We shall look into this,
When it has been determined,
That there is something to look into.
-Martin Short, playing Pierre Trudeau
Politically, I am a pretty orange liberal. Sometimes I think I let myself get too mad at the NDP beacuse I take them too much at their word, but man do they piss me off almost as much as The Reform Party does (and under Harper they are still the Reform Party). There is a history.
Back in 1991 I was working in automobile insurance and The NDP was threatening to take my career away so I hated the NDP as the enemy. They were going to take food out of my children's mouthes as they say (you know, if I had any). When Rae backed off on this because it would have made an awful mess, and because it was not a core "promise" on which the voters elected him, I was obviously relieved.
Rae was the only NDP-er I ever saw in power. I don't follow politics in B.C. Rae used to mouth-off as leader of the opposition, but when it came to actually governing, he knew the difference and he did a pretty good job. Bob suffered from the Joe Clark-Jimmy Carter syndrome: he was too nice a guy, he told the truth and he was not a great politician. (Examples of "great politicians": Bill Clinton, Pierre Trudeau, Bill Davis, Adolf Hitler).
Layton played his cards well - The NDP is The Liberals' conscience. Like Fred Flintstone and other cartoon characters, they are the little angel while Harper is the little devil (I am evil Homer....I am evil Homer...).
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Linda McQuaig in The Toronto Star made a point that I had thought of myself years ago. This is something Americans don't "get". Not breaking promises and doing what you said you would do are not, just by themselve, indications that you are doing a good job in power. Two who kept their promises: Adolf Hitler, Mike Harris. If Paul Martin changes his mind (on one of the rare times he has mades it up in the first place), it is not automatically bad for that reason alone. If Dubya wants to play star wars in space let him and keep us out of it.
Martin does not totally deserve the Mr Dithers title - but he almost does.
Thomas
Monday, May 23, 2005
R.I.P. Trial by Jury
I used to be "with it".
Then they changed what "it" was, and I wasn't anymore.
Abraham "Grandpa" Simpson
I have been an avid Law and Order junky since 1995. I picked up Law & Order Sports Utility Vehicle in 1999 and have watched it ever since. I refused, for 3 years, to watch a single episode of Criminal Intent. Then I watched one. Then I got hooked. Then I bought the DVDS...
Learning my Criminal Intent lesson, I watched Trail by Jury from the start. But Jerry Orbach was supposed to be in it and without him it just did not have "it". D.A. Lillith is always a treat to look at, but she was better when she was having sex with Frasier Crane or Commander Riker ( a good "character" actor). She was not strong enought to carry the lead in a drama series. Her sidekick (played by Amy Carlson) was just BORING.
I think us Lorderers like seeing cops more than lawyers - Mike Logan getting his butt burned, trying to predict which "perps" Eliot Stabler is going to belt, and what weird trivia Robert Goren will throw at a suspect (he's the most Columbo-esque detective in the franchise).
SVU and CI are both cop-driven and lawyers play a secondary role.
In fact, on the original Law and Order, they change the assistant to McCoy what, um, like every 4 1/2 epsiodes - they even threw a blonde in there to see if we were paying attention.
This Fall Mike Logan returns YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH.
TF.
Then they changed what "it" was, and I wasn't anymore.
Abraham "Grandpa" Simpson
I have been an avid Law and Order junky since 1995. I picked up Law & Order Sports Utility Vehicle in 1999 and have watched it ever since. I refused, for 3 years, to watch a single episode of Criminal Intent. Then I watched one. Then I got hooked. Then I bought the DVDS...
Learning my Criminal Intent lesson, I watched Trail by Jury from the start. But Jerry Orbach was supposed to be in it and without him it just did not have "it". D.A. Lillith is always a treat to look at, but she was better when she was having sex with Frasier Crane or Commander Riker ( a good "character" actor). She was not strong enought to carry the lead in a drama series. Her sidekick (played by Amy Carlson) was just BORING.
I think us Lorderers like seeing cops more than lawyers - Mike Logan getting his butt burned, trying to predict which "perps" Eliot Stabler is going to belt, and what weird trivia Robert Goren will throw at a suspect (he's the most Columbo-esque detective in the franchise).
SVU and CI are both cop-driven and lawyers play a secondary role.
In fact, on the original Law and Order, they change the assistant to McCoy what, um, like every 4 1/2 epsiodes - they even threw a blonde in there to see if we were paying attention.
This Fall Mike Logan returns YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH.
TF.
Americans
Once again I re-state what is symbolic of what is wrong with the American view of life (and even worse the Canadian because we do this crap as well). I am reminded of this as the Star Wars final prequel is out and making buckets of money.
In England, France and Italy, they judge a movie by whether it's any good as a movie. In Amurka, it is judged by how much money it makes. If this isn't dumb enough, they don't even adjust for inflation. It costs, what - $10 U.S. to see a movie - what did it cost to see Gone With The Wind or The Wizard of Oz - a nickel? a dime??
Another thought and I am paraphrasing someone else's words (I don't remember who). In England they take people who can act, and give them acting jobs. In America they take pretty people and try and teach them how to act. Canada follows the US lead on this. In fact, we export our pretties to Hollywood.
TF
In England, France and Italy, they judge a movie by whether it's any good as a movie. In Amurka, it is judged by how much money it makes. If this isn't dumb enough, they don't even adjust for inflation. It costs, what - $10 U.S. to see a movie - what did it cost to see Gone With The Wind or The Wizard of Oz - a nickel? a dime??
Another thought and I am paraphrasing someone else's words (I don't remember who). In England they take people who can act, and give them acting jobs. In America they take pretty people and try and teach them how to act. Canada follows the US lead on this. In fact, we export our pretties to Hollywood.
TF
Movie Reviews
These I watched for the first time in the last week.
Team America: World Police
The South Park guys move from cartoons to puppets. WARNING: Graphic scenes of puppet sex. The warning is because it's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. It can't move totally away from South Park - you think "oh that's the Cartman voice" or "that's Mr Garrison's voice". If you like South Park and not Dubya, you will like this movie. The Team's theme song:
America
FUCK YA
We're here to save the motherfuckin' day.
The Incredibles
Animation this time. You get pretty much what you expect from this one. Certainly a good movie.
I, Robot
I was determined not to like this movie because it was going to be so different from the Asimov short stories that were bound together in the I, Robot book. But I haven't read that book in almost a decade so I have forgotten the details which means I wasn't comparing it to the book. Will Smith does his job, well, because the character seems to have been written for him. I guess in 2035 there are still "I'm Black" jokes, although there was only one in the movie so that's not bad.
The CGI was beyond good. The robots were awesome.
I think Isaac would have enjoyed it.
TF
Team America: World Police
The South Park guys move from cartoons to puppets. WARNING: Graphic scenes of puppet sex. The warning is because it's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. It can't move totally away from South Park - you think "oh that's the Cartman voice" or "that's Mr Garrison's voice". If you like South Park and not Dubya, you will like this movie. The Team's theme song:
America
FUCK YA
We're here to save the motherfuckin' day.
The Incredibles
Animation this time. You get pretty much what you expect from this one. Certainly a good movie.
I, Robot
I was determined not to like this movie because it was going to be so different from the Asimov short stories that were bound together in the I, Robot book. But I haven't read that book in almost a decade so I have forgotten the details which means I wasn't comparing it to the book. Will Smith does his job, well, because the character seems to have been written for him. I guess in 2035 there are still "I'm Black" jokes, although there was only one in the movie so that's not bad.
The CGI was beyond good. The robots were awesome.
I think Isaac would have enjoyed it.
TF
Saturday, May 21, 2005
R.I.P. Enterprise
"With just the cat to talk to,
And I've so much to say".
- A Stan Rogers Song (can't remember the title)
in 1978 there was no Star Trek but there was Battlestar Galactica.
Again in 2005.
Much as I loved the first year of BG in 1978 and all it's campiness (Galactica 1980 was awful), the 2005 version is much better just as Deep Space Nine was much better than the original Star Trek, but owed everything to the series' that went before. On to Enterprise. Their 5 year mission continues on in syndication.
They did a lot right on Enterprise but they did the rightest stuff too late. With Next Gen, DS9 and Voyager all set in the same time frame, it was a good move to go back and going back to BK (Before Kirk) was a good move. But that meant we'd all want to see what we see in the latest Star Wars trilogy: it's ok to go back but you have to lead up to where it began. In SW we want to see Darth Vader evolve and Luke and Leia born. For Enterprise, we want to see events and species that lead right up to Kirk, Spock and Bones.
It was good that right there in the Enterprise pilot were The Klingons. YEAH. We all wanted to see the Human-Klingon war that had already cooled into cold war by Kirk's time. We did not get it. We got Ferengi and we got Borg. DUMBASS! These species were new to Picard - we Trekkers know our Trek history better than our own family tree.
Another thing Enterprise did was what all 4 series' after the original did way too much: re-hash old plots. I can't think of a perfect example here but I could come up with them very easily if I looked.
There was little direction by season 2. Season 3 did a year-long diversion which was very good.
Season 4 FINALLY showed us Tholians and those dog-faced people who hate the Andorians, and even Dr Soong's ancestor, but by the time the good stuff aired, Enterprise was cancelled.
I don't blame Enterprise for fizzling or UPN for cancelling it - after all, trek was bound to get stale after 19 seasons with one, sometimes two series going on.
Mr Berman, please give it a few years rest and let's come back fresh!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Good Characters from ENTERPRISE:
Archer, Flox, T'Pol, Trip and Shran (anything done by Jeffrey Combs always is),
The Vulcan Ambassador.
Characters that missed the mark:
Reed (good but inconsistent)
Hoshi (too "girly" in a 60s sitcom way but what a cutie!)
Travis (either he can't act or they gave him poor lines).
Best Guest Star (Shran considered semi-regular):
Brent Spiner of course!
Honorable mention to Joanna Cassidy: always a great actress! From Blade Runner babe to Vulcan wacky Mother.
Thomas
And I've so much to say".
- A Stan Rogers Song (can't remember the title)
in 1978 there was no Star Trek but there was Battlestar Galactica.
Again in 2005.
Much as I loved the first year of BG in 1978 and all it's campiness (Galactica 1980 was awful), the 2005 version is much better just as Deep Space Nine was much better than the original Star Trek, but owed everything to the series' that went before. On to Enterprise. Their 5 year mission continues on in syndication.
They did a lot right on Enterprise but they did the rightest stuff too late. With Next Gen, DS9 and Voyager all set in the same time frame, it was a good move to go back and going back to BK (Before Kirk) was a good move. But that meant we'd all want to see what we see in the latest Star Wars trilogy: it's ok to go back but you have to lead up to where it began. In SW we want to see Darth Vader evolve and Luke and Leia born. For Enterprise, we want to see events and species that lead right up to Kirk, Spock and Bones.
It was good that right there in the Enterprise pilot were The Klingons. YEAH. We all wanted to see the Human-Klingon war that had already cooled into cold war by Kirk's time. We did not get it. We got Ferengi and we got Borg. DUMBASS! These species were new to Picard - we Trekkers know our Trek history better than our own family tree.
Another thing Enterprise did was what all 4 series' after the original did way too much: re-hash old plots. I can't think of a perfect example here but I could come up with them very easily if I looked.
There was little direction by season 2. Season 3 did a year-long diversion which was very good.
Season 4 FINALLY showed us Tholians and those dog-faced people who hate the Andorians, and even Dr Soong's ancestor, but by the time the good stuff aired, Enterprise was cancelled.
I don't blame Enterprise for fizzling or UPN for cancelling it - after all, trek was bound to get stale after 19 seasons with one, sometimes two series going on.
Mr Berman, please give it a few years rest and let's come back fresh!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Good Characters from ENTERPRISE:
Archer, Flox, T'Pol, Trip and Shran (anything done by Jeffrey Combs always is),
The Vulcan Ambassador.
Characters that missed the mark:
Reed (good but inconsistent)
Hoshi (too "girly" in a 60s sitcom way but what a cutie!)
Travis (either he can't act or they gave him poor lines).
Best Guest Star (Shran considered semi-regular):
Brent Spiner of course!
Honorable mention to Joanna Cassidy: always a great actress! From Blade Runner babe to Vulcan wacky Mother.
Thomas
I wrote this one back in 2002: SPAM
This is what I get in my e-mail most days.
1. Apparently my penis needs to be enlarged - must be the case because I get three e-mails a day on this subject. Good thing - otherwise I would never have known that I had this problem. Just one time I wish I'd get told I need my brain made smaller.
1a: I need Viagra to make it work.
2. I need to spend more money on internet pornography. There is much I could do in this area because my average monthly expenditure, including taxes, shipping and handling is, ok I will round this off, $0.00. And most of the stuff I am supposed to buy includes barnyard animals, 18 year old girls who look 13 and involves acts that most of us choose to confine to the bathroom. This is just plain insulting. I am 39, single all my life, straight, and I am a total computer geek. Has it never occured to these people that a guy like me would have years ago figured out how to get any and all the porn off of the internet he needs FOR FREE????????????????
3. I don't gamble enough. Once again other than a poker game every few years I spend $0.00 a month on gambling. I certainly having nothing against gambling as long as you can still buy your daughter those $250 designer jeans she wants every six weeks and you don't loose your house, your spouse or your enitire family. Not for me - I drink, I smoke, and the very very very last thing I need is another stupid habit that costs me money.
(P.S. Maybe since I don't smoke anymore I should now take up gambling TF, 2005).
1. Apparently my penis needs to be enlarged - must be the case because I get three e-mails a day on this subject. Good thing - otherwise I would never have known that I had this problem. Just one time I wish I'd get told I need my brain made smaller.
1a: I need Viagra to make it work.
2. I need to spend more money on internet pornography. There is much I could do in this area because my average monthly expenditure, including taxes, shipping and handling is, ok I will round this off, $0.00. And most of the stuff I am supposed to buy includes barnyard animals, 18 year old girls who look 13 and involves acts that most of us choose to confine to the bathroom. This is just plain insulting. I am 39, single all my life, straight, and I am a total computer geek. Has it never occured to these people that a guy like me would have years ago figured out how to get any and all the porn off of the internet he needs FOR FREE????????????????
3. I don't gamble enough. Once again other than a poker game every few years I spend $0.00 a month on gambling. I certainly having nothing against gambling as long as you can still buy your daughter those $250 designer jeans she wants every six weeks and you don't loose your house, your spouse or your enitire family. Not for me - I drink, I smoke, and the very very very last thing I need is another stupid habit that costs me money.
(P.S. Maybe since I don't smoke anymore I should now take up gambling TF, 2005).
This was written back in 2002: Dachshund
Once upon a time many years ago, my grandfather had a dachshund named Dirky. Dirk's favourite spot was right on grampa's lap. One time, Dirk, who was still a pup at the time, chewed a rather large hole in grampa's sweater while he was sleeping until my grandmother came into the room, woke up Grampa, and fired the dog outside.
Well, on "That 70's show", they recently got a dachshund named "Shotzie". This week the whole family was over to Eric's place for Thanksgiving dinner. The last scene featured Eric's grandfather (played by Tom Poston) passed out drunk in a chair and Schotzie is right there on grampa's lap, licking himself. I howled for about 10 minutes after I saw that scene.
Well, on "That 70's show", they recently got a dachshund named "Shotzie". This week the whole family was over to Eric's place for Thanksgiving dinner. The last scene featured Eric's grandfather (played by Tom Poston) passed out drunk in a chair and Schotzie is right there on grampa's lap, licking himself. I howled for about 10 minutes after I saw that scene.
Sayings
"Money doesn't talk, it swears"
-Bob Dylan
These are a few thoughts that don't have much to do with each other other than most examine "sayings" or ideas. I am not sure if these are all original.
There was at least one road that did not lead to Rome - try the one from Pompeii in 79 AD about 2 seconds after Vesuvius stopped erupting.
In the 70s we hated drinking water out of a plastic container - better to get the "fresh" stuff right from the tap.
If the meek were to inherit the earth, they'd get muscled out of it as soon as the non-meek members of their offspring grew up and organized.
Most people, and Americans (and probably even me), who ally with one specific political party, speak as if their party should always be in power - but would we want a one-party system? Didn't we fight wars, cold or otherwise, to prevent just that?
In the 70s VW bugs and Austin Minis were cheap cars - now they are luxury vehicles.
A dog hates it when you blow in his face but get him in the car at 100 KPH and he sticks his head right out of the window and just loves it.
Some people like dogs, some cats, some birds and so on. I think almost everyone likes horses.
I don't think it's true that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". If we are speaking of "it" in terms of it being capable of killing you, then whatever doesn't kill you probably weakens you and weakens you by quite a lot. Ok: If you're talking about Lance Armstrong then in that case I am wrong.
"Less is not more - MORE is more"
-Miss Piggy
Thomas
May 21 2005
-Bob Dylan
These are a few thoughts that don't have much to do with each other other than most examine "sayings" or ideas. I am not sure if these are all original.
There was at least one road that did not lead to Rome - try the one from Pompeii in 79 AD about 2 seconds after Vesuvius stopped erupting.
In the 70s we hated drinking water out of a plastic container - better to get the "fresh" stuff right from the tap.
If the meek were to inherit the earth, they'd get muscled out of it as soon as the non-meek members of their offspring grew up and organized.
Most people, and Americans (and probably even me), who ally with one specific political party, speak as if their party should always be in power - but would we want a one-party system? Didn't we fight wars, cold or otherwise, to prevent just that?
In the 70s VW bugs and Austin Minis were cheap cars - now they are luxury vehicles.
A dog hates it when you blow in his face but get him in the car at 100 KPH and he sticks his head right out of the window and just loves it.
Some people like dogs, some cats, some birds and so on. I think almost everyone likes horses.
I don't think it's true that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". If we are speaking of "it" in terms of it being capable of killing you, then whatever doesn't kill you probably weakens you and weakens you by quite a lot. Ok: If you're talking about Lance Armstrong then in that case I am wrong.
"Less is not more - MORE is more"
-Miss Piggy
Thomas
May 21 2005
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