--- Here̢۪s a good Chuckle of the Day

Slobo̢۪s self-righteousness never ceases to amaze me.

--- But wait, there̢۪s more.
Oh, man. I so
wish I could have been a fly on the wall of that dressing room. {Insert
indelicate snort of serious amusement here} Beauty queens freaking out
left and right. Priceless.

--Does anyone else think this is a tad too suspicious for comfort?
I̢۪m having a hard time wrapping my head around the notion no one
thinks this, or the other instances, could possibly be a form of
terrorism. They̢۪re very quick to deny it, aren̢۪t they? But they
don̢۪t seem to do any investigating. The ships are disinfected too
quickly for that. Yet another virus storms a cruise ship and its
inhabitants? This is what, the third or fourth time this has happened?
Hundreds of international passengers, who board and then get off at
many different ports, contained on a ship, living in close quarters
with air conditioning systems that pass recirculated air all over, so
it̢۪s hard to track down patient zero? And that̢۪s only if patient
zero is still on board the ship when it becomes apparent that people
are dropping like flies? And no one is investigating this? Hmmmm.
Something just ain̢۪t right here, kids, and you don̢۪t have to be Fox
Mulder to come to that conclusion. Germ warfare doesn̢۪t necessarily
have to involve deadly viruses, like smallpox or anthrax, to be
considered exactly that. Warfare does not implicitly imply that your
enemies must be annihilated: a few must always live to tell the tale.
We seem to forget in this day and age that a bullet fired in war has
just as much of a chance of maiming you as it does of killing you. We
tend to focus on the bright side of things: they lived, praise God.
Well, that̢۪s all well and good and I̢۪m happy for you, but you̢۪re
missing the point. Warfare is at its optimal operating procedure if your enemy has no clue that you̢۪re actually waging war against them.
You may be denied the glory that comes with success in your mission,
but you̢۪ll still be alive at the end of the day to fight another
battle with no one the wiser. Why do we always need to have someone
claim responsibility when something bad happens? More importantly, why
are we so sure that nothing bad has happened unless someone
steps up and claims the blame? Because, remember, sometimes, in some
people̢۪s twisted minds, when they fire a gun or set off a virus, the
maiming that results is actually the better outcome: the victim̢۪s
alive and they have the rest of their lives to ponder the whole
situation. It seems a relatively easy---and cheap---thing to put
someone on board a ship who̢۪s ill and just let nature take its
course. Why are we assuming this is so harmless?
I completely understand I might be making a mountain out of a molehill,
but this just seems odd to me. How often did this happen before 9/11?
---Relatively uneventful Labor Day weekend here. Nice weather, though.
So, while all of our friends were out of town, some enjoying family
visits, others enjoying amusement parks and museums in Chicago, the
husband and I took a few walks around the Lake Harriet and enjoyed
ourselves tremendously. It was quiet, relatively empty because it seems
most people were out of town, sunny and a nice breeze was blowing off
the lake.
I can̢۪t think of a better way to enjoy what is heralded incessantly
as the last weekend of summer. It was also nice that everyone was out
of town because we were able to rent some movies that we hadn̢۪t been
able to put our grubby little paws on when it was ninety-five outside.
Quickie Reviews for the Day:
The Two Towers
: Now, after Friday̢۪s blog, can you believe that I would rent such a
thing? And I was the instigator here, not the husband. But I was in the
mood for it, and man, I̢۪m telling you, if you don̢۪t have a Dolby
5.1 Surround Sound home theater installed in your house, you̢۪re missing something really, really good.
Particularly with these films. The sound is just incredible. We just
upgraded our TV and finally bought a DVD player back in March after
watching TV for years on the husband̢۪s old TV/VCR combo bought in
1989, thinking those items were finally cheap enough to purchase and
that they would last for a while. And it has proven itself to be
worthwhile in the extreme, despite the fact the husband put his foot
through the ceiling while laying the speaker wire for the surround
sound. The Two Towers is definitely the middle of the trilogy. It has
all the hallmarks of a masterful story arc: conflict, drama, scattered
characters, an uncertain outcome. To put it simply: it̢۪s The Empire Strikes Back with the conflict ending on the back road to Mordor, instead of in the Cloud City on Bespin.

I feel for Frodo. Poor widdle̢۪ hobbit.

And I̢۪m definitely looking forward to Return of the King
in December. If Peter Jackson gets the shaft at the Oscars again next
year, I̢۪m going to stop watching the Oscars entirely, which would
definitely be a statement coming from me as I have a party every year
to watch all the Hollywood types show up and do their massive
self-congratulatory thing. At the very least, they should award him an
honorary Oscar for this massive directing achievement. He deserves it. Narc I
rented on a whim. I̢۪d read an article on it awhile ago, and it
intrigued me. Saw it on the shelves at Blockbuster and snagged it.
Interesting film. You could definitely tell that it was the
director̢۪s first shot at the big time, and he really tried to push
the limits, but he was lacking in the sophistication needed to really
push it over the edge into the amazing film department.
One word is all that needs to be said about some of the shots at the
beginning, now say it with me, stead-i-cam.
Yes, Yes, you really could see the scene from the protagonist̢۪s
perspective, and it definitely showed you how confusing it all was, but
that̢۪s not going to do you much good, Mr. Director, if your audience
just shuts the damn DVD off because they̢۪re becoming nauseous. I do
so get sick and tired of shots that bounce all over the screen. Gag.
Literally. There̢۪s a reason why cameramen shouldn̢۪t run around with
just a plain old camera---it makes the viewers motion sick. And I
handle it better than the husband does. The Trouble With Charlie
gave the husband such a headache that he almost walked out of the
theater because of it. It̢۪s not a new and interesting way of shooting
film, kids. There was a reason why the steadicam was invented in the
first place: go look it up, please, before someone vomits.
And then we have The Pianist.
Oh, my God. Run right out and rent that movie, watch it and weep when
you̢۪re done for the times when humanity loses its grip on the simple
and basic concepts of right and wrong. They dry your eyes and know that
life goes on and can be a joyful, worthwhile experience and needn̢۪t
be completely blackened because at one time it was horrible. Well done,
Mr. Brody. Well done, indeed.

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