91% approve SOTU!

I knew that the President gave a great State of the Union address.  However, I was worried that the general public might have thought it was too long, or too detailed, or too combative, or too timid, or whatever.

Thus, I was surprised and elated when I saw that a CBS poll taken after the address showed that 91% of the general public approved of the proposals that the President put forth in the speech.  That of course means that a mere 9% disapproved.  I can’t remember when I saw such lopsided numbers in a poll.  This must be blowing the minds of the Republicans and the Right.  But it makes me even more disturbed about the Right’s voter suppression schemes masquerading as legitimate legislation to curb actual voter fraud.  I have discussed this in detail in a prior post.  As I see it, keeping people from voting is about the only way left for the right wing to defeat the President. 

Life is ever rewarding

Sometimes I run across something that just makes me shake my head in wonder and smile for hours.  I don’t think you will be able to resist this.  The kid is fabulous, but I also love the owner of the guitar shop.

Mr. Plinkett and RedLetterMedia

I’m glad that I still have the opportunity to be around young folks and  interact with them.  Over the holidays I was talking with a step-nephew of mine who is nineteen and very bright.  We were discussing movie reviews and he mentioned the “RedLetterMedia” review of the first Star Wars prequel “The Phantom Menace.” He said it was one of the funniest, yet perceptive reviews he had ever seen and told me to search for it on YouTube when I got the chance.  I have seen it now, and it is terrific.  It may not be to your taste, but I find it as brilliant as it is hilarious.  You can read about it here, and watch the first installment on YouTube here. (There are 7 installments).  At last count it had 3,652,511 views! 

Be ready for the reviewer, Mr. Plinkett, who is described in Wikipedia thusly:

Stoklasa created his first video review for Star Trek Generations after watching the film again some time in 2008. He noted that he thought it was a "shitty movie" and "completely messed up the transition to the big screen from what was a really great TV show", inspiring him to share this view with others.^[1] Stoklasa found his own voice to be too boring for the review and adopted the persona of "Mr. Harry S. Plinkett", a previous character he had used in several short films (originally played by Rich Evans) and since further developed within the reviews.^[1]

Mr. Plinkett is an old man (claiming to be born in 1906) bordering on senile and psychotic,^[2] a mannerism that Stoklasa deemed was necessary in order to keep the viewer interested in the reviews and guessing what may occur next.^[3] The Plinkett character also adds a sense of humor to avoid making the reviewer sound too much like a nerd or armchair critic.^[1] Mr. Plinkett speaks in a manner that has been compared to both Dan Aykroyd's character in The Blues Brothers and Ted Levine's Buffalo Bill character fromThe Silence of the Lambs.^[1][4] The character seems to live, or at least have lived, in Teaneck, New Jersey, having made references to its police department (in his Star Trekreview) and the Cedar Lanes Cinema (in his Revenge of the Sith review).

Through side comments in narration, flashes of disturbing images, and cuts to scenes filmed by RedLetterMedia, Mr. Plinkett is implied to be a misogynist and a serial killer; recurring themes include the murder of his ex-wife via car crash and women held captive in his basement.^[1][2] He claims to have had a disappointing son who hanged himself in a gas station bathroom. Mr. Plinkett also has a fondness for Totino's Pizza Rolls, and he encourages feedback by promising to mail one to viewers that leave comments on his "webzone". When he gets angry, he threatens to not send a pizza roll.^[1]

If you dig it, there are plenty more RedLetterMedia reviews to enjoy.  If you hate it, I will respect your take, but also surmise that we each have a quite different sense of humor.

Montana Supreme Court = My Heroes!

I just learned that the Montana Supreme Court defied the US Supreme Court’s decision in the awful “Citizens United” case!  You can read about it here.  The decision was 5 to 2.  However, one of the dissenting justices went out of his way to blister SCOTUS for its horrible decision:

"While, as a member of this Court, I am bound to follow Citizens United, I do not have to agree with the [U.S.] Supreme Court's decision," Nelson wrote. "And, to be absolutely clear, I do not agree with it. For starters, the notion that corporations are disadvantaged in the political realm is unbelievable. Indeed, it has astounded most Americans. The truth is that corporations wield enormous power in Congress and in state legislatures. It is hard to tell where government ends and corporate America begins: the transition is seamless and overlapping."

And over at Firedog Lake, David Dayen offers thoughts on the ramification of the Montana decision.   The upshot is that he does not think SCOTUS would change its mind, but he does not rule out the possibility of justice Kennedy changing his position if the Montana decision were before him.  He notes also that:

At the very least, a favorable ruling here would allow states to ban corporate contributions or limit them in state and local elections.

It all brings back that delicious moment in the President’s State of the Union speech a couple of years ago when he called out the majority justices on the Citizens United case right to their faces, strongly criticizing their decision, prompting that little weasel Alito to shake his head and mumble some sort of objection. 

Anyway, I love the Montana Supreme Court these days.

An interesting top ten best albums list

I ran across this top ten list today.  It made me realize that I am keeping up with music less than I used to.  In the past, I would have heard a lot of the albums on the list, and probably owned a couple.  Not so with this list:

• Miles “Live in Europe ‘67:  Read reviews, but have not listened to it yet on Rhapsody.
• Jarrett:  Didn’t know anything about it.
• Raphael Saadiq:  Have one of his albums in my Rhapsody library, but did not know this one had been released.
• Ambrose Akinmusire:  This one interests me a lot.  I have read several reviews of this album, all of which were flat-out raves.  Gonna download it to my Rhapsody library ASAP.
• Black Keys:  I have listened to some of their stuff but have not really gotten into them as much as other bands of the same ilk.  I’ll get around to giving this one a listen.
• PJ Harvey: I’ve read a lot of reviews of this one, all very positive.  I’ve not been a big fan in the past, but maybe this will get me on board.  Gonna check it out on Rhapsody.
• Saturn Never Sleeps:  Never even heard of this group.  Obviously, I will check them out.
• Mason Jennings:  Never heard of this guy either.  Ditto on checking him out.
• The Kills:  Heard of them but never listened to them.  Another one to check out on Rhapsody.
• North Mississippi Allstars:  Oh my, another group I have never heard of. 

You get the picture.  I’m really getting out of touch.  The joys of aging and slipping into curmudgeonhood.

~ Tom

Homeland: Outstanding!

Last night we got around to watching the season finale of “Homeland,” which I had recorded on Sunday. The finale was one of the most tense, exciting drama’s I’ve ever seen on TV. If you have not been able to see Homeland, you should purchase or rent the DVD when it is released – or maybe you can check it out “on-demand” on Showtime.

I won’t even hint at what went on in the finale, because spoilers would be terribly unwelcome for this one. Suffice it to say that I was on the edge of my seat through the whole 90 minutes (gloriously commercial-free on Showtime), hardly able to breathe in a couple of scenes. I was still thinking about it this morning.

This series cements my belief that Claire Danes is one of the top two or three female lead actors working today. To sustain what she did over 12 episodes in which she was the focal point was an amazing feat. And Damian Lewis, while terrific throughout, was especially riveting in the finale. The rest of the casting is pitch-perfect. The writing, direction and production value are superb, again especially so in the finale.

In reading all of the “Best of 2011” lists published in the various magazines or Internet content that I read, I have not found even one that does not list “Homeland” as in the top 10 TV shows.

Simply put, Tom says five out of five stars! You gotta see it.

The grim truth

Two headlines from this morning’s Huffington Post speak volumes:

• U.S. CEO Pay Jumped At Least 27 Percent Last Year
• Census Data Shows 1 in 2 People Are Poor Or Low-Income