I was watching the same news channel where I learned that the governmental agencies charged with protecting us from terrorism is run by 5th graders and I heard Ellen DeGenneres will host American Idol in place of Simon Cowell.
Isn't that like putting Mr. Rogers in charge of death row at Attica? She will have every contestant over to her house and give them hot cocoa. Not that I approved of Simon's demeaning way of telling those people his staff chose to display that they really had no talent, but can Ellen really be critical? I don't see it yet. Of course I haven't watched American Idol for several years so I guess I won't ever see it.
Just to keep you up on the latest public policy decision, the H1N1 vaccine is now available for everyone, and if we hurry we can get the polio vaccine also.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Spin the Wheel
Big News Yesterday! Leno Goes Back to Late Night!!!!!!!
I know they are trying to drum up interest in the NBC golden boy but this isn't news. News is current affairs, world events, human interest stories.
So Jay isn't doing as well in prime time as he was in late night. The critics have crusified his show as lacking interest and content. It think it is the same show as late night, its just that in prime time people have more choices.
I'm not knocking the Jay Leno Show, I like watching it, but its like a cream puff, all looks and no substance. I think the jokes are mainstream, the guests always are A list but don't do anything on the show but promote their latest project, and the music is a jazzy version of muzak. And its the same thing whether you watch it in prime time or late night.
Now Jay has negotiated a return to late night for only a half an hour, pushing Conan and Jimmy Fallon back a half an hour. First I don't think Conan is funny. Jay is juvenile in his approach to comedy and Conan makes Jay look sophisticated.
As a side, Jimmy Fallon must be pissed. He has to follow Conan and now he will be a half hour later. I have watched Jimmy Fallon's show a few times and think he is funny, too bad he is on so late. NBC should put Fallon on after the news, Jay after that and let Conan go to another network as he has threatened.
All this was reported on the news channels yesterday like it was of national importance. I know Jay Leno has a lot of pull at NBC and his attempt at a version of the Tonight Show in prime time was a gamble, but I don't see the relevence to the war in Afganistan or global warming. This may be entertainment but it isn't news.
I know they are trying to drum up interest in the NBC golden boy but this isn't news. News is current affairs, world events, human interest stories.
So Jay isn't doing as well in prime time as he was in late night. The critics have crusified his show as lacking interest and content. It think it is the same show as late night, its just that in prime time people have more choices.
I'm not knocking the Jay Leno Show, I like watching it, but its like a cream puff, all looks and no substance. I think the jokes are mainstream, the guests always are A list but don't do anything on the show but promote their latest project, and the music is a jazzy version of muzak. And its the same thing whether you watch it in prime time or late night.
Now Jay has negotiated a return to late night for only a half an hour, pushing Conan and Jimmy Fallon back a half an hour. First I don't think Conan is funny. Jay is juvenile in his approach to comedy and Conan makes Jay look sophisticated.
As a side, Jimmy Fallon must be pissed. He has to follow Conan and now he will be a half hour later. I have watched Jimmy Fallon's show a few times and think he is funny, too bad he is on so late. NBC should put Fallon on after the news, Jay after that and let Conan go to another network as he has threatened.
All this was reported on the news channels yesterday like it was of national importance. I know Jay Leno has a lot of pull at NBC and his attempt at a version of the Tonight Show in prime time was a gamble, but I don't see the relevence to the war in Afganistan or global warming. This may be entertainment but it isn't news.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Intellegence II
OK so the President says the buck stops with him. He says no one in particular is to blame for the failure in uncovering the December 25th attempted attack aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. He says now someone will be assigned to the task of following up on leads that may lead to future attacks.
That doesn't make me feel safe. What the heck were the "intellegence" community doing? Weren't they supposed to be doing this already? What aren't they doing that they should be doing?
I don't think it is a total lack of common sense on their part. I believe it is the legacy of the cold war that has made everyone so paranoid that they suspect even others in their agency. That posture is damaging to our safety and needs to be stopped.
Agencies should stop worrying about who is defecting and who is getting the upper hand. They should work together to fight this war on terror. Like the Viet Cong and Al Queda, we are still fighting by the old rules while the enemy invents new ways to destroy us.
That doesn't make me feel safe. What the heck were the "intellegence" community doing? Weren't they supposed to be doing this already? What aren't they doing that they should be doing?
I don't think it is a total lack of common sense on their part. I believe it is the legacy of the cold war that has made everyone so paranoid that they suspect even others in their agency. That posture is damaging to our safety and needs to be stopped.
Agencies should stop worrying about who is defecting and who is getting the upper hand. They should work together to fight this war on terror. Like the Viet Cong and Al Queda, we are still fighting by the old rules while the enemy invents new ways to destroy us.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Intelligence
I was watching the Nightly News with Jon Stewart. I know his show is not the real news but satire. Still he said some interesting things. Like the Colbert Report, it is so funny it hurts, or it hurts so much it is really funny.
He was drawing the comparison between the latest bombing attempt on NW flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit and a shoe bomber who failed 8 years ago.
Both paid cash for their one-way flights. Both were flying internationally without luggage and both were in the CIA's field of view as potential problems. Both used PETN and both were subdued by passengers. Jon said we should have at least been looking for the same pattern 8 years later. The only difference in our readiness in 8 years is that we have to take our shoes off at airport security.
What crafty maniacs that they so cleverly disguised their actions after the first attempt that by doing all the same things except relocate the explosives 3 feet away they were able to again almost pull off their daring plot. But for the incompetence of the operative and the brave passengers around him they might have suceeded. What next, wait a few years, convince a known terrorist to fly from a Western European capital to the United States on a one-way ticket without luggage and then completely change things by puting the PETN in his hat?
Also someone should have looked at the most recents bomber's destination. Flying one way to Detroit in the winter? What was he looking for, a better life? a job?
So funny it hurts, or is that it hurts so bad it is funny?
He was drawing the comparison between the latest bombing attempt on NW flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit and a shoe bomber who failed 8 years ago.
Both paid cash for their one-way flights. Both were flying internationally without luggage and both were in the CIA's field of view as potential problems. Both used PETN and both were subdued by passengers. Jon said we should have at least been looking for the same pattern 8 years later. The only difference in our readiness in 8 years is that we have to take our shoes off at airport security.
What crafty maniacs that they so cleverly disguised their actions after the first attempt that by doing all the same things except relocate the explosives 3 feet away they were able to again almost pull off their daring plot. But for the incompetence of the operative and the brave passengers around him they might have suceeded. What next, wait a few years, convince a known terrorist to fly from a Western European capital to the United States on a one-way ticket without luggage and then completely change things by puting the PETN in his hat?
Also someone should have looked at the most recents bomber's destination. Flying one way to Detroit in the winter? What was he looking for, a better life? a job?
So funny it hurts, or is that it hurts so bad it is funny?
Monday, January 4, 2010
New Year's Resolution
It's kind of like thinking about your age on your birthday. Every time the year clicks over my mind goes to those things that were, that might have been and what I want to accomplish next year. I would like to change this and relax more.
As Billy Crystal in "City Slickers" laments, in part, in a long monologue at his son's school for career day "don't let these days pass you by". Of course he is talking to 4th graders and most of it goes way over their heads, but it is a really funny part in a really funny movie.
I heard a really good message on Sunday about how to view the next year. It was to look at the new year as a view through your windshield. Your rear view mirror is by comparison very small because it is meant to provide a glimpse to the rear, the majority of your focus should be forward. I like that analogy. I will endeavor to look ahead and not dwell on the past. I will further endeavor to be positive, love all, be nice (some who know me will bet against this), listen more, talk less and follow my heart.
Stuff, some of it not so nice, is going to happen. What I do about it is up to me. I can't prevent it from happening, but I can help how it affects me.
I will try not to get to anxious. This too may be a long shot. Life takes time and a lot of the truly blessed things that have happened to me have not been because they were expected but have come as a surprise.
As someone much more profound than me once said "Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery and today is a gift. That is why they call it the present". I endeavor to treat my life more as a present.
As Billy Crystal in "City Slickers" laments, in part, in a long monologue at his son's school for career day "don't let these days pass you by". Of course he is talking to 4th graders and most of it goes way over their heads, but it is a really funny part in a really funny movie.
I heard a really good message on Sunday about how to view the next year. It was to look at the new year as a view through your windshield. Your rear view mirror is by comparison very small because it is meant to provide a glimpse to the rear, the majority of your focus should be forward. I like that analogy. I will endeavor to look ahead and not dwell on the past. I will further endeavor to be positive, love all, be nice (some who know me will bet against this), listen more, talk less and follow my heart.
Stuff, some of it not so nice, is going to happen. What I do about it is up to me. I can't prevent it from happening, but I can help how it affects me.
I will try not to get to anxious. This too may be a long shot. Life takes time and a lot of the truly blessed things that have happened to me have not been because they were expected but have come as a surprise.
As someone much more profound than me once said "Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery and today is a gift. That is why they call it the present". I endeavor to treat my life more as a present.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Dude Abides
I picked up a new book today called "The Dude Abides - The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers.
I have seen a few of the Coen Brothers movies and thought the book would be a fun poke at some of the quirky characters developed in these films. What I found was a deep, disciplined examination of the relationship theology - the study of religion, plays in the characters and screenplays of these film making brothers.
The book calls the Coen Brothers "secular theologians" in that they don't profess an overt relationship with God, but through their films the themes of the Bible are examined and continually played out by the characters.
The Coen Brothers have to their credit such cinematic gems as Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, the Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Lady Killers, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading and 6 others.
The book reveals that the themes of these films are generic and universal. The order in the world can be upset and there are consequences, not necessarily for those you would have thought or in the measure you expected, but that is part of the gospel also.
The book espouses 14Coenmandments:
1. What goes around comes around. Even though divine intervention happens from time to time, don't count on it to save you from your sins.
2. Every action has a reaction. What you do has consequences, even if you don't see them immediately.
3. Don't mistreat women. They're all special ladies.
4. Whatever you try to hide, somebody will discover. In other words, your sins will find you out.
5. It is better to be kind than to be right, and love always wins.
6. Take chances. Don't be paralyzed by doubt or fear.
7. Beware of false piety. Sometimes there's a stranger in your midst come to destroy you.
8. Don't get too hung up on dogma and legalism. That's just, like your opinion, man.
9. All moments might be key moments. Act like they are.
10. No one knows the quality of a person's heart except for God.
11. When it comes to suffering, don't ask why. There's no good answer.
12. No one really knows anyone completely. Remember, you only know what a person chooses to let you know.
13. Be compassionate, respectful and generous - especially to strangers. You never know when you might be talking to a lamed-vavnik, a prophet, or an angel in disguise.
14. You don't know what God is thinking. So quit acting like you do.
I have seen several of the the Coen Brother's movies. I like them because they are visually interesting and word dense. The Coen Brothers like words and use a lot of them. There are a lot of quotable quotes in each of the movies. In fact several of the Coenmandments above have references to several of their movies. Much like their movies there are a lot of inside jokes and self deprecating references.
The book "The Dude Abides" is written by the theologian and religious columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Cathleen Falsani. She has a very entertaining and thought provoking message about something that is rare in movies. A storyline that makes you think about more than just how to get out of the parking lot after the flick is over.
I heard someone on a talk show describe a Coen Brothers film as needing to be seen more than once so you could get the plot out of the way and watch the complex interplay between characters without having to guess where the story was going. All the Coen Brothers movies I have seen are, to me, funny cinema and worth watching.
After reading this book I will look at these movies differently. Not just as a two hour diversion from reality, but I will look for the theology.
I have seen a few of the Coen Brothers movies and thought the book would be a fun poke at some of the quirky characters developed in these films. What I found was a deep, disciplined examination of the relationship theology - the study of religion, plays in the characters and screenplays of these film making brothers.
The book calls the Coen Brothers "secular theologians" in that they don't profess an overt relationship with God, but through their films the themes of the Bible are examined and continually played out by the characters.
The Coen Brothers have to their credit such cinematic gems as Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, the Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Lady Killers, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading and 6 others.
The book reveals that the themes of these films are generic and universal. The order in the world can be upset and there are consequences, not necessarily for those you would have thought or in the measure you expected, but that is part of the gospel also.
The book espouses 14Coenmandments:
1. What goes around comes around. Even though divine intervention happens from time to time, don't count on it to save you from your sins.
2. Every action has a reaction. What you do has consequences, even if you don't see them immediately.
3. Don't mistreat women. They're all special ladies.
4. Whatever you try to hide, somebody will discover. In other words, your sins will find you out.
5. It is better to be kind than to be right, and love always wins.
6. Take chances. Don't be paralyzed by doubt or fear.
7. Beware of false piety. Sometimes there's a stranger in your midst come to destroy you.
8. Don't get too hung up on dogma and legalism. That's just, like your opinion, man.
9. All moments might be key moments. Act like they are.
10. No one knows the quality of a person's heart except for God.
11. When it comes to suffering, don't ask why. There's no good answer.
12. No one really knows anyone completely. Remember, you only know what a person chooses to let you know.
13. Be compassionate, respectful and generous - especially to strangers. You never know when you might be talking to a lamed-vavnik, a prophet, or an angel in disguise.
14. You don't know what God is thinking. So quit acting like you do.
I have seen several of the the Coen Brother's movies. I like them because they are visually interesting and word dense. The Coen Brothers like words and use a lot of them. There are a lot of quotable quotes in each of the movies. In fact several of the Coenmandments above have references to several of their movies. Much like their movies there are a lot of inside jokes and self deprecating references.
The book "The Dude Abides" is written by the theologian and religious columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Cathleen Falsani. She has a very entertaining and thought provoking message about something that is rare in movies. A storyline that makes you think about more than just how to get out of the parking lot after the flick is over.
I heard someone on a talk show describe a Coen Brothers film as needing to be seen more than once so you could get the plot out of the way and watch the complex interplay between characters without having to guess where the story was going. All the Coen Brothers movies I have seen are, to me, funny cinema and worth watching.
After reading this book I will look at these movies differently. Not just as a two hour diversion from reality, but I will look for the theology.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy 2010
Happy New Year. May this year bring you love, joy, prosperity and a sense of wonderment. May you fulfill your wishes and achieve your goals this year. Mostly, may it be a better year than last year.
Frankly I am glad 2009 is over. Financially it was a horrible year. I saw my 401 evaporate faster than the value in my house. Otherwise the year had its ups and downs.
I am also glad the decade is over. Not because of 8 years of Republican rule, ignoring the Constitution and silly foreign policy decisions, but I digress. But because of the name.
What do you call that decade? The "oughts"?, the "2000's"? or the "beginning of the 21st century"? None of these seem satisfactory. Now that this decade is over we can get on to the teens and then the twenties and, well you get it.
The really cool thing is that today is 1/1/10. Enjoy it.
Frankly I am glad 2009 is over. Financially it was a horrible year. I saw my 401 evaporate faster than the value in my house. Otherwise the year had its ups and downs.
I am also glad the decade is over. Not because of 8 years of Republican rule, ignoring the Constitution and silly foreign policy decisions, but I digress. But because of the name.
What do you call that decade? The "oughts"?, the "2000's"? or the "beginning of the 21st century"? None of these seem satisfactory. Now that this decade is over we can get on to the teens and then the twenties and, well you get it.
The really cool thing is that today is 1/1/10. Enjoy it.
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