MMM

I'm still undecided about the merits of this bailout, but you gotta love Barney Frank's smackdown of the Republicans' whining.

I just donated to the No On Prop 8 campaign for California. I suggest you do as well. This may hit a little closer to home for me since I'm a native Californian, but anyone who has any feeling for the cause of equality should care about this. This is the civil rights struggle of our time and anyone who opposes it will find themselves on the wrong side of history in the years to come. I try to be careful of issuing blanket statements of what is morally right and wrong, as I see too many on the left and right infusing politics with morality, but this is an area where there should be no compromise. Outlawing gay marriage turns homosexuals into second-class citizens. And "civil unions" are a second-class institution (I'm talking to you Obama).

Please, donate if you can, and bug your Californian friends to get the hell out there and vote.

Someone posted an awesome Stephen Sondheim masterclass at the Guildhall School on YouTube. Good stuff.

My Friends from Sweeney Todd


Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music:


Not Getting Married from Company:

The number one encouraging sign from the recent debate?

No mention of God.

No pandering to the evangelicals.

On either side.

I think this is a major step forward for politics in America.

Seriously.

I just found out that I have to wait until November until I can get my G1 at the discounted price... Weak. The deal is that you have to wait until you are 22 months completed of a two-year contract or 11 months of a one-year. Normally my impatient ass would cave, but it's a difference of about 120 bucks.

Sigh... For now I'll just have to settle for some G1 porn:

The T-Mobile G1 User Guide

Oh yeah, and here is my favorite part of my convo with T-Mobile:

Faceless T-Mobile Henchman: So you'll have to wait until November for the discount.

Impatient Mafoo: Um, ok... (twitching impatiently) Is there a specific date in November that the discount will apply?

Faceless T-Mobile Henchman: No. Just November.

Impatient Mafoo: No, I mean what day will I be able to buy my prec... er, my new G1?

Faceless T-Mobile Henchman: You can buy it in November.

Impatient Mafoo: So, what? Like November 1st??

Faceless T-Mobile Henchman: Yes, November 1st.

Impatient Mafoo: Oh. So the "specific date in November that the discount will apply" is November 1st?

Faceless T-Mobile Henchman: Yes.

Impatient Mafoo: Sigh. Thank you. (hang up) Grumble grumble corporate behemoths grumble...

Of course you would! :)

things have gotten so weird in the music business that high-profile acts are inserting ads into their song lyrics. The next time you hear a brand mentioned in a song, it could be due to a paid product placement. And unlike magazines, songs are not required to point out which words are part of an advertisement.

In the e-mail, Kluger (who has represented Mariah Carey, New Kids on the Blog, Ne-Yo, Fall Out Boy, Method Man, Lady GaGa and Ludacris) explained via e-mail that for the right price, Double Happiness Jeans could find its way into the lyrics in an upcoming Pussycat Dolls song.

I assume they meant New Kids on the Block, unless I'm majorly out of touch with music today.

Anyway, yeah so now there's even more reason for there there to be crappy songs about Abercrombie, Moet Champagne, Lexus SUVs, and all manner of crap I dislike. Actually, I'm lying. I have a soft spot for champagne. The bubbles make me feel fancy. Ya know, I really don't care that much whether these acts have advertising in their songs or not. Any integrity has already been compromised. Anyone who takes Ludacris seriously, whether he's flashing gold or trying to save the environment, is already compromised. S'all good.

1. McCain has an ad currently running celebrating his apparent future win of the debates. Here's the screenshot from the WSJ website where the ad ran.

2. Some of the most devoted right-wing voices are showing their frank displeasure with Sarah Palin, regarding her abysmal performance in the Couric interview.

3. And... I'm probably gonna get in trouble with my GF for this, but... here you go: Sarah Palin's swimsuit competition:

Ok, I thought I'd just post the full text of the interview, so you can see just how ridiculous it is:

Sarah Palin: My understanding is that Rick Davis recused himself from the dealings of the firm. I don't know how long ago, a year or two ago that he's not benefiting from that. And you know, I was - I would hope that's not the case.

Katie Couric: But he still has a stake in the company so isn't that a conflict of interest?

(There is a long pause, here)

Palin: Again, my understanding is that he recused himself from the dealings with Freddie and Fannie, any lobbying efforts on his part there. And I would hope that's the case because, as John McCain has been saying, and as I've on a much more local level been also rallying against is the undue influence of lobbyists in public policy decisions being made.

Next, Couric asked about the $700 billion government bailout of bad debt - and whether she supports it.

Palin: I'm all about the position that America is in and that we have to look at a $700 billion bailout. And as Sen. McCain has said unless this nearly trillion dollar bailout is what it may end up to be, unless there are amendments in Paulson's proposal, really I don't believe that Americans are going to support this and we will not support this. The interesting thing in the last couple of days that I have seen is that Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal. They're not waiting to see what Barack Obama is going to do. Is he going to do this and see what way the political wind's blowing? They're waiting to see if John McCain will be able to see these amendments implemented in Paulson's proposal.

Couric: Why do you say that? Why are they waiting for John McCain and not Barack Obama?

Palin: He's got the track record of the leadership qualities and the pragmatism that's needed at a crisis time like this.

Couric: But polls have shown that Sen. Obama has actually gotten a boost as a result of this latest crisis, with more people feeling that he can handle the situation better than John McCain.

Palin: I'm not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who's more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who's actually done it?

Couric: If this doesn't pass, do you think there's a risk of another Great Depression?

Palin: Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on. Not necessarily this, as it's been proposed, has to pass or we're going to find ourselves in another Great Depression. But, there has got to be action - bipartisan effort - Congress not pointing fingers at one another but finding the solution to this, taking action, and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.

Couric: Would you support a moratorium on foreclosures to help average Americans keep their homes?

Palin: That's something that John McCain and I have both been discussing - whether that ... is part of the solution or not. You know, it's going to be a multi-faceted solution that has to be found here.

Couric: So you haven't decided whether you'll support it or not?

Palin: I have not.

Couric: What are the pros and cons of it do you think?

Palin: Oh, well, some decisions that have been made poorly should not be rewarded, of course.

Couric: By consumers, you're saying?

Palin: Consumers - and those who were predator lenders also. That's, you know, that has to be considered also. But again, it's got to be a comprehensive, long-term solution found ... for this problem that America is facing today. As I say, we are getting into crisis mode here.

Couric: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

Palin: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie - that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

This is remarkable in its utter lack of content. Every single answer is an evasion or a broad blanket statement. I don't know shit about the current economic crisis, but I could at least do better on this interview than she. This is not me feeling good because I know more than a Vice-Presidential nominee about an area of interest. This is me freaking out that a Vice-Presidential nominee isn't schooling my pseudo-political dumbass. Jesus. What the hell is going on? Reagan and W were both empty facades but they could at least bullshit well.

VIDEO:

This video of Sarah Palin being kept safe "from every form of witchcraft" is straight messed up, yo. I'm pretty sure that the members of the congregation are speaking in tongues, btw.

Charlie Kaufman's directoral debut Synecdoche, New York gets a poster. I'm pretty excited about this one.

Myspace's new music player actually looks pretty cool. You can now pop it out, make playlists, etc. They should have done this a year ago. It's cool, but it may be too little too late.

The Finnish school shooter was "almost certainly" in contact with his predecessor, who killed 8 people at a school about a year ago. Police are hinting at some sort of a network.

And... while we're all freaking out about our crumbling economy, China is quietly planning a frakin Cylon Basestar!

I've been seeing some (totally unsubstantiated) chatter around the internets about the possibility of the election being postponed because of the "financial crisis". This seems to be firmly in the conspiracy theory state, but it's kind of making me wonder, especially with recent news of McCain campaign suspension and reports that Bush is to meet with the two candidates Thursday to discuss the bailout plan and the crisis in general. Or I'm probably just being paranoid. But seriously, who's ever heard of a candidate suspending their campaign??

Ok, this is just getting weird now.

Obama said, "[McCain] called me back at about 2:30 this afternoon after our rally, and I asked him to join me in issuing a joint statement to let this Congress and this administration know where we stand and what we expect from this proposal, because of the past few days, it's been clear that we have come to agree on some broad principles."

Obama added that McCain agreed to the suggestion of issuing a joint statement.

McCain, according Rogers, suggested that the two presidential candidates have a meeting in Washington "to lead a bipartisan effort to solve this problem" and that they both suspend their campaigns and hold off on Friday's presidential debate.

Obama said his intent was focused on issuing a joint statement first.

But shortly after the call ended, Obama said, his rival appeared on television announcing the suspension and the subsequent debate no-show.

"I think the only possible miscommunication that might have been how quickly there was an announcement and someone was on television. I think my assumption was that the joint statement would go out initially," Obama said.

But McCain, appearing live on "The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric," challenged Obama's claims that he supported a joint statement.

"This is not the time for statements. ... I think the American people expect more of us. And I would hope that we would respond that way," he said.

"We discussed that we do agree, and I'd be glad to -- to join in a common press release or statement, but now is not the time for statements. Time is now to act," he added.

Not to mention this:

Letterman told the audience during the taping of Wednesday's show that McCain had called him personally to apologize for bailing. According to Letterman, McCain said he couldn't appear because he was rushing to the airport to get back to Washington.

But midway through the broadcast, Letterman appeared to learn that the Arizona senator was actually still in New York. In fact, McCain was just a few blocks away, at the CBS News headquarters. He was preparing for a last-minute exclusive interview with Katie Couric.

Incredulous, Letterman interrupted his interview with Keith Olbermann (who had filled in as a substitute guest for McCain) to show the audience a live shot on the internal CBS News feed of a makeup artist putting the finishing touches on McCain while he waited to talk to Couric.

“He doesn’t seem to be racing to the airport, does he?” Letterman said, shouting at the television monitor: “Hey, John, I got a question! You need a ride to the airport?”

The Republicans are supposed to be the professional politicians. What the hell is going on?

UPDATE:
Here's the Letterman Video

Oprah gets pranked:



If you're wondering what the fuck this is all about, I'll help out a bit. This letter was likely written a member of the 4chan community. 4chan is an imageboard where people can post anonymously and there are, famously, very few rules. Almost anything goes. It caters to messageboard trolls and it is a meeting place for said trolls to organize mass pranks. This is where famous memes such as lolcats and rickrolling came from. Like any culture, it has a significantly developed lingo which is largely created out of inside jokes. The language is kept deliberately obscure, in large part to discourage outsiders from understanding, leaving them more susceptible to prankery (For example: "an hero nao pl0x" means something much different than what it looks like). So anyway, said troll posted this in Oprah's message board, chock full of memes with the hopes that someone would bite. Someone did. Oprah. On live TV. Pwned. "Over 9000" is a meme that relates to an episode of Dragonball Z. The "doesn't forgive, does not forget part" is part of the credo of Anonymous, a loosely unified group of trolls based out of the 4chan community. Yeah, it's a really twisted joke. But you gotta give 'em props for fucking with Oprah's alarmist bullshit.

UPDATE: New video embed up.

The fine print:

“If your total data usage in any billing cycle is more than 1GB, your data throughput for the remainder of that cycle may be reduced to 50 kbps or less.”

So much for the “unlimited” access plan. Sure, you can still surf the web, download music, or watch YouTube videos as much as you want… but if you do it too much, they’ll cripple your phone so that for the rest of the month you have to do it really slowly.

Come on Google, are you gonna let T-Mobile get away with this shit? Spread this around and maybe T-Mobile will change their tune. This could be a deal-killer for many people, including me.
(Word up, Gurf)

UPDATE:
T-Mobile Removes 1GB 3G Data Cap for G1 Android Phone:

We removed the 1GB soft limit from our policy statement, and we are confident that T-Mobile G1 customers will enjoy the high speed of data access over our 3G network. The specific terms for our new data plans are still being reviewed and once they are final we will be certain to share this broadly with current customers and potential new customers.

Nice.

Take that Hopstop! It looks ok, but maybe still a little buggy. I tried to get subway directions from my place to Lincoln Center and it just could not for the life of it figure out where Lincoln Center was. It gave me a place in Brooklyn, a place downtown. I understand, LC doesn't really have an address, but that's the kind of stuff where it should be intuitive. There are times when you don't want to type in 65th and Columbus. I'm a New Yorker on the go! Oh wait, I'm blogging right now aren't I, that kind of betrays my former statement...

Yo, my buddy Pete just put up his new website, PeterWise.net. Pete's a common co-conspirator of mine in the evil world of experimental music. He's the other half, not counting Doggo, of my junktronica duo Doggo and Sons. He also runs the wonderful Berkshire Fringe Festival every summer, which you should be attending every summer, seriously. Pete can also be found popping up in about a jillion other Brooklyn bands, playing everything from vibes in Mohair Time Warp to drumset in something called the Matt Marks and the Lil Death Band.

Pete designed the website himself and it looks great. He's got these awesome Add to GCal links by his list of shows. Sexy. I want.

This video is cute. Although, I was hoping that the Dizzee Rascal mass-delusion was over. Nice song though (despite Dizzee's disruption). Ummm... I suppose it's NSFW.

I think I'm gonna get the HTC Dream. I gotta crush on Android.

Clay Shirky on Information Overload.

Critic who criticized the Cleveland Orchestra reassigned for having an opinion.

Goddamn I gotta stop spending time on 4chan...

So, I'll probably be blogging light this week, as I'm in Utica (whoo!) this week playing a concert with AWS at Hamilton College. I also have a really nasty cold, which means any spare time I have is devoted to sleeping.
For the record, playing John Adams' Son of Chamber Symphony in the morning when your cold is raging isn't exactly my idea of fun. I also gave a lecture on my Revolution 9 arrangement to the electronic music class here. That was fun, despite the fact that I really just wanted to curl up on the floor in fetal position and blow my nose until my heart came out. No, but it was actually kind of fun.
Oh yeah, and apparently the hall here is a MONO hall. I'll let that sink in for you. Yeah, no stereo. Mono. Um, and since my remix I'm having played during the concert of John and Yoko's Unfinished Music is, well, not mono (since I'm not currently living in the 50s), that is making things a little tough. Hm. Well, we're trying to figure something out.
Anyway, so yeah. Crazy busy. Crazy sick. Whoo stock market crash! Whoo end of civilization!
Mafoo sleep now.

Sappy patriotic propaganda film, Proud American, has the worst opening for a large release ever. It's actually the rejection of mindlessly uplifting slop like this that makes me proud to be an American. Check out 1:34. "Like, Dawn. This is our table. You have to leave. Like, go!". Awesome. Who talks like that?? Actually I kinda want to see it now...


I can't think of anything I'd rather remix less than a new Third Eye Blind album.

A map of the U.S.A by personality type.

It's tragic that such an innovative game as Spore is getting overshadowed by the controversy surrounding its bullshit copy protection, but the anti-DRM movement is pretty inspiring.

It's taken until today for CNN.com to feature the tragic death of DFW. He was only, ya know, one of the nation's greatest living novelists. No, but you're right. O.J. in court again is a much bigger story.

Too little, too late, BB. Seriously, ditch the trackball.

Korg DS-10 for Nintendo DS.

The Women 1939:


The Women 2008:


Maybe it's the fact that it's a blatant Sex in the City ripoff. Maybe it's Jada Pinkett-Smith embodying the token black girl by saying shit like "foyn!". Maybe it's that The Women '39 actually takes some thought to follow the clever dialogue. Maybe it's just that I'm a huge Rosalind Russell fan after watching His Girl Friday.

But come on Hollywood. This is pathetic.

Ari Melber isn't afraid to use the word, and sticks it the fuck to partisan hack Brad Blakeman. This is fun to watch. The left needs more people with balls like this. It gets really good around 2:45. Good stuff.

Jesus. Mindless bureaucracy can be frightening sometimes.

Police have charged Elizabeth Miller, the manager of the Bed, Bath & Beyond in Lexington, Kentucky, who refused to let a couple use the store's phone to call 911 to report a three-year-old locked in a van, and refused to make an announcement over the store's PA system.

Wow. It is truly an increasingly surreal media landscape when supposedly light talks hows such as The View and The Daily Show are asking harder questions of politicians than the actual news. I've always hated The View, and maybe this is just a sign of my lowering standards, but they really give it to him. The redheaded one actually uses the dreaded L-word!

Here's a taste:



To contrast, here is Charlie Gibson's interview on his supposedly serious show in ABC:



Are you serious? What is she supposed to say, 'no'? No Charlie, now that I think of it, I'm totally unprepared to lead this country.

This is a really strange election.

There we go... That's better. I'm sorry, but the fact that McCain doesn't know how to use a computer is absolutely shocking. And it's not just because I'm a geek. Our entire economy is now built around computers. That is way more relevant than talking about "lipstick on a pig".

One thing I'd add. Stop saying "The Middle Class". Say, "Favors almost 200 billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for you." The overwhelming majority of people in the US would consider themselves the middle class. People need to feel as if the ads are speaking to them. Also, he needs to talk about gas prices. Seriously, that is an area in which everyone is affected. That will cut to the heart.

How about this:

Gas prices have more than doubled since Bush entered office, and John McCain wants more of the same. How much higher should they go before America makes a change? 6 dollars? 8 dollars?? 10 dollars??? Obama wants to reduce our dependency on foreign oil from corrupt regimes and explore new sources of energy.
What's John McCain's plan?
(cut to the Republicans in the convention chanting, "Drill, Baby Drill!, Drill, Baby Drill!)
John McCain, more of the same.

Check me out. I'm a natural born propagandist!

(video embed)

FactCheck.org is providing a valuable service this election season. No matter your political bent, hopefully we can all at least agree that one should have ones facts distinguished from the spin.

Dude. When will the mainstream media stop using the terms misleading, dishonest, distortion, manufacture, inaccurate, etc? The word is LIE. It's simple. This ad is full of lies. There is no bias in using the word. There is no reason that you should be afraid of it.

Watch this:

Although most people think I'm a native Californian, I actually moved to Downey, California when I was a child. I spent most of my youth in Southern California, but my family only moved into that house on Casanes Ave in 1985 when I was 5 years old.

K, I just lied there. I just implied that I was born outside of California. I wasn't. All of my statements are technically true, but I knowingly made you believe what I wanted you to believe. It is true that most people think I'm a native Californian, because, um, I am. I did move into a house on Casanes Ave when I was 5, from another house a few blocks away. I misled you; I was dishonest; I distorted the truth; I manufactured a false past; and my statement was inaccurate. I lied.

This commercial says "The attacks on Governor Palin have been called 'completely false'...'misleading.'" and references FactCheck.org while showing a picture of Obama, obviously referencing Obama's attacks. The thing is, FactCheck.org wasn't talking about Obama at all:

There is no more basis for attributing these viral attacks to the Obama campaign than there is for blaming the McCain campaign for chain e-mail attacks falsely claiming that Obama is a Muslim, or a "racist," or that he is proposing to tax water.

I mean, I see the balancing act that they are playing. They never explicitly say that those quotes were in reference to Obama, but anybody would make that connection and they know it. It's a lie, plain and simple.

The other claim in the video, that "The [Wall Street] Journal reports Obama "air-dropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers" into Alaska to dig dirt on Governor Palin."? That report was found (and known by the McCain camp) to be inaccurate well in advance of the ad. So yes, the Wall Street Journal did report that, and the McCain campaign used the fraudulent information in a campaign ad. I'd consider that a lie.

Here, let me muster up a scenario (can you tell I like analogies?):

Ok, so a little boy, named Horace, is sitting in class just before lunchtime, and the teacher tells the class, "Children, as a special surprise, they are serving pumpkin pie for desert today!". All the kids cheer and such. Horace can't wait to tell his little crush Wilda the good news, but when the little boy arrives at the cafeteria, he finds out that the teacher was mistaken. There is no pumpkin pie. Dejected, he shuffles down the hallway, hands thrust into his pockets. But at the other end of the lockers he sees Wilda walking toward him. His heart skips. Grasping for anything he can say to impress her, he blurts out: "Ya know, teacher says they're serving pumpkin pie for dessert today!"
"Oh, how I do love pumpkin pie", Wilda exclaims as she's departs eagerly for the lunchroom, "thank you so much for being the bearer of good news!". The flutters in Horace's chest gradually filter away as the realization of Wilda's imminent disappointment grows. Dun dun duuunnnn...

Aaaannnd scene! Ok, you catch my drift. McCain is just as much a liar as that little bastard Horace is. Using semantics as a crutch in no way makes up for the moral failing of attempting to make people think things that are untrue.

Now Obama, FUCKING CALL HIM ON IT! Please. Seriously, dude. I respect your poise, your class, but man, fucking call a press conference or something and hit him back. There is so much more fodder Obama can use, that is actually true, to smear McCain. Do it or else people are blame your classy ass for 4 more disastrous fucking years.

Check out this conversation between Ebert and Clinton from 1999, actually one of the more candid interviews I've seen with the president, and he's mainly just geeking out on movies he likes.

RE: You know, here's Bogart who wasn't very tall, wasn't very handsome, had kind of a lisp, needed a hairpiece, smoked too much and is just about the most popular movie star of the century just ending.

WJC: He's just fabulous. I was thinking about The other day I watched "African Queen" again, the other day just to see it, because it's just an unbelievable movie. You know, and he just There was something about him.

RE: There was.

WJC: And he was magic. He was great in the dramas, he was a great comedian, he was really funny in the funny roles he had and in the movies where he played a bad guy he was a compelling bad guy, but it didn't destroy his box office appeal. And he could do things, he could get away with anything on the screen because he was so authentic. I don't know enough about his life to know, but he was gangbusters. And the range he had was stunning.

RE: He was great. You know, I have a theory that the real movie stars for me are the ones who were movie stars when I was still growing up at home. In that, the movie stars I meet now as a movie critic are just other people who are about my age. In other words, when I met John Wayne for the first time I was in awe, because he was John Wayne, but if I meet Al Pacino well he's Al Pacino. Is there anybody living who you've met who strikes you in the same way as the movie stars of your childhood.

WJC: Yeah. DeNiro and Streep. I think they're of that quality.

RE: So that even when they're in the room with you they have the star quality that let's say Bogart had on the screen.

WJC: Yeah. They both I've been friendly with them, Hillary and I have, and they've been uncommonly kind to us and they're my contemporaries in age, Meryl's younger than I am a little, but they're just They're gifts and they're range are so extraordinary. Look at all the different roles DeNiro's been in, he's a Jesuit in 16th century south Brazil and he's a Jake LaMotta and he's great in all those Italian mobster movies, but he's got a real range you know. And I think Meryl Streep's one of the two or three greatest female actresses ever on the screen.

RE: Oh, she is.

WJC: I think that there are very few actresses ever in the movies with the range and power she has.

RE: People talk about her accents, even in "Music of the Heart" as a music teacher, that's really an accent, that's not the way she talks.

WJC: No. She did great as Roberta Guaspari (sp). She was great. That's a great movie. But you know, how did she develop the accent for "Sophie's Choice?"

RE: I don't know.

WJC: And she also is the best actress when she's not talking of anyone I've ever seen. When they make her in "Sophie's Choice," she's got to make a decision between which one of her kids to give up. You know, the most inhuman thing, just about, the most sort of non- physically violent, inhuman thing ever on the screen, you know just the picture of her face. And I remember those in "The Deer Hunter,"
which is my favorite Vietnam War movie, the guy comes back to their little Pennsylvania town to tell her that her, the love of her life was killed in Vietnam and she's working in the grocery store and he keeps following her around and he's trying to tell her and she's fooling with the merchandise. I mean there's a long period of time where she doesn't say a word, it's one of the most effective scenes I've ever seen in the movies.

Read on, it's great. They geek out on everything from Blazing Saddles to Fight Club. It's easy to forget what a brilliant guy Clinton is, especially underneath his faux-folksy veneer, but the guy is brilliant. It's a fascinating read.

And hilarious.

If you're a Firefox user looking to get your geek on, check out Ubiquity. Take five minutes to figure it out, and browsing will never be the same again.

Yet another reason why the Republicans need to have their asses handed to them.

I often have the urge to laugh at tragic events, or cry during happy times, but for this guy it's a constant facet of his life.

Obama opposes the government funding severance pay for the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (and Funky Winkerbean?). Damn fucking right. Most Republicans would probably be for it, in spite of the fact that it's antithetical to conservatism.

Yup.

Well, it worked. No matter all the scandals and the fact that it was an obvious grab for the Clinton gyno-voters, white women are switching to McCain. Sigh. Hill-dog, please, please, smack them back into their places, please?

Yesterday's score:

Manhattan

Shaft

Shall We Dance?

Lady Killer

Chopping Mall


5 bucks. Ahhhh, that's the stuff...

A Fela Kuti musical... Hmmmmm, not sure about this one...

This video makes me very angry. Be sure to watch to the end. (via DJA)

Clive Barker on PG-13 horror:
"It's one of the most disgusting developments in the last few years. The whole notion of a PG-13 horror movie to me is a contradiction in terms. It's like having a XXX Disney picture. It doesn't work."

According to a new study I have high self-esteem, I'm creative, I'm introverted, not gentle, I have low self-esteem, I'm not at ease, not hard-working, not creative, etc. (thanks, C)

Is anyone else disgusted with CNN.com's new "Living" section? It's like they've created their own little US Weekly section of their website. C'mon guys, you're diluting your brand. And this is one of the most awkward, poorly-written pieces of fluff I've read in a while.

The most popular very-wrong reason to have sex, revenge sex never ends well.

Hooking up with his best friend because you're angry at your boyfriend will get you nowhere. If you do manage to break up their friendship, then you're stuck with an untrustworthy dude (if he did it to him, he'll do it to you).

Even worse, there's always the (strong) possibility that he went right back and told his buddy and the two of them are now comparing notes over high-fives and hot wings.

Try reading some of that out loud. Trust me, you'll feel like a douche-bag, try it.

Watch this and then post it yourself or send it to as many people as you can.

Palin's performance last night was impressive and surprising. She knows how to deliver a speech, even though she didn't write the speech, and it wasn't even written for her. Yes, it was mean-spirited, bitterly partisan, and misleading, but that's just par for the course for the Republicans. I think she has a future in politics, whether we like it or not.

Here it is:


(embed may not show up in all RSS readers)

Something else struck me about the speech. Allow me a digression, if you please. Ok, so the other night I was at the bar with some friends after a little recording. There was a TV in my line-of-sight showing baseball so I was casually watching it. I am completely indifferent to sports, so when I find myself watching them my mind often wanders. It seems that the two most Americana sports are baseball and football. When you think back to the "Golden Age" of American conservative values, the '50s, images of salted peanuts at baseball games and fight-songs at football games are readily conjured. The one thing both of these games have in common is incessant interruptions, something basketball, with its more urban/metropolitan appeal, is relatively free of. These sports tend to cater to our shortened attention spans, our preference for intense action in short bursts.

I've noticed a trend evolving with every successive state of the union that Bush has given. The length of time between applause shortens and the speech is increasingly divided into small chunks, some even a sentence long. This is mainly because Bush is a terrible public speaker, so the tactful Republican congress did what they could to make it easier on him. But this trend has solidified into a full-fledged practice. Republicans were determined for Palin to come off a success last night, so the Bush treatment was applied, consciously or not.

Perhaps ironically, I would argue that this trend, and the aforementioned tradition in sports, speaks to the American spirit against passivity. I would guess that most viewers of these sports would prefer to watch in the company of others, because the constant interruptions give them a chance to chat about the game with their friends, or refill the salsa in their nacho hat or whatever; it gives them moments of interactivity and individuality, no matter how superficial. The fractured Bush-style speech gives the audience periodic moments of emotional release, no matter how banal and tragic it may seem to someone on the outside. A common cynical and condescending view is that these people are just "sheeple" baaa-ing their approval to their masters. But is the herd mentality of conventioneers chanting "Drill Baby Drill!" really so much more reprehensible than the herd mentality of the Rage Against the Machine audience chanting "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!"? Sure, one makes me feel ill and one makes me feel inspired, but I have to wonder how much of my own reaction is simply bias.

That said, Palin's speech was pure pop sensationalism. It was fluff. The deepest it ever got was the increasingly prevalent inspiration-on-a-stick formula of "The X of Y, rather than the Y of X". This is something I've been hearing more and more of this season. Here's Palin's:

In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.

Bill Clinton had one the other day that, I'll admit, I kinda fawned over:

People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.

I heard that formula like 3 or 4 different times last night and it killed every time. Jesus, we're suckers aren't we?

Here's some of the text from her speech, so you can see a visual representation of the soundbitiness (new word I just invented) I was talking about. If you didn't watch/hear the speech, imagine a five to fifteen second pause between each line break, as the audience shrieked their affection.

But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up.

And in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people.

I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law.

While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I also drive myself to work.

And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef - although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary.

Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest - and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works.

Our state budget is under control.

We have a surplus.

And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.

I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.

I told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for that Bridge to Nowhere.

Yeah, except you were for it.

Anyway to sum up, as creepy as it was during the Obama speech when the camera would turn to his starry-eyed supporters listening in rapturous silence; it was hella more creepy to watch the RNC audiences spaz out and jump to their feet at the completion of every sentence as if Palin's talk of budget surpluses were her announcing that they all had keys to new cars under their fucking seats.

Michael Steele is leading the floor on a chant of "Drill Baby Drill! Drill Baby Drill!" Oy... This cheery rejoicing of an energy source that is doomed to run out essentially typifies the surreal mindset of most in the Republican Party.

In fact I would say that the theme of this convention is Cognitive Dissonance:

They are embracing the big-government neo-conservative policies of the last 8 years while screaming for government 'out of our lives'.

They are describing McCain's torture in gruesome detail while refusing to admit that the same tactics when employed by our own government is torture at all.

Romney is decrying "Big Brother" liberalism, without a reference to the surveillance program started by the Bush administration.

I could keep going but I'll just say this: this is a party that is dying in its current form, but they are going down fighting. I know Obama is looking to work with these people, but good luck man. If anyone could do it it's Obama I guess, but I'm looking forward to seeing how on earth he attempts to do this.

PS. Romney is fucking crazy. You'll be seeing some clips from his speech on the news I bet.

Wow, I just gained a lot of respect for soccer hooligans. Not that they were especially noble or anything, but when do you ever see people in this country stand up for their abused peers? I would have loved to see the people witnessing this employing the same response.

In this LA Times piece Crispin Sartwell makes a valid point about the logic behind the right of health care workers to refuse to perform services that violate their moral or religious beliefs.

[Thoreau] argued that although I am under no obligation to try to fix all injustices, I am under something like an absolute obligation to not push forward things that I regard as unjust, to not participate in things I regard as wrong or gratuitously hurtful. Some doctors and nurses regard abortion in precisely this way, taught so by their religion or by their experiences. I don't happen to agree with them, but the objection is clear and principled, and it ought to be respected.

The idea that, in assuming some function -- some career, for instance -- I resign my conscience to the institution or to the state is perhaps the single most pernicious notion in human history. It is at the heart of the wars and genocides of this century and the last. It is the first -- the only -- defense in any crimes-against-humanity trial: I was just doing my job; I was just obeying orders.

I agree with the right of the individual to refuse to perform these services. But the thing is, I also agree with the right of their employers to fire their asses. If you're a high school biology teacher who happens to be a Creationist and you refuse to teach evolution, go nuts, but you are putting your job on the line and you know it. I mean, if there's a slippery-slope issue it's this one. Allowing federal protections to these employees opens the door to all kinds of other possible nightmares. Personally, I think that anti-depressants are way over-prescribed. That is my personal belief. I'm sure there are many others, likely many pharmacists, who have similar beliefs. Would these pharmacists now have the right to deny Paxil to patients? I can think of a dozen other scenarios as well.

Of course, my logic leaves open the door that a sympathetic business could allow or even encourage their employees to do this. I can easily see smaller businesses in conservative states doing this. But I'm also against using federal laws to force pharmacists to prescribe medication that are against their personal beliefs. I may completely disagree with them, but I also feel it is the right of a business owner to sell only those products he wishes to sell. It may suck to live in your small town in South Dakota, but so be it.

By the way, I'm pretty sure this same debate was essentially already covered in Clerks:

Off to catch a matinee of Wall-E with Jack (second time for both of us!). Here are some links of stuff I've been wanting to post:

Takashi Miike's latest, Sukiyaki Western Django is playing this week at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. It's an adaptation of Leone's Fistful of Dollars, which itself is an adaptation of Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Looks awesome, if you can sit through Japanese actors speaking English essentially phonetically.

Henry Darger, everyone's favorite outsider artist, has an exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum this month. The exhibit will feature excerpts from Darger's 15,000 page graphic novel, The Story of the Vivian Girls, in what is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. Runs through the 21st of September.

Fuck Comcast. I downloaded 10 movies last night in protest.

I've been getting my geek on with Yahoo Pipes recently. Here's a Lifehacker feed I made with all of the Windows-only posts filtered out. Power to the people baby.

The Alien Quadrilogy for 26 bucks!

I really don't get how the 'trouble-making' protesters are always labeled "anarchists". Also, for the record, as annoying as some of these protesters can be, I will always side with a trendy pierced-up asshole in a face scarf over a paramilitary storm trooper-looking asshole spraying teargas and mace into peoples' faces. Here's some horribly biased coverage.

It's 12:30am. I'm sitting on my couch, eating Dinty Moore, watching Will and Grace on TV, and illegally downloading experimental Japanese films. I can't tell if this means my life sucks or my life is great.