How could I have almost let this day go by without celebrating the birthdays of two historic rebels? MJR writes to inform me that on this day in 1570, Guy Fawkes was born. Never mind that he was merely a Catholic monarchist; he’s the inspiration for much marvelously modern mayhem. Not to mention well, you know. And of course April 13, 1743, is the date our own Thomas Jefferson entered the world. Not only was he the grandest writer among all our revolutionaries (Thomas Paine being his only rival), but he’s also,according to Charles Curley, the Patron Saint of the…
Category: Books and Movies
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us –Robert Burns There’s a new book out called Leak: Why Mark Felt Became Deep Throat. (Deep Throat being the secret revelator to Woodward & Bernstein during Watergate, not the … um, well, you know.) I’m first in line for it when my library gets it. From all I’ve read, its central claim is that Felt — the #2 man at the FBI — was bitter at being passed over for the #1 spot and became Deep Throat solely out of ambition and a desire to…
That waitress who naively turned her $12k tip over to the cops? She’s getting her money back despite police claims that the cash … um, yeah, um … “smells like marijuana so we have to keep it, you know, for your own good.” (Amazing how self-congratulatory the jerks manage to be even after the whole country beat up on them for stealing from the poor woman.) Oh, Arizona, the silliness of your legislators never ends, does it? Now they’re trying to declare that you can be pregnant up to two weeks before having sex. Too late! Too late! You missed…
Your hilarious dog story of the day, courtesy of naturegirl. (Which probably would have ended up much less hilarious had American cops been the ones doing the window smashing.) And so I don’t neglect you cat people, here. It’s not funny or even particularly dramatic. Just cuuuuuuuuute. Not so cute: The U.S. standard of living has fallen more than 50 percent. Depending on how you look at it. I hope I don’t ever have to do that. Especially when I’m 80. A big hurtful, annoying EFF-U to Arizona, spoken as only Ken from Popehat can speak write. Two for the…
Here’s the movie based on John Silveira’s famous (or at least semi-famous) Backwoods Home classified. After making a big splash at Sundance, it’s headed for theaters this summer. Yayyyyyy, John!
Legally blind and a successful photographer. Now here’s a growing profession for you: consultants who coach white-collar criminals on how to get along in prison. The sagebrush rebellion rises again. Brothels. They’re now legal in Ontario, Canada. And for some pretty good reasons. “When we were making V we thought the mask might be popular at parties.” And yet another intriguing trailer for Silver Circle. The coins are real; you can buy them from the movie’s store and Ron Paul was photographed last month using one to make a point.
I just watched a 2009 indie called American Violet. If The Hunger Games (as Brian said in the comments on that film) might have been made by “a right-wing splinter group,” this one could have come from an ACLU production company. But we’re talking about the good side of the ACLU here. Do you remember the phony drug-war busts in Tulia and Hearne, Texas, a decade or so ago? Mass roundups of innocent blacks based on phony evidence? Cases that eventually fell apart en masse under national scrutiny? Well, American Violet is a fictionalized version of the case that eventually…
The Hunger Games is good. It hits you in the gut. It’s well-acted. It ought to get Oscar nominations for costume, art direction, and sound editing, as well as another best actress nomination for Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen. Woody Harrelson is a perfect Haymitch Abernathy. Josh Hutcherson (once I got past him being noticeably shorter than Lawrence) is an appealing and believable Peeta Mellark. The young actresses playing Prim and Rue are spot on. It’s a really very, very good movie — but not great. I have to agree with the reviewers who’ve noted there’s something missing —…
I’m off to do a little Wal-Martery, then catch a late-morning showing of The Hunger Games. See you when I return. Meantime, here’s a cool challenge. The folks at Silver Circle Underground are giving away five Guy Fawkes masks over the next five weeks. This week’s contest: write rebel poetry. Haiku? A sonnet? An ode? Or just your own version of the famous “Remember, remember …” verses. Have at it. Should be fun.
The movie The Hunger Games comes out this Friday. If you’ve read the books(s) you know this isn’t going to be the Twilight-style teen flick that’s being marketed. Can’t blame Lionsgate for the marketing; they want to make money and the Katniss-Peeta-Gale triangle offers a hook to the silly-but-moneymaking Bella-Edward-Jacob triangle that no marketer could resist. At least they’ve been doing their marketing very, very well; it’s been an elegantly teasing campaign. Have you noticed that, never once during all the buildup, have they actually showed the Hunger Games part of The Hunger Games? Marketing aside, it looks like Lionsgate…