Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Get a grip, Lefty's!

Amongst all the positive, yet legitimately sobering, news I am reading these days is an annoying thrum from the left of the Democratic party. It's a bit "all over the place," but the unifying theme seems top be that Barack is selling them out by picking "Clinton people" and "Insiders" to his administration. Well, I for one am tired of winning an election and then spraying a can of lighter fluid all over myself and lighting it! If you really think about it, the implication of the Left's complaints is that Barack should reward the support of the Left by appointing people from its ranks who really don't know what they would be doing. In other words, their hearts are pure, so give them on the job training.

Here is a wonderful article by a bona fide Lefty, which explains exactly why Barack is making all the right moves, as he is wont to do, thank God. Please take the time to read and digest this article so that you will be able to respond to our Lefty brothers and sisters. I love them all and trust that they will understand that Obama's presidency must by absolute necessity begin with "triage," which by no means makes it a long-run "mirage."

We don't need any "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie" situations in this administration.

~ tom

Monday, November 24, 2008

Tom, The Big Softie

Ok, I'll admit it: I really enjoy a well-done romantic comedy, especially as my years are ticking on by. I have a small group of geezer male friends who share the same closeted malady, but these days we have all pretty much outed ourselves. Now what I'm talking about here is a classic romantic comedy, not a so-called "chick flick," although there can be legitimate cross-over there. (Perhaps another post will ensue on that thorny distinction).

The point here is that a couple of nights ago I watched "Definitely, Maybe" on DVD and loved it. Trust me on this one. All of the main characters are terrific and well-cast, the script is snappy and loaded with hilarious zingers that are easy to miss if you're not paying attention, and best of all, you are most likely to "well up" in a couple of parts (an essential for a guy who is has come out of the closet on romantic comedies.)

I had read many laudable reviews of this movie, but had noticed that one of the "stars" listed was Abigal Breslin, the kid who is in everything these days, so I was reticent to a degree, because I was not ready for a movie with a huge "kid quotient." As it turns out Agibail's part is essential but thankfully pretty small -- she's not on screen very much at all.

The three female leads are just wonderful, but I must ask, where in the hell did Isla Fisher come from? She is absolutely fabulous in the role of "April." If you hop on over to IMDB and check her out you will see that she is not a big star (yet?), but she was great in her role in this flick. Oh, and Rachel Weisz was, as always, impeccable. The directing by Adam Brooks spot-on.

Finally, while the highpoint of any romantic comedy for an out-of-the closet geezer is always the woman/women, you still have to have a worthy male lead or the whole thing just falls apart. Here, Ryan Reynolds, was perfect. Cary Grant, or for that matter Hugh Grant, couldn't have done any better.

Cheer yourselves up and "definitely" check out "Definetly Maybe."

~ tom

Thursday, November 20, 2008

No "secret handhsakes" these days!!!

I'm usually not big on just giving people a "point to another site" without at least some additional fresh comment or data. But here is justifiable deviation. You gotta play the video to really get the whole context. Nuff said, right?

T.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

100 Greatest Singers?

Got my Rolling Stone a few days ago -- a special issue featuring RS's list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time." Here are the top ten, with the "commentary author" for each.


1. Aretha Franklin -- Mary J. Blige
2. Ray Charles -- Billy Joel
3. Elvis Presley -- Robert Plant
4. Sam Cooke -- Van Morrison
5. John Lennon -- Jackson Browne
6. Marvin Gaye -- Alicia Keys
7. Bob Dylan -- Bono
8. Otis Redding --Booker T. Jones
9. Stevie Wonder -- Cee-Lo
10. James Brown -- Iggy Pop

Fortunately you can read the whole feature without buying the magazine here. You will have to read it page-by-page, but it's cool because you also get all the pictures that appear in the magazine.

Unfortunately, the online version does not appear to have the two-page article by Jonathan Lethem, "What Makes a Great Singer?," which precedes the feature. That puts some of the selections in a more acceptable context for me. But like all these sort of lists, the fun is in the fuming: How could you possibly include Christina Aguilera (#58) and leave out Alison Krauss!

I think you'll find the list interesting and I'd like to read your comments if you have any to offer.

Some of the pleasant surprises for me on a personal level:

Jackie Wilson - #26
Howlin' Wolf - #31
Donny Hathaway - #49
Tom Waits - #82

~ tom

Saturday, November 8, 2008

The Scorpion and the Frog

Like so many of my close friends, I shed a few tears of joy on Tuesday night, and I have been feeling great hope and happiness over the fact that for the first time in a very long time, we have President who will bring us peace, pride, and maybe even prosperity, though the latter is going to take some time and some help from the other side of the aisle. That last point is the one that worries me.

Republicans and Republican law-makers, (especially now that they are a waning force of white people), will not pitch in to help even though they know it is the right thing to do. In fact they will do everything in their power to make Obama and the forces of good fail. They remind me of one of my favorite fables: The Scorpion and the Frog. Here's a summary of the Wikipedia entry for those who have forgotten it:

The Scorpion and the Frog is a fable often mis-attributed to Aesop. The story is about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung, but the scorpion reassures him that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown as well. The frog then agrees; nevertheless, in mid-river, the scorpion stings him, dooming the two of them. When asked why, the scorpion explains, "I'm a scorpion; it's my nature."

The story is sometimes told with a turtle or fox in place of the frog.

It is often quoted to illustrate the purportedly insuppressible nature of one's self at its base level.

The right wing talkers are the worst scorpions of all. I read on a friend's blog that Rush Limbaugh actually referred to our next President as a "Chicago thug!"

My advice to the next Prez: You can sit down and talk with the scorpions, and even tolerate their prattle, but never, never, never let them get on your back.

Be strong,

~ tom

Monday, November 3, 2008

Cusack - a great mind (and actor)

Tomorrow is election day. I'll cop to it -- I'm a nervous wreck. So I thought I'd just do a post today to let you all know that my solidarity and karma are still here and set to full throttle.

But, in browsing my favorite sites, I came across this truly brilliant post by John Cusack, who is in the top five of my favorite actors list. I'll watch anything he is in, and in every case, I can say with no doubt that he makes the movie better then it would have been without him. (And of course he is just simply fabulous as Roy Dillon in one of my favorite [and criminally overlooked] flicks: "The Grifters").

If I were making a list of living people I'd like to spend a day with, Cusack would undoubtedly be on it. My friend Michael Lally presents a lot of similar lists on his blog, but I'm too lazy and limited to make an entire list of living people I'd like to spend a day with. Perhaps during his next bout of chronic insomnia Michael will craft such a list. Keep checking his blog ... Or, if you want to start such a list on this blog, leave it as a comment and we'll all jump in with you.

~ tom

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Wonk heaven

OK all you Obama supporters like me, who teeter each moment between guarded hope and deep cynicism -- you need something to cheer you up and keep your mind on track. Wrap you mind around this site from now until Tuesday night. You don't have to be a wonk, but it helps. This is the 10/21 entry, which explains and rates the various daily tracking polls. Be sure to check the more recent entries too.