|
|
 |
|
|
Location: Holland PA, USA
|
|
|
Matt Diamond's blog
If a blogger posts and noone hears it., does it make a sound?
When a man such as myself posts a virulent anti-Bush diatribe in his blog and doesn't get even one comment back accusing him of hating America or of being a sinner, then maybe it's time to throw in the towel! :-)
Understand, it's not that I'm fishing for responses. It's just that it seems like yet more evidence that the audience for IMG blogs is rather small. And without track-back, quick lists of recent responses, and other modern blog features, I don't think that IMG blog readership is likely to increase soon. Although a small blog audience is kind of cozy, perfectly suited for some, I have other things I could be working on.
So while I may read others' entries here and reply, I'm not updating my own blog for the foreseeable future. It's been fun, and who knows, I may reconsider, but for now: adios!
Posted on November 10, 2004 at 2:32 pm
|
Bush's Mandate
So Bush is once again elected by a slim margin. The states won and lost are virtually the same as 2000. The percentage of votes won is virtually the same. Turnout is high because the nation is even more polarized. In short, a close and hotly contested election. Kerry does the customary call for unity afterwards, saying that he and Bush agreed that the nation needs to come together and find common ground. Problem is, the last time this happened 4 years ago Bush made it clear that "unity" meant everyone needed to get behind HIM. So I fully expected more of the same this year.
Sure enough, less than an hour after Kerry's call for unity Cheney announces that the American people have "given Bush a mandate." And Bush's speech talks about his "broad" victory.
So there you have it. This pair of bald-faced liars, responsible for the deaths of thousands upon thousands of innocent people, go back to doing whatever the hell they want. Lying to the American people, rewarding blind loyalty, ignoring more well-informed opinions if they don't tell you what you want to hear, punishing whistle-blowers, taking counsel from known scoundrels like Chalabi, fattening the coffers of the wealthy, awarding no-bid contracts to their croneys, outsourcing their energy and environmental policies to the companies that will be regulated by those policies, and tightening their control of the media and the courts. Anyone who protests is unpatriotic. They might even be... gasp! French! Or gay! Or a terrorist! Or something else scary to Middle America!
If you thought the last four years were bad, watch what happens now that Bush, Cheney and Karl Rove have a "mandate".
p.s. I know political blogs are tedious. And there are people who do it much better than me. So it's not going to be "my thing." But the occasional rant is going to slip out of me once in a while, and I'm going to care a lot less about muzzling myself now. That's MY mandate.
p.p.s. Although, I DO have a light, amusing story about the election which I may post after I've calmed down. Might take a while.
Posted on November 3, 2004 at 2:33 pm
|
Bush's Popularity Spikes In Diamond Household
Recent polls show that President Bush's popularity has spiked by 25% in the Diamond household within the last 24 hours.
Analysts attribute the sudden surge in popularity, occurring in the swing state of Pennsylvania just days before the polls open, to Bush's decision to hold a Thursday rally in Yardley, PA, only a few miles from the Diamond household. With many local roads being closed for security reasons, the Hebrew school of 9-year old Alex Diamond was forced to cancel its Thursday session. "Thanks, President Bush!" Alex was heard to remark.
A spokesperson for the Kerry campaign called the spike "statistically insignificant" and predicted that Bush's popularity in the household would return to it's pre-rally levels in the near future.
Posted on October 28, 2004 at 9:24 am
|
A very special U.S. holiday
Today we commemorate the historic occasion when the Native Americans first discovered Spaniards.
Posted on October 11, 2004 at 12:29 pm
|
| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
 |
[Since Frigidman didn't allow comments in his blog review of this movie, I offer up my own review.]
I loved this film. I thought the screenplay was clever without being too full of itself. The central relationship was treated honestly and even though I wanted the characters to reunite and be happy, I could clearly see why the characters were ambivalent about their own relationship. Contrast this with the usual Hollywood romantic comedy where it's obvious that the couple belongs together, and you are just fed jokes while you wait for the feel-good happy ending. (I'm not saying that there aren't good movies that follow this formula, mind you.)
The DVD for Eternal Sunshine is emblazoned with statements like "a smart, sexy, and seriously funny comedy!" and so forth. This is bullshit, a classic example of marketers trying to shoehorn a product into a niche where they think it might sell well. It's smart, yes. But it's a low key film, sometimes funny, sometimes moody. To market it otherwise does the film a huge disservice.
I don't think I'm giving anything away by mentioning that much of this movie plays out in reverse, as Carrey's character explores the memories of his relationship starting from the most recent and going backwards. The earlier memories return the relationship to a younger, more innocent time. But having seen the future memories the audience is in a bind. It's not just a question of will they get together, but should they? While I yearned for some sort of happy resolution the ending truly is in doubt throughout the film.
If this wasn't enough, there's also the entertaining exploration of the idea of selectively erasing bad memories. It's a nifty device that is used both for laughs and for suspense, but the writers also transcend the gimmick with some thought to the emotional effects, both good and bad.
I went to the theater knowing nothing about the film. It was just a rare opportunity for me to see a film in the theater, and I picked this one rather than see Return of the King again. And I'm glad I did. But I suspect I would have enjoyed it less if (a) I'd been expecting a riotous Carrey comedy vehicle, or (b) simply knew too much about the film beforehand. Happily I knew nothing, was simply hoping for a movie with some meat on it's bones, and was not disappointed.
For a contrary opinion about this movie, see Frigidman's blog here.
Frigidman writes that "Even those self-righteous film critics like Ebert wouldn't give this wasteful cellulite four stars." Ebert gave it "only" 3.5 stars out of four, but since he doesn't often give out 4 stars Frigidman is twisting facts a little bit there. I'll also point out that I liked the film even though I did not help make it, so I guess I'm a counterexample to one of Frigidman's claims. :-)
My recommendation would be to watch this film without too much expectation- don't read lots of reviews beforehand (some of the IMDB reviews shamelessly describe the whole movie.) Don't expect to be laughing or crying 5 minutes into the film either, just enjoy a film that avoids being trite and attempts to be both thoughtful and emotional in turn. I found it exceptional, but I think most people will at least find it worth a couple hours and the rental fee.
Posted on October 11, 2004 at 12:24 pm
|
| Browse Archives: 27 Entries |
 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 -  |
|
|
|
|
| Blog Stats: |
| Entries: 27 |
| Reviews: 1 |
| Comments: 411 |
| Visits: 65479 |
| |
|
| |
