Month: November 2007

  • bardem WEDNESDAY MOVIE

    No Country for Old Men

    Gads, I’m getting scarce around here lately. Can’t help it, but I’m going to see if I can’t free up a little more creativity time in my schedule again. And this is the first movie I’ve mentioned since The Queen back in December of last year.  Movies are my drug. Between the cineplex and Netflix I see pretty much Everything. Anyway…..Having recently seen Tommy Lee Jones in the very fine movie, In the Valley of Elah, it was almost too much pleasure to see him again in this snap-crackle-and-pop thriller from a Cormac McCarthy novel. I’ve read some McCarthy and thought the writing was nifty but didn’t remember it having this much  humor. Of course, it’s the wild-ass Coen brothers who wrote the screenplay so that probably explains it. Remember their Fargo? This is Texas-Mexican border Fargo. Plot: Vietnam vet Josh Brolin stumbles on a drug deal gone bad while hunting in the desert and makes off with 2 mill in a nosuitcase (and this is one of his best roles ever). The folks that lost the money send sociopathic killer Javier Bardem in a superbad haircut after the money. He’s as relentless as the Terminator and you just know the only way to slow him down would be with some kind of megaexplosion. Hunting spree ensues. Tommy Lee Jones as an almost-retired sheriff gets involved, as well as Woody Harrelson in a great bit part. Behind it all is that gorgeous West Texas scenery. It’s so good you might even forget to eat your popcorn. Have fun.

    Deep Thought: “I think a good movie would be about a guy who’s a brain scientist, but he gets hit on the head and it damages the part of the brain that makes you want to study the brain.”
    Today I am grateful for: Reverse gear
    Guess the Movie:     “OK, so we got a trooper pulls someone over, we got a shooting, these folks drive by, there’s a high-speed pursuit, ends here and then this execution-type deal.”  Answer:  Fargo, 1996.  Winner:  buttermelon.
    Stem cell progress
    The science world may – or may not – be on the verge of a happy ending. If the research bears out, stem cells, which form new body parts to replace damaged ones, could come from simple skin cells – thus canceling the need to use human embryos. (Rest of article here.)

  • water TUESDAY POLITICS

    I cannot freaking believe it. Today Congress actually overrode a veto from the Bushmeister for the first time ever. It’s a big honking $23.2 billion water bill that would provide funding to do coastal restoration in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and improve the Florida Everglades. It also would include new locks to speed up freight traffic on the Mississippi River where many of the locks and dams date from the Depression era. The vote was 361-54 and the Senate is expected to follow suit tomorrow. Of course, there was a little kvetching. Senator Feingold represented some who felt the bill wouldn’t do enough to improve the Corps of Engineers, who will be in charge of most of it. And we know what a crappy job they did about taking care of the levees off Louisiana before it was too late. Let’s hope this sets a precedent that encourages a little more resistance in D.C. to the ongoing dictatorship of GWB.
    (Amendment from SimplyPynki:  In the defense of the ACoE. They had been telling people in the right
    positions that the levies in NOLA wouldn’t withstand big hurricanes. No
    one was listening, and no one was giving them the money to rectify the
    problem.)

    Deep Thought: “Some folks say it was a miracle. Saint Francis suddenly appeared and knocked the next pitch clean over the fence. But I think it was just a lucky swing.”
    Today I am grateful for: Breathing
    Guess the Movie: “Well, here I am, anonymous all right. With guys nobody really cares about. They come from the end of the line, most of ‘em. Small towns you never heard of: Pulaski, Tennessee; Brandon, Mississippi; Pork Van, Utah; Wampum, Pennsylvania. Two years’ high school’s about it, maybe if they’re lucky a job waiting for them back at a factory, but most of ‘em got nothing. They’re poor, they’re the unwanted, yet they’re fighting for our society and our freedom. It’s weird, isn’t it? They’re the bottom of the barrel and they know it. Maybe that’s why they call themselves grunts, cause a grunt can take it, can take anything. They’re the best I’ve ever seen, Grandma. The heart & soul.”  Answer:  Platoon, 1986.  Winner:  buddhacat.
    House Tied In Knots Over Resolution To Impeach Cheney
    Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is trying to impeach Vice President Cheney for what he describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors” before the invasion of Iraq. (Rest of article here.)