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…
1 CommentLiving Freedom Posts
Stickied. Scroll down for newer posts. Thanks to your generosity, we raised enough overnight to transport Sweetie the deaf heeler from South Carolina to the Pacific Northwest, where she can get care and rehabilitation from an expert in the breed. Not only that, but you’ve kept on giving so her rescuers will have funds for food, heartworm medicine, and even sessions with a professional behaviorist, should that be needed. So here’s the plan. Linda, the breed consultant Mary Lou and I have been working with, has agreed to take Sweetie herself. Linda has turned around many dogs judged “hopeless.” I’ve…
Leave a CommentHave you seen the wonderful animated feature Bolt? It’s about a dog who has no idea he isn’t the superdog he plays on TV. He dearly loves his girl Penny who stars in the show with him. But because he views himself as her sole protection against ever-threatening evil, he’s forever tense, forever on guard. Never, but ever, does he relax, play, and just enjoy life. Only when fate leaves him lost on the streets (far from Penny and without his special-effects superpowers) does he learn to be himself, love life — and become a real hero. Yeah, it’s just…
22 CommentsNow they’ve moved all those storage foods to their own spot in the grocery aisles. Added a couple more items, too. I’m standing there choosing this week’s purchases and making notes on what to get on future trips. While I’m scribbling, the section turns, once again, into Walmart’s own little social center. I’m not doing any talking this time. But so many people are standing there chatting with each other about freeze-dried and dehydrated foods as they load up their carts that I’m thinking Walmart should install a Starbucks right there to take advantage of all the friendly idling. This…
21 CommentsThe 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 —…
35 CommentsI’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.
4 CommentsThe head of the No Such Agency is denying the truth of the Wired article that caused such a stir last week. No! No! Of course they aren’t spying on Americans! How could we even think such a thing? Our own government? Spying on us? Illegally? What, are you some sort of commie pinko subversive Islamist radical agitating racist anti-government paranoid weirdo fanatic? At risk of coming down in the side of panic and hysteria … well, hell, just coming down on the side of reality … who you gonna believe in this fracas? Lessee … one of the most…
8 CommentsThe 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…
28 CommentsWell, while we’re having an “oldies and goldies” day, how about a re-visit to “Twelve Tips for Toppling Tyrants”? It was the Hardyville column that directly followed “Reactive Ralphie” and is an answer to him and others who believe that a constant frenzy will lead us to freedom.
6 CommentsThis week seems a good time to go back and revisit Reactive Ralphie (last met in 2005). And seek some balance. More on that later.
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