I have nothing of note to say about Marlon Brando…a great actor who made a lot of great movies. I'm sorry he's gone, and I hope I don't have to look at that clip of him kissing Larry King.
Recommended Reading
One member of the Reagan Administration I kinda liked was C. Everett Koop, who was the Surgeon General. He has some interesting comments to make about why more was not done then about the growing AIDS crisis. I tend to believe his statement that Reagan was not as blind to the problem as some have charged.
A Good Place for Comic Fans To Go
The clever Heidi MacDonald now has a weblog of comic news. Go see, go see. And by the way, did I mention that I'd networked my TiVos?
Recommended Reading
Henry Beard, who was one of the founders of the National Lampoon, offers a brief comment on Dick Cheney's use of the "f" word. (Thanks to Michael Reaves for the tip.)
I Have Networked My TiVos
I have networked my TiVos. I already had my three computers and one of them (all in my office) on my in-house network. Yesterday, I paid a nice man to poke holes in my walls and run network cables to two other rooms. Haven't hooked up a TiVo in my bedroom yet but the one in my TV Room downstairs can now communicate with the one in my office and also with the Internet.
I have networked my TiVos. This means that I can now program both of them online at the TiVo website. It also means they both now get their program info via frequent communication over the 'net instead of once-a-day calls over slow phone lines.
I have networked my TiVos. A show recorded on one can now be moved to the other. In fact, I can record a movie, watch half of it in my office and then go downstairs and watch the conclusion in the TV Room. (TiVo will not only transfer the movie but remember where I paused it.) If there are two shows I want to record that are on at the same time, I can record one on each machine and then watch them on either machine.
I have networked my TiVos. Because they're both on the network with my main computer, I can do the following: I can "publish" MP3 or JPG files from my computer to a program called TiVo Desktop. Then I can view the JPGs or play back the MP3 files on any TV connected to one of my networked TiVos. So I can sit down in the TV Room and look at pictures that reside on my computer.
I have networked my TiVos. The one downstairs is the Pioneer DVR-810H which has the built-in DVD burner. The one in my office is just a plain ol' TiVo. One drawback is that if I record a show on the upstairs TiVo and move it to my downstairs TiVo, I can't burn it to DVD. It must have been recorded on the machine with the burner in it in order for that to happen.
But I don't care a lot about that. I have networked my TiVos. And I'm damn proud of myself.
Recommended Reading
Here's Michael Kinsley discussing a bad solution to our mounting debt.
The Great Top Cat Hunt
The search is still on for films or tapes of original episodes of the 1961 TV series, Top Cat. As explained here, the program is soon to be released on DVD but we're trying to find copies of the original end credits so that they can be restored or re-created. If you have copies that weren't taped off TV, please get in touch with me. Even if the video quality is poor, it could still help. How do you know if your copy has the original end credits? Well, if it's 16mm film, it probably does. If it's on tape and the ending has the sponsor plugs, it probably does. If Paul Frees is not listed among the voice actors, it definitely does. And even if Frees is listed, it might still be the original end credits, so write and tell me what you have. A lot of folks are helping but there are still many episodes to be located.
Cola Nuts
I can't stand diet sodas. Actually, I have two objections to them. One is that I don't trust artificial sweeteners. I suspect they aren't good for anyone but I know from past experiences that NutraSweet (at least) is not good for me. This works out okay because my other objection is that I think they taste terrible and fear for the sensory faculties of those who say they can't tell any difference.
Recently, the Coke and Pepsi folks introduced versions of their beverages that contain about half the sugar, making up the difference with the artificial stuff. A weblog posting I came across claimed that Coke C2 and Pepsi Edge were both pretty good and that they contained Sucralose, not Aspartame (aka NutraSweet). When I spotted individual bottles on sale at a market the other day, I decided to give them a try. This was more out of curiosity than out of an expectation that one could possibly become my beverage of choice. The whole idea of Sucralose troubles me a bit but I have no history with it, and figured one swig wouldn't hurt.
It turned out I was misinformed. Coke C2 uses Aspartame, not Sucralose…but I took a taste anyway and decided I wasn't missing anything. To me, it was just as undrinkable as Diet Coke with as much unpleasant aftertaste. The Pepsi Edge, sweetened with Sucralose, wasn't bad but it lacked the little sweet rush I enjoy in regular Pepsi, so I can't see any reason to drink it. They pretty much took away the one thing that ever made a cola preferable to a glass of water, and I'm glad I didn't spring for a six-pack.
While I was composing the above, the phone rang and I took time out to chat with a friend and I read him what I'd written so far. He said he'd tried both of them and he had an easier way of describing their respective tastes: "The Coke C2 tastes like monkey urine while the Pepsi Edge tastes like rhino pee." I don't know how he knows this. I don't want to know how he knows this. But I have the feeling he's right.
News from Vegas
The other day, I posted a message here stating that I'd been told that the Rio Hotel in Vegas had gotten rid of its "Bevertainers." A Bevertainer is a cocktail waitress who puts down the tray every ten or fifteen minutes and performs a musical number on a little platform situated in or around the slot machines. I heard they were gone from someone who'd been to the Rio but I didn't post it until I saw it mentioned in the widely-circulated newsletter sent out by a site called Vegas Resources. They said the program had been "terminated"…so I figured it was safe to say here that it was.
I just now received an e-mail from the "Director Public Relations and Business Alliances" for Harrah's Southern Nevada informing me that this is false and that as a result of my "recklessness," their office has been "inundated" with inquiries from other media asking them to comment, and that I have upset the employees in question, etc. She demands that I remove the item (which I have just done) and that I post a retraction (which this is) and threatens to take action unless I don't…which I would have done without the threat simply because I want the information posted here to be accurate. I apologize to any employees who were discomfited or discomforted by the item.
Fahrenheit 9/11
I am back from seeing about eight thousand previews of coming attractions which were followed by the new Michael Moore film. What follows is my instant reaction and I reserve the right to expand on or amend the following in the days to come. There was a lot there to think about…and I guess that alone speaks well of the movie. For the most part, I enjoyed it more than I expected, and I'm glad I went…and actually wish I'd gone earlier. I have not attended a lot of the big hit movies of the last few years because by the time I could get around to going, I felt like I'd already seen all the best moments in commercials and talk show clips. There was a lot in Fahrenheit 9/11 that was new and unexpected to me but I think I'd have had a better time if I wasn't already sick of the clip of Bush hitting the golf ball and the clip of Moore driving around Washington blasting the Patriot Act through loudspeakers and the clip of the old man dancing at the amusement park. (Oh, wait. That last one's not from this movie. It's the new Six Flags advertising campaign…)
A polemic such as this movie forces me to confront a question for which I have no easy answer. To what extent should we tolerate fighting dirty against opponents who are not only fighting dirty but winning? Moore lands some low blows and does a lot of emotional manipulation in Fahrenheit 9/11 but nothing that hasn't become the norm in talk radio and political campaigns. We live in an era where, for example, it is inconceivable that a candidate could have skeletons in his closet and his opponents would say, "Let's rise above that kind of thing and not use it." If you were running against me for public office and you unearthed a piece of dirt about me — or even something of questionable accuracy that might stick anyway — it would be hurled.
You might keep your hands clean and not hurl it yourself but someone on your side would make sure it got out there. If I had something on you — and again, it wouldn't have to be totally true, just hard to disprove — would I use it against you? I'd like to think I wouldn't but I'd also like to think I could win without it…and I can't be sure of either.
I suspect a lot of the folks who are mad at Michael Moore don't know it (or won't admit it) but they're actually mad at Bush and his cohorts for leaving so many mudballs around for their opponents to hurl. They range from all the times Bush has stumbled over proper names and gotten that "deer/headlights" look in mid-sentence to all the times this administration has backtracked on its own words. If you generally like the direction in which Bush is taking this country, it must make the heart sink to see a clip of Bush saying "This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al Qaeda," followed by an old clip of him pretty much saying that. Maybe there's a simple explanation…but there was also a simple explanation for Al Gore's seeming claim that he'd "invented the Internet," and his foes never let that stop them from selling it as an example of his dishonesty. Does anyone seriously think those who want to defeat Kerry will not use every unflattering clip of the man they can get their mitts on? For good or ill, this is how the game is now played, and we might as well get used to it.
Throughout Fahrenheit 9/11, I was conscious that Moore was tossing out a lot of circumstantial indictments and charges that were not fully formed. For example, he makes a huge deal of financial ties between the Bush family and various Saudis but never quite boils it down to a specific accusation that because of them, either President Bush did something that was not in America's best interests. On the other hand, Bush's folks made a huge deal of the fact that they found a long-ago photo of John Kerry seated two rows from Jane Fonda at some concert or speech. Both sides do it, and since it works, they will continue to do it…so I can have one of two possible reactions: I can wince at the tactic of guilt-by-association and condemn Moore for using it. Or as a person who thinks George W. Bush has been very bad for this country, I can applaud Moore for landing a blow for "our side." Which reaction do I have? I don't know. I don't like either of them, any more than I like the names I'm going to have to pick from when I mark my ballot.
Some are saying this film could sway the election, and I think they're wrong. It won't cause a lot of Bush voters to go Kerry, if only because they won't see it. Voters on the fence could conceivably be swayed, though I suspect those folks will have plenty of other factors competing for their sympathies before November, by which time Moore's film will be largely forgotten. My guess is that the main damage Fahrenheit 9/11 will do to Bush is to get some folks who were already planning to vote against him to make sure they get to the polls and maybe to donate and work harder for his defeat. And the main damage it will do to us is that next year, if Moore wins the Oscar for Best Documentary, we'll have to listen to another boorish acceptance speech.
Browsing Browsers
I've been playing with Mozilla Firefox, which is a new and free browser from some of the folks who once brought you the old Netscape browser. So far, it seems faster and easier to use than Microsoft Internet Explorer, though like all competitors, it lacks the universal interchange of I.E. If you're running Windows, you pretty much have to have Microsoft's browser on your computer and a lot of programs (Microsoft and otherwise) interface with it…but for just surfing about and reading websites, Firefox seems to have it beat…and unlike I.E., it does a fine job of blocking unwanted pop-ups.
The makers of Firefox also have a free e-mail program called Thunderbird with which I'm just beginning to tinker. I'll report back once I have an opinion of it.
Recommended Reading
Danny Fingeroth, whose book I just plugged, has a nice op-ed piece on superheroes in today's Los Angeles Times.
Okay, now I'm going to bed. The electrician's coming tomorrow to run CAT6 cable through my walls so I can network everything with everything else. By nightfall, I may have my George Foreman grill hooked up to the Internet.
Another View…
Over on the Washington Post site, I just found this review of Fahrenheit 9/11 by Richard Cohen. Just to give you an idea of how conflicted I am about this movie, I found myself agreeing with most of this negative review…but I still enjoyed the picture. I think I'll sleep on this…
From the E-Mailbag…
Bill Mullins writes about my line in this item that William F. Buckley thinks the Iraq war was a colossal mistake…
I think you are putting words in Buckley's mouth. The quote from the NYT: "'With the benefit of minute hindsight, Saddam Hussein wasn't the kind of extra-territorial menace that was assumed by the administration one year ago,' Mr. Buckley said. 'If I knew then what I know now about what kind of situation we would be in, I would have opposed the war.'"
I think the most damaging spin you could put on that is that the administration had or used bad evidence going into the war, or that the war had gone worse than he would have guessed a year ago; not that the war itself was a colossal mistake.
Marshall was using Buckley's statement to buttress his own argument that the war was a mistake. It's not at all clear that Buckley would agree (but it's also not clear that he would disagree).
Mr. Mullins is right. I don't want to spin Buckley's words in any direction. He merely said what he said, and the words "colossal mistake" was an unwarranted extension of them on my part. Thanks for the catch.
Spelling Correction
I see that this morning, the Nicholas Kristof column has had a spelling makeover and now says the movie is called Fahrenheit 9/11. By the way, I'm seeing said film this evening and will report any thoughts I have on it later tonight or tomorrow morn.