Idle Ramblings: 09/01/2003

Friday, September 26, 2003

Speaking of comic-based movie disaters...
I would really love to see a Howard the Duck special edition DVD, with a dirctor's cut or deleted scenes, maybe a conversation with George Lucas where he explains just what the hell he was thinking, commentary tracks and plenty of still photos of Lea Thompson.

Do we really want to watch Watchmen
Kind of like the Hitchhiker's Guide, Watchmen has been in the planning stages for a while now. I think this one will have to be done really, really well in order not to piss off a lot of people. I can handle a mediocre Batman or Superman, but this one's got to be for real.

A moment of silence
People everywhere should turn off their Intellivisions, if only for a moment, in memory of George Plimpton.

Another legend gone
Joe Strummer, Warren Zevon, Johnny Cash and now Robert Palmer. The past year has been rough on those who have consistantly put out good music over the years.

Thursday, September 25, 2003

Just a thought
The last few days, I've been watching the 1980s BBC Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which, even though it falls short in many areas, namely Zaphod and effects that aren't that special, it's at least in the spirit of the original radio presentation. (At least if I remember correctly.) I haven't found a lot of news lately on the oft proposed feature film version, but I got to thinking - instead of a live action version (Jack Davenport would be perfect for Arthur Dent in a live-action version), maybe they should go for a Final Fantasy-type animated version. I think it would give a lot more flexibility when it came to the appearance of the characters. And since, if they really wanted to do it right, many of the characters would be CGI anyway in a live action version, it would only make sense.

Of course, this doesn't even address compressing the story into a two-hour chunk or "Americanizing" it (dumbing it down) for consumption more than 20 years after the original story was written.

Maybe if the live-action version of the film proceeds, Peter Jackson can take it over and talk someone into financing a trilogy of five movies. Wouldn't that be great.

I want one of these
Man, I bet my Atari 2600 simulator would work great on one of these.

I think I'll watch out of curiosity
If I don't forget about it, I'm going to tune in to tonight's premier of Coupling on NBC just to see how it compares to the BBC version. It's funny, the show is too racy for Notre Dame and Salt Lake City, but not for Tupelo, home of everyone's favorite perverted watchdog, oops, I mean perversion watchdog, Donald Wildmon.

Second hand rings
I was going to wait and see Second Hand Lions on video. It looks like it might be a good movie, but not necessarily sometime I'd run to the theater and see. However, the draw of The One Ring may just bring me into the theater. ....my precious...

The man of the people
The New York Times has a good editorial about the lawsuits filed against the Secret Service over seemingly overzelous attempts to keep protesters away from Dubya during his appearances among the little people. And while I do agree with the need to provide adequate protection for a president, even Dubya, I think the SS and the administration might want to rethink this. Plus, having the President of the United State of America admit that he doesn't actually read newspapers, but only skims the headlines is not something I'd want to be known for. Don't forget, we buy ink by the barrel.

There must be a way
Surely, if we all put our heads together, we can come up with a way to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. Maybe we could set a world record for the number of people getting their heads together to come up with an idea on getting into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Those wacky French
I'm probably the only one who will find amusing. However, I will note that I found France annoying long before it became a national pasttime. Maybe of French 101 had gone better for me....

...And so Russia won't feel left out, they've got their own deck of cards although there are only 36 cards.

Anyone for a nice game of Fizzbin?

Ooops!
Looks like the RIAA made a little mistake in going after a dreaded pirate of the electronic seas. And hooray for Macs for keeping us all honest.

Yawn...
Barbara Streisand said in a recent interview that she doesn't listen to her songs or albums because they are boring. I'm glad she's caught up witht he rest of us. Now if she could only make that leap about her acting career...

But can you make e-paper airplanes?
I look forward to the day when I can put out a newspaper that doesn't get ink all over my hands.

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Thou doth protest too much
Yet another example of the Bush "democracy" in action. Or should that be inaction.

In the interest of fairness and full disclosure...
I feel I should add yet another Democratic candidate to the discussion on this blog. He goes into great details about his plan for this county and into his conviction and imprisonment, laying out all the pieces of the "vast right-wing conspiracy" which took place long before such things came into vogue.

Holy Shit, dude
What the hell were these assholes thinking by putting more foul language on the damn television. Those bastards!

The Horror of it all
It looks as though someone is finally doing something about creating a horror channel. Now if it comes into being, maybe the Sci-Fi Channel will stick to science fiction and lay off the horror movies and shows.

Thursday, September 18, 2003

Beatle-licious
I think the stars speak for themselves.

Naked Politics
Keeping the naked theme running a little bit, I hope to never see anything like this depicting our governor.

Naked Beatles
While I have no desire to see either John or Ringo in the buff, I can't wait to hear this.

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Still in the running
I just found out that, even after I had given up hope, I'm still in the running for the other new job. Wish me luck.

Maybe just a little too liberal
If, for any reason, you decide you want to go to Al Franken's official website, don't make the mistake of going to www.alfranken.com. Instead, go to www.al-franken.com There's a big difference in content. Warning: It probably wouldn't be a good idea to go to the first website at work, around minors, around your parents, or those who don't appreciate group activities.

I'm just saying...

More liberal politics!
Could it be? Could the original Star Wars trilogy finally be headed for DVD? If this turns out to be a false rumor, I'll just blame Bush.

Who's behind door number 3?
Okay. After much deliberation, I had pretty much made up my mind who I was going to support in the 2004 presidential race. It might surprise those who have known me for all these years to know that I have to this point been rooting for liberal Democrat Howard Dean. I know, it's a stretch, but just go with it. Early on, I liked John Edwards, as much for the fact that he was more of a centrist, making him more marketable. Also because he was a Southerner, and to win the presidency, a candidate will have to win at least something in the south. Plus, he can talk to dead people, and that could come in really handy during a campaign and as president.

Now, Wesley Clark has thrown his hat into the race. He's got the liberalism of Dean, and is not afraid to use the "L" word when he talks about himself. He's a Southerner, from the great state of Arkansas, home of the greatest president since Kennedy (in all kinds of ways). I don't know if he can communicate with the dead, but he was a 4 star general and while I'm not usually impressed with military credentials (I do support the military, I just don't like violence and if you don't believe me I'll kick your ass), he has an impressive military and educational background. Plus he does really well on television, which is important these days.

It's still a little too early to be handicapping the race. With 10 Democrats in the race, there's every possibility the vote could be divided and Al Sharpton could be nominated. If that were the case, I'd probably be calling David up for info on the Libertarian candidate.

Monday, September 15, 2003

Enterprise's "Relaunch"
Okay, I didn't get to see the season premier of enterprise until late Saturday night and I wanted a couple of days to get my thoughts in order. Here's what I thought: It was good.

It wasn't great. It wasn't "Way of the Warrior" which took a good-if-ordinary DS9 and began the transformation to the best stretch of star Trek ever. It wasn't a bold new direction. Or, it seemed to me, even a new direction. It was just good. It seemed more of a continuation of the tweeking of the series which really kicked in earlier in the spring. I think some of the tweeks can work and some of the plot changes might be positive if they don't wuss out. The story seems a little bit of a weak start for this new dramatic arc, but it had its moments. It seemed more like the second episode of the season with the season finale back in the spring being the first.

Some things that did bother me were: The theme - they should have either left the song alone or changed it completely. It's been made even lamer; Archer - sure he's a man with a mission now, but where Picard and Sisko were transformed into leaders, he seems to just be a grouch who needs either a nap, some coffee, or to get laid; Hoshi meeting the MACOs - You'd think with a crew of 100 living on the ship for at least a few months, everyone would know everyone else and not have to introduce themselves to one another at the dinner table; T'Pol's breasts - Now I have nothing against a good set of naked female breasts, in fact I think there should be more of them, but the whole T'Pol/Trip set-up was actually kind of painful. I think it might make a good matchup for the series, but please, can we get any more contrived.

I did think the Xindi counsel was cool. The CGI creatures were much better than Species BR549 on Voyager.

I do think the ending where they come upon the remains of the Xindi world should have been slightly different.

T'Pol - We've come out of warp into some kind of meteor show. An asteroid collision. It's not on the charts.
Archer - What's going on.
T'Pol - Our position's correct, except no Xindi planet.
Archer - what do you mean? Where is it?
T'Pol - That's what I'm trying to tell you sir. It's been totally blown away.

You get the idea.

Those lying liars, part II
Interestingly enough, when I went to the bookstore to pick up a cop of Al's new book, I naturally began looking at the "Bestsellers" section at the front of the store. Now, I don't know exactly which Bestseller list this particular chain of bookstores uses (I won't mention that the store was the Tupelo Books-A-Million), but I couldn't find the book, and I was sure it was one of the top sellers. There was Ann Coulter's "book," there was "Dr." Phil's new "book." No Al Franken. Also no Hillary Clinton. I may have missed them both on the Bestseller shelves as I walked in, but I thought that odd. I finally found Al's book near the back of the store on a table labeled "current events," where we also picked up a copy of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's autobiography for Rebecca. In the end it turned out alright because both of them were on sale big time.

BTW, on the New York Times bestseller list, Franken's book was #1 and Hillary's book was #5, both above Ann Coulter's, which was in the top 10, but I don't remember if it was 7 or 8. BTW, BTW, if anyone has read her book, let me know if it's worth reading or if it's just like her columns.

Those lying liars!
I finally picked up a copy of Al Franken's "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." I must say that Franken has outdone himself with this one. I must admit that I have been a big fan of Al's ever since the early days of Saturday Night Live. With his move into politics and political humor, especially since "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot," he seems to have hit a natural stride. Now this book isn't for everyone and I realize that I am much further to the left than many of those who read my Blog, but, I think there are parts of the book that everyone, except Bill Reilly and the person who might read it to Dubya, might find amusing.

Just a few short weeks until Michael Moore's new book "Dude, Where's My Country," hits the bookstores.

Sunday, September 14, 2003

You Rebel Scum!
It occurred to me recently that during Ole Miss football games, when the defense makes a big play, the band plays the Imperial March. To me, it seems that it's inappropriate for a team known as the Rebels to be playing the musical theme from the oppressive and evil Empire! This is something that should offend all true Rebel fans and I call for a boycott of all Ole Miss athletic events and a campus-wide referendum on the matter as well as an opportunity for the student body and alumni to come up with a better musical theme from the Star Wars movie series to play after impressive defensive plays.

Tuesday, September 09, 2003

I knew they were going to do that
If you actually have to read this link, the you are obviously not ready for this class.

Good night Warren
There was probably no better tribute to the late, great Warren Zevon than that by David Letterman Monday night.

The Return of the Penguin
Comics pages rejoice!

Sunday, September 07, 2003

DS9PD Blue
Colm Meaney is going to play a cop in a new backdoor pilot movie for TNT. Might be interesting.

posted by Joseph @ 9/07/2003 06:29:00 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, September 04, 2003

Here we go again
I guess all the great comic strips get pulled at some point. Then there's Doonesbury.

posted by Joseph @ 9/04/2003 12:48:00 PM 0 Comments

It's a good thing all our nation's problems have been solved.
Now Congress can get to the issues that are really pressing on the United States.

posted by Joseph @ 9/04/2003 12:20:00 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

Speaking of classic sci-fi
There are a number of "classic" sci-fi movies from the 60's and 70's that I've just been waiting for on DVD. The Green Slime is one of those classic American/Japanese/Italian sci-fi movies of the 60's. Moving into the 70s, there is Starship Invasions which teams up Robert Vaughn and Christopher Lee in a film that I actually went to see at the theater twice. Both times as a second feature to a Godzilla movie. Then you have Laserblast, a movie about which I remember nothings, except going to the theater to watch. I had even forgotten that Roddy McDowell was in it until I read the imdb page. And of course, there is the David Hasselhoff/Caroline Munro opus Starcrash. People, if you haven't seen this one, it's like having never watched Star Wars. I mean it would be some kind of warped, bizzarro Star Wars made in Italy and with Christopher Plummer as the Emperor of the Galaxy, but Star Wars nonetheless.

Why should just the quality movies, ones with good actors, sharp writing, special effects that actually cost money, and plots, get the digitally remastered, special edition DVD treatment. There needs to be more crap from the 1960s and 1970s, especially sci-fi. The later catalog of Nick Adams would be an excellent place to start. Perhaps a boxed set, even.

posted by Joseph @ 9/03/2003 10:16:00 PM 0 Comments

Things to Come!
If you haven't watched the 1936 sci-fi classic Things to Come in a while, dust off your old VHS copy, or better yet, go out and get the DVD. I found a two-pack which had the movie along with Journey to the Center of Time which I have yet to watch, but it does have Lyle Waggoner in it as an alien. Plus the set was only like $5.99 at Best Buy and for that you just about can't go wrong.

Do beware. There was a 1979 version of the movie which I have had the misfortune to see. Not one of Jack Palance's career highlights.

posted by Joseph @ 9/03/2003 07:45:00 PM 0 Comments

Oh my God! They killed civilization as we know it. You Bastards!
South Park, still the funniest show on television, is being offered into syndication for late night television. They say not every episode will be appropriate for even late night, non-cable television. It's a shame, because I think the episode where they use the word "shit" 162 times. The thing I liked best about the afore mentioned article is that they use the title of the South Park movie song Uncle Fukka instead of just making reference to the song without saying the name as they did a few years ago when Blame Canada was up for an Oscar.

Hooray for swearing!

posted by Joseph @ 9/03/2003 06:07:00 PM 0 Comments

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!
I still have a whol box full of 8 Track tapes, now what am I gonna do about this!

posted by Joseph @ 9/03/2003 03:43:00 PM 0 Comments

Tuesday, September 02, 2003

I don't want my MTV!
I didn't see the kiss, but to paraphrase Bill Maher, it was like every teenage boy's fantasy, to hot you chick making out with their grandmother. This past weekend, due to boredom and illness, we sat around and watched the wanning moments of the MTV Music Video Awards to see just exactly which artists the music industry wants us to be paying attention to. Unfortunately, other than Coldplay and maybe Eminem, I really don't give a rat's ass about many of the other artists there.

Sure, I'm out of the target demographic that the MTV is aiming for, but guess what, I'm 36 or so, I have money, and I love to spend it on music. And not just crusty old artists like Duran Duran, whose reception by the audience while receiving their Lifetime Achievement Award, was somewhat cold, to put it politely.

Okay, so here I am ranting about the MTV again. Just don't watch it. Your too old. You're becoming the creepy old guy who always wants to keep up with what the kids today are doing so you can lure one of them into the back of you van with the promise of listening to the new 50 Cent album. Well, maybe, except for that whole luring young people into the back of the van with 50 Cent albums. I don't have a van and I can't really stand young people. I didn't even like most of them when I was young.

My problem with the MTV is this, it has gone from hip and controversial, to single-handedly making controversy boring! Twenty years ago people were freaking because Madonna was writing around the MTV stage in a wedding gown singing Like A Virgin. Today, Madonna smooches with Brittany and Christina, and the only one outraged is that one little old lady in Atlanta who was offended to see the photo on the front page of her newspaper.

In 1981, I couldn't wait to get my MTV. Billy Idol told me I had to have it. And we all know Billy knows best. I guess I should just be glad that I can tune into VH1 Classics and watch those old, poorly made videos from the 1970s and early 1980s with poor sound, no scantily clad women (except for the Duran Duran videos) and just wait until they put me in the old folks home. At lest there, I can listen to my Thompson Twins albums in peace.

posted by Joseph @ 9/02/2003 09:58:00 PM 0 Comments

Are you ready to rock!
So, if a giant asteroid is actually heading toward Earth and will impact in 2014, will be A) supr science and space technology in order to find some way to deflect the rock, therefore ushering in a new wave of scientific progress not seen since the beginning of the space program; or B) wait until the last minute and then give a misfit band of rogues a space shuttle and a nuclear bomb and hope for the best?

posted by Joseph @ 9/02/2003 08:09:00 PM 0 Comments

A sad commentary
This is a sad commentary on how life can bee in a one-parent home.

posted by Joseph @ 9/02/2003 03:11:00 PM 0 Comments

This old house
Isn't it great to live in a country where our leaders don't over react to things.

posted by Joseph @ 9/02/2003 03:05:00 PM 0 Comments

Self Parking chaos?
Is this simply a distant cousin of Kitt or a grim precursor to terrible things to come?

posted by Joseph @ 9/02/2003 02:55:00 PM 0 Comments

Crush them like the insects they are!!!!
Colleges and universities are moving to take care of this. But what about all the illegal DNA swapping people are doing at college? Are they going to do something about that?

posted by Joseph @ 9/02/2003 02:49:00 PM 0 Comments

This Blog will be a more constructive use of my energy than just screaming at the walls. It will be my ravings about politics, society, popular culture and plenty of things most people really don't care too much about.

About Me

Name: Joseph

Location: The Valley, The Deep South, United States

I'm a recovering journalist who finally left the rat race to my quiet public library where I can actually do some good. I grew up in a small town and have finally returned to that same small town, something which I said I would never do. But I have managed to find some peace of mind among the familiar hills and valleys of what is truly home.

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Too many blogs, too much, er, I mean little time

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How Ms. Pac-Man took my manhood

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Can You Get Any More Stupid?

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