Visit: A Tale of Two Movies
Friday, March 11, 2005
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Hey Flash Gordon Fans! Check out A Tale of Two Movies
I created this website which compares scenes from Universal's first Flash Gordon chapter-serial from 1936, and Fox's futuristic flop Just Imagine from 1930. All viewers are invited to write their comments here on my Northern Border blog.
Charity Alert: The Hunger Site pioneered the "clicks for contributions" concept.
Weather: It's trying to rain today, but the short bursts of wind are also raising dust from fields which should be comprised of barely-thawing mud.
In The Community: Another opening, another show -- Buckaroo, Photographs by Kurt Markus at the Hockaday tomorrow, March 10, 2005. Hockaday Museum of Art
Media Watch: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy started out well -- the client lived in a frathouse-style DUMP, with lousy hair, lousy clothes, etc. The fab Five showed him the way to some good changes, but they themselves messed up badly at the end when they went 'way out of bounds slamming the client's house-guest girlfriend. It wasn't funny, wasn't called for, and thankfully isn't common on this otherwise good TV show.
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris is a challenging book.
Even though Religion (with a capital R) isn't responsible for every evil that afflicts our species, there's more than enough criminality sponsored by these Hydra-headed institutions to completely discredit claims of ethical leadership on their part.
Harris tries to postulate a rational basis for ethics in his book, but he's unfortunately correct in saying it's a "nascent science," at best.
I created this website which compares scenes from Universal's first Flash Gordon chapter-serial from 1936, and Fox's futuristic flop Just Imagine from 1930. All viewers are invited to write their comments here on my Northern Border blog.
Charity Alert: The Hunger Site pioneered the "clicks for contributions" concept.
Weather: It's trying to rain today, but the short bursts of wind are also raising dust from fields which should be comprised of barely-thawing mud.
In The Community: Another opening, another show -- Buckaroo, Photographs by Kurt Markus at the Hockaday tomorrow, March 10, 2005. Hockaday Museum of Art
Media Watch: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy started out well -- the client lived in a frathouse-style DUMP, with lousy hair, lousy clothes, etc. The fab Five showed him the way to some good changes, but they themselves messed up badly at the end when they went 'way out of bounds slamming the client's house-guest girlfriend. It wasn't funny, wasn't called for, and thankfully isn't common on this otherwise good TV show.
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris is a challenging book.
Even though Religion (with a capital R) isn't responsible for every evil that afflicts our species, there's more than enough criminality sponsored by these Hydra-headed institutions to completely discredit claims of ethical leadership on their part.
Harris tries to postulate a rational basis for ethics in his book, but he's unfortunately correct in saying it's a "nascent science," at best.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Weather: A fingernail-thin moon was riding low over the southern hills on recent mornings. It almost rained yesterday, but a light dusting of snow fell in the mountains.
Wildlife: Three boatloads of fishing fools drove all the water birds off of the lake, which is still 60% frozen over.
Charity Alert: A few clicks are all you have to do to give!
In The Community: Dr. Richard Stroup at the Honors Symposium was flacking for the Cato Institute and PERS, a "market environmentalist" propaganda organization. His lecture was an unfortunate example of disingenuous special pleading backed with anecdotes instead of evidence.
His point was the Endangered Species Act shouldn't have enforcement mechanisms, because people were angry when forced to obey it. He advocated private, voluntary action on behalf of wildlife as a viable alternative to laws, and had a couple of pleasant stories to tell.
I wish things worked that way all the time, but they don't. The Libertarian Credo of unregulated "Market Forces" ensuring benign activities is a long-discredited fantasy. The collapse of the Grand Bank Fisheries stands as a grim indictment of ideology over facts. Once upon a time this kind of presentation was called Sophistry, and considered bad manners when indulged in by a person who was obviously educated to know what misrepresentations are.
Media Watch: CSPAN is cringing more and more at the feet of the extreme right wing, but In Depth had a refeshing change with Helen Caldicott in the chair last Sunday: In Depth: Dr. Helen Caldicott -- Book TV's guest on the March edition of In Depth. Dr. Caldicott, named one of the most influential women of the 20th century by the Smithsonian Institution, is the author of five books: "Nuclear Madness" (1979), "Missile Envy" (1984), "If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth" (1992), "A Desperate Passion: An Autobiography" (1996), and "The New Nuclear Danger: George Bush's Military Industrial Complex" (2001; revised 2004)
This wonderful lady kept her temper, even when she was under assult by some awfully mean-spirited callers.
I'm reading The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris,thanks to Christy Kabler.
He talked about this book at the University Synagogue in Irvine, California on CSPAN a few weeks ago: Mr. Harris argues that religion plays a major role in the increasingly dangerous world we find ourselves in today. He criticizes the influence of religion in both the United States and across the Muslim world and says that for peace to exist, reason must replace faith as the driving force in society. I've observed that religions corrupt ethics, and manipulate people's emotions in ways that extinguish intelligence. I don't advocate setting aside politeness -- but he has a point that respect for the irrational beliefs of others can be used against well-meaning people.
Wildlife: Three boatloads of fishing fools drove all the water birds off of the lake, which is still 60% frozen over.
Charity Alert: A few clicks are all you have to do to give!
In The Community: Dr. Richard Stroup at the Honors Symposium was flacking for the Cato Institute and PERS, a "market environmentalist" propaganda organization. His lecture was an unfortunate example of disingenuous special pleading backed with anecdotes instead of evidence.
His point was the Endangered Species Act shouldn't have enforcement mechanisms, because people were angry when forced to obey it. He advocated private, voluntary action on behalf of wildlife as a viable alternative to laws, and had a couple of pleasant stories to tell.
I wish things worked that way all the time, but they don't. The Libertarian Credo of unregulated "Market Forces" ensuring benign activities is a long-discredited fantasy. The collapse of the Grand Bank Fisheries stands as a grim indictment of ideology over facts. Once upon a time this kind of presentation was called Sophistry, and considered bad manners when indulged in by a person who was obviously educated to know what misrepresentations are.
Media Watch: CSPAN is cringing more and more at the feet of the extreme right wing, but In Depth had a refeshing change with Helen Caldicott in the chair last Sunday: In Depth: Dr. Helen Caldicott -- Book TV's guest on the March edition of In Depth. Dr. Caldicott, named one of the most influential women of the 20th century by the Smithsonian Institution, is the author of five books: "Nuclear Madness" (1979), "Missile Envy" (1984), "If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth" (1992), "A Desperate Passion: An Autobiography" (1996), and "The New Nuclear Danger: George Bush's Military Industrial Complex" (2001; revised 2004)
This wonderful lady kept her temper, even when she was under assult by some awfully mean-spirited callers.
I'm reading The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris,thanks to Christy Kabler.
He talked about this book at the University Synagogue in Irvine, California on CSPAN a few weeks ago: Mr. Harris argues that religion plays a major role in the increasingly dangerous world we find ourselves in today. He criticizes the influence of religion in both the United States and across the Muslim world and says that for peace to exist, reason must replace faith as the driving force in society. I've observed that religions corrupt ethics, and manipulate people's emotions in ways that extinguish intelligence. I don't advocate setting aside politeness -- but he has a point that respect for the irrational beliefs of others can be used against well-meaning people.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Wildlife: A big crescent moon was shining over the big crescent pond melted out of our de-icing lake, and reflected in its waters. Over a hundred geese and ducks of various species were sleeping on the edge of the rapidly-thinning ice, or swimming about. The log outside our bedroom window is surrounded by water, and attracts the Mallards or Goldeneyes who want to perch for a while. Sweet-singing Redwing Blackbirds are starting to look for nesting areas along the shore.
Weather: A clear blue sky -- nothing but some greasy plumes of smoke from slash fires.
Charity Alert: Clicking helps buy food, books, medicine, and rainforest land -- an easy way to give!
In The Community: On Tuesday night, Flathead Valley Community College's Honors Symposium presented Dr. Scott Wheeler from the U.S. Military Academy lecturing about The Creation of Political Economy in the Western World, and our secular, utilitarian political heritage. Instead of slides and overheads, he used a PowerPoint presentation projected from a laptop computer onto a large screen, and wandered around the room wearing a wireless microphone.
(I set up all that stuff, that's my part in these affairs -- stage manager.)
Scott communicated some important concepts about the U.S. Constitution;
It is easily read in one sitting.
Its writers were committed to NOT failing in their establishment of a "government of laws," so they kept talking until their work was done.
Compromise is not a four-letter word, and neither means bullying nor abnegating ethical principles.
Media Watch: Ya' just can't get away from the Academy Awards! I guess January and February are some kind of "Red Carpet Season." Here's part of Maureen Dowd's take on the fashion aspects (quoted from the NY Times): ...wouldn't you love to hear the Bard on the Oscars? Others found the Oscars boring; I found the show slightly alarming.
I used to worry that women were heading toward one face. Sometimes in affluent settings, like the Oscars or the shoe department at Bergdorf's, you see a bunch of eerily similar women with oddly off-track features - Botox-smoothed Formica foreheads, collagen-protruding lips, surgically narrowed noses, taut jaws - who look like sisters from another planet...
In the future, there will be only one face. And if the Oscars are predictive, there will be only one body - big chest, skinny body - and one style. It was bizarre how actress after actress came out in the same mermaid silhouette: a strapless sheath with a trumpet-flared or ruffled skirt...
In decades past, each top glamour girl aimed for a signature face and measurements, a trademark voice, a unique walk. You never saw Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner showing up in the same dress, or Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe looking like a pair of matching candles.
In some wacky, self-defeating conspiracy, stylists have joined forces with surgeons to homogenize today's actresses so it's hard to tell one from another; the Oscars had a safe, boring, generic look. Top female stars who have had a lot of work done start looking like one another on magazine covers, and being confused for one another at publicity events...
It's the same problem Hollywood has making movies: too much cloning, not enough originality. As Shakespeare wrote of the ultimate glamour girl, Cleopatra: "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." Women have become so fixated on not withering, they've forgotten that there are infinite ways to be beautiful. Dowd knows what being beautiful is about too -- she looks like her picture: Maureen Dowd's Archives (Registration required)
One person who fit the 'mermaid mold' was fellow New Yorker and 'best actress' winner Hillary Swank -- who became famous for being an actor, rather than a 'glamour girl.' The other 'Oscar' for supporting actress went to the excellent Cate Blanchett, who wasn't wearing a 'mermaid' costume, but was decked-out in a more conventionally 'glamourous' way than I normally see her in the media.
Ms. Swank, besides her undeniable talent, also possesses the hyper-pouty, hyper-skinny, hyper-busty features Dowd noted on display Sunday night. Her red-carpet gown hugged every curve on her body, flared over her feet, and dragged along the ground. Her entire back was bare, except where the long skirt began at the edge of her hips. The fabric followed the curves of her gluteus, exposing her lumbo-dorsal fascia almost to the "oops" point. Other actresses looked outright comical wearing variations on this theme, and I'm afraid this particular 'look' diminished the dignity of everyone who was draped in it.
Weather: A clear blue sky -- nothing but some greasy plumes of smoke from slash fires.
Charity Alert: Clicking helps buy food, books, medicine, and rainforest land -- an easy way to give!
In The Community: On Tuesday night, Flathead Valley Community College's Honors Symposium presented Dr. Scott Wheeler from the U.S. Military Academy lecturing about The Creation of Political Economy in the Western World, and our secular, utilitarian political heritage. Instead of slides and overheads, he used a PowerPoint presentation projected from a laptop computer onto a large screen, and wandered around the room wearing a wireless microphone.
(I set up all that stuff, that's my part in these affairs -- stage manager.)
Scott communicated some important concepts about the U.S. Constitution;
It is easily read in one sitting.
Its writers were committed to NOT failing in their establishment of a "government of laws," so they kept talking until their work was done.
Compromise is not a four-letter word, and neither means bullying nor abnegating ethical principles.
Media Watch: Ya' just can't get away from the Academy Awards! I guess January and February are some kind of "Red Carpet Season." Here's part of Maureen Dowd's take on the fashion aspects (quoted from the NY Times): ...wouldn't you love to hear the Bard on the Oscars? Others found the Oscars boring; I found the show slightly alarming.
I used to worry that women were heading toward one face. Sometimes in affluent settings, like the Oscars or the shoe department at Bergdorf's, you see a bunch of eerily similar women with oddly off-track features - Botox-smoothed Formica foreheads, collagen-protruding lips, surgically narrowed noses, taut jaws - who look like sisters from another planet...
In the future, there will be only one face. And if the Oscars are predictive, there will be only one body - big chest, skinny body - and one style. It was bizarre how actress after actress came out in the same mermaid silhouette: a strapless sheath with a trumpet-flared or ruffled skirt...
In decades past, each top glamour girl aimed for a signature face and measurements, a trademark voice, a unique walk. You never saw Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner showing up in the same dress, or Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe looking like a pair of matching candles.
In some wacky, self-defeating conspiracy, stylists have joined forces with surgeons to homogenize today's actresses so it's hard to tell one from another; the Oscars had a safe, boring, generic look. Top female stars who have had a lot of work done start looking like one another on magazine covers, and being confused for one another at publicity events...
It's the same problem Hollywood has making movies: too much cloning, not enough originality. As Shakespeare wrote of the ultimate glamour girl, Cleopatra: "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." Women have become so fixated on not withering, they've forgotten that there are infinite ways to be beautiful. Dowd knows what being beautiful is about too -- she looks like her picture: Maureen Dowd's Archives (Registration required)
One person who fit the 'mermaid mold' was fellow New Yorker and 'best actress' winner Hillary Swank -- who became famous for being an actor, rather than a 'glamour girl.' The other 'Oscar' for supporting actress went to the excellent Cate Blanchett, who wasn't wearing a 'mermaid' costume, but was decked-out in a more conventionally 'glamourous' way than I normally see her in the media.
Ms. Swank, besides her undeniable talent, also possesses the hyper-pouty, hyper-skinny, hyper-busty features Dowd noted on display Sunday night. Her red-carpet gown hugged every curve on her body, flared over her feet, and dragged along the ground. Her entire back was bare, except where the long skirt began at the edge of her hips. The fabric followed the curves of her gluteus, exposing her lumbo-dorsal fascia almost to the "oops" point. Other actresses looked outright comical wearing variations on this theme, and I'm afraid this particular 'look' diminished the dignity of everyone who was draped in it.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Weather: March 1 -- in like a lion? More like a kitten -- its cloudy, but warm and dry.
Wildlife: About a hundred Canada Geese set down at a time on the open water in our lake during the day. They raise their voices loudly when eagles swoop over the scene, and fly away in the late afternoon.
Charity Alert: I include these six sites on this blog to encourage everyone, including myself, to visit them and click -- The Rain Forest Site
Media Watch: Nope, didn't see the Academy Awards, although it looks like Joan Rivers and her daughter will re-run the "Red Carpet" all week on the TV Guide Channel. We are watching the Jeopardy tournament to see who'll get to face Ken Jennings at the end of it -- the questions are actually hard sometimes! Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has had some interesting shows -- including one pretty stubborn client.
In the Community: Tomorrow we start the Honors Symposium -- a series of lectures by people who know the world at large. Our first speaker is Dr. Scott Wheeler, who will introduce the concept of "Political Economy" to the audience. The "unseen hand of the marketplace" is a pickpocket. Governing institutions and individuals in a society have the greatest effects on that society's prosperity. Later on we'll have T.R. Ried talking about The United States of Europe. I'm stage-managing these events for the next two months.
Wildlife: About a hundred Canada Geese set down at a time on the open water in our lake during the day. They raise their voices loudly when eagles swoop over the scene, and fly away in the late afternoon.
Charity Alert: I include these six sites on this blog to encourage everyone, including myself, to visit them and click -- The Rain Forest Site
Media Watch: Nope, didn't see the Academy Awards, although it looks like Joan Rivers and her daughter will re-run the "Red Carpet" all week on the TV Guide Channel. We are watching the Jeopardy tournament to see who'll get to face Ken Jennings at the end of it -- the questions are actually hard sometimes! Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has had some interesting shows -- including one pretty stubborn client.
In the Community: Tomorrow we start the Honors Symposium -- a series of lectures by people who know the world at large. Our first speaker is Dr. Scott Wheeler, who will introduce the concept of "Political Economy" to the audience. The "unseen hand of the marketplace" is a pickpocket. Governing institutions and individuals in a society have the greatest effects on that society's prosperity. Later on we'll have T.R. Ried talking about The United States of Europe. I'm stage-managing these events for the next two months.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Wildlife: The aereation pond has melted all the way to the east shore of Middle Foy's Lake. We are been visited by dozens of migrating Canadian Geese. The eagles stll hold court at the west side.
Weather: Snowpack is 60% of normal, and there's been a drought going on for about seven years. Enjoy another nice day!
Charity Alert: The Animal Rescue Site and five other charities will get some help if you just click!
Blog News: A reader from here in Kalispell, named Courtney, wrote a comment -- thanks, it's nice to know that these notes are read by somebody. Stand by Michael Gold, I'm getting some things ready for you, and the other Flash Gordon fans.
Media Watch: I finished The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. There are better mystery authors around -- like P.D. James, Sue Grafton, and Marcia Muller. There's been a crop of related books cashing-in on the tide of DaVinci's popularity. Some of them are "debunkers." Well and good, but wading through the historical rubbish in that silly pot-boiler is like conducting a guided tour of a landfill. Mark Twain's Prince and the Pauper is a better tall tale.
Weather: Snowpack is 60% of normal, and there's been a drought going on for about seven years. Enjoy another nice day!
Charity Alert: The Animal Rescue Site and five other charities will get some help if you just click!
Blog News: A reader from here in Kalispell, named Courtney, wrote a comment -- thanks, it's nice to know that these notes are read by somebody. Stand by Michael Gold, I'm getting some things ready for you, and the other Flash Gordon fans.
Media Watch: I finished The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. There are better mystery authors around -- like P.D. James, Sue Grafton, and Marcia Muller. There's been a crop of related books cashing-in on the tide of DaVinci's popularity. Some of them are "debunkers." Well and good, but wading through the historical rubbish in that silly pot-boiler is like conducting a guided tour of a landfill. Mark Twain's Prince and the Pauper is a better tall tale.
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