Ich habe Zeit nicht für dies

2007-10-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Je ne parle pas francais.

2005-10-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

At my previous institution I was only allowed to have 12 books checked out at a time. Now I can have 25!

Whence the Breeze

2005-10-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

After two weeks' weather
Harbinging December
Gusting ever harder

A warmer wind now blows
Santanas Anglicised
Without the allergies

Or it's the Dominos
Now open o'er the rise
Wafting baked bread and cheese

Haiku

2005-10-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Football on X-Box
Is all my flatmates will do.
It is their whole life.

Hiatus

2005-09-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't figured it out already, I'm too busy to blog this week.

Enter Sandman

2005-09-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

Giving my paper today went fine; it was relaxingly uneventful. I'm a bit tired though. My sleeping pattern (ha!) has been fairly erratic for the past week so I started keeping track on Monday for later analysis.

08:00am - 05:00pm (9 hours Monday)

10:30pm - 03:00am (4.5 hours Monday-Tuesday)

04:30pm - 10:30pm (6 hours Tuesday)

06:30pm - 11:00pm (4.5 hours Wednesday)

07:00am - 08:30am (1.5 hours Thursday)

08:00pm - 09:00pm (1 hour on train)

It's 2:15 am now and I should get some sleep. I just realized I've slept less than 3 hours in the past 27. That's why I was keeping track!

2005-09-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

Washington Post: John Roberts "Too Perfect"

2005-09-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

On July 25, I said about the bizarre Democratic reaction to the SCOTUS nomination (that John Roberts' family is too cute):

What do you do when a Supreme Court nominee has no dirty laundry to exploit in confirmation hearings? Attack him for being too clean. Welcome to the post-Clinton era of politics, where the absence peccadilloes is more suspicious than anything.

And now, in a WaPo OpEd today headlined "Too Perfect to Know the People?" Richard Cohen states: "His record is appallingly free of failure."

Catapultation

2005-08-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

Reading Nate's post just reminded me that I built a rudimentary catapult when I was 9, though I cheated with technology by using a bicycle tube. It was basically a two-foot 1x4 hinged to the middle of a four-foot 1x4 with a wooden dowel sticking up from one end, around which was looped the innertube. It wasn't exactly up to medieval specs but it launched walnuts dozens of yards. Walnuts even explode upon impact, a great consolation if you're just going for distance and not actually destroying something.

2005-08-27T00:45:00.000-07:00

My new favorite reading project is Robert Avrech's continuing saga of how he met (at ten years old) and eventually married his wife. It is a Vita Nuova with commentary from Beatrice and a happy ending. I started reading the series backwards, but the last three posts were so entertaining and endearing I decided to start from the beginning. He's a writer by trade so he knows a to tell a story (his first screenwriting credit is De Palma's Body Double) and you won't be disappointed by his autobiographical tale.

(And if you're curious he also lets us know what Hollywood tolerance really looks like.)

Intellectual Massacre

2005-08-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

On September 14 in Grand Rapids, political sideshow Arianna Huffington has agreed to debate classical military historian VDH on whether the United States is internationalist or imperialist.

Get your tickets know if you have a macabre interest in seeing an event sure to make Ron Reagan's Hitchslap (video here) look like a lover's quarrel. I knew Arianna has a talent for turning married men gay but I had no inkling of this masochistic streak.

Unleashed

2005-08-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Unleashed was finally released here. I loved the way it mixed so many different genres, and not just "drama" and "action." Short moments like the 1930s style machine-gun hit on a car of mobsters was such a throwback, and so surreal to see in Glasgow with modern cars, it filled me with joy.

Its flaws are minor. Sometimes Jet Li overdid the puppy dog eyes (no wonder he's described in the movie as a dog over and over), the girl was really annoying in her first few scenes but okay thereafter, and Morgan Freeman played his usual self but it's impossible to dislike him in anything.

Without question, though, Bob Hoskins stole the entire show. If Christopher Nolan ever decides the Penguin isn't too eccentric a character for his vision of Gotham, Hoskins is the man to play him without need of any makeup (he already has the perfect nose). He'd be an ideal character to fill the void left by Tom Wilkinson's Falcone.

The Sixth Sense meets Fight Club

2005-08-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

In a Reese Witherspoon rom-com! I'm not kidding.

Even worse, it includes a supporting role with Jon Heder in his first post-Napoleon afterbirth. It's like the entire movie is a pastiche of references to other movies without any self-irony!

Leaving...

2005-08-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

on a jet plane, bla bla bla. Catch ya on the flip side!

Reunion Departure Day

2005-08-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Last night was our final-evening talent show which was fairly impressive in the number and variety of performances. Aside from a few hilarious skits, there were several musical numbers including a 13-year-old cousin on a viola, my second-cousin on a trumpet, my uncle doing classical guitar and a guitar duet with his son-in-law (a rare musical in-law). There were also at least three original works sung by guitarists including my cousin-in-law, a old second-cousin who hates performing but his grandmother makes him because he’s really good and his songs are always emotional, and one of the best performances of the night, my 20-year-old second-cousin who’s way better than Jewell or Dido or whoever. She’s a fantastic singer without sounding affected and has a great delicate strumming technique. It was kind of cool to have hung out with these people all week and then find out at the end that they’re amazingly talented but never talked about it.

After leaving the main reunion here, everyone in my "immediate extended" family (i.e., just my first-cousins) is decamping to my cousin's home near Minneapolis for the after-party. My cousin's husband has been a minister here in his first parish for a couple years but they're probably going to move to SoCal soon to become the pastor of the San Pedro church I grew up in till I was about 10.

My nose continues to impersonate a running faucet which is a major drag but I'm pretty stoic about it.

Reunion Day 5

2005-08-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

Blowing my nose all day but at least my sore throat is gone. I feel better than yesterday, when I was running a low-grade temperature and my whole body was aching, like the flu. My eye sockets still hurt if I look up or down or sideways though. One of my cousins had the same symptoms so I figure with this many people and little kids running around I was bound to catch some virus or another.

Today we had an auction of various things people donated in order to raise money for the next reunion. Items ranged from heirlooms my great-grandmother owned to original paintings to homemade afghan blankets. It sure is interesting which things sell at next to nothing that should have gone for more, and which go higher than you'd think. Most items went for under a hundred dollars, a lot for $20, but my cousin's wife bought a blanket for $700, making for an exciting bidding competition that had started at $100.

Reunion Day 3

2005-08-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Awesome day yesterday. I hit some baseballs with a bat for the first time in over ten years (since I played a pick-up softball game with some friends in 7th or 8th grade), played a washer-tossing game with my cousin, swam in the lake, and got hit in the diaphram by an 80-mph water balloon launched from 100 yards. Now I have a lovely rose-hued welt. It knocked the wind out of me for 20 seconds but at least my dedication to the team was caught on video!

Unfortunately I managed to get a sore throat somehow but the important thing is I got a nice toasty sunburn which I'll proudly take home with me. Today we had a massive Ultimate Frisbee game but it's pretty hot and humid today so now I'm just kicking it in the air conditioned lodge.

Reunion Blogging

2005-08-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Guess what, there is wireless access at the main lodge here! Don't know if that means I'll be blogging every day, but it does mean you have an excuse to check during the week to see if I am.

So everyone got here last night, 161 people registered. It took two hours last night for everyone to introduce themselves and whatever kids have been born since the last reunion four years ago. My grandmother was one of nine children so there are nine families represented, some larger (grandma has 19 grandkids and 10 great-grandkids) and some smaller. I know a lot of my second-cousins (one of whom was a pitcher for my undergrad uni) but there are a few poeple here who are really weird. Most are cool though. Some have farms and stuff.

When I got to Minnesota a week ago it was about 95 degrees but it's really cooled off since then so we're having great weather.

Incommunicado

2005-08-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

11:00 AM Central: Leaving the hotel now to take the two-hour drive to Lake Carlos where the family reunion is taking place. I expect at least 150 of the now 350 or so relatives on my maternal grandmother's side of the family. If there is no internet access there, I'll be back in touch next weekend, at latest by Sunday when I've returned to England.

"Stealth"

2005-08-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Calling this movie "Stealth" is like putting "Ninja" in the title of a movie starring Chris Farley. Oh wait.

Anyway, a lot of the movie seems taken right out of Team America, and not just because North Korea becomes involved. Though the pilots never talk about their "feelings" while flying (not much anyway), the best thing about Stealth is the way the triumvirate incessantly contradicts (in-flight) everything their on-the-ground mission director tells them. Stereotypically, it's the female pilot who calculates potential civilian casualty rates (in-flight) a few seconds before they are supposed to fire on their target, and insists on aborting missions if she can't be guaranteed zero collateral damage. In fact, seeing these hi-tech fighters systematically obliterate third-world terrorist outposts seems so unfair that the movie has to let the shock-and-awe opening sequence turn out to be just a training exercise on Naval military base. It probably says something about how compelling a movie can be when it's about nearly omnipotent fighter jets that the most exciting sequence involves an ejection seat.

If there's anything I hate more than creating suspense out of someone typing on a computer -- can Harrison Ford print out these files faster than slimy Henry Czerny can delete them? -- it's references to the internet and its oracle-like capabilities, of which director Rob Cohen is a past master (cf. paragraph 9). Thankfully, Jessica Biel doesn't download mp3s to her iPod for a customized combat playlist, like she did in Blade Trinity. No, in Stealth, when the robot plane gains sentience, HE downloads every mp3 from the internet and uses Incubus to drown out his handler's orders. Don't believe me? I dare you to see it for yourself. Fortunately EDI's cockpit isn't soundproof either, so he can play mp3s loud enough to confuse the bad guys laying in wait for him OUTSIDE HIS HANGER. Very stealthy, that one.

From scene one Jaime Foxx exudes a token-black-guy-who's-gonna-get-killed-first vibe, but since this provides most of the suspense about his character, I won't say whether the movie follows convention in this respect as well. Suffice it to say that Foxx obviously took this job before his double-nomination and win at the Oscars earlier this year.

I was kind of surprised there's absolutely no sex in the movie aside from a couple of contrived jokes, but most of the time the leads are dressed all the way up to their necks. I'm sure some would criticize the seemingly tacked-on romantic tension between the two white pilots, but being attracted to Jessica Biel is probably the most realistic thing in the whole movie.

A little post I'd like to call "Comic Book and Movie News"

2005-08-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

In comic book news, Matt Wagner is writing and drawing two related six-issue miniseries based on the early Batman stories "The Mad Monk" from Detective Comics #31-32 and "The Monster Men" from Batman #1. Wagner last visited Batman in 2003's "Trinity," his telling of the first time he and Superman team up with Wonder Woman in order to thwart the terrorist stylings of Ra's al Ghul, Bizzaro, and a rogue Amazon (get it?). A few months ago I finally picked up the softcover collection--cheaper than the original three issues--and recommend it, especially if you're not a fan or don't care much about continuity.

In comic movie news, Batman Begins finally inched past $200 million.

And in comic book and movie news, Lions Gate is releasing a direct-to-DVD animated movie based on the first six issues of The Ultimates, the "Ultimate universe" version of the Avengers. It's called Ultimate Avengers and uses the original Bryan Hitch artwork and designs from the comic.

Marvel's Craig Kyle says that "as often as possible, we tried to grab those frames and specific shots that everyone just raved about when they first read the comic." Comics Continuum has a transcript of the Chicago convention panel with him and the Lion's Gate producer. The Ultimate Avengers DVD will be followed by a sequel adapting issues 7-13 (the second half of the first Ultimates series), and two more original animated movies, one featuring Iron Man.

2005-08-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

11:30 AM Central: Had to get up at 6:30 this morning to get my retainer tightened at an orthodontist referred by the dentist I went to on Wednesday. Tonight is a reception for my 20-year-old cousin who married a 33-year-old guy last month because she couldn't wait to have the wedding when her entire family would be out here this week.

I can't believe how cheap DVDs are getting here compared to the UK. Target has a bunch of relatively recent titles on sale for $7.50 but nothing I was interested in. But I did see a Troy/Last Samurai two-pack for $20 which I couldn't pass up at $5 per disc. I haven't seen the Last Samurai but my Japanese buddy vouches for it and thinks I should see it, and I've been wanting to get Troy anyway.

I also got the Batman Begins action figure which is pretty cool with a Wayne Enterprises "briefcase" that fits in his hand, which carries his retractable grappling hook, and foldable batarang (and a stupid headset thing). I remember getting the 1989 movie figure which had a retractable grappler that actually came out the front of his utility belt! But otherwise I think this is the superior figure. I love that he's all black but his belt is still gold for no other reason than that's how it's always been.

Yesterday in the Life

2005-08-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Enjoyed driving through Taco Bell on Tuesday and I had dinner at Chevy’s “Fresh Mex” last night. I’m just enjoying the elbow room on streets and freeways here in the states, and how clean everything is, from restrooms to parking lots.

I purposely kept myself from making any clothing purchases all year so I was looking forward to doing some shopping here. Yesterday I found a pair of 527s on sale for $28 which at the current exchange rate would be £16, a bargain since in England you can’t find a pair of Levi’s for less than £50, and label jeans go up from there. Shoes are ridiculously expensive in Britain as well so I was able to replace my brown shoes with some Mossimo’s for $30 at the Bon Target.

A year ago I got some black leather Steve Madden slip-ons for $70 (expensive for me) and I’ve worn them practically every day since then with jeans but I can’t wear them with my khaki Dockers, and yesterday I found the exact same style in a nice dark brown for even less so I couldn’t pass them up. It’s so rare for me to find the same shoe again later, and it’s nice to know you like ’em and not have to try on anything else.

I saw some old pictures of me from high school when I had muscular legs and actually had some guns, so last night I was inspired to go to Bally’s, to which my hotel gave me a free pass. I had been playing basketball all year but honestly haven’t lifted weights for maybe a couple years, so last night I could barely bench a hundred pounds. I couldn’t believe how fast I got tired. I guess mentally I felt like nothing had changed since the last time I worked out, so I picked out what I remembered were my usual dumbbells and stuff but no dice. I’m definitely getting a pass to the university Sports Centre this year.

Speaking of health, it’s been thirty days since I gave up Coca-Cola. I pretty much drink only water now. I’m a total snob, too -- I saw somebody buying a bottle of Coke the other day and I practically rolled my eyes at it. But until a month ago that was me every day for years. The first couple weeks it was a bit of a struggle but now I don’t even miss it. I hope it will be better for my teeth too.

Speaking of, I went to a dentist today to get a check up and teeth cleaning because I don’t trust them in England. No problems, and better than expected. At Christmas my regular dentist in So Cal was warning me I was on the verge of getting gum disease and all this horrible stuff because I wasn’t flossing but I didn’t change a single thing between now and then and I’m totally fine. The dental hygienist said whatever I’m doing, keep it up. I’m starting to think my usual dentist just thought he should always say something important to sound like his expertise was necessary. I don’t ever want to go back to him.

They were very thorough at this place. Not quite Maude Lebowski “thorough” but dentally thorough. The hygienist kept talking me through everything she was doing: “Okay now I’m going to do some measurements and Cindy is going to write down the numbers, anything under 3 is ideal: 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 3...” So I’m sitting there and it suddenly reminded me of that SNL skit where Colin Farrell goes through airport security and the security girl talks him through a body search – “back of my hand, back of my hand” – and I started laughing while she had this sharp instruments in my mouth but I suppressed it pretty quickly. So yeah, if they were in LA I would totally switch dentists. If they were in LA and I was in LA I mean.

Watched Conan last night for the first time in a year, it was a re-run with Dennis Leary and Kevin Nealon. What happened to Conan? He lost weight or got plastic surgery or something, because his face looks like a Halloween mask! It’s like he got a dozen wisdom teeth pulled and his cheeks are sucked in while his cheekbones stick out like Cruela Deville and his jaw got wider! He also wasn’t really “on.” He did all the usual things (which is usually part of the humor) but it just didn’t seem as funny as it used to. I’m worried I outgrew him suddenly but maybe it was just an average night. I just hope he doesn’t burn out by the time he takes over the Tonight Show in 2008 or whenever. He’s going to have to come up with some new stuff by then though, because his Late Night format will have been 15 years old by then.

Alright, this has gone on long enough.

Clone Theory Support

2005-08-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

Confirmation of Larry Young's clone theory is rolling in on a daily basis now. People magazine reports that the Peter Parker lookalike (read: clone) has dyed his hair for his Spider-Man role:

Topher Grace revealed a lightened mane (and matching brows) in Hollywood last week. Why the change? "It's for reasons that are legit," he tells PEOPLE. "I'm not supposed to talk about the blond hair or Spider-Man."

It looks pretty crappy if you ask me, like he got copper wire hair implants, but it should come as no surprise to us in-the-know because in the comics, Peter Parker's clone Ben Reilly dyed his hair to look less like Peter!

Spider-Man: Episode III -- Attack of the Clone

2005-08-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

Larry Young thinks he's figured out What Happens in Spider-Man 3:

"Yeah, I guess you’re right. When I was a kid, Spider-Man was my favorite comic, and I just gave up in disgust when they did the Clone Saga. The Spidey I grew up with wasn’t the real Spider-Man? Comics shouldn’t treat me like that."

And believe it or not, that’s when my Spider-Sense began to tingle.

Josh, man, I’m getting ideas.

"What are you talking about? What ideas?" He knows it always ends up with the fun when I say this.

I’m with you, I tell him. Comics shouldn’t treat you like that. But you know what would redeem that Clone Saga story? If Hollywood treated you like that. The Clone Saga would be the most revered bit of Spidey history, ever.

"What do you mean?" Josh wailed. Seriously, he wailed. "What do you know?"

Nothing you haven’t read on the Internet, too, I tell him. Thomas Haden Church is in it. Smart money says he’s the Sandman. James Franco’s in this one, too, so it’s hard not to think maybe the Hobgoblin finally shows. But Topher Grace has signed up, and he’s a bad guy. But what if he’s not a bad guy, but... a clone?

Josh looked at me blankly. "What?"

If I was Raimi, and I’ve cast an actor who looks enough like my lead actor to be his twin brother... or his... clone, this is what I’d do.

"What?" Josh said again, weakly. There’s a bit of fanboy fear behind his eyes now.

You tell your story, yeah, and you have your fistfights and your swashbuckling and your romance, sure. You even have a clone subplot to make the end sing.

"What?" Josh said. This time blankly and weakly.

You just say that Tobey Maguire was the clone the whole time, and Topher Grace is the real Peter Parker. That way Tobey retires in honor, the Spider-Man franchise gets some new blood with an award-winning actor, and we all get three more Spidey movies to go with our popcorn and Jujubes.

Unfortunately (or Fortunately, rather) I don't think this scenario would work because Tobey Maguire was definitely the one who got bit by a radioactive -- I mean genetically enhanced -- spider, so Topher Grace could only be a clone of Spider-Man, not the real one. Right?

Not that that precludes three more movies about the Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly. Remember what Sam Raimi said about making six Spider-Man movies?

One of the upsides of a clone revelation would be that Peter Parker can retire to live the quiet life WITH KIRSTEN DUNST, which is the next best thing to having her violently murdered by the new Goblin/jealous ex-boyfriend James Franco. Or better yet, kill Mary Jane anyway, then her death can also be the impetus for Tobey ditching the Spidey togs forever; enter Peter Parker's clone. The Spider-Man trilogy is over; love live the Spider-Man trilogy.

The more I think about it, the more I like this clone idea. For one thing, as bad of an idea as it is -- like Spidey's pyschosexual losing of his powers -- it has indisputible source material authority. For another thing, it's the first time a franchise, from Bond to Batman, has ever had a story-based explanation for changing lead actors. As if there could be an explanation for letting this man play Bruce Wayne.

Another good reason for a second non-Tobey trilogy is Gwen Stacy. (Hopefully by the time Spider-Man 4 is cast, Jessica Alba will have given up her quest to play every blonde comic book character.) And a fourth good reason for three more movies with a different face under the mask is we might finally get a Spider-Man who makes constant WISE-CRACKS while fighting villains! And Topher Grace just might be able to pull off a skinnier, funnier Spider-Man.

You know, everyone talks about his everyman problems, but I never hear anyone mention that 70% of the fun of reading Spidey was his untiring sarcasm while getting beaten nearly to death, and his withering ridicule of his usually ridiculous enemies who inevitably ended up wanting to kill him for his insults more than anything else. Spidey was like a kiddie version of Tyler Durden getting his face bashed in by Lou: he could take it from bullies and manage to keep laughing at them all the while, and nothing makes bullies more impotent.

Well, now I've so talked myself into this I'm going to be really disappointed if there aren't any clones in Spider-Man 3. I'm fairly indifferent to Topher Grace but he's just as good as anybody and I don't think Tobey Maguire would object to passing the torch on to someone else since he fancies himself a serious actor. Jake Gyllenhaal is probably a little too moody-looking to play Spidey anyway. I don't see why people would prefer a silent casting change -- like Chris O'Donnell not noticing Kilmer was replaced by Clooney -- to acknowledging the change and making it work, just because it resorts to clonage.

But I take it back now that I think about it: Casino Royale had a good story-based explanation for several actors playing James Bond.

Touch Down

2005-08-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

1:00 AM Central: It worked! I got a seat behind the bulkhead with more than enough legroom, an aisle on my right, and an empty seat on my left! They said the actual flight time was 8 hours 15 minutes, and I feel like I slept through six of them, but maybe just five. I must have missed one of the meals though. At one point I opened an eye and saw they were only playing some Queen Latifah movie (might have been Beauty Shop) so I didn't even miss a good free movie.

The roomy flight was sort of compensation for the four-hour bus ride, though. For the first 75 minutes I was able to sling my arm over my computer case in the seat next to me and absolutely conk out, but then we picked up two guys at a stop in Banbury and my computer case was in one of the only two available seats, so I had to scoot over to the window with two bags between my legs to make room for this guy for 90 minutes of kneecap torture until we unloaded some passengers at Heathrow.

After I got a shower at the hotel (which has wireless internet, by the way) my cousin Erika who lives in MN picked me up and took me to Chipotle, a kind of Rubio's style Mexican grill with slightly nicer decor. Soft flour tortilla steak tacos with lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and spicy guacamole: I was in heaven! The tortilla chips even had pretzel salt and a hint of lime, which was weird but cool. (Every time I say "weird" now I think of Willy Wonka.)

Sometimes I wonder if I should blog more about my life instead of posting who-cares comic book news and stuff, but now I'm just reminded how tedious these biographical posts are. Unfortunately I still have some work on my dissertation left to do this week (I know, lame!) but maybe I'll jot up some movie reviews to get me into writing mode.

ETD: 9 hours (but leaving now)

2005-08-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

3:00 AM GMT: I'm waiting for a taxi to pick me up in half an hour to take me to the bus station where I'm getting a 4:15 coach to take me to Gatwick airport, which, because it's on the south side of London, will take THREE HOURS AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES but it's the only coach that would get there before 10:30.

So my flight's at noon and nine hours later I'll touch down in Minneapolis but it will only be three o'clock central time. I can never sleep more than an hour on a plane though. Everybody pray I'll be able to trade my ticket in for a seat on the emergency aisle so I won't wear my knees down to the bone against the seat in front of me.

I expect to have some rudimentary internet access throughout the week, even if it's dial-up, so I'll probably keep posting until next week, when my giant family reunion takes place at a camp on a lake. Then I'll be back home Sunday the 21st. Whoa, I said home. I mean Birmingham. Though I'm moving at the start of September, probably on my birthday.

Anyway, too-doo-loo. See ya on the flip-side.

Lex Luthor

2005-08-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

Via SupermanHomepage.com.

Stewie Griffin does William Shatner doing Rocketman

2005-08-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

The good stuff is right here.

Anybody know if this is from the new season? Can't wait to see it.

Whoa!

2005-08-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

High-profile DC writer Jeph Loeb, who's coming to the end of his two-year exclusive contract with DC during which he launched the Superman/Batman team-up book following the success of his and Jim Lee's year-long collaboration on Batman, just announced at the Chicago Con a two-year exclusive with Marvel. However, he'll still be allowed to continue writing the new Supergirl monthly which he just started at DC. Though he's most associated with DC characters, Loeb is actually pretty good at spreading around his talent, having done three miniseries with Tim Sale featuring Daredevil, Spidey, and the Hulk.

This is kind of a big deal because for the last couple years DC has been signing exclusive contracts left and right with all the best writers and artists, leaving only Brian Bendis left to write every Marvel title. DC even snatched up loooooongtime Marvel artist brothers Adam and Andy Kubert with a THREE-year contract (interview here).

Even more surprising than the Loeb deal is who he's going to be working with at Marvel: 90s superstar Joe Maduriera, who hasn't pencilled a comic book for yeeeears.

I knew it

2005-08-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

We've all been had.

2005-08-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

I'm going to bed now that I've been up for 24 hours working on my dissertation. I had gone 23 days without Coke but last night I had two bottles with my midnight pizza so it did the trick to my purified body and kept me from falling asleep. It's just so much easier for me to work during the peace and quiet of night. I'm done for now, though, so I'll catch ya on the flip side.

Galloway Plays the Iraqi Circuit

2005-08-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

The latest performance from resident Parlimentary lunatic George Galloway's greatest hits tour of the Middle East earned him an "EVIL TRAITOR" headline in The Sun today.

Bono Paraphrases CS Lewis in Bid to Succeed Billy Graham

2005-08-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Gene Veith excerpts an interview from the new book Bono in Conversation:

The interviewer, [Michka] Assayas, begins by asking Bono, Doesn't he think "appalling things" happen when people become religious?
It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.
What's that?
At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics——in physical laws——every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that.... Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.
Like what?
That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.
The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.
The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven.
That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has His rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?
Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius.

But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.'

So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was--the Messiah--or a complete nutcase.... The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched.

For some pictures I took of Bono in Manchester, go here (LINK FIXED).

Faith and Theology

2005-08-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

I just discovered the aforementioned Benjamin Myers, who finally convinced me of Arianism in Paradise Lost, started a theology blog last month, and he's already got plenty of provocative posts up. He's a great guy I enjoyed chatting with several times during the week in France, so I'll be making his blog a daily read.

Not Much Behind

2005-08-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

Here's an NPR story on Sergio Leone, and the Museum of the American West at the Autry Center in Griffith Park is having a Leone exhibit which just opened last weekend and runs through January 22, 2006. That means I might be able to see it if I visit for Christmas!

Ry an should be able to tell if it's any good long before then, though.

A Little Behind

2005-08-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

I just found out that Phil Jackson was rehired as head coach of the Lakers... SEVEN WEEKS AGO!

Why doesn't somebody tell me about this stuff? I know we have the internet nowadays but how am I supposed to look for specialty news items if I don't know it's happening?

I'm all jittery

2005-08-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

I just made a huge huge HUGE discovery about Paradise Lost. It's the confirmation of a theory I've been working on gradually since about 2001. It's not just consistent with some other smaller discoveries I've made since then, but is amazingly precise to the tune of 0.00057 from perfection, which for the 17th century is mathematically identical. I know this doesn't make much sense but I don't dare post anything about it online until I can get it published in print. This is a huge breakthrough for my life's work, but I have try to ignore it and finish the last 10,000 words of my dissertation by tomorrow night. Arrrgh!

Bloggers Need Not Apply?

2005-08-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

This very interesting short article, filled with cautionary examples, warning against blogging in the academic profession (or any job really) has prompted this Call For Papers:

In recent weeks, a heated debate over the dangers academic bloggers may face when applying for jobs has emerged as a result of a recent essay in The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com/jobs/2005/07/2005070801c.htm). The author, writing under the pseudonym Ivan Tribble, claims, among other things, that often the simple practice of maintaining a “blog was a negative” for applicants seeking employment in his department.

“The content of the blog,” Tribble continues, “may be less worrisome than the fact of the blog itself. Several committee members expressed concern that a blogger who joined our staff might air departmental dirty laundry (real or imagined) on the cyber clothesline for the world to see. Past good behavior is no guarantee against future lapses of professional decorum.”

Elsewhere, the author warns “[y]ou may think your blog is a harmless outlet. You may use the faulty logic of the blogger, ‘Oh, no one will see it anyway.’ Don't count on it. Even if you take your blog offline while job applications are active, Google and other search engines store cached data of their prior contents. So that cranky rant might still turn up.”

He concludes the essay with “[w]e've seen the hapless job seekers who destroy the good thing they've got going on paper by being so irritating in person that we can't wait to put them back on a plane. Our blogger applicants came off reasonably well at the initial interview, but once we hung up the phone and called up their blogs, we got to know ‘the real them’ -- better than we wanted, enough to conclude we didn't want to know more.”

Not surprisingly, a large number of blog postings addressing Tribble’s essay appeared around the web in the days following the essay’s appearance on the Chronicle’s website. While many bloggers criticized Tribble’s essay as hypocritical, close-minded, bigoted, or unrealistic, others reluctantly agreed that blogging, for academics, can be a very risky practice.

Sobriquet Magazine, a non-profit online publication, seeks intelligent, scholarly consideration of the impact blogging has had on the academic job market, the potential benefits and risks of academic blogging, and speculation on the future role academic blogs may have both in and out of the classroom.

Essays must follow the MLA style sheet.

All essays accepted for publication remain the property of the author.

Questions, queries, and submissions may be sent to: editor_at_sobriquetmagazine_dot_com

It's worth at least a second thought.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2005-07-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

I don't have time to write a sophisticated review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but I really enjoyed the movie so I just want to type out a few thoughts as they come to me. Burton's style was perfect, and I know people are complaining about the bits Burton added to the story, but for what it's worth the movie still made me remember things from the book that I didn't know I'd forgotten. For example, seeing the four grandparents all in one bed just whooshed me back to reading the book when I was young. I loved the forced perspective inside the Buckett house, like the Haunted Shack at Knott's Berry Farm, and I loved the suspenseful build up to Charlie opening the Wonka Bar. You can't escape the fact that the premise is given away in the title itself, but Burton did a good job of using the audience's expectation to his advantage in those scenes and I really felt bad for Charlie.

The children (and their parents) were all perfectly cast, from Veruca Salt's uncanny resemblance to Tony Blair, to Mike Teavee's striking similarity to a dozen kids I knew growing up. The first act was undoubtedly the best, and it started to drag as soon as the Small-World-style puppet song was over. The scene in the gray hallway seemed to last forever and the momentum was lost until the first Oompa Loompa song. I thought a couple attempts at quasi-action scenes -- the seahorse ship ride and the elevator going through the artillery room -- were basically wastes of time but as I've just complained about the slow pacing maybe they were the only way to pick things up a bit. And if they were taken right out of the book then who am I to complain?

I loved the songs. I had heard that that they were all done in different styles, but I thought they were actually similar enough to keep the movie's coherence and keep it from turning into a senseless caucophany of genres like some musicals do. Though I loved the Bohemian Rhapsody style of the fourth song, I thought it was actually the weakest number musically. Still, I think I might get the soundtrack. I'm sure I saw the Gene Wilder movie as a kid but honestly I don't remember anything specific about it so I can't even compare the two.

I had trouble getting a bead on Johnny Depp's performance, but as the movie progressed and he interacted with the children more I figured he was just going for a stunted maturity persona. His little verbal fights with the children -- wasn't there even a brief "Nuh-uh" "Yeah-huh" exchange? -- seemed intended to indicate that Wonkaa was still a kid at least in terms of social development. While that doesn't do much in support of Depp's claim that there was no hint of Wacko in his Wonka, I guess his childishness could just be down to living in seclusion for most of his life. (Still, he seemed relatively normal in the scenes of Willy Wonka as a child, so what gives?) In any case, it was at least fun to see Johnny Depp take advantage of the chance to gratuitously mug for the camera a few times, which is rare for him.

I loved Wonka's Pale Rider fashion statement, and despite the Jackoesque pageboy, Depp still looked to me like a young Michael York more than anyone else. At first I thought his purple surgical gloves were just a symbol of his inability to form relationships, like an unconscious barrier or something, which turned out to be true I guess, but I was glad to see they also had a more direct origin, as did his choppers. The backstory sometimes smacked of Edward Scissorhands, and in recent years Christopher Lee seems to have replaced Vincent Price as the ubiquitous gaunt and wrinkled guy from old horror movies, but I was glad that he wasn't portrayed as abusive, just strict. So whatever you think of Burton's preoccupation with father issues, I thought it was worth it just to see the grotesque headgear.

Though there were some dumb moments it was also quite funny -- more so than I expected -- and I loved that final shot of the narrator! I think Charlie will remain one of the best of 2005, and perhaps of Burton's own movies. And besides, no matter how old you get, seeing naughty children get punished never does, especially when it's at the hands of a War of the Worlds-style tripod!

My Own Personal CIA

2005-07-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

So much for getting any work done the rest of the day. Google Earth is more fun to play with than any video game. Make sure you enable buildings and terrain. Toggle roads on and off in case you need directions while you're FLYING. Make sure you use the tilt slider. Rotate 360 degrees around any location, like in a Tony Scott film. I'm bonkers over this and will probably post screenshots on my blog for the rest of my life. In the 80s even Jack Ryan couldn't do this stuff in Tom Clancy novels.

Too Close for Comfort

2005-07-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well, this is what that storm was about this afternoon.

Lindsay may scoff, but check out this video of the tornado (nothing "mini" about it) that ripped through Birmingham, tossing cars and ripping off roofs, LESS THAN TWO MILES from where I live. More here.

Headlines Today

2005-07-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

The front pages of the Times, the Sun, the Daily Mail, and the Independent all featured this x-ray of one of 16 nail bombs discovered in the trunk of a Nissan Micra used by the 7/7 terrorists, whose bombs, we now know, were made by the same guy that made the failed 7/21 bombs.

I expected this to happen right after 9/11 but it took the events of this month for the IRA to finally figure out they don't want to be associated in any way with the new kind of terrorism, and have ordered an immediate end to all of their armed activity. I guess all of a sudden it's not funny anymore.

But despite the life-affirming mood in the air, British doctors have won their battle against a right-to-life policy sparked by a patient's ruling last year while British mothers have killed more of their babies than ever.

"If you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes"

2005-07-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

We had the first thunderstorm of the summer today, which had me worried about the rest of the week, so I took this picture from the front door of my flat to try and show how hard it's raining, with raindrops literally bouncing off the pavement, but two minutes after I took it the rain stopped and a half hour later it's sunny with blue skies.

Shuttles Demand Pension But Still Refused Retirement

2005-07-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

So NASA is grounding all its Space Shuttles. Forever? Because, after all, they're 30 years old?

Naw, just till they're fixed. Again. Because we didn't fix it properly over the last two years. But we can fix it, we swear. I mean, we're rocket scientists.

Even G.I. Joe had this one right back in 1987: time for a new shuttle, geniuses!

Plus the U.S.S. Defiant is armed with exterior guns, just in case we bump into the aliens we bothered when we bombed their low-flying comet.

Warner Home Video Doesn't Make Stupid Move

2005-07-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Not that this matters much in terms of the evolution of the Milky Way galaxy, but I'm relieved to hear WB will not be issuing a 5-movie gift set when the special editions of the first four movies are released to coincide with the DVD of Batman Begins. It would only become outdated as soon as Batman Continues (?) comes out anyway. Instead, they're reinforcing the distinction between Begins and the Burton/Schumacher era by releasing the new special editions in a separate 4-movie/8-disc set:

On the heels of the theatrical success of "Batman Begins" and the birth of a new bat franchise, Warner Home Video said Tuesday that it will release a series of two-disc special editions of the four original "Batman" movies from the late 1980s and '90s.

"Batman," "Batman Returns," "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" will be released Oct. 18. They will be available individually and as a gift set, "Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997."

Each special-edition DVD features a new digital transfer of the movie. Bonus features include director commentaries by Joel Schumacher and Tim Burton, cast and crew interviews, several new documentaries, "making of" featurettes and nine music videos from Prince, Seal and the Smashing Pumpkins.

I don't have any of the Batman movies on DVD -- other than the 1966 classic -- so I'm looking forward to this set. I heard Schumacher was supervising a new cut of Batman Forever using some character-oriented footage that by fan accounts would have vastly improved the movie, but who knows.

The Hitchslap on video

2005-07-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you all remember and treasure Chris Hitchen's on-air humiliation of Ron Reagan. Well, guess what? You can download the video of the smackdown via satellite from the Political Teen. Enjoy!

Set phasers to STUN

2005-07-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you thought handheld cell phones were a kerayzie idea, now the military is getting a truck-mounted satellite-dish-shapped gun that fires a non-lethal "invisible beam of energy"!

Next thing you know, cops will get bullets filled with liquid light to kill vampires with.

Link Discovered Between Blinking and Not Thinking

2005-07-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

According to UCL researchers, our brains shut down when we blink so we don't notice the sudden lack of light.

Almost Famous

2005-07-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

So did anyone hear me on Dennis Prager ten minutes ago? Mine was the first call he took in the during his interview (still going on) with Thomas Sowell. I think it's the first time I've ever been on the radio, and I was on hold less than 5 minutes!

UDPATE BY SPECIAL REQUEST: Sowell mentioned (as documented in his new book "Black Rednecks and White Liberals") that an ebonics-like dialect was common among whites in England in the 18th century before English usage was standardized, and I just called to report that some characteristically "ebonic" pronunciations are still common here in some provincial British accents, like "birfday" and "bruver" (in fact, it's so ubiquitous that tabloids use "bruv" as a regular abbreviation for "brother").

Sowell said he didn't know if what I was talking about was derived from the 1700s phenomenon or simply imitative of American ebonics, so I must not have made it clear enough that I wasn't talking about a hip-hop style of speaking but genuinely British accents like Cockney (and Brummie!).

Nomination Revelation: Roberts Children Too Cute

2005-07-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm a few days late on this one, but evidently the only reason Democrats have left to oppose John Roberts is that his family looks too perfect to be believable (HT: RLS).

What do you do when a Supreme Court nominee has no dirty laundry to exploit in confirmation hearings? Attack him for being too clean. Welcome to the post-Clinton era of politics, where the absence peccadilloes is more suspicious than anything.

I fancy myself a fairly wry fellow but this Stepford Family conspiracy is just too cynical even for me.

What's wrong with this picture?

2005-07-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

A poll published in today's Daily Mirror reports that 23% believe Iraq was the main cause of the 7/7 attack, while 62% say that Iraq probably contributed, but was not the main reason for the bombings.

So how does the Mirror summarize that in a headline?

85% BLAME BOMBS ON WAR IN IRAQ

It's not online but in the paper itself there are ten color pie charts showing the results and I couldn't believe it this morning when I noticed it actually showed that less than a quarter answered what the gigantic headline portrayed as 85%. I know I shouldn't be surprised but I'm just in awe of such deliberate misrepresentation.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Service are defending their shoot-to-kill policy. Sir Ian Blair, the Met police chief, said:

We're quite comfortable the policy is right but these are difficult times. They [the rules] have to be that. There's no point in shooting at someone's chest because that's where a bomb is likely to be.

There's no point in shooting anywhere else if they fall down and detonate it. This is drawn from experience from other countries. The only way to deal with it is to shoot to the head.

Somebody else could be shot. But everything is done to make it right.

I'm afraid he's right. If best intelligence indicates that someone's going to blow everybody up, there's no point in shooting not to kill. It's a difficult dilemma but what are the options? Incidentally, 7 out of 10 in that Mirror poll above still support the shoot-to-kill policy.

Does anyone know of any serious philosophers familiar with military history who have discussed the implications of state-of-war circumstances in civilian situations? What is Israel's policy with regard to suspected suicide bombers?

V for Vendetta

2005-07-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the new trailer for Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving's new movie, adapted by the Wachowski Siblings from the graphic novel by Alan Moore, who has disowned himself from this movie as he did from From Hell, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Constantine.

It will be interesting to see how it's received, since the title character is a terrorist in London.

Liefeld!

2005-07-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

I've posted the image this is from before, but I thought this animation of Cap's heaving chest was hilarious.

Hugh Hewitt version 2.0

2005-07-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

Hugh finally got his blog redesigned. As of right now his most recent posts haven't been converted to the new format yet, but the most important thing is that now Hugh can indent block quotes instead of only being able to use quotation marks. Besides his narrow text column (also fixed), I always got frustrated trying to figure out what he was writing and what he was quoting. Unfortunately the webmaster will probably have to convert all those quotes by hand!

Another close call?

2005-07-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Closer to home this time:

British police arrested a man at a train station in the city of Birmingham on Friday under anti-terrorism laws but it was unclear whether he was suspected of involvement in Thursday's failed attacks on London.

Explosives officers were examining two suitcases at Birmingham's Snow Hill station after the arrest, police said.

"Snow Hill train station has been evacuated and cordoned off. One man has been detained under section 44 of the Terrorism Act. Two suitcases at the train station are being investigated," said West Midlands Police.

Earlier on Friday, police arrested one man near Stockwell underground station in south London in connection with Thursday's attempted attacks, which came two weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 people on the underground network and a bus.

The arrest at Stockwell came after police shot dead a man inside the underground station -- only one stop away from Oval station, the scene of one of Thursday's four attempted attacks that killed no one but caused chaos in the capital.

Shooting on London Underground

2005-07-22T06:20:00.000-07:00

Man shot dead by police on Tube

A man has been shot dead by armed officers at Stockwell Tube station, as police hunt four would-be bombers. Passenger Mark Whitby told BBC News he had seen a man of Asian appearance shot five times by "plain-clothes police officers" with a handgun. "I saw the gun being fired five times into the guy - he is dead," he said.

Story here.
Full eyewitness account here.

In case you're thinking "what the hell?": In the British press, "Asian" is sort of a neutral code word for Pakistani and other central-Asian ethnicities.

The guy who was shot, apparently carrying a bomb belt, was being followed by plainclothes armed cops, so there must have been some intelligence involved, then he was challenged by police before being shot.

Police have been directed to shoot to kill suspected suicide bombers because the only way to stop one is to aim for the head. You can't give them a chance to detonate the bomb themselves and you don't want a torso-aimed bullet to detonate it either.

Let's not beat around the bush, weirdo

2005-07-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

One refreshing thing about Hollywood -- at least behind the scenes if not in front of the cameras -- is they don't waste time with patronizing PC names for abnormal-looking people:

X-Men 3
Casting Call
Sunday July 24th 2005
11am-2pm
At
The Vacation Inn
3020 Douglas Street
at Mayfair Mall

BACKGROUND PERFORMERS/EXTRAS NEEDED
Ages 7-99 yrs

We would like to see really interesting
looking kids and adults of all ethnicities.
Also twins, triplets, quads, albino, really big or
tall, really short or small, ugly and strange looking.

FILMING IN VICTORIA AREA
Approx. AUGUST 8th to AUGUST 27th, 2005
Must be accompanied by an adult if under 15yrs old.

So if I have any ugly or strange-looking readers in British Columbia, be sure to let us know how it goes.

Does Mayor Accept Blame at London's Expense?

2005-07-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

So, since London mayor Ken Livingstone thinks Western foreign policy is responsible for inspiring terrorism like the attacks on his city two weeks ago, should he now take responsibility for his comments -- an admission of guilt advertised all over the Mid-East media -- encouraging more deserved terrorist activity in London this afternoon?

McEwan on Terror

2005-07-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I recommended currently fashionable novelist Ian McEwan's portrait of London on 7/7 without knowing anything about his politics, nor that his latest novel was in fact about life in London in the shadow of an imminent terror attack. Since his essay sketch was in the Guardian, I kind of assumed he shared their opinions, but as this interview in Der Spiegel reveals, he doesn't necessarily give the expected answers to their (very telling) questions:

SPIEGEL: A lot of the themes of your book are being played out on the streets today, particularly the idea that there is no refuge from terror. Even the family refuge is not safe.
McEwan: Exactly. There is no refuge and if you want to be in a city like London, with its relatively successful racial mix, it's impossible to defend. That's the other thing I wrote at the end of my book, that these possibilities were lying just open, so easy to do.
SPIEGEL: How can cities protect themselves?
McEwan: Inevitably, we're going to start seeing around the preposterous political correctness that allows us to have radical clerics preaching in mosques and recruiting young people. We have been caught too much by a sense that we can just regard these clerics as being like English eccentrics at Hyde Park Corner. But the problem is that their audience has already been to training camps.
SPIEGEL: But isn't the West providing the best advertisement for terrorist recruiters by being in Iraq and killing Islamic civilians, torturing Muslim prisoners a la Abu Ghraib and spreading pictures of the deeds around the world?
MCEWAN: I don't think terror needs a breeding ground. I don't buy the arguments in the Iraq war. What keeps getting forgotten here is that the people committing massacres in Iraq right now belong to al-Qaida. We're witnessing a civil war that's taking place in Islam. The most breathtaking statement was the one of al-Qaida claiming responsibility for the London bombings saying it was in return for the massacre in Iraq. But the massacres in Iraq now are being conducted by al-Qaida against Muslims.

I also think it's extraordinary the way in which we get morally selective in our outrages. When there was a rumor that someone at Guantanamo Bay had flushed a Koran down the lavatory, the pages in The Guardian almost caught fire with outrage, but only months before the Taliban had set fire to a mosque and destroyed 300 ancient Korans.
SPIEGEL: In your book, the Iraq war still hasn't happened yet. And the day in which the book takes place, Feb. 15, 2003, is the day in which massive peace demonstrations took place in London. Henry's daughter Daisy is among the protesters and he is full of ire and sarcasm about them. He doubts they can rightfully claim morality for themselves. Do these passages echo your own ambivalent views on the matter?
McEwan: Yes, it does. I never thought that in the run up to the war we were discussing simply the difference between war and peace. We were discussing the difference between war and continued torture and genocide and abuse of human rights by a fascist state. I missed any sense of that complexity in the peace camp. I certainly had the feeling that whatever the strong moral arguments were for deposing Saddam, the Americans would not be good nation-builders. But I had a moral problem with this view among the 2 million protesters that you should leave Saddam in power in a fascist state with 27 million Iraqis under him. The problem is that they felt good about it. I thought they should have opposed the war but also felt bad about it.
SPIEGEL: Do you think invading Iraq was a mistake?
McEwan: I think if Bush and Blair could press a button and we could all fast forward backwards, rewind the tape, they'd probably do this differently. But I don't think they fully grasped, and even the anti-war (movement) could have never fully grasped the fantastic viciousness of the insurgency against its own people.

HT: Norman Geras, who himself has a worthwhile commentary in the Guardian today.

Comic Genius (UPDATE)

2005-07-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

The Fantastic Four movie doesn't come out until this Friday, so I don't know exactly how bad it is, but I thought this strip was hilarious. Thanks to the Burglar for the email.

Pinkerton's other comic remixes are just as funny too, and the nobility of SCI-ENCE seems to be a common thread through all of them. This one on stem cells is another funny short one, and the true story of Superman's origin is a beautiful seven-page story that brings a tear to my eye. My only warning is you might laugh out loud.

P.S.: In case you were wondering, the "House of M" referenced at the end of the Fantastic Four comic is a two-month Marvel Comics "event" happening now in which all the Marvel heroes are given different lives by Magneto and they can't remember their real lives as superheroes or something. The 8-issue series is written by prolix Brian Michael Bendis, who's notorious for slow pacing, usually because he writes so much dialogue, but apparently even when he doesn't!

John Roberts: Dispassionate Legal Surgeon

2005-07-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

By all accounts the SCOTUS appointee is a lawyer's lawyer with unimpeachable credentials. Lawyer/blogger Beldar has the best short post I've seen identifying Roberts' theory of jurisprudence, encapsulated in this sentence from his decision in Hedgepeth last year:

The question before us, however, is not whether these policies were a bad idea, but whether they violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution.

Roberts basically said, "Look, this is a really stupid law but I'm powerless to change it," and left it to the legislature to fix the law, which they then did. I don't see how it's possible to be disappointed with this guy, regardless of your political persuasion. Two years ago the Senate confirmed him unanimously, and he has plenty of experience with the Supreme Court as well, having clerked for then-Associate Justice Rehnquist and since then arguing 39 cases before the Court.

Primate Comics

2005-07-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

If this wasn't made for Ryan I don't know what was. I like Ryan's monkeys better though.

Public Drinking the British Way

2005-07-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Court ORDERS teen thug to get drunk in public and misbehave
By Jeremy Armstrong

A teenage tearaway was given an Asbo [an Anti-Social Behavior Order in the UK --Jonathan] ordering him to get drunk and misbehave in a court blunder. The error was only noticed when the 15-year-old ended up in front of magistrates again for an alleged breach of the conditions.

The red-faced bench heard the youngster, who cannot be named, was technically breaking the law if he was found walking the streets of a quiet market town WITHOUT booze. The order also required him to use threatening behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to members of the public in Alnwick, Northumberland, where he lives.

Today's Daily Mirror has the rest of the story.

Sigh

2005-07-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

I have such nerds for friends. Ryan and Josh have been at the San Diego Comic Con all weekend and Comic Book Resources even snapped a picture of Ryan all decked out.

Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #1

2005-07-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

This being the first monthly comic published by Frank Miller in 18 years, I couldn't resist buying both covers, but hopefully the successive issues will only give me one choice. Award-winning book jacket designer and Batman memorobilia fanatic Chip Kidd has provided a title design that unequivocally favors Robin's name on both covers, whether depicting Batman or Robin. And though there are three narrators used in this issue -- Dick Grayson, Vicki Vale, and Bruce Wayne -- the first page reinforces Kidd's logo by making clear this is indeed Dick's story.

After the obligatory statement of the 12-year-old trapeze artist's trust that his parents will always be there to catch him during their aerobatic performances, Miller uses the reader's knowledge of past depictions of the Flying Graysons' demise to absolutely surprise us. For the unfamiliar, in every previous account of Dick Grayson becoming orphaned, his parents fall to their deaths when their trapeze breaks during a routine, the rope being cut because the circus refused to pay the protection racket. The surviving Grayson is then comforted by coincidental crowd-member Bruce Wayne, who lets Dick live at his mansion because of his obvious sympathy with instant orphans.

Miller's version begins by-the-book: During a routine, Dick lets go of his trapeze but when no one is there to catch him, he falls towards the ground and we already know what's happened. [Highlight for spoilers:]Then Dick whips out a tiny grappling hook and throws it up at the last minute; it wraps around the empty trapeze and he swings to safety, kind of a lot like Batman. A clever twist, you muse to yourself. Then you turn the page and can't believe Dick is standing proudly with his parents, arms raised in triumph as the crowd cheers the heartstoping routine.

Okay, ya got me, Miller! you think to yourself. I guess they're gonna buy it next time. Then your eyes move on to the next panel and see Mr. and Mrs. Grayson get shot in the back of their heads by a sniper. Holy crap, Batman! I warn't 'spectin that. The next page, showing Dick between his parents lying in their pools of blood, overtly evokes the cover of Batman #404, the first issue of Miller's own Batman: Year One story, but a quick consultation of my hardback edition reveals that Jim Lee did not slavishly imitate the positions of the Waynes' bodies.

One of Miller and Lee's improvments of Robin's origin is simply making the Flying Grayson's acrobatic costumes solid green. In previous versions of his history, Robin's crime-fighting costume is usually an only slightly modified version of his Flying Graysons outfit, which is a good explanation for the notoriously garish costume, but you'd think somebody would notice the similarity and figure out Robin's identity. Even if you don't care about Dick Grayson's safety, living with Bruce Wayne would make his costume an obvious liability. It's about time somebody dissociated it visually from the colors of the Flying Graysons.

The other improvement, which Miller has hinted at, but which is already clear from the first issue, is that Batman is more of an active agent. One of the ways writers have tried to excuse Batman of the sin of having a Robin is by either having Dick discover the Batcave independently or, even if Bruce intentionally reveals his alter ego to him, by having Dick sort of foist himself on Batman and insist on being Robin. Miller seems to have ingenuously realized that the only way to make Robin work with regard to Batman is not to tell the story apologetically, but to totally embrace the idea with confidence and jump in gung-ho.

The last page of the first issue is actually inspiring, and inspired. [Highlight again:] Rescuing Dick from corrupt cops (after all, Sergeant Gordon hasn't cleaned up the force just yet) Batman picks him up by the collar and shouts: "On your feet, soldier. You've just been drafted. Into a war." Until now, it has always been Bruce Wayne who is Dick's first contact (shut up, already!), and stories always focus on Bruce's compassion for Dick losing his parents, then the Robin thing becomes an accidental result. Here, Dick first meets Batman, who is no longer a passive agent, as if a babysitter unable to say No to the demands of a rambunctious kid, but is a man with a plan, however counterintuitive it seems.

Though Miller has described it in interviews, by the end of the first issue we still don't know what exactly Batman's plan is, the only hint being Bruce's sly comment to his date at the circus, Vicki Vale, that "I've had my eye on him for awhile. He's something, all right." Maybe because it serves to reinforce the aura of mystery around the aloof billionaire, Miller doesn't shy away from suggestive undertones when Vicki asks what he means and Bruce ambiguously smirks, "I've got an eye for talent." A minor one, but it's yet another example of Miller's unapologetic take on the relationship between Batman and Robin, that ignoring its inherent absurdities is not a solution. Whether he succeeds remains to be seen, but in an issue where not much actually happens, Miller has been sufficiently innovative to guarantee I'll be there every month to find out.

BBC Erases References to 'Terrorists'

2005-07-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find these articles on the Daily Mirror website or anywhere else online, so I had to type them out myself. On page 8 of today's edition, Matt Born reports:

Top BBC journalists hit back angrily last night at 'guidance' telling them not ot call the London bombers 'terrorists'.

The warning was issued by senior executives amid concern that the word was inflammatory and would compromise the BBC's reputation for impartiality.

The instruction was taken to heart by many staff, and the word was noticable for its absence from some bulletins.

But one senior journalist called the move 'lunacy of the highest order' and another branded it 'disgusting and apalling'. Former BBC foreign correspondent Martin Bell said the corpopration was being over-cautious.

Helen Boaden, the director of news, sent a memo to senior editors wihtin hours of the attacks on Thursday. It said news outlets should not describe the perpetrators as 'terrorists', although it was acceptable to refer to the bombings as 'terror attacks'. Miss Boaden said she was aware 'we are dancing on the head of a pin', but the BBC was concerned about upsetting its World Service audience. BBC websites also have a high level of overseas readers.

Some programme editors were sent 'an aide memoire' about the need to comply with BBC editorial guidelines. These say the corporations credibility risk being undermined 'by the careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments'.

A BBC online journalist confirmed that staff had been told not ot use the words 'terrorist' or 'terrorist attack'. He said: 'We were strictly instructed to refer to bombers and bombing. Anyone who unwittingly -- or wittingly -- used the word had it immediately changed.'

A number of senior journalists are understood to be up in arms over the attempt to curb their use of the 't' word -- and have reminded bosses that World Service listeners do not pay the licence fee [The UK's £121-per-year TV licence fee funds the BBC. --Jonathan]. One senior insider said there was 'very little support [for adhering to] the guidelines' among journalists on domestic news programmes. He went on: 'In some of our coverage of international events, you do hae to be very careful -- and that's what the guidance is aimed at. But if you put a bomb on a bus with the aim of killing civilians, then you are a terrorist -- and that's what we'll call you.'

Mr Bell, the former independent MP for Tatton, said: 'I think the BBC has to be careful in its language policies but we know the full range of the term "terrorist" and as a term it seems to fit here.'

BBC director-general Mark Thompson denied yesterday the word terrorist had been outlawed. He said: 'We ask journalists and editors to think carefully about the words they use but none is utterly banned.' But BBC sources told the Mail that while there may not be a formal ban they are being 'urged' to adhere to the guidelines.

Stephen Pollard's commentary on the same page quotes the sentences changed by the Beeb:

In the immediate moments after the bombs, the muderers were, rightly, described by BBC reporters as terrorists.

The BBC's website had a page with the headline, 'Bus man may have seen terrorist'. The story began, 'A bus passenger says he may have seen one of those responsible for the terrorist bomb attacks, in London'. Another page referred to 'the worst terrorist atrocity Brtiain has seen'.

This was surprising -- in its coverage of terrorism in Israel, the BBC has consistently described the suicide bombers who blow up buses as 'extremists' or 'militants' and never terrorists.

So the coverage looked like a rare example of the Corporation dropping its obsession with political correctness and using language accurately.

It did not last long. By Friday, those web pages had been edited to excise all referene to terrorism. 'Bus man may have seen terrorist' became 'Passenger believes he saw bomber'.

The story was changed to: 'A bus passenger says he may have seen one of those responsible for the bomb Attacks in London.'

And the second story now read: 'the worst peacetime bomb attacks Britain has seen.' No mention of terrorism anywhere.

... As its Editorial Guidelines puts it: 'Our credibility is undermind by the careless use ow words which carry emotional or value judgments. The word "terrorist" itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding.'

The guidelines go on: 'We recognise our duty to protect the vulnerable and avoid unjustified offence or likely harm. We aim to achieve this by ensuring our output is not used to denigrate the beliefs of others.'

Obviously I don't have links because I just typed it.

Merrie Olde England

2005-07-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Not only does it breed suicide bombers, but it has NO AIR CONDITIONING! I swear England is a second-world country.

Robin Begins, as told by Frank Miller (Extended Edition)

2005-07-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

2005 is the year of Frank Miller. Not only were his Sin City stories translated to the screen in one of the best comic book adaptations ever made, but the year's other great comic book adaptation, Batman Begins, drew liberally from his famous comic book story, "Year One." Indeed, Miller is considered one of the single most influential conrtibutors to the Batman mythos, yet he's written a total of only 11 comic book issues about the character.

His first take on Batman remains the most famous, 1986's The Dark Knight Returns, originally published as four 48-page issues, portrayed a retired Bruce Wayne who dons the cowl again, and its phenomenal success convinced DC to ask him to extend Batman's origin story in the monthly comic, so he wrote (but didn't draw this time) the Year One story in Batman #404-407, which were published early in 1987. He didn't return to the character until 2001, when he wrote, pencilled, and inked The Dark Knight Strikes Again, a sequel to DKR published in three lengthy installments, but the "experimental" coloring of his collaborator Lynn Varley probably contributed to its cool reception by fans.

Now, Frank Miller is writing the first title in DC's new "All Star" series, which portray the essence of the superhero unencumbered by continuity. Miller and superstar artist Jim Lee are doing Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, released today, with Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely to soon follow with All Star Superman.

The interview Miller gave to Newsarama.com was far more insightful than the uninformative "can't tell you, read the book" hype that creators usually give to comics websites. Here are some excerpts.

On Batman's resilliance:

FM: I regard Batman as unusual in that I really don’t believe in any single interpretation of him as being carved in stone. I see Batman as a piece of folklore -– a huge jewel that you can throw against any wall, and it won’t break, but will show you another way of looking at him. There are at the very least, a dozen different ways to do Batman, and they all work. Everything from Neal Adams/Denny O’Neil to Adam West to Dark Knight –- the character is so resilient that he can be interpreted any which way... and work. I, for instance, love Dick Sprang and Jerry Robinson’s depiction, and base a lot of the ways I draw the character on their view of him.
NRAMA: The broad-bodied and barrel-chested guy with short ears on his costume...
FM: Right – if I want to draw a skinny guy, I’ll draw Daredevil.

On filling in his bookends of Batman's history:

NRAMA: Given that you’ve written the later chapters of Batman’s life with Dark Knight, and you’ve written Year One, and this is the unofficial “Year Two,” do you ever entertain fantasies of saying, “F___ it, I’m going to write my Batman from his start to his end. DC, give me ten years, and let me go nuts”?
FM: That kind of fantasy flits through the mind every now and then, but essentially, I write stories when I really have a story I want to tell. I wouldn’t have taken this on if I hadn’t sat down, thought about what they were offering in terms of creative freedom, setting, and everything else. After looking at it all, I realized I had a story here.

It does relate to my other stories, but I like the fact that yeah, I’ve done the other bookend, but to show Batman, and more to the point, Dick Grayson becoming a hero…when we first see him, he’s a frightened, traumatized little boy. This is the story I want to tell now.

On the latest movie:

NRAMA: Speaking of Bruce again, in your previous work with him he’s shown different leanings at his different ages in regards to justice, politics, and social issues. He’s not his Dark Knight persona yet, but where do you see him on his continuum?
FM: He’s a man with a mission, He believes that he has, in his own words, in a “holy war,” and is out to save the city. I was very pleasantly surprised to see it phrased the same way in Batman Begins. Batman feels that his mission is to save the city, but yeah, he’s far more idealistic at this point than the beat up Dark Knight we seen in a few decades’ time.

On the supporting cast:

FM: Superman is in it, Lois and Clark are in it. Vicki Vale has a very big part in it as well. I want to reintroduce Batgirl, the original one, and of course, Gordon will be in it. There will probably be an appearance by Wonder Woman as well... and Catwoman, who’s another “must-have” character when you’re talking about Batman.
NRAMA: And Catwoman will be Selina in pretty much the same characterization as she was in Year One?
FM: That’s what I’m planning, yeah. It’s a year later from when she and Bruce first met. Selina though, is as cranky as ever. I love Ed Brubaker’s take on her, don’t get me wrong – he’s done wonderful stuff with her, but my Selina in this story is more of a supporting character while his was a lead character. Ed’s is, as you’ll see, a little more likable than mine in this story. I’m also treating Catwoman as a villain. She hasn’t been a villain in Batman’s world for a long time. She’s a thief. She may be a very sexy thief, but she’s still a thief.

On Batman's archnemesis:

FM: I find the most terrifying character circling around Batman remains the Joker, and I can’t keep may hands off of him. As I see it, there shouldn’t be anything funny about him. His name should be irony.
NRAMA: What is it with the Joker and you? Is it similar to your attraction to Batman in that you can always find a new facet to him?
FM: The thing is, the Joker is a sociopath and psychopath, but I would rather play up his evilness rather than his craziness. The Joker that I’ve always tried to portray, and now I get a chance to do it when he’s young – he’s satanic. He’s not laughing all the time.

[This is the direction I hope Nolan takes with the Joker, and which Paul Bettany would be ideal for! --Jonathan]

On another Miller-drawn Batman story:

NRAMA: Lastly, is this the only Batman for the foreseeable future? At one point, you were working on a Batman/terrorist story...
FM: I’m 120 pages into the inks on that, and am working on it concurrently. That will probably be a single piece, somewhere around 150-200 pages long. If Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder is “Batman Year Two” this is “Batman Year 1 and ½.” It’s quite a young Batman.

On his conception of Robin's origin:

NRAMA: Going back to the start of this project, how was this pitched to you? Did they say they wanted Batman, or Batman and Robin, or just see what you wanted to do?
FM: They specifically wanted to do Batman and Robin. My first condition was that it would be called Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder. I immediately knew that Robin was going to be the subject of the story. That way, we could play Batman a bit more of the archetype and the stern father, and Robin as the young warrior, learning his way.
NRAMA: That said, your Batman that you’ve shown in previous stories is, if anything, eminently practical, to the point of being methodical and emotionless in his ways. Why in the world would he bring a child into this world of his?
FM: I felt that somebody finally had to explain that, and I worked hard on it.
NRAMA: But still, it does seem to go against his view of protecting innocents, as well as innocence...
FM: No, it makes perfect sense when you think about it. He explains it to Alfred in the story, saying, “I’m a young man, but I won’t always be young, and the mission has to continue.” Robin is his apprentice. He’s training his replacement. That’s the life he intends for Robin.

Of course Alfred’s reaction is, “I’m dyspeptic!” and is horrified that Bruce would do such a thing, and even, if he did something like that, admit it out loud. Alfred already has to deal with this nutcase as a boss, and now he has to worry about a kid as well.
NRAMA: The apprentice approach does seem to go towards the ideas that “Batman would never put a child in danger.” Is it that, he would, if that child is his apprentice?
FM: Well, he didn’t want to get Dick Grayson at this age. It was the murder of his parents that forced his hand. Bruce was going to wait, as he puts it, “Until the kid was old enough to shave.”
NRAMA: So Bruce wasn’t going out, shopping for a 12 year-old?
FM: No, but he’d been watching Dick Grayson because he was the most talented kid he’d seen yet. He was planning on taking him under his wing in maybe another six years, but instead, he has to do it when the kid is still too young for the job.
NRAMA: How does that play in the story? It seems that would affect the dynamic that Bruce was planning to have when training his apprentice…
FM: it is important in the series. My Robin is snotty. The two do not get along for a long time. There’s always banter back and forth, where Robin thinks that a lot of the stuff Batman does is old fashioned and weird, and kind of odd – and this is Batman, who is all of 24 or 25. But when you’re 12, a 24 or 25 year old is Methuselah.
NRAMA: Speaking of the whole setting in time, you’ve said that this is, at least, unofficially, “Batman: Year Two” for you...
FM: That’s the way I’m thinking of it, the title is definitely Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder. I love having my name on something called that. I always loved the “Boy Wonder” line, before he was turned into the Teen Wonder, and almost a “Grim Robin.” But I just love the idea of a young Robin. That’s why I created Carrie Kelly in Dark Knight - I just loved the contrast between this stocky, tough, dark adult, and a colorful little pixie running around.

Also – if you’re older than 12, are you going to come up wit that costume?
NRAMA: So Robin chose the outfit?
FM: Do you think Bruce would?
NRAMA: Now that you mention it, not really.
FM: Robin creates “Robin,” essentially.
NRAMA: How much so in that regard? Does Bruce even give him the name, or is all of this Dick’s creation?
FM: It’s Dick’s. Bruce hadn’t thought this thing through enough, given that he was somewhat “forced” to take Robin in before he – both Bruce, and Dick – were ready. Bruce is clearly winging it. This is a young Batman who’s trying to figure out what he’s doing. He’s got all the cool toys – he’s got the Batmobile, and is building the cave, but he’s this bachelor. He can solve any murder you want him to, disguise himself as anyone in the world, but handling a kid? That’s kind of outside his purview – somewhere outside of what he trained himself for. So he’s struggling with the whole thing, and it comes down to Robin to pick the identity that he has. I don’t want to reveal it, but it’s pretty cool, the reason he’s called “Robin.” I worked on it for a while, and I don’t want to reveal it now, but I’m pretty happy with it.
NRAMA: What is the effect of bringing Dick in under his wing at this point in time in his career as Batman? Is it the classic, “He humanizes Bruce/Batman?”
FM: I’m playing that as it goes. They’re talking to each other right now. I’ve plotted a lot of this story, but I’m letting these characters talk a lot, back and forth, and they’re defining each other for me. I’m letting them run with the ball right now.

All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #1 arrives in comic book book stores today. Newsarama's interview about the project with artist Jim Lee is here.

British Native Suicide Bomber Profile

2005-07-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Now we know the 7/7 bombers were three British-born guys from the Yorkshire town of Leeds and one from the London suburb Luton, one of them 19 years old. According to their friends, they were all great guys and never suspected of anything:

Iftikhar Hussein, 27, who works at a local fish and chip shop owned by Tanweer's father, said he did not believe Tanweer could be a terrorist. "He was a good kid, a really nice lad. He was somebody who got on well with people," he said.

A neighbour said Tanweer was "a nice lad -- we would just see him walking in and out of the house and if so we would say hello".

Mohammed Answar, 19, a friend of Tanweer, was stunned to hear he was suspected of being a suicide bomber and said they played cricket together only last week.

He said: "It's impossible. It's not in his nature to do something like this, he's is the type of guy who would condemn things like that."

Another friend, Azzy Mohammed, 21, said: "He's the kind of person who gets along with anyone. His sense of humour is very good. He's a sweet lad."

Sajaad Hussain, said he had grown up with Tanweer and he was a "nice lad who liked to play football, play cricket. I'm just shocked like everybody else."

Does anybody remember that 1998 movie The Siege with Denzel, Bruce, and Annette? It was about a bus bombing in New York but I've never heard it mentioned once since 9/11. The bad guy is part of an Islamist sleeper cell, just like these four undetectable Englishmen. They weren't terrorists made in Iraq; they've been here all along, kind of like those martian tripods. Kind of frightening.

Anyway, back to the movie. It turns into an ACLU fantasy when Bruce Willis declares Martial Law in New York and rounds up every dark skinned male into Yankee Stadium-turned-detention camp, so it's not very believable since we all learned after 9/11 that nothing of the sort would happen in America. I haven't seen it since it came out so my memory's quite rusty, but it would be an interesting movie to watch again given the context not only of the past four years but now of the past week.

Street Fighter: Do-It-Yourself Edition

2005-07-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

Finnish company Animaatiokone's Kick Ass Kung Fu does just that.

PRO: It's really you in the video game, and your real-time filmed moves that are delivering the on-screen damage.

CON: Do you know kung fu? Your video game somersaults and cartwheel kicks are only as good as you can perform them for real.

Here are some videos that demonstrate.

Gremlin EXTERMINATED

2005-07-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

I was about to give up and offer a very large reward (£5 is worth a lot in real money) to anyone who could tell me how to fix my blog template, but at the last minute I decided to give it another go so I searched the interweb far and wide and finally discovered the malfunction.

Now all is right with the world and I can begin reconstituting my lengthy sidebar. Don't worry, I saved it all. But actually I hadn't touched many of those links in a long time so I'm going to totally reimagine that whole strip of real estate before restoring it.

It's just such a relief to me that the whole ordeal is finally over. I had almost resigned myself to the idea that I was going to have unnecessary spoiler space for every new post for the rest of the blog's life.

Awesome Idea

2005-07-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

Instead of not hiring Katie Holes for Batman Begins II, why don't they have her come back and get killed by the Joker in the first half hour. That would give Batman a more personal reason for hunting down the Joker and make it harder for him to try not killing him. Not only would it still get rid of Katie Holmes, as WB wants, but it would also be a big crowd pleaser, like when Jason Todd (the second Robin) was killed in the comics... also by the Joker.

$430,000 Car Citing

2005-07-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last night I saw a real-life Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren chilling at the Tesco petrol station where I got milk around midnight. A supercharger squeezes 626-horsepower out of its 5.5L V8, sending it from 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds and to a top speed of more than 200 mph.

Surveillance State: The Truth about America under the Jack Boot of the PATRIOT ACT!

2005-07-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Finally, the Los Angeles Times reveals the PATRIOT ACT's stranglehold on liberty! After you guess the number, highlight with your cursor to discover the shocking truth:

Civil libertarians argue that the Patriot Act curtails American freedoms. Fans of the act say those fears are overblown. By the numbers, since inception of the Patriot Act through 2004:
Civil rights complaints to the Justice Department's inspector general:
7,136
Number of those deemed related to the Patriot Act:
1
"Sneak and peek" warrants, allowing searches without telling a subject:
155
Roving wiretaps:
49
Personal records seizures under Section 215 of the act:
35

Earnest Performance of The Importance

2005-07-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Last night 20,000 people were evacuated from the city centre here in Birmingham and hundreds spent the night at the downtown-situated Aston University. I wasn't even aware of it, though, since I was safe at my own university's Winterbourne Botanic Garden enjoying an outdoor performance of The Importance of Being Earnest.

Given the garden setting of the play's second half, being situated on the lawn behind the manor house was an ideal non-staging of the play. While the performances of Jack and Algernon were average, the ladies were perfect in their roles. Lady Bracknell was channelling Dame Edith Evans and Gwendolyn was better than any I'd seen live. Yet Cecily was the best, always patient with her delivery and always keeping face during her and Gwendolyn's politely passive-aggressive scene.

I don't claim to be a choreographical genius (at least not on the same level that I'm a literary genius) but the play had a bit too much standing around in one place, which is one thing when the whole cast is on stage, but quite unacceptable when there's only two, especially during Jack and Algy's lengthy conversation in the first act. I would like to take this opportunity to praise Lindsay for the way she staged -- and blocked -- our 2001 production (starring me as Algy, in case anybody hasn't been reminded of it recently). I also think Tom (Jack) and I communicated a pretty good on-stage rapport that engaged the audience in our friendship.

Now that I think of it, there was very little laughter last night, yet you could still tell everyone enjoyed it. Maybe it's just because every Englishman has seen the play many million times and most of the jokes are themselves part of the popular culture, but the only big laugh was when Gwen asks Cecily "you will call me sister" (I think it has the biggest pay-off after being so inocuously set up much earlier).

Jack and Algy had some trouble in the muffin scene (like Tom and I) and Lady Bracknell flubbed her line about recent engagements being "above the proper average that statistics have laid down for our guidance," but that just goes to show what kind of play it is. It's one that you watch again and again just for the anticipation of hearing your favorite lines repeated again, and if they're not, you miss them.

Nonetheless, it was a warm, sunny evening and the whole environment made the production seem quite perfect.

L to R: Jack, Gwendolyn, Lady Bracknell, Cecily, Algernon

Chris Hitchens to Ron Reagan: "How can you know so little?"

2005-07-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

Christopher Hitchens being interviewed and challanged by Ron Reagan live on MSNBC is like Shaquille O'Neal playing one-on-one with a 10-year-old in a wheelchair. It's just not fair:

RR: Christopher, I'm not sure that I buy the idea that these attacks are a sign that we're actually winning the war on terror. I mean, how many more victories like this do we really want to endure?
CH: Well, it depends on how you think it started, sir. I mean, these movements had taken over Afghanistan, had very nearly taken over Algeria, in a extremely bloody war which actually was eventually won by Algerian society. They had sent death squads to try and kill my friend Salman Rushdie, for the offense of writing a novel in England. They had sent death squads to Austria and Germany, the Iranians had, for example, to try and kill Kurdish Muslim leaders there.

If you make the mistake that I thought I heard you making just before we came on the air, of attributing rationality or a motive to this, and to say that it's about anything but itself, you make a great mistake, and you end up where you ended up, saying that the cause of terrorism is fighting against it, the root cause, I mean. Now, you even said, extraordinarily to me, that there was no terrorist problem in Iraq before 2003.

Do you know nothing about the subject at all? Do you wonder how Mr. Zarqawi got there under the rule of Saddam Hussein? Have you ever heard of Abu Nidal?
RR: Well, I'm following the lead of the 9/11 Commission, which...
CH: Have you ever heard of Abu Nidal, the most wanted man in the world, who was sheltered in Baghdad? The man who pushed Leon Klinghoffer off the boat, was sheltered by Saddam Hussein. The man who blew up the World Trade Center in 1993 was sheltered by Saddam Hussein, and you have the nerve to say that terrorism is caused by resisting it? And by deposing governments that endorse it?
RR: No, actually, I didn't say that, Christopher.
CH: ...at this stage, after what happened in London yesterday?
RR: What I did say, though, was that Iraq was not a center of terrorism before we went in there, but it might be now.
CH: How can you know so little about...
RR: You can make the claim that you just made about any other country in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.
CH: Absolutely nonsense.
RR: So do you think we ought to invade Saudi Arabia, where most of the hijackers from 9/11 came from, following your logic, Christopher?
CH: Uh, no. Excuse me. The hijackers may have been Saudi and Yemeni, but they were not envoys of the Saudi Arabian government, even when you said the worst...
RR: Zarqawi is not an envoy of Saddam Hussein, either.
CH: Excuse me. When I went to interview Abu Nidal, then the most wanted terrorist in the world, in Baghdad, he was operating out of an Iraqi government office.

He was an arm of the Iraqi State, while being the most wanted man in the world. The same is true of the shelter and safe house offered by the Iraqi government, to the murderers of Leon Klinghoffer, and to Mr. Yassin, who mixed the chemicals for the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.

How can you know so little about this, and be occupying a chair at the time that you do?

Survey of UK Papers: 8 July 2005

2005-07-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

The two through-lines across all papers are (1) the juxtaposition of the ecstacy of Wednesday's Olympic triumph and the pain of Thursday's atrocity, and (2) the lack of panic and the calm speed with which London returned to its business hours after the bombings. The national sentiment is getting on with it in defiance of the intended fear.

The Times has 21 magazine-format pages on "London Bombs" and the letters to the editor on page 22 begin with one from Rudy Giuliani, followed by three more pages of commentary on the events.

The Daily Telegraph devotes 25 full-length pages with full-size pictures to "Terror in London" emphasizing the return to normality and with editorials by Mark Steyn and others.

The Guardian's coverage lasts a paltry 14 pages but its G2 supplement has a moving reflection on yesterday by novelist Ian McEwan.

The Sun, the most-read paper in the country, devotes 23 pages to the "Carnage in the Capital" with sensationalist headlines of eyewitness descriptions (apparently the bus explosion was a suicide bomber). The Sun also itemizes 24 of the worst attacks around the world since 1993 -- "More than 4,000 people have died as Islamic terrorism has spread across the world over the last decade" -- and lists the worst IRA bombings in London since 1973.

The middle-class Daily Mail has 23 pages of coverage featuring full-page color pictures. Four two-page spreads are devoted to eyewitness accounts and pictures of each site of the bombings. Editorials bear the headlines "The twisted logic of Galloway," who after his Spanish-retreat press release continued his outrages in the House of Commons, and mouthfulls like "It's time to tilt the balance of justice in favour of the law-abiding and away from those who choose to live here while proclaiming their hatred of everything that Britain represents," which goes on to blame Blair for going too far in support of Bush's War on Terror.

The Daily Mirror -- which famously asked "How can 59,017,382 people be so DUMB?" on its November 4th cover -- turns out to be the most defiant, even adding the subtitle "WE WILL HOLD FIRM" to its logo. Its 33 pages of coverage all bear the caption "07/07: WAR ON BRITAIN" and editorials are highlighted by Tony Parsons -- with a full-page pull-quote on the facing page: "If these murderous bastards go on for a thousand years, the people of our islands will never be cowed, WE CAN TAKE IT" -- and the eloquent Christopher Hitchens, who reminds all serious people of the true "root causes" of this form of terrorism:

We know very well what the "grievances" of the jihadists are. The grievance of seeing unveiled women. The grievance of the existence, not of the State of Israel, but of the Jewish people. The grievance of the heresy of democracy, which impedes the imposition of sharia law. The grievance of a work of fiction written by an Indian living in London. The grievance of the existence of black African Muslim farmers, who won't abandon lands in Darfur. The grievance of the existence of homosexuals. The grievance of music, and of most representational art. The grievance of the existence of Hinduism. The grievance of East Timor's liberation from Indonesian rule. All of these have been proclaimed as a licence to kill infidels or apostates, or anyone who just gets in the way.

The local Birmingham Evening Mail has 8 pages focusing on reaction in the Muslim community and the possibility that a sleeper cell in the Midlands is being investigated.

Lucas Dialogue Improved by Chinese Bootleg Reverse Translation

2005-07-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some subtitles that flow a little better than Lucas' often stilted dialogue in Episode III.

Speaking of, whenever I'm about to say something intolerant like "Terrorism is bad," I remember that only the Sith deal in absolutes, and I catch myself.

British Resolve

2005-07-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

I get the feeling that despite politicians like Galloway, the British public is not cowed and don't support anything like the Spanish response.

With the American and British roles reversed, today may have been the Pearl Harbor of WWIII. However Blair may have been perceived till now as fighting Bush's war, this makes it personal for the UK.

Cricket Is For Real and I Have Witnessed It

2005-07-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight's match, between Warwickshire (the home team) and Northampton, was part of the 20/20 Cup series, which means every game is a one-day match consisting of 20 overs for each side (team), which in baseball would be one inning. In cricket an "over" consists of 6 bowls (pitches) and after the fielding team bowls 20 overs (about 75 minutes) they switch to offense and get two batsmen (batters) on the field to try to rack up more points than the other team did in the top of the inning.

In tonight's case, it was too bad for Northampton, whose relatively high 164 points would normally win a match, but Warwickshire had earned an amazing 205 points in the first half of the inning. Everyone I was with said they'd never seen such a high score. Most points are won 4 or 6 at a time: if the ball bounces or rolls past the outer boundsline, it's a 4; if the batsman hits it past the outer boundary without bouncing (as in a home run), it's a 6. There are other ways to get 1 point here and there but I don't remember how.

Cricket balls are made of wood, and the outfielders don't wear mitts or gloves of any kind, so it's kind of amazing to see the few times they caught a fly ball. When they do so the batsman is out for the rest of the inning and replaced by another. Since the best batsmen begin the game, after a half-dozen outs the offensive team is down to not very good batsmen. Since there are 11 on each team and two batsmen must be on the field at all times, 10 outs would force the end of the half-inning even if 20 overs haven't been finished. But there were only 2 outs against Warwickshire and 5 or 6 against Northampton.

In some ways the game is more fast-paced than baseball (there aren't long pauses between pitches) and there are more hits (there are no foul balls because the batsman can hit or deflect the ball 360 degrees), but since the ball is larger and heavier the hits aren't as sensational and suspense only builds if the offensive team in the bottom of the inning is catching up to the points already earned by the defense.

So I probably won't go again -- after all I've only been to two or three baseball games in my whole life -- but live cricket turned out to be more fun than I expected.

Shoot Me

2005-07-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

3:45 PM GMT: I'm going to a Cricket game. I never thought I'd say that, but it's such a curiosity and I'm taking my camera. The Edgbaston Cricket Ground is about a mile away and they're having a short three-hour match -- most last five days, eight hours a day!

Will report.

Deep Impact fallout

2005-07-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hugh Hewitt is worried that operation Deep Impact might have released General Zod from a comet prison. On the other hand, he's worried that hitting a comet without altering its trajectory -- as NASA assures us -- is not the best public demostration to the universe of our offensive capabilities. We'll Hit You With A Washing Machine doesn't seem like a very convincing deterent against whatever intergalactic terrorists may be casing our planet.

Blogging Forth on the Fifth

2005-07-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Great party last night from about 8:00 to 12:30. Besides the requisite bottle for entry, I brought some salsa and extra tortilla chips just in case, which was a good thing since the hostess's chips ran out and that's all we ate the whole night. There were nine of us, all either postgrads or recently-completed ones, and the only person I hadn't met before turned out to be the research assistant of my faculty supervisor next year. So he had heard of me already and we talked a lot about the differences between Birmingham and L., since he did his PhD at B'ham and started teaching at L. this past year, though he still lives here in Brum. It was definitely encouraging and reinforced my decision to go there so I'm looking forward to it even more.

How Could 13 Colonies Be So DUMB?

2005-07-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

I just realized it's the 4th of July. I guess it's not surprsing that the American day of independence isn't exactly celebrated in the UK, though I'm sure nowadays most Brits would act glad to have gotten rid of us. Coincidentally I do have a party to go to tonight, so I won't be lonely, but two minutes ago it just started POURING rain.

I'm not a fan of big government, but there are a thee things I will gladly pay the state to provide:

1. A ready military.

2. The construction and maintenance of roads, and the willingness to use eminent domain to widen highways and freeways as necessary (something evidently not done in the UK, producing worse congestion than Los Angeles and miles-long backups on two-lane interstates).

3. Space exploration, the more far-fetched the better.

So today I think it's totally cool that we catapulted a washing machine into that damn, dirty comet. Anything to find out more about the universe. But naturally, some jealous Europeans have been whining about it:

1. An Italian astrophysicist, unfortunately named Margherita Hack, said "bombing" the comet is "not a great idea." However, she waited until a few hours before the impact to voice her disapproval, which smells like sour grapes rather than sharing expertise. Well, actually she admited she's "not a great comet expert" so nevermind. She also didn't elaborate on whether the comet should be protected because it's a sovereign state like Baathist Iraq.

2. A Russian astro~~physicist~~-loger registered a more serious complaint in a Moscow courthouse because NASA's mission will disturb the balance of the Force, violate her spirital values, and distort her horoscope.

HOLLYWEIRD

2005-07-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

Hollwood is a WACKY place where ANYTHING can happen! Check out the latest: Vin Diesel WIGS OUT in upcoming courtroom mafia drama Find Me Guilty! Of using REGENIX, maybe!

Meanwhile, in a baffling career movie sending shockwaves through tinseltown, Orlando Bloom is making a surprise appearance -- no, starring -- in a movie set in the PRESENT DAY!

Publicity agency betting pools have begun on whether or not Bloom was lured to the Cameron Crowe project by a sword -- or at least a LETTER OPENER -- appearing somewhere in the script! Hopefully he'll use it to chop off Kirsten Dunst's HEAD in the third act! Or better yet, make a PEZ DISPENSER out of her!

Liefeld Update

2005-07-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Comics writer Mark Millar has started a new monthly online magazine focusing comic books and movies, and anything people who like comics and movies are also interested in. The first issue debuted yesterday and a new issue will come out on the first of every month at Millarworld.tv. This issue, besides interviews with Stan Lee, Joss Whedon, Bruce Campbell, and Batman Begins screenweriter David Goyer, Millar also interviews the notorious Rob Liefeld.

I can't help but love Rob Liefeld. Even though he's the worst artist alive he's the nicest guy in the world. Despite the character assassinations by his former best-friend Todd MacFarlane, he still has nothing but positive things to say about him while they were friends. Even though he's the only artist in history to actually get worse with time -- witness these preview pages from his latest work (he can't even draw a CAPE anymore) -- the fact that everyone hates him makes Liefeld all the more likeable. And besides, he loves the Lakers -- after all, he was born in Fullerton, lives in Anaheim, and named one of planets in his comic book universe Katella. Here are some highlights from the interview:

My Dad [a Baptist minister] took me to all sorts of movies, always cautioning me to not tell anyone because people at the church may judge him for allowing me to see such classics as Logan’s Run, Sinbad, Superman and Star Wars. He hated Sci-Fi, didn’t enjoy it at all and told me he enjoyed “good dramas”. He just saw how it sparked me, how it excited me and he gave himself over to allow me to enjoy it.

He was a little concerned that I would buy into the Force rather than Christianity. Due to the 30-plus screenings of Star Wars I attended, he felt the need to stress to his nine year old boy that The Force was not God, I think he was worried that I would start praying to the Force or something. He probably thought I’d be taken in by Lucas the way Katie has been taken by Tom and Scientology.

In 1992 Liefeld earned $20 million, starred in a Levi's commercial, and had his house on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (no Cribs back then). So what did he do with all that money?

After taxes, Uncle Sam left me with around 12 million bucks. I bought 4 houses, opened a studio, bought 4 cars, a jeep, 2 SUV’s and a sportscar and tons of original art. Loaned some money to family and friends and churches and lived a fun life.

Was Liefeld kicked out of Image or did he quit?

To any and all that buy into the “He was kicked out of Image” mythology, I urge you to do your homework, add up the dates take out those old Diamond Previews and Comic Buyers Guides and check the ads and the solicitations...

The owners, specifically Todd [MacFarlane, creator of Spawn], demanded I fold Max Press and put everything into Image. I refused and during a conference call while I was driving to meet Jeph Loeb at his Malibu beach house, who was quietly helping me set up Awesome comics, I hung up in frustration knowing it was over. I told them that if my books were so important to propping up the company than other less productive owners should contribute more than they were. I’m producing 20 books a month for the company while some of the partners had taken a year off, contributing nothing, I was finished. My own catalogue and my employees were more important to me than the Image collective.

The Image publisher, Larry Marder had helped me refine a resignation letter dating back to 1995, I had been delaying the inevitable for too long. The seperation was necessary, but I wasn’t allowed to leave on my terms, they needed to trash me. Todd told my attorney, there’s no way he’s walking out of this company unscathed, they were going to formally vote me out after I resigned, and so a year of ugly lies and hate filled my calendar.

I credit the intervention of Jeph Loeb with giving me critical, crucial guidance during this time. He told me every day, Todd and the boys are trying to call you out to the street for a fight, they’re trying to rile you up. Just wish them well, just wish them well he said. To this day, I wish them well.

Sure enough, here's the way he talks about MacFarlane, his best-friend-turned-archnemeis (just like Harry Osborne!):

We talked numerous times a day and he gave me tremendous insight to the business aspects of comics. Todd encouraged every artist or writer he met to get more educated about the comic business so that they could better themselves in their business dealings. It didn’t matter who you were or where you were at in your career, he cared about empowering the talent. I got to know his family and our relationship expanded beyond comics, it became more personal for me at least. The most important aspect of our relationship was that I never, ever felt in competition with him even when he would break out way ahead of the pack, his approach to his art and his pages were so unique, I just felt that he had his own track he was running on, separate from ours.

Check out the interview yourself for Liefled's answers to questions like: "Does it frustrate you when people complain about the anatomy of your characters when you’re not trying to achieve photo-realism?"

I See Dead Saints

2005-07-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

I was already expecting good things from Millions going in, but Danny Boyle's latest still managed to surprise me and should be considered one of the best of 2005.

The premise as advertised is that impossibly cute Alex Etel and his slightly older brother find a million British pounds and have to decide what to do with it. The equally dominant premise not advertised is that Etel's character -- curiously named Damien -- happens to see and chat with saints, such as Francis of Assissi and Nicholas of Myra (Father Christmas). Damien wants to give all the money away to poor people, while his brother wants to do things like buy property because it will appreciate. In fact, the loot is less than a quarter of a million pounds, but the total doesn't matter. Things are complicated by the fact that the UK will convert from Sterling to the Euro in one week, which probably seemed likely when the screenplay was written but now seems like science fiction.

The most surprising and satisfying thing about the movie is its unembarrassed pallette of bright, vivid primary and secondary colors. There are no shades or hues: orange and purple are at home with blue skies and green grass. You feel like you've walked into one of those toy stores that sell Playskool or Playmobil products, with Duplo blocks prominently featured.

As should be expected, children are often more clever than adults in this picture, but they don't revel in being insolent like children always are in 1980s movies. It is their innocence, not sarcasm, that makes them superior. Damien's brother has a foot in both the child and adult worlds, however, and shrewdly uses the money to make things happen for him at school, and a few scenes are comically reminiscent of Goodfellas, with a primary-color school uniform spin.

As befits a movie about miracles with saints as characters, some scriptural revisionism takes place, but it is not for the sake of debunking. After all, Millions has the most (non-ironic) Christian content of any mainstream movie produced this decade not by Mel Gibson. It is not a kid's movie but a thoughtful movie told from a child's perspective, though kids would probably enjoy it. American kids (and adults) might miss a few words here and there due to the Northern accents but the picture is so gratifying to look at you'll hardly notice.

U2 // Vertigo 2005 // Manchester 2

2005-06-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

My concert review is already posted below, but here (finally!) are the best of the pictures I took, painstakingly recreated in chronological order (maximize browser for best presentation):

2005-06-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

NPTSDvdC Update

2005-06-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

I don't have all comments on my blog automatically emailed to me, so sometimes I miss it when someone comments on an old post in the archives, but I happened to check my Haloscan account today and discovered Gustavo Linares reporting from Brazil regarding the Confessions of a Dangerous Mind poster/DVD cover:

If is any good for you knowing this, here in Brazil the cover of our DVD is the same as de poster.

Sure enough, according to DVDAficianado.com, both the Region 2 and Region 4 editions get the nice poster on their covers. Only the Region 1 DVD is graced with the shitalicious collage.

Thanks, Gustavo!

Mystery Demystified

2005-06-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

1:15 AM GMT: Before the U2 concert a couple weeks ago, I'd saw some chick walking around the stage like she was getting a tour. She was followed by a camera so I figured she was making some kind of promo but I didn't recognizer her, unfamiliar as I still am with many British celebrities.

Turns out it was Cat Deeley, ITV presenter and popular VJ on the UK's MTV. I only know this because tonight I happened to catch the show she was filming, primarily a sit-down interview with the band but interspered with substantial clips from the concert. I think I saw the back of my head in one of the shots, but my the back of my head is fairly generic so I'm not sure.

This reminds me, I really should get around to posting my pictures from the concert.

So much for this fad

2005-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

If Constantine, Sin City, and Batman Begins got your hopes up that 2005 was going to have an unblemished streak of great comic book movies, I'm sorry but the trend has ended. I don't know why they released this 2-minute clip of the Brooklyn Bridge set piece, but we now know that Fantastic Four was shot and edited in the venerable style of a crap 70s TV show. I thought the worst part was the zoom-in on an approaching semi 5 seconds into the clip, but then the music turned to shit and the pigs ate it and passed some terrible camera angles. I'd rather go to the theater and watch three episodes of the A-Team.

After the 20-year DC Age of comic book movies (1978-97), I thought Blade, then X-Men, then Spider-Man had firmly established Marvel's dominance in this decade, but it turns out the years of the Marvel Age were 1998-2004, because after Spidey 2, they managed to fart out three successive Fantastinkers: Blade 3, Elektra, and now F4. Sure, DC discharged Catwoman last year, but kicking off with Constantine and Batman Begins, the Second Age of DC will be known as 2005-____, intermittently sprinkled with Sin City assists from Darkhorse.

That is, if Hollywood will ever greenlight another comic book movie, thanks to Fantastic Four.

Josh Middleton

2005-06-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, this guy's artwork looks pretty sharp. I guess he's worked on Marvel's NYX and New Mutants, but I never took notice of those books. This title, "Shazam/Superman: First Thunder," is a 4-issue series so I don't really want to bother picking it up in pamphlet form (the new denomination for single comic "books"?) but hopefully it will be collected as a trade paperback soon.

Pictorial Supplement to Preceding Post

2005-06-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A: Lachy Hulme has the same nose as the Animated Series version of the Joker.

However, I'm starting to like Stax's idea that Paul Bettany would make a great Joker.

Exhibit B: I checked out the only movie I have with Gary Sinise in it to grab a couple of screencaps, and was suprised that I never really noticed the lighting Brian De Palma used in Snake Eyes. This should sell you on him as Harvey if you weren't convinced before. Of course, blessed are they that did not see, and yet believed (namely Ryan).

I took a bunch of captures and picked the most two-faced:

I flipped this one horizontally to put the shadow on the left
side of his face.

Considering that the Latin word for left-sided is literally "sinister," I'd say Sinise was born to play this role!

Drastic Measures

2005-06-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

Until my blog gets its issues sorted and returns to normal I decided to remove the entire sidebar except for the archives and links to movie reviews. (In case you're wondering, my favorite reviews are in bold, not my favorite movies.) Anyway, hope this minimizes the scrolling for the time being.

Scientologist Calls Psychiatry "Pseudo-Science"

2005-06-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

For reals.

Batman Continues casting rumors addressed

2005-06-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

Alright, hopefully the sequel won't be called Batman Continues, but Ryan raises the issue of Joker casting and I can't keep my thoughts to myself.

Of course Ryan is right about the rumor that Sean Penn is Nolan's current favorite. Casting Penn as a character called "the Joker" is like casting John Kerry as the Fonz.

Of course I still stand behind my Joker uber-casting -- Nicolas Cage -- but now that he's Ghost Rider I understand if he doesn't want to play two comic book characters (not that it stopped Bryan Singer from raiding the X-mansion for Superman).

Despite Mark Hamill's undisputedly authoritative voice interpretation in the Animated Series, he's too short and doesn't have the right facial structure for the Joker on screen. Conversely, I think Crispin Glover looks too stereotypically Jokeresque and has too much over-the-top potential to ruin the realistic tone of Nolan's Bat-universe.

But aside from the Cagester, I'm actually sympathetic to the Lachy Hulme idea because his nose really does resemble the earliest depictions of the Joker.

Here's an idea: what if Nolan called in a favor and asked his Insomnia villain Robin Williams to play the Joker? I can't really stand Williams, but he would scare the shit out of me in white-face and lipstick, and casting a professional comedian as the Joker would be ingenious if not too self-conscious. The fact that Robin Williams hasn't been funny for years would only magnify the character's sadism.

Now what about D.A. Harvey Dent, whom David Goyer says is going to get acid thrown in his face, or half of it, during the Joker's courtroom trial?

First choice: Gary Sinise. I think he would fit perfectly in Nolan's Gotham. He could play a tight-laced, zealous District Attourney as easily as the sinister Two-Face. Heck, he played both sides in Snake Eyes well enough, which now that I think about it also has a fantastically flamboyant Nic Cage that, merged with his Castor Troy personality in Face/Off, would make a perfect Joker. However, both Cage and Sinese -- and Williams for that matter -- might be too old for this new franshise, if Nolan's casting of Cilian Murphy is any indication.

Autobot Slapstick (scroll way down)

2005-06-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Didja hear? The Transformers movie is going to have some classic Charlie Chaplin moments in it. Check out these spypics from the set!

Something's fishy with my blog, so scroll down to read everything

2005-06-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's just my browser, so if this page is malfunctioning for you too (no main text next to the sidebar, and empty line above timestamps) then please let me know in the comments. Thanks.