Monday, December 27, 2010

The Brown Paper Bag

Saturday night’s Christmas dinner at our place was sparked with lively conversation at the table of twelve bright people, early twenties through mid sixties. As often is the case, we zeroed in on movies and TV that each of us was passionate about. The palaver circled around to “The Wire,” one of my absolutely favorite pieces of entertainment of any sort. As soon as “The Wire” was tossed into the ring, I piped up with, “do you remember Bunny’s ‘brown paper bag’ soliloquy?” One other person at the table lit up like a Christmas tree and knew exactly what I was talking about. Other people who had seen The Wire and were fans still could not quite place it. In my mind, it was one of the great moments of the series, although there were literally hundreds of great moments. But this one always sticks in by brain. So, I wondered out loud whether YouTube might have a clip of the Brown Paper Bag. Sure enough it does.

Check it out. It’s pure genius.

Happy new year…

~ Tom

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Prez is still my guy

My daughter's family just blew in last night from Seattle, so I am busy entertaining grandkids and the like.

However, I just saw that the Senate ratified the nuclear arms treaty 71 –26, which was negotiated by Obama.  Then I thought about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell being thrown out by permanent legislation passed by Congress rather than a risky, non-permanent executive order, as orchestrated by Obama.  Then I thought about the first health care bill EVER getting passed, which was Obama rolling the dice big time.  Then I thought about the healthy nutrition for kids bill getting passed which was Obama and the First Lady’s doing.  Then I thought about the great credit card consumer protection bill that Obama championed.  Then I thought about all the smaller, but “good-for-our-country” bills getting enacted over the last two years, all of which were shepherded through by Obama.  Then I remembered this poster from the campaign ….. 

Chill Out

Remember that?  All the gnashing of teeth by supporters who were convinced that he was blowing his chance to get nominated by doing this or not doing that? 

I’m still on board and proud of it.

~ Tom

Monday, December 20, 2010

Feelin’ old, feelin’ young

Ever have one of those moments when you really start to realize you are getting old, but the cause of that very moment makes you feel young again?  This did it for me:

Dylan1965byAvedon

Saturday, December 18, 2010

A plug for “Film Junk”

Over a year ago I discovered the “Film Junk” weekly podcast, which I have been listening to since then.  I listen to it when I’m walking my dog and other times throughout each week. It’s a bit of an acquired taste, but I have really gotten to like the guys who created it.  Sean, the sort-of leader is a video game programmer and is the webmaster and editor of the whole Film Junk site.  Jay is a film school grad who has been making movies since he was a kid and is now making a feature length documentary.  Greg is a broadcasting grad who made a name for himself on FM radio.  Frank is a computer science grad who is on the podcast and also contributes content to the Website.  They get a bit profane and silly sometimes but its all tongue-in-cheek and in good fun.

There are two personal reasons why I like the podcast so much.  First, these guys are all Canadians and the show comes from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (about an hour away from Toronto, 15 minutes from Niagara Falls).  This gives a different perspective, especially for political and “values” content.  Second, they are all half my age or younger, which keeps me plugged into new and often exciting discoveries.

I think they just finished episode number 298 and they are planning a cool show for number 300.  They record the podcast every Sunday at Sean’s house and it goes up on the site for download on Monday.  I really like the structure of the podcast:  They start with news from the film business, followed by review of one or two movies that they are all committed to seeing so that they can all participate.  Then they do a segment called “Trailer Trash” where they discuss and critique the various trailers they have seen in the theater or on the Internet. Then comes my favorite part: “What I Watched,” where each guy talks about what he watched over the past week, including television shows.  I find out about all kinds of cool stuff from this segment, especially from Jay who discusses all kinds of obscure films.  Then they close with a segment called “Junk Mail” where they read email comments and questions from fans.  Because this is a podcast that can be downloaded anywhere in the world, they get email from all kinds of places like Australia, Denmark, Germany, Brazil …. you get the picture.

Even if you don’t get into the podcast, the Film Junk site is really great.  Put it in your Favorites/Bookmark pages.

~  Tom

Thursday, December 9, 2010

At last, a clear eye on things

As you know, I have been pretty depressed over the state of “politics” these days.  Everything I have been reading and hearing has made it sound as if Obama has committed political treason, and that he is going to be a one-term President ala Jimmy Carter. 

That is why this article by the sage, veteran columnist David Broder really, really cheered me up.  Take the time to read it.  It is what I have been thinking all along. 

~ Tom

Monday, December 6, 2010

Question answered…

Hey all.  I have been sick as a dog for the last few days with a flu that has been going around.  Eileen had it before me so I have be following in her footsteps.  No fun for either of us.  And I got a flu shot!  What’s up with that?

Anyway, I wanted to provide the answer to my last post:

The composer of “Don’t Fence Me In” was Cole Porter.  Of course my good friend The Stallion nailed it, which only makes sense because he is the most erudite of all my friends.