Free movie pass for you
Before I head out of town for the weekend, I thought I'd pass along a chance to see a free sneak preview of Napoleon Dynamite, an apparently well-received new movie. It's being screened like crazy across the country, and is hitting most major cities (sorry Twin Cities and Atlanta contingents, either it's come and gone, or isn't scheduled there yet). Just go here, print out the PDF for the appropriate screening, show up early enough to get in, and enjoy.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
To air or not to air
(note: no links here. Just less-than 1000 words about pictures, and some disturbing pictures at that. If you want them, you're resourceful, go find 'em yourself.)
Of course the big story this week is the appalling beheading of Nick Berg, captured on video. The mainstream U.S. media have come to a rough consensus of how much to air of this grisly document. Meanwhile, it's mirrored in many places on the Net. This comes after a week's worth of seige on the breakfast-table-standard in the form of photos of Abu Ghraib prison abuses. Meanwhile the National Review's Jonah Goldberg is calling for the Berg tape to be shown as widely as the Abu Ghraib photos were, and claims CBS has Berg's blood on its hands for airing the photos.
Elsewhere, lost in the week's events is news that the Justice Department is reexamining the Emmett Till murder case. Till, as you may remember, was a 14-year-old from Chicago lynched in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. When he was found, he was identifiable only by an initialed ring. The circumstances of Till's death were not all that unusual in the hundred years or so following the Civil War. What made the case a national issue--and galvanized the civil rights movement--was the remarkable decision by Emmett's mother, Mamie Till Bradley, to have an open-casket funeral for her son. Thousands lined up to pay their respects. Jet magazine published photos of Emmett's body, shocking readers nationwide. Those photos, too, are on the Web, and are still haunting.
And so back to Berg, haunting enough while still alive. When are shocking images necessary?I think it's when they are instructive. The Till case and other lynchings that the NAACP publicized taught America, at least the part of white America that cared to listen, that the country's policy of institutional racism had a human toll. The Abu Ghraib lesson is that the US cannot be successful if it abandons the very values it seeks to export. And how is that unamerican? Making us better is as important as making the world better for us. And easier, too.
What lesson is to be learned from airing the Berg video? That al-Qaeda's evil? We learned that one three Septembers ago. That, as said elsewhere, we're not as bad as the worst people on the planet? Hey, there's a helluva lesson. Or maybe the lesson is that because of the administration's ineptitude in conducting the war, the U.S. has allowed al Qaeda to regroup and strengthen in the Middle East. But somehow I think that is not a lesson Goldberg has in mind. In any case, I reject Goldberg's position that the publicly airing the prison images caused Berg's death. Know what's a step away from that sort of thinking? The notion that we should continue to abuse Iraqi prisoners so we're not seen as "appeasers."
(note: no links here. Just less-than 1000 words about pictures, and some disturbing pictures at that. If you want them, you're resourceful, go find 'em yourself.)
Of course the big story this week is the appalling beheading of Nick Berg, captured on video. The mainstream U.S. media have come to a rough consensus of how much to air of this grisly document. Meanwhile, it's mirrored in many places on the Net. This comes after a week's worth of seige on the breakfast-table-standard in the form of photos of Abu Ghraib prison abuses. Meanwhile the National Review's Jonah Goldberg is calling for the Berg tape to be shown as widely as the Abu Ghraib photos were, and claims CBS has Berg's blood on its hands for airing the photos.
Elsewhere, lost in the week's events is news that the Justice Department is reexamining the Emmett Till murder case. Till, as you may remember, was a 14-year-old from Chicago lynched in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. When he was found, he was identifiable only by an initialed ring. The circumstances of Till's death were not all that unusual in the hundred years or so following the Civil War. What made the case a national issue--and galvanized the civil rights movement--was the remarkable decision by Emmett's mother, Mamie Till Bradley, to have an open-casket funeral for her son. Thousands lined up to pay their respects. Jet magazine published photos of Emmett's body, shocking readers nationwide. Those photos, too, are on the Web, and are still haunting.
And so back to Berg, haunting enough while still alive. When are shocking images necessary?I think it's when they are instructive. The Till case and other lynchings that the NAACP publicized taught America, at least the part of white America that cared to listen, that the country's policy of institutional racism had a human toll. The Abu Ghraib lesson is that the US cannot be successful if it abandons the very values it seeks to export. And how is that unamerican? Making us better is as important as making the world better for us. And easier, too.
What lesson is to be learned from airing the Berg video? That al-Qaeda's evil? We learned that one three Septembers ago. That, as said elsewhere, we're not as bad as the worst people on the planet? Hey, there's a helluva lesson. Or maybe the lesson is that because of the administration's ineptitude in conducting the war, the U.S. has allowed al Qaeda to regroup and strengthen in the Middle East. But somehow I think that is not a lesson Goldberg has in mind. In any case, I reject Goldberg's position that the publicly airing the prison images caused Berg's death. Know what's a step away from that sort of thinking? The notion that we should continue to abuse Iraqi prisoners so we're not seen as "appeasers."
Monday, May 10, 2004
Okay, I don't mind the blogger changes a bit. Seems more intuitive, and I finally fixed my archives.
Weekend: Friday I finally had time to accept a longstanding poker invite. Suffice it to say I saved my ATM impression for another night.
Saturday: Fencing and a big nap. We watched this fantastically stupid movie; another cast of sorta-stars who should have known better. To think that Klaus Kinski turned down Raiders of the Lost Ark to do this. And poor Sterling Hayden...this was his basically his swan song.
Sunday: Watched Kiss Me Deadly. Now the homages in Repo Man and Pulp Fiction make sense. Supposedly there's an homage in GTA:Vice City, but apparently I haven't gotten that far yet. We went over and distracted Karlo while M&C watched the Survivor finale. I just don't get it. But here's a reality show I can get behind. Someone here should pick this up.
Weekend: Friday I finally had time to accept a longstanding poker invite. Suffice it to say I saved my ATM impression for another night.
Saturday: Fencing and a big nap. We watched this fantastically stupid movie; another cast of sorta-stars who should have known better. To think that Klaus Kinski turned down Raiders of the Lost Ark to do this. And poor Sterling Hayden...this was his basically his swan song.
Sunday: Watched Kiss Me Deadly. Now the homages in Repo Man and Pulp Fiction make sense. Supposedly there's an homage in GTA:Vice City, but apparently I haven't gotten that far yet. We went over and distracted Karlo while M&C watched the Survivor finale. I just don't get it. But here's a reality show I can get behind. Someone here should pick this up.
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
3 questions meme
Via Mark, who ganked it from Cooch the Younger:
Ask me 3 questions in the comments widget and I'll answer them. I may even be truthful.
Via Mark, who ganked it from Cooch the Younger:
Ask me 3 questions in the comments widget and I'll answer them. I may even be truthful.
lyric quiz
Appropriated from John, here's a lyrics quiz. Maybe one or two are hits, all are songs I own on some audio medium, and all are from my lifetime. Only one is a song from the past 18 months. Many can be, or would have been, heard on the nebulous format known as "college radio."
UPDATE: this is stale now, so here are all the answers. If you got them, give youself points on the honor system.
1. A country that even persecuted The Weavers "Home of the Brave," Naked Raygun
2. Can you stand me on my feet? "Color Me Impressed", the Replacements
3. A pack of franks and a big bag of Frito-Lays "Cold Lampin' With Flavor," Public Enemy
4. I suspect there'll be gerrymandering at the singles bar "I'm the Bomb," Electric Six
5. I'm not the best believer; not the most deserving"Sympathy," Sleater-Kinney
6. And you love me 'til my heart stops; love me 'til I'm dead "Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place)," Talking Heads
7. [E]very white face is an invitation to robbery "Safe European Home, " The Clash
8. And getting out of school meant getting out of hand "Celebrated Summer, " Husker Du
9. What's your favorite dish? I'm not gonna cook it but I'll order it from Zanzibar "F*** Her Gently," Tenacious D
10. And if I was Roy Rogers, I'd sure enough be single "If I Had A Boat," Lyle Lovett
11. Skateboards--I've almost made them respectable! "I'm the Man," Joe Jackson
12. Never needs winding, never needs winding, never needs winding "Step Right Up," Tom Waits
13. I was the walrus! Paul wasn't the walrus! I was just saying that to be nice but I was actually the walrus! "Magical Misery Tour," from the National Lampoon Radio Dinner album. That's Tony Hendra, of Spinal Tap infamy, as John Lennon
14. Well, listen, Buster-- you'd better start to move your feet "One Step Beyond", Madness
15. While my JVC vibrates the concrete "I Can't Live Without My Radio," LL Cool J
16. Me and Lucy opened it when Cynthia wasn't around "Starfish and Coffee," Prince
17. They didn't win another 'til 1962, the year he was discovered "Fifty Mission Cap", Tragically Hip
18. Well, I thought it was already as heavy as could be "Waitin' for a Superman," Flaming Lips
19. He covered me with tomatoes, hummus, chickpeas, and some strips of skin "Balloon Man," Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians
20. He could have scored more goals than Wayne Gretzky "Jesus Was Way Cool," King Missile
Appropriated from John, here's a lyrics quiz. Maybe one or two are hits, all are songs I own on some audio medium, and all are from my lifetime. Only one is a song from the past 18 months. Many can be, or would have been, heard on the nebulous format known as "college radio."
UPDATE: this is stale now, so here are all the answers. If you got them, give youself points on the honor system.
1. A country that even persecuted The Weavers "Home of the Brave," Naked Raygun
2. Can you stand me on my feet? "Color Me Impressed", the Replacements
3. A pack of franks and a big bag of Frito-Lays "Cold Lampin' With Flavor," Public Enemy
4. I suspect there'll be gerrymandering at the singles bar "I'm the Bomb," Electric Six
5. I'm not the best believer; not the most deserving"Sympathy," Sleater-Kinney
6. And you love me 'til my heart stops; love me 'til I'm dead "Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place)," Talking Heads
7. [E]very white face is an invitation to robbery "Safe European Home, " The Clash
8. And getting out of school meant getting out of hand "Celebrated Summer, " Husker Du
9. What's your favorite dish? I'm not gonna cook it but I'll order it from Zanzibar "F*** Her Gently," Tenacious D
10. And if I was Roy Rogers, I'd sure enough be single "If I Had A Boat," Lyle Lovett
11. Skateboards--I've almost made them respectable! "I'm the Man," Joe Jackson
12. Never needs winding, never needs winding, never needs winding "Step Right Up," Tom Waits
13. I was the walrus! Paul wasn't the walrus! I was just saying that to be nice but I was actually the walrus! "Magical Misery Tour," from the National Lampoon Radio Dinner album. That's Tony Hendra, of Spinal Tap infamy, as John Lennon
14. Well, listen, Buster-- you'd better start to move your feet "One Step Beyond", Madness
15. While my JVC vibrates the concrete "I Can't Live Without My Radio," LL Cool J
16. Me and Lucy opened it when Cynthia wasn't around "Starfish and Coffee," Prince
17. They didn't win another 'til 1962, the year he was discovered "Fifty Mission Cap", Tragically Hip
18. Well, I thought it was already as heavy as could be "Waitin' for a Superman," Flaming Lips
19. He covered me with tomatoes, hummus, chickpeas, and some strips of skin "Balloon Man," Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians
20. He could have scored more goals than Wayne Gretzky "Jesus Was Way Cool," King Missile
Monday, May 3, 2004
idle hands
Too much time spent here and way too much time spent here. I know one member of the rogues' gallery at left already knows about these sites, while at least one other would like them quite a bit.
On Saturday we went with Alexis and Jeremy down to the Chicago Cultural Center to see the Ron Popeil exhibit. It was tres cool; all that avocado green...The highlights were the sit-on trash compactor and the old Mr. Microphone ad. As our friend Chris pondered, "Hey good lookin', we'll be back to pick you up later" has got to be sampled in a song somewhere. I was somewhat surprised that of all the things on display, we only owned the Kitchen Magician.
Too much time spent here and way too much time spent here. I know one member of the rogues' gallery at left already knows about these sites, while at least one other would like them quite a bit.
On Saturday we went with Alexis and Jeremy down to the Chicago Cultural Center to see the Ron Popeil exhibit. It was tres cool; all that avocado green...The highlights were the sit-on trash compactor and the old Mr. Microphone ad. As our friend Chris pondered, "Hey good lookin', we'll be back to pick you up later" has got to be sampled in a song somewhere. I was somewhat surprised that of all the things on display, we only owned the Kitchen Magician.
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