Where are the great philosophers?

I suppose that you have to be dead in order to be recognized by the world as a great philosopher. I was just musing over the Pope's latest speech which has 'riled up the muslim street'. A thought occurred to me, if Ibn Rashd were alive today he would have risen up and challenged the Vicar to a lively debate. The world would have groaned under the spidery threads of their theological discourse. Great scholars would debate their words for weeks to come.

The masses would sit by, scratching their heads until someone gave them a thirty second soundbite of what these guys were discussing. It would be lively and interesting. Also, the streets of Kabul wouldnt look like Oakland after the raiders just lost a game. I am willing to wager that there are modern day Ibn Rashd's out there. Only they dont have a voice loud enough to reach the western world. Instead we have guys like Muqtada al-Sadr (who take advantage of the disenfranchised and desperate) who the get all the press. The world can do better than this.

Im a moderate really!

I was just looking back through my last few posts and I sound like some blubbery peta (or something similar) zealot. In truth Id say I am a well adjusted moderate. I simply have a healthy disliking towards our current executive branch. With good reason I think.

Recipe for making terrorists

Note: I pulled this from a website, but I thought it was interesting enough that id post it.

1) Detain 12000 Middle Eastern men

2) Separate from wife, kids, family, and put them into prisons half way around the world

3) Don't tell them why they're there, or tell their family where they are

4) Occasionally pile them into naked pyramids with other detainees, have dogs snap at them, and ugly G. I. broad with cigarette pose next to pile

5) Let stew and simmer for upwards of 3 years, occasionally whipping into a lather

6) Voila! Terrorist is now complete-release back into the environmment from which they came, only it no longer exists-their family is either dead or gone, their house is bombed-out, their job doesn't exist any more, and they're a little miffed about some of this. NOW they really Are a terrorist, hell bent on extracting a little revenge. George, if you can't find terrorists, you might as well make them.

Movie Review: The Illusionist

This is your standard love story. Soooo common in fact that you probly have seen this happen with some of your friends. It goes something like this. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Girl is a Duchess and her family doesnt want her associating with her peasant dog swine boyfriend. Boy is threatened with death if he sees girl again. Boy leaves and travels the world for 15 years, becomeing a master illusionist along the way. Boy returns to find his beloved betrothed to a prince who just happens to be an easy to hate rich prick. Boy gets prince killed and wins the girl. Talk about a Grimm's fairy tale ending huh? Oh, and his name is Eisenheim.

EISENHEIM! aka Ironhome
I am still not sure why they chose that name, but I'll find out. Kinda badass sounding no?

The Good

Edward Norton: Need I elaborate?


Jessica Biel: Obviously this isnt in order of best of the good things first, but still, she wasnt bad. I actually believed she was a real actress when I saw her in this movie. Usually you see her in movies like, "Return to the Black Latrine". But no, real move, real actors, and she was in it. She wasnt bad either.



Paul Giamatti: To come off of a stunning piece like Lady in the Water to this was just a great choice in job selection. After said Lady film, this perspicacious reviewer expected nothing less than a top notch performance. You will be happy to note, your erudite reviewer was not disappointed.


Rufus Sewell: Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Hmm.... I mean always the badguy never the hero. But damnit he is a great bad guy! Its so easy to think of him as such a big asshole. He does a pretty good job of it in this movie too. I watched the making of some movie he was in once and they said this guy throws huge orgies or something. Go fig.


Aside from the actors, who were just a great cast, this movie was set in the Victorian period. How cool is that? I know what you are thinking, didnt they wear goofy military uniforms back then? Well yes they did, but we must look past that. The illusions were also most excellent.

The Bad

There were some things which upon cursory reflection look like continuity isssues.

Who was the disappearing old dude? Was he just a tie in to get the kid interested in magic?

How did the sword trick work? When did he have time to get the jewel?

If she was wounded on the left side of her neck, why was the right side of her horse bloody?

Also, what was with Sewel's mustache? He looked like he had a muskrat tail attached to his nose.

The movie isnt full of action, its slower, but still interesting. If you adore movies like XXX you might not get this movie.

The Rating:
I give it an 8. A very strong, well acted, beautifully put together flick.

23rd Qualm

George Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.
He maketh logs to be cut in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war,
I will find no exit, for thou art in office.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy media control, they discomfort me.
Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the presence of thy religion.
Thou anointest my head with foreign oil.
My health insurance runneth out.
Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow you for last days of
Thy term,
And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever

Bush on leaks

Once again, our clever administration is haranguing the New York times over "leaking secret information". This time it is in relation to using banking systems to track and freeze funds to terrorist organizations. Was 'following the money' with terrorists really a surprise to anyone? Is anyone shocked that the goverment has a program set up to do this? Will the program suddently fall apart now that the public 'is aware' of it? Please.

This is nothing but a cheap PR stunt.

I say again...

ALL YOUR SECRET ARE BELONG TO US!

This is simply a tactic of bullying the press. On the flipside, this story really isnt a big eye opener. I would rate this headline to be equally as scintillating, "Department of Homeland security engaged in program to defend the country." Woah, hold the phone, what a shocker. Really? Bottom line, the NYT knows how to get circulation, our fearless leaders beat on them so that the press wont report on MORE of their criminal behavior. When Bush leaks information on our CIA agents its a matter of declassifying information. When they NYT leaks information that might negatively affect his limited popularity it is a matter of national security. Same story, different day. Rinse and repeat.

What I wouldnt give for some real leadership in this country...

Have some class with your alcohol

Gather ye children of Bacchus, quoth I wisdom from the sacred text of the fumy spirit....



A shot without a toast is like sex without foreplay.

And by a toast I don’t mean “Cheers” or “Here’s to you” — offering those is akin to christening a battleship with a Dixie cup. No, you want something melodic, meaningful and memorable, something capable of inspiring the troops before they happily careen into battle.

Our enemies never drink
Our friends always do
So let’s drink this drink
And tell between the two.

- Tis good to know who your friends are

Here’s to the man who takes the pledge
Who keeps his word and does not hedge
Who won’t give up and won’t give in
Till the last man’s out and there’s no more gin.

- Truly inspirational, now go have another drink

Better a well known drunkard
Than an anonymous alcoholic.

- Might as well go out in style

Work like you don’t need the money
Love like you’ve never been hurt
Dance like no-one is watching
Screw like it’s being filmed
And drink like a true Irishman.

- The last couple of lines say it all

Let us have wine and women
Mirth and laughter
Sermons and soda-water
The day after.

- Spoken like a good Catholic boy

Steady your glasses
Here comes the gale
Batten down the hatches
And lean well over the rail.

- In tribute to my buddy overseas

Here’s to whiskey, scotch and rye
Amber, smooth, and clear
Not as sweet as a woman’s lips
But a damn sight more sincere.

- Zipping the lip on this one

Here’s to a long life and a merry one
A quick death and an easy one
A pretty girl and an honest one
A cold drink—and another one.

- Cheers to that

No matter how beautiful
Smart and full of class
To somebody, somewhere
She’s a major pain in the ass.

- For some reason this makes me laugh a lot

Here’s to those who wish us well
As for the rest, they can go to Hell.

- A gentleman's toast obviously

While we live
Let’s live.

- After 15 shots, this toast still can make sense

Wise, kind, gentle, generous, sexy
But enough about me, here’s to you.

- Now theres a toast your friends can drink to

Drink today and drown all sorrow
You shall perhaps not do it tomorrow
Best while you have it, use your breath
There is no drinking after death.

- A true poet's toast

Why myspace is totally balls...

Ok, so you want to make an new blog. Yay, good for you. So what do you do? Well if you are like the 50 million other lemmings out there you create a myspace page. Why? Because everyone else is doing it, and we all know, the best place to put all of your dirty little secrets is online where every whackjob in the world can read it.

The place is basically a dramaqueen central. Anyone and everyone who ever wanted attention can get it. If that's what you are looking for then great. Mission accomplished. If you want an actual blog service though, the site is balls.

Things I despise about myspace in general...

The site is clunky as hell. It takes forever to load pages.

People have no clue how to build a friendly webpage, and all of those people flock to myspace like hyena's to a rotting carcass.

Everyone has to have their damn song playing on their page so that it automatically loads when you open their profile. Which just bogs things down even more. It's even better when they have terrible taste in music so that your ears are bleeding by the time you finally turn the screeching off.

The actual programming for the blog threading sucks.

But hey, thats not why its users are there in the first place right? So be free, walk in your self imposed darkness my friends. While you are bumbling around looking for a clue I will enjoy a decent online service instead.

Ode to Snowstorms

Calm becomes flurries.
Boots crunch above earth's surface.
Tiny white stars fall.

Movie Review: The Punisher

The New One (Mostly)


This is a movie based on the classic Punisher comic book.  A respectable piece of fiction in and of itself.  While no movie can really do the comic justice, I think this movie did a fairly good job of depecting ole Frank Castle.  Break out the popcorn kids, this might be a long one.


The Good


Let's start with Frank himself.

Before I go on to this movie I must honor the previous Punisher movie and Dolf Lungren, who was the first Frank Castle. 



 
Look at this crazy mofo. Would you want to run into him in a dark alley? Hell no. We who are about to Dolf salute you!


The new movie's Frank Castle is Thomas Jane. He is the more human of the two Punishers. Dolf has the personality of an alien cyborg compared to Jane.



 
Thomas Jane gives the Punisher a more human face.


Jane kicks ass in this movie.



 Rebecca-Romijn Stamos, what a hottie. I mean, her acting was great in this movie.




 To your left.... The Russian, just look at that monster.



 This car makes me weep with joy.





John Travolta was also good in this movie, but he is always decent. He was almost too good for this film though.



The Bad



The plot. Very basic, very straightforward.  I would say that is unusual, but its not.  The Punisher is a straightforward guy, you are bad, he kills you.  It makes for fun comics and ok flow for movies.


Continuity issues, they had this with the first one too.  It is what happens in Punisher flicks.  Like the part where the Russian fucks Castle up and he drinks half a bottle of Wild Turkey in one gulp.  Then the Jolly Blonde Giant stitches his ass up.  There is no way he would come out of that elevator all sober and mentally aware like he was.  They made an effort to have this movie more grounded in reality and then went and did that scene.  That pisses me off.


It is another origin movie.  The did it in the first movie version, and they did it here too.  They basically did the "why the punisher is the punisher" story. Thats cool and all, but hey I have an idea. That wheel has already been invented, lets not reinvent it over and over.  Why not just have a movie of the punisher whooping some more ass and taking more names next time?



 No Louis Gossett Jr., that's who the Punishers partner should have been.  Of the two movies he was the best partner/supporting actor. 







The Rating


I would give this movie an 7-8/10.  Jane made a great Punisher, and he was human.  Which was Marvel's big thing with the ole vigilante.  The plot was lame, but the actors ruled.  The fights were well done.  It also had Rebecca Romijn in it.  I think it stayed pretty true to Punisher cannon, so yes, it has my highly sought after stamp of approval.

Happy New Year... or something like that

I am the harbinger of luck.

Thats right. I said it, I am the harbinger of luck.

Did you know....

0 It was considered lucky to eat food that was circular in shape on new years, as it represented the completion of a full circle.
0 It was considered particularly lucky to have the first visitor you see in the new year be a tall, dark haired man. No bullshit.
0 Rice and cabbage are considered lucky foods to eat on new years day/night.
0 Jan 1 is just an arbitrary day, the real new year occurs on the first new moon after the vernal equinox.

That being said, let me share with you dear reader, my new year eve. This year of course, actually... no less than four hours ago. Here I sit, in the darkened chamber of my room with naught but a lit candle and a half full bottle of wine. The snow is falling lightly if relentlessly outside. By lamplight it provides sufficient illumination to see as if it were twilight. Given this atmosphere and the onset of some inebriation... I think I'll actually write one post here with some unique if non-specific substance about me.

That being said, it was a fairly decent new year eve. I hardly drank at all, visited three parties, and felt at home in none. They were all full of friendly people, all had plenty of drink and things to eat. However, I realized what was lacking was someone to share it with. I suppose being around people on the new year is better than being alone, but a step up from that would be being around someone or someones you can share a night of revelry with. Being a fairly recent arrival here I have found that making friends is a more difficult prospect that I anticipated. I know many, but have few friends. I suppose it just takes time. Though with a few good friends you wouldnt need parties, the party would be where you are.

The eve also makes me re-evaluate the nature of my relations with people and how I conduct myself. I suppose such things are natural. I think I need to rededicate myself to not persue happiness. Many great writers have asserted that when one is consumed with action one can find happiness. But when one is searching or even dare I say the ugly word, grasping.. for it, one finds it not. I think I shall focus this year on deepening ties with people I know and perfecting what it is that I do. I know, not great revelations in themselves, and certainly not original ideas. They are significant for me nonetheless.

With that dear reader, I will leave you with this. I wish you a most productive and happy year. I wish upon you fortune and good fruits borne by your labour. May this year be better than your last one.