In the week that Obama passed his first 100 days as the big man (and done a pretty good job according to every major media outlet with the exception of...can you guess?... it starts with F and ends in s....anything yet?...I know, I know, the suspense is killing you....it rhymes with Mox Pews....anything yet?), I started to marvel at the change the US has undergone in such a short period of time.
In just 100 days, significant progress has been made on the saving of the economy (stimulus package and budget), the advancement of stem-cell research, the engaging of DIMPLOMATIC relations with other world leaders - even ones who we're supposed to "hate", the awesome rescue of Capt. Phillips, etc. For the first time since January 2004, more Americans now feel that the country is headed in the right direction than in the wrong direction (48 percent to 44 percent).
There haver been a few missteps, too. He needs to stop cowtowing to the gun freaks in both parties and get serious on some sort of progressive gun control and make ALL involved in the shameful torture accountable.
Then I think about the eight years prior to this 100 days.
The past eight years STILL absolutely beggar belief. I don't even have a huge problem with people who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 (though obviously, I thought then and think now that they were crazy). But to those who voted for his administration again in 2004, that's what I just can't get my head around. Really. After the first four years of W's administration, I can't believe there was even a question. Don't get me wrong, John Kerry was a poor Democratic nominee but the fact is that the Democrats should've won by a landslide with ANYBODY.
It's telling that almost everyone who voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 were totally convinced they made the right choice and continued to do so until the very end of his second term. I now hear from a lot of them that "Oh, well, he wasn't the greatest President" and "He made mistakes" and "He doesn't speak for most Republicans". So where the fuck was this humility from 2000 to 2007? Will you only admit you were wrong when you stare defeat in the face?
Though I (and other Dems and/or people who didn't vote for Bush in 2000 or especially in 2004) do, admittedly, take a certain smug delight at being proved right, my intent isn't to gloat at Obama's landslide victory and subsequent 69%-of-the-country-approved good job (okay, maybe I want to gloat a little bit). More, it is to seriously question the judgement of those who actually voted for the Bush administration a SECOND time after everything that happened. That his approval ratings plummeted to 23% should tell you something. That 79% of Americans are now (according to last week's poll, and this number keeps rising) glad he's gone should tell you something. That you voted Republican is not the problem. That you voted for THIS Republican AGAIN is something you'll have to forever live with...
2 May 2009
Classic scenes from the movies part 5
For the return of classic scenes from the movies, I've chosen as this part's theme British gangsters. The first clip is from the Steven Soderbergh masterpiece The Limey. In it, Terence Stamp plays an East End villain who comes to LA to find out who's responsible for the death of his daughter. Atmospheric, with a beautiful use of cinematography and lighting, Soderbergh crafts a wholly-original yet, at the same time throwback, gangster flick long on both style and substance.
In this scene, Terence Stamp's character goes to a shady warehouse to try and find the whereabouts of the man he suspects to be responsible for his daughter's death. After brazenly walking in to the warehouse and shouting the odds at the small-time hoods inside, a few of the muscle-bound henchman throw him out into the street and this is where the fun begins.
The next scene, from Guy Ritchie's oft-imitated, oft-quoted comedy masterwork Snatch, is actually a small compilation of scenes featuring local "villain", Brick Top, played with a true ruthlessness by the underused-elsewhere Alan Ford. So funny and quotable are his scenes throughout the movie, it's impossible to pick just one so I found this collection on YouTube.
Because Ritchie has since found it impossible to come anywhere near the heights of this, his most famous and best-loved film, it's easy to forget what a good writer/director he is. Yes, his most successful films run along the same theme (fast-talking, profanity-fuelled gangsters - this, Lock Stock, RockNRolla), but his ear for whip-cracking, hilarious and brutal dialogue, combined with his over-use (but in a good way) of flashy techniques such as jump-cuts, freeze-frames, fast-zooms makes him one of the most entertaining film makers around at the moment.
If his upcoming take on the Sherlock Holmes legend can come anywhere near the heights of this (and with a still-Iron-Man-hot RD,Jr., and RockNRolla's Mark Strong as the villain, it bloody-well should), Ritchie should finally see an upturn in box office receipts (something that has always eluded him, even including Snatch).
Muhammed "I'm 'Ard" Bruce Lee. Genius.
In this scene, Terence Stamp's character goes to a shady warehouse to try and find the whereabouts of the man he suspects to be responsible for his daughter's death. After brazenly walking in to the warehouse and shouting the odds at the small-time hoods inside, a few of the muscle-bound henchman throw him out into the street and this is where the fun begins.
The next scene, from Guy Ritchie's oft-imitated, oft-quoted comedy masterwork Snatch, is actually a small compilation of scenes featuring local "villain", Brick Top, played with a true ruthlessness by the underused-elsewhere Alan Ford. So funny and quotable are his scenes throughout the movie, it's impossible to pick just one so I found this collection on YouTube.
Because Ritchie has since found it impossible to come anywhere near the heights of this, his most famous and best-loved film, it's easy to forget what a good writer/director he is. Yes, his most successful films run along the same theme (fast-talking, profanity-fuelled gangsters - this, Lock Stock, RockNRolla), but his ear for whip-cracking, hilarious and brutal dialogue, combined with his over-use (but in a good way) of flashy techniques such as jump-cuts, freeze-frames, fast-zooms makes him one of the most entertaining film makers around at the moment.
If his upcoming take on the Sherlock Holmes legend can come anywhere near the heights of this (and with a still-Iron-Man-hot RD,Jr., and RockNRolla's Mark Strong as the villain, it bloody-well should), Ritchie should finally see an upturn in box office receipts (something that has always eluded him, even including Snatch).
Muhammed "I'm 'Ard" Bruce Lee. Genius.
28 Apr 2009
"Bill Maher: The GOP Is Acting Like a Guy Who Got Dumped"
This is so funny and so true. An article from the LA Times by Bill Maher. Enjoy.
If conservatives don't want to be seen as bitter people who cling to their guns and religion and anti-immigrant sentiments, they should stop being bitter and clinging to their guns, religion and anti-immigrant sentiments.
It's been a week now, and I still don't know what those "tea bag" protests were about. I saw signs protesting abortion, illegal immigrants, the bank bailout and that gay guy who's going to win "American Idol." But it wasn't tax day that made them crazy; it was election day. Because that's when Republicans became what they fear most: a minority.
The conservative base is absolutely apoplectic because, because ... well, nobody knows. They're mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore. Even though they're not quite sure what "it" is. But they know they're fed up with "it," and that "it" has got to stop.
Here are the big issues for normal people: the war, the economy, the environment, mending fences with our enemies and allies, and the rule of law.
And here's the list of Republican obsessions since President Obama took office: that his birth certificate is supposedly fake, he uses a teleprompter too much, he bowed to a Saudi guy, Europeans like him, he gives inappropriate gifts, his wife shamelessly flaunts her upper arms, and he shook hands with Hugo Chavez and slipped him the nuclear launch codes.
Do these sound like the concerns of a healthy, vibrant political party?
It's sad what's happened to the Republicans. They used to be the party of the big tent; now they're the party of the sideshow attraction, a socially awkward group of mostly white people who speak a language only they understand. Like Trekkies, but paranoid.
The GOP base is convinced that Obama is going to raise their taxes, which he just lowered. But, you say, "Bill, that's just the fringe of the Republican Party." No, it's not. The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, is not afraid to say publicly that thinking out loud about Texas seceding from the Union is appropriate considering that ... Obama wants to raise taxes 3% on 5% of the people? I'm not sure exactly what Perry's independent nation would look like, but I'm pretty sure it would be free of taxes and Planned Parenthood. And I would have to totally rethink my position on a border fence.
I know. It's not about what Obama's done. It's what he's planning. But you can't be sick and tired of something someone might do.
Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota recently said she fears that Obama will build "reeducation" camps to indoctrinate young people. But Obama hasn't made any moves toward taking anyone's guns, and with money as tight as it is, the last thing the president wants to do is run a camp where he has to shelter and feed a bunch of fat, angry white people.
Look, I get it, "real America." After an eight-year run of controlling the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court, this latest election has you feeling like a rejected husband. You've come home to find your things out on the front lawn -- or at least more things than you usually keep out on the front lawn. You're not ready to let go, but the country you love is moving on. And now you want to call it a whore and key its car.
That's what you are, the bitter divorced guy whose country has left him -- obsessing over it, haranguing it, blubbering one minute about how much you love it and vowing the next that if you cannot have it, nobody will.
But it's been almost 100 days, and your country is not coming back to you. She's found somebody new. And it's a black guy.
The healthy thing to do is to just get past it and learn to cherish the memories. You'll always have New Orleans and Abu Ghraib.
And if today's conservatives are insulted by this, because they feel they're better than the people who have the microphone in their party, then I say to them what I would say to moderate Muslims: Denounce your radicals. To paraphrase George W. Bush, either you're with them or you're embarrassed by them.
The thing that you people out of power have to remember is that the people in power are not secretly plotting against you. They don't need to. They already beat you in public.
If conservatives don't want to be seen as bitter people who cling to their guns and religion and anti-immigrant sentiments, they should stop being bitter and clinging to their guns, religion and anti-immigrant sentiments.
It's been a week now, and I still don't know what those "tea bag" protests were about. I saw signs protesting abortion, illegal immigrants, the bank bailout and that gay guy who's going to win "American Idol." But it wasn't tax day that made them crazy; it was election day. Because that's when Republicans became what they fear most: a minority.
The conservative base is absolutely apoplectic because, because ... well, nobody knows. They're mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore. Even though they're not quite sure what "it" is. But they know they're fed up with "it," and that "it" has got to stop.
Here are the big issues for normal people: the war, the economy, the environment, mending fences with our enemies and allies, and the rule of law.
And here's the list of Republican obsessions since President Obama took office: that his birth certificate is supposedly fake, he uses a teleprompter too much, he bowed to a Saudi guy, Europeans like him, he gives inappropriate gifts, his wife shamelessly flaunts her upper arms, and he shook hands with Hugo Chavez and slipped him the nuclear launch codes.
Do these sound like the concerns of a healthy, vibrant political party?
It's sad what's happened to the Republicans. They used to be the party of the big tent; now they're the party of the sideshow attraction, a socially awkward group of mostly white people who speak a language only they understand. Like Trekkies, but paranoid.
The GOP base is convinced that Obama is going to raise their taxes, which he just lowered. But, you say, "Bill, that's just the fringe of the Republican Party." No, it's not. The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, is not afraid to say publicly that thinking out loud about Texas seceding from the Union is appropriate considering that ... Obama wants to raise taxes 3% on 5% of the people? I'm not sure exactly what Perry's independent nation would look like, but I'm pretty sure it would be free of taxes and Planned Parenthood. And I would have to totally rethink my position on a border fence.
I know. It's not about what Obama's done. It's what he's planning. But you can't be sick and tired of something someone might do.
Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota recently said she fears that Obama will build "reeducation" camps to indoctrinate young people. But Obama hasn't made any moves toward taking anyone's guns, and with money as tight as it is, the last thing the president wants to do is run a camp where he has to shelter and feed a bunch of fat, angry white people.
Look, I get it, "real America." After an eight-year run of controlling the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court, this latest election has you feeling like a rejected husband. You've come home to find your things out on the front lawn -- or at least more things than you usually keep out on the front lawn. You're not ready to let go, but the country you love is moving on. And now you want to call it a whore and key its car.
That's what you are, the bitter divorced guy whose country has left him -- obsessing over it, haranguing it, blubbering one minute about how much you love it and vowing the next that if you cannot have it, nobody will.
But it's been almost 100 days, and your country is not coming back to you. She's found somebody new. And it's a black guy.
The healthy thing to do is to just get past it and learn to cherish the memories. You'll always have New Orleans and Abu Ghraib.
And if today's conservatives are insulted by this, because they feel they're better than the people who have the microphone in their party, then I say to them what I would say to moderate Muslims: Denounce your radicals. To paraphrase George W. Bush, either you're with them or you're embarrassed by them.
The thing that you people out of power have to remember is that the people in power are not secretly plotting against you. They don't need to. They already beat you in public.
9 Mar 2009
Can't wait to see this
An early contender for best comedy of the year. The end is hi-fucking-larious!!
F**king Citibank!
Another posting for my increasingly video-centric blog...
The New F***ing Citibank - watch more funny videos
Labels:
humor
1 Mar 2009
You a ho!
Wow. When did my blog turn into a video-hosting page...?
Anyway, this is hilarious. (Thanks to Jake McCarthy for bringing it to my attention)
In The Know: Are Reality Shows Setting Unrealistic Standards For Skanks?
Anyway, this is hilarious. (Thanks to Jake McCarthy for bringing it to my attention)
In The Know: Are Reality Shows Setting Unrealistic Standards For Skanks?
Labels:
humor
24 Feb 2009
22 Feb 2009
Oscar predictions
Real quick:
Pic - Slumdog
Director - Slumdog
Actress - Winslet
Actor - Rourke
Supp. Actress - Cruz
Supp. Actor - Heath
Orig. Screenplay - In Bruges
Adap. Screenplay - Slumdog
Anim. Pic. - Wall-E
Doc. - Man on Wire
Foreign - Waltz with Bashir
SFX - Ben Button
Pic - Slumdog
Director - Slumdog
Actress - Winslet
Actor - Rourke
Supp. Actress - Cruz
Supp. Actor - Heath
Orig. Screenplay - In Bruges
Adap. Screenplay - Slumdog
Anim. Pic. - Wall-E
Doc. - Man on Wire
Foreign - Waltz with Bashir
SFX - Ben Button
Labels:
movies
5 Feb 2009
onetwothreeFOURFIVEsixseveneightNINETENeleventwelve!!
My absolute FAVOURITE part of Sesame Street EVER!!
14 Jan 2009
Dust off your Super Nintendos!!
I'm getting this as soon as I complete Super Mario World!
(Kudos to whoever created this. Very convincing.)
(Kudos to whoever created this. Very convincing.)
Labels:
humor
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