Les Triplettes de Belleville

I picked up the dvd for The Triplets of Belleville the other day. I first heard of this one a couple years before it was released when I came across a video clip (this was pre youtube days btw so it was a .mov file) of a rough edit trailer. When it came to a theater close enough for me to drive to (in this case it was over an hour away) I went right out to see it. The dvd is not really perfect, the image quality is a bit off but not unwatchable. One thing that does bother me is the that the title has a hard subtitle translating it when the film begins. This is the height of idiocy! The name of the film is Les Triplettes de Belleville, its on the dvd case in English and even if you don't know French it would be pretty obvious what the title is. Anyway other than that and a momentary bit of digital artifacting I am pleased to own this.

Here's a clip from youtube:

Mickey when he was good

When I was a kid I was really unsure of the appeal of Mickey Mouse. This was mostly because I never saw his cartoons while Popeye and Bugs Bunny were burning themselves into my brain every day. Had I seen a cartoon like "The Wayward Canary" (from 1932) I would most certainly been hooked. Watching this its easy to see the initial appeal of Mickey who has evolved into a somewhat bland figure over the years.

An Evening in 1969

It was a different world then. Lets look back and see courtesy of the museum of broadcast communications:

Honeydripper

John Sayles' film Honeydripper has been playing at the area art house this week. I've been waiting for this film since seeing a rough cut of a scene on YouTube last year. In some ways I can't say that I'm disappointed, it does deliver the music and there is no bad performance from anyone in the cast. Keb Mo as the itinerant spirit of the blues who is, mostly, only seen by Danny Glover's Tyrone "pinetop" purvis, is a standout. That being said it also does not really work. A subplot about two cotton pickers who hate each other is nothing but tedious and its resolution feels false. Equally tedious is Mary Steenburgen in a pointless scene that seems to have been written only so she would have a part in the movie (at least thats the only charitable reason I can think of.)

Wotta Nitemare

This is, strangely enough, one of my least favorite of the classic Popeye's. I'm not really sure why though. It has a unique premise, lots of surreal images, some great Fleischer bros. floating heads and a series of hysterical spinach can gags at the end. The closest I can come to explaining how I feel about this one is that there is just a different vibe to the proceedings than in previous cartoons. But anyway judge for yourself.

Rory Gallagher

The late Rory Gallagher never made it big over here in America. I'm not even sure I heard any of his recordings while he was alive. He died in 1995 after spending years drinking his liver to death. A real shame since he was an inspired player and a prime example of down to earth seventies blues rock. Here is a clip from the movie that goes along with Gallagher's masterwork live album, Tour 74:

Thoughts for the day

Well David Patterson is the new Governor of NY. He gave a decent speech, not a great one and had some funny jokes. I think he'll make a good governor. Spitzer always seemed to be veering off into unnecessary controversy. Patterson seems to be on a more even keel.

Check his speech out here.


Also (via the Fantagraphics blog Journalista) some fantastic Japanese toy designs from the late 19th and early 20th century.

BB King - The Trill is Gone

Two performances of The Trill Is Gone from back in the day, both from 1974. The first has BB in Kinshasa Africa before the Ali/Foreman fight.



And the second is an amazing duet with Gladys Knight.

A Dream Walking

Tonight's youtube post is A Dream Walking made by the Fleischer bros. studio in 1934. This is a great film, not only for its wonderful timing (Olive's stride always seems perfect to take her to the next rooftop or girder) but it also has some great uses of perspective. Add to that Max Fleischer's 3d table top backgrounds and the result is one of the best of the classic 30's Popeye's.

Space Race

Sweetafton23, the YouTube chanteuse who brought the world the very funny song about MySpace, "My Hope" has a new video out.



Off On A Tangent: Its weird YouTube is becoming what radio used to be... the place to hear cool new music. Well actually radio has never really introduced me to much cool new music. It was usually friends or the helpful local record store guys but it's the thought that counts.

Cold Medicine Technology

Cold medicines have come a long way since I was a kid and used take Contact whenever I had a cold This was back in the day before tamper resistant packaging and worries about poisoning. Contact came in a capsule that was clear on one have and you could see little round balls inside it. I never took one apart but they looked like they would be fairly easy to jimmy open.

This all changed when some schmuck started poisoning Tylenol capsules with cyanide in Chicago back in the early 80s. Before anyone caught on, after the funeral of one of the victims, two family members died from taking Tylenol from the same bottle. After that all over the counter medicines started having tamper proof packaging and designs. No one would buy them otherwise.

Anyway thats not what I wanted to talk about today. What I want to talk about today is the wonderful advances that have been made in cold medicine. In particular the medicine I'm taking now which time released and is made up of 600mg of Guaifenesin (expectorant) and 60mg of Psuedoephedrine (decongestant.) For someone who has really suffered from chest colds that go into Bronchitis or Pneumonia this has been a great advance. Breathing and not having a stopped up nose and lungs is a great thing.

I first found out about combos like this last year when a doctor put me on Psuedovent 400 (120mg Psuedoephedrine and 400mg Guaifenesesin.) I felt better almost immediately after I started taking it. When I got my current cold I still had a few left from last year but worried about when I ran out and still had my cold. But luckily there was an over the counter formulation available.

Ferraro and Clinton's Racism Problem

I am very disapointed in Geraldine Ferraro. No, despite her protestations, what she said is racist. If John Edwards had complained that Hillary Clinton was 'lucky she was a woman because she would not have gotten so far if she wasn't' all kinds of hell would have broken out. The bitterness and envy of Clinton's old school Feminist supporters when it comes to Obama has been very sad to watch. The message is clear though that they despise him for being black and therefore not dismissable. He undercuts Clinton's own specialness as the first viable woman presidential candidate.

That the Clinton campaign has slunk to the racist well time and again to fight Obama should be argument enough against her candidacy. I suppose she and her supporters see it as an end that justifies the means. I would guess that they think that they must remove an undeserving male so that Clinton can become president.

Yay Mississippi!

Obama won in Mississippi tonight. Whoooo!

Anyway I've been thinking about the difference between Obama and Clinton in this race. To me Obama is just what we need after 8 years of dumb and inarticulate in the nations highest office. A smart, well spoken candidate who has a vision of how great we can be as a nation. I just don't get that from Clinton. Instead I she comes off to me as being somewhat fake. She's not a great speaker, she sounds canned and insincere.

When it comes to policy there is not much separating Clinton and Obama except minor nuances. When it comes to experience I think they really are about equal. Clinton's real depth of experience comes from campaigning and her missteps during the primaries and caucuses this year don't really put that experience in a good light.*



*And for those who would say that she has eight years of experience from being in the white house while her husband was president; I can only point out how that would serve the McCain campaign in the fall is she was the nominee. You really don't want to open that can of worms.

Elliot Spitzer

Living in NY and being a Democrat meant that the election of Elliot Spitzer to the governorship was a big deal. That he turned out to have an unerring ability to do stupid stuff that makes me regret voting for him is a big deal as well. From the unnecessary illegal immigrant drivers license controversy to this Mann act violation its been a rough ride.

Here in NY we've had a dysfunctional government for decades. The Assembly has been run by the Democrats and the State Senate by the Republicans. Both houses have gerrymandered their districts to re-elect the party in control and keep the minority party... well in the minority. The end result has been a lot of gridlock and state budget that always has to be worked out by the three top state leaders, the Governor and the heads of the Assembly and Senate behind closed doors.

Demographic changes in the state have been eroding the Republican senate majority as of late. Its gotten so close that they are now only holding on by one vote. Joe Bruno, a tough, old school politician has been throwing everything including the kitchen sink out to stop this from happening. Spitzer's messes are his main ammunition in this. I don't see him being able to win in the end. The demographics are against that but he may just be able to hold on for now.

There is some good news though. Lt. Governor David Paterson will probably become our governor when Spitzer resigns(and really can he avoid it?) Paterson will be NY's first African American governor and well as being its first blind governor*.

It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on the Clinton campaign. Spitzer is/was one of her super delegates as well as being her top supporter in the state (if you discount Hllary herself.)

To sum up... my advice for any politician in similar circumstances is STOP BEING A DUMBASS WTH IS WRONG WITH YOU?? Words I think a good many people should live by.

UPDATE: Consumerist has the best headline on this whole thing here.
Check out the wikipedia entry for more info.

Cat ownership for good health!

Slashdot has a post today about how owning a cat prevents heart attacks. Yay! I'm doing something right!

More Obama Lefthanded thoughts

According to this article left-handers are better at tasks that require both hemispheres of the brain to work together.

For instance left-handers might be better at playing fast computer games, talking while driving in heavy traffic and piloting a jet fighter - activities that need both hemispheres of the brain to process information.

Now wouldn't you want a president like that? I know I would. How can Hillary say she would be ready on day one when she's not left-handed? Only a left-handed president can truly be ready on day one because he's using both hemispheres.

Vote Obama, he's left-handed!

Note: I am left-handed and I approve of this message... so there.

Dream Ticket?

The Clinton campaign has been pushing the idea of a Clinton/Obama ticket lately. I can see why; if they win the nomination they need him to undo the damage they've been doing to the party. Obama on the other hand probably would not have his campaign enhanced by Hillary being VP. Instead, if he gets the nomination, it probably would be a liability in his campaign against McCain. Also I doubt anyone would want a former president to be the ... um 2nd gentleman.*

Whatever do you call the spouse of the Vice President?

What's on Youtube today?

I think this is going to be a regular feature. Anyway here is Stefan Nadelman's Food Fight depicting American centric conflicts from WWII until the present using food to represent the participants. It is effective, funny and a little sobering at times. Most good satire usually is.

New Amsterdam

Last night I watched the second episode of the new FOX show New Amsterdam. Danish actor Nikolaj Coster Waldau plays John Amsterdam an approximately 400 year old Dutch soldier turned NY Police detective. If you can imagine an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent with supernatural elements you've pretty much got what an episode of New Amsterdam is like. I really wanted to like this show when I watched the pilot the other night but its just not working for me. The cop show elements and the supernatural storyline don't seem to gel together very well and at times it feels like they are two separate shows sharing the same time slot. I'm going to give it another chance and watch the third episode but Pushing Daisies already does the same thing much better.

Popeye Again

Hold the Wire from 1936 is another of my favorite Popeye cartoons. The Youtube clip is missing the the opening credits but the important part is intact.

Those kids today dept.

This video by Australian musician Pete Denahy is sort of fun if totally obvious. I'm still amused by it.



Actually I prefer this version from a down under morning show if only for the guitar:

More Popeye

There are several Popeye cartoons that have stayed with me over the years. This one, The Paneless Window Washer, is a favorite of mine.

Primary

I've been thinking a lot about tomorrow's primaries in Ohio and Texas. The latest word from Hillary Clinton's campaign has been that if Obama doesn't win both states its essentially a win for Hillary... if I'm reading things right. Its not enough for Hillary to win the popular vote to stay viable. She actually has to have a blow out. She has to show that she's not Mike Huckabee or it will be all but over. Given that Texas will likely yield far less in the number of delegates than Obama seems poised to get I don't think she has a chance. Even with the race tightening (which if you follow these things is what inevitably happens) Obama still has the edge where it matters in Texas's weird primary system.

Then there are the negative tactics Hillary has taken to using. I'm talking about the pic of Obama in a turban and her odd way of answering the question of if she thought he was a Muslim on 60 minutes. Tom D'antoni, over at the Huffington Post pretty much says everything I feel about this.

I don't think Hillary will abandon her campaign whatever the outcome tomorrow. She just has too much invested in this run to let it go at this point. I don't expect that she will be able to overtake Obama without a blowout victory in a big state though. But this will probably go all the way to the convention.

I was misinformed, Casablanca again

I've been watching the 2dvd Casablanca set a lot recently as well as reading Aljean Harmetz's book on the movie as I mentioned in an earlier post. I was listening to Roger Ebert's commentary track today and I've noticed something. Ebert keeps mentioning Bergman's comment that she didn't know which of the two men (Rick and Victor) that Ilsa was supposed to be in love with as if thats the same thing as not knowing which one of them she's going to leave with at the end of the picture. He is referencing Harmetz in this but misses that the problem for Bergman was emotional. Harmetz does a much better job at getting to the bottom of this and how it effected Bergman's performance. I think Ebert really should have taken this into account in his commentary but he seems much more interested in using it as part of busting the myth that the movie was ever intended to end differently*. During the last scene of the movie Ebert talks about Ilsa's confusion and this would have been a good point bring that up but he doesn't go back into it.

*Even if no one ever can really like Paul Henreid's characterization of the incredibly earnest Victor Laszlo. When I was younger and didn't understand how movie credits worked I was always confused by Henreid getting billing with Bogart and Bergman when it was obvious that Claude Rains was really the one who deserved to be up their with them for his performance as Renault.

Raised by wolves durring WWII

Ok I don't get it. How the hell can anyone be surprised that a book claiming that its author lived with wolves as a child after her parents were taken by the gestapo turns out to be a hoax? The mind boggles. Are we really so in need of believing every tragic story that claims connection to the holocaust that something as obvious as this slips by? Maybe its because we've reached the point where few of the adult survivors are left and the only new stories to be told are from those who were children at the time. I'm not sure but I think PT Barnum continues to stand athwart history pointing and laughing.

Wikipedia link: "Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years"