Digital Delusions

Call me digitally dumb or digitally delusional.

It's just that keeping up with the constant flow of technological change usually results in me standing alone with a stupefied look on my face. I ponder on it, trying to maintain a useful footing in the digital world, but such footing always seems to be tentative.

I was reading about the federally mandated change to television broadcasting, which will bring about the end of analog television next February. The FCC has sold off the broadcast spectrum for analog now, for nearly 20 billion dollars. Some fear that the once-freely available signals have been gobbled up by telecom giants. Some folks are supposed to get vouchers to buy digital converters for their TV sets through a federal subsidy.

It just seems odd to me that the government is mandating a change which was already taking place and forced it to all change at a particular moment. Was that really necessary to push it along?

Only time can answer who will benefit the most and the best from the changes.

In my world, I confess to having cobbled together a variety of ill-fitting components to access the digital world. Old computers lay around like old transistor radios here. I'm on a mega-fast broadband internet access yet I use this keyboard designed for typewriters back in the 1800s. In the basement, hundreds of big, black, flat discs called LPs sit wondering where the heck the turntable went to. There is a cassette player in my truck which does not work anymore, and I have a portable CD player instead, which is an ungainly monster compared to the sleek and tiny iPods and MP3 players many others have instead.

In order to be current, it seems I should have one of those wee audio devices which can hold thousands of songs, and a plasma Hi-Def television with 5.1 digital sound, and a phone which can take still and moving images, store music, connect to the internet and text-messaging machine and I don't even know what else I am not doing. Should I be live-blogging my life via a Blackberry instead of sitting in front of a computer?

Do I want to actually take the time to reconfigure the old turntable and download LPs to a digital format to store in a wee audio device? Do I really want to transfer the music I own on CDs for wee audio device storage?

I've tried discerning if the sound quality of an MP3 file or a wav or a wmv, ogg, MP3Pro, AAC, AAIF, MPEG4 with that of what used to be called CD-quality and what was once available on on the old analog LP. My untrained ears do notice a loss of quality on the iPod and iPod-like wee audio devices, but who am I to question the Advance of Civilization?

Still, there are so many excellent new ways to live and communicate and even manufacture goods for the world to consume. A recent Wired article talks about the ability to create, manufacture and sell products in minutes, with companies like Ponoko, and on-demand manufacturing service. No factory need be built or contracted, just ship them a design for furniture or clothing and they create it only when they get an order for a product. But I cringe at using words like "instaprenuer".

And to dare mention my eccentric concerns makes me something of a fossil as I straddle the analog and the digital worlds. Some less tech-savvy folks might think me a wizard, other far more tech-savvy and affluent folks think me a caveman.

After all, I still read books. I barely can write useful code. The future may have no need for me whatsoever. The future is making itself.

Weekly Best Of Tennessee Blogs

Returning roundup of what the best bloggers in Tennessee are talking about, via TennViews:

• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: Five Years. 4000 Dead.

• 55-40 Memphis: So the Clintons want Obama to lose to McCain, so Bill is still in power and Hillary has a shot at the presidency in four years.

• Aunt B.: Why, you may ask, are toll roads in Tennessee a stupid idea?

• BlountViews: Our education system is preparing students for jobs that do not even exist.

• Carole Borges: At a time when our economy is grinding to a halt, why outsource this plum contract to a foreign firm?

• The Crone Speaks: Shorter version, protect the companies, screw the people, and let’s not deal with correcting the economic bubble.

• Cup of Joe Powell: My Congressman thinks I'm an idiot.

• Don Williams: How Arthur C. Clarke’s voice of cosmic wonder changed OUR lives.

• The Donkey's Mouth: The scurrilous claims made by a fellow Republican about the inappropriate use of campaign funds could be a problem for Blackburn further on down the road.

• Enclave: The voters are leaving party leaders in the dust today, in the rodeo dust of a Ft. Worth Coliseum.

• Fletch: The Tao of Dinghy

• KnoxViews: Scenic Vista Act update (Bonus: Spirited Democratic primary strengthens candidates and the party)

• Lean Left: But, aside from setting the Republican double standard in concrete for all to see, Rice’s remarks are kind of amusingly pathetic.

• Left of the Dial: More lottery suspicions

• Left Wing Cracker: After this, it doesn't matter. She can win in Pennsylvania but it doesn't matter, her campaign will end unsuccessfully.

• Liberadio: Dana Perino is so uncomfortable answering for President Bush’s crimes against humanity that I almost feel sorry for her.

• Loose TN Canon: Hobbs deleted my comments!

• NewsComa: Newspapers, this is the new world of communication and how news is evolving.

• Pesky Fly: The only credible conclusion I can come to is that Mark Penn, whose lobbying firm is run by one of McCain's top advisors, is simply teeing up Obama for a general election sweep.

• Progressive Nashville: Insurance companies don't want you to use the insurance. They just want you to pay for it.

• Resonance: What's the point in holding elections if the delegates need not honor the results?

• RoaneViews: Congressman Lincoln Davis... Relaxed

• Russ McBee: In Dick Cheney's mind, the misguided and mendacious decisions made by his "boss" are somehow more of a burden than the loss felt by those 4,000 families.

• Sean Braisted: Now, in an effort to show that Hillary Clinton is the only person left running for President who can answer a phone past 2:30AM, she tries to tie the economy to late-night/early-morning phone calls:

• Sharon Cobb: Another day, another lie from Hillary

• Silence Isn't Golden: (W)ine in the grocery store won't drive the big-spending customers away from the retailers.

• Southern Beale: President Bush and his economic advisers assume that people will rush off to WalMart to load up on more cheap Chinese-made crap they don’t need as soon as the check arrives.

• Tennessee Guerilla Women: If the old guard Democrats were to succeed at pushing the woman off the Democratic ticket only to face a Black woman on the Republican ticket, that would mean there really is a goddess and she really is pissed.

• TennViews: New challenger in TN Senate 4th District

• Vibinc: No one is going to heal the divisions, fix the crime, educate our kids, stop the cycle of poverty, or lower teen pregnancy and infant mortality for us Memphis, we have to do it for ourselves.

• Whites Creek Journal: There is a serious problem for both Clinton and McCain in this election cycle... They are both up against an honest person.

• Women's Health News: Nipple Ring as National Security Threat

Does Earth Hour Mean Anything to You?

Yesterday millions of humans all over the planet joined an 'initiative to raise awareness' called Earth Hour and turned off lights and other electrical equipment for 60 minutes. Mention was often made in most news reports of the lights being turned off at the Sydney Opera House. I know it's notable as the location is a widely known landmark. I'm not sure that an unlit Opera House qualifies as a sacrifice.

I understand the goal was to 'raise awareness' or 'educate' folks about the issues of energy usage.

Still, I wonder what the typical response would be if, say, that TVA decided they would 'raise awareness' by eliminating all electrical power to every customer they serve for one hour. Howls of calamity and forced suffering would likely follow. But such an effort would seem to be far more educational than voluntary electrical reduction.

1.6 billion humans live without any electricity every day - here's a link to a satellite image of the planet at night.

Granted, fewer people live without electricity today than ever before.

And perhaps it is worthwhile to break through those protective cocoons of affluence for sixty minutes and hope that folks begin to consider life beyond/without gadgets and luxuries. Perhaps.

Having had the luxury of my own life which has lasted now for decades, I can recall when the idea of enviromental awareness began to emerge and I witnessed the beginning of what we now call Earth Day. They used to give away free 'ecology stickers' in boxes of Super Sugar Crisp cereal. (Thanks to the mighty electrical memories of the internet, these trinkets have been preserved.) If science could somehow harness the energy created when an 11-year-old consumes a box of sugar-laden cereal .....

Back then I decided I would build an energy-independent house, an underground home lit by a central atrium and by solar panels so I would not have to pay for or waste energy.

Yeah, I should definitely do that.

And I want my personal anti-gravity vehicle too.

Like so many others who share this wee spinning planet, I have good intentions.

Camera Obscura: Most Bizarre TV Ever; Where's John Hughes?; Hank Kimball Meets Satan

The oddest moment in TV show history may well have occurred on March 4, 2001 in the pilot episode of "The Lone Gunmen", a spin-off from "X-Files", about three conspiracy-minded fellows who battle ... well, they battle conspiracies.

In their first episode (one of only 12 made) the trio discovers a plot by the government to crash an airliner into the World Trade Center, just six months before it actually happened. You can watch the full episode here online.

This week at the ongoing Paley Festival, the "X-Files" and "Lone Gunmen" creators talked about the odd coincidence:

"It was freaky, and one of the weirdest things is no one really asked us about it," Carter says. "It had been imagined before, by many others."

"Condoleezza Rice is saying its an unimaginable crime -- hello, my pilot!" adds "Lone Gunmen" actor Dean Haglund.

"It made me angry," Spotnitz says. "It was not unimaginable. My first thought was ... 'Oh my god, I hope they weren't copycatting the Lone Gunmen, which they weren't. My next thought was: 'Why weren't we prepared for this?' "

Was it just a fleeting moment of unconscious absorption of ideas already being created in reality? All I know is, watching the episode is too eerie for words, especially as you see the lead characters grab the controls of the airliner and steer it past the steel and glass exterior of the WTC, missing it by inches.

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A report in this week's LA Times (no, not that one) brought up a few memories and reminded me that once upon a time, the movies of John Hughes were hailed as classic cinema but it's been 17 years since he has stood behind the camera.

The creator of such teen comedies as "The Breakfast Club", "Sixteen Candles", "Home Alone", "Vacation", and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" has pretty much fallen into obscurity. He doesn't do interviews, he doesn't write or make movies although he is credited with influencing many movies today, like the story credit for new comedy "Drillbit Taylor".

I never really cared much for any of his movies myself, though most of my friends just loved them. It isn't that they were terrible movies, it was that they seemed to be trying way to hard to be trendy, hip and teen. And they really don't hold up very well after all these years, with a few exceptions.

"Vacation" still makes me laugh. Three bad sequels followed, but the original is a fine thing. The script was based on a short story Hughes which he published in National Lampoon under the title "Vacation '58". Also while working at Lampoon, he and writer P.J. O'Rourke created a hilarious parody of a Sunday newspaper for the imaginary town of Dacron, Ohio which was just genius. (This project was a sequel of sorts for the funniest high school parody of all time, Lampoon's High School Yearbook Parody also set in Dacron, Ohio in a school named for Tennessee's very own C. Estes Kefauver. I've had muscle spasms from the insane laughter which comes with reading that thing. Just reading the names under the tiny, tiny pics of all the underclassmen was one of the funniest experiences of my life.

Anyway, back to Hughes. His very best film is still "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", a celebration of non-conformity, the city of Chicago, of youth against authority, and of life itself. As the school secretary explains to the Principal about Ferris: "Oh, he's very popular Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude."

Hughes is living in Chicago still, but without an agent and not seeking work in Hollywood at all. I'd like to think he's living a Ferris-style life, taking it easy, enjoying the good things in life and not worrying about what the kids are doing or what the adults are doing.

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In the wee hours of the morning this Friday/Saturday on Turner Classic Movies Underground series, a fine thriller/horror story called "Brotherhood of Satan" will be shown and there is an odd story behind this movie. Released in 1971, the movie was produced by Alvy Moore, aka Hank Kimball from "Green Acres", and his partner L.Q. Jones. Jones was a regular in many Sam Peckinpah movies, like "The Wild Bunch", and in "Brotherhood" Jones cast his 'Wild Bunch" co-star Strother Martin as the leader of some aging, backwoods Satanists.

Moore and Jones made this movie and one other in the early '70s, the cult classic "A Boy and His Dog."

It's always seemed most curious to me how these two longtime character actors decided a bizarre Harlan Ellison story about a telepathic dog and another tale about a gang of old coots who worship Satan would be the movies they wanted to produce. Then again, Hank Kimball was one of oddest characters among the strange world of "Green Acres". The show remains as the best example of what would happen if "Waiting For Godot" were made into a TV show.

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One more movie to watch for this weekend airs Sunday at midnight on the Sundance Channel called "Silk".

"Silk" is an horror/C.S.I.-inspired tale about the capture of some ghosts, but don't discard it just yet. Yes, Asian ghost movies are everywhere. But this one is very, very well made and comes wrapped in a weird blend of a police investigation and the science of anti-gravity devices. Seems a way has been made to create anti-gravity devices, but the device is powered by ghosts. Yes, I know, it's a weird idea to blend into a police story, but the fact remains the movie is quite good. It's never boring, is well acted and is loaded with creepy supernatural atmosphere.

Really, it's worth a look.

More Bad News On Red Light Cameras

Bloggers have been noting that the traffic traps at red lights are bringing plenty of trouble. Mike Silence notes, as does Music City Bloggers, that Nashville and Chattanooga have been abusing the programs to earn more money.

And this week in Morristown, officials were told the presence of the red light cameras may actually cause more accidents while creating revenue:

"The rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don't work," said lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of health policy and management at the USF College of Public Health.

"Instead, they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections," added Langland-Orban, who said elderly drivers with slower reaction times are the ones most frequently involved in rear-end crashes at camera intersections.

In Greensboro, N.C., collisions at busy intersections jumped by 40 percent after the cameras were installed, according to the study. Studies conducted in Virginia and Ontario produced similar results."

Sadly, it looks like these scams continue to spread and only after dire results will cities rescind and reject them.

An Old Friend Is A Rising Star

A new movie opening this weekend at the IFC Center is a film-festival favorite called "Shotgun Stories" and I am happy to see my old friend Mike Abbott playing a major part and wanted to help spread the word about this film. It's slated for a Nashville screening at the Belcourt in June.

I met Mike waaaay back in the early 1990s when he was just a young teen actor and performer living here in Morristown with his parents and going to high school, and since he began his career in earnest, he has found terrific success. I'm not surprised - he was a most energetic and inventive performer, somewhat fearless, and very talented. "Shotgun Stories" had a write-up today in the NYTimes, calling the movie: "The film is a here-and-now American potboiler and a stripped-down parable that can be appreciated by any culture."

The story is set in modern-day Arkansas and focuses on two clans of warring brothers, both fathered by the same man - once a raging alcoholic who did not even give his sons proper names, he abandons them, finds his way to sobriety and then starts another family. At his funeral, the two families, one stuck in poverty, the other more affluent, and immediately clash and begin a brutal feud. Mike plays the the role of a son named Cleaman.

The official website of the movie is here, complete with a very compelling trailer. The movie has earned very high praise from Roger Ebert, Variety (which called the acting here "pitch-perfect"), and has earned awards at numerous U.S and foreign festivals. Fine work by a first time director, Jeff Nichols.

And poor Mike says in his recent email he's had to travel to Italy for a screening at a Festival in Alba, saying "The cheese was good. The wine was even better." Yeah, I'm sure you're suffering, bucko. He also just got engaged (a moment captured by a NY television station as he popped the question in Times Square on New Year's Eve).

His alumni notes from the North Carolina School of the Arts has more on Mike's work:

Michael will be playing Brick in a '08 National tour of "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" with Montana Repertory. Michael has appeared Off Broadway in productions of; "Othello", "Taming of the Shrew", and "Pudd'nhead Wilson"(Lucille Lortel). His regional theatre credits include; "Bat Boy:The Musical"(Portland Center Stage), "Dearly Departed"(Tennessee Repertory Theatre), and the World Premiere production of "BROTHER WOLF"(Traid Stage), among others. He has appeared in numerous workshop productions (including "The Duke & The Duchess" starring two-time Academy Award Nominee, Sylvia Miles), is a member of John Houseman's acclaimed 'Acting Company', and has appeared nationally as Elvis Presley (including The Kennedy Center and the HBO & BRAVO Networks).

Still, congrats go to the boy - sorry, Mike, you'll always be younger than me and thus a boy. He's been most successful on the stage in New York and I'm sure the movies will welcome his work. Keep your eye out for him. Oh hey - I did find this picture. He looks mean, doesn't he?

Battle To A Stalemate

The enormous cost of the full blown battle to a stalemate - aka the war in Iraq - is still being calculated, and sadly will continue to be tallied for years to come. A very comprehensive account of the pure symphony of bad decisions of the Bush administration was just presented on the PBS news show "Frontline" on Monday and Tuesday. Though if you have been only a tiny bit alert, you'll recall most of these very public fumbles of foreign policy. (And you can watch the 4 and a half hours of the program here online.)

Like many other Americans, I never thought moving into military action against Iraq, especially the way the Bush administration handled it, was good or just or intelligent. I write this today not to indict anyone, but to offer some hopefulness that the true nature of American ideals will emerge and correct our passage. I admit that I have grave doubts of such wisdom emerging. Perhaps, at best, we will simply reach the end of an era of failures.

We have witnessed years of consistently poor leadership, marked by emotional infighting and herky-jerky policies and strategies, which have left the nation in a war-ravaged mess. The cold reality with us today is that we remain years away from a clear resolution to the war. Pulling out now is no solution, continuing with current strategies (or the lack of them) is likewise no solution.

I am not one of those people who see the President as the sole motivator and source of all things good and bad in America. But to deny a constant pattern of failed and foolish decisions which had dire consequences is to ignore what history will soon confirm. His appointed leaders of so many agencies - from the Justice Dept. to FEMA - have left wide-ranging wreckage. His administration has demanded revisions to our notions of liberty with no sign of improvement. Far from it.

Not long after taking office, President Bush was quoted as saying that he and the Congress should strive to earn "from our fellow citizens the highest possible praise: Well done, good and faithful servants.". There's no doubt that whatever else is said, few will use such words to describe the last eight years of leadership.

My Congressman Thinks I'm An Idiot

I received a bulk mail flyer from 1st District Congressman David Davis who sought to inform me on the actions I can take to decrease the price of gas and the cost of oil. He wrote about three ways I can "save gas", all of which indicate Rep. Davis thinks I am dumber than a stump, as if I had never ever considered these actions to improve fuel efficiency.

1. Drive slower. Or as he writes "Drive more efficiently. Aggressive driving, speeding and rapid acceleration lower your gas mileage by 33%." Jeez, really? If I had just gotten my learner's permit and sat behind the wheel for the first time in my life, his advice might be valuable. I wonder if he is aware that the most typical changes in automobile engines in recent years have been engines which accelerate more rapidly? I wonder if he knows the Model T got an average of 25 mpg, about the same average MPG found today??

2. Don't use your vehicle to transport anything. Or as he writes "Keeping unnecessary weight in your vehicle also reduces gas mileage. For every 100 pounds in your vehicle, your gas mileage can drop 2% and you can save 6 cents per gallon." Is he saying I need to lose weight and cut the current price of my gas from 3.26 to 3.20? Thanks. Since I am often faced with the issue of buying food or gas, I suppose I should eliminate food and get the gas and save 6 cents when I lose 100 pounds.

3. "When traveling long distances, use cruise control." Does this mean I must buy a new vehicle since the one I have does not have cruise control?

4. Make sure my tires are inflated. Here, he writes that if I don't have enough air in my tires, my mileage might decrease by 2%. Again, if I had never operated a vehicle before, such info might be useful.

The cover of the flyer features some shadowy person hoisting an AK-47, a ball of fire and an oil well. I am not sure what he means by this - is it that he is willing to spend American lives to gain control of foreign oil fields, perhaps decreasing the cost of oil by 5 or 10 % while expending vast sums of tax dollars and using American troops to take what we do not own?

Thanks so much, Rep. Davis. Your bulk mail delivery used untold amounts of energy for no purpose whatsoever. It did increase my blood pressure, but did diddly-squat to address the rising costs of oil and gasoline.

Obama's Hope, Limbaugh's Despair

The loud and not very illuminating arguments about Sen. Obama and former pastor Jeremiah Wright ignores an idea or two worth considering, as put forth by Steve Chapman at Reason - that however bleakly Wright sees America, Sen. Obama sees something much brighter and Wright supports him, not the other way around.

Chapman writes:

"Wright apparently sees this nation as defective and divided beyond repair. Obama thinks the defects are only a part of the story, and that a unity transcending ancient racial distrusts is achievable.

What has fueled his candidacy is neither black anger nor white guilt, but a desire by people of different complexions to minimize the role of race in our society. In his book, A Bound Man, Hoover Institution scholar Shelby Steele writes that Obama is "a living rebuke to both racism and racialism, to both segregation and identity politics... [H]e also embodies a great and noble human aspiration: to smother racial power in a democracy of individuals."

If the pastor truly believed his more vitriolic comments, he would have no choice but to treat Obama as a fool for aspiring to the presidency. Instead, Wright has been forced to entertain the notion that white people would choose a black male for the most powerful office on Earth.

When Ronald Reagan ran for governor of California in 1966, liberals attacked him for getting support from members of the ultra-conservative John Birch Society, which regarded Dwight Eisenhower as a Communist agent. Reagan responded, "If anyone chooses to vote for me, they are buying my views. I am not buying theirs."

A pertinent question is whether the attention given Wright will impact the Obama campaign. My gut tells me if a person were seriously opposed or seriously supportive to Obama, the pastor's views will changed nothing. However, the Senator's speech did, I think, provide more proof that his approach to government is far more hopeful than despairing.

For true despair, one need only witness the hearty despair voiced by Conservative Entertainer Rush Limbaugh in his "Operation Chaos" promotion. His goal - to create chaos in the Democrat nominating process by urging Republicans to register as Democrats and cast votes for Hillary Clinton in order to bolster her bid for the nomination.

His tactic is a good example of the "dirty tricks" of the Nixonian era (though the tricks are a part of the modern political era too). He seeks to avoid confronting issues and candidates with a debate of merit. As buffoonish clown, he ridicules without purpose, revealing a despair that his views (and those of his fervent followers) have no relevance in the current political world. Jeering at everyone from the sidelines where GOP nominee John McCain has banished him, he offers caps and shirts and other items for sale to equally despairing fringe-dwellers, hoping to line his pockets and keep some media attention as his commentary holds less and less credibility.

Best Wishes for An Atomic Wedding

Today is a happy day for Atomic Tumor and his Ladyfriend as they are getting hitched.

I echo the thoughts of many when I wish them a most happy day and many, many more happy days to come.

So three cheers and a w00t!! to them.

Camera Obscura: Buffy Reunion; Futurama News; The Hell of High School

Buffy creator Joss Whedon and cast-members of the show were at the Paley Center yesterday for a discussion of the show, an event which had Sarah Michelle Gellar on-stage and talking about the show for the first time. One newish project mentioned is the online musical Whedon is making with Neil Patrick Harris, called "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". It's a series of 10-minute webisodes about a low-rent villian (Harris) and a superhero (Nathan Fillion, of "Firefly") who keeps beating him up.

The blogger at Futon Critic was at the event and has a good account of what was said which you can read right here. Cast members talked about some of the best episodes, like "Hush" and "The Body", and no, there is no reunion movie project ahead. Plenty of pictures here.

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Good news, everyone!

The first of four Futurama movies, "Bender's Big Score" airs Monday on Comedy Central. The 2nd movie, "The Beast With A Billion Backs", arrives on DVD in June. Plenty of details from creator David Cohen here.

And remember - Everyone Loves Hypnotoad!


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Benecio del Toro goes Lobo as a Monster-Wearing-Pants in the big budget re-telling of "The Wolfman" Yes there are even more pictures here at the MovieMorlocks blog.

Rick Baker (who else?) is the man creating the makeup for the movie.

So, a question for you -- has there ever, EVER, been a good werewolf movie? I always found some humor and enjoyment in "I Was A Teenage Werewolf", and then there was the Watergate-inspired "The Werewolf of Washington" which made me laugh too.

Comedy was the king in "An American Werewolf in London", too, but that doesn't mean it was a good movie. So, the question - is there such a thing as a good werewolf movie? I say no.

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I've recently seen a couple of nightmarish movies about the Hell that is High School and found that both of them are quite good and worth viewing. First up was the long-delayed feature "The Woods" from director Lucky McKee. Lucky scored big with his first feature "May", and though his second feature lay quietly on the shelf for some years, "The Woods" is now available on cable and on DVD.

It's set in 1965 at an all-girls boarding school and McKee relies solely on atmosphere and creepy characters to propel the story along. it has some similarities to "Suspiria" but here we have the added attraction of Bruce Campbell as the poor Dad who reluctantly allows his little girl to leave home and attend a school where the faculty is ... well, no surprises to hide, they are witches.

What makes the movie work is McKee's solid and steady direction. Yes, the story is familiar, but he presents it with great atmosphere and suspense, does not rely on gore or torture porn, and instead makes an excellent old-fashioned horror film. I think most viewers will like it - some who crave more onscreen deviance may not.

Speaking of Bad Things At Boarding Schools, "Evil" is a very disturbing morality tale from Swedish/Danish filmmakers, with the original language title of "Ondskan". The movie was nominated for an Oscar award as Best Foreign language film and is set in post-World War 2 Europe. The movie appears to be simple and straight-forward, but there are layers and layers here, many of which raise far more questions than the movie can answer - but that's the point.


A young man named Erik lives in a household where his step-dad beats him for no reason, and as Erik acts out in violent attacks at school, he is expelled. "You are Evil", says the school principal.

His parents shuffle him off to a boarding school where class systems provide an institutional brutality, and since Erik has vowed to leave his violent ways behind, the challenge from the social/psychological cruelties from upper classmen gets very intense very fast. The movie could have easily been a Z-grade revenge flick, but that is not where this movie is headed.

While Erik tries to remain tough and unresponsive to attack, innocent friends are drawn into the attacks. Should he go on the attack to protect them? Do they want such a defense? No matter how Erik tries to respond (or not respond), the situation becomes worse for those around him. Some major concepts in morality and justice and more are offered here, with no simple solutions. This is a truly complex tale for our very complex times.

I couldn't help but be reminded of another hell-in-high-school movie called "If ...", where violent overthrow of the status quo is presented as a justified response to insane structures. In "Evil," there is a more subtle tale being told.

Trouble Sleeping On Easter Weekend?

Then perhaps this illustrates why it matters ....

'Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie' Debuts

Other film festivals may have the fame, but the annual SXSW festival has the cool.

One entry from this year's fest is "Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie", about some folks from Ohio searching for Bigfoot and for the promises of the American Dream. The official site for the movie is here, complete with background and high praise from movie blogs.

The documnetary follows Dallas and Wayne, two men who grapple with Life's big questions and the quest for Bigfoot too. One AICN reviewer says:

"Wayne, a big, hulking guy, breaks down emotionally more than once, unable to control his facial expressions. This guy, God love him, bears his soul in an unforgettable way. There’s one phone call with Wayne that was truly gut-wrenching. There’s more real drama in this doc than I can tell without spoiling it. I do hope you take the time to seek out this amazing little real-life nugget. You will never forget Dallas and Wayne’s world."

The Real, The Distorted and the Virus of American Ideals

The fuming, frantic reactions to the speech made by Democrat Barack Obama has had heads wagging and tongues twisted, which makes me think Obama's comments were quite accurate. Racial divisions hold on in America with a ferocious grip.

It was a wide-ranging speech about perceptions and divisions, about media, and about distorted reality, and about the desire he has to move forward on these ideas and not surrender to them. And yes, it has taken some time for me to read his words and ponder on them. No insta-reactions are justified here on this page.

What is certain is that the media will wallow in the speech and ignore another speech which has equal if not greater relevance - the one made yesterday by the President defending his war in Iraq. It isn't just five years since we began the current war, it's almost five years since he made his dramatic "Mission Accomplished" speech about Iraq too. It isn't and wasn't accomplished, but supporters and enablers are far too shy to call him out. It has also been five years of war in Afghanistan, too, with no clear sign of accomplishment there either. This week his view is "no end in sight".

I have seen and read some notable coverage on the ongoing war, but the television is focused on the speech from Obama. For many folks, his speech is rock-solid proof Obama is a Bad Man, for others proof he is a Good Man. As with so much in politics and in war, we each create what we believe and nurture it, no matter the true reality.

Here's a prediction - no matter how intense the presidential race has been, no matter how intense the summer's nominating conventions will be, the late summer and fall will be an ugly, brutal mess which will be an historic and a shock-filled time for most of us.

I watched the new mini-series on HBO this week about John Adams and the early days of the American Revolution and decision to declare independence. In Adams' time, the issue of slavery and it's moral costs were very much a part of the debate about what kind of nation we would be.

Most interesting to me though, was the inter-cutting of scenes about the wrangling for votes for a declaration of independence and scenes of Adams' wife and children being inoculated against smallpox as their doctor took live pox tissues from one patient and cut into their healthy bodies to insert the diseased samples. Not all could survive this self-induced transmission - a controlled infection. I could not help but see the comparisons of the political efforts and the transmission of the virus. The decisions made in that Continental Congress, like that of Abigail Adams, would mean some would be risking death, but that the promise of a better life for many more would thrive.

It's a metaphor that is most instructive in our times, too.

Test Your Rock and Roll Lyrics Skills

50 very well known rock tune lyrics are presented - but can you guess which songs they are if the words are listed alphabetically, with no words are repeated no matter how many times they are used in the song? Its a good challenge and will only take a few minutes - maybe much more.

I barely scored a half-decent 31 out of 50, so maybe you can score higher. I blame a low coffee level. Here's the link to the "And Great Lyrics Quiz Rock Roll The By" and a few samples of what you'll find there:

First, an easy one for true rock fans -

"a and baby be become can come couldn’t fire funeral get girl hesitate higher i if in is it know liar light lose love mire much my night no now on only our pyre say set that the through time to try untrue wallow was we would yeah you"

Something less easy (or is it??):

"a and answer are bring brother brutality but can ’cause conquer crying don’t dying escalate everybody far father find for going got hair hate here i’ll is judge know lines long love loving many me mother need not of on only our picket punish see signs simply so some talk tell the there’s they thinks to today too us war way we we’re we’ve what’s who with wrong you"


Get down with your bad self and see if you can score 50 out of 50.

Liveblogging Guns at the Supreme Court

Most Americans already consider owning a gun as a guaranteed constitutional right. Is it?

That's the center of the debate in the DC v. Heller case begin argued today in the Supreme Court. The best source for info comes from SCOTUSblog, which live-blogged the case and they've also got a host of articles, opinions and history on the 2nd Amendment and gun laws. A sample from an analysis today:

"The Supreme Court’s historic argument Tuesday on the meaning of the Constitution’s Second Amendment sent out one quite clear signal: individuals may well wind up with a genuine right to have a gun for self-defense in their home. But what was not similarly clear was what kind of gun that would entail, and thus what kind of limitations government cut put on access or use of a weapon. In an argument that ran 23 minutes beyond the allotted time, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy emerged as a fervent defender of the right of domestic self-defense. At one key point, he suggested that the one Supreme Court precedent that at least hints that gun rights are tied to military not private needs — the 1939 decision in U.S. v. Miller — “may be deficient” in that respect. “Why does any of that have any real relevance to the situation that faces the homeowner today?” Kennedy asked rhetorically."

Whatever the ruling on the case - will it firmly establish or even alter the public perceptions of the laws are or what the 2nd Amendment says?

(photo via)

Deep Thought of the Day

"It's too bad we didn't invest one-third of the Social Security system in the market." (Via)

Goodbye, Volunteer Voters

It's beyond me why WKRN axed one of the best political news blogs in the state. But they did.

ACK's coverage of politics in Tennessee was massive - and his absence affects many. Likewise the once very active WKRN blog Nashville is Talking is silent, too, being converted into a blog aggregator.

As noted before, East TN was and is the blog capital of Tennessee.

5th Anniversary of War in Iraq

When the announcement of a trip to the Middle East by V.P. Cheney was made, reports said it was a push for a peace deal between Israel and Palestine. But the V.P. was there to also say that after 5 years of American-led warfare in Iraq the U.S. and the Iraqis were living in the best of all possible worlds.

Whatever your views the fact remains we are and will remain in the country well into the next year, the next administration and for who knows how long. Casualties, costs both economic and ethical, and more are still to be counted. I mourn for our losses and for the future. Seems all the decisions that led us there and those made in the early days were - at best - full of colossal blunders.

Continuing coverage is here, and here. Attention and knowledge of what's happening is falling away.

Perhaps in 2010 (or beyond) we'll have some effective new policies in place. Perhaps.

In Vermont, something I have never, ever heard of before - two towns have issued "arrest on sight" orders for the President and Vice President, due to war-related issues. Is it worth noting that while the presidential pair have made many trips to Iraq, they won't go to Vermont?

Camera Obscura: My Zombie Brother; Obama Auteurs; Hulu; Giant Bunnies

My brother's zombie movie premiered at the SXSW festival in Austin and the reviews have been just fantastic. Okay, so my brother is only a zombie in the movie "Dance of the Dead", so it isn't really his movie ... but it is in my mind - and his.

The point is the movie, about a zombie horde attacking a high school prom (such fun to write that!!) is a hit with audiences and critics, like Scott Weinberg, and raves from Ain't It Cool News, and here's a choice write-up from Cinematical:

"The zombies rocket-launched out of their graves are only the beginning. That's part of an early, truly impressive sequence where the dead begin rising to life in a graveyard lying in the shadow of a nuclear power plant. It looks like dozens, if not hundreds of zombies start bursting forth, shambling around, crying out for "Brains!" (only one of many, many movie shout-outs). It's an iconic sequence, a turning point in the narrative, and a test for the filmmakers. If they failed to execute it properly, it would derail the entire movie. Director Bishop and his talented team hit the bull's eye with funny, horrific variations on what you might expect, and from there the game is on."

No, they did not mention my brother by name, but they did give a massive approval for the movie and it's zombies and that's close enough. As soon as I get word of the distributor for the flick, I'll post it here.

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It really isn't to far to travel from zombie movies to politics.

Courtesy of this announcement from Knoxville Films blog (and MoveOn.org) you can try your skills out as a would-be filmmaker by cutting a 30-second promo commercial for the Obama For President campaign.

Folks like Oliver Stone, Matt Damon, Eddie Vedder and Naomi Wolf will decide the winner, whose spot will then go on national TV. Entries are due by April 1. Of course, if Obama loses the nomination or the election then you could be the one to blame ... just sayin'.

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The online video service Hulu has just launched so you can view a vast assortment for TV shows and specials, from "Airwolf" to "Buffy", "Ironside" to the "Simpsons" and "Cleopatra 2525" to "Friday Night Lights". They even had one called "My Bare Lady", an awful reality show that ran for 4 episodes on FOX. Also football and the Westminster Kennel shows are available too.

They've also got a big assortment of movies to view too, with promises of much more to come.

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Cinema history indicates there is only one Giant Killer Bunnies movie - "Night of the Lepus" - which airs on Turner Classic Movies at 2:15 a.m. tonite (or is that tomorrow??). I admit, there is a goofy joy to watching this movie. And it offers the tagline "...now from behind the shroud of night they come, a scuttling, shambling horde of creatures destroying all in their path." Ooooohh, scary boys and girls!! Well, not that scary.

Far more scary is another offering from cinema history on Sunday on TCM, the 1943 film "Titanic", a Nazi-propaganda version of the story with a very tragic history. TCM notes:

"In fact, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels grew so disgruntled with original director Herbert Selpin's political opinions, he had him arrested and murdered during filming ...

"Even the ship that was used during the filming of Titanic ended up in a hellish tragedy. Called the Cap Arcona, the vessel was commissioned to transport liberated prisoners from the brutal Nazi camp, Neuengamme. During what should have been a voyage to freedom, Allied forces accidentally fired at the Cap Arcona and sank it. The vast majority of the prisoners who didn't die as it went under were shot and killed by nearby Nazi forces. Such horror casts a sinister shadow across what little dramatic impact the film itself generates."


Strange cinema history awaits on Sunday.