February 2011 archive

Feb 28 2011

Stone Cancer Pillar

“One more game?” I asked of my bff, who really needed to go make dinner by 5:30. Our happy hours are short and to the point.

Mike had just had another “wobbly” moment, I saw the stacked Tupperware waiting in the hallway to be put under the house when the deck access unfreezes swing wildly and had run to him.  It was the first time Jake saw it. It is as I describe it, like watching a marionette’s strings being randomly pulled, rather than a moment of dizziness. His legs twitch, he looks like he is misfiring on a brain-level.

I put Mike to bed, feeling ok, the maybe 15 or 16 second episode having passed.

“Nah, I have to go make my dinner,” she said.

“Its just,” I said, misting slightly. “playing yahtzee and having happy hour a couple times with you, or this,”  I said tapping the laptop, “doing the radio show, writing, those are the ONLY times I not-think about everything I have to think about. The rest of my day is all that. Nothing BUT that. Its the only time I can rest my worries for a minute, and be focused on something else.”

She brushed the dice away, and said, “I’m here for you. You have to talk about it. You never talk about it.” I think have have cried about this 3 times since last year in front of Linda since it began. Each time, copious alcohol was involved. I’ve got this. Its my burden. Its not yours, hers, or anyone else’s, and by gahd; the LAST thing I want to do is make my escape hatches part of the drama….

And she is where I go to NOT-THINK.

I was proven wrong.

Feb 28 2011

Stone Cancer Pillar

“One more game?” I asked of my bff, who really needed to go make dinner by 5:30. Our happy hours are short and to the point.

Mike had just had another “wobbly” moment, I saw the stacked Tupperware waiting in the hallway to be put under the house when the deck access unfreezes swing wildly and had run to him.  It was the first time Jake saw it. It is as I describe it, like watching a marionette’s strings being randomly pulled, rather than a moment of dizziness. His legs twitch, he looks like he is misfiring on a brain-level.

I put Mike to bed, feeling ok, the maybe 15 or 16 second episode having passed.

“Nah, I have to go make my dinner,” she said.

“Its just,” I said, misting slightly. “playing yahtzee and having happy hour a couple times with you, or this,”  I said tapping the laptop, “doing the radio show, writing, those are the ONLY times I not-think about everything I have to think about. The rest of my day is all that. Nothing BUT that. Its the only time I can rest my worries for a minute, and be focused on something else.”

She brushed the dice away, and said, “I’m here for you. You have to talk about it. You never talk about it.” I think have have cried about this 3 times since last year in front of Linda since it began. Each time, copious alcohol was involved. I’ve got this. Its my burden. Its not yours, hers, or anyone else’s, and by gahd; the LAST thing I want to do is make my escape hatches part of the drama….

And she is where I go to NOT-THINK.

I was proven wrong.

Feb 28 2011

Prime Time

I, of course, am going to be monitoring TheMomCat’s Oscar live blog, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other choices available.

Amazing Race premier (I told you, I know a big fan).  Masterpiece Theater has Any Human Heart (also a premier).

Don’t you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we’re left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here.

What’s with all these awards? They’re always giving out awards. Best Fascist Dictator: Adolf Hitler.

Later-

I was thrown out of N.Y.U. my freshman year for cheating on my metaphysics final, you know. I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me.

My grammy never gave gifts. She was too busy getting raped by Cossacks.

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Feb 28 2011

Live Blog: The Oscars

“And the winner is”. With those words there will be at least 5 people holding their collective breath, while a finely coiffed and swathed celebrity tears open a sealed envelop with the closely guarded secret. Welcome to the Live Blog of the 83rd Academy Awards from fabulous downtown Hollywood or, in my case, on the couch in the family room with my lap top, a pitcher of martinis and Parmesan popcorn, Oh, and lots of napkins.

I used to chuckle at the introduction of the tuxedoed men carrying the brief case with those envelops and the silly ritual of reading of the “Rules” on how the votes were cast and who voted on what. Do they even do that any more?

The first Oscars were presented on May 19. 1929 at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood at a private brunch for 270 people. My how far they have come. Now it is the “hottest” ticket in town and the parties after for winners and losers are elaborate affairs that would keep food pantries in business for a year. I shouldn’t be too critical many of the industry’s actors, directors and producers do wonderful humanitarian work for causes that would be easily forgotten.

So have you all placed your bets on the winner? if you haven’t you’re out of the loop, since the Oscars are the most gambled on non-sporting event in the US. Even Nate Silver has gotten in on the action with four tips to win your Oscar pool but the kicker this year that even Nate admits are throwing off the odds is that there are now 10 films in the Best Picture Category. Yes, dear hearts, 10, in case you hadn’t noticed. In 2009, the Academy decided to return to its roots. When the award for Best Picture was presented in 1934 and 1935 there were 12 nominees, and from 1935 to 1943 there were 10. So adjust your pools accordingly, there are more “fish in the pond”

Here’s some more answers to those questions about the award you never thought to ask:

  • Oldest best actor winner: Henry Fonda, 76, “On Golden Pond,” 1981

  • Youngest best actor winner: Adrien Brody, 29, “The Pianist,” 2002

  • Oldest best actress winner: Jessica Tandy, 81, “Driving Miss Daisy”

  • Youngest best actress winner: Marlee Matlin, 21, “Children of a Lesser God,” 1986

  • Oldest best supporting actor winner: George Burns, 80, “The Sunshine Boys,” 1975

  • Youngest best supporting actor winner: Timothy Hutton, 20, “Ordinary People,” 1980.

  • Oldest best supporting actress winner: Peggy Ashcroft, 77, “A Passage to India,” 1984

  • Youngest best supporting actress winner: Tatum O’Neal, 10, “Paper Moon,” 1973.

  • Biggest Oscar winners: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” 2003, 11 awards (out of 11 nominations); “Ben-Hur,” 1959, 11 awards (out of 12 nominations); “Titanic,” 1997, 11 awards (out of 14 nominations).

  • Biggest Oscar losers: “The Turning Point,” 1977, 11 nominations, 0 awards; “The Color Purple,” 1985, 11 nominations, 0 awards; “Johnny Belinda,” 1948, 12 nominations, 1 award; “Becket,” 12 nominations, 1 award.

  • The youngest person to ever receive an Oscar: Shirley Temple, 5, in 1934 but it was “honorary”.

  • The oldest person to ever receive an Oscar: Jessica Tandy, 81, in 1989 for “Driving Miss Daisy”

  • The most Oscars for “Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn with four (1932, 1967, 1968 & 1981)

  • The most Oscars for “Best Actor”: This category is shared by seven men, Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Fredric March, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks, whio each have two.

  • The actor with the most total Oscar nominations: Jack Nicholson with 12. Jack has three Oscars, 2 for “Best Actor” and one for “Best Supporting Actor”.

  • The actoress with the most total Oscar nominations: Meryl Streep with 16 nominations.

  • The person with the most Oscars: Walt Disney, who walked away with 26 Academy Awards over his lifetime. He had 64 total Oscar nominations.

  • The longest acceptance speech ever given at an Oscar ceremony: Greer Garson in 1942 for “Best Actress” in “Mrs. Miniver”. Most sources agree it was between 5 i/2 to 7 minutes.

  • The Oscar statuette weighs 6 3/4 pounds, and stands 13 1/2 inches high.

  • It was named by Margaret Herrick, the Academy librarian, who remarked in 1931, upon seeing the statuettes, “Why it looks like my Uncle Oscar!” Her uncle’s full name, by the way, was Oscar Pierce. No, it wasn’t Bette Davis.

    • Bored? You haven’t seen the production or heard the speeches yet.

    I will be your fashion and performance critic as we watch the parade down the red carpet and the main event. I can’t wait to see what get up Helena Bonham Carter wears. BTW, I always cry at the memorial tribute. Below the fold is the list and links for all the nominees. Bring on the show.

    Feb 28 2011

    Evening Edition

    Evening Edition is an Open Thread

    Now with 51 Top Stories.

    From Yahoo News Top Stories

    1 Anti-regime forces take west Libyan towns

    by Samer al-Atrush, AFP

    1 hr 56 mins ago

    BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Forces opposed to Moamer Kadhafi took control of several western Libyan towns, an official said on Sunday as the strongman played down such reports after world leaders called on him to quit.

    Protest leaders meanwhile established a transitional “national council” in mainly eastern cities seized from the Kadhafi regime and called on the army to help them take the capital Tripoli.

    The chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African state of 6.3 million has fanned fears that Kadhafi’s hold on power could descend into civil war as the United Nations said nearly 100,000 people have streamed out of the country.

    Feb 27 2011

    from firefly-dreaming 27.2.11

    Regular Daily Features:

    • Them are in the spotlight at Late Night Karaoke,mishima DJs
    • Six Brilliant Articles!    from Six Different Places!!     on Six Different Topics!!!

                      Six Days a Week!!!                at Six in the Morning!!!!

    Essays Featured Sunday, February 27th:

    join the conversation! come firefly-dreaming with me….

    Feb 27 2011

    Rant of the Week: Rachel Maddow

    Facts are Stubborn Things

    Rachel Maddow discusses the shows policy of correcting its errors and demonstrates why she is owed one by Politifact.com

    Feb 27 2011

    On This Day in History February 27

    This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

    Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

    February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 307 days remaining until the end of the year (308 in leap years).

    On this day in 1827, New Orleanians take to the streets for Mardi Gras with groups of masked and costumed students dance through the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, marking the beginning of the city’s famous Mardi Gras celebrations.

    The celebration of Carnival–or the weeks between Twelfth Night on January 6 and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Christian period of Lent–spread from Rome across Europe and later to the Americas. Nowhere in the United States is Carnival celebrated as grandly as in New Orleans, famous for its over-the-top parades and parties for Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday), the last day of the Carnival season.

    History

    The celebration of Mardi Gras was brought to Louisiana by early French settlers. The first record of the holiday being celebrated in Louisiana was at the mouth of the Mississippi River in what is now lower Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on March 3, 1699. Iberville, Bienville, and their men celebrated it as part of an observance of Catholic practice.

    The starting date of festivities in New Orleans is unknown. An account from 1743 notes that the custom of Carnival balls was already established. Processions and wearing of masks in the streets on Mardi Gras took place. They were sometimes prohibited by law, and were quickly renewed whenever such restrictions were lifted or enforcement waned. In 1833 Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville, a rich plantation owner of French descent, raised money to fund an official Mardi Gras celebration.

    James R. Creecy in his book Scenes in the South, and Other Miscellaneous Pieces describes New Orleans Mardi Gras in 1835:

       Shrove Tuesday is a day to be remembered by strangers in New Orleans, for that is the day for fun, frolic, and comic masquerading. All of the mischief of the city is alive and wide awake in active operation. Men and boys, women and girls, bond and free, white and black, yellow and brown, exert themselves to invent and appear in grotesque, quizzical, diabolic, horrible, strange masks, and disguises. Human bodies are seen with heads of beasts and birds, beasts and birds with human heads; demi-beasts, demi-fishes, snakes’ heads and bodies with arms of apes; man-bats from the moon; mermaids; satyrs, beggars, monks, and robbers parade and march on foot, on horseback, in wagons, carts, coaches, cars, etc., in rich confusion, up and down the streets, wildly shouting, singing, laughing, drumming, fiddling, fifeing, and all throwing flour broadcast as they wend their reckless way.

    On Mardi Gras of 1857, the Mystick Krewe of Comus held its first parade. Comus is the oldest continuously active Mardi Gras organization. It started a number of continuing traditions. It is considered the first Carnival krewe in the modern sense. According to one historian, “Comus was aggressively English in its celebration of what New Orleans had always considered a French festival. It is hard to think of a clearer assertion than this parade that the lead in the holiday had passed from French-speakers to Anglo-Americans. . . .To a certain extent, Americans ‘Americanized’ New Orleans and its Creoles. To a certain extent, New Orleans ‘creolized’ the Americans. Thus the wonder of Anglo-Americans boasting of how their business prowess helped them construct a more elaborate version of the old Creole Carnival. The lead in organized Carnival passed from Creole to American just as political and economic power did over the course of the nineteenth century. The spectacle of Creole-American Carnival, with Americans using Carnival forms to compete with Creoles in the ballrooms and on the streets, represents the creation of a New Orleans culture neither entirely Creole nor entirely American.”

    In 1875 Louisiana declared Mardi Gras a legal state holiday. War, economic, political, and weather conditions sometimes led to cancellation of some or all major parades, especially during the American Civil War, World War I and World War II, but the city has always celebrated Carnival.

    Feb 27 2011

    Punting the Pundits: Sunday Preview Edition

    “Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

    Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

    The Sunday Talking Heads:

    This Week with Christiane Amanpour: Christiane Amanpour will be reporting live from Tripoli, Libya on the historic and violent struggle for control of the oil-rich nation.

    Jake Tapper will host the roundtable with Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ), Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA), Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), to discuss the federal and state budget crises and constituent responses to the shortages.

    Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: Mr. Schieffer will interview with N.J. Governor Chris Christie

    The Chris Matthews Show: This week’s guests are Dan Rather, HDNet Global Correspondent, Savannah Guthrie, NBC News White House Correspondent, Trish Regan, CNBC Anchor and Correspondent and John Heilemann, New York Magazine National Political Correspondent.

    They will discuss these questions:

    Is “Cuts” — Not “Jobs” — The New Winning Four-Letter Word?

    Will Oil-Fueled Inflation Ruin Obama’s Economic Recovery?

    Meet the Press with David Gregory: Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) gives an exclusive interview and an interview with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), ranking member of the Armed Services Committee from Cairo.

    The round table guests are former head of the RNC, Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS); chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO); host of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” Lawrence O’Donnell; president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka; and editorial board member and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Kim Strassel who will discuss the the economic and budget crisis..

    State of the Union with Candy Crowley: Guests are Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut (I-CT) and Sen. John McCain of Arizona (R-AZ) discussing the Middle East. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) will discuss the national budget battle. Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Gov. Dan Malloy (D-CT) will talk about budgets on the state level. Economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office will give their insight on the Middle East crisis and the economy

    Fareed Zakaris: GPS: War criminal Paul Wolfowitz gives his perspective on Libya and the role the United States needs to play. Fareed will give his view on the events. Economist and NY Times best selling author Michael Lewis will look back at the the world financial crisis.

    Am I the only one who will be sleeping through this crap?

    Feb 27 2011

    The Week in Editorial Cartoons, Part I – Union Busting in Wisconsin

    Crossposted at Daily Kos and Docudharma

    John Sherffius

    John Sherffius, Comics.com (Boulder Daily Camera)

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