Issue 124

News: George Carlin, RIP.
As the title implied, George Carlin, famed comedian died two days ago of a heart attack. I must say that I've been more or less a lifelong fan of his work, from knowing him only as Mr. Conductor to only recently watching his last HBO Special, which included, in what TVTropes calls A Funny Aneurysm Moment, a point where he did a routine about the unusual things people say in certain situation, which has become a staple of his specials. This time, however, the routine was about what happened after people died (in a more "Friends immmediately before, during, and after a funeral", as opposed to "Meeting St. Peter at the Pearly Gates", neither of which he believed in). With this in mind, when I learned that he finally died, which would have happened eventually, I was, in the end, not too surprised, but I must share two coincidences that happened after this. The First, was printed in the Tribune yesterday: In a political cartoon, George was telling Americans "seven words no Americans want to hear": "You. Are. Using. Too. Damn. Much. Oil." The second coincidence: on CNN, they ran an obituary of George Carlin, showcasing his comedy with an excerpt from his 1992 special Jammin in New York where he was making fun of a CNN reporter talking about a "rain event" in Louisiana, and in what may or may not be a coincidence, the next thing that the CNN reporters talked about after showing that clip, was a "rain event" somewhere else, possibly as a segue to that report, but possibly unrelated, despite the obvious coincidence.

Band Name of the Day: You know what, The Rain Event sounds like a pretty good idea.

Film Idea of the Day: Untitled so far. It will be a story very loosely based on the story of Aimee Semple McPherson, but transplanted to the present (with names clearly changed), and made into a Jukebox Musical with songs by many different artists (including, so far, Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" and Devo's "Jocko Homo", lampooning in both the song and film creationism, the pseudoscience that will not die) covered, with the film effectively being written around McPherson's life story, and the songs.

Film Review of the Day: Dressed to Kill. This movie is probably one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, and most likely one of DePalma's best films, period. I can very much see shades of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs in Bobbi, the transsexual serial killer, and even though I'm sure that the display of transsexuality is quite inaccurate, I can truly say that the movie's final twist was shocking, especially with what it revealed about Michael Caine's psychiatrist character, although it may be revealing too much.

Quote of the Day: "If a man smiles all the time, he's probably selling something that doesn't work."
_____________George Carlin

Link of the Day: This is the skit about death George Carlin performed in his last special that I was talking about.

Issue 123

News: And Now... The Rest of the Story.
In 1952, Betty Falco was finishing up a divorce from her husband, and at the same time, she was having an affair with a man named Joe. Eventually she got pregnant with his love child. and yet her divorce wasn't final. Back in those days, women who got pregnant outside of wedlock were made outcasts and social pariahs, and one can only imagine what she must have felt as a not only a woman pregnant outside of wedlock, but a divorcee as well, which had the same social effects. When Joe found out about the pregnancy, he said that there was only one thing to do: get rid of it. This was twenty years before the decision of Roe vs. Wad, so abortion wasn't legal. There were only two things to do: Follow his instruction and get an abortion, thus breaking the law and possibly affecting her future fertility, or disobey him and have the baby. A few months later, she finally gave birth to her baby and named him Richard. He was immediately put up for adoption and a week later, was adopted by a couple; two hardware store owners named the Berkowitzes, and they gave him the name David, in homage to the great Israelite king. And the circumstances around these events led to David Berkowitz doing the one thing he would end up becoming famous for: The Son of Sam murders. And Now You Know... The Rest of the Story.
(The preceding piece is a lampoon of the style of Paul Harvey.)

Band Name of the day: Johnny At The Fair.

Film Idea of the Day: A juvenile delinquent is put in charge of a play in return for a suspended sentence for an ever-growing list of crimes.

Film Review of the Day: Even Cowgirls Get The Blues (The Book and the Movie). Recently I managed to both read the entire book and watch the movie. The plot starts out simply enough, as the story of a woman with large thumbs who becomes a hitchhiker, but it eventually gets more complicated, involving such diverse topics as politics, religion, sexuality, enviromentalism, and drug use. In the end, I must say that the film, as good as it is, does, in the end, fail to capture the book's eclectic glory, although, to be fair, it would certainly be hard to put this book into film form, although the film's creators do try hard and ultimately do the best they can. The novel itself must be, in my opinion, one of the best novels of the 1970s, and certianly one of the best comic novels of all time.

Quote of the Day: "All of us are freaks in one way or another. Try being born a male Russian Countess into a white, middle class, Baptist family in Mississippi, and you'll see what I mean."
___________________________________The Countess, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.

Link of the Day: Snopes: A site for all those urbam myths you've heard, and some about emails you may have recieved. I'm surprised I've gone this far without linking here.

Issue 122

News: Obama Wins!
As long as I had some idea as to what Democrats would be running to finally get Bush out of the White House, I knew who I would be the perfect man for the Job: Barack Obama. Even though Dennis Kucinich may be closer to my views, I always knew that at least Obama had a chance. This was confirmed when I finally went voting for the first time on Super Tuesday of this year, and the choices were effectively between Hilary and Obama. I voted for Obama, as you may have guessed by now, and I certainly intend to do so again in November. I'm surprised that the Clinton/Obama rivalry lasted this long, but surprisingly, Obama only clinched the nomination a few days ago. However, it has taken a few days, but despite the way her speech after announcing Obama's victory seemed, she is, in fact, finally conceding. According to an MSNBC article, confirmed by Clinton's aides, she is, in fact, finally dropping out. She has finally admitted defeat after claiming that the nomination belongs to her due her claim to have the popular vote, which is disputed, especially with one primary in Michigan claiming to have no votes whatsoever for Obama. Now if only Ron Paul finally concedes, despite losing the nomination to McCain (no doubt due to having Dubya's blessing).

Band Name of the Day: Shingami Eyes. The band name today came from a plot device in the anime Death Note, allowing for people to find the names of total strangers.

Film Idea of the Day: An Americanized version of Death Note, adapted into a miniseries, with the setting changed from Japan to Chicago.

Film Review of the Day: Blazing Saddles. Due to my not having a film to otherwise review, and also due to Harvey Korman's recent passing, I have decided to review this movie. It is, in fact, one of my favorite comedies of all time. Indeed, I can see many similarities between my style of comedy that I incorporate in my writing with Mel's style, even more so than in many of his other movies, the fact that my type of comedy is often darker than Mel's notwithstanding. As a matter of fact, even with the obvious anachronisms, I cannot think of anything in the movie that could or should be improved upon, which is something rare for me.

Quote of the Day: "My Shower's seen me naked... what's it Telling the toaster?"
__________________Anonymous.

Link of the Day: TVTropes: identifying all the literary and cinematic tropes you can imagine, and even naming them.