Hankblog: June 2004

Just this side of blue

So after a hellacious week at work, I went out with some friends Saturday night to bowl and have a couple of beers. In talking over beers, I had opportunity to wax rhapsodic about Eternal Sunshine to someone who hadn't seen it yet. I made the observation that Kate Winslet made blue hair sexy to me in this movie, and that for about 5-10 minutes after seeing it the first time, I thought I wanted blue hair.

This provoked my friend Elizabeth into deviously commenting "That can still be arranged." I insisted otherwise, and threw $20 on the table saying she could not convince me to go through with it.

As someone once wrote, the best laid plans of mice and men, yadda, yadda, yadda.

In all honesty, I didn't have to do this on any level. Elizabeth and I had made plans to catch a movie at Alamo in the afternoon, but because of the hour when the movie would let out, she thought it would be impossible to get hair dye on a Sunday afternoon. I knew of a possible option, and could have just as easily not said anything.

But I got to thinking about it, and realized I have never done anything like this before in my life. This wasn't as permanent as getting a tattoo. It was just something different, a little bit crazy, and yes, maybe even a little bit foolish. But as Evil Mike told me this afternoon when I justified it by saying there was no reason not to, "Good. Anything that gets you thinking outside of the box is a good thing. More power to you."

The fact is that before a couple of years ago, I would have come up with a list of at least 20-30 different reasons NOT to do this. And all of them would have been "legitimate" in some form or fashion. But they would probably all have been boiled down by anyone who knew me more than a little bit into one word: chickenshit.

Worried about what people might say. Worried about what people might think (?!?! How freaking uptight was I then?). Worried about how I would look and for how long.

You know what. If I hated it, I could always dye it black again. No harm no foul. So what the hell. And you know what, I kinda like it.

Life's too short to live scared. So enjoy the pics, leave your thoughts in the comments. One rule though: for those of you who know me, if you're gonna be a smart ass, come strong with the cracks, or leave it at home. You have this to work with, you better come out with your best stuff. Least you can do ;-)

Thanks to Elizabeth for helping with the dye, and taking the photos. And thanks to the friends who've already seen it, and been supportive :-)

Jiminy Christmas

What the hell are Devil Rays eating lately?

The perennial last-place team beat the Florida Marlins 6-4 on Saturday night to become the first club in major league history to climb above .500 at any point in a season after being 18 games below.

This has been the most pathetic team in baseball in their short and sorry history. To see them put together this kind of run is truly shocking to a longtime fan of the game. I think I'd have to give full credit to Lou Pinella and say that right now, he might be the best manager in the game, even more so than my boy Joe Torre. To do this with this team is unbelievable.

When he joined the Mariners, he took a team that had 1 winning season in their first 25, and made them an AL contender, with four playoff appearances in eight years, and two ALCS appearances. Now he's got the perennial doormats in Tampa tasting a winning season possibly, and feeling like the sky is the limit.

It's been an interesting year in baseball when you consider that the Devil Rays, Rangers, and Tigers, a combined 112-103 (.521) at this moment were a combined 177-309 (.364) a year ago. Meanwhile the Mariners, Braves, and Diamondbacks are sitting at 91-128 (.416), when last year they were a very healthy 278-208 (.572 clip). The last shall be first and the first shall be last.

All of which will make watching what happens in August and September this season all the more interesting. We could have one hell of a baseball season on our hands before everything is said and done.

And yet, somehow, someway, somewhere, Mel Gibson has probably made money off of this.

A moment of surrealism via Tom Tomorrow.

Box office, movie geekdom, and me

Via Pharyngula, Norbizness lists the movies off the top 100 grossers of all time that he has seen in a theater when they were released. I looked over the list, and was a little disheartened to see that while Norbizness can still hold his indie creds with pride having seen less than a quarter of these puppies in a theater, I have to grudgingly admit to being a tool of the studio system, as there are only 15-20 movies on this list I haven't seen.

#26 How The Grinch Stole Christmas - which is only a half truth since I did go to see it in a theater with the former spouse, and we walked out of the thing about 1/3 of the way through. First movie I have walked out of that I paid for in years and years.

#32 Bruce Almighty - It still annoys me that tripe like this can be top 50 all time, but quality work Carrey has done like Eternal Sunshine languishes in relative obscurity by comparison.

#35 My Big Fat Greek Wedding - Ultimately seen on video.

#38 Castaway - Ditto above

#41 Rush Hour 2 - Can't believe this one is up here on this list. Jackie, what happened to you?

#46 Mission Impossible 2 - Despised the first one.

#48 Austin Powers: Goldmember - The shtick was played out by this point for me.

#56 Pearl Harbor - Ugh

#66 What Women Want - Will not see it after seeing the damn Passion. Mel is not getting one more penny of my cash.

#68 Liar Liar - More Carrey crap.

#72 Planet of the Apes - Saw it on video and wonder how in the hell it managed to make this much.

#76 Top Gun - Amazingly despite the fact that my youngest brother watched this movie to absolute frigging death at home on video, I still have not seen this one.

#77 There's Something About Mary - Saw it on video, and I'm sorry folks, it really wasn't that funny. People willing to spend this much money for a joke about semen mousse makes me weep for the future.

#80 Home Alone 2 - I'm still not proud I saw the first one.

#87 Tarzan - Disney's so gone down the toilet.

#88 A Beautiful Mind - Not much interest, although since it won Best Picture I'll see it eventually to rank it among the best/worst Oscar decisions of all time.

#91 Meet the Parents - So many people talking about the damn movie just turned me off of it.

#94 Catch Me if You Can - Might be the only Spielberg I haven't seen.

#95 Big Daddy - If it ain't Punch-Drunk Love Adam Sandler, I ain't watching it.

#96 The Sound of Music - Just no interest.

#100 The Waterboy - See #95.

So 21 movies out of 100 that I haven't seen yet, and that will likely change once SpiderMan 2 comes out and bumps Waterboy out of the top 100, leaving me at a robust 20 percent not seen.

Throw notes out in the comments about any of the top 100 that you have particularly good or bad memories about.

Sadly, No Flash

The good folks over at Sadly, No must be teaching themselves flash animation of late. Last few Fridays they've put up a new Flash movie that pokes some fun at some of the right wings foibles. Today they put it up early due to being off the blog tomorrow. Watch it here, if you have some time. It's my favorite of the three they've done (others are here and here), though it does take a while to get to the heart of what they're trying to say.

I support legalizing gay marriage from the most straightforward position I can imagine. If it's not unreasonable for Rick Santorum to equate homosexuality to beastiality in utilizing a slippery slope argument, then it's not unfair for me to ask the following question: Is it not unreasonable to assume that if you approve a ban on gay marriage, then what would prevent people from barring me (as an example) from marrying a white woman (I am Hispanic and divorced from The Goddess, a white woman, for the three of you reading this who did not know)? Or from marrying a non-Catholic, as I was raised, baptized, and confirmed Catholic? To deny me that right on any level should make anyone outraged, and yes, to a reasonable mind, this is a ridiculous argument to make. Yet the argument against same sex marriage stems from the same flawed logic, and no one on the right seems willing to acknowledge just how flawed that thinking is.

An oversimplified point to make, but just wanted to get it out there, before I head back into the salt mines. Enjoy the animation. More stuff up later, hopefully.

From the depths, the blogger emerges...

Actually getting a break from the office for a short while today. Thought I would put a link up to this post that The Goddess sent my way.

I was amused to learn about a new Bush administration goal: It wants to change the name of the Food Stamps Program (since it no longer uses stamps) and is soliciting suggestions from the public. I've taken a personal interest in this. Why? Because many years ago, in order to subsidize my symphony orchestra oboist habit, I worked for the Nassau County, New York Food Stamps Department.

Madeline Kane is looking for new names for the Food Stamps Program, since nothing in this admin can really reflect what it is directly. Visit the post, and leave your suggestion in the comments.

My fave so far has to be this one.

So where the hell has he been you wonder?

Well new homeownership has tied me up a fair amount, and the time that it hasn't taken has been occupied by work kicking my ass hard with both feet. This week will be even more insane at work, but next Monday, I WILL be starting a new film retrospective, and have a couple of new movie reviews up to boot in the next couple of days. I appreciate all five of you still hanging out there. See you soon.

Staying Positive

A new addition to the blogroll and links is the online comic Something Positive. A good friend recently tipped me off to this strip, and it's hysterical. To get a feel got the strip before actually reading it, check out this interview with the strip's creator Randy Milholland (free registration required to view). It ran in the Ft Worth Star Telegram yesterday. You can then go to the character list here to get a feel for the inhabitants of Randy's world, or dive right in to the current strip or start from the beginnig of the archives (first strip, not for the squeamish, and will either draw you right in or piss you off right out of the gate).

Enjoy.

The vitriol has started spewing forth

So I guess it was a little much to hope for that there wouldn't be too much undue Reagan bashing before the funeral. Working for Change has this obit/eulogy for the late former President that is a very angry counterpoint to the rose colored glasses the right has been viewing the Reagan legacy through. In particular, the comments about the AIDS funding is particularly important to keep in mind. It's not as overt a slam against the homosexual community, who bear the lion's share of AIDS cases in the US if I remember right, as the war against gay marriage has been. But his decisions in this respect have to be considered far more damaging to the community at large.

I would condemn this writing as bitter politicization of a funeral, much in the same way the right lambasted the Wellstone memorial in 2002, were it not for this post on AmericaBlog that shows that Bush/Cheney didn't even wait for the old man to get cold before molesting the corpse. I'd say I'm waiting for the Right to condemn the campaign in the same angered tones they lambasted Democrats at the Wellstone memorial, except that, well...I live in the real world.

I think that Jesus General puts the best final spin on it. Make the Gipper Nancy's answer to Trigger.

Rededicate ourselves to the Geneva Convention

Online petition here. This admin has shown remarkable ability to ignore the will of the public, but it's worth a shot.

Talking bout my generation

Jeanne over at Body and Soul has a deeply personal post up about the anniversary of D-Day, and what kind of feelings the rememberances from this past Sunday bring up for her. I know I say there are a lot of things out there that are "Must reads" but this is a good one.

Iraqi War Justification: thought problem and analysis

Philosoraptor is back to posting fairly regularly after weathering a particularly tough semester. He does a nice thought experiment on the new justification for the Iraqi War (aka Humanitarian Interests), and shows why it's bull for any right wing pundit to make the claim. Not a flawless argument, but a good one just the same.

But I love Texas anyway.

With apologies to Lyle Lovett for cribbing/perverting one of his lyrics, but it's things like this that really make me wonder why I live here.

Kevin Drum has a piece wherein he looks at the party platform planks for the Republican Party of Texas. He notes that the 2004 platform is not up on the Party's website yet (although he links to an Austin American Statesman story that covers some of the planks for this year. Norbizness links to a Houston Chronicle story that may have some of the same info), he did a writeup about the 2000 platform last year. Read the various planks, and what they break down to in the simplest possible terms. And then run screaming to the nearest state where redneck fundamentalists AREN'T in control of deciding how the state is represented and believes in politically.

One more tout for the best movie of the year

Matthew Baldwin at Defective Yeti finally had a chance to get around and see what I celebrate as the best movie of the year: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Give his view a once over, along with my original writeup here. And then if you haven't, get out and see this movie. Great films like this need to be supported as much as possible.

Remembering Reagan

I was 8 years old when Ronald Reagan won the presidency. My recollections of his two terms are very fuzzy with the intervening years having passed. I vaguely remember I think it was my second or third grade class in grade school doing get well cards to send to the White House after John Hinkley, Jr. made his assassination attempt. Showing just how clueless I was as a youth, I didn't know the whole Jodie Foster angle on that one until some years later.

So it's been interesting to read about how people are reacting in the blogsphere to Reagan's passing this weekend.

Oliver Willis shared the sentiment of a number of bloggers and pundits by saying that now is simply not the time to debate the true nature of Reagan's legacy. I would be inclined to agree with that stance, but the reactions by other bloggers I read would make it more difficult to just leave thoughts at mere condolences.

Billmon at Whiskey Bar on the "Great Man Theory" as he puts it:

The most humorous thing so far about the attempted apotheosis of St. Ronnie is watching liberals fall all over themselves to say nice things about a president they hated like poison when he was in the White House, and tried hard to ignore after he left office.

[snip]

During one of the 1984 presidential debates, for example, Reagan drifted into a long, rambling story about a drive he once took down the Big Sur coast - a trip which had no apparent point and which never seemed to end. A lot of political reporters were convinced right then that Reagan had lost his marbles - not that they let it influence their coverage. By that point, Reagan wasn't just a president, he was a celebrity, and that's not how you cover celebrities. Reporting that Reagan was slipping into senility would have been like reporting that Madonna had a yeast infection - it would have cracked the illusion, always a major faux pas in celebrity journalism.

The whole post is well worth reading, but I just had to include the Madonna line. That one had me howling.

Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly:

I voted against Ronald Reagan twice, and while 20 years may have passed since my last vote for a Reagan opponent, that doesn't mean I've forgotten why I cast it. Rose tinted hindsight or not, I didn't like his policies then and I don't like them now.

I think I would have to say I ride in this boat now as far as Reagan is concerned. When I was 8, I think I would have voted for him, because, well, he was a nice man. Now I look back, having developed an actual social conscience, as well as an awareness of the world I live in, and wouldn't think twice about voting against Reagan in any capacity. Someone being a nice guy is ok if you're looking for a friend. But you don't want your boss or the head of the country being someone who's nice but clueless.

Meteor Blades, a Daily Kos contributor points a sharper point on his feelings:

By the time Ronald ReaganÂs funeral rolls around on Friday, I wonder how deeply brainwashed about this "great president" we all will have become in our desire not to give the enemies of democracy and peace quotable ammunition in their efforts to keep George Bush in the White House for a second term. How far are we as people of the left willing to go while the avalanche of Reagan mythology spews forth from every cranny of television, radio, the press and Blogworld?

[snip]

It is one thing to bite our tongues for a few respectful moments while Reagan's fans sign the Icon's commemorative guestbook, tell us what a fabulous leader he was and try to persuade us that we are all better for his having passed this way. It is quite another to repeat the bullshit ourselves.

Indeed, while a funeral is typically (and I think, rightly) a time to try and focus on the good of the deceased, and not dwell on the bad because such thought is largely unproductive (IMHO), I think that the way Reagan has long been deified by the right takes this behavior to a really unhealthy extreme. I remember reading this post on Pandagon about a proposed Ronald Reagan University that seemed to be fueled and funded mainly by spit, hope, and good wishes. And I think the people who were pushing this effort were completely oblivious to the irony in the fact that that particularstrategyy for the foundation of a university pretty closely mirrored what was the bulk of Reagan's fiscal policy, and some of his social too.

I think that the man suffered greatly from a disease so horrific as Alzheimer's. I think that every person deserves to pass with more dignity than what Reagan was afforded. I think that he should be remembered with appropriate amounts of respect both for that and the office he once held. It's the right thing to do.

But don't try and sell me that this man was some kind of world changer. To believe the eulogies being given by the wingnut right about Reagan's role in the world, you'd think he was all the positive aspects of Churchhill, Gandhi, Einstein, and Olivier, rolled into one political figure. The reality is that he was none of these things, to any significant degree. At least not in an capacity that I could buy and agree to in memorializing him.

May he rest in peace, and be given the respite he was denied in the last ten years of his life. No more, no less.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging schedule.

The first major portion of the house move in is now complete. I should be back to blogging on a semi regular basis. I'll have a new week of retrospectives up this week, I believe, although I may hold off til next, just to make sure I'm not in over my head. Should have a review of The Day After Tomorrow later tonight, along with a one-off look at a video I saw last week that just messed with my head something fierce. And there'll be the usual scattershot targeting of various topics running the typical gamut. So all in all, my normal disjointed self ;-).

Hope there's still a couple of you out there reading this thing. We're getting the engine warmed up and ready to roll.

SemiRegular Blogging to return next week
My transition to my new home is nearing the end of first phase, which should level my schedule out considerably. Thanks for your patience.

Hankblog

Monday, June 28, 2004

Sunday, June 27, 2004

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Monday, June 07, 2004

Saturday, June 05, 2004

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