P.S. A Column On Things

Political Briefs

• Election Result
• Kabuki,
  Kabuki II 
• Enemy combatants can't complain about having been made enemy combatants.
• Myopia From MIT? 
• America's Press Freedom ranking drops
• Can They Find An Inquiring Independent Journalist?
  Under the illusory equal time rules, said independent journalist can also ask Mr. Gingrich this marshmallow:
  Given your admitted record of breaking solemn vows, what reason is there for Americans to believe you will act in accord with the Presidential oath of office?
• Maintaining Perspective on Romney's Whttp://www.howtowritegroundhogday.com/ealth
• How To Type Or Paint 
• Is There A Cause Of Action For HUI (Hosting Under The Influence)
  Clearly anyone who appeared on the show and who lost or came away with less than, say, $200K, may consider the available options. 
• Kafka Speaks For The Navy 
• Shorter Grover Norquist: Paying For Government Is An Impeachable Offense 
• Republican AG Covers For Banks 
• BUSINESS DAY   | January 28, 2012
  Common Sense:  Paying Far More Than 13.9%: A Taxpayer's Lament
  By JAMES B. STEWART
  With all the focus on tax rates, a business columnist for The New York Times sat down with his 2010 returns, calculator in hand. He is still reeling from the results. 
• OPINION   | January 27, 2012
  Op-Ed Columnist:  Jobs, Jobs and Cars
  By PAUL KRUGMAN
  Gov. Mitch Daniels got so much wrong in his reply to the president's State of the Union address. To really create jobs, it takes a cluster, not just heroes. 
• RFK's Press Secretary On Gingrich's Unjustified Demonization of Saul Alinsky 
• Verification of lie detection in conservative speech by checking for moving lips. 
• Oakland Uses Grenades (Flash Bangs) On Protestors At Occupy Oakland

My Week with Marilyn

4 stars out of 5
Because of the Oscar nomination, we to see My Week with Marilyn. We're glad we did, and  bet you will be too. Neal Vitale gave it 4.5 stars here in his year-end roundup. There's not a gnat's crochet of difference in our feelings about the film. The IMDB summary: "Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier's, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during production of The Prince and the Showgirl."
The movie is based on Clark's memoir of the most exciting job of his life, turned into a screenplay by Adrian Hodges and director Simon Curtis. It's just so darned cute.. Michelle Williams is no Meryl Streep, but she does doe a pretty good Marilyn Monroe. Eddie Redmayne is sweet and wholesome as Clark, and Kenney Branagh brings Laurence Olivier back from the dead. There's some remarkable makeup done to create a physical resemblance. In fact, we rented The Prince and the Showgirl when we got home, which renders the performances even spookier. Looking at them side by side is enlightening, if you can stand the garish over-saturated 50s colors and the hammy acting. A Showgirl made with Willians and Branagh would be a much better movie.

Tyler's grandchildren, Shuttle Cockpit, Animated Map, Dan Grobstein File

Kevin Mostyn notes: Former President John Tyler's (1790-1862) grandchildren still alive.
A friend notes: this is the cockpit of the last space shuttle after it was decommisioned. It is sad to see how many dials and mecahnical switches there are, and how few computer screens. Another friend recommends this animated map of middle east empires.

Dan Grobstein File

• David Waldman (@KagroX) Oh, cut my taxes! I'll "create jobs!" By hiding the money in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands!
• Drunk Hulk (@Drunkhulk) Oscar nomination are out! Romney tax return get best achievement in editing!
• Olympian hypocrisy on the role of 'big government'
• Margo Howard (@Margoandhow)
  1/27/12 7:39 PM
  Fabulous !!! Someone asked Bob Dole why people took such an instant dislike to Gingrich. "Because it saves time," he said.

End of January 30 Column

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Every year, I am the MC at a Christmas Carol singing party held by my good friend and fellow teacher, Mrs. S.  do a little commentary on each carol. Another good friend and teacher (ret.), Kent Peterman, has slipped me the real inside dope on Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

We went to see Richard Glazier in concert last night and he does a great show about music from the old time eras. (Gershwin, Arlen, etc.)

One of the things he said was that the original lyrics for Have Yourself etc. were much darker and he sang some of them. He said Judy, Judy, Judy said she wouldn't sing it to Margaret O'Brien with those lyrics because people would think her a monster. I thought that you might want to work it in to your background...or not.
Herewith the original lyrics:

ORIGINAL VERSION
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
It may be your last
Next year we may all be living in the past
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Pop that champagne cork
Next year we may all be living in New York
No good times like the olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were dear to us
Will be near to us no more
But at least we all will be together
If the Lord allows
From now on, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now

 One can readily see Judy's reluctance. The Glazier show was wonderful. Highly recommend. Especially for people like us who love the back stories. He's been on PBS and will be again soon. He's also at richardglazier.com but it's not a great website.

 

Starting Another War To Maintain A State Of War

Starting Another "War" To Maintain A State Of "War"
Given that many Republicans, Tea Party adherents, and Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Roberts, and Kennedy maintain their decisions are because of their strict construction of the Constitution and adherence to the intent of the Founders, this comment from James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, is appropriate: "Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended . . . The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals, engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. Those truths are well established."

• Not so funny
• Et Tu Rachel?
  In other news, the sun is expected to rise in the east tomorrow.
• Supreme Court Hears Case About Texas Redistricting . Also here.
  Chief Justice Roberts: “The constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act is not at issue here.”
• Someone Was Out To Lunch And It Wasn't Bill Daley 
• Romney Vows to Undo Everything Obama Has Done: ‘I Will Make Bin Laden Alive Again’
• Perry's Cretinous Proposal
• Take The Debt, Leave The Cannoli 
• America Is Not A Corporation
  ". . . we’re not going to get better policies if the man sitting in the Oval Office next year sees his job as being that of engineering a leveraged buyout of America Inc." 
• Foreclosure For All 
• Ike's Farewell Address 
• When You Decide To Destroy A Nation This Way
  This Is Part Of What Happens
• Republican Shell Game Bought Politicians
• Santorum Certified As Winner In Iowa, Defeats Romney
  If Gingrich wins South Carolina, will Republicans conclude Romney can only win states bordering both Massachusetts and Canada? 
• Voters Favored Santorum Over Gingrich In New Hampshire, Paul Won Second In NH Dem Primary
  Will Ron Paul accept the Democratic nomination if he wins it? Is Barack Obama concerned about having Ron Paul right behind him in second place?
  Will Ron Paul unify the country by winning both the Republican and Democratic nominations?
• Who Pays The Piper 
• Note the reference to cameras emitting (bombarding with) waves in the last paragraph. "Of course, terahertz waves are a natural part of environment, just like visible and infrared light. But a new generation of cameras are set to appear that not only record terahertz waves but also bombard us with them. And if our exposure is set to increase, the question that urgently needs answering is what level of terahertz exposure is safe." 
• The Statistical Dangers Of Power Generation
  
  
  

Carnage

2 stars out of 5
This film is based on the stage play God of Carnage, written by the frightfully clever playwright Yasmina "Art" Reza, who cowrote the screen play. Controversial director Roman Polanski directed this film, which seems to be in New York but was actually shot (except for some establishing shots) in Paris (the guy who peers out of his apartment at the ruckus is Polanski, in a cameo).  The talent on display is amazing: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz. But the downside of letting a playwright adapt her own work is that she's so in love with the words she won't really open it up. If you didn't know this was based on a play, you'd know it was based on a play. It is claustrophobic. Also, although Winslet said in an interview she was thankful the movie was funny because otherwise it would be hard to watch, she was half right: it is hard to watch. My reviewing partner Neal Vitale skipped this movie because he disliked the play. Maybe I should have followed his lead.

Iron Lady

4 stars out of 5
It isn't really a biopic of Margaret Thatcher, more a picaresque down memory lane with an old woman who has dementia. Meryl Streep inhabits the role in an almost spooky way, and Jim Broadbent is impressive (as always) as her late husband Denis, who is her constant hallucinatory companion. Thatcher's supporters in Great Britain hate the film; they want more of the young  Maggie and none of the old, and they resent the implication that she regretted neglecting her family as she rose to the top, and that Denis and her twins Mark and Carol resented her absence. It isn't for me to say, but the parts of the story I already knew are presented with some fidelity, and I do think the mood is captured in an impressionistic way. The director was Phyllida "Mamma Mia" Lloyd, reunited with her star, and the writer was Abi Morgan, who has written a bunch of British television, including six episodes of the BBC series The Hour. Baroness Thatcher isn't the goddess here she was in her homeland, making it easier to sell this version of her here. So, just say to yourself, "It's only a movie..."

Neal Vitale Reviews: We Need To Talk About Kevin

4 stars out of 5

British filmmaker Lynne Ramsey (Ratcatcher) has made a strong movie that is often difficult to watch but also chilling and provocative. We Need To Talk About Kevin tells the story of a young family where the oldest child is a sociopath; the film is sometimes confusingly non-linear, flashing forward and back, and often quite beautiful in a cool, intense fashion. Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) is the mother, and the awkwardness, reluctance, and frustrations of her character are palpable and disquieting. It is an impressive if opaque performance, and it suffuses the film with an edginess that is riveting.

Neal Vitale Reviews: Pariah

3.5 stars out of 5    

Pariah is Dee Rees' first feature film, profiling a teenager in Brooklyn as she comes of age and begins to explore her sexual identity in a restrictive household. Adepero Oduye (also in her first starring role) is the young girl, and she gives a powerful, commanding performance that is the core of the film. The storyline - focused on girl-to-girl relationships - is actually a much broader narrative, speaking to the conflicting emotions and conflicts of growing up. A nice, small film.

[A note about the internet - don't believe everything you read, even when it is something seemingly "factual" like movie times. I wound up seeing Pariah  because I had gone to see The Muppets - yes, The Muppets - based on search results online. When I got to the theatre, the film had started 45 minutes earlier than what was shown in a Google search. The theatre was unapologetic.]