A while back, I recieved a stray email from some rightwing blog/’website/focus group/circle jerk- as opposed to my own leftwing b/w/fg/cj’s-, and sent them a really irritated letter telling them to take me off their mailing list. If I want exposure to more conservative thinking, I’ll read the Economist ( which I recommend to anyone regardless of political stripes), Fox News ( hey, I get to laugh, cry, and shriek in terror, better than Gremlins, better than ET), or one of the NYC tabloids.

Or the Wall Street Journal Editorial page. That is always a lot of scary rich people fun.

So while I can do more to read up on opposing view points, I really don’t want to go straight into their echo chamber, and I don’t want them adding the mountain of unread bits on various servers across the world on my behalf.

So out of the blue, I get an email from Ari Fleischer and “Freedom’s Watch”, thanking me for my support, and so forth. I’ve talked with other righties about this in the past. (http://cmss1971.wordpress.com/2007/09/22/thank-you-for-my-suppport-what-support/)

I’m not going to post the letter from Freedom’s Watch, but if you want to see what their about- freedomswatch.org. Only fair if I mock them, I give you a chance to see why they deserve it. Here’s the reply to Ari, error’s and all.

And why is it that if you name a man Ari, he’s likely a dick? Someone answer that for me.

***
Hi.

Uhm, I have no idea how you got my address, but I'm a lefty. A liberal. In
my mind, Ari Fleishcer is one of the people responsible for the most
damaging presidential administration in my life time, my parents lifetime,
and possibly our nations.

Why would I respond to his call?

So, as you can imagine, I'd be really, really happy if you remove my email
address from your mailing lists.

Thanks, and I hope the defeat of McCain/Palin will wake up American
Conservatives from their reactionary slumber to the need to be a healthy,
productive part of solving world issues.

Yours,
James Gerber

***
PS: ‘Re- Hey Elk’ Bunnies and Elk deseve their bridges, you heartless bastiches.

One of the joys of watching TV is noticing actors and tieing them to others. As EW has mentioned, just about everyone will or has walked through the Stargate. When watching ‘The L Word’, I love picking out the actors who have appeared in both shows. ( Galactica and L Word are both shot in Hollywood North, or Vancouver.)

In the season premiere of Life, there are two actors who have played characters with close personal ties to Shane.

You tell me.

Since I started living in the APT in the BKL, (WTfrak?), I’ve picked up a  mess of magazine subscriptions. Some where through reupping on Salon, other on the stark denial that I really didn’t need to waste a hundred or so bucks on foreign music mags, especially the ones without the pics of hot chicks dancing on drugs that would make Ken Kesey say “No, no. No.”

So I’m letting some go. Just fade away. Who knows? I might even get around to recycling them…
1) Q. Since getting my first music magazine and mixtape back in the UK in ‘92, I’ve always appreciated the English model. Buy a magazine, get a mix tape/CD, pillage said mix tape/CD for the obscure tracks that make your mix tapes/CD’s look so frikkin cool. And while CMJ is the American stand out, the Virigin Megastore at 14th’s street, the Tower in the Village, and assorted Universal News’ could keep you up to date with what was being published/compiled on the other side of the pond.

Select Magazine and Uncut were particular stand outs, Select disappearing from around 2001, Uncut becoming a favorite.
And then there was Q. Q features a very snarky vibe, something closer to a Britisn newspaper or gossip rag. Cheeky ,as the Brits might say. It regularly says nice things about an artist in one issue, than ganks them in the letter column in the next issue. It also featured some decent CD mixes, but fewer times over the years. What benefits I get on keeping up with British pop culture- not a bad thing when you work with tourists, are outweighed by the writers being such utter prats.

So good buy to Q.

2) Reason. Reason is one of the free subscriptions from rejoining Salon. It’s a Libertarian magazine, with a dose of Ayn Rand worship mixed in. The best things tend to be the Pete Bagge covers,

The magazine is kind of a right wing version of hanging out with Nader supporters. They know EVERYTHING IS WRONG, and have PERFECTLY REASONABLE ARGUMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS, but nothing that works outside their narrow frame of reference. If you want to get rid of government in people’s lives, but don’t have anything to protect people in it’s absence, what’s the use?

A last read of one or two back issues may be worth it, but Reason is just the converted preaching to the converted.

3) Plenty A bi-monthly environmentalist magazine. Another Salon freebie.

Never quite got around to reading it, caught an advice column. Someone was talking about how to save paper on wedding invites, and dried elephant dung paper was suggested.

Ok. Thanks. I get how screwed we are, but elephant dung paper? And are those local elephants? Are you telling me you would import elephant dung just for your weeding invites?

Such hypocrisy.

4) The New York Review of Books Literary Porn. Or Literature Porn.
Honestly, it’s smart. There is good writing. I think most bloggers wish they could be what the NYRB could be.

But ultimately, it’s like porn. Instead of watching people do things you may or may not want to do to/with people you may or may not want, you are reading about people reading books you may or may not want to read, and likely will never have the time to.

I wish I had the time to catch up on the NYRB, maybe even read a book or two it talks about. But if I had that time, wouldn’t it be better spent reading newspapers or keeping better clued into current events? The NYRB is the one I most regret letting go, just because it would be so geek cool to actually read it.

There are still magazines I don’t read enough, others that are less worthy, or needy, of my subscription than the ones above. But I have a chance in hell of reading them.

Thus, to each departing magazine in order:

1) bugger off, I’ll buy you when you have a cd worth getting you cheeky bastard
2) Uhm, a narrow philosophical viewpoint is not reasonable
3) sorry, not as scared of the end of the world as we know it as I should be
4) mock me in your mandals and turtleneck. I’ll enjoy and pop culture and not cry while I do it

Everyone has something they keep at home, bottled, and ready to go, so that when they come home, they can blow the day out of their mind and eventually collapse in a heap either on or somewhere near the bed.

Mine is not any kind of drug or booze. It should be exercise… lord knows, the satisfaction of a good workout can be enough to ease the kinks.

It’s not the relationship… no, that’s about enjoying life, not making it go away.
No, my delivery system is the PS3, the drug.. PUZZLE QUEST: CHALLENGE OF THE WARLORDS!!

Dude, G4 ‘meh’ed’ it, but this game is brilliant. Take Bejwelled, mix in a third-rate Final Fantasy RPG knock off and lots of text writing, and let the drooling begin.

Pretty soon you are fixating over 4 skull’s in a row, your morale, and how to capture that damn Orc so you can learn that spell.

There are MUCH better games out there. Elder Scrolls: Oblivion remains a personal favorite, often restarted as squeeze every single loophole for an extra perk or item. Katamari has the best music outside of Pizzicato Five concert, and while Civilization: Revolution pleases, a good week lost to a full blown, computer Civilization game is almost worth it.

But just the sheer, no eye-hand coordination needed joy of jewelling your way to conquest is breathtaking.
If only I didn’t have to bother with those damn capture puzzle’s….

While I’ve drifted out of the realm of acting as my allegedly primary career, I still do the bit of background work that flits my way. It’s fun, you get some good conversation, eat way too much, and pick up a couple of extra bucks here and there.

Sometimes you even get to actually act.

I’ve done some shoots recently, and heard some really crappy things about a show I really dig.

I’m thrilled that Gossip Girl is shooting in NYC. It needs to be shooting in NYC to be anywhere near authentic. Well, authentic as a show like GG can be.

But the way they’ve been treating background is just plain crappy.

First, they’ve finnaegled some SAG concession that allows them to pay extras like, $98 bucks a day. That’s before taxes and what not.
And the expenses of maintaining the clothes you need to bring to fit into the the GG world.

Next, to save bucks, they’ve had actors who appear in scenes with principles mime their responses, and then loop in voice overs later.

You see this 2 or 3 times in the season two episode, ‘The Dark Night.’ Anypoint in the show where you see a featured actor talking to someone, and the reply sounds like it’s either the voice of god or someone speaking in a completely different room.

This may mean they don’t have to give the extra a bump to featured background, or avoid a waiver, or what ever. It’s save some bucks, and screws actors out of a chance to get some bucks, maybe even a role they can honestly put on their credits.

Instead of the way we all not so-subtly inflate our rolls.

GG isn’t the only show doing this, and in all fairness, a lot of this is from… well… gossip in holding.

I also get that GG and the CW are so frigging desperate for cash that they have to cut corners to just stay on the frigging air.
But W.W.D.H.D. if he saw the corporate bigwigs, pushing drug abuse and irresponsible sex, consumerism, AND screwing the little guy in the process?

Well, he’d likely write about it in his diary and be mocked by B, but he wouldn’t like it.

No,sir, he wouldn’t like it at all.

And this just in…
King Iorek Byrnison, King of the Polar Bears, released the following statement at a press confrence.

“As a polar bear, I am loathe to interfere in the affairs of human kind. Unless you get me drunk and steal my sky-iron armor.

Then I will crush your tiny little heads.

But as my kingdom overlaps with human kingdoms,  at times I must comment and take action.

No, no crushing little human heads between my mighty jaws.

Yet.

No, I’m referring to the Republican Party’s choice of Governor Sarah Palin as their Vice-Presidential Candidate.

As you well know, my people have long suffered from environmental disruptions caused by your people… be it attempts to open a pathway to heaven, or loss of icecaps from global warming. Governor Palin sued that my people be taking off the United State’s listing of endangered species. She claimed that our listing threatened oil drilling and natural gas mining, and that the grounds for our listing was unreliable.

Unreliable? My people are drowning because the ice pack is getting so thin! We are wandering further into your so-called communities searching for food! The grounds for our listing is right before your eyes.

And so, I am forming Polar Bears Against Palin. She was disastrous for the relations of our two great peoples as Governor of one of your underpopulated provinces, and she would be more dangerous being one heartbeat away from your throne.

And while I am loathe to touch on spiritual matters, her particular zeal is a concern. As my own… involvement in the matters of the General Oblation Board and… police action against the Magesterium and their backers have shown, religious belief over rationality as the basis for public policy rarely leads to anything but bad government and apocalyptic wars involving small children, anthromorphised animals, and too many damn faries and their damn dragonflys flitting about.

Thank you for your time. Now no questions, or I will crush your tiny heads.”

So I’m almost 6 months into an amazing relationship.

Shocking, I know.

We’ve had our share of challenges, confusions, conundrums, celebrations, concerts, cinema, cerebral moments, celestial highs and all sorts of other good stuff, and the bad stuff that supports the good stuff.

What has been interesting is how a good relationship actually promotes good things, like eating better ( a little, at least) , home pride, and well.. scheduling.

My life in retail doesn’t promote much planning ahead, since you just can’t rely on it. Schedules change, events that you should have known about months ahead, you don’t.

Now, add in a relationship. A kick ass woman. Who you want to be with.

A lot. She’s your girlfriend, for frell’s sake.

And suddenly you realize why scheduling and planning your life is a good thing. Or at least not a bad thing. Because you can do a better job of catching up with people. Seeing movies. Seeing the friends who are really nice to you even though  you are seeing them less.

Oh, and sleeping. Yes, actually getting stuff done so you can ACTUALLY get to sleep.

Yeah, the whole idea you need some in your life to want to live a better life is just a bit co-dependent.

CODEPENENDANCY ROCKS, MAN! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A bit back i was given for my birthday a history of the Armenian genocide, a biography of Hitler, and The Portrait of Dorian Grey. Yes, i asked my family if they were trying to tell me something or really trying to depress me. I’ve gotten through 2 out of 3. Hitler will just have to wait.

I also recently finished Mao: The Untold Story, or Mao: All The Times He Should Have Been Shot. Hard,

The point is I’ve recently, and historically, read a lot of books about Important People who killed a lot of Less Important People. I’m a lapsed historian, after all. It’s to be expected.

So that’s why I’m hesitant about picking that big Che Guevera bio from a year or two back.  I’m not a big fan of Marxism, Marxist Philosophers , and most  Important Killers. The diff between imp. killers and leaders?

Eye of the beholder. Entirely subjective.

I saw The Motorcycle Diaries, ( Y Tu Mama… was a way better Latin American road trip. And it actually touched on many of the same themes. Just had less of that whole Star Wars Prequel before he was Darth Vader/Che Guevera vibe  ) and the countless t-shirts made by slave labor benefiting la Revolucion in no way what so ever. But I have no idea why I should hold Che higher than the rest of the murderous scumfucks who’ve wasted millions of lives for a philosophy so awful facism was considered an alternative.

Obviously, I’ll get around to it. There’s a Che sized hole in my reading on South American history, and true, I haven’t lived through the crushing poverty that inspires people to revelot for a better life, than follow other people who do everything to destroy everything worth living for.

Hey, I know I’m prejudiced on the subject matter. It’ll be worth seeing if anything shakes that prejudice.

I caught about the last quarter of Obama’s acceptance speech, prompted by a friends twitter. And what I saw was a bit of a shock.

A welcome shock.

Democrats, lefties, pinko liberals shouting USA. Call outs to women.

Hell, a major political candidate speaking out about our gay brothers and sisters in his acceptance speech.

Obama has disappointed me with some backsliding, on off shore drilling, in particular. But if he keeps up an assertive, strong path, if he just keeps strong and not be the passive/aggressive candidate we have so gotten used, just maybe we can pull this off.

And yeah, unabashed patriotism from the Democrats, but an eyes open patriotism…

FEELS DAMN GOOD!

TV has changed for the better these last couple of years. No, really.

Basic Cable has emerged as the best place for new, scripted television. Writers have to show some restraint, while still pushing the envelope. Better still, there are new shows or seasons launching round the calendar. You want something new? Wait a day or two. Somewhere on basic cable, a new show is being born. If it’s any good, there’s a good chance you can get at least two or three seasons out of it,

Unless the show is Blade, it’s on Spike, and it’s so successful in the wrong demos the channel kills it than rather admit chicks might watch your network.

My two favorites of this season? One new, one returning.

The new discovery is ‘The Middleman.’ From tv Show to comic and back, this show is chicken soup for the geek soul. It’s written by geeks, and like Stargate at it’s best, recognizes geeks will watch it, and will be two steps ahead of the writers if they aren’t careful. The acting of the leads is strong and understated, the humor and pathos heartfelt. More importantly, characters grow from episode to episode. Matt Kesslar’s Middleman, while not perfect, really tries to be the hero he thinks he should be. All the same, he’s still learning.

Natalie Morales, she’s just plain fun. They are slowly upping her glam factor… the fact that she can be a full blown hottie as opposed to a major cutie is saved for strategic and appreciated moments… rather than have her turn from temp into uberhero over night.

Ok… she mastered the martial arts overnight, but hell, it is a tv show. It also gets away with entendres and some subject matter you would not expect to see on the former 700 Club channel. Speaking of which, when are you guys at ABC finally going to give Pat Robertson and the cultists the big brush off? Go on, you got better lawyers than he does. Have some fun.

This is a show with a caring heart beating in it’s camp and scifi covered chest. It deserves a long run.

The returnee, well, MADMEN, of course.
There’s been some talk of a Madmen backlash, which I haven’t witnessed firsthand. And I was worried after the first episode. It seemed way too slow, even for Madmen. But things picked up quickly. Don’s struggle to be a good man, however faltering, is compelling. His conversation with his son as in “Three Sunday’s” is heartbreaking.
Never mind the rest of the characters struggles. Peggy’s relationship with Father Gill is something I hope to see more of. Not only is there a nice undercurrent of attraction, but he’s actually helping her as a priest, nudging her towards accepting the child we’ve found has been taken from her custody. I’m not saying we won’t see any grand tragedy later on, but it’s nice to see a good, Catholic priest on TV helping his flock.

While hardly obscure, these are two shows that give me hope for tv,  and gratitude for basic cable.

Oh, and FX? You need a better successor to The Shield than Damages. Get cracking.