worthy.
Overall, the final movie in the series works well as an action film and also has an excellent pay off for those of us who either read all the book or saw all the movies (or both). It is doubtful we will see a more successful adaptation of successful fantasy novels into successful fantasy films in my lifetime.
Director: David Yates.
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.
MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexual content.
Release Date: July 15, 2011.
Viewing Date: July 17, 2011.
Plot: A.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A+.
Overall Grade: (4.0/4.0)
Serena Beats Bartoli To Win 38th Title
Bartoli came out strong early, serving well and out-hitting Serena by blasting balls into the corners of the court. She was consistently hitting her second serve well above 100 mph and her first serve even harder. Bartoli quickly broke Serena to go up 2-1 and both players held serve until 4-2. In the seventh game of the match Bartoli had multiple chances to go up 5-2 (win the "insurance" break) but Serena prevailed and managed to stay just one break behind. Serving at 4-3, Bartoli opened with a double fault and Serena started playing longer, more controlled points and Bartoli's balls started landing less deep in the court, eventually leading Serena to get the break back to even the match at 4-all. Both players held relatively easily the next two games. Then Serena quickly fell behind 0-30 in the 5-all service game but managed to get out of trouble to force Bartoli to hold serve in order to play first set tiebreaker. Unfortunately for Bartoli she started missing her first (and second) serve and began pressing a bit much from the back of the court, leading to Serena getting a break point (and set point) at 5-6, 30-40. They then played a very long point with Serena ending up at the net and Bartoli missing a backhand pass. First set Serena, 7-5. The second set was all Serena with Bartoli having called for the trainer to look at her right hand during the set break and the French player repeatedly looked down at the hand and shook it but quickly fell behind 3-0. Bartoli again started putting up resistance in the second set's 4th game but Serena was in full flight and won the insurance break to go up 4-0 and then easily won her own service game to hold a 5-0 advantage. Bartoli was finally able to hold serve and Serena closed out the match relatively quickly with a service winner.
This was a pretty important match for Serena and must be pretty terrifying for the rest of the field. In just her third tournament back after not playing for a year, Serena beat three of the players who performed the best in the last major tournament, in a row: Maria Sharapova (finalist), Sabine Lisicki (semifinalist) and Marion Bartoli (quarterfinalist), losing a mere 13 games. Her hardest match of the tournament was against an in-form Maria Kirilenko, which she gutted out with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win following her 6-0 6-0 blowout to begin the week.
She's also committed to playing several of the North American summer hard court tournaments (Canada and Cincinnati) and should be considered to win her 14th major title in New York in September.
"Torchwood"
In truth, I was never too fond of Torchwood when I was in the UK. Nearly every episode disappointed, though there were several dazzling moments.
The miniseries Torchwood: Children of Earth, however, was terrific and raised my estimation of the show substantially.
With Torchwood: Miracle Day the show has again lost status in my televerse, So far, I am forcing myself to watch it. I am very close to walking away.
The miniseries Torchwood: Children of Earth, however, was terrific and raised my estimation of the show substantially.
With Torchwood: Miracle Day the show has again lost status in my televerse, So far, I am forcing myself to watch it. I am very close to walking away.
Serena Demolishes Lisicki and Sharapova To Reach Final
Serena Williams ranked #169 in the world, beat World #5 Maria Sharapova and World #26 Sabine Lisicki in the last two days, losing a stunning total of 7 games over four sets. First she beat 2011 Wimbledon finalist Sharapova 6-1 6-3 on Friday night and followed that performance with a 6-1 6-2 drubbing of 2011 Wimbledon semifinalist Lisicki 6-1 6-2 in 59 minutes.
Serena reached her first final since the 2010 Wimbledon final and her first final on U.S. soil since the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open (which she lost to Victoria Azarenka). She will face Marion Bartoli, the player who shockingly dismissed the defending champion from this year's Wimbledon in straights sets in the fourth round. Bartoli has actually lost even less games than Serena in her last two matches because she's only had to play one set: both Dominika Cibulkova and Ayuma Morita have had to witchdraw, the former without playing a single point.
That being said, Bartoli does have the power to match Serena stroke for stroke, but it is doubtful she has the stamina or agility. Serena hates to lose to a player twice in a row, and I doubt that will happen Sunday afternoon in Stanford.
MadProfessah's prediction: Serena in two sets.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Quote of the Day (7/31/11) (Karl Kraus Week II)
My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.
--Karl Kraus
Trailer For Spartacus: Vengeance Is Here!
If you liked Spartacus: Blood and Sand (which I am sort of on the fence about: I ended up selling my DVD of that season) then you should love Starz's next installment: Spartacus: Vengeance. The lead actor is out because of lymphoma, but a capable new actor has stepped into his place. Enjoy.
The Marriage of Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips
The wedding of English rugger Mike Tindall and granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II Zara Phillips was almost completely overshadowed by the presence of the Duchess of Cambridge. People are talking about her hat, people are talking about the color of her dress: basically people can't seem to shut up about Kate Middleton. But I have taken a fancy to Zara and Mike so let me quickly say congrats to them. They seem thoroughly modern and down to Earth (including jacked up pommie teeth and a broken nose) and I love them for it! Congrats, guys! Keep wearing blue jeans.
Can't you fade into the background for ONE social event?
Robot Movie of the Week: Captain America: The First Avenger (July 24 - July 30)
Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures/Marvel Studios
Captain America: The First Avenger is the highly-anticipated latest installment in the onslaught of Marvel Comics-themed movies, of which there have been at least three in the last two months (Thor, X-Men: First Class, and now, Captain America). Interestingly, before viewing this film I witnessed a preview for The Amazing Spider-Man (the supposed reinterpretation of the Spider-Man franchise, which frankly does not require a reinterpretation/revamp) and I went into Captain America with a face full of scowl, prepared to not only regret dishing out 13 bucks (yes, $13 USD) to see the film, but also to fall asleep as I had been informed when I purchased the ticket that the film was two hours and nineteen minutes long. In particular, I was irritated that the new director (and screenwriters) of The Amazing Spider-Man felt the need to retell how Peter Parker became Spider-Man, and also felt the need to recast Uncle Ben and Aunt May, but that's a story for a different day. Let's go back to me being irritated about dishing out so much cash for what I was sure would be a terrible film. In fact, I left more pleased with the film than I had been with Thor (mostly because I went into that film expecting a heck of a lot from Kenneth Branagh, and ended up with almost a Disney-esque feature), but I still sort of regretted paying that much to see a film: any film. Indeed, Captain America lived up to all of its expectations.
The present film is not the only film adaptation of the iconic American hero. I vividly recall seeing the late 70s Captain America film - starring former college football star Reb Brown (who also infamously starred in Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf) on the Sci-Fi Channel, which in my memory has melded with the other Captain America film that was released in the 80s, if I remember correctly. It goes without saying that prior interpretations of this character set the bar for the present film low, at least in terms of surpassing its predecessors, but conversely, it placed the makers of the present film in an awkward position in which they might feel compelled to blow the ball out of the park with the present film in order to prove that Captain America: The First Avenger was not a fool's errand, but a viable film with room for sequels. To jump ahead a bit, Captain America is being used as a lead-in for the future Avengers film, which unfortunately imbues the film with an irritating commercial aspect that one should quickly forget. As we all know, Captain America stars Chris Evans (of Fantastic Four fame), Hugo Weaving, and Tommy Lee Jones. It also stars stunning British actress Hayley Atwell who I remember very well for her performance in the film version of Brideshead Revisited.
Captain America: The First Avenger is, in many ways, the predictable midsummer family film that critics were anticipating, but it manages to acquire a welcoming quality that makes it more than just the standard fare. Where Thor was gimmicky and unoriginal with characters that fell flat in the likability category, Captain America manages to successfully tap into the American's love for the underdog to create a memorable film. Did the film need to be more than two hours long? Obviously not. We're talking about a comic book movie here, not Citizen Kane, but they are not painful hours. Captain America is the tale of "never-say-never" Brooklyn-native Steve Rogers, and his seemingly endless quest to join the American army in the early 1940s, in spite of incessant rejection because of his status as the ubiquitous 90-lb weakling of the era. A German scientist comes along and takes a liking to Steve and cajoles him into participating in a super-soldier program. It turns out that the application of the program back in Germany by a mad officer named Johan Schmidt leads to the creation of Red Skull, the villain of the film. Steve is transformed into an American super-soldier called Captain America (clearly) and after a stint as a propagandist for the American military, manages to see action on the European continent. Meanwhile, Steve has fallen in love with a straight-forward British agent in America service called Officer Carter (played by Atwell); in the end, their love for one another never reaches its natural culmination as Steve ends up trapped in ice for nearly seventy years in a successful attempt to neutralize Red Skull's secret weapon. This unrequited love and the feelings it inspires (along with the acting) is conceptually the strongest aspect of the film for me.
It goes without saying that there are no robots in Captain America: The First Avenger (this IS a robot blog) and there are not even characters that can be said to conceptually be construed as robots, but I can tackle the issue of pesky American propaganda. It's interesting. Even Captain America (though without my cynicism) seems to find the tours that he is roped into performing annoying and the implication that the objectives of the politicians are distinct from the visible message of the tours, that implication is there. So what does Captain America represent? He represents freedom and the American way. In actuality, he represents American strength. The puny Steve Rogers is transformed from the weak man he once was into someone strong enough to impose the will of the nation he serves on others. Captain America doesn't go on propaganda tours in Europe to convince Europeans to overthrow their fascist governments and adopt an American form of democracy. He uses his physical strength to beat up bad guys, neutralize bombs, and restore civil and economic order. In spite of his derision at being used as propaganda, Captain America as a character, is walking propaganda and it is impossible to dissociate him from that. Although very predictable, Captain America: The First Avenger was entertaining, and notable for better acting (nice job, Chris Evans) than what one usually encounters in these sorts of films; it is recommended to comic fans everywhere.
New Poll On New York Marriage Law
There is a new poll which asks Americans nationwide whether the legalization of marriage equality in New York state on July 24th is a positive or negative development. The results show that it depends on whether you are conservative Republican (and/or white evangelical Protestant) or not. If you are, you generally oppose it, if you're not you think it's a positive development.
Democrats and Republicans react in opposite ways to the new law, each facing stark internal divisions that may present challenges to building a winning coalition in 2012. Among Democrats, the divide is between the liberal base and those with conservative or moderate stripes. Liberal Democrats view the law positively by an overwhelming 74 to 25 percent margin. A smaller 54 percent majority of moderate and conservative Democrats say the same. Among African Americans, another loyal segment of the Democratic party coalition, more than six in 10 say the law is a negative development, while roughly one in three see it positively. Republicans broadly reject the law by a 2 to 1 margin, but alignment with the tea party movement complicates political calculations concerning the issue. More than seven in 10 Republicans who support the Tea Party movement view the New York law as a negative development.This partisan divide in the electorate about marriage equality has been a frequent topic at this blog. Many people believe that the tipping point in favor of marriage equality becoming the law of the land has already reached.
Recently, researches at my alma mater have produced a model of conversion which indicates that when just 10% of a population has an implacable, unalterable position that view will eventually become the majority position, given enough time.
"Quick Robin! To the Batshit mobile!"
Jon Stewart's take on the Republicans' telling use of a clip from The Town as a motivational clip.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Republicans Watch "The Town" | ||||
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Friday, July 29, 2011
Quote of the Day (7/30/11) (Karl Kraus Week II)
My readers think that I write for the day because my writings are based on the day. So I shall have to wait until my writings are obsolete. Then they may acquire timeliness.
--Karl Kraus
EGSO Keynote
I was invited today to be the keynote speaker at the 4th annual MTSU English Graduate Student Organization (EGSO) Conference, September 24th, 2011.
The theme: "Fairy Tales, Myths, and Legends."
I said yes, of course. Honored to do so.
The theme: "Fairy Tales, Myths, and Legends."
I said yes, of course. Honored to do so.
Kindling
Since my discovery of Kindle publishing, I have already created The Ventriloquist (now available for $2.95).
Next up, a collection of essays, long in development, on Owen Bafield.
Next up, a collection of essays, long in development, on Owen Bafield.
The Russians on the American Political Right
Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, met with Kyl and Kirk yesterday in Washington -- but they probably won't be meeting again anytime soon. After the meeting, Rogozin let loose on the senators..."Today in the Senate, I met with Senators Jon Kyl and Mark Kirk. The meeting is very useful because it shows that the alternative to Barack Obama is a collapse of all the programs of cooperation with Russia," he said. "Today, I had the impression that I was transported in a time machine back several decades, and in front of me sat two monsters of the Cold War, who looked at me not through pupils, but targeting sights.
--From Foreign Policy
CA Sup Ct Sets Prop 8 Case Oral Arguments Date: 9/6/2011
Whether under Article II, Section 8 of the California Constitution, or otherwise under California law, the official proponents of an initiative measure possess either a particularized interest in the initiative's validity or the authority to assert the State's interest in the initiative's validity, which would enable them to defend the constitutionality of the initiative upon its adoption or appeal a judgment invalidating the initiative, when the public officials charged with that duty refuse to do so.Although the question is limited, the stakes are not. If the state Supreme Court rules, most likely within 90 days of oral arguments, that the heterosexual supremacists who drafted and promulgated Proposition 8 now have no legal standing to defend its constitutionality, it is very likely a 3-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will follow that decision and rule that the Proposition 8 proponents have no standing to defend the measure in federal court, either.
In that case, the lower court's decision would go into effect and federal Judge Vaughn Walker's brilliant ruling determining that Proposition 8 violates the United States Constitution would go into effect. Of course the bad guys would probably appeal to the Suprem Court but since the case would only be about California (and California law) it is unlikely that SCOTUS would take the case. There is a possibility that SCOTUS would take the appeal to try to clarify once and for all whether proponents of state ballot measures who are not named plaintiffs in lawsuits have a right to continue appeals when the named plaintiffs fail to appeal but there's already a decision called Arizona for Official English vs Arizona in which SCOTUS basically says you need a particularized interest under state law in order to pursue a federal appeal. And it is precisely that question of whether a particularized interest exists under California law that the California Supreme Court will decided, by the end of 2011.
Another wrinkle is that the 7-member Supreme Court has recently lost its most pro-gay member, Carlos Moreno, and Governor Brown only announced his replacement, Goodwin Liu, who is probably as similarly pro-equality as Moreno, this week. If Liu is not on the court by September 6th, the court will probably name a state appellate judge to hear oral arguments and participate in the decision.
Hang on to your hats, folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
She Lives: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Taylor Armstrong
"I'm Taylor Armstrong and I'm a fucking alien, sweetie!"
"The look I was going for was late 80s alien capitalist chic!"
As soon as I saw a pic of Taylor Armstrong with her husband on dlisted, I immediately thought of the aliens from John Carpenter's cult classic They Live. Check out screen grabs here. They Live is a film that manages to rail against both the superficiality of television culture and capitalism. My kind of film. Yes, I spend hours and hours watching TV every week and am a complete hypocrite to talk about evil TV culture, but even the Greeks understood that hypocrisy was human. Wasn't it Apollo that said: "One must exercise moderation in all things, including moderation"? Or was that the Bulgarian hedonist cab driver I met in Brooklyn last week? Who knows? Only the plebs remember the details.
WATCH: MA Congressional Delegation "It Gets Better"
Note, it's almost the entire congressional delegation of Massachusetts. Missing is U.S. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) who surprisingly won a special election in January 2010, thus giving the Republicans a filibuster-sustaining 41 votes in the United States Senate.
To date, not a single Republican elected official has made an It Gets Better video. Instead, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has started verbally attacking Dan Savage, who has made his feelings about Republicans known. Scott Brown explains his absence from the MA congressional delegation IGB video:
"Senator Brown believes all people regardless of sexual orientation should be treated with dignity and respect. He has been a leader in fighting for anti-bullying legislation at the state and federal level. His main focus is creating jobs and getting the economy moving again. In this case, the individual behind the video has made vile and sexually crude comments about Senator Brown. It's reprehensible for Senator Brown's opponents to associate with this person in order to score cheap political points." -- Eric Fehrnstrom, political adviser.
I'd like to hear from the Log Cabin Republicans an explanation for why not a single Republican elected official can not seem to appear in a video whose intention is to help students who are being bullied (probably because they are LGBT or are perceived to be LGBT) survive the experience and reduce teen suicide.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Quote of the Day (7/29/11) (Karl Kraus Week II)
I'd like to apply for a permit to run a hand-operated guillotine. But oh, that income tax!
--Karl Kraus
"Doin' It" with Canada
On a recent show, Stephen Colbert suggested that, with doomsday looming, America might as well go ahead and "do it" with Canada, putting an end to years of flirtation.
Watch it below:
Watch it below:
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| America's Bucket List | ||||
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Kim Kardashian and Ass Go Shopping in L.A.
I'll be the first to admit that this isn't exactly newsworthy. "Kim Kardashian and Ass Go Shopping in L.A." happened today, yesterday, the day before yesterday, last week, last month, on Christmas Eve, last year, the year before that... What IS interesting is to ponder what our obsession (or my obsession) with Kim Kardashian means exactly. I have broached this subject before. Should we smear Kim Kardashian's good name for catapulting to superstardom through a sex tape, a reality show where she manages to thin out multisyllabic words into monosyllables, the uncanny ability to appear devoid of any thought while pointing one's backside at a camera, and (possibly most egregiously of all) the way she foisted her entire family upon us without us realizing that she was doing it? I mean, ensnaring professional athletes with your vagina tentacles is bad enough but now there are Americans, Britons, Canadians, etc. that can name every member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan and even draw diagrams showing three degrees of separation of the herpes virus between Brody Jenner and Lamar Odom. Alright, that last one confused me to, but I'm sticking to my guns here. Do not drag the Kim Kardashians of the world through the mud (they are already sullied as it is), but bemoan the society that produced them. Kim Kardashians do not spring autochthonously (sp?) from the ground fully-equipped with a dozen plastic surgical procedures; society produces these people. We live in a country that says (1) the most important thing in life is money, and (2) if you generate money for us (producers, agents, corporations, etc.) we will reward you with more money. This is America, cholos and cholas. It's all about the American dollar. We outsource homeless shelters, prisons, schools: all to save money, a piece of paper invented by human beings. Nothing else matters. (Yes, I realize I went off on a tangent here, oh so sorry).
"This ass is all mine, guys. I paid for it."
"Being rich is sooooo hard. Do I look thoughtful, because that's the look I'm going for?"
"OMG, what's the paparazzi doing here?!"
Kellan Lutz Models Dylan George With Anne Vyalitsyna
This is the co-ed edition of the shots in the previous post. Shot by Yu Tsai, Kellan Lutz and Anne Vyalitsyna model the Dylan George collection in the Beverly Hills photoshoot below. (via Fashion Gone Rogue)
Yu Tsai / Dylan George. Click images to enlarge.
Celebrity Friday: Serena Returns To Tour With 6-0 6-0 Win
Serena Williams returned to the WTA Tour this week after her 4th round loss at Wimbledon to Marion Bartoli to defeat Anastasia Rodionova 6-0 6-0 (ouch) at the Bank of the West tournament in Palo Alto, CA. It was her first hard court match on U.S. soil since the 2009 U.S. Open semifinal where the defending champion was eliminated from the tournament by a point penalty on match point after verbally berating an official who inexplicably had called a foot fault on a second serve at 4-5, deuce.
Bartoli won this tournament by defeating Venus Williams last year, so we shall see if she has to go through another Williams sister to defend her title.
Kellan Lutz Uses Brain Power For New Abbot + Main Fashion Line
What do you mean you didn't realize Kellan Lutz had a brain? Of course he does. It takes brain power to transform your body from a doughy porridge-like consistency (which is what I am assuming it was when he was a kid) to a work of art that looks as if it was chiseled by the hands of Classical Greek sculptor Lysippus. It also takes a brain at least as large as a grasshopper's to know when to change your hair color from Marilyn Monroe bottle blond to Sasha Fierce auburn. Obviously, this kid is very intelligent. Well, it looks like Mr. Lutz is putting his brain to good use by collaborating with designer Danny Guez on a new fashion line called Abbot + Main, which sounds like something that will be sold exclusively at Target, right next to the Hanes pajama bottoms. And if you were wondering about the innovative styles to be featured by Abbot + Main, the line will feature an exclusive collection of white t-shirts, blue jeans, and cotton sweaters... items of clothing which cannot be obtained anywhere else. [Correction: The photos below are actually shots from Danny Guez's Dylan George line, see the next post]. And if you were in need of an update about Kellan Lutz's upcoming film Immortals, it is in post-production and set for a release in November! That gives Kellan about four months to finish filling in the pictures in his Spider-Man coloring book. Stay within the lines, Kellan. Stay within the lines.
"You didn't know I knew how to put on a shirt, did you? It took me about ten minutes to put this one on."
"I think I'll just sit back and watch the money rake in from my new line of white cotton t-shirts."
"I'm waiting for Christian Slater. Actually, I'm saving myself for him. Christian, buddy, where are you?"
"Wait, didn't we already do this?"
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Quote of the Day (7/28/11) (Karl Kraus Week II)
When I want to go to sleep, I must first a whole menagerie of voices to shut up. You wouldn't believe what a racket they make in my room.
--Karl Kraus
Rest in Peace: Jeret Peterson, Olympic Medalist!
It's a sad day today. Jeret Peterson, a silver medalist in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, allegedly committed suicide yesterday. According to the NY Post, Mr. Peterson called police in his town in Utah telling them that he was going to take his life, and when police arrived on the scene he was already dead from a gunshot wound. Several sites are reporting that Jeret had dealt with demons recently, related to losing over half a million dollars by playing blackjack, as well as childhood trauma in the form of sexual abuse and deaths in his immediate family. Rest in Peace, Jeret!
Jeret won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver
New James Franco Rise of the Apes Teaser Trailer Is Here!
In case you were wondering how James "I'm The Modern-Day Renassiance Man" Franco's Rise of the Apes film was coming along (the attempt to revive the Planet of the Apes franchise), there is a new teaser trailer out: released just in time for Comic Con! Actually, Mr. Franco is not in this trailer (probably because he's too busy wiping his paint-covered penis across a canvas in a vain attempt to win a MacArthur Genius Award), but we do get to see a bunch of CGI'ed apes destroy cars and toss people off of bridges and stuff. Sweet! (via Topless Robot)
Hocchie Legal Scoop: Meeka Suing Tami From Basketball Wives
Ouch Town, population YOU, girlfriend
Like everyone else, I just assumed that there was a clause in any reality television show contract that says: "I will allow myself to get snuffed on National Television in order for the reality show of which I am a cast member to make money off of my broke, shameless ass." ...but apparently that is not the case because Meeka Claxton (wife of retired NBA player Speedy Claxton) of Basketball Wives has sued basketball ex-wife (and former Real World: Los Angeles) cast member Tami Roman for assault. According to TMZ, Meeka alleges Tami: "assaulted, battered, beat, threatened, menaced, attacked, jumped on, pushed to the ground, thrashed, punched, and shoved” her, which we know is true because there is public record of it as it was aired for all to see on National Television. According to Crunk and Disorderly, Meeka is suing Tami for $12,500, which is the cost of a used Hermes birkin bag, and a complete joke. Obviously, Meeka just wants publicity OR she wants Tami to have an assault charge on her record, which Tami deserves since she has basically been the center of 90% of the fights on this show (and that is not an overstatement). Considering all of the plastic surgery that these women have had, the nature of this form of open-fisted punch renders it ridiculously dangerous. It is completely possible that Tami could have shoved Meeka's nasal prosthesis up into her brain and killed the ho, which would have gotten Tami's behind thrown into a Federal penitentiary permanently. In spite of the danger, this is possibly the awesomest reality show gif I have ever seen, so here it is for all of you to enjoy! I especially appreciate how Suzie (the "Chinese" girl in the middle), looks like she's taking a nap and then wakes up. (via Crunk and Disorderly, via dlisted)
Brown Nominates Goodwin Liu To CA Sup Ct!
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| Charles Dharapak / AP Photo |
The Los Angeles Times reports:
Justice Moreno was a very strong advocate for the LGBT community, voting with 4-3 majority to end marriage discrimination in California's landmark In Re Marriage cases in 2008 and was the lone dissenter in 2009's California Supreme Court decision which upheld Proposition 8 as not violating the California constitution.Liu, a graduate of Yale Law School, is the son of Taiwanese immigrants. He was born in Georgia, grew up in Sacramento and has a history of public service.“I’m deeply honored by Gov. Brown’s nomination and look forward to the opportunity to serve the people of California on our state’s highest court,” Liu said in a statement.Before joining the Berkeley Law faculty in 2003, Liu was an appellate litigator at O'Melveny & Myers in Washington. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and for Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He also served as special assistant to the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and as senior program officer for higher education at the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps).Brown has forwarded Liu’s name to the State Bar’s Commission of Judicial Nominees Evaluation. The appointment will not become final until the Commission on Judicial Appointments -- consisting of state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and Justice Joan Dempsey Klein, senior presiding justice of the state Court of Appeal -- confirms the nomination.
Liu will replace Associate Justice Carlos Moreno, who retired from the court earlier this year.
Goodwin Liu has previously expressed his belief that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional so it will be interesting to see if he can get confirmed in time to participate in the case now before the case as to whether the heterosexual supremacist supporters of Proposition 8 have legal standing to defend it in court when the elected representatives of the people of California have decided not to defend a voter-approved ballot measure.
Another interesting feature that Liu, if confirmed will produce a court with an Asian American majority and no Black or Latino members, in a state which has Latino plurality in the population. Things that make you go Hmmmmmm! That being said, Liu is a great choice, since he can't get through the Senate to a federal judgeship while Republicans have more than 40 votes and no compunctions about filibustering extremely qualified judges purely based on ideology, a state supreme court seat is fantastic.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Quote of the Day (7/27/11) (Karl Kraus Week II)
I hear noises which others don't hear and which disturb for me the music of the spheres, which others don't hear either.
--Karl Kraus
Who Caused The Debt: Bush or Obama?
Colbert Report: Norwegian Muslish Gunman's Islam-Esque Atrocity
Proof that there is no topic beyond the reach of humor.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Norwegian Muslish Gunman's Islam-Esque Atrocity | ||||
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Separated at Birth
Uncanny similarity: James Carville and Captain America's Red Skull.
Tip of the hat to The Daily Show.
MTV's Teen Wolf Episode 9 Recap: Bite Me, Or I'll Steal Your Girlfriend
"You're putting that probe WHERE?"
That's basically what Jackson (played by Colton Haynes) tells Scott (played by Tyler Posey) when he realizes that Scott is a werewolf. Prior to that, we get to see a pretty cool scene in which Jackson imagines that a doctor is pulling a vine of wolf's bane (or a bunch of weeds, it wasn't really clear) out of his back, while Jackson lays naked and face down on the examination table. Oh yes. The homoeroticism is not over. Not by a long shot. Essentially, Jackson realizes that he was attacked by a werewolf (about three episodes ago) and he knows that Scott is a werewolf and he threatens to steal Scott's on-again-off-again girlfriend Allison if Scott does not transform him into a werewolf. Because becoming a werewolf is just that easy. While Scott tries to patch things up with Allison (who also is in possession of a necklace, which serves as a clue), there still remains the lingering issue of who the "Alpha" is and what exactly he wants with Scott. Eventually, the identity of the Alpha is revealed, but you'll have to watch the episode on MTV.com to find out (or just wait until next week's episode)!
"Stiles, if you don't shut up you're going to end up gagged and spread-eagled on the hood of this car, homey!"
"I want a jock that fits, asshole!"
"You mean I don't need a prostate exam? But... but I was looking forward to it!"
What's with the consistently creepy doctors on these shows?
Basketball Wives Season 3, Episode 8 Recap: Still In Rome
The ladies of Basketball Wives (and I use the term "ladies" loosely) are still in Rome and still talking about the Miami beef that was brought up in last week's episode. At the end of the last episode, things between Evelyn and Jen were still unresolved (after Evelyn learned that Jen called Chad a "mediawhore"), but in this week's episode Evelyn and Jen patch things up. But, of course, when one situation is resolved, another pops up and so the girls jump back into the Meeka-Tami drama with the lack of anything better to do. What is remarkable with this episode (as opposed to the other episodes) is just how petty the arguments are. Someone says "Are you on the real side or the fake and phony side?" and, all of the sudden, everyone and their mother is pissed off. "Oh, so I'm phony now?" "I didn't say that!" That's basically how this show is boiling down. I wouldn't say that Basketball Wives is staged (the way The Hills was), but the women definitely know that they should get as angry and loud as possible, so that the executive producer, Shaunie O'Neal, will bring them back for the next season. The funniest part of the episode was when Meeka confronted Suzie about how she went back and told Tami the gossip that Meeka told her and Suzie's response was: "Well, you shouldn't have told me!" We all know that Suzie can't keep anything to herself. DO NOT give Suzie your locker combination. I'm just sayin'.
Meeka gets booted out of Rome and writes her farewell letter.
1st Anti-Gay Ballot Measure (To Repeal SB48) Ready To Go
Bad news about SB 48, the FAIR Education Act Governor Brown signed into law on July 14, 2011. The heterosexual supremacists who brough California Proposition 8 have filed a referendum challenge to the law and received approval from Attorney General Kamala Harris to start circulating petitions in order to gather the 504,000 valid signatures to submit to Secretary of State Debra Bowen to place the question of the measure's legality on the June 2012 ballot.
Karen Ocamb of LGBTPOV has the scoop:
By a referendum, all passage of the measure would do is take back the laws of California to the way they were prior to July 14, 2011. LGBT people and the disability community would not be required to be included in instructional materials. Previously the law mandated the teaching of many other groups, mainly racial and ethnic minorities and Equality California and Mark Leno sponsored legislation to add LGBT and people with disabilities to the list (and change American Indian to Native American and Asian Pacific to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders).Referendum to Overturn Non-Discrimination Requirements for School Instruction.Summary Date: 07/25/11 | Circulation Deadline: 10/12/11 | Signatures Required: 504,760Proponent: Paulo E. Sibaja (909) 996-9391If signed by the required number of registered voters and filed with the Secretary of State, this petition will place on the statewide ballot a challenge to a state law previously approved by the Legislature and Governor. The law must then be approved by a majority of voters at the next statewide election to go into effect. The law would require school instructional materials to recognize societal contributions of various groups; and would prohibit school instructional materials that reflect adversely on persons based on their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and other characteristics. (11-0023.) (Full Text)
This is basically a proxy fight over gay rights the right wing is hoping to use to increase conservative turnout in the June 2012 election which will be an incredibly important election (maybe more important than the Presidential election in California) as (almost) every single district-based political office in California will be up for election for the first time in a redrawn district.
I've also heard rumors of a second anti-gay ballot measure which would attempt to divorce the 18,000 same-sex couples that got married in California prior to Proposition 8 and preempt any positive decision striking down Proposition 8 as violating the federal constitution. This second measure seems like even more folly because any measure seeking to replicate or even out do Proposition 8 in anti-gay fervor would clearly also be subject to a similar lawsuit which will probably nullify that measure.
Justin Bieber and Dad Bond Over Matching Jesus Tattoos
Saw this on dlisted and just had to post. The Biebs and his Dad have matching tattoos that say Jesus in Hebrew (I didn't know until today that the Papa Bieber had one, too) and the cam pic they took after they did the deed has surfaced. Kinda cool in a creepy inappropriate parent kind of way. Allow me to digress for a minute, but I actually feel a little bad for Biebs because his Dad seems like a total deadbeat. And, in my opinion, the biggest predictor of how kids will turn out and whether or not they will be able to weather the storm of adulthood is what their parents are like. I truly believe that. Too serious?
"That's awesome, Dad! Now you look like a sixteen-year-old boy, just like me!"
"Man and the Movies"
I once owned and reacquired yesterday a crisp, used copy of the book that put my mentor Bill Robinson on the map as a film scholar.
Welcome home old friend.
Perhaps Robinson's most important essay, "The Movies, Too, Will Make You Free," is found therein.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Quote of the Day (7/26/11) (Karl Kraus Week II)
Many share my views with me. But I don't share them with them.
--Karl Kraus
Eye Candy: "Frank from Canada"
Found these pictures of this smoking hot unknown guy at Gorgeous Sexy Guys but have been unable to find much information about him except what is at Sambag's Blog:
Canadian hunk, Frank, 25, has been told for a while that he's photogenic (well, they're right!) and so he decided to give modeling a shot. A natural jock, he enjoys going to the gym, playing football, hockey, basketball, any and every sport. He stands 5' 8" at 154 lbs.Anyone have any idea who this Canadian hunk is? Even without a full name, he is definitely eye candy material.
Frank currently attends University of Toronto.
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