Crazy Bitches

Since Hillary Clinton officially suspended her presidential campaign earlier this month, and endorsed Barack Obama, a group of alleged ex-Hillary voters enraged with the media for "anointing" Obama has surfaced to swing their support behind John McCain.

However, the alleged group in question (PUMA PAC) and its leader, Darragh Murphy, has never been recorded as having donated cash to Hillary’s campaign, but did give McCain’s $500 back in 2000 when he ran against Bush – raising the suspicion that Murphy’s “group” is a GOP hoax designed to siphon disgruntled Hillary supporters over to McCain.

Either way, even if these people are not a GOP scam, and do support McCain despite his vow to overturn Roe v. Wade, their “reasoning” for doing so smacks of a Fox talking point as seen in the following staggered YouTube comment exchange between me (in italics), and someone named "cancelledbysbc" (whom I am assuming is Darragh Murphy):

CHV (questioning Darragh Murphy): So you would vote for McCain if doing so would bring the country one step closer to overturning [Roe v. Wade]?

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DM: I simply do not define the presidency by Roe VS. Wade, nor do I believe this would happen, it is an attempt to use unreasonable fear against women...also McCain has promised to appoint many women to his cabinet and advisory positions. Obama supporters have done MORE harm to womens causes than any republican ever could.

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CHV: Please....McCain has said time and again that Roe is, in his opinion, bad law and that it would be a chief priority of his presidency to pack the SCOTUS with justices in the ideological school of Scalia and Thomas in order to overturn Roe. If you wanna vote for McCain, be my guest. But by the way, if you (D. Murphy) are such a fervent Hillary supporter, how much did you donate to her campaign this year, and how much do you plan to donate further to help retire her debt?

[Murphy never answered this question, but one of her lackeys incredulously claimed that she could not donate anything to Hillary this year because--get this--were Obama to be elected in November, Murphy expects to be bankrupted by his tax policies. However, Murphy did have the following response to my pointing out that it was indigenous for Hillary's supporters to claim she was screwed out of primary votes in Florida and Michigan considering both elections--thanks to each state's Democratic leadership--were non-binding.]

DM: [i choose to] believe voting is a RIGHT that should NEVER be taken away, and no political party should fall under the impression they are MORE powerful than the people, but then again we do have recourse don't we, unfortunately that's not part of YOUR agenda so you disagree, WE DO NOT HAVE TO FALL IN LINE WITH YOU PERIOD!

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CHV: Jesus Christ, will you back off on the caps lock? You "sound" like a screeching 8 year-old denied a ride to the American Girls store. As for my "agenda," I'm not a member of Obama's campaign, plus everything I've rendered here is my opinion (in addition to several facts being raised such as primary counts), but if you want to vote for McCain or Mickey Mouse, go for it. I truly don't care.

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DM: aww SEEMS as THOUGH YOU DON'T LIKE CAPS, I LIKE CAPS! I Learned SOME TIME AGO the AVERAGE OBAMA SUPPORTER HATES CAPS, HOW DOES it FEEL to be just AVERAGE AND NOTHING SPECIAL? AS FOR YOU BEING in the OBAMA Campaign or NOT WHO CARES? NOW CLIMB BACK UNDER the ROCK YOU SLIPPED OUT FROM UNDER!

OH and Thanx for YOUR PERMISSION TO VOTE FOR McCAIN DIDN'T KNOW I NEEDED IT BUT OK YOU CONVINCED ME I WILL VOTE McCAIN Thanx for YOUR HELP!

[Being sick of the above noise, I decided to tactfully opt out of the "conversation" with Ms. Murphy with the following which I'm sure was well-received.]

CHV: THANKS for the RANT, SWEETIE. NOW be A GOOD GIRL, and GET IN the KITCHEN AND MAKE ME A SANDWICH.

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Anyhow, check out the noise over at YouTube, and set your faces to stun.

Thanks to Amanda for the tip over at Pandagon.

Sticker Shock

Bumped into the following while cruising the net this evening. It is either a clever hoax, or created by a complete imbecile who--like Bush himself--believes in following the constitution only when he feels like it.

Either way, it’s worth a brief look.

Personally, I'll have this sticker on my own car this fall.

Reverse Psychology

Although the NRA trumpeted today’s 5-4 SCOTUS ruling striking down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban enacted in 1976, I somehow doubt it will have much impact on the presidential election.

For one, the ruling simply affirms the legal expectations that already orbited the Second Amendment: a) people have a legal right to bear arms, and; b) state regulations (e.g. background checks) on gun ownership are constitutional.

If anything, had this ruling gone the other way, and the DC handgun ban were upheld it would have given John McCain’s camp a issue to pin Barack Obama on by insisting he re-state his position on gun rights, and as a result, have allowed the NRA to begin yet another election year fear campaign (a la 2000) among legal gun owners claiming the state would soon be kicking in their doors at 3AM to confiscate their roscoes.

As such, I think the Supreme Court’s right-wing (inadvertently) did Obama’s campaign a favor today.

Maybe Republicans Aren't All Bad

As anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis—all two of you—knows, I am not the greatest fan of the Republican Party.

Yet every so often, I have to give full credit to one who goes above and beyond all expectations. Today, that Republican is Florida governor Charlie Crist, who today purchased 187, 000 acres of land from U.S. Sugar, one of America’s last remaining sugar farms seated above the Everglades.

The downside to this move is that it eventually puts 1,700 people out of work; the upside, however, is that it helps sharply curb the annual fertilizer runoff that has steadily poisoned the Everglades for a century.

And though Big Sugar—which, like Big Tobacco, survives only because of government handouts--is still alive in Florida, the industry’s days now seem happily numbered.

I Drink Your Milkshake (SNL Rerun)

I never saw this sketch the first time it aired, but am posting it here because: a) milkshakes are the nectar of the gods, and; b) Bill Hader does a drop-dead perfect Daniel Day-Lewis impression, and Amy Pohler is brilliant in doing almost nothing.

"The Happening": A Very Brief Review

Although he sports an interesting premise, M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” is the weakest and most scattered film he’s produced to date (albeit I never saw 2006’s “Lady In The Water” so that could be even worse).

In what amounts to a naturalistic version of “War Of The Worlds,” “The Happening” stars Mark Wahlberg as a Philadelphia science teacher who joins his flaky wife (played by Zooey Deschanel), and untold others in a flight from an outbreak of mass suicides plaguing the American northeast.

At first, as would be expected in a real scenario, terrorism is suspected as the cause for the self-inflicted deaths. However, after that is ruled out by local officials, it becomes apparent that a far simpler cause may be responsible for people tossing themselves off buildings, and is impossible to escape.

On its face, I will give Night Shyamalan credit for his concept behind “The Happening.” It is clever. Yet its delivery lacks any feeling of suspense or dread. Truly, with the exception of one brief scene early in “Happening”—and its nod to 9/11—I never felt any emotional interest in Shyamalan’s characters, or their struggles to flee their unseen pursuers.

Hopefully, his next project will be far better executed.

Wireless Damnation

After following a link over on Colleen Doran’s blog, I ran into this charming, Cthulhu-related page offering cel phone wallpapers and ringtones including this one which is so sweet I can’t help but get all misty-eyed.

The Mad Genius of Tex Avery

Last night, I watched a documentary on Tex Avery, an MGM cartoon director considered (rightly) by many to be a legend in terms of redefining madcap comedy, and was inspired to post the following short [1949's "Bad Luck Blackie"] which I personally rank among the best cartoons ever made alongside "Duck Amuck" (1953), "Mouse in Manhattan" (1945), "Triplet Trouble" (1952), "Tee For Two" (1945), "Baby Puss" (1943), "Duck! Rabbit! Duck!" (1953), and "The Rabbit of Seville" (1950).

Exposure

Although he’s never been a major figure in the MU, it’s interesting to see my speedy double getting more publicity these days – as seen in the new statue below by Sideshow Toy due out later this year.

I’d better get on the waiting list post-haste.

Furthermore, I’m wondering if ‘ol Pietro has a shot at making the roster for the “Avengers” movie--provided Marvel Studios doesn’t befoul the project way they are the next “Iron Man” flick—and if so, who’d be a good cast decision?

Looks like someone's got an attitude problem...

PS: Last night, my golf pal Mark called up to suggest James Marsters as a possible cast for Quicksilver in an “Avengers” feature film. My response to the idea was mixed: JM is a terrific actor, but (at age 45) I fear may be too old to play Pietro. I also question if James would be up for bleaching his hair again after wearing it as Spike for so many years (as seen below).

I'm Voting Republican

Thanks to MSNBC and Mike for bringing the following to my attention. It's pretty clever.

Why Am I Not Surprised?

On the geek front, there is a rolling boil on the Internets these days over reports that Marvel Studios (and its head, David Masiel) is jerking “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau around over his due compensation for helming a Shellhead sequel.

Make no mistake, a sequel will go forward – but likely with another, cheaper director who will provide a fraction of the skill Favreau did with “Iron Man.”

I hope this all proves to be false, but I’m disheartened for two reasons: 1) much of this information about Marvel Studios balking is from Favreau himself, and; 2) consider Hollywood’s history of pimping successful movie franchises for every conceivable cent, and discarding the original creative teams who made that success possible in the first place.

This same scenario reminds me of an interview I once saw with “Wayne’s World” director Penelope Spheeris, in which she described attending an early screening of the film with several studio heads anxious about its market viability. However, as the show went on and the audience clearly enjoyed it, Spheeris described the sight of these same honchos—with whom she had been standing at the back of the theatre—immediately beginning to buzz about a “Wayne’s World” sequel. And where she had been surrounded by this studio brain trust a few minutes before, Penelope soon found herself physically nudged out of the group as the sequel talk became more excited, leaving her standing alone a few feet away.

Cutting to the chase: “Wayne’s World 2” was not directed by Penelope Spheeris, but by a nameless guy with little experience whom the studio could buy for a song. This is why big box directors like Micheal Bay and Brett Rattner have become successful in Hollywood: they know how to bring a production in on budget, and deliver a splashy first weekend gross. As for details like an intelligent script, leave that to someone else.

Regardless, I’ll lose little sleep over “Iron Man 2”.

Yet if Jon Favreau is indeed cast aside by Marvel Studios like a two-dollar whore, I sincerely hope that Robert Downey Jr., and producer Peter Billingsley march out the door right after him.

Out Of Order

Forgive the radio silence here during the past week.

All is relatively well.

I’ve just been struggling with the phone company since June 11 regarding my DSL line having been temporarily switched off for maintenance. “Temporarily” being the operative word there, or so I hoped until today when I finally got back online seven days later.

Anyhow, I’m still in the midst of job hunting with little success beyond a handful of fruitless leads. Otherwise, I’ve been killing extra time while trying to spend as little cash as possible, and following the Cubs’ recent success during the first half of the season.

I hate to jinx anything, but damn, do the baby bears look good.

They are doing most everything right on both sides of the diamond, and—at 20 games over the 500 mark as of today--are consistently playing smart, mature baseball. Truly, if the Cubs have shown any weakness, it’s away from Wrigley Field – albeit, as of now, only two teams in baseball have winning road records. So I’m not overly concerned yet.

From here on out, the team must simply take matters one game at a time (a cliché, but an apt one) and tackle each opponent with equal intensity. If the Cubs continue to do this, stacking up 100 regular season wins may not be out of the question; as of June 16, they’re almost halfway there.

However, I won’t even slightly entertain talk of a World Series at this time; it’s way too early to do so. If the Cubs are still this hot in late August, okay, then I’ll get excited. But not until that time.

Save it for the field, boys!

Calling Down The Fates

Although I have been out of work rarely during the past five years--and when I was unemployed, it was for very a brief time—I have a troubled feeling about this latest period of turbulence.

To bring you all up to speed, until recently I had been working on what I hoped was a long-term contract located an hour north of my home. That is, until my project timeline was suddenly postponed until later this year.

Thus, I was politely shown the door, and am now on the lookout for employment anew.

It’s not as if I haven’t been in tight spots before, and have always found a way to survive—often against ridiculous odds—but it’s never fun to have one’s life tossed up in the air.

And yes, I can kill time by watching “Incredible Hulk” reruns on Sci-Fi this week, but I hate having my life set adrift with no knowledge of what the future holds.

This is me beset by uncertainties.

Stormy Weather

I don’t know about you, but one thing I relish about summer is the thunderstorms. I love them; the louder and flashier the better.

Mind you, I never wish for damage to property or people. But the spectacle that comes with a good Midwestern thunderstorm is, in my view, nigh-unbeatable. In fact, one is rolling in as I write this, and it’s about damned time, as the region around Chicago has been bypassed by storms all weekend which have gone either north or south of us.

So if this one doesn’t perform up to spec, I may be forced to step outside and yell at the clouds.

Don't Answer Me

For some unknown reason, a memory of this song by The Alan Parsons Project recently popped into my head, and I recalled how well-done the accompanying music video (circa 1984) was.

Enjoy.

Tot Philosophy

This little girl pretty much says it all: either you kick the world's ass, or it crawls in thru your bedroom window and kicks yours with a vengeance.

Thanks for the sage advice, sweet cheeks.