January 26, 2012
On the Death of Paterno
I've said some pretty harsh things about Penn State in the past couple of months, and I stand by all of them. The university absolutely disgraced itself in a way that I don't think I can ever forgive, as numerous people actively participated in the coverup of a serial child rapist who was caught red-handed and allowed to roam free for another decade. And then students rioted not over the abuse, but over how Joe Paterno was treated.
That said, I am of course sorry that Joe Paterno is dead, and I am sorry that he had to suffer. He was by all accounts a decent and honorable man, who sadly made a catastrophic decision late in life that will unfortunately forever taint his legacy.
This reminds me a lot of Kirby Puckett, also a universally beloved, larger-than-life athletic figure who had a shockingly horrible fall from grace followed not too long after by his death. Us Twins fans had a pretty complex reaction to Puckett's death- and the tarnishing of that previously perfect legacy is part of what we were sad about. I'd imagine that, other than the most obtuse Penn State fans, that's what happening here.
Oscar Nomination Reactions
I suppose a year in which there are nine Best Picture nominations and I had no quarrel with seven of them is a pretty good year. "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is a movie that I didn't think anyone liked, based on a novel that I KNOW no one liked, yet here it is up for Best Picture for some reason. And while I didn't hate "The Help" as much as some people, and actually really enjoyed its three nominated performances, it has no place in a Best Picture race.
In my rankings of 2011 movies, the nine Best Picture nominees were ranked 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 30 and 44; I saw "Extremely Loud" after I made my list but it would've been somewhere in the 70s.
While I was glad to see "Cars 2" shut out of Best Animated Feature, and was pleasantly surprised that the Academy rightly left "J. Edgar" out of the Best Makeup race, I just don't understand some of the acting snubs. Michael Fassbender gave THE performance of the year in "Shame," which was ignored, as was Albert Brooks for "Drive," who deserved to win Best Supporting Actor. And while I detested "Young Adult," Patton Oswalt was very, very good in it. And no Kirsten Dunst for "Melancholia"? Come on.
Was "Certified Copy" not eligible for Best Foreign Language film for some reason? Maybe because it's in multiple languages and "from" multiple countries? The documentary category is a mess, as usual- no "Tabloid," "Senna," "Page One," or "Pearl Jam Twenty"?
And if you're going to choose a song from "The Muppets," why not "Life's a Happy Song"?
Debauchery and Chuck E. Cheese
Here's a great, great Reddit thread with I-worked-at-Chuck-E-Cheese stories. I went there for a kids party awhile back, and it was more fun back in the day.
The Worst Slate Article Ever
And not only because I disagree with the premise.
January 25, 2012
Santorum vs. Low Information Voters
The Republicans and conservative media have spent the past four years lying through their teeth to their own constituents and customers about who Barack Obama is and what he stands for. Therefore, we get moments like this:
How many lies/false statements are in that one sentence? Not a citizen! Muslim! "Constantly says our constitution is passe" (Obama has never once said this.) Why aren't we removing him from government? Well, there is an election going on. Would be nice if Santorum, or anyone else in the crowd, would tell her to shut up. He must think McCain interrupting the old lady who called Obama an Arab was the reason he lost in '08.
Also, nice of Santorum, the most avowed theocrat in American politics, to slam theocracy in Iran in last night's debate.
The Best Case Against Newt
Stewart aims a spear at the heart of Newt's candidacy:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Indecision 2012 - The Gingrich Who Stole South Carolina | ||||
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If Mitt and Newt Were One Person
This Stephen Fry bit predicted the future (starting at 1:00 mark):
January 23, 2012
Noah at 2
My son celebrates his birthday in his latest blog post.
Quote of the Day
Andrew Sullivan on the Republicans' loathsome joke of a frontrunner:
Listen to Gingrich’s victory speech. It was completely, fundamentally, organizationally Manichean, if you’ll pardon the expression. He limned a familiar battle between independence and dependence, pay-checks vs food stamps, America vs “Europe”, the American people vs elites “forcing people” for 35 years not to be American, the traditional America vs the “secular, European style socialist bureaucratic system”. There is no gray here. There is no nuance. And there is the imputation to the other side of malign motives, secret agendas and foreignness that has been Gingrich’s hallmark since the very beginning, when he assaulted the traditions of the Congress until that institution eventually had to repel him.
Quote of the Day Part II
Tebow is the Tuesdays with Morrie of sports. Yes, we get it, this is a POWERFUL story with IMPORTANT life lessons in a society too busy to care about what really counts in life. That doesn't mean EVERYONE has to love it.Reminds of the op-ed some guy wrote in the Brandeis newspaper when I was there, complaining that the local ABC affiliate had pre-empted the premiere of the "Tuesdays With Morrie" movie- in Morrie's hometown, no less- to show a football game.
January 20, 2012
Case Against American Beauty
Yea, I too loved this movie when I first saw it, but upon further reflection... yikes.
With Apologies to Paula Deen
This is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
Quote of the Day I
Mitt Romney’s run of luck during the Republican nominating race is beginning to defy belief. Begin with the fact that Rick Santorum turns out to have won the Iowa caucuses. Finding this out now is approximately 0.001 percent as valuable as having it announced the night of the caucuses. There was an old Fed Ex commercial depicting an aging pool cleaner suddenly discovering a 20-year-old acceptance letter from Harvard he had never received, and imagining the life he could have had. That man is Santorum. He has to wonder if the Iowa vote counters were gay.
Quote of the Day II
Scott Lemieux on Caitlin Flanagan:
There really is someone being paid handsomely by a prominent national magazine in 2012 explaining that the success of women should be evaluated based solely on their ability to maintain sexual “purity” as teenagers and on their ability to be servile spouses and child-rearers as adults. She really does seem to believe that there’s no sexual middle ground between remaining wholly ignorant about human sexuality and giving blowjobs to random strangers. She’s like a character in a draft of an Alan Ball script but one that he rejected for being too heavy-handed and unfair to suburban mothers.
DWS vs. Fox and Friends
The DNC Chairwoman goes toe-to-toe with those idiots, who clearly don't remember the Obama/Hillary debate in 2008, also by ABC News, in which the first 45 minutes was all Wright/Ayers questions:
January 18, 2012
CES: The Sociopath's View
I'd say my CES experience was very different from this guy's.
The Year in Seconds
Here's a pretty awesome video, in which the creator includes one second of each day of 2011:
2011 from hey_rabbit on Vimeo.
If I did that it would be quite work-heavy and Noah-heavy.
