Thursday, August 30, 2012

Mitt Romney Can Speak

Well, that was a surprise. His acceptance speech was in turns emotional, powerful, and presidential. Honestly, I did not expect this out of him, but it looks like Ryan’s pushing him to be himself has paid off.

I did not plan to watch any of the convention live, but my father wanted to check it out and PBS had it live. It was the testimonials by people who knew Romney when he was a bishop that changed the mood of the entire convention. Extraordinarily emotional and given by everyday people rather than politicians, the bored and barely polite delegates got teary eyed. For the first time, Mitt the real man was revealed to the surprise of the people.

Reaction on the conservative and libertarian side of the Net followed the same pattern. The whole night of speakers were very effective at conveying the Mitt Romney they know and included a liberal Democrat who served in his administration in Massachusetts. Her heartfelt endorsement of Mitt’s authenticity and goodness really was a special moment.

The Olympic medalists were a surprise and quite good too. It was good to see Scott Hamilton up there.

Clint Eastwood channeled a mix of Don Rickles and Bob Newhart in a devastating comic routine involving talking to Obama in an empty chair. Strange at first, it turned into something amazing by the end.

Rubio was smooth and impressive introducing Romney. I can see why great things are expected for him.

But it was Mitt’s make or break moment and he was incredible. Where has this man been the whole campaign? Absolutely tremendous speech and hard hitting on Obama’s short comings made even more impressive by the fact he writes his own speeches.
I think this is the real beginning of the campaign.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Bleach Ep. 18: Reclaim! The Power of the Shinigami!

That classic trope of shounen anime has arrived: the dreaded training story arc. But do not expect the normal kind of training, for the mysterious Urahara has rather… unorthodox methods. Stripped of his spiritual power, can Ichigo get it back in time to rescue Rukia from Soul Society?

Bleach1 Main Title

Bleach 18 Title

Few episodes in Bleach veer so radically between comedy and seriousness as this one. There were times I felt I was suffering mental whiplash, but it certainly is not a boring entry in the series. With Ichigo accepting the offer from Urahara to get his powers back at the end of the last episode, it was pretty obvious we would get a mini-arc with a power up at the end of it. Oh how I dreaded it when first watching the show -- for they are the most boring things in anime to me.

Bleach 18 Ichigo BroodsBleach 18 Memory of Rukia Fades

Returning to school for the first time since Rukia was taken back to Soul Society, Ichigo broods constantly about her absence. Nobody else remembers her at all, which compounds the pain he feels. She haunts him to the point he visualizes her fading away like a ghost, which manages to inject some poignancy into the midst of the slapstick comedy involving his classmates.

Monday, August 27, 2012

In Defense of Fantasy and Sci-Fi B-Movies

In which I opine on the merits of B-movies of yesteryear, their decline, and how they haven’t really gone extinct.

Being a child of the 1970s, I was fortunate to grow up during a transitional period in cinema and before VCRs (along with cable television) changed how we see movies. The only places to see movies were at the theater and on broadcast, so a lot of very old movies were my main diet. Hey, movie tickets cost money even at the third run small town theater. Unlike other kids, it was rare to go out to see a badly faded and scratched print.

B Movies 01 War of the WorldsB Movies 02 War of the Worlds

So I got to watch the badly faded and scratched prints cropped to television box format via the miracle of pan and scan. Most of the movies were much older than I was, so black and white flicks were watched nearly as much as color. Do not get me started on Ted Turner’s colorizing old films in the 1980s. The words “brain dead” would be the beginning of the rant which would veer into zombie killing at some point.

So what is a B-movie?

Hate: A Challenging Dream

An attempt to sleep in resulted in one odd dream that ended on a strange note and a profound question. Part of my ongoing series Hate.

Awaking and going back to sleep rarely results in memorable dreams for me. This is not the case this morning. It started as an odd jumble involving a look at the next Captain America film in a sociopolitical context at a nearby Catholic college presentation open to the public. In the dream, I was sick and bundled in a blanket in a front row seat.

The female professor making the presentation was very liberal and very much about being in control of the discussion. We watched a clip and then she asked a question that had absolutely nothing to do with what we had just watched. Tedious conversation followed.

At that point I was losing interest in the whole thing, since it appeared to be a waste of time and I felt lousy. I saw a friend sitting several rows in front of me and we waved to each other. Yes, I was sitting in the front row and suddenly there were rows in front of me. One has to love the ability of dreams to be completely inconsistent.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

If I only Had a Brain


I have had this going through my head for a good part of the day. Why? Because I have been addled at best today. The early morning hours were not kind to me from overdoing things, so I did not make it to church. Trying to work on the post I started earlier this week turned into an ordeal and that is when this tune began to play in my head. Good thing, because it needed to be filled with something.

At least I found an old MP3 player to use as a Sunday only one. Where the good one went, I do not know. Also, I did work on changing the look of the site. Hopefully it is a bit more presentable now.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Health 8-25-2012

Well, that was not a good week. Gastrointestinal distress, high pain levels, and interrupted sleep contributed to keeping me at low ebb. I barely was able to start a rather large post and never did get back to finishing it. Chores around the house suffered the same fate.

It is pretty clear I overextended myself by making a shopping trip on Monday. There are no regrets, since badly needed items were gotten and the piper always has to be paid. Hopefully next week will be better.

Now to see if my shoe repairs worked this time around!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Headlines: Shootings and Armstrong Is a Doper

Early reports of three to four dead near the Empire State Building in New York City with the gunman dead. Like I have written before, I expect to see a lot more of this as society slowly comes apart at the seams. Too many economic and social pressures are causing marginally stable people to crack.

Meanwhile, Anders Breivik gets twenty one years for killing seventy seven people in Norway. He is eligible for early release in a mere decade. Way to protect your public, Norway!

The other big story is that Lance Armstrong quit defending himself and has been found guilty of doping. All seven Tour de France titles have been stripped from him. It puzzles me that people did not believe he was doping when that sport is completely dishonest. Frankly, all sports are populated by cheaters and dopers now and are not worth following. Certainly, the athletes should not be made heroes at this point, but the masses are desperate for secular gods.