Bah. I rewatched the Appaloosa trailer. Those who have read the novel probably know how the movie ends (assuming they didn't tinker with the ending), but if you watch a large version of the trailer carefully and pausing at parts, there are some big spoilers.
Is a structure of a Western fairly predictable? There usually is a showdown between the good and the bad... the question is who lives at the end.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Taki on the Olympics
No More Girls in Bikinis:
Perhaps Taki would enjoy MMA more... he seems to appreciate boxing.
The Rome Olympics were my last, although I did attend the judo competition in Athens in 2004. The games became much too big after Rome, much too politicized, and drugs began to play a much too important role. The Cold War saw nation-by-nation medal counts, although counting was against the spirit of the games. In 1984 the Los Angeles games became the first Olympics in which corporate sponsors got their filthy hooks in deep, making the event look like one big advertisement. It’s been downhill ever since. Athlete after athlete has been caught cheating with drugs, and all records are now suspect, as they well should be. In the 2004 Athens Olympics the Greek government spent $12 billion, five percent of the country’s economy. Many of the lavish facilities built so a political party could show off to the world lie empty and unused. In my not-so-humble opinion, the only way to save the games is to do away with them.And then he gives his recommendations... click to read them.
To begin with they are much too big and too inclusive. Rhythmic underwater dancing has more to do with entertainment than with sport. Although women’s softball has been eliminated, beach volleyball has not. Watching beautifully built women in tiny bikinis playing on sand has more to do with Playboy than with what the ancient Greeks had in mind. The games, after all, were started because the ancients believed it made their soldiers fighting fit. A foot race in armor was introduced at the 65th Games in 520 b.c. The other three events were running, wrestling, and the pentathlon, which included running and wrestling as well as the discus, javelin, and jumping. In other words, the games represented real life. No synchronized swimming and certainly no Tae Kwan Do, a phony martial art that resembles touch football. (Contestants wear padding and score points by touching the adversary.) Victors back then were given a simple wreath of olive sprays and the statue and victory poem that would be created in their honor back home. They were considered to be blessed by the gods. No Coca-Cola endorsements, no cornflakes contracts, no Nike sponsorships. Only glory.
Perhaps Taki would enjoy MMA more... he seems to appreciate boxing.
Nashville Dominicans video
via The Hermeneutic of Continuity
Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia - Nashville, Tennessee
Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious: Member Communities
Vietnamese Dominican Sisters
Vietnamese Dominican Friars
AICN: JLo Developing ABC Version Of MAID IN MANHATTAN!!
Apparently Jennifer Lopez thinks she can replicate Salma Hayek's success with Ugly Betty.
Apparently Jennifer Lopez thinks she can replicate Salma Hayek's success with Ugly Betty.
Easter Vespers at a Benedictine Monastery
Sarge, what do you think of the sanctuary? (Monastery of Our Lady of Assumption, São Paulo, Brazil)
CIEL Oxford: Magnificat at Solemn Tridentine Vespers
From 2006
Enough to make one forget about English. Then again, I don't think everything should be sung in the vernacular.
Enough to make one forget about English. Then again, I don't think everything should be sung in the vernacular.
There are days when I think about why I should bother to use Facebook (other than as a diversion). MySpace has been a joke for me for some time. *My biu dai hasn't responded to my last comment to him--who knows what is going on with him and his brother. Oh wait--going through his recent comments I find that he didn't authorize it to be posted. So what am I supposed to think of that? (Yeah, maybe it got lost in cyberspace. ) His bro has a MySpace account as well. Is he using it to meet people, now that he is 'single'? I sent an add friend request--we'll see what comes of that. *
I don't think anyone else I know has been updating their MySpace. Actually, one has, since I saw some photos had been uploaded. Other than that person... It's been a while since I've taken a look at my Friendster account. Xanga--no one reads that, except various companies that are going through entries for advertising purposes or who knows what. The only good thing about Xanga is its protected posting option, which I can't do here. I think sooner or later I will have to close most of these accounts. But perhaps it's too late to prevent people from collecting information. At the moment I am thinking that I may shut this blog down sooner than I expected, even though I do find some zeal to write on it, which can't be said for many other projects.
JP has been online since she got 'married.' But she doesn't really talk much about how things are now. Her esposo's brother recently got out of jail. (For drug possession. I guess using drugs runs in the family. What is wrong with the rich who do not know how to raise their children? Do they think that their children will raise themselves? Those who are self-made millionaries know how much work is needed to make money--apparently they don't understand that the same is even more true for child-raising.) We will answer for our failings... Kyrie eleison. So I have no idea if her life is better now--in the past when they were just seeing each other, the abuse she received at home was replaced by other forms of abuse. And she's still obssessed with her weight. Is it really true that extreme 'thinness' is popular in South Korea now? And guys are deliberately looking for thin girls to be gfs? How can this not be a reflection of the culture of death?
Looking through various pages on any of the social networking sites can give rise to various temptations. Did the Desert Fathers say something about envying worldly people and their success in various areas of life? It seems that the Desert Fathers were concerned with teaching others who had fled the world, and were not going back to it. But my acquaintance with them is limited.
Raising children so that they can have some virtue in order to cope with the world (and innoculating them against the indoctrination that goes on in public schools)--that has always been an imperative. But how can one leave one's children to be raised by others especially now, when the culture is been reshaped by anti-Christian forces? (I say anti-Christian even if it is not Christianity that is being explicitly rejected, just traditional morality, because there is a link. One is either for Christ or against Him.)
Has Dr. Laura's audience grown in the past 5 years?
Anyway, online social utilities are overrated. They are ok for leaving short messages to people, but friendships need more than that to be sustained. Does Aristotle really say "Out of sight, out of mind," in the Nicomachean Ethics? Or was that English idiom used to replace a Greek expression with a similar meaning? I'd be better off spending my time writing letters to actual friends. I actually got an email from CB earlier this week, but I have not yet written back to him. I've been avoiding writing to him since I really don't have much to report and then there are those pesky emotions like shame. Maybe I can respond at the end of the week. I was thinking that I hadn't heard from him in a while, so I was surprised by the e-mail. A coincidence? It was nice of him to write.
I was thinking of quitting this week. I need to file a petition for an extension, so I plan on flying back to Boston this month. It would be convenient if I had passed a deadline of which I am unaware, but I tend to think the grad school is somewhat lenient about these things.
I was re-watching part of ST: Insurrection tonight, and was reminded of how the Baku are like the Amish. (But with no religion of course, just their own version of atheistic spirituality. And that is a key difference.)
I need to kick the soda habit.
Niece #1 to niece #2: "Chit nei go si fat!" Apparently she also said "chi nut" twice in the past two days.
I don't think anyone else I know has been updating their MySpace. Actually, one has, since I saw some photos had been uploaded. Other than that person... It's been a while since I've taken a look at my Friendster account. Xanga--no one reads that, except various companies that are going through entries for advertising purposes or who knows what. The only good thing about Xanga is its protected posting option, which I can't do here. I think sooner or later I will have to close most of these accounts. But perhaps it's too late to prevent people from collecting information. At the moment I am thinking that I may shut this blog down sooner than I expected, even though I do find some zeal to write on it, which can't be said for many other projects.
JP has been online since she got 'married.' But she doesn't really talk much about how things are now. Her esposo's brother recently got out of jail. (For drug possession. I guess using drugs runs in the family. What is wrong with the rich who do not know how to raise their children? Do they think that their children will raise themselves? Those who are self-made millionaries know how much work is needed to make money--apparently they don't understand that the same is even more true for child-raising.) We will answer for our failings... Kyrie eleison. So I have no idea if her life is better now--in the past when they were just seeing each other, the abuse she received at home was replaced by other forms of abuse. And she's still obssessed with her weight. Is it really true that extreme 'thinness' is popular in South Korea now? And guys are deliberately looking for thin girls to be gfs? How can this not be a reflection of the culture of death?
Looking through various pages on any of the social networking sites can give rise to various temptations. Did the Desert Fathers say something about envying worldly people and their success in various areas of life? It seems that the Desert Fathers were concerned with teaching others who had fled the world, and were not going back to it. But my acquaintance with them is limited.
Raising children so that they can have some virtue in order to cope with the world (and innoculating them against the indoctrination that goes on in public schools)--that has always been an imperative. But how can one leave one's children to be raised by others especially now, when the culture is been reshaped by anti-Christian forces? (I say anti-Christian even if it is not Christianity that is being explicitly rejected, just traditional morality, because there is a link. One is either for Christ or against Him.)
Has Dr. Laura's audience grown in the past 5 years?
Anyway, online social utilities are overrated. They are ok for leaving short messages to people, but friendships need more than that to be sustained. Does Aristotle really say "Out of sight, out of mind," in the Nicomachean Ethics? Or was that English idiom used to replace a Greek expression with a similar meaning? I'd be better off spending my time writing letters to actual friends. I actually got an email from CB earlier this week, but I have not yet written back to him. I've been avoiding writing to him since I really don't have much to report and then there are those pesky emotions like shame. Maybe I can respond at the end of the week. I was thinking that I hadn't heard from him in a while, so I was surprised by the e-mail. A coincidence? It was nice of him to write.
I was thinking of quitting this week. I need to file a petition for an extension, so I plan on flying back to Boston this month. It would be convenient if I had passed a deadline of which I am unaware, but I tend to think the grad school is somewhat lenient about these things.
I was re-watching part of ST: Insurrection tonight, and was reminded of how the Baku are like the Amish. (But with no religion of course, just their own version of atheistic spirituality. And that is a key difference.)
I need to kick the soda habit.
Niece #1 to niece #2: "Chit nei go si fat!" Apparently she also said "chi nut" twice in the past two days.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
IGN: Earth Quakes for Abrams
Producer plans modern-day disaster movie.
What, Cloverfield wasn't enough? Someone really wants to succeed Spielberg, not as an artist, but as a maker of blockbusters.
Producer plans modern-day disaster movie.
What, Cloverfield wasn't enough? Someone really wants to succeed Spielberg, not as an artist, but as a maker of blockbusters.
Ode to the Motherland 歌唱祖国
Yeah, I don't really like Chinese patriotic songs, because of their association with the regime. Nationalism is not the same as patriotism, and having patriotic songs put out to celebrate the Communist victory while neglecting the welfare of the people is shameless.
Want to guess what I think of the national anthem?
中國國歌 香港版 Chinese National Anthem (高清 HD)
A bit sad to see HKers singing this.
中国国歌 中央台版 Chinese National Anthem (高清 HD)
Beijing Olympics: Faking scandal over girl who 'sang' in opening ceremony
via Drudge
"Image is everything."
via Drudge
At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.
"Image is everything."
Officials have already admitted that the pictures of giant firework footprints which marched across Beijing towards the stadium on Friday night were prerecorded, digitally enhanced and inserted into footage beamed across the world.Instead of Zhang Yimou they should have asked George Lucas for help. Is this why Steven Spielberg was asked to be an advisor?
Mr Chen said the initial hopefuls to sing the anthem had been reduced to ten, and one, a ten-year-old, had originally been chosen for the quality of her voice. But she, too, had fallen by the wayside because she was not "cute" enough.
"We used her to sing in all the rehearsals," Mr Chen said. "But in the end the director thought her image was not the most appropriate, because she was a little too old. Regrettably, we had to let her go."
Shallowness starts at the top.
An Interview With Ron Coleman About Legal Issues For Bloggers And Blog Readers
via Dr. Helen
A lot of things to take into consideration.
via Dr. Helen
A lot of things to take into consideration.
TrekMovie: Another Official Site Update: More Wallpapers and Icons
2nd group of posters now up @ the official site
2nd group of posters now up @ the official site
Rebecca Solnit on the Olympics
Looking Away from Beauty
What remains hidden behind the nationalism of the Olympic Games
by Rebecca Solnit
What remains hidden behind the nationalism of the Olympic Games
by Rebecca Solnit
More from Counterpunch
Breaking Down the Deficit
The Trade Deficit and Job Losses
By PETER MORICI
From Off-Shore Drilling to the Georgian War
The Moronic Party
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
From Berlin to Beijing
The Olympic Spectacle and the New China
By ALAN FARAGO
The Decline of the Olympics from Mexico City to Beijing
The Cutthroat Games
By JOHN ROSS
Official Truth, Freshets and Femurs
The Greatest Degeneration
By RICHARD RHAMES
The Trade Deficit and Job Losses
By PETER MORICI
From Off-Shore Drilling to the Georgian War
The Moronic Party
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
From Berlin to Beijing
The Olympic Spectacle and the New China
By ALAN FARAGO
The Decline of the Olympics from Mexico City to Beijing
The Cutthroat Games
By JOHN ROSS
Official Truth, Freshets and Femurs
The Greatest Degeneration
By RICHARD RHAMES
Uri Avnery, Obama and the Middle East
From the official campaign website: Barack Obama | Change We Can Believe In | Ethics
This week, many of Barack Obama's admirers were shocked. Up to now, it had been believed that the huge sums of money flowing into the coffers of his campaign came from anonymous citizens, each sending a check for 100 or 200 dollars.
Now, alas, it has been disclosed that a large part of those millions actually came from big donors - the very same huge corporations, their CEOs and lobbyists, who have corrupted the democratic process in previous contests. They spread their largesse generously and simultaneously among all the candidates from left to right, so as to be on the winning side whatever happens.
Obama had promised to put an end to the old, dirty corporate funding-for-influence system. Now it appears that he participates in this corrupt system himself.
What a disappointment.
Also from CounterPunch: Joshua Frank, Inside Obama's Fundraising Operation
From the official campaign website: Barack Obama | Change We Can Believe In | Ethics
A High Standard: Unlike other candidates Obama's campaign refuses to accept contributions from Washington lobbyists and political action committees.
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