Paris Je T'aime

Tonight we saw Paris Je T'aime, which is a collection of about 18 short pieces, each by a different director, set in a different neighborhood of Paris. As one would expect it is a bit hit and miss, but the hits greatly outnumber the misses. It is a long film, and one could not help but think that if a couple of the turkeys were eliminated, it would have made a much better viewing experience, but each piece is so short that even the stinkers go by pretty fast.

I highly recommend this film, particularly if you have a love of Paris.

Now These People are Amusing...

These folks think that they are going to bring in an era of utopian prosperity.

Pretty goofy stuff. In fact, I found the item in the "Oddly Enough" section of my news page. But if you change the faith in nutball meditation to faith in free markets and democracy, you get pretty much the neocon position.

Once any group starts promising utopia, and throws around phrases like "the end of history" with a straight face, you are dealing with dangerous folks. The Eternal Reich ended in a bloodbath. The Workers' Paradise was a bloodbath from day one. Complex nation-building exercises in the Middle East and Asia? Guess where those things end, if not abandoned early enough.

Just a Reminder

I just want to remind my readers to check out Don's fantastic photographs. In the process of the move, I have been spending far less time on the computer (a good thing, and a bad thing), and got out of the habit of checking some of my favorite blogs every day. In doing so, I missed out on some great photos. Check him out, if you have not done so yet.

Here's a scuzz for ya!

Sure enough this creep is doing what he is doing to "make pedophilia accepted." In ten years he will probably have a park named after him.

I will tell you one thing: in the Keilholtz Dictatorship this guys and others of his ilk (anyone who has ever been a member of NAMBLA, for instance), will spend many years toiling away in remote parts of Nevada.

Jim Naugle Should Run For President

I would love it if a civic leader around here spoke like this.

Three cheers for Mayor Naugle!

Hats off to the Kraut Protties...

I am glad that there are some people who see Scientology for the demon cult that it is. However, I only partly agree with the Kraut in this. Goebbels was a lot smarter than Tom Cruise. And, when it comes to demon cults, I have to say Nazism is a lot more attractive than Scientology, in the sort of "which is better, a plate full of poop or a plate full of boogers" way. Hitler was certainly more interesting than L. Ron.

"But wait!" cries the indignant, who cannot understand saying the slightest bad thing about any one religion, so long as someone out there sincerely believes in it, "what about the death camps?"

My answer: if Scientology ever had policing powers anywhere, the deathcamps would appear like mushrooms after a rainstorm.

I always salute the government of Bavaria for banning that cheeseball psychotic Chick Corea from performing there. Before he got into the cult of L. Ron, he showed some promise as a pianist. Now, however, it is nothing but his crappy Dianetics jazz. Scientology ruined him creatively.

Yet another silly thing for handwringing...

Look, astronauts don't really have all that much to do during liftoff, besides just lying around. It is not like they are piloting the thing.

So, I don't give two bits if they have one or four martinis before launch. I don't blame them if they do. They are being strapped to a giant bottle rocket and launched into space by an agency plagued by colossal ineptitude. I would have to have a few before going on a NASA mission. I would probably need about six to agree to go in the first place.

"Yeah, I'll go to space. You guys are great. Just great. Remind me to write to my Congressbeast to tell them what a wonderful bunch of guys you are. NASA is going to end war and poverty."

Right.

So, a twelve hour bottle to throttle rule?

Per che?

Twelve hours of teetotalling to keep some silly Suthrun Congressional type happy? And then to have one of them have the nerve to talk about not having the right stuff?

I don't think any astronaut (besides a senile John Glenn, perhaps, although for all I know the laws were already in place before he was elected), ever had anything to do with drafting any Federal (!) dogfighting legistlation. And John Glenn would have been the sort of wiener who would have gone into space stone sober.

Rice Field Art

Check this out.

Very cool.

The Newspaper is Confused on Angelology

Today I read the following headline in the Vallejo Times Herald:

"A's offense comes to life, batters Angels' Colon"

I dunno about you, but I want the A's offense to be playing baseball, not performing metaphysically impossible violence on angelic beings.

Tee hee hee. I have to feel for Bartolo Colon. At least the only weirdness with Keilholtz was the spelling. The headline writers should be more mature...and yet...who could resist?

Anyway, we went to an A's game last week, against Texas, and it was a good game, played under clear blue skies and 80 degree weather. And the A's won, which is always a bonus.

Sun and a light breeze... I should go roast a pig.

This weekend we were in Redding, where it gets notoriously hot. In fact, my mother-in-law gave us an outdoor thermometer for our deck, and I had it sitting in the front seat of the car. It topped out, then burst.

Melanie and I have always needed to make retreats into the heat so that we felt like we actually had some summer going on. Then we could return to the foggy gloom of the East Bay and not feel cheated out of summer.

However, now that we are outside of the Ring of Pea Soup, we realized that it not the extreme heat that we missed, just the warm evenings, which we have in Vallejo.

Weather best by government test?

No, that would be Redwood City, but we have to be a close second.

Government best by weather test?

No, but I would take our government over the Berkeley City Council or the San Francisco Board of Stuporvisors any day (except in the Keilholtz Dictatorship Work Camps, where great fun will be had by all watching Kriss Worthington and Tom Ammiano chipping rock all day long. Tickets for that will probably sell out early).

Anyway, today is another perfect day, and I am not sure how many of these I can take before I have to go out and roast a large piece of pork. I would prefer to roast a whole pig, but that would generate too much food.

Speaking of animals, am I the only person in America who does not think that dogfighting is that big a deal? Dogs fight on their own, in fact, it seems to be what they do best. Why is Mr. Vick facing federal charges for dogfighting? Why are there federal laws against dogfighting? Are we going to make sure that Iraq has federal laws against dogfighting?

Why do people have dogs as pets? I can understand work dogs for this, that or the other thing (including for food and for fighting), but as an object of affection? This is part of the problem of our society. Sick. Sick. Sick.

Now, I am not in favor of dogfighting. It has no appeal to me. Unlike bullfighting, it is not an art of any sort, but a sort of atavistic type of gambling, and I am not really into gambling, although the atavistic sorts are more attractive to me than the sophisticated forms. I have never been to a dogfight, but would not automatically say "no" if I were invited. I have been to cockfights and enjoyed them tremendously, so perhaps I would like a dogfight. I certainly like dogs less than I like chickens. Chickens don't bark their heads off all night, don't howl at sirens, and don't menace children, and, if they do, aren't followed by some indignant turd of an owner who says, "oh, don't worry, little Cujo is a good chicken, in spite of the snarling, baring of teeth, etc."

So, given my experiences with dogs, the idea of a couple of the nasty beasts tearing each other up, is, well, not exactly listening to a Bach fugue, but is certainly not worthy of much handwringing. In fact, it should probably be government supported as an endangered cultural practice. Hmmm. Now there's a thought.

Oh yes....

Erik's Rants and Recipes officially endorses Cindy Sheehan in her race against Pelosi.

Tee hee hee.

Barack Obama and JFK

Remember, if he gets the nomination, you have to call him Barack Osama at every single opportunity. Yes, it seems like an ignorant rednecky sort of thing to do, but it will be important. Trust us. His followers will then say, "but he is a Christian", thus allowing you to ask about just what sort of Christian he is.

Anyway, Democrats are living in the past, and who can blame them?

Ah, to bask in the good old days of...Carter?

Poor, poor bastards. Obviously, you might be thinking, "this is about as close to partisan support Keilholtz has ever expressed? Is he going Republican?" No, of course not. The Republicans are the enemy. Ever since they fought against Franco and the Nationalists...

Oh, not those Republicans. The other ones. The Freemasons and Prottie Party. Ah, yes. Forget it. Cut from the same loaf as the Democrats.

Anyway, where was I?

Ah, yes. This Osama fellow being a lot like Kennedy. I think so. They are both shallow men who rely on their long gazes into an optimistic future to pass as deep thought. They both, remarkably, since that Osama fellow doesn't look Irish, have ears that stick out considerably (perhaps there is some Irish DNA floating around Kenya - as if they didn't have enough problems already. Let me tell you about this Massai who was walking home from the pub the other night...Hold it! I have just had an epiphany. It's Barack O'Bama, son of Paddy O'Bama, and grandson of Kevin Seamus O'Bama. Holy Giraffe, Batman! Barack is really a Kennedy! Good Lord, get ready for some serious nation building wars if this turkey gets elected. What does Turkey have to do with it? Are you saying we should invade Turkey?), and they both have connections to some silly little post-Protestant school in Massachussetts.

I still say that Osama would be better than Hillary and Romney, but at that point all hope is lost in the American political system.

Something to Remember when Moving.

Add your new number to the Do Not Call Registry.

It seems worse than the old days, which may be attributed to one or both of the following:

1. I am not used to telephone solicitations and have forgotten just how frequent and obnoxious they are.

2. The few suckers who are not on the Registry are being attacked by the hungrier phone solicitors.

The funniest so far? The newspaper solicitation from the local paper's "competing" paper. The reason this is funny is that both are owned by the same company and share circulation and marketing efforts. When the person was told that we don't need both papers the person asked "why?"

"Well, is there really a point to reading the exact same stories twice? We see no point in taking two MediaNews papers."

"Oh."

And what a couple of papers they are! At least one can get through it fast.

And yes (is this becoming another of those semi-Caenish three dot columns? If so, sorry), I have fallen off the wagon and now read a daily newspaper again. Although it is only for the duration of the free trial, and only to get a handle on local politics (the mayor is a neighbor, so it is a good idea to know the local issues and personalities). If it weren't such a thin paper, it would be a fairly tedious daily task.

Ach...The Englisch

There are a few things that I have begrudgingly admired about the Englisch: smoke-filled pubs, lawyers and judges in wigs, foxhunting, hereditary House of Lords, etc.

Yet another one of these admirable things bites the dust as the Englisch are on the fast track to where their false "church" has been leading them for the past few centuries.

Perhaps a fitting Fourth of July present would be for us to invade and restore the stuff that they were the able guardians of for many years.

More Lame Excuses

I wanted to rip a new one in this idiot surgeon general, and the whole doctoring/pharmaceutical complex, but time does not allow it. We are going camping for a few days.

And then, I promise, serious excuse making will resume! I mean, serious blogging. That's the ticket.

I know, I know...

I owe you a real post. Not just one of these frequent "I am busy with moving" sort of excuses.

A recipe? An art rant? Photos?

Yes. Yes. Yes. But bear with me. I am still busy with settling in. The studio is going to take significant effort, and when it is done there will be a celebration, both online and in person. Meanwhile...the lame excuses continue.

hmmmph

Well, the Holy Father may wear white, but please note that you have never seen him with a red bandana and sash.

He might be a wonderful Pope, but he is oblivious to the importance of San Fermin. For some reason, he chooses the week of San Fermin's feast to issue a Motu Proprio. Does he make San Fermin's feast a Solemnity? Does he even move it to the universal calendar? Does he proclaim San Fermin the patron saint of bullfightin? Does he even publicly raise a glass of sangria in the saint's honor?

No. Instead we get all this stuff about the traditional mass.

NPR was in top form, with Silvia Poggioli making all sorts of goofs. For some reason Abe Foxman thinks that the Motu Proprio oppresses him. I would be happy to show him real oppression. Some elderly wop was calling yesterday "a day of mourning." Unfortunately the elderly wop is a bishop.

As you know, I am fairly cool to these various extraordinary forms of the Roman rite, but I am all in favor of them being allowed to exist. If the choice is between the music of Marty Haugen or Richard Proulx (who is really Marty Haugen in a costume - drag perhaps) and the 1962 mass, I will take the 1962 mass. If the choice is between Latin and English, I will take the 1962 mass. Fortunately we have the normative Roman Rite in Latin, so I don't have to do the indult thing.

Meanwhile, we are settling in nicely, and should be all unpacked and organized by the end of the year. I mean, month.

Sorry for the sparse blogging

Moving is a headache. But you already knew that. Blogging will hopefully resume its normal pace over the weekend.

Happy Fourth

Enjoy the fireworks, parades, barbecues, etc.

Edict from the Duce

Obviously, under the Keilholtz Dictatorship, the World Health Organization will have to go. As in, all of its assets seized, its executives arrested, etc. They are the geniuses who have told the world that there is no safe level of second hand smoke. In other words, the merest whiff can kill you.

And speaking of killing you: with or without tobacco, the human mortality rate lingers around 100%, with most deaths being unpleasant, no matter if they can be easily or remotely or not at all related to tobacco.

So, when professional worriers and agents of the doctoring-pharmaceutical complex hold an international anti-smoking convention, you know that Satan is having a field day.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a government-sponsored poster making a big deal about the Homosex Pride event being smokefree. Sodomy is good and smoking is bad?!?

Es ist Genug!

By order of the Duce, the counteroffensive must begin. We hereby declare 2007 a special year of Anti-Neo-Puritan activity. And let us go on record as officially declaring that smoking (in moderation) is good.

For your specific marching orders, contact your cell leader.

Believe!
Obey!
Fight!