Impolite Company

No Power in the 'Verse Can Stop Me

Been getting too heavy with all the Bible talk and the Hasidic talk and the begging for money and what-have-you.  Time for some fun.  This is one of my favorite scenes from Firefly (the first time I watched the series it was okay but I'm liking it more and more as I go along):

Go to the other side of the fold to get to The Champagne Room (Fair Warning:  nothing on the other side of the fold is safe for work.  And if you don't like cussin', it's not safe for you anywhere).

The Ominousness

DailyKos is this Fox advertisement as evidence that they're adding "accurate" to their "Fair & Balanced" catch-phrase as an attempt to reassure viewers that they are accurate, DailyKos:  Fox Adds "Accurate" to "Fair & Balanced" Slogan:

Although it’s obvious that Fox has no intention of dropping its right-wing, pro-GOP agenda, the shift in slogans does suggest the network is playing a bit of defense among its own viewership in an attempt to bolster its credibility.

Eh, I'm not really buying it but I am a little taken aback by the unabashedly apocalyptic feel to the ad.  I think I've been away from cable tv too long and am no longer desensitized to the sensationalism:

Just a quick note, there's been a lot of sensationalism on the left, particularly amongst some of the sustainability folks about a connection between swine flu and factory farming.  I'm still not seeing anything more than speculative links and while I'm not a fan of CAFO's in general, I don't like this line of attack as it is far from substantiated and takes attention away from the genuine problems (some of which do have to do with serious health dangers to the animals and overloading the ecosystem with antibiotics):  Factory Farms and Swine Flue:  A Food System that Kills.

Mad Funny v. Mad Money

Editorially Insert:  I'm only now watching it and this is an incredibly good, earnest interview.  You can see Cramer's shame for some of the things he's done and Stewart's populist anger.  Please watch this.

Jim Cramer and Jon Stewart go head to head after lots of build up, lots of sniping.  The Chicago Tribune hyped it this way, Cramer vs. Stewart:  Rock 'Em Sock 'Em:

In one corner, Jim Cramer, CNBC’s“Mad Money” host, known for his wild swings and apparent failure to take Ritalin. In the other, Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, whose favorite punch is the undercut. The two have been feuding over just how bullish Cramer was on the Bear Stearns firm, right before it collapsed last year.

You can see the whole show here or you can just jump to about the six minute mark to get to the Cramer portion of the show:

Cocaine's A Helluva Drug

Every once in a while something will snap in my head and I'll have to go find Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories (Rick James) from Chappelle's Show and watch it.  And I've probably posted it around here before too but I can't resist.  I never watched the show all that much but this shit almost makes me cry it's so funny (4:37):

Chappelle's Show

Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories - Rick James, Pt 2

Charlie Murphy Videos
Buy Chappelle's Show DVDs

Black Comedy
True Hollywood Story

Your Source for News on Economics--Not Economists

If you were running a news outlet that wanted to get across the facts about some topic, you'd likely go to a reputable source, right?  If you wanted to learn about DNA you'd go to a respected scientist, not a lab technician from a testing facility in Houston; if you wanted to learn about college basketball you'd talk to Dean Smith rather than some guy holding down the bar at Hooters.  So who would you go to to learn about the economic situation and the stimulus plan?  Well, apparently news agencies veer away from the tried-and-true ask the expert method when it comes to economics.  Only six percent of the commentators on the Sunday shows and cable politi-yack shows were economists over a three week period at the end of January and the beginning of February.  No wonder The Shouters tend to be a little bit off in their analysis. 

Just so you know, this is from a Media Matters study and you're welcome to discount it because of that, but though they do lean left, they are very good and presenting solid evidence to back up their contentions, Economists Comprised Only 6 Percent of Guest Appearances Discussing Stimulus on Cable News, Sunday Shows.  It has charts and stuff:

Summary: A Media Matters review of the Sunday talk shows and 12 cable news programs from January 25 through February 15 found that during 203 hours of programming on Sunday mornings and weekday afternoons and evenings, only 41 of 722 total guest appearances in discussions about the economic recovery legislation and debate in Congress, were made by economists -- a mere 6 percent. The review is an update of a Media Matters study released February 11 that found that from January 25 through February 8, only 5 percent of the total guest appearances that included discussions of the recovery plan were made by economists.

Confirming My Dork Bona Fides

I've done some good work in this area lately, by looking at a lot of science blogs, posting about science stuff, but mainly by watching the first two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer via Hulu.com.  However, having watched a good chunk of Buffy and after having watched the first two meh episodes of Dollhouse, I decided I needed to round out my Whedonverse experience and so I've been watching the first (oh, wait, the ONLY) season of Firefly.  A western set in outer space.  With a very cheesy theme song.  And some very Univision-looking graphics on the intro.  And I swear-to-god that the biggest thing that's kept me from checking it out before now was the name.  Firefly.  Doesn't make me think of gunfights at the Omega Kappa Corral.  Oh yeah, and it has masses of rabid fans who are still angry it got cancelled:  Brown Coats.

Despite all that, I do think it's pretty good--decent characters in situations that cause them to stretch and reveal themselves.  Some decent romantic-interest-possible-conflicts-a-building.  Oh, and bar fights.  Can't have a decent show without the occasional bar fight.  Seems to me that the fine people at Fox, where I think the show originally played, must have just dicked them over when it came to funding and stuck them with some pretty third rate atmospherics, though the special effects aren't that bad for TV.

The Rachel Maddow Craze

People love Rachel Maddow.  Friends wonkily swoon over her.  Hell, I swoon over her and have her on my podcast feed, though I rarely listen to her because I'm just not into the podcast thing.  She's smart, quick on her feet, creative and tosses just the right amount of snark around when it's called for.  There's a cool AlterNet piece on her today, Rachel Maddow's Amazing Rise from Geek to Big-time Cable News Host:

Suddenly on the net everyone was talking about their new girl crush. Here was someone on television with whom they connected; who, in the cosy familiarity that comes from being on screen five nights a week, they imagined that they could be friends with. They liked the fact that she can mix a mean cocktail, never shops for clothes and is more interested in her pick-up truck than lunchtime Botox injections. "My husband is in love with Rachel Maddow, I am in love with Rachel Maddow, my eight-year-old son is in love with Rachel Maddow," gushed one girl fan. Gay, straight, parents, teenagers, rabbis, Republicans: everyone, it seems, was smitten. One enterprising site began selling "Why I'm Gay For Rachel" T-shirts. As one commentator on Salon remarked: if the election campaign was indicating that America could be proved post-racial, maybe it could be post-gay too.

Ugh, the Final Insult

Most of us have our qualms with the Bush Administration, some of us more than others.  An extracurricular war, incompetence in the face of natural disasters, erosion of civil liberties, lack of candor--take your pick, there are plenty of areas for you to feel qualmy about.  Last night was the last straw.

As I frequently allude to on these pages, I play dominoes on Thursday nights (special note to evil-doers--I keep the doors locked and the alarm armed during these brief absences).  I also like to watch the TV show Bones, which over the winter moved its digs from Wednesday night to Thursday night.  No biggie, that's why God invented Hulu.  Last night was to be the first new episode of 2009 and I just trundled over to Hulu to see if it was ready for viewing.  It wasn't there.  So I went over to Foxland to the show's website and saw they had put off the new episode till next week because of Pres. Bush's valedictory address.  Drat and damnation, I'll have to wait till next week, though they are sandwiching two new epidsodes into one night, which I guess is okay but doesn't make up for last night or reduce my bitterness. 

When Life Imitates Buffy

Yup, I'm talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer.   For years I have put off the inevitable by not watching Buffy, delaying the full embrace of my dorkiness and failing to realize that by doing so, I'm not fooling anyone.  So I've been slowly working through the first season via the generosity of the fine people over at Hulu.com--they've got the first two seasons you can watch for free online with limited commercial interruption--something like four thirty second breaks per 45 minute episode.  So that's all cool--it's been a lot of fun so far, I'm about halfway through the first season and the chemistry between the actors is starting to gel.

Yesterday I was running through the international news on The Feed Demon (okay, I keep going on and on about The Demon--you can meet him here:  Best RSS News Aggregator) and a story popped up about a woman taking her daughter's identity, returning to high school and becoming a cheerleader.  I won't speculate on why I learned about it via The Times Online of London (don't they have better things to talk about?) but it caught my eye because I'd just watched a Buffy episode a few days before with the same basic plot.  Well, except that she was a witch and she switched bodies with her daughter and cast evil, wicked spells on her competitors to make sure she made the squad.  So, here's the news story Wendy Brown Poses as Daughter to Become Cheerleader:

Wendy Brown had the mini-skirt, the pom-poms, and the pool party lifestyle. As far as her teachers were concerned, she was an all-American cheerleader. There was only one small problem: she was 20 years too old to be in high school.

In fact, the 34-year-old fraudster was old enough to have a teenage daughter of her own. The girl lived in another state, and it was her identity that the mother stole to fool the education authorities in the town of Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin (population: 17,000).

And here's the entire Buffy episode (The Witch):

Spring Break--Northern Exposure

Last year a friend of mine gave me the complete set of Northern Exposure DVD's and a finer gift I could not imagine.  Over the last few months I've been watching a bit of "Numb3rs", a CBS series that features Rob Morrow (Dr. Joel Fleischman) in one of the major roles.  I find his role as an FBI agent very undeveloped and nowhere near as fun as Joel, but I think that was probably the role of a lifetime for him. 

I don't know if it's because of Numb3rs or just some things I've recently read about the end of winter, but I've been thinking about the Spring Break episode of N.E. in which everyone goes a little nuts in anticipation of the cracking of the ice and the coming of spring in Cicely, Alaska.  So I just finished watching it and it's as good as I remember it.  Here are a couple of clips from it, first it's sex-starved Dr. Fleischman's Robert Palmer influenced dream (2 minutes):

And then, the Cicely, Alaska version of the running of the bulls (2:30 "If We All Go Insane"):

A Colbert Christmas

Very, very funny.

PBS's Nova Throws Reputation out the Window

Tonight on Nova, the PBS show is giving up all pretense of respectability by handing over the reins to Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, the Italian mechanics of Car Talk fame.  That might be overselling the case a little bit but tonight's show is the the car of the future and whether it's already here.  They'll be exploring new technologies and the search for greater efficiencies for the old school internal combustion engine.  Unfortunately, they'll be in some conflict with the PA primary but if this Hobson's choice leaves you watching things more political, relax.  You can always watch it online sometime later.  MSNBC's Cosmic Log talks about the show here:  A Plug for your Future Car.  Here's the Nova page about it:  Car of the Future.  And, for those of you who want their info via the moving picture, here's the Youtube trailer:

(and even though Carl Kasell blinks and has no idea what I'm talking about when I tell him this, this is Impolite Company)

"Bush's War"

    Usually, The Television is a distraction at best.  Sure, watching a show about a 20-year old Grim Reaper recapturing evil souls that have escaped from Hell is fun but it may not have that much redeeming value.  The many-headed hydra that is the CSI Franchise doesn't help me understand the world, though it does raise a few questions (yes, the whole "do forensic scientists always flaunt their cleavage" question and related silliness).  Last night was part two of some really good television--the rebroadcast of the Frontline PBS show, Bush's War.  Part one was about 9/11, Afghanistan and the lead-up to war in Iraq.  Part two opens with Shock and Awe.

It's All Good

    In my ongoing attempt to remind people that they can still get the good stuff, even if they don't have The Cablevision, I bring you a tasty little morsel from The Daily Show:

Fox is Fairest of Them All

    Hillary Clinton supporter and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell recently said that Fox News has done "a balanced job" in covering the Democratic nomination fight between Obama and Clinton.  In making this statement, he did kiddingly say that "you hate both of our candidates" but, unwittingly, he put his finger on the crux of the matter with that statement.  The good people at Fox know that the longer the nomination is up in the air, the more Democratic self-laceration and tasty sound-bites they're going to get out of the process.  Presenting the battle as a toss-up or as a neck-and-neck race ignores the reality that Clinton has a huge (nigh on impossible) fight to overcome Obama's lead.  It's like presenting both sides of the Global Warming Debate and saying that's a fair presentation.  Here's Rendell in action on Fox:

Frontline Two-Part Special: Bush's War

From our free advertising department:

Now, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the full saga unfolds in the two-part FRONTLINE special Bush's War, airing Monday, March 24, from 9 to 11:30 P.M. and Tuesday, March 25, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings). Veteran producer Michael Kirk (The Torture Question, The Dark Side) draws on one of the richest archives in broadcast journalism -- more than 40 FRONTLINE reports on the war on terror. Combined with fresh reporting and new interviews, Bush's War will be the definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation's history.

The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow

    I just watched the most extraordinary little documentary about Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become legendary for her ability to understand the way animals think and behave.  Her expertise has revolutionized the cattle industry as a business and as a more compassionate way of raising and slaughtering animals.  It explores a little bit of her childhood, how psychiatrists viewed autism back in the 50's and then how the medical establishment's view of autism was turned on its ear.  More than anything, Temple was a delight to watch and I kept finding myself smiling my head off at how beautiful she is.  I'll copy the BBC summary on the other side of the fold but if you get a chance watch this!

Adult-sized Fun with Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel

A while back I saw a video starring Sarah Silverman--a fun little song entitled, "I'm Fucking Matt Damon."  Well, her boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel has struck back with his own video, "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck."  I think that Jimmy wins--he goes Live Aid on her ass.  Both videos are on the other side of the break, so continue reading!

Perfect Christmas Gift

My good friend Mark Baker, currently tucked away in Seattle with his two little girls and lovely wife, recently sent me the best Christmas gift I've gotten in quite some time--the Complete Northern Exposure.  Now, I haven't watched this show in years, but when I lived with him in Dayton, OH I would traipse out every week to watch it with friends. Granted, I also watched Melrose Place with those same friends, but I was young and I had occasional lapses in taste. I'm almost finished with Season 2 and I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying it, how exquisite it is (though I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to the arrival of Mike the Bubble Boy in later episodes and other indications of general decline). Quirky, well-written, with great characters, these first two seasons have been great. If anyone among my usual cohorts has any interest in borrowing, feel free to ask.

As a tribute to a great show and a great friend, I give you The Fling (boy, that Chris sure loves to talk, doesn't he?):