Changing Places

That’s a nice picture….

OK, to be clear, I don’t do these things. Really. And I’m only doing this one because I’m in a good mood and I am ready for light fare after this election, and I love Maya’s Granny who tagged me. I finally feel like I don’t have to obsess over the sorry state of our country. So here we go with the Movie Meme.

___________

1. Popcorn or candy?
Or? Why or? I like to get popcorn and some junior mints. Mmmm….

2. Name a movie you’ve been meaning to see forever.
Can’t think of any. If I want to see it, I usually do. Now books, there’s stacks of ‘em here on my window seat I’ve been meaning to get to…

3. You are given the power to recall one Oscar: Who loses theirs and to whom?Reese Witherspoon. Gag me.
It goes to Glenn Close, a great actress nominated 5 times but never won.

4. Steal one costume from a movie for your wardrobe. Which will it be?
One of those gorgeous kimonos from Memoir of a Geisha. I actually have a kimono pattern, but I haven’t gotten around to making one. I saw some beauties in San Francisco at an antiques shop once, now wish I had bought one.

5. Your favorite film franchise is…
The Lord of the Rings was the best ever – just the way I remembered the books being. I was all, “how the heck did he get in my head and steal those images”, but then Tolkein was an amazing writer, and the story is so vivid I think we all get the same images from reading it.

6. Invite five movie people over for dinner. Who are they? Why’d you invite them? What do you feed them?
Sean Connery, because well, yum. Kevin Kline, well, same reason and he’s funny. Johnny Depp, if he wore his pirate outfit. Hilary Swank, cause I wanna learn to be as brave as she is. Renée Zellweger cause she’s so funny.

Feed them? They’re rich, they can bring the food or call their caterer.

7. What is the appropriate punishment for people who answer cell phones in the movie theater?
To be locked in a room with the crying babies and people with colds coughing and the idiots who talk through the movie.

8. Choose a female bodyguard: Ripley from Aliens. Mystique from X-Men. Sarah Connor from Terminator 2. The Bride from Kill Bill. Mace from Strange Days.
I’d go with the bride from Kill Bill. I’d like to learn that kind of sword fighting. But just for fun, of course.

9. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever seen in a movie?
The shower scene from Psycho, of course. Isn’t everyone afraid of shower curtains? And those evil little dolls with the teeth, whatever they were from. Those scared me as a kid. And the pink elephants from Dumbo. I used to have nightmares about them as a kid.

10. Your favorite genre (excluding comedy and drama) is?
Probably science fiction/fantasy, then historical. But anything with good character development and interesting plot and writing can intrigue me.

11. You are given the power to greenlight movies at a major studio for one year. How do you wield this power?
I’d probably look for sleeper hits that could be inexpensively filmed. Things with great plot twists and characters and good, strong writing. Then hire unknowns to be in them and a really good director.

12. Bonnie or Clyde?
Eh. Who cares?

13: Who are you tagging to answer this survey:
Nobody. like I said, I hate these things. But anyone can feel free to pick it up if they like.

Good grief, what an ass Bush is.

Crooks and Liars

“One freedom that defines our way of life is the freedom to choose our leaders at the ballot box. We saw that freedom earlier this week, when millions of Americans went to the polls to cast their votes for a new Congress. Whatever your opinion of the outcome, all Americans can take pride in the example our democracy sets for the world by holding elections even in a time of war.”

Ding, dong, the witch is dead….

Fallen leaves via Simply Wait

Leaves change color
slowly fall to the ground
and the energy of the living thing
returns to the root,
beneath the surface,
unseen…dormant and gathering

The Count of Monte Cristo

What is your literary personality?

You scored as:
A classic novel.

Almost everyone showers praise upon you for your depth and enduring relevance. According to your acolytes, everything you say is timeless, erudite and meaningful. Of course, none of them actually listen to you.
Nobody listens to you at all, but it’s fashionable to claim you as a
friend. Fond of obscure words, antiquated notions and libraries, you never have a problem finding someone to hang out with. The fact that they end up using you to balance their kitchen tables is an unfortunate side effect, but you’re used to being used for others’ benefit. Oh the burden of being Great.

A classic novel
79%
A coloring book
71%
A paperback romance novel
54%
A college textbook
43%
Poetry
36%
The back of a froot loops box
25%
An electronics user’s manual
18%

Huh. Didn’t know I had acolytes. Weird. And I’ve certainly been used by friends in the past, but those are past friends – I don’t let people do that anymore. The truth is, I could probably be any of these things, depending on the day and mood I’m in. But my favorite novel of all time is the Count of Monte Cristo, which I actually permanently borrowed from my elementary school library in fifth grade because I loved it so much. That book is probably the main reason I’ve never sought revenge on anyone – just waited and hoped until things changed. That’s a very difficult lesson for many people to learn. Some of the movie versions screw up the novel version, where Edmund doesn’t end up with Mercedes and that eliminate the important character of Haydee. This is an amzing book to read, if you never have.

( a bit worried about that romance novel score…ew… and the textbook and techie scores seem awfully low….)

Thanks to Booklust!

Eschaton

Apparently John Tester’s a big hunk of conservatism, at least that’s what I keep hearing. So, I bring you the conservative agenda:

* Supporting renewable and alternative energy sources (biofuels, bitches!)
* Raising automobile mileage
* Pro-choice
* Protecting public lands
* Country of origin labels for food imports
* Affordable health care
* Enforcing immigration laws for immigrants and employers
* gun rights
* A plan to end the war in Iraq
* Increasing the minimum wage
* Repealing the Patriot Act
* Changing Medicare D to allow price negotiation with drug companies
* No to social security privatization
* Pro stem cell research
* Middle class tax relief

A couple of these are identified more strongly with conservatism, and a couple of them are “conservative” or “liberal” depending on the details, but if these are our new conservative democratic overlords, fine by me…

Crescent Calling
Embrace (cross posted)

It’s changing,
Everything is changing,
Technology is to blame,
It is spreading it’s wire like tentacles,
Spreading into every aspect of my life,
of your life,
of our lives.
It’s already changed me,
I love the change,
The transformation fascinates me,
Every day life as we know it will be no more,
Even the simple things have changed,
Rapid,
And irreversible.
Don’t deny the coming,
Don’t attempt to prevent the change,
Don’t let it pass leaving you behind,
Don’t fear that which is new,
Doesn’t matter if you love it or hate it,
Just so long as you,
Embrace it.

(this was written by my son, in one of his alter-ego gaming personas – I love it…)

If you were gay… it would be ok…

But – you’re not gay!

Marines Get the News From an Iraqi Host: Rumsfeld’s Out. ‘Who’s Rumsfeld?’ – New York Times

Hashim al-Menti smiled wanly at the marine sergeant beside him on his couch. The sergeant had appeared in the darkness on Wednesday night, knocking on the door of Mr. Menti’s home.

Sgt. Michael A. McKinnon talked with Mr. Menti on Wednesday.

When Mr. Menti answered, a squad of infantrymen swiftly moved in, making him an involuntary host.

Since then marines had been on his roof with rifles, watching roads where insurgents often planted bombs.

Mr. Menti had passed the time watching television. Now he had news. He spoke in broken English. “Rumsfeld is gone,” he told the sergeant, Michael A. McKinnon.

“Democracy,” he added, and made a thumbs-up sign. “Good.”

The marines had been on a continuous foot patrol for several days, hunting for insurgents. They were lost in the hard and isolating rhythms of infantry life.

They knew nothing of the week’s news.

Now they were being told by an Iraqi whose house they occupied that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, one of the principal architects of the policies that had them here, had resigned. “Rumsfeld is gone?” the sergeant asked. “Really?”

Mr. Menti nodded. “This is better for Iraq,” he said. “Iraqi people say thank you.”

The sergeant went upstairs to tell his marines, just as he had informed them the day before that the Republican Party had lost control of the House of Representatives and that Congress was in the midst of sweeping change. Mr. Menti had told them that, too.

“Rumsfeld’s out,” he said to five marines sprawled with rifles on the cold floor.

Lance Cpl. James L. Davis Jr. looked up from his cigarette. “Who’s Rumsfeld?” he asked.

Huh. Funny. I find these all over the place, but my local paper can’t.

Go figure.

From my good friend and fine cartoonist John Pierce. Funny, the conservative newspapers can’t seem to find liberal cartoonists, but I can.

Isn’t that strange?

And a nice commentary via Bartcop:

BartCop’s most recent rants – Political Humor and Commentary

“Rummy can quit in the middle of a war with no repercussions, but the men and women who are actually out there getting shot at can’t. If they did, they’d be sent to a military prison. I hope he never has a good night of sleep for the rest of his life.” — Steve, as seen on foxnews.com

Over the Hedge

Needed a giggle after that last post.

Oh, and apparently, Ken Mehlman is fond of gerbils…..

Perhaps a squirrel as Senator wouldn’t be a bad idea. Most of the Republican ones have been nuts lately.

I can’t watch TV news (except for Keith Olberman) or read most newspapers anymore. My blood pressure is already sky-high and just can’t take any more crap. I no longer read my local hometown rag, even. Because this is the editorial cartoon they run the day after an overwhelmingly Democratic election:

Here’s the letter to the editor I sent:

Thank you so much for continuing the divisive policies of your editorial
cartoons. it was a great reminder of why I never bother reading your Poway Chieftain paper.

With the country overwhelmingly going Democratic in this election, it’s
really distasteful and rude to see Democrats compared to suicide bombers. Obviously, most people want things to change, and we no longer want to be divided from our neighbors and friends by this kind of inappropriate “humor”.

Of course, you are free to print whatever viewpoints and cartoons you
like, that’s the point of our country. But I thought you might want to
know, and perhaps local advertisers might want to know, why over 6,000 Democratic citizens of Poway choose not to read your newspaper, view your advertisers’ advertisements, and are generally tired of the trash in their driveways, as I was today picking up the paper and seeing this offensive bit of one more Republican jab at those who now control our house and senate.

Wake up – it’s not 9/11. It’s 2006, and after six years of stagnant
thought and divisive rhetoric, it is finally a new, American century – the
real one, in reality land, not the PNAC fantasies of the neocons.

I was a local precinct inspector in Poway Tuesday, and VERY proud of my three high school volunteers, who know what being an American and patriotically serving their country without partisanship is truly about.

__________________________

The editor’s reply:

From: Steve Dreyer
To: donna
Subject: Re: Your November 9th editorial cartoon

First, thanks for taking the time to write. I have question and a comment …

Was this intended as a rant directly only at me, or would you like it published as a letter to the editor?

The cartoon was drawn by Poway resident Dick Kemplin, who has been our political cartoonist for over 20 years. (He has won numerious professional awards for his work). Anyone who has read the News Chieftain for a while knows that Dick is very conservative. When Dick’s cartoon arrived late last week I thought to myself, “Damn, Dick, that’s a little harsh.” He and I don’t always agree on the viewpoint he presents, but I run them anyway since the cartoon is an expression of HIS opinion, not that of myself or the owner of the newspaper. Political cartoons, like letters to the editor, Viewpoints and Street Beat, represent views of our readers. The only place on the Opinion page where the owner’s view is expressed is the editorial, which appears from time to time and is clearly marked as such.

Would I run political cartoons expessing other points of view? Sure, but very few of those cross my desk (I can think of only two in the 13 years i’ve been here.) I run all letters – even ones that attack this newspaper – and am always looking for differing opinions by columnists. (I recently ran a series of “New Voices” tryouts, several of which expressed more liberal views.)

It’s certainly your right to be unhappy with this newspaper and I would hate to lose you as a reader. But the Opinion page is just that — a page of opinions.

Steve Dreyer
Executive Editor
Pomerado Newspaper Group

_______________

And my reply:

That wasn’t an opinion. That was equating Democrats, or anyone who voted for them, with terrorists. That isn’t an opinion, it’s slander and libel.

I think your cartoonist needs to be retired.

And I don’t read your paper, for this very reason. I’ve cancelled my San Diego UT and LA Times subscriptions for similar reasons.

There is a distinct difference between “free speech” and encouraging
others to think of opposing viewpoints as so radical that they must be
thought of as hating America or wanting terrorists to succeed. It leads to the kind of divisive idiocy we’ve heard so much of from Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and so many other conservative mouthpieces.

And of course I want my letter published. I know plenty of people in
Poway, like my neighbors across the street, that feel exactly as I do
about your paper and about this cartoon.

Free speech is fine – I don’t object to the cartoon per se. I object to
the fact that you choose to continue publishing hate.

Neatorama

This would probably be funnier to me if I hadn’t just gotten over rectal surgery….

CENSORED BY CNN: BILL MAHER SUGGESTS RNC CHAIR MEHLMAN IS GAY…. | The Huffington Post

CNN – the closet news network…..

Why is Keith Olberman the only network journalist I can stand anymore?

Because of this kind of shit.

I am so damned tired of the fake news in this country – and I’m not talking about the Daily Show, which is the way my kids get their news and they are incredibly well-informed and amused at the same time.

Give it up, CNN. Stop editing reality to the tastes of the Republican party. They’re so… 9/11.

It’s 2006, already. We’re going forward, not back. The future belongs to those who are willing to step into the light, not hide in the closet.

no more Closet News Network – please.

Guess What I Did Today « The Land of PureGold Foundation Blog

From the “Land of Pure Gold” blog, which gives me hope and inspiration for my golden retriever ranch someday!!

My Confined Space – Professional Worktime Distraction, Inc » Pelosi Is In Teh Hizouse

Heh. OK, so she probably won’t really impeach them, but I just love saying “Speaker Pelosi”! “Speaker Pelosi” … mmmmm…. impeach Bush and Cheney…. mmmm… “President Pelosi”…. oh, that has a nice ring to it….

Cute Overload! ;)

This Modern World

Heh.