Friday, May 23, 2008
The Skeleton BarREVIEW: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Loved it. I thing it was fun from beginning to end and a worthy addition to the franchise. Set in the 1950s with Russians as the enemies this time, it takes us from the Nevada test site to a lost city in Peru with tons of action along the way. The film has a very cool look and a nostalgic flavor. It should do very well. I think it’s probably the second best one after the first. I really don’t understand some of the negative reviews I’ve seen (though most are positive). It certainly doesn’t have that Lucas lameness except for a tribute to Tarzan movies and some really absurd escape sequences. But hey, it’s meant to be fun. I went along with it.
The audience I was with applauded at the end. I did too.
Now You’re Cooking
David Cook has the top four songs on iTunes today.
Snap, Crackle, Pop
Thursday, May 22, 2008
YesWait Times
How do you admit your Socialized system is failing? Put on a happy face! That’s the bureaucratic way.
Cp,ing soon to America if Obama wins.
The Original Indy
Otto Rahn was a Nazi archaeologist who inspired the Harrison Ford character. Here’s his strange and fascinating story.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
WINNER: David Cook!
Congratulations to David Cook for winning American Idol. You deserved it. It’s great to see the judges proved wrong.
Cook won by 12 million votes. He slaughtered little David A. So much for pimping the golden boy.
The reason he won is fairly simple. While David A is a great singer, he is just a bland kid. Whereas Cook is someone people can relate to. He sings like a real rock star, comes from a blue collar job and he is totally surprised he got this far. He didn’t even want to try out for Idol He was talked into it when an Idol camera man talked him into it at the auditions.
I wasn’t that sold on him originally but he won me over. Good for him!
Here’s his winner’s song, which I think is the best one yet, I actually might download this one.
As for the show itself, I thought it was excellent. I compare it to season 5’s wonderful closer. This had lots of great singing and guests. I will be saving this one and watching it a coupe more times, It was truly a magic night.
Soft Fascism at Work
In England they are prosecuting a teenager for calling Scientology a cult. Apparently, Free Speech is not a right in the UK.
In Canada they are going after Mark Steyn for “hate Speech”. Again, it’s the PC left trying to shut up any dissent. They are the new fascists,
Political Correctness is nothing more than censorship. Pass it on.
UPDATE: Epic Nose Guy wins the day.
Tethered vs Untethered Technology
Here’s a very interesting article about the future of the internet and computers, which predicts a dystopian world where all teh gadgets you cary like your cell phone and iPod may one day spy on you and record everything you say an do.
I don’t think that will be the end result of these technologies, but certainly there will be those who will try to make it happen. The nature of humanity, however, is someone will find a better way to any problem and hackers will always subvert security systems. At some points, I think it will be a more egalitarian world due to emerging technologies. Playing fields are being leveled in many strange and interesting ways that many people have yet to realize. While the corporations try to control how content is distributed, the people are telling them how it’s going to be distributed.
Authorities operate on the illusion that they rule the public, when the truth is, the public lets them rule based on inertia. But when the public decides they want something all the laws and police won’t stop people from getting it. Look at the failed drug war as an example. Billions of dollars wasted, millions in prison yet drugs are going strong and are more pure than ever, and relatively inexpensive. .
The internet is an evolving thing, and while they try to pass laws governing what can be said or done there, people will continue to find ways around it. Indeed, the internet itself may be replaced by something much more powerful and this may make it even harder for them to regulate.
The battle is on and I side with the untethered crowd.
