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Michael Parker's Journal
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Tuesday, December 30, 2003 |
Remembering 2003
The U.S. wanted their invasion over Iraq. We knew this
world leaders knew this; everyone knew this.
Many of the world’s greatest streets were transformed
into causeways flooded with peace marchers, millions of them,
while men attempted to convince other men of war’s legitimacy
in the UN Assembly in front of a veiled Guernica.
Intelligence for war lacked substantial evidence
but loud voices regurgitating catch-phrases drowned quieted reason.
American and Allied forces amassed off the shores of oil-rich deserts.
Threats to our lives and national security hung over us.
We scrambled under orange and yellow alerts, frightened
buying out duct tape and plastic to cover windows and doors.
We lost our holidays and weekends to the fear of possibility.
Peace failed. The world council’s failed. I watched the bombs
tearing down the structure of Baghdad while running at the gym.
We were told our shock and awe would bring quick surrender.
We were told their people would greet us as liberators.
We were told many things that contradicted the telling of earlier things.
Nothing occurred as expected.
In the summer, the president replicated Top Gun bravado to declare victory--
its apparent he’s consumed by image and perceptions.
Iraq became the new terrorist hotbed--Our soldiers their victims.
The roadmap to reconstruction lay nearly in tatters.
The president taunted our unknown enemies. "Bring it on."
Was this machismo or an indication of his lack of intellectual substance?
He’s not the one on the front lines.
At this year’s ending, mishap and terrorism continue to follow
our soldiers unyieldingly even after the capture of Hussein.
Death has taken too many of our soldiers and too many of their civilians--
the U.S. will not count their casualties anymore.
Comparisons to Vietnam are vocalized by the Left and Right.
The president promises the troops home by Spring.
Promises should never be made over blood and broken bones.
10:26:36 PM  | |
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Sunday, December 28, 2003 |
Top Ten Favorite Family Films of 2003
Since I don’t live in Los Angeles or New York, I don’t get the opportunity to see any of the big dramatic releases. I have to wait a few weeks, sometimes months, before they are released in my local theater. Family films and blockbuster films are much more accessible at the local theaters. Because of this, I am in a much better position right now to list my favorite films the whole family can enjoy. I’ll be able to list my choices for the best 20003 films, which may include some of these films and may not, sometime in January.
1. Finding Nemo– Disney hit it big with this fantastic tale of a father fish who goes in search of his fish son, Nemo. The animation has advanced since the Little Mermaid swam the sea to success. And Ellen DeGeneres as the absent-minded star fish named Dory took center stage by not only tickling our funny bone but stealing our hearts right only with it. If Dory would have been lost or killed in the process of finding Nemo, the show would have tanked. That is the worth of her impact on that film. Besides, this family favorite was not only a great animated film but one of the best films of the year. (It might even appear on my best of 2003 film list in January.)
2. Whale Rider– Children are resilient. They don’t give up too easily. They adapt. And when they believe in something, they don’t go about it in half-efforts. This is true with one of the most delightful and beautiful characters in film this year– Pai (Keisha Castle_Hughes). Pai believes she is the next chief to lead her Maori tribe despite her grandfather’s, the current chief, disbelief. She conquers this adversarial influence and the cultural norms to become what she knew she was born to become. The mystical elements of this film create a magical and meaningful story that kids of all ages would not easily forget. There are two kinds of treasures–the kind that fills your bank account and the kind that stays nearby to lift your soul at a moment’s remembrance. This film is the latter.
3. Holes– Here is another mystical story about a young man who is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of sneakers and who is forced to serve his time at a boy’s ranch digging holes. But Fate has a way of working things like this out. What seems like a simple storyline becomes an intriguingly complex plot about people who live by their greed and those who live by wanting to do right. Another treasure.
4. Pirates of the Caribbean– Disney must be trying to save a few of their signature park rides in the old parts of their theme park because this year they released this film and the less clever Haunted Mansion. Pirates would not have been half as interesting or clever if it were not for Johnny Depp, who played Captain Jack Sparrow. His effeminate and continually inebriated cariacture of Sparrow was drop-dead entertaining. Even looking at the fellow was enough to raise a smile. Depp’s is one of the most memorable performances of the year. Other than this, the clever visual effects of the cursed pirates turning into live skeletons in the moonlight was intriguing from a storyboard aspect and most successfully realized.
5. Elf – Elf was one of those surprises. I was not expecting to see amazingly recreated sets that echoed or paid homage to all of those Christmas cartoons I grew up on. I was not expecting to care for an elf (Will Ferrill) who was really an adopted child who snuck into Santa’s bag and who could not make it as an elf so he went out in search of his real father who lived in New York City. Blah, blah, blah, mwok, mwok, mwok–I’ve heard it before and bah humbug! But, just like the Winter Warlock, whose icy heart melted when offered a gift, I found my critical attitude turned to sheer childlike happiness and Christmas glee. Regarding Ferrill’s performance-- I appreciated the fact that Ferrill didn’t overdo his performance. He played Buddie like a child rather than like a man trying to act like an elf.
6. Peter Pan– The boy Peter never wants to grow up I’m sure because the future is so uncertain. One can’t possibly imagine what life will bring when they grow up. I’m sure this causes children much apprehension. With this in mind, we have this adaptation of this classic children’s tale that seems to have this notion of uncertainty at its core. It is a darker film, not as light-hearted as the original animated cartoon or the remake Hook. This adaptation plays out like a dream might–with enough disconcerting sights that might quickly turn our dream into a nightmare. The sets, costumes, and photography is rich and beautiful.
7. Freaky Friday– Jamie Lee Curtis is delightful as the forty-plus-aged mother of two, Tess Coleman, who struggles to understand her teenage daughter, Anna. Most everything about this film is cookie-cutout comedy, Disney-style, but the split-persona performances by Curtis make this film entertaining and memorable. The rock band angle was a great boost of interest in this remake also!
8. School of Rock– Jack Black plays a loser rock guitarist, Dewey Finn, who pretends to be substitute teacher in order to get funds to pay his rent. He knows nothing about the subject matter to logistically teach these wealthy, upper-class kids at a prestigious private school. So, what he does do, while he can get away with it, is teach these kids how to rock. Seeing these kids transform and blossom into confident individuals, and perform at a battle of the bands show was delightful. Black is hilarious as always. He can always get me to shudder in embarrassment for him, to pity him. Me thinks this means he is very good at what he does.
9. X-Men 2– All right. So I am stretching the genre with this one. You are thinking if I’m going to include this, I should rather include the far better film Return of the King. My reply is this--Return of the King is not going on this list because it is too violent of a film for kids under the age of 12 or 13, with the scenes of decapitated heads being flung by the enemy and a spider scene that is as intense as any one of those Alien films. X-Men 2 has none of these nightmarish elements, though I don’t recommend it to kids under 8. My young son watched it and enjoyed it. For some reason, I think that kids understand the conflict of this film because they experience types of this conflict at school, i.e., on the playground–that there are people and kids who are different; and that these differences do not make them necessarily bad. The opening narration is one of the best of the year. "Mutants. Since the discovery of their existence, they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, often hatred. Across the planet, debate rages. Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain? Or simply a new species of humanity fighting for their share of the world? Either way, it is a historical fact. Sharing the world has never been humanities’ defining attributes." [Emphasis mine.]
10. Big Brother– The concept of this film intrigued me from a mystical standpoint–that we redeem our mistakes only by understanding and/or selflessly loving those we have hurt or offended. We saw this same theme in Freaky Friday–neither Tess nor Anna could re-inhabit their bodies until they understood each other and had learned to be selfless.
9:31:15 PM | |
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Wednesday, December 24, 2003 |
8:12:14 AM | |
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Monday, December 22, 2003 |
Top Grossing Films of 2003
What films did we entertainment-loving Americans pay out to see this year? Let me tell you. We paid heavily to see a highly clever Disney animated film about a lost fish named Nemo; a clever pirate who was clever because of a clever actor by the name of Johnny Depp bring to life a film form-fitted around one of Disney's own theme park rides; Frodo and Sam and Gollum save Middle Earth while Aragorn becomes King; Trinity and Neo finally consumate their love while Zion dances to a groovy Fluke song; Jim Carrey get to play God, and the X-Men use their unique powers to save the world, once again.
We paid to see noteworthy films as well as not so noteworthy ones -- in my opinion, T3: The Rise of the Machines, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. But you know, this list of films represents the films that entertain us, not ones we necessarily feel should vie for Best of the Year awards. On that note, I'm shutting up. Here is a list of the films that broke the $100 million mark at the box office.
|
Film |
Total |
Opening |
Release Date |
| 1 |
Finding Nemo |
$339.71 m |
$70.25 m |
05/30/03 |
| 2 |
* Lord of the Rings: Return of the King |
$321.36 m |
$73.6 m |
12/17/03 |
| 3 |
Pirates of the Caribbean |
$305.27 m |
$46.63 m |
07/09/03 |
| 4 |
The Matrix Reloaded |
$281.49 m |
$91.77 m |
05/15/03 |
| 5 |
Bruce Almighty * |
$242.59 m |
$85.73 m |
05/23/03 |
| 6 |
X2: X-Men United |
$214.95 m |
$85.56 m |
05/02/03 |
| 7 |
* Elf |
$159.51 m |
$31.11 |
11/07/03 |
| 8 |
T3: Rise of the Machines |
$150.35 m |
$44.04 m |
07/02/03 |
| 9 |
Bad Boys II |
$138.40 m |
$46.52 m |
07/18/03 |
| 10 |
The Matrix Revolutions |
$136.92 m |
$48.48 m |
11/05/03 |
| 11 |
Anger Management |
$133.76 m |
$42.22 m |
04/11/03 |
| 12 |
Bringing Down the House |
$132.54 m |
$31.10 m |
03/07/03 |
| 13 |
The Hulk |
$132.12 m |
$62.13 m |
06/20/03 |
| 14 |
2 Fast 2 Furious |
$127.08 m |
$50.47 m |
06/06/03 |
| 15 |
Seabiscuit |
$120.15 m |
$20.85 m |
07/25/03 |
| 16 |
S.W.A.T. |
$116.64 m |
$37.06 m |
08/08/03 |
| 17 |
Spy Kids 3-D |
$111.49 m |
$33.42 m |
07/25/03 |
| 18 |
Freaky Friday |
$109.75 m |
$22.20 m |
08/06/03 |
| 19 |
Scary Movie 3 |
$109.01 m |
$48.11 m |
10/24/03 |
| 20 |
The Italian Job |
$106.13 m |
$19.46 m |
05/30/03 |
| 21 |
How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days |
$105.81 m |
$23.77 m |
02/07/03 |
| 22 |
American Wedding |
$104.35 m |
$33.37 m |
08/01/03 |
| 23 |
Daddy Day Care |
$104.15 m |
$27.62 m |
05/09/03 |
| 24 |
Daredevil * |
$102.52 m |
$45.03 m |
02/14/03 |
| 25 |
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle |
$100.69 m |
$37.63 m |
06/27/03 |
| 26 |
The Cat in the Hat |
$90.73 m |
$38.33 m |
11/21/03 |
* These figures were based off of December 16 box office data. The asterisks represent my projections for the films. For example, the weekend of December 19 to 21, Elf brought in $5 million dollars. I projected the film to make another $5 million over the Christmas Holiday.
Return of the King projection based off of the daily box office percentage of $24.33 million dollars daily receipt from its first weekend. The projected figure would be $325.17 million dollars if you take the percentage of the film's daily receipts for its first five days, $25.02 million dollars.
11:38:46 PM | |
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Tuesday, December 16, 2003 |
Playing Around
In the Comments section for today’s Absit Invidia post, the reader, Chris made the comment that this upcoming election is pointless because Bush is acting like a Democrat. Is he now? I wonder how that came about?
SCENE
An uninhabited Oval Office or so it appears until suddenly George pops up from behind his desk. He drops an armful of Lord of the Rings dolls on his desk. He grabs Aragorn in one hand and Arowen in the other. George draws them close together.
GEORGE: [speaking in a high-pitched voice, with an elven lisp] The fellowship grows weak my Lord......[George moves the Aragorn doll intimately close to Arowen. He speaks in a deep, masculine voice] I’ve got your fellowship right here, babe, and it’s as strong and hard as.....
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
George quickly drops the dolls on the desk, opens the bottom drawer, gathers all the dolls up into his arms, and then drops them into the opened drawer. Closing the drawer, he runs to the door, composes himself, and then opens it. Rove pushes his way past George and motions him to quickly close the door. Rove is visibly disheveled and has recently finished eating. There is evidence of mustard stains on his fingers and on his tie and a Kool-Aid mustache graces his face. The door is now shut.
ROVE: [excitedly] George! I have just had an ephiphany!
GEORGE: [showing visibly upset face] Karl, you know I don’t appreciate you speaking French. This is America...speak like one or I’m taking away your perks from Oscar Meyer and Dolly Madison.
ROVE: But George?...OK! Listen to me...[Rove motions to the desk]...I need you to sit down. [George moves behind the desk and sits down]. George? Before you react...hear me out. [Rove winces] During the next few months....we....are going to turn you.... into a Democrat.
GEORGE: [whining] Karl......you bothered my strategy meeting with the Fellowship, I mean our Allies, for this?
ROVE: Yes...and it will work....we will make you better than any Democrat running for the election....Better than that bogeyman Dean who you hear growling under your bed at night....
GEORGE: [showing horrified face] Oh....he’s so angry...and his teeth are so sharp!....I don't like him. He scares me! Has Ashcroft finished creating that email that says he wants to kill me?
ROVE: [assuring him] Not yet. [George displays sad face] But we can make you better than him.....And we’ll make you better than general Clar....
GEORGE: [whining again] D a m m m i i i i t, K a a a r r r a a a l...he's not supposed to be the general getting all of the attention! I AM the number one GENERAL...The Commander in Chief!
ROVE: [assuring him again] Oh, you are Sir! No doubt about that sir...but you know and I know that Clark is really a better speaker and debater than you are....and he has a better six-pack.
[George looks deflated]
GEORGE: [showing pitiful face] Oh...it’s just that I want to be president forever, Karl.
ROVE: [assuring him again] I know, George.....and Dickey knows, too. We’re working on that as fast as we can. We figure that if you start acting and talking like you are a bleeding-heart......only for the next few months, of course....that the voters will see that you are a better Democrat than any of those presidential shit-for-brain hopefuls and decide to vote for you, Bush, the Republican!
GEORGE: [showing hopeful face] You can do this?
ROVE: [giving that mother knows best look] Just leave everything up to us.
George stands up, appears to think for a minute, then looks mischeviously at Rove.
GEORGE: With this new appearance thingy......do I get a Monica look alike?
11:06:27 PM | |
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Monday, December 15, 2003 |
The Capture of Saddam Hussein
Yesterday, Saddam was captured while trying to elude his captors by crawling down into a "spider" hole near a farmhouse in Tikrit. And just in time for Christmas and the Christmas shopping rush. And just two days before the unlikely hero’s of the Fellowship (Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Sam, Frodo, Pippin, Merry, Gandolf, and Gollum) battle the forces of evil in the battle for all of Middle Earth for boxoffice gold. Is this great timing or what?
There is some great commentary out there on this. I’m foregoing commenting on it myself, except for my smart-ass cynicism above, because so many others have explained my sentiments better. For your consideration--
Mark at Fried Green Al-Qaeda posts commentary by Steve:
An evil, tired and pointless old man is dragged out of a dirt hole. Hip, hip hooray. I cannot rejoice at this news as I wish I could. Bush and his team, already drunk with power, are given more. They backslap and highfive and plot anew, with no checks, no balances to impede them.
I care about THIS country and not so much about Iraq. Try this exercise: gather in your mind all the abuses of our trust, the blatant cozy relationship with big business, the vicious consolidation of political power, the trashing of environmental safeguards, the incredible penchant for governmental secrecy, the rollback of the rights of individuals, the labeling of dissent as un-American, and the belligerent 'my way or the highway' foreign policy.
Josh at Talking Points Memo writes about Saddam’s reign and how this capture might affect the violence plaguing the US’ rebuilding mission:
[O]n a day like this it's worth stepping back and remembering that this was a man who took what is probably the most educated, cultured, and close to the most wealthy country in the Arab middle east and ground it down almost into dust over more than thirty years of rule (Saddam was the de facto ruler of the country prior to becoming the official head of state.) He tortured and killed untold numbers of his own people and launched two unnecessary and, for his own country, disastrous wars.
Yet, looking forward from today, there is one fundamental question: was Saddam Hussein central to the guerilla war or resistance fighting in Iraq? Either operationally or as a symbol (the person they were trying to put back in power)?
I've never thought either was true. And if it's not, then his capture should not fundamentally change the situation on the ground in the country.
LiberalOasis explains that the Dems need to speak out against the heart of terrorism that still beats strong and how the Bush team has neglected it.
It’s time to start stressing that the problem of radical Islamic terrorism is bigger than just one man.
It’s time to start criticizing the Administration for losing the hearts and minds of the Islamic people.
And it’s time for the Dems to articulate their own long-term, comprehensive strategy for winning those hearts and minds, based on multilateralism, real democratic reform, and improving the quality of life for all in the Muslim world.
The urgency of this may be politically motivated.
But as Karl Rove likes to say, "good policy is good politics."
Christopher Scheer, in his AlterNet article titled "Hussein’s Capture is Yesterday’s News," writes:
[I]t's time to return to Earth and reality. The TV talking heads tell us that the 2004 elections and the future of Iraq were decided this morning when Hussein was found in a hole. In my humble opinion, that's perhaps the stupidest comment since Paris Hilton speculated that Wal-Mart is a store that sells walls. Catching Saddam was a mop-up operation, rather like the slaying of his sons a few months back. The guy was already done-for; once a dictator falls from his perch, the wolves – his own or others – ensure that he will never again be alpha male in that pack. All the issues surrounding the occupation of Iraq will be with us tomorrow morning, and the day after that, and the day after that.
As far as I can tell, catching Saddam is not going to fix Iraq's economy, build a functioning democracy, prevent a Sunni-Shiite civil war, or bring back the Americans and Iraqis who have died and will continue to die at the checkpoints, home invasions and while driving their Humvees down the nation's roads. Humiliating Hussein with public dental examinations will hopefully reassure some Iraqis that peace is on the way, but while it would be nice if his old cronies who may be involved in the insurgency would lay down their arms, I wouldn't hold my breath.
*****
Nor can the capture of Saddam heal the rifts in our own country, where the lies of this administration have so polarized the populace that the coming election year promises to be extremely nasty. The President repeated Sunday that the occupation of Iraq and the overthrow of Hussein is part of the "War On Terror," despite having finally admitted only weeks ago that there was no evidence linking him with Al Qaeda.
We Americans are now in one of three miserable positions: We can deny that the Administration lied and continues to lie about Hussein's ties to terror and the threat he allegedly posed to the United States; we can get angry about the lies and afraid of how truth has become a casualty of 9/11; or we can be aware of the lies, but cling to a faith that good things will come from them, that the ends justify the means.
TomPaine published the article "It’s Not Over" by William Rivers Pitt. Pitt focuses on the issue of missing weapons of mass destruction--
Former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter, reached at his home on Sunday, said, "It’s great that they caught him. The man was a brutal dictator who committed terrible crimes against his people. But now we come to rest of story. We didn’t go to war to capture Saddam Hussein. We went to war to get rid of weapons of mass destruction. Those weapons have not been found." Ray McGovern, senior analyst and 27-year veteran of the CIA, echoed Ritter’s perspective on Sunday. "It’s wonderful that he was captured, because now we’ll find out where the weapons of mass destruction are," said McGovern, with tongue firmly planted in cheek. "We killed his sons before they could tell us."
Indeed, reality intrudes. The push for war before March was based upon Hussein’s possession of 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 1,000,000 pounds of sarin gas, mustard gas, and VX nerve gas, along with 30,000 munitions to deliver these agents and uranium from Niger to be used in nuclear bombs. And let us not forget the Al Qaeda terrorists closely associated with Hussein who would take this stuff and use it against us on the main streets and back roads of the United States.
When they found Hussein hiding in that dirt hole in the ground, none of this stuff was down there with him. The full force of the American military has been likewise unable to locate it anywhere else. There is no evidence of Al Qaeda agents working with Hussein, and Bush was forced some weeks ago to publicly acknowledge that Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. The Niger uranium story was debunked last summer.
****
Of course, the rhetoric mutated as the weapons stubbornly refused to be found. By the time Bush did his little ‘Mission Accomplished’ strut across the aircraft carrier, the occupation was about the removal of Saddam Hussein and the liberation of the Iraqi people. No longer were we informed on a daily basis of the "sinister nexus between Hussein and Al Qaeda," as described by Colin Powell before the United Nations in February. No longer were we fed the insinuations that Hussein was involved in the attacks of 9/11. Certainly, any and all mention of weapons of mass destruction ceased completely. We were, instead, embarking on some noble democratic experiment.
Finally, The Guardian printed an incredibly clever cartoon by Martin Rowson, depicting Blair and Bush kneeling at the foot of an open cave. Lights illuminate the cave. We see that Saddam is being held down by soldiers. A star is shining above the cave. And Bush and Blair are worshipping Saddam as the Saviour. Clever.
10:00:53 PM | |
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Sunday, December 14, 2003 |
Love Actually
Starring: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, Keira Knightley, Martine McCutcheon, Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson, Colin Firth, Billy Bob Thornton, Alan Rickman
Directed and written by Richard Curtis. Distributed by Universal Pictures. Rated R for language, nudity, and sexuality.
* * * *
I’d love to think that Love Actually will become a film people will turn to to remember what love is, or what it takes to love.
One would think that there would be nothing new to define or describe the meaning of love. At least that is what I thought until the opening scene of passengers arriving into the waiting terminal where loved ones are waiting with open arms. Hugh Grant (playing the Prime Minister) delivers such a memorable and beautiful narrative that my weathered, calloused heart softened and I nearly cried. In this brief moment of merely five or so minutes, Richard Curtis’ delightful film was beginning to redefine love in this post-9/11 world.
And what better time to tell a story of love but at Christmas time. For just as we are told numerous times throughout the film, Christmas is truly the time of courage, to overcome our fears and to give or show tidings of love. If we cannot give or show our love at Christmas, then when will we, why would we?
Love Actually is told through an amazingly good ensemble of diverse characters and situations. To name a few--
The Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) starts his first day and falls head over heels for Natalie (Martine McCutcheon), one of his servants at 10 Downing Street.
A newly widowed husband, Daniel (Liam Neeson), recaptures the hope and spirit of love when he helps his ten year old step-son overcome his fears to tell a girl at school that he loves her.
The Prime Minister’s sister, Karen (Emma Thompson), tries to cope with the reality that her husband, Harry (Alan Rickman), is having an affair.
A sad story about Sarah who is madly in love with a co-worker but won’t let herself give into this love out of feeling obligated to wait upon her mentally ill brother.
And a crime novelist, Jamie (Colin Firth), after catching his brother with his lover, flees to Spain to his summer villa where, despite the language barrier, he falls in love with the maid.
At the core of Love Actually is music, which seems fitting. After all, music does play a significant role in life and love. Within the film, one of the characters, a once-a-musical-sensation-now-a-nobody rock star Billy Mack (Bill Nighy), records and releases a cheesy, crap-o-la remake of a song (with a music video reminiscent of Robert Palmer’s infamous Addicted to Love) that he has to market so that it can be the Christmas’ number one hit.
Mack is up against a young, flavor-of-the-month, boy-band called Blue. Nevertheless, his song becomes a catalyst for many of the characters, but primarily for Daniel’s ten year-old step son who decides to join the rock band performing "All I Want for Christmas is You" at the school’s Christmas concert so that the girl he loves (the lead vocalist of the band) will notice him.
One of the more subdued yet poignant moments in the film regarding music is when Karen has slipped back to her bedroom to listen to the Joanie Mitchell song "I Never Knew Love After All" from the CD she has just opened on Christmas Eve from her husband Harry. You see, she was not expecting this CD. She was expecting a piece of jewelry that she had discovered in his coat pocket. Who was the recipient of the expensive gold necklace?
This moment of realization is painful. Emma Thompson is remarkable during this seen, not bowing to a superficial, stock cry session but giving us a view of a proud and wise woman who is shattered but not defeated.
Love Actually is about many aspects of love. Watching this film, I’m reminded that we seem to realize what love truly is when we’ve lost it. And maybe, because we have a sense of what love is, what it feels like, what it has been, and what it should be, we’d do anything, even the wackiest of things, to have it back in our lives.
And, possibly even more than this-- even if life lays us flat out lonely and amongst the battlements of a war torn heart, hope and love can rise out of these ashes like the Phoenix. We just need to find our courage and then go after love. This is what Love Actually is about.
7:21:37 PM | |
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Friday, December 12, 2003 |
Bilbo's Prophetic Verses
Merely five short days till The Return of the King is released. Metacritic.com is already a near perfect 100 score for the film--based off of the scores from critical reviews across the nation.
The salon blog titled Return of the King posted the history of the sword of Narsil and how Aragorn becomes its rightful owner. Besides this, they printed the verses Bilbo wrote about Aragorn and the meaning of his sword, or the Shards of
Narsil as they were referred to in Rivendell.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
Verses such as this manifest the wisdom and literary prowess of Tolkein. Jackson, who has assisted in adapting Tolkein's books for film, has done a magnificent job. The Academy has honored him and his other writers with two nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay. Odds are in his favor that they will receive a nomination for this final installment, too. And the crownless Jackson may just find himself king of the Academy come Oscar time.
11:59:43 PM | |
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Thursday, December 11, 2003 |
Gore Backs Dean
Al Gore has declared he is backing Howard Dean for the presidential nomination for the Dems. This occurred yesterday, December 10, but rumors were flying on Monday, the 9th. Lieberman was shocked and appalled and cried a fit of betrayal to the national media. Scenes such as this reveal too much about a person, in my opinion. Gore made the right move in supporting Dean. Why? Lieberman has been cuddling up to Bush and his policies far too many times. Many folks, including me, have turned against him because it is hard to distinguish if he's a transformed neocon, hawk, or just this term's biggest brown-noser. "Sorry Lieb, but you confused us."
I still feel that Clark has the best experience to run against and defeat Bush. But I cannot deny the strength and ever-increasing numbers of the Dean movement. They have been on the ball since day 1 and they have not lost steam. The organization of Dean’s campaign is impressive. And Dean, the new punching bag for the GOP ("he’s so angry"), is an interesting person whose speeches are enveloping, engrossing, and right on the money.
Consider this portion of his speech in Houston on November 19:
Over and over, I [have] heard the same questions:
If our country is so rich, why am I barely getting by? If our country is so strong, why are we being made to feel so afraid? If our country is so powerful, why do I feel so powerless?
These questions are larger than any one issue or program or policy prescription.
What I have seen and heard across America is that people feel disconnected from their government and our business leaders -- and from one another. They are afraid America is becoming more and more hated across the world. And they worry that they may always be struggling just to make ends meet.
This is where our country is. And this is what has shaped our campaign into what it is today.
We stand here today for all those who feel that Washington has forgotten them.
We stand here today for all those who believe that when our government serves only the big corporations, it betrays everything our country represents.
We stand here today for all those who believe America should not only be feared by the world, but admired.
We stand here today ready to challenge the old political order which has shut the people out of the process. We stand here ready to declare with our voices and our votes: "America is better than this."
I’m nearly convinced that I will be throwing my support Dean’s way.
I am perplexed at the lack of media attention for Clark. Either Dean is more news worthy or Dean’s people have a better way of making news. The only thing that Clark has received attention for was the government blocking Clark’s upcoming testimony at the trial of Milosevic. Maybe, the media is withholding Clark news because of the potential he has against Bush. (Many commentators believe that Clark is the strongest candidate in light of his war and foreign relations experience. I am in this camp, too, but possibly, not for long.)
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Tuesday, December 09, 2003 |
The Measure of Man
Joseph Wood Krutch's book The Measure of Man, published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1968 is an amazing work on sociology and anthropology that is still valid today. Some topics that come to mind are the role religion plays in society; the role of the establishment, be it government, education, etc.; the role of individuals; etc. One thought that haunts me is his theory that we have learned too much about physical and human nature. Krutch wonders if this knowledge might be used spuriously, against us. In many ways, his thinking and commentary is conservative. Nonetheless, there are some good observations applicable still today.
Consider some of these quotes:
Page 40: Educators, sociologists, and lawmakers have begun to act as though man were absolutely incapable of choice, of self-determination, or of any autonomous activity....Moreover and merely by being treated as though he could do nothing for himnself man is, perhaps, actually becoming less capable of doing so. Any society which not merely tells its members that they are automata but also treats them as though they were, runs the risk of becoming a society in which human capacities atrophy because they are less and less rewarded, or even tolerated, as well as less and less acknowledged.
Page 49: Are we possibly anything more than the result of the forces which have been impinged on us?
Page 70: Power is exercised by those who seized it....human destiny will be in the hands of those who are now in a position to control it.
Page 70: All the value judgements made in the future will be made by those who have been conditioned to approve what has happened to them.
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Monday, December 08, 2003 |
On Apathy or the Dumbing Down of America
Do you remember the Stone Temple Pilots? One of my favorite quotes comes from the sleeve of their CD, Core, from 1992.
...And to you, dead and bloated nation of sleepwalkers, so content to drown in your own rancid apathy that your own minds of your children are being bought and sold on the auction block of swarthy old hogs-- oh, set a place for the auctioneer, he'll be coming to dinner tonight. No need to bother, honey, he'll be coming via satellite direct, right through our brand new motherfuckin' super-mega-screen Home Monitor System...
Me thinks "swarthy hogs" is a valid image/description of our Administration and the GOP. Hogs for money, media attention, international control, war, and perpetual presidential power. Their's has been a sick reality television show. But, hey, I'm the dumb one because a majority of people tune in and somehow, week after week, stay blind to the fact that they themselves are part of the show--the characters getting the raw deal.
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Saturday, December 06, 2003 |
Wild Geese
The Christmas season is a crazy season; both good crazy and bad crazy. I've been too swamped to read or keep up on politics, the Dem campaign trail, Iraq war coverage, or any other noteworthy news topic that's important to the future. I promise I will catch up.
Meanwhile, I wanted to post one of my most cherished poems-- "Wild Geese," by Mary Oliver. I first came across the poem in the introductory pages of Terry Tempest Williams masterful book, Refuge, published by Pantheon books, 1991. In her poem, Oliver reminds us that we are not separate islands (borrowing an image by John Donne), who are un-affected by others; or that we don't affect others. We are connected and what we do and how we do it set things in motion that affect others, possibly the course of the future.
Moreover, "Wild Geese" is an epiphane on what community should be--a place where we work, live, play, worship, etc. under the auspices of inclusiveness, respect, and peace. For me, it is a constant invitation to return to the flock's formation, high above the earth, to fly to that home we all sense we are a part of.
WILD GEESE
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love
what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
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Thursday, December 04, 2003 |
National Board of Review Names Mystic River Best Film of 2003
Tis the season that film critics and associations begin crowning the best films of the year. The National Board of Review starts us off by awarding Clint Eastwood's film Mystic River, adapted from the book written by Dennis Lehane. It's all-star cast includes Sean Penn, who received the Best Actor award for his performance in this film and 21 Grams, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney.
The other films honored by the National Board of Review are as follows:
10. Master and Commander
9. Seabiscuit
8. In America
7. Cold Mountain
6. Lost In Translation
5. House of Sand and Fog
4. 21 Grams
3. The Station Agent
2. The Last Samurai
1. Mystic River
Best Foreign Films: The Barbarian Invasions, Best of Youth, Monsieur Ibrahim, Autumn Spring, and The Man on the Train.
Best Documentaries: The Fog of War, Capturing the Friedmans, My Architect, Winged Migration, and Spellbound.
Honored for Exellence in Filmmaking: American Splendor, Bend It Like Beckham, The Cooler, Dirty Pretty Things, Girl With A Pearl Earring, Pieces of April, The Secret Lives of Dentists, Shattered Glass, The Statement, Thirteen, and Whale Rider.
Freedom of Expression Recognition: Capturing the Friedmans, Dirty Pretty Things, The Magdalene Sisters, and September 11.
Best Performance Awards
Best Actress: Diane Keaton for Something's Gotta Give
Best Supporting Actor: Alec Balwin for The Cooler
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Clarkson for Pieces of April and The Station Agent
Ensemble Cast: The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Best Director: Edward Zwick for The Last Samurai
Best Directorial Debut: Vladim Perelman for House of Sand and Fog
Best Screenplay: Jim, Naomi, and Kirsten Sheridan for In America
Best Adapted Screenplay: Anthony Minghella for Cold Mountain
The National Board of Review honored The Hours as the best film of 2002. In 2001, Moulin Rouge won their honor. Both films went on to receive Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
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Wednesday, December 03, 2003 |
How Much is Your Soul Worth?
We Want Your Soul offers a simple test that generates a monetary worth for your soul.
Questions have been prepared to reflect the goodness of your soul. They range from the religious (have you been baptised? are you a practicing Christian?) to the spiritual (have you ever given money to charity? To the homeless?) to your lifestyle choices (have you taken any of the drugs on our list? do you drink the recommended weekly intake of alcohol? are you overweight? have you stolen anything of significant value?) to your level of materialism (do you own a mobile phone? do you own any goods from any of the manufacturers on our list?).
And, of course, the more goodness in your soul, the higher the price of your soul. The quote is generated in pounds. My soul is worth 39,220 pound. That's approximately $70,478.97 US dollars.
Lastly, the quote will inform you where you compare with other souls. In regards to my quote, 19% of souls are of more worth. Not bad.
Seventy thousand is barely anything. Guess I won't be selling anytime soon.
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Tuesday, December 02, 2003 |
Alas, Poor Yorick
For some odd reason, it must be in the alignment of the stars and moon, I thought back on the quieter days. You know, the ones prior to the 2000 election.
I've heard the comment that events would have happened the same if Gore was president. I've never bought into it. Certain men have hearts set on power, wealth, control, and war and will do most anything to get it. Chaos and Tragedy divert attention from the grand strategy. And whatever that strategy is, we are victims to it.
Today's commentary regarding the antics of the GOP (primarily in regards to redistricting) from Joe Conason's Journal sums up, in a much better way, what I have tried to say in my blog since June. Let me include a few of my favorite paragraphs:
In power, the congressional Republicans who once promised "reform" have adopted all the awful habits of their Democratic predecessors -- except that the Republicans are behaving considerably worse. They have abused the old pork-barrel system to an extent that Democrats never dared. They have ripped House rules and violated bipartisan norms in a manner that even the most dictatorial Democratic leaders never contemplated.
Led by Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert, the Republicans have long since abandoned their vaunted commitment to term limits and other such showbiz props of 1994. Instead, they are pursuing an unprecedented, nationwide, centralized attempt to gerrymander themselves into perpetuity.
As Jeffrey Toobin lucidly explains in the New Yorker, the political perversion of congressional districts has been a game played by both parties since the nation's founding. Lately, however, Tom DeLay has played for Republican advantage with a blatancy that mocks constitutional notions of fair representation and competitive democracy.
MoveOn.com has planned a house party this Sunday, in which the documentary Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War will be shown. As a teaser for the event, MoveOn quoted Ambassador Joe Wilson--
War is a blunt instrument reserved for those instances when other, less violent actions cannot achieve our national security goals. In the case of Iraq, as you will see in Uncovered, those other actions were working very well. We did not need to go to war to meet the objectives set forth by the President and the international community in UN Security Council resolution 1441. Intrusive inspections were working just fine.
Going to war with Iraq has not made us safer. On the contrary, there are now several hundred million Muslims who hate us. We are now seen by a world that only two years ago stood by our side, as one of the greatest threats to international peace. 130,000 Americans are sitting ducks in Iraq, being picked off one or two a day, while the Iraqi population becomes more and more hostile to our occupation. And this war of choice on Iraq has kept us from finishing the job in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Uncovered very effectively deconstructs the case for war with Iraq, pointing out the lies and flimsy evidence that underpinned the justification. It is an important work because it goes directly to the credibility of this administration. You will come away wondering whether George W. Bush and his team are worthy of our trust or support. I know where I come down on that question. Others will benefit from this documentary in reaching their own conclusions.
Call me melodramatic today.....I don't mind.
All of this recollection reminded me of a poignant scene in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet when Hamlet overhears the gravedigger speaking of Yorick as he digs a grave to bury Ophelia. Hamlet, in the company of Horatio, takes Yorick's skull in the palm of his hand and lifting it up to his face, so that his eyes could scour over it, spoke to it.
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that.
Yorick could be the America I once was familar with.
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Monday, December 01, 2003 |
The Premiere of LOTR: The Return of the King
Last month, when Bush visited London, approximately 100,000 protestors came from across Britain, Europe, and America to make their voices heard in opposition to the war. Today, December 1st, the crowds lining the parade route and red carpet to Embassy Theater in Wellington, New Zealand to commemorate the premiere of the last chapter in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, were estimated at the same size, approximately a quarter of the population of this small Pacific nation.
In New Zealand, they know who and what is king. To mark this occassion, New Zealand printed special postage stamps, according to the Associated Press. Wellington lined their the parade route with posters of each of the main characters that stood some eight stories tall. Air New Zealand sported a new look on the fuselage, the face of Frodo. And Peter Jackson paid a special visit to Parliament to pay tribute to New Zealand--it's people and it's landscapes.
The countryside "made Middle Earth come to life," Jackson told lawmakers
and guests at a parliamentary reception before the premiere.
Everyone was surprised. The Associated Press reported Peter Jackson as saying:
I'm feeling incredibly humbled by this wonderful reception. You feel like you're the first people to land on the moon or something.
BBC, in their report titled, How Hobbits Took Over New Zealand Capital, Elijah Wood, who played Frodo, exclaimed:
It's amazing. I've never experienced anything like this in my life and I don't think I ever will again.
Viggo Mortenson, who played Aragon, proclaimed:
I'm definitely going to remember this. There's a voice in my head that says don't forget, don't forget.
Anyone who had anything to do with the making of the film were
present for the parade, including extras who walked the route in costumes
depicted in the film--Ox Horsemen, Elven Warriors, Orcs, Hobbits, etc.
Stars who were present for the parade and walk on the red carpet included: Sir Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen,
Liv Tyler, David Wenham, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy
Serkis, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, and John Rhys-Davies. Peter Jackson, the producer, Barrie Osborne, and special effects producer, Richard Taylor, were also present.
Regarding the film, Jackson told the AP that The Return of the King is the best film of the trilogy. I trust his judgement.
The AP article, Fans Line New Zealand Streets for 'Rings,' had this to say about the LOTR box office receipts for the first two films and projections for Return:
The trilogy's first two films The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two
Towers have grossed $2.9 billion at the box office worldwide.
New Line Cinema, a Time Warner subsidiary, is predicting at least $1.3
billion from the third film.
Two years ago, I felt that Lord of the Rings should have won the Oscar for Best Picture and director. Let's hope, if Return of the King is worthy, that this will be the year that the Academy makes up for past mistakes.
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