George Clooney

I watched “Up In the Air” on Blu-Ray a couple of nights ago. I strongly recommend it to all of you. I can’t add much to spot-on reviews like this, but I want to echo what several of my good friends have noted: George Clooney is a “movie star” in the truest sense. About half way through the flick, Eileen noted that nowadays there is no one like him and we tried to think who in the past he reminded us of. We both agreed that Cary Grant is a pretty good model: Don't think so? Then you'd better check this out.

Eileen was out of town this weekend at a conference, and I noted that I had recorded “Michael Clayton” on my DVR so that I could have a second viewing. Clooney is fantastic, and the film making, script, and other actors are superb. There is a scene that I had forgotten about that is so strange and compelling I must describe it so that you can watch for it if you decide to watch “Michael Clayton” again, or for the first time. It’s the scene where Michael Clayton is driving his Mercedes through the countryside and he stops, gets out and starts walking up a grassy hill to where three horses are standing. The way it is shot is ethereal and gripping even though it seemingly has nothing to do with the plot. And when Clayton actually gets to the horses and starts to stroke one of them we soon find out that his eerie journey to the horses has everything to do with the plot.

If you are interested in a nice review of the film, check here, although the "C+" grade does not seem to be correct in that the review itself yields an "A-" or at minimum a "B+."

Clooney rules!

ps About 3 weeks ago I was flipping through the channels and came in on the middle of “Oh Brother Where Art Thou.” Even if you don’t like the flick you have to admit that Clooney is a riot.

A civil debate to be found!

I was listening to Hal Sparks today, who is sitting in for Stephanie Miller while she is on vacation for this week.  My first exposure to Hal was his role as Michael in the Canadian/US version of “Queer As Folk,” which remains as one of my top 5 choices of any television series.  (Hal is straight, but played a gay man with such conviction that I never knew he was straight until I read an article after the show had finished its run) .  Anyway, now days he is doing his stand up comedian act and playing/singing  (for real) in a metal band.  The man is brilliant, funny, and has a level of “coolness” the immediately qualifies him for mention on Birth of the Cool.

Today, he made an excellent point that I had never thought of before:  Hal noted that these days there actually is a cogent, civil, and thoughtful debate taking place over legitimately important issues, which gives voice to all relevant views.  Where is this debate to be found – in the Democratic party!  He is absolutely right.  We Democrats truly are the “big tent” party, and instead of giving “lip service” to the concept of tough debate, we embrace it.  Of course by doing so, we often attract the people whose views on certain issues vary greatly.  But, we allow for talking out our differences, and (almost always) when the debate is over, we adopt a united front.  We don’t impugn or threaten each other.  No more graphic example of this anomaly is the Bart Stupak episode.  The man stood up for his belief – a belief which if taken alone would have placed him squarely outside even our big tent -- but in the end he made a courageous defense of the health care bill.  For his actions he is now receiving death threats from the right wing crazies.  Go figure. 

Hal’s point was that we are clearly not seeing anything remotely resembling legitimate debate in the Democrat vs. Republican milieu.  Instead, we have the party of “no” unleashing its slavering minions upon our political process. 

As for the Democrats, good for us.  I would start feeling uncomfortable if  my fellow dems and I agreed on everything.

Peace out,

~ tom

Lady Gaga & Beyonce video

Every week Entertainment Weekly features a “Must List” highlighting 10 cool things to dig.  The March 26 issue:

1.  Lady Gaga and Beyonce “TELEPHONE” video

2.  The T.A.M.I. Show: Collector’s edition on DVD

3.  “You Belong With Me” same-sex-crush version (on You Tube)

4.  Breaking Bad season premier on AMC

5.  Just Cause 2 video game

6.  Fantastic Mr. Fox on DVD

7.  PS22 Chorus sings “Lisztomania” (Kids’ choir from Staten Island N.Y.

8  The Irresistible Henry House, novel by Lisa Grunwald

9.  “Nothin’ on You,”  B.0.B.

10.  Sheryl Crow on Cougar Town and Amy Sedaris on The Middle.

I checked out the Lady Gaga video on You Tube, and dug it immensely.  One thing I’ve always been able to do is appreciate most new art.  When my kids were young, their friends always thought I was the coolest Dad, and I’m still that way. 

Anyway, you might want to give the Gaga thing a try.  The worst that happens is that you don’t like it.

Rock on…

~ tom

Frum on Waterloo: Required reading!

In the midst of my 14 hour marathon watching of the health care vote unfold, I saw David Frum interviewed on CNN or MSNBC, (I can’t remember which). He summarized a recent article he had written in which he scorched the right-wing crazies, Limbaugh/Beck, and the GOP leaders who have caved in to the same. This was refreshing, if not astounding considering that Frum is an avowed conservative who was a Ronald Reagan speech writer.

The article is here, and as far as I’m concerned it it required reading.

An excerpt from the article:

We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat.

There were leaders who knew better, who would have liked to deal. But they were trapped. Conservative talkers on Fox and talk radio had whipped the Republican voting base into such a frenzy that deal-making was rendered impossible. How do you negotiate with somebody who wants to murder your grandmother? Or – more exactly – with somebody whom your voters have been persuaded to believe wants to murder their grandmother?

I’m just hoping things are really as bad as Frum paints them.

~ Tom

** Correction: Frum was a speech writer for Bush 43, not Reagan.

Jon Stewart does (in) Glenn Beck

I record the Daily Show every evening on my DVR and watch it the next day.  Today’s watching of last night’s show was truly epic, and simply hilarious.  Jon spent the entire first half of the show doing a truly amazing impersonation of Glenn Beck’s insane ranting.  I was laughing so hard tears were coming to my eyes.  I’ve since watched it again here, and laughed just as hard.  Lawrence O’Donnell, subbing for Keith Olbermann, showed a large segment of it on tonight’s Countdown show. 

The thing has spread like wildfire all over the Internet, and rightfully so.  People do not realize how talented Stewart really is.

Dig it…

p.s.  Because of spamming on my comments I have added the “word confirmation” thingamajig that you must type in to leave the comment.  I hope it works.

A simple plan for the mid-term elections

Here is the message I just sent to President Obama:

Dear President Obama:

I have a simple plan for the mid-term elections:  Stress over-and-over-and over that if a voter is tired of nothing getting done in Congress and/or the voter believes you are not fulfilling your campaign promises, the last thing the voter should do is vote in more Republicans.  You, and all Democrats running in 2010 need to hammer home again and again the stark truth that the Republicans, and they alone, are the reason nothing is getting accomplished.  Keep pointing out over-and-over that electing more Republicans will surely bring more of the same, only magnified.  Ironically, the best way for the voter to vent his or her frustration with the status quo is to keep all the Democrats in and elect even more of them.  With a rock-solid majority, you will be able to do all the great things we elected you to do.

I have been truly troubled over what I perceive to be the defeatist attitude in the Democratic party, which seems to be publically predicting the loss of significant Democratic seats because “that always happens in mid-term elections.”  I have even heard hints of such concessions among your own staff.  To quote Popeye, “Sez who!”  With the abysmal performance of the Republicans over the last 10 years, I cannot accept such a premise.  I believe if we take the simple approach I suggest above, we can change history.

Thanks for you time.

Tom Wilson of  Alameda, California

If you agree with me, you might want to send a similar message to the President and you are certainly welcome to just cut and paste my message indicating that you agree with it.  Here is the site where you can send your message.

~ Peace out,  Tom

We’re at Tahoe/Donner

Sorry I have not posted for a while.  We are on our week-long break and I had to finish a lot of work before we took off last Thursday evening.  We’ll be up here at our Tahoe/Donner place until Sunday afternoon when we head back to Alameda. 

We’ve skied Squaw Valley the last four days.  Sunday was fantastic, with bluebird skies, no wind, and great snow.  Today?  Not so good.  Heavy, cold winds, bad visibility and the like.  We knocked off early. 

It is about 5:00 pm and snow is coming down pretty good. Here is a shot from out bedroom window that I just now took!

 

Oh, and let’s hear it for “The Hurt Locker!”

~  Tom

Peter Beinart nails it

I just read a brilliant article by Peter Beinart that explains how with the advent of the Clinton presidency, Republicans began a campaign to debilitate the government.  As Beinart points out:

All that changed when Bill Clinton took office. With the GOP no longer controlling the White House, a new breed of aggressive Republicans — men like Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay and Trent Lott — hit on a strategy for discrediting Clinton: discredit government. Rhetorically, they derided Washington as ineffective and conflict-ridden, and through their actions they guaranteed it. Their greatest weapon was the filibuster, which forced Democrats to muster 60 votes to get legislation through the Senate. Historically, filibustering had been rare. From the birth of the Republic until the Civil War, the Senate witnessed about one filibuster per decade. As late as the 1960s, Senators filibustered less than 10% of major legislation. But in the '70s, the filibuster rule changed: Senators no longer needed to camp out on the Senate floor all night, reading from Grandma's recipe book. Merely declaring their intention to filibuster derailed any bill that lacked 60 votes.

And a little later:

In 2009, Senate Republicans filibustered a stunning 80% of major legislation, even more than during the Clinton years. GOP leader Mitch McConnell led a filibuster of a deficit-reduction commission that he himself had demanded. The Obama White House spent months trying to lure the Finance Committee's ranking Republican, Chuck Grassley, into supporting a deal on health care reform and gave his staff a major role in crafting the bill. But GOP officials back home began threatening to run a primary challenger against the Iowa Senator. By late summer, Grassley wasn't just inching away from reform; he was implying that Obamacare would euthanize Grandma.

The article is a bit long but it is worth reading the whole thing.  It’s a bit depressing at the end as Beinart sets forth some ideas and events that might solve the problem – the ideas all make sense, but I cannot get myself to imagine any of them happening.  I sure hope I’m wrong.