Thursday, January 29, 2009

Huh...

Well...

But -- the base is happy, or at least reasonably so. Rush Limbaugh will be singing John Boehner's praises tomorrow. I'm just not sure what message this sends to the other 78 percent of the country..

It's the same message they've been sending for the past eight years, which is "you're either with us or you're against us."

What does the electoral map indicate, fellas?

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Daguerrotwit

Bush, Morrised, tagged, and released to never darken our lenses more.

His was doggedly an image they couldn't quite design.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Exegesis

Obama's Speech.

I don't care if it was great or merely good, I'm just happy it's there.

Incidentally:

Number of uses of the word "I" - Four

Number of uses of the word "we" - Many more than four.

City on a Hill





How 'bout that two-shot?



Monday, January 19, 2009

Inauguration For ADULTS 35 and Up Only.

I've imagined a whole rant to write against W. since this day started approaching. I was going to say he should resign on Nov. 5th, after first ordering Dick Cheney to resign and then having him arrested. I was going to tell him that the best way for us to heal would be for him to stand accountable for his crimes. Blah blah blah. Holder'll either pursue it or he won't. I hope these medieval thugs get what's coming to them, but for now, their exit will suffice, and I'm a little beat.

So, a word or two to bitter Republicans: Thank you. Thank you for your generous support in '04 of all this nifty socialism we're about to get. If you hadn't voted for Obama in '08 by voting for Bush in '04, I probably wouldn't be a little bit closer to socialized medicine paying my medical bills if something happens to me from here on out. Thank you for supporting an obvious straw man, thank you for your support of mean bastard policies, thank you for looking out for number one first.

And please, please, please put Sarah Palin on the ticket, but before you do, you should probably read this. Or don't. You'll just despair, but then you might not heed my advice and you'll put your support behind a halfway decent Republican the likes of which wouldn't send me vituperating ass-over-kerchief for four to eight years about the need for a litmus test for voting. Here's a clue: If they can't make it through Katie Couric, they're not qualified.

Just getting this out of my system, as per usual, vis. living in a red house.

As for Obama, I have few words that could match tomorrow's speech, I'm sure, so I'll let my favorite DJ do the work:

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Things Pass Before You

I left for Kansas on Sunday to visit sister and see her Wichita home for the first time. Her house also has this barely year old creature in it:


She's Gwendolyn Jade, and she laughs at everything.

Prior to the trip, we had received word that our Grandmother (on my Dad's side) had had a stroke and was ready to leave us. Grandmom never got over my Dad's death (and frankly, the decade's worth of disasters that preceded it).

She passed on around noon on Tuesday. She was 85. I hope she's at peace. She was unhappy. I don't know what's appropriate to write about here. She loved us to pieces and we loved her right back, and I hope she knows that.

The funeral is in Dyersburg on Saturday, and I'm doing ok. Love you all.

Addendum

JADE

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Kill Tha Wabbit, Kill Tha Wabbit

Sorry, People Magazine, sorry, TMZ, sorry, Gawker, Defamer and all the rest. Tom Cruise will continue to make movies. In fact, whatever insights this article has to offer, I think we're all selling Cruise short, both as a capable actor and a consistently malleable persona.

Valkyrie is neither great nor terrible. It's competent, that's about it. The rhythm seems missing from the movie, at least the rhythm we'd expect from Bryan Singer. It comes down to accent-less performances that are nonetheless in the appropriate range.

Our attention is eventually focused on how far the fetishism of the actors in these ss uniforms will be amplified (I was on Eddie Izzard watch, believe me). Palpable fear looms over this production, as if they knew that any false move would make for them a certified howler. If Tom Cruise had done less couch-jumping and pill-bashing over the past few years, we might have had a freer movie, but then again, we probably wouldn't have had Valkyrie at all.

Sad, really. Cruise is at home with mutilation. He shows this in Vanilla Sky or Minority Report, or with his emotional castration in Eyes Wide Shut (where he spends a significant section of the movie hiding his face). A director working to wring dissonance out of his boyish American face can do so indelibly, partly because Cruise is (usually) willing to be completely naked in those scenes.

The moment where Cruise's Von Stauffenberg is forced to salute the portrait of Hitler, and defiantly uses his stubby arm, is almost an example of this. It might have had more impact, as the scene suggests the possibilities for Kubrickian image making, rather for camp or creep-outs. Cruise's image stays safely on the side of "please take me back, America".

America will. In the annals of celebrity meltdowns, Cruise's freakouts are minor. Angelina Jolie is next, anyway.

Monday, January 05, 2009

What's That in Your Cassette Deck?

The Great Barstoolio is hanging up the regular Music-Tist gig over at her site, so, naturally, I mixed up a mess of breaks, 8-bit, cumbia, electro, chill-out and metal thrashing into one set, which you can listen to with your sound holes right here, at Janie's. We'll miss the daily badass music, Janie!

It's hosted at the Droid-Rock Show.

Check either of the links above, or just right click and save as.

Featured Fiends include A-Trak, Adam Freeland, Stanton Warriors, Burial, Crookers and M83. You need them in your lives. Trust me.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Friday, January 02, 2009

2008: The Year in Harvey Dent

Mid-2008, Lights up on Joan and Jesse (the J-Wil Pig Dogs), second or third consecutive Dark Knight viewing

Scene:

J: We've really put a Harvey Dent in this popcorn!

J: .....really?

One Month Later:

J: Oh no you Harvey Dent'innt!!!!

J: A ha a ho a ha ha ho hah ho. And I thought MY jokes were bad.

J: Your post was so sweet I think I need to see a Harvey Dentist.

J:Now now, that was a little Harvey tenDentious, don't you think?

J: That little remark just earned you a Harvey Dentention. See me after class.

J: ooooh, that just makes me froth around my Harvey Dentata!

J: It seems we have come to a Harvey Dentente. [ We had not - Ed]

J: You're such a Harvey TranscenDENTalist.

J: I love you Harvey ArDENTly

Next Day:

J: 'm so sorry I missed you, I was watching the current Olympiad away from my computer, Harvey Evidently.

J:It's my own fault for becoming so Harvey codepenDent.

Before Dinner:

J: Hey, you won't want me near you after I eat at Olive Garden (which I love), unless I chew some Harvey Trident.

J: Oh, we are so not even CLOSE to being done with this Harvey Dent thing. They make me Harvey resplenDent with joy.

J: We tag-team with jokes that bring us joy through a Divine Harvey Providence.

The Next Day:

J: I want us to see Dark Knight again, but I'm not sure it would be Harvey pruDent.

J: I've seen the Dark Knight five times, and at this point it's invaded the Harvey SuDententland of my mind.

J: Yeah, I've officially gotten my Dark Knight Superfan Harvey creDentials.

J: I can only imagine how annoying it must be for our mutual friends when our never-ceasing Harvey Dent jokes show up in their news feeds. They must be Harvey desponDent.

J: All reactions to our banter that don't indicate rapturous joy are Harvey Incidental to me.

J: If they're feeling Harvey dissiDent, they were never really our friends to begin with.

J: I hold that truth to be self Harvey Evident.

J: That sets a good Harvey preceDent.

J: Our Harvey descenDents will speak of us with awe.

Ed Norton Pops in, Angrily:

J: Ed can be such a jealous little Harvey roDent.

J: You think he'd feel better if we sent him some Harvey RodoDentrens?

J: I think he's too Harvey Dents to understand the symbolism.

That Night:

J: I WATCHED THE FIFTH ELEMENT WHEN IT WAS ON LAST NIGHT. What is wrong with us? In the immortal words of Micah Corngod, we are one. It's like you've taken up Harvey resiDents in my brain.

J: Maybe we're Harvey Identical twins.

Election Cycle:

J: I seriously want to punch McCain in the face. He's not going to be my Harvey President.

Finish Line:

J: Here's hoping that the Dark Knight continues playing theaters throughout our lives, right up to the point when we're wearing Harvey Dentures.