And this lovely supporter of hers lets us know why we all suck:
lhp
lhp
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Clinton Supporters Mayyyybe A Little Pissed
The other political news of today: Florida and Michigan get delegate votes, but only half a vote per delegate. Meaning: Hillary lost the battle today.
lhp
lhp
lhp
lhp
Obama Resigns His Chicago Church!
Obama is, in my opinion, one of the smartest, most self-aware candidates I have ever seen or known of. Bill Clinton might be up there, along with Reagan. But Obama, being technically still a candidate for the Democratic nomination, is making moves that are both smart and strategically sound.
His latest move: He has resigned from the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, his campaign reports.
The Church of Rev. Wright, where he made incendiary remarks, that really are more common than people think. The Church where Father Pfleger preached his taunting tirade against Hillary Clinton. The Church Obama was a member of for more than 20 years. Done!
Why is this good? Obama has just completely cut off his ties with an institution that has been the most damaging presence in his campaign so far, and that would no doubt plague him against Sen. McCain. Nothing against the Church, but it now carries a negative connotation whenever it comes up in a conversation, and it hurts Obama every time.
He has just cut off his ties to probably his biggest political liability. This hurts McCain more than help Obama, really. And Obama knows this. He knows he can anger the black community a bit by doing this and take a few hits, because he is improving his widespread likeability in the long run. McCain must go back to age and experience. A debate Obama has beaten Clinton at so far.
lhp
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Murdoch Said It: McCain Will Lose
In what has to be one of the biggest surprises of the general election so far (yeah, Hillary, your show is over), Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp, Wall Street Journal, and Fox News, stated clearly: McCain will lose BIG against Obama.
This is one of the biggest problems for McCain, galvanizing the Republican base. He can sway moderates and independents, but the loud and powerful base of the Republican party cannot seem to like the guy. When you have skeptics in your midst, you are fighting a three-front war.
lhp
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sign of the Apocalypse: Dunkin Donuts Ad Is 'Too Arab'
A conservative pundit thought the new Dunkin Donuts ad featuring Rachel Ray (man, everybody hates her now, huh?), where she is wearing a scarf, is 'too arab', and apparently promotes jihad. Dunking Donughts promotes Jihad? How about that for a fight against obesity slogan.
lhp
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Engineered Generation
Google is trying to rule the world. Slowly, the Internet giant is staking a claim in as many fields as it can within a relatively short amount of time. 5 years ago, who would have thought Google would end up becoming a verb, an icon, a Wal-Mart, a political power-broker, and a standard employees wishfully hold their employers to. Emphasis on 'wishfully,' unless you are in my generation. While most working Americans would love to work for a place that even flirted with the Google benchmark of employee-spoiling, they can only wish for such a dream.
My generation does not wish. We DEMAND a Google in our lives. We believe we are entitled, or at the very least, deserving, of the pampering, the freedom, the pride that we are changing the world with everything we do, the belief that we are living a life of all-encompassing purpose (the "ideal life", whatever that means), that Google employees have. If we can't get that, then we move on from job to job until we find a life path we are happy with.
This would be a reach of a conclusion if it weren't for all the companies echoing the pain of its reality. Employers continually voice their concern and annoyance over the high turnover rate with their employees in the 18-25ish age range. The main reason for leaving: dissatisfaction at the workplace. Not management style, growth opportunities, unproductive work environment, but dissatisfaction. They claim they do not LOVE what they do.
Any working American wants to love what they do, no doubt, but the generational gap is evident by the priority satisfaction of work has over other things. Most older working Americans would value stability, growth, loyalty, and compensation at least at the same level as satisfaction, if not all of them being much higher on the list.
My generation not only values satisfaction at the workplace, but everywhere else in our lives. Our hobbies, our friends, our shows, our movies, our toys, are geared toward satisfaction, albeit quick and momentary. We are quick to buy the new iPod or drool over the iPhone. We prefer to hang out, rather than 'date', as studies have shown, dismissing the amount of time and energy invested in cultivating a dating partner, and instead going toward the ease and detachment of the hang out with friends of both sexes. Starbucks has made a good amount of their money counting on this idea, making coffee shops hangouts again where people go 'get a cup of coffee,' with implications ranging from getting to know someone to reading with a friend to catching up. Our movies tend to be made for quick laughs or quick thrills, along with quick jumps to the top and then to the bottom of the box office list. We love series that have a clear ending (dating New York or Flava Flav, picking the new pop star/model, or finding out if they break out of prison...again). Satisfaction should be quick and unattached.
The reason for this new generational gap can never be completely ascertained, as none of the previous have been. Generation Xers were once considered the prime example of anti-establishment types that were too unhappy with their situation that they just gave up, accepted the 'life and growing up sucks' mantra, and conformed...as non-conformists. But now, with the affluence they are learning to love, they are becoming the very yuppies they once loathed. The 80's yuppie is now the Gen Xer archetype, with a few caveats. They loved The Police, and religiously nodded along to 'Reality Bites', and now they are back to loving the new Police, Coldplay and Norah Jones, and try to keep Winona Ryder's career afloat. Baby boomers told you to never trust anyone over 30, only to go against their motto by cementing their 60's identity into a life-long philosophy (e.g. the 58 year-old hippie who composts anything withing eyesight, the 62 year-old former Nixonite, now Michael Savage faithful, or anywhere in between).
Generational gaps can be better understood by looking at their parting point and how those differences were nurtured. In my case, my generation has been exposed to many of the same circumstances. We don't have a Great War to look back to, or a Great Depression which we all lived through; we don't have a Vietnam War to side with or against, or a consumer culture to protest or fall in love with. We have accepted the consumer culture more than any other generation. Our war is in Iraq, but our differences were not drawn because of it, but before it, and it is a war as detached from the home soil as any we've had. We have suffered through a boom and a bust, but they have been only one of the reasons we differ in worldviews. As a whole, we are a generation of perfectionists, narcissists, and 'idealists,' in a very different way than any other generation before us. Comparatively, we are the best generation with the worst state of the world.
The most often used word in the 80's was 'me' or 'I'. 'I' was the favorite letter, and how most of the sentences began. This new-found importance of self-worth was passed on to the children born after 1983, when the true 80's culture was accepted. (I once heard that the 90's did not begin on January 1, 1990, but in 1991, when Nirvana's 'Nevermind' took down Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' from the no.1 spot on the Billboard charts). A movement of constant encouragement was in full swing in childhood development. Progressive education, with its student-centric approach, where children are not 'taught', Per Se, but helped to find their voice, was becoming widely embraced. "You can do anything you set your mind to" was what parents were encouraged to say to their children by public service announcements and psychiatrists. Sesame Street, and later Barney, earned their own gold stars by reminding children they were 'special,' they could do/be anything, and imagination was your only limit. Limitless potential was adopted by most of American parents, and children liked it...for the time being.
Then they grew. We grew. The world ended up being much less interested in our potential, and much more interested in old ideologies, traditions, and rivalries. The early 90's were ruled by the Gen Xers. They had their short war in Iraq.. They had their bust in the 80's, and were now years away from their boom. We watched the 90's innovator sail the tidal wave of quick profits and overnight fortune. The Internet was handed over to us, and we began to tinker with it like our Legos. By the time the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers recognized the importance of the Internet, we had already customized it to our wants and needs. The boom then became a bust. The bubble blew, and the millionaires were once again human. Young humans. Again, we watched our older brothers and sisters fall a precipitous fall. The 80's yuppie and the 90's innovator paved a path of internal dissatisfaction and failed dreams for the 2000's instant star to exploit.
Beginning with the Y2K bug, the year 2000 brought a new face to our national conscience. It was an ephemeral one. It was unstable, momentarily recognizable, and self-effacing. As Time proclaimed a year or so ago, "You" were the person of the year. Once again we refocused our attention on the individual, but in a different way than in the 80's or 90's. We were not that much interested in social stature and business cards, or innovation and start ups. Our televisions were dominated by American Idol, reality shows of all odd sorts, the ADD-happy '24', and the demise of the traditional sitcom. Innovations such as Google, YouTube, Myspace, and the iPod were momentary satisfactions, but also star-makers. Instant fame could be granted easier than ever before. For better or worse, an embarrassing or awe-inspiring bit of content could make you a celebrity, thanks to YouTube. As Andy Warhol predicted, it seemed that everyone would eventually have their 15 minutes of fame. But what sort of fame-seeking was this?
It feels like another side of capitalism. Commodification is back in the picture. It never left, but from time to time it becomes a blinding, brash light. Greed is a proven associate of commodification: it is easier to own everything when everything is ownable. This was the case with Reagan's America and Clinton's America. A good country was a greedy, thriving country. It is different now. The dream is not so palpable. Mythical as it is, the American Dream has always felt within reach. Even when people fell reaching for it, the notion of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and trying again was a badge of honor.
My generation does not believe that anymore. We want our American Dream now, and it should be showcased on American Idol. This is not to say we all seek celebrity status, or our record deal, but our fame is sought for fame's sake, our ideal life for the sake of living an ideal life. We believe we deserve it. Many have already called us the Entitlement Generation, because we feel we are owed something as soon as we enter the 'real' world. We are owed because we are 'special,' and how dare you not recognize our potential. We are meant to be presidents, stars, and geniuses. Or so we were told. Now we feel like it might have been of an exaggeration, one of those things your high school coach would say, that if you give 110% you can beat the private school from up-state. We appreciate the effort and encouragement, but now no sort of encouragement can help us cope. We are now, because of this enthusiastic coaching, perfectionists.
This generation is not full of narcissists letting everyone know of their existence, but a generation that believes in the 'ideal' everything. An ideal us, an ideal job, an ideal life. If we were being told the truth when we were young, this is all attainable. The more we find out it is not that easy, the more frustrated we become.
We are perfectionists, and as such, we can never be fully satisfied. Perfectionists have momentary satisfactions. This is so because we believe in being good, but more in being better. There is always room for improvement. Perfectionists are privileged because of an ingrained ambition in regards to almost everything. Perfectionists are doomed because we will live a life for a goal, not the process.
Unfortunately, we were born into a world that is not perfect. In fact, it might be at its most unstable: global warming, terrorism, tribal conflict, extreme poverty, nuclear proliferation, recessions, rampant corruption, school shootings, drug trafficking, homophobia, xenophobia, et al. How do we fit in this imperfect world? Are we the middle child of history, with their own high ambitions, but always crying for the attention that is passed over to the older brother or younger sister. Are all these inventions, like social networking and Google, just a way for us to make even tacit contact with the whole world, and make sense of our place in it? Who are we, and why are we so special?
I am not perfect. No one is. Both those things bug me.
lhp
Any working American wants to love what they do, no doubt, but the generational gap is evident by the priority satisfaction of work has over other things. Most older working Americans would value stability, growth, loyalty, and compensation at least at the same level as satisfaction, if not all of them being much higher on the list.
My generation not only values satisfaction at the workplace, but everywhere else in our lives. Our hobbies, our friends, our shows, our movies, our toys, are geared toward satisfaction, albeit quick and momentary. We are quick to buy the new iPod or drool over the iPhone. We prefer to hang out, rather than 'date', as studies have shown, dismissing the amount of time and energy invested in cultivating a dating partner, and instead going toward the ease and detachment of the hang out with friends of both sexes. Starbucks has made a good amount of their money counting on this idea, making coffee shops hangouts again where people go 'get a cup of coffee,' with implications ranging from getting to know someone to reading with a friend to catching up. Our movies tend to be made for quick laughs or quick thrills, along with quick jumps to the top and then to the bottom of the box office list. We love series that have a clear ending (dating New York or Flava Flav, picking the new pop star/model, or finding out if they break out of prison...again). Satisfaction should be quick and unattached.
The reason for this new generational gap can never be completely ascertained, as none of the previous have been. Generation Xers were once considered the prime example of anti-establishment types that were too unhappy with their situation that they just gave up, accepted the 'life and growing up sucks' mantra, and conformed...as non-conformists. But now, with the affluence they are learning to love, they are becoming the very yuppies they once loathed. The 80's yuppie is now the Gen Xer archetype, with a few caveats. They loved The Police, and religiously nodded along to 'Reality Bites', and now they are back to loving the new Police, Coldplay and Norah Jones, and try to keep Winona Ryder's career afloat. Baby boomers told you to never trust anyone over 30, only to go against their motto by cementing their 60's identity into a life-long philosophy (e.g. the 58 year-old hippie who composts anything withing eyesight, the 62 year-old former Nixonite, now Michael Savage faithful, or anywhere in between).
Generational gaps can be better understood by looking at their parting point and how those differences were nurtured. In my case, my generation has been exposed to many of the same circumstances. We don't have a Great War to look back to, or a Great Depression which we all lived through; we don't have a Vietnam War to side with or against, or a consumer culture to protest or fall in love with. We have accepted the consumer culture more than any other generation. Our war is in Iraq, but our differences were not drawn because of it, but before it, and it is a war as detached from the home soil as any we've had. We have suffered through a boom and a bust, but they have been only one of the reasons we differ in worldviews. As a whole, we are a generation of perfectionists, narcissists, and 'idealists,' in a very different way than any other generation before us. Comparatively, we are the best generation with the worst state of the world.
The most often used word in the 80's was 'me' or 'I'. 'I' was the favorite letter, and how most of the sentences began. This new-found importance of self-worth was passed on to the children born after 1983, when the true 80's culture was accepted. (I once heard that the 90's did not begin on January 1, 1990, but in 1991, when Nirvana's 'Nevermind' took down Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' from the no.1 spot on the Billboard charts). A movement of constant encouragement was in full swing in childhood development. Progressive education, with its student-centric approach, where children are not 'taught', Per Se, but helped to find their voice, was becoming widely embraced. "You can do anything you set your mind to" was what parents were encouraged to say to their children by public service announcements and psychiatrists. Sesame Street, and later Barney, earned their own gold stars by reminding children they were 'special,' they could do/be anything, and imagination was your only limit. Limitless potential was adopted by most of American parents, and children liked it...for the time being.
Then they grew. We grew. The world ended up being much less interested in our potential, and much more interested in old ideologies, traditions, and rivalries. The early 90's were ruled by the Gen Xers. They had their short war in Iraq.. They had their bust in the 80's, and were now years away from their boom. We watched the 90's innovator sail the tidal wave of quick profits and overnight fortune. The Internet was handed over to us, and we began to tinker with it like our Legos. By the time the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers recognized the importance of the Internet, we had already customized it to our wants and needs. The boom then became a bust. The bubble blew, and the millionaires were once again human. Young humans. Again, we watched our older brothers and sisters fall a precipitous fall. The 80's yuppie and the 90's innovator paved a path of internal dissatisfaction and failed dreams for the 2000's instant star to exploit.
Beginning with the Y2K bug, the year 2000 brought a new face to our national conscience. It was an ephemeral one. It was unstable, momentarily recognizable, and self-effacing. As Time proclaimed a year or so ago, "You" were the person of the year. Once again we refocused our attention on the individual, but in a different way than in the 80's or 90's. We were not that much interested in social stature and business cards, or innovation and start ups. Our televisions were dominated by American Idol, reality shows of all odd sorts, the ADD-happy '24', and the demise of the traditional sitcom. Innovations such as Google, YouTube, Myspace, and the iPod were momentary satisfactions, but also star-makers. Instant fame could be granted easier than ever before. For better or worse, an embarrassing or awe-inspiring bit of content could make you a celebrity, thanks to YouTube. As Andy Warhol predicted, it seemed that everyone would eventually have their 15 minutes of fame. But what sort of fame-seeking was this?
It feels like another side of capitalism. Commodification is back in the picture. It never left, but from time to time it becomes a blinding, brash light. Greed is a proven associate of commodification: it is easier to own everything when everything is ownable. This was the case with Reagan's America and Clinton's America. A good country was a greedy, thriving country. It is different now. The dream is not so palpable. Mythical as it is, the American Dream has always felt within reach. Even when people fell reaching for it, the notion of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and trying again was a badge of honor.
My generation does not believe that anymore. We want our American Dream now, and it should be showcased on American Idol. This is not to say we all seek celebrity status, or our record deal, but our fame is sought for fame's sake, our ideal life for the sake of living an ideal life. We believe we deserve it. Many have already called us the Entitlement Generation, because we feel we are owed something as soon as we enter the 'real' world. We are owed because we are 'special,' and how dare you not recognize our potential. We are meant to be presidents, stars, and geniuses. Or so we were told. Now we feel like it might have been of an exaggeration, one of those things your high school coach would say, that if you give 110% you can beat the private school from up-state. We appreciate the effort and encouragement, but now no sort of encouragement can help us cope. We are now, because of this enthusiastic coaching, perfectionists.
This generation is not full of narcissists letting everyone know of their existence, but a generation that believes in the 'ideal' everything. An ideal us, an ideal job, an ideal life. If we were being told the truth when we were young, this is all attainable. The more we find out it is not that easy, the more frustrated we become.
We are perfectionists, and as such, we can never be fully satisfied. Perfectionists have momentary satisfactions. This is so because we believe in being good, but more in being better. There is always room for improvement. Perfectionists are privileged because of an ingrained ambition in regards to almost everything. Perfectionists are doomed because we will live a life for a goal, not the process.
Unfortunately, we were born into a world that is not perfect. In fact, it might be at its most unstable: global warming, terrorism, tribal conflict, extreme poverty, nuclear proliferation, recessions, rampant corruption, school shootings, drug trafficking, homophobia, xenophobia, et al. How do we fit in this imperfect world? Are we the middle child of history, with their own high ambitions, but always crying for the attention that is passed over to the older brother or younger sister. Are all these inventions, like social networking and Google, just a way for us to make even tacit contact with the whole world, and make sense of our place in it? Who are we, and why are we so special?
I am not perfect. No one is. Both those things bug me.
lhp
Monday, May 26, 2008
FOX News=Hilarious!
Oh man, FOX News is so funny. They need a standup routine. Maybe one at the WTF Comedy Club.
There's a knee-slapper for ya.
lhp
There's a knee-slapper for ya.
lhp
Friday, May 23, 2008
Favorite Movies Seen In 2008 (So far)
What good is my insatiable appetite for film if I cannot let everyone know what I believe doesn't suck? Exactly. So here are a few movies I've watched this year thus far that make me happy all over. (Note: These are movies I've SEEN in 2008, not necessarily movies that came out in 2008, so this will include many a Netflix-ed bunch)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
There is no better summary for this movie than: Boys behaving badly. Anything you can think a grown man can do to take away any wisdom or good nature he has acquired throughout the years is shown here. Cheating? Yep. Cheating with your brother's wife? Yep. Stealing? Yep. Stealing from your parent's business? Yep. Murder? Yep. Murdering........Ah! You will have to watch to know the rest. Basically, this is a movie that reminds you how messed up America can become, when money trumps everything, and stupidity comes a close second. Ethan Hawke, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney are amazing in this movie. Sidney Lumet is great at directing this very interesting and entertaining look at the dark side of family and greed.
Iron Man
So Robert Downey Jr got chosen for this role. So what? Did that surprise you? By now, you should know serious, gifted dramatic actors make the best superheroes. Toby Maguire, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, Eric Bana, George Cloon...err, well, almost always. And now Robert Downey Jr, the chameleon that has the heart of a bratty kid and the liver of Keith Richards. He IS Iron Man, and I don't only mean the character, but the movie itself. His joy and fascination with the character is evident from the first scene. The movie is not tedious in its introduction of who this guy who becomes Iron Man is, but instead focuses on how he toys with the idea of having already become Iron Man. The only drawback is the kinda cheesy fight scene at the end, which is riddled with good guy-bad guy cliches (the bad guy who talks to much, and the good guy who is hanging from a something or other an inch away from his death). But that doesn't take away from the fact that this movie is a great and deserving blockbuster. A smart and funny script along with Robert Downey Jr's gift for boyish charisma and Jon Favreau's palpable hard work make Iron Man a summer movie in the best way possible.
Lost In Translation
I fell in love with this movie again. There are so many personal attachments to this movie it is not even funny. But the movies is! Well, not ha-ha funny, but a sweeter, relaxed sort of funny. I had this movie, then someone stole it, then I rented it, then I bought it. The best thing about Lost In Translation is how simple it is. There is no fancy dialogue, no special effects, no ground-breaking performances, no beautiful, sprawling cinematography (although it is essentially a love letter to Japan), and no head-spinning twists and turns. It is just a movie about an aging actor who does not like his life, and a young girl who does not know what she wants to do in life, and how they meet and create a great connection in a foreign land. That is it. But Sofia Coppola's direction and script are so well-tuned that no scene feels unnecessary and no feelings feel forced or untapped. Bill Murray does a great job at portraying the aging actor with actor's guilt (going for the money, not the art) and injects enough humor into the movie to make it even more organic. This movie is about looking and finding, and that is why it is so universal.
Gone Baby Gone
I was surprised to hear the Affleck boys were teaming up to do a movie, one as the director and the other in the leading role. How even more surprising to find out that it didn't suck? Now, Casey Affleck is an actor I've often felt is way underrated, but I honestly did not think he had this in him. As for Ben, well, he's had enough down arrows next to his name to make anyone squeamish about a project he is involved in. But both deliver. And this movie does also. It is gritty, and haunting, and very human. The plot involves a little girl that was kidnapped, and the family that hires Casey's character and his wife to help them find her. The police are bother by both of them, as are other members of the little girl's family. Soon, even they are at odds with each other. The twists this movie has are very logical, but as a show of how well Ben directs this Baahstan movie, the movie is always a step ahead and keeps you guessing, even though you eventually guess right. The dilemmas are important ones, and hard to solve, since they are so personal. Casey does a very good job, and Ben is right there to help his little brother deliver the goods. Don't be surprised Ben and Casey will soon become the new Ben and Matt (Damon).
Bringing Up Baby and Charade
I pair these two because they both feature a Cary (Grant) and a Hepburn (Katherine and Audrey, respectively), and because they both work in very similar ways. Also, because my hands are growing tired from all this typing. In Bringing Up Baby, Cary plays the loof to Katherine's intrepid Susan, convinced that she is in love with him and makes every attempt to have him with her. In Charade, Cary plays the statuesque bon homme to Audrey's intrepid Reggie, who falls in love with him and can't keep her hands off the goods. It is interesting to see Cary Grant's progression throughout his years in Hollywood. Bringing Up Baby was one of his first movies, while Charade was his third to last. You see how he develops his unwavering, iceberg like confidence and demeanor. He moves away from the flailing, lovable fool in Bringing Up Baby to the cool and calm sneak in Charade. The Hepburns are a hoot to watch also. They both have an endearing, capricious girly quality to them. They can be sweet when they need to be, and flamboyant when they ought to be in order to get what they want (Cary). Charade has a drawback, though: It can settle on what it wants. It wants to be a romantic comedy, which works, but it also wants to be a thriller (not so much), a love letter to Paris (well done), and a murder mystery (meh). The dialogue in it is sharp and Cary and Audrey's chemistry is red-hot. As for Bringing Up Baby, Katherine steals the show and has trouble giving it back to Cary, who manages well on his own because of his natural likeability. If there was ever a reason to look back at why classic movies are so important, here are two.
I will add more later. Any movies you suggest?
lhp
Obama-Clinton Ticket?
Hillary and Bil are starting to see the light. And it has a smiling Obama at the end of it, with two thumbs and a "I'm the President and You're Not" t-shirt on. Now what?
The Clintons are not satisfied with a better-luck-next-election farewells. They want something to take home and show off. A VP spot? No? A Secretary of State spot? How about the head of maintenance at the White House?
Bill is talking up Hillary for a VP spot in the Obama choo-choo. I hope Obama is smarter than that.
Taking up Hillary as his VP, Obama not only inherits years of rancor, but a nosy husband, a untrustworthy running mate, and a lost opportunity to give it to someone who is much better suited for his brand of politics (Bloomberg? Richardson? Edwards? Hagel?). Obama, please do not listen to Bill on this one. He usually isn't the best at speaking when the subject of discussion is a woman.
lhp
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sign of the Apocalypse: Michael Savage Makes Kennedy's Tumor Funny
I am proud to be a Bay Area resident. But sometimes I get a whiff I don't like. This is one of those whiffs.
Our resident Limbaugh, Michael Savage, knows how to make a splash. He makes the third shaft of the triumphant triumvirate with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity that raises hell and listeners across the country. And a fatal condition wont stop this Savage host to be just that.
Check this post out, with the sample audio in it, that lets you know how funny Michael Savage thinks Ted Kennedy's brain tumor is (according to him: Preeeetty funny).
I would be pissed at him, if I didn't already feel sorry for him. I can't will myself to emote so much on his behalf.
lhp
Monday, May 19, 2008
Your Fatty is an Inner Fatty
This new bit of research sheds (pun not intended) some light on our obesity problem. Some key points:
-The brain may establish what your weight range throughout adulthood will be, even before you are born
-Your attempts to diet may be in vain, as your body will stop your weight loss, or stop your weight gain
-Our eating history (eating greasy burgers and finishing with apple pie) may be 'romantacizing' our habits
-We tend to overestimate the amount of calories we burn in exercise, and underestimate the number of calories we eat
So your fatty may not be 'your' anything...it may be YOU all along.
If that isn't enough to depress you, how about the fact that fat people are destroying the world through global warming!!! Al Gore, save us from THEM!!!
And lastly, the research brought to you by those yada yada Heart Associations may be misleading.
Who can we trust anymore? The ice-cream truck man?
lhp
Hillary Clinton's Insanity
We all love a winner. We all love one, because we all want to be one in this country that rewards winning today more than winning a lot yesterday. So we like the guy/girl who is ahead right now.
Obama was not that guy in the beginning. Last fall, he was behind an average of 20 pts in the polls going against Hillary Clinton. Hillary was Hillary, the presumptive Democratic nominee. She has Bill, a big-state Senate background, and big enough balls to crack a chestnut. She still has all that, but she wants more.
The nomination fight is nothing more than a bar fight now. Obama is the sober guy defending his girl, the Democratic nomination, from the belligerent drunk (Hillary) who keeps trying to cop a feel and telling her buddies (her 'base') she is taking her home for sure. Those fights are hard to end, because the drunk never knows when to stop, and wont, until she is on the floor, embarrassed.
This is Hillary's problem. In today's New York Times, new evidence of her stubborness was presented to the jury. According to their political blog, The Caucus:
Adding a new mathematical twist to her case for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Monday that she had not only won more popular votes than Senator Barack Obama, she had won states totaling far more electoral votes.Interesting, as she had made it a point of attack that Obama's win in swing states would not matter in the general election, because they would not be won by a Democrat. Now, she is saying those same rules apply to the primary. But there is more:
As she has in the past, she discounted Mr. Obama’s victories in caucus states and states likely to vote Republican in November, ticking off Alaska, Utah, Nebraska, Kansas and Idaho. “Many of his votes and delegates come from caucus state which have a relatively low turnout,” she said.So the record turnout that has come because of her fight with Obama (if not because of Obama himself) is not relevant. She believes what was true years ago is still true now, and nothing changes as time goes by.
She also dismissed Democratic nominating rules requiring proportional allocation of delegates from primaries and caucuses, rather than the winner-take-all system used by the Republicans.
“If we had same rules as the Republicans, I would be the nominee right now,” she said.
Ahhhh, the trademark of a sore loser, blaming everything else except yourself. If she were a Republican, she would be the nominee by now, she says. Hillary needs to stop ACTING like a Republican, otherwise, she might get a tap on the shoulder by McCain as a running mate. It would be smart move in that he knows she goes for the jugular, even against a former party member.
Hillary is not a Democrat anymore. She is just Hillary Clinton. She knows no party loyalty, no respect for democracy, and no ethical pathway to the nomination/presidency. In this way, she is no worse that George Bush was when he ran against McCain in 2000: Win at all costs.
Here is a word of advice, Hillary, make this your campaign slogan:
I’m going to make my case and I’m going to make it until I’m the nomineeYou said it, girl.
lhp
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Hillary Supporter:"I can't vote for Obama...because he's muslim"
How unfortunate. Maybe SNL was right, maybe Hillary's supporters are racists....
lhp
lhp
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Lollipop (And Other Refreshments)
By moi. But first by Lil Wayne, of course.
This is what happens when you have free time and restlessness. When I heard this song it reminded me of the old concession stand commercials where the candy and hot dogs would talk to you. Then I heard the lyrics, and noticed how much this song has to DO with hot dogs wink wink.
lhp
This is what happens when you have free time and restlessness. When I heard this song it reminded me of the old concession stand commercials where the candy and hot dogs would talk to you. Then I heard the lyrics, and noticed how much this song has to DO with hot dogs wink wink.
lhp
Friday, May 09, 2008
6 Ways To Sound Like A Film Snob
You are going on a date with a film lover...Or you are in a cocktail party conversation where things go from "Best movie you saw lately" to "That was really well made..."...Or you just want to impress your friends how snobbish you are now, and how their tastes in movie are only driven by explosions and kisses in the rain. All in all, you want to sound like a Film Snob.
Good for you. The delights of being a film snob are pretty much the same as being any other sort of snob, and they come with the same repercussions. You will often be called upon to recommend good movies, unknown movies, indie movies, and will have people listen to your criticisms as gospel. Of course, you will also be considered a tad elitist and preachy. But whatever, that is what they get for being film philistines.
Here are some ways you can sound like a Film Snob, and not need to add Bergman or Focus Feature movies to your Netflix que (but you should, really, now):
1. When describing a movie, use adjectives you would use for a person
For example, I might call a friend of mine "manipulative and self-indulgent". Guess what? I just gave you a great way of describing Rules of Attraction! How about "unsure of itself" or "showy" or "unengaging"? All great adjectives you can use for a movie.
"I felt that while the first Matrix kicked ass, the second and third were just showy and were completely unengaging"
Booya, an angel just got its wings.
2. Wiki a movie
Whenever you know what movie you are going to watch, go to www.wikipedia.org and look it up. Don't read the whole thing, you don't have time for that. Just look at the director, maybe read some stuff from the Criticism section, and see if there is anything in the References in Pop Culture section. Bingo, you just got enough snobbish fuel to light an elitist fire.
"Although Tarantino's work is very iconic, I thought Jackie Brown lacked the pop culture impact his other movies had. It might have to do with its overemphasis on dialogue and not so much on plot progression"
Makin' it rain!
3. Use only the director's last name
Martin Scorcese is just Scorcese. Wes Anderson is just Anderson. Robert Altman goes by Altman. Do not use their full names. Do not use their first names either, it makes you sound like a douche, not a snob.
4. Be negative a wee-bit
Sure, the movie was great, had everything, and it was like apple pie in your mouth. Whatever. In order to be taken seriously, you cannot ga-ga over the movie like everyone else. You are a SNOB, remember? Act like one.
Find flaws in the movie. There are always at least a couple. They can be stupid, miniscule flaws that make you sound like an anal-retentive asshole. But that is good. That means you must constantly be impressed.
Some examples?
The movie over-reached a bit (you don't have to know what that means)
The characters could've been developed into richer entities
Some of the director's shots were unfocused
When character X did this it seemed out of place
The actor who played X was not convincing throughout
The crew who did the grilling sound was lame
etc
etc
Be creative.
5. Show enthusiasm about the movie!
You may talk crap about movies, but remember, you also LOVE movies. This being said, show it. When you talk about a movie/actor/director/sound editor, show your enthusiasm by actually being into it. Understand their craft and appreciate them through your criticism. Deep inside, you should want to do what they are doing because you love it so much. Dig deep and find the point where you and the movie connects.
Or, if you can't do all that, just say stuff like this:
I loved the way yadayada
When that girl looked into his eyes, it was amazing how she captured the essence of the moment
The way King Kong cracked those T-Rex's jaws was unbelievably riveting
I crapped my pants when I found out he was dead the whole movie! Bruce!
And finally:
6. Build from here
You can talk the talk all you want, but it will makes things easier, and, in my humble personal opinion, more fun, if you actually watch movies and become engrossed in them.
Oooooh, see what I did..."Engrossed". Yeah, you can use that one, too.
lhp
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
What If: Obama Wins NC AND Indiana
The votes are still being counted, but that doesn't speculations are on hold also. North Carolina is in the bag, with a wider than expected margin. Obama obtained a new personal record, 92%, of African-American votes, and an improving working-class image.
What about Indiana? Good question. At the moment, the Clinton camp is counting on winning it, but by a rapidly dwindling margin. At the moment, Hillary is winning 51 to 49%--an hour ago, she was winning 52 to 48%. An Indiana win for Obama would be devastating to Clinton. A sweep is still a possibility, and Lake County, bordering Illinois, in Indiana is what will decide if it happens or not.
If it does, that would be the death of the Clinton campaign. Believe that it will not be because she will voluntarily drop out. She will continue to stay in the race, assure her supporters she is in it to win it, and will not hear any of the media pundits calling her campaign a sinking ship. But she will drop out. Democratic leaders will finally pressure her to drop out, if only tacitly. Al Gore might finally speak, Dean will pressure superdelegates to decide, and Pelosi will ask them to follow the will of the people (i.e. who has the most pledged delegates...Obama). If the pressure does not drop her out semi-graciously, the exodus of superdelegates from her camp to Obama's will do it. Superdelegates do not want to be the first to make a decision, but they hate to be the last to abandon a bad decision. They will flock to Obama and Obama's momentum will snowball as it did at the beginning of this primary season.
What about Hillary? I honestly believe she has crossed the point of no return. She has burned bridges, offended party faithful, and angered Obama supporters enough to make her an island within the Democratic party. She will not get a VP spot, as Obama knows he would share the light with the ClintonS. Bill's image is in probably worse shape than Hillary's, and Obama would be hurting his own chances bringing on both's bad PR. Plus, no one wants TWO bossy Clintons to deal with.
A cabinet position? Possibly. She is still respected in the party, but has essentially ruined years of friendships and connections in a few months, so she will have to work her way back up. Secretary of State, possibly?
Whatever happens, Hillary will not be present during the Inauguration Ceremony. An Indiana win for Obama will squelch any doubts about his working-class appeal, having weathered the worst set of storms in his campaign, on top of campaigning in a state similar to the ones he lost by wide margins to Hillary. He would have proven his mettle. He will look more presidential than ever before.
That ship sailed a couple of months ago for the Clintons.
lhp
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