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Audio: Interviews, Discussion Groups, and My Blog Work Ethic
The Movie Forums
I try to browse the movie messageboards on the regular to find interesting conversation. It's really one of the few ways that a regular guy can engage in serious movie chat. My personal preference would be to participate in these type of get-togethers in the REAL world. I even tried to start my own cinema club at one time, but it never got off the ground. I managed to bounce some of my ideas off a few people. They seemed interested, but it hard to get people to do anything constructive. It's weird. Everybody loves talking about their favorite movies. Why say no to cinema clubs??
The best of the current cinema talk on the web
Godard's 1995 Telegram?
By VivekAnand - The New York Critics' Circle was going to honour Godard in 1995, but he refused to attend the ceremony faxing a message to them citing various reasons for his failure, attacking a number of people like Spielberg, Kubrick, Bill Gates, etc. Does anyone know all the details? Can the list of reasons/complaints be found anywhere? Thanks.
Did you ever like a movie more than the book it was based upon?
Movies You Like That Star Actors You Don't
Your Unpopular Film Opinions
By - Strange_resolve - Like something most people don't? Dislike something most seem to love? Please share, even if just for the sake of venting.
Best DVD Commentary
Worst DVD Commentary
DNC 2004 - Protest Live from Stalag 617
To place protestors in such an inconveniently assembled place is an affront to democracy. Predictably they use the magic buzz word security to justify such a terrible treatment of people who are just trying to exercise their rights as Americans.Who is the site supervisor - Colonel Klink? Klink: Hogan!!! Put down that anti-Kerry sign immediately! Scultz, take this man to the cooler!
Sergeant Scultz: Jawohl, herr Commandant! Mach schnell! Rouse, rouse!
Protestor: Why does he insist on calling me Hogan? And is it really necessary for me to be sent to the cooler? I'm a Harvard grad for Pete's sake!
Sergeant Schultz: No-no-no. Absolutely no questions! I know NOTHING! NOTHING! Isn't our democracy grand? :-(
Ralph Nader: On Check Cashing
Ralph Nader is a smart man, but you sometimes wonder if his quest for the Presidency gets into the way of his activism. If this recent article on low income Citizen-owned Development Credit Unions is any indication his heart is still in the right place. The argument he's putting forward makes sense. Market forces have a tendency to take advantage of poor people. Why not put the decision making back in the hands of the people themselves? The predatory behavior of the cash checking establishments that are so prevalent in poor communities is a clear detriment to their well being. They become the crucial link in the interlocking web of ghetto businesses - standing side-by-side with pawn shops, cheap take out, $5 strip clubs, drug dealers, and street urchins. Welcome to the neighborhood.
Israel's Bedouins
I've been against many of the polices of the state of Israel for some time. For myself it's a question of democracy - how can a country claim to be representative when by its very nature it excludes groups who have an equal claim to the land. The plight of the Bedouins of Israel underscores the point I'm trying to make. Israel is a land of many faiths - but by enacting policies that are detrimental to the lives of its non-Jewish citizens it practices a form of tyranny. It seems that it's becoming more necessary for Israel to practice apartheid. With each year I would imagine that the religious and ethnic population becomes more diverse. Instead of welcoming these developments there are many who dread them. They will use any trick to maintain the illusion of one people, one state, and one religion. Imagine an Israel that would welcome the election of an Arab Prime-Minister. There are hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens of Israel. Who champions their voice in the Knesset? This isn't just an Israel problem. How many Arab elected official are in France? In the rest of Europe? In the United States? The West has helped to draw the battle lines. But from watching TV you would think this was all the doing of one man hiding in a cave in Afghanistan. Instead of outlawing veils, and beards the West would do better to welcome Arabs into the fold. But the only response they are prepared to give is a violent one. The sinisterly funny thing is this violence can sprout out of a wish to assist, or as an act of revenge. Either way the results are the same. Thousands of dead Arabs. But the story doesn't just stop there. When will the Arab World began to show some tolerance? What is the necessity of having an official religion when your people are so overwhelming Islamic? Would having a Christian or Jewish PM be a threat to faith of the majority? Surely their faith isn't that fragile. Is the best that the large Christian minorities of Egypt, Syria, or Iraq can hope for is second class citizenship? But to be fair I suppose that the first class of these countries don't have it that good either. There is enough misery to go around.
I want to do a Rip Van Winkle - and awake to a world of new wonderful things. Headlines 2025:
Israeli PM goes on Hajj, Welcomed by Saudi PM Rabbi Saul Shalom
Coptic Christian head of Egypt attends multi-denominational Christian conference in Rome
Audio: DNC 2004, The Clintons, Judge Mathis, and My New Used Books
My Noam Chomsky Dream
I had a dream about Noam Chomsky about two days ago - the beginning of
the dream has faded with the passing of time - what I do remember is
that I was in search of documents, or magazines articles, at a local
university - it was a real wild goose chase - I went all around the
building - up flights of stairs - down hallways - and backrooms -
apparently my directions weren't that good - I think that I received
them from a professor of some sort - finally I meet up again with the
same professor and he tells me in which office the documents are located
- they were in comic book boxes - I think in this portion of the dream
the documents actual became comic books - I have a vague remembrance of
many colorful covers. At any rate I had now found what I was looking for
- so I left for Chomsky's house - in my dream Chomsky lived in this huge
mansion downtown - I seemed to have been there before - I think the
Chomsky dream was a recuring theme from the night before - I also went
to his house in that dream - but my recollection of actually having that
dream is hazy - but in the dream world things were more clear.
There are two ways to enter Chomksy's house - you can enter through the
front door - or by scaling this huge ladder that takes you to his
personal office. - As I approach the house there was a cute girl with
glasses who was walking towards the front of the house - I chose to use
the ladder - I seemed to remember a feeling of privilege since I knew
the way to reach Chomsky directly and she didn't - Why go to the front
if you can meet up with him in his office? I scaled up to the window -
climbed in - and then knocked on his office door - Chomsky wasn't there
- so climbed back down the ladder and entered his house through the
front door - walking through the door you enter a parlor - beyond the
parlor the floor drops - and there is this huge auditorium - on this day
there was some sort conference going on - in the parlor there are a few
people standing about - including the cute chick I say earlier - also in
the parlor was Noam - he's listening to the discussion going on in the
auditorium and greeting the parlor guests - he sees me and comes over -
he greets me and ask me if I'm enjoying the conference - I reply yes and
then I pull out the documents that I brought - it seems that Noam and I
had a discussion about some issue the previous day and I brought the
documents as a follow up - at first Noam doesn't remember, but then it
all rushes back and he slaps himself against the head for being so
forgetful - I tell him not to worry - I know he's busy and couldn't
possibly remember every single detail of the many conversation that he
has in a single day - I then began to think that possibly I had over
stepped my bounds - the documents weren't really that important - and it
was unrealistic of me to think that Noam would have the time to
seriously look them over.
At about this time I woke up.
Strom Thurmond: BIGOT; Essie Mae Washington: DISGRACE
Having just watched the rerun of 60 minutes' segment on Strom Thurmond
and his secret Black daughter of some 70 years, Essie Mae Washington, I
have one reaction - complete revulsion - revulsion at Thurmond and his
bigoted political career - at 60 minutes for taking such a light weight
stand on the issue - and at Essie Mae's simple minded interview - Essie
it's time to wake up - He didn't love you! That is the reason he never
publicly acknowledged your existence - He didn't love you! That is the
reason he spent his entire early political career beating the drum of
segregation - He didn't love you! That is the reason why you had to wait
until his death to tell the public your story - I repeat - HE DIDN'T
LOVE YOU!
It was truly sad to see this woman on national television trying to
pretend that her 'fatherly' relationship with Thurmond was completely
normal. The extent of this normalcy seemed to be the occasional
conversation - The daughter asking simple questions and then accepting
Thurmond's even more simple answers - Thurmond showed his contempt for
this woman every time he denounced integration in front of the world -
despite his feeble attempts to acknowledge Essie Mae in private - in
public he was a dangerous racist - I'm sure that he hated Essie Mae and
regretted her very existence - How many times did he entertain this
thought - that the money he gave for Essie Mae's education would have
been much better suited if it had been used years ago to abort Essie -
problem solved - no more skeletons in the closet.
Has Essie ever asked herself - If Thurmond had changed his stance
towards blacks, if North Carolina had chanced, and the if entire nation
had changed - why did the secret have to remain a secret? Surely he was
ready to admit he was the father of a biracial daughter. Essie is
delusional - and Thurmond was still a hatful bigot and a hypocrite -
Satisfying his lust for a Black woman, while still screaming for a
segregated society.
And now his biracial daughter wants to join the Daughters of the
Confederacy! I finally think I understand you, Essie. You're are filled
with self hate and embarrassment. The hole in your heart can only be
filled by a belief in your father's love, and by receiving acceptance
from those who shared his beliefs. Essie - You are the worst type of
sell-out.
I've really fallen behind in my reading - this a completely shameful
state of affairs for me since I currently possess a number of books that
I should be looking over - Such as: "A History of the French New Wave"
by Richard Neuport - "Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent" - by Robert F.
Barsky - "Jules and Jim" by Francois Truffaut - "Breathless" by Jean-Luc
Godard - "Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film" by Erik
Barnouw - "Troubled Sleep" by Jean-Paul Sartre - "the Left Hand of
Darkness" by Ursula K. Leguin - "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt -
"Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison - "The Affluent Society" by John
Kenneth Galbrait - "Native Son" by Richard Wright - "Burmese Days" by
George Orwell- and so on - I have an incredibly bad habit of purchasing
more books than I could possibly read - it's all the more difficult
since I don't read as much as I should - hopefully by putting my book
list on the blog I can shame myself into making a greater effort.
Movies have taken up a great deal of my recent attention - some old -
some new - I'll go over the titles in another post - this post is
already too title rich as it is!
I might even make a trip to the movies today - most likely to one of the
Ritz theaters downtown. Not sure yet what I'll be seeing (?)
When I began this blog I spent a great deal of energy writing about
internet dating - I've gone away from this - and to tell you the truth
I'm not sure if there will be much more on that subject on the blog -
I'm very frustrated by the lack of opportunities presented online -
there are very few of the type of women I'm looking for - I want an
intellectual - bookish - creative - socially aware woman - they are
apparently an endangered species online - I'm staying away from the
usual places I've frequented - and I'm beginning to try some new
techniques - the jury is still out on how successful I'm going to be -
being online guaranties that the success will be limited at best -
primarily because Philly isn't an internet town - other cities just seem
to have a more lively 'web culture' - this could be touch of the 'grass
being greener..' on my part - but sometimes I wish that I lived in New
York City - a city with 6x times Philly's population would likely yield
6x the results on online searches - maybe - possibly - then I look at my
rent/bills and thank the heavens that I live in Philadelphia - New York
is just too damn expensive - you pay through the nose for whatever perks
that city has to offer.
Blogging is a much more complex activity then what you think when you
first start out - there is a whole hierarchy at work that you have to
deal with - just being online does not guaranty that you will be read -
you are more likely to be noticed if you write about a current subject
that isn't being covered in detail elsewhere - if you have a unique
perspective - write interesting enough - and have good visibility on the
search engines - good writing in itself isn't enough - I stumble across
blogs that are very well written - but this doesn't help them to be
recognized - outside of the things I've already named there are other
factors at work - Google pagerank, blog title, reciprocal links , and
keywords are all important - I'm a stat peeping tom - I look over the
stats of just about every blog that I come across - thankfully many make
their stats available to the public - something that even I don't do -
I like to keep my low numbers private :-) - but in looking over blog
stats I've become more baffled by how this popularity thing works -
while search engine hits are very important I've noticed that most blogs
get most of their hits from website referrals - having a link to your
blog on the front page of a site that get hundreds of thousands of hits
gives you a steady flow of readers - however this is something that only
a few blogs can benefit from - I would like to solicit new referrers,
but I hate asking things of anyone - I just hope that people will
stumble over my blog and link to me because they find value in some of
the things I write about.
Since blogging about blogging is one of the most annoying things that an
individual blogger can do I think it is wise to end this post now.
The End of Blogging
Or at the very least the end of a comfortable blogging experience for
myself - it has been raining all day today in Philadelphia - but instead
of taking advantage of the bad weather by blogging - I've done other
things - like watch television - Copa America - Uruguay vs Paraguay
(bravo Uruguay for the win) - and Mexico vs Brazil - Brazil was up 1-0
last I checked - blogging is a distraction when more relaxing pursuits
are available - it was fun for a time - but that sense of fun has been
diminishing - I'm not sure why - actually I do have an idea - I'm
discourage by my inability to get any real readership - my blog is
almost nonexistent as far as the internet goes - and I see other blogs
that are positioned much better than mine - I was ok with this at one
time - but I was just fooling myself - I want this blog to succeed - How
can I make that happen? Well I have a few ideas - I going to try hard to
change the format - the writing will become for experimental - less
structured - more like natural speech - I'm not really sure were this is
going to take me - the only promise that I can make is that the blog
will still be in english :-) - In a former post I said that I was happy
with Blogger, but they have started to try my patience - I've having
trouble posting - in my Blogger dashboard the "post" button no longer
works - it probably is because of my archaic browser - I think that I'm
one of the few bloggers who use MSNTV to blog - it's a fun tool to use
to connect to the web - but it's technical limitations are causing more
and more problems - when I first purchased MSNTV [BRAZIL!!! - Adriano
just scored one of his typical monster goals against Mexico - 2-0] I was
able to connect to 99% of websites with few problems - now I'm down to
about 90% - still good - but the change has been noticeable - however
this hasn't bothered me - until the problems began with Blogger - every
button on Dashboard works - except the buttons associated with posting -
it just doesn't make any sense - I'm so tired of it all - now I have to
send Blogger a email message - If you're curious this post will be sent
by email - I can still do this - but if there are any mistakes I won't
be ale to fix them because you need the post button in order to edit -
is it worth the effort? [Adriano AGAIN - 3-0 Brazil over Mexico!!] -
[Now it's 4-0 Brazil - Ricardo scores; this time assisted by Adriano -
Mexico has embarrassed the entire continent of North America]
Conservatives Hating Canada?
I have great admiration for Canada and its people - I've even given some thought to immigrating - unfortunately many American conservatives do not share my admiration.
[snip] The first sign that the Drudge Report mention was whipping up a tempest in a teapot came in the form of a screed by arch Canada-baiter and top-rated Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly. I suspect his producers have Google news alerts set up with the key words "Canada," "socialism," "draft dodgers" and "anti-Americanism." On his show, Mr. O'Reilly used the single survey statistic to let loose on Canada's political leaders, the media and our "ignorant teens." One of his choicer utterances included: "The truth is that the USA has freed more human beings in 230 years than the rest of the world combined. France has freed almost no one. Ditto Canada. . . . I object to the anti-American foreign press and bums like Chirac in France and Chratien in Canada." Getting mentioned on Fox News all but guarantees you the full, if fleeting, attention of America's conservative news media. In the ensuing 24 hours, my e-mail inbox was clogged with a strange malange of messages from Canada-hating O'Reilly fans and updates from friends on both sides of the border as to where our now "viral" poll was popping up in the U.S. media. CNN's Tucker Carlson of Crossfire fame offered what was a familiar anti-Canadian refrain in the continuing coverage of the poll result: "It's time for America to get some self-respect. . . . Until Canadian attitudes change, there should be a moratorium on Canadian immigration to the United States. *No one who says 'aboot' could come here." (* - What a poor joke this is - especially since Americans don't speak anything close to 'King's English' - outside of that pompous wind-bag William Buckley.) Why do they have such a need for enemies? It appears that even if an enemy doesn't exist they will simply invent them. Much of this springs forth out of the conservative disregard of genuine dialogue. Those that disagree with their narrow views will find themselves accused of the greatest evils. God forbid anyone would think differently then they do!!!
Kucinich: The Great Compromiser
from the DemocracyNow! interview - Did Dennis Kucinich Sell Out Anti-War Democrats
I'm not well informed about the Kucinich campaign, but I would have liked to see him be more defiant in the end. Why take things this far just to go in for a compromise? It may help to smooth over relations within the Democratic Party, but it doesn't change much. It makes going back to 'business as usual' all the more easier.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, what about the charge that your delegates-- that you backed down because you didn't want to have a platform fight over what many considered a key peace plank in the platform that they wanted to get in.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, I still consider the withdrawal from Iraq as being central not only to America's security, but to peace in the world. However, we didn't have the votes to be successful in a platform fight. You know, we barely had enough to start the discussion. I've carried this campaign in challenging the war for two and a half years. But there comes a point where we have to realize, whether we have the votes or not, to be able to prevail in insisting on our point of view, or if we're going to create a rupture that would make it impossible for a Democrat to be elected president. You know, I think what we were able to do was get some recognition from the Party, of the urgency of not maintaining a long-term commitment to Iraq, and it's a step in the right direction. It is not everything we wanted by any means. But it manages to do two things. We carried the fight as far as we could in the Platform Committee, and we're intending to participate in helping to elect a new president, and our efforts are going to continue to try to guide the United States to a more constructive policy in Iraq.
I found this interesting...
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: I tried and my representatives did everything they could to try to get a platform plank that would call for immediate withdrawal from Vietnam-- excuse me, yeah, here we are -- from Iraq. But we weren't able to prevail.
Is that what you call a Freudian Slip?
and then there is this...
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Congressman Kucinich, we had Peter Camejo, the vice-presidential runningmate of Ralph Nader, Independent presidential candidate, on the line. He said, "Dennis Kucinich told me John Kerry is a fake and a fraud when we had a private meeting. He said but I'm sorry, Dennis, I'm going to go public with that because I think it's horrendous that you now think he's a terrific guy when you don't believe it." What is your response?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: I'm sorry to hear that my good friend Peter Camejo would want to get to that depth of -- sink to those depths. You know, I never said that. It is not my approach in life to disparage people, even those people with whom I have the strongest disagreement, such as George Bush. You know, I haven't disparaged George Bush personally during this campaign. And I certainly haven't done it to John Kerry. So, I'm sorry -- I have no idea why he would say that. But it never happened.
It's really funny that he denies it. Why would Camejo make it up? To be fair it's possible that Camejo is exaggerating a little. Kucinich should just man up with what he actually said about Kerry.
Philly Zine Fest Review
[zines - micro magazines, self-produced]
I want to discuss the Philadelphia Zine Fest I attended the previous Sunday before it completely slips my mind. First off I had trouble locating the building (Rotunda, 4014 Walnut) where the event was taking place. The Rotunda is squashed between The Bridge movie theater, and one other building. From the opposite street it looks like nothing is there. There is a very small sign, but this can be easily overlooked. After a short side-trip around the block I managed to find the Rotunda. There were a few kids milling about - so many that at first I thought it was an outdoor festival - but once I entered the Rotunda I saw that there were numerous tables displaying even more numerous zines. The type of zines that predominated didn't interest me that much. Most of them were what I call personal zines - composed almost entirely of events from the author's life. I was in search of something with more wide appeal, and that possessed more of an edge. Despite my disappointment I still made some purchases -
the pleiades #11, and flying w/ broken wings #6.
I also purchases two books - Introducing Baudrillard, and The War on the Poor: a defense manual.
Overall it was a boring afternoon. I left with no woman, a few ok zines/books, and $15 dollars poorer.
DH Media Watch
This is my attempt to use Google News to measure the prevailing messages in world mass media. The outcomes are sometimes surprising - often typical - and occasionally useful. The results will obviously change with time - so the scores are from my original searches. Send all inquiries to the various news sources, and Google. I'm already swamped with complaints! :-)
Bush is Right [ 42 results] vs Bush is WRONG [ 8 results]
What are the subliminal messages here?
Israel is right [ 3 results] vs Israel is WRONG [ 3 results]
See the previous question.
Americans are smart [ 4 results] vs Americans are stupid [ 5 results]
Need more data.
Michael Moore is RIGHT [ 1 result] vs Michael Moore is wrong [ 2 results]
See last statement.
I'm happy [ 7,070 results] vs I'm sad [ 480 results]
Spread some of that happiness this way.
Against war [ 267 results] vs for war [ 6,980 results]
Some still haven't seen the light.
I hate sports [ 0 results] vs I love sports [ 23 results] If there is one form of hate that we need to see more of...
I want to die [ 51 results] vs I want to live [ 281 results] Life is overrated, but what else do we have?
Fucking [ 332 results] vs Making Love [ 121 results]
I want to fuck someone I'm in love with.
I like to read [ 66 results] vs I hate to read [ 2 results]
Hard to surf the net when you're illiterate.
I'm sexy [ 64 results] vs I'm not sexy [ 2 results]
You're sexy? Stop lying!
Drop Bombs [ 96 results] vs Give Peace a Chance [ 130 results]
Drop a bomb on the warmongers. Kills two birds with one stone. On second thought I'll rather love them to death - it's more fitting with my character.
I'm going to kill [ 119 results] vs I will forgive [ 8 results]
There is alot of anger out there. That's why I stay out of peoples way. Things are much safer on this blog.
Quotables
Georgia O'Keeffe Quotes
"I feel there is something unexplored about woman that only a woman can explore."
"I hate flowers. I only paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move."
"Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time."
"To create one's own world in any of the arts takes courage."
"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."
"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."
Stupid White Movie?
Robert Jensen was really treading on thin ice with his recent article - Fahrenheit 9/11 is a Stupid White Movie
I was annoyed enough to send him an email message:
DialecticHumanism
You've made the mistake of many who criticising Fahrenheit 9/11 in not realizing that it's JUST A MOVIE. And a Michael Moore movie at that! It's not a dissertation on American foreign policy. Michael Moore has only two hours to express what he personally feels are the most important issues. And - if you are in any way familiar with his films - you would know that he's going to try to make it entertaining. It's sounds as if you where looking for filet mignon, but found that Moore only serves up ham sandwiches! If you didn't understand this going in it's possible that you just aren't a fan of Michael Moore's brand of filmmaking. That's completely ok with me - but if this is the case it limits the power of your critique in my eyes.
I must address your accusation of racism. You can't throw that around lightly. When you do that you complicate the fight against the real racism still present in this society. Was it racist to show the grief of a multi-racial family? What about the courageous actions of the Congressional Black Caucus? Was that racist? How about the defiance of an African-American marine who refuses to go back to Iraq - or the visuals of the suffering heaped on the Iraqis people (who are mostly Arabs) by American violence?
Was all this racist? Yes or No?
According to you the one great racist act of Moore was to not show the FBI brutalizing innocent Arab suspects?
Would I have like to see something about this in the film? Yes. Am I angry with Moore for not addressing it? No.
Why you ask?
Because it's a direct result of bringing issues to the big screen. Important things are going to be left out. The limitations of the cinematic process guaranty it.
I'll give you an example - I thought I knew something about the life of Malcolm X because I saw the Spike Lee feature film, and about 3 separate documentaries.
None of what a I learned from these films could amount to a 3rd of what I learned from reading the book "The Autobiography of Malcolm X". Film is essentially a tease. If it wasn't I would currently be a expert on the American Civil War, Baseball, and Jazz just from viewing the fantastic documentaries of Ken Burns!
Film can be an important jumping off point for the true seeker of knowledge. Rarely will it encompass the entire search. But now it's time for you to be truthful...
Did you go to this film carrying a pen and paper looking to write down reasons to attack Moore? If so, it's a shame.
I took this film for what it is - a landmark in the attack on a corrupt administration while IT'S STILL IN POWER! It was a welcome change from the ass kissing Bush receives from most of the corporate media. You seem to relish attacking Moore as much as they do.
I prefer to applaud Moore's effort. I see it as my duty to show support to all those who attempt to bring the truth of American aggression to the forefront.
Are you so much of an academic elitist that you can't see the important role that Moore plays?
D.H.
And to his credit he wrote back:
Well, the man is entitled to his opinion.
Time for a Change
I'm changing the look of things here - your feedback is appreciated - you can send your comment by email - I'm currently using yahoo! as my preferred email address, but the old Lycos address is still operational.
God Hates Walls
Good decision by the World Court to condemn the Apartheid Barrier being constructed by Israel. Unfortunately as long as Israel receives unquestioned American support the World court ruling doesn't mean diddley. And we all know it's a bunch of religious wackos behind that support. God needs to start telling them to read my blog.
The Incarceration Holocaust
America's new motto:
"900,000 Blacks in Prison and still counting!"
I have to seriously consider moving to Canada.
Will the REAL Athletes Please Stand Up!
Finally an athlete who stands for something! (other than $$$$...) Carlos Delgado, Dialectic Humanism salutes you.
If he didn't play such a boring sport I might have promised to watch his next game.
The Blue Jays aren't shown on TV in these part anyway. Damn - 'snap' :-)
Philadelphia Zine Fest 2004
Looks like things are happening in the zine community within my silly city this weekend. I just found out about this today - should be THE place to find some new and interesting reading material. I mentioned in one of my previous old audio posts that Dialectic Humanism was originally to be a printed zine. I'm so glad that I decided to go the blogging route - printing a mag is just too expensive! Even if you do it using a photo copier any significant print run will cost you. And I don't have a free photo copier hook-up - just one of the perils of being unemployed :-) Despite all this I still get alot of inspiration from the zine world. It's where all the innovation is coming out off.
Hopefully I'll see you on Sun. July 11, from noon - 6PM at The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street.
I'm Happy with Blogger
At one time I gave some thought to changing by blog host - but since then I've become more satisfied with Blogger. One of the man reason for this simple - the url. Your blog name followed by blogspot.com is simple and descriptive. Other blog host urls don't give you any indication of what your clicking on. Blogger's addition of free audio blogging and comments helped seal the deal. I just hope that they bring back their plus system. Having to use outside services for image hosting is a real pain.
Cosby Takes a Hit
This is the kind of critique of Bill Cosby that I can enjoy:
It was such a dog-bites-man story that I almost skipped right by: Billionaire Bashes Poor Blacks. The only thing that gave this particular story a little piquancy is that the billionaire doing the bashing is black himself. Bill Cosby has been attacking the poor of his race, and especially the youthful poor, for a range of sins, including using bad words, "stealing poundcake," "giggling" and failing to give their children normal names like "Bill." "The lower-economic people," Cosby announced, "are not holding up their end in this deal."
They let me down, too, sometimes like that girl at Wendy's who gave me sweet iced tea when I had clearly specified unsweetened. She looked a little tired, but, as Cos might point out: How hard can it be to hold a job, go to high school and care for younger siblings in all your spare moments while your parents are at work?
To be truthful I agree with much of what Bill has recently said, but he's open to criticism just like anyone else. The thing that really disturbs me is the over-exuberates shown by the media in reporting this story. You get the impression that if Bill Cosby would get into an argument with a Black checkout girl at the local supermarket it would make headlines. They're using Bill's words to further their own ends. Bill should be aware of that. If he isn't then he's an idiot - which he clearly isn't. Maybe he's just setting the foundations so that he can get his own Fox News show. Because no matter how much truth there may be to what Bill has said he is giving the conservative argument. Which say it's the poor's fault - get your act together!
No News is Good News
I stay away from the news for weeks at a time, but it doesn't change my life one bit. The President could have been caught masturbating in the oval office for all I know.
(President Bush ala Clinton's Monica moment)
Bush: I did not have sex with my hand!
Please let this be in the front page of tomorrows paper!
I'm back!
I gave it a few days - but I couldn't stay away any longer! It's not like I stayed away from blogging - I posted the other day on my other blog - I'm just trying to figure out what I'm doing here. I must have a purpose - and think I found out what that is.
This is my chance to talk shit to the entire world.
Well, really to the 5-10 people who visit this blog on average day. I realize that I'm not going to get many more readers than that - and I'm totally cool with it. Think about it - how many people search for dialectic humanism anyway? Believe me when I say not alot. This is one of the most poorly positioned blogs on the net. But you know what - that just gives me more of an opportunity to mouth off. It's not like anyone is paying attention.
Watch out! It's on now!
[famous last words]
Euro 2004 - and the winner is....
Euro 2004 - Greece in the final?
I can't think of the least time Greece has done anything significant in international competition, but this is definitely a good thing. It's boring to ave a same few teams making it to the big games. Things needed to be shaken up a bit.
Bravo Greece!
Model Post
For no good reason here is Nadine Jansen.
Actually I have two BIG reasons for including her here. Just guess what they are :-)
Why, Why, Why????
This is my favorite referral ever!
I'm so proud :-)
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