Hancock
You have never seen a super hero movie like this one. The people who made this film re-invented the format. I admit it: I was jealous of the creativity the writers show off in this cool film. Hancock is a homeless drunk with real temper issues. Watch him as he is trying to work out his issues while is keeping LA safe.
Behind every Animator lies an Actor
It did not occur to me until I read the obituary of Ollie Johnston, apparently one of Disney’s finest animators, that behind every good animator lies a good actor.
Ollie Johnston, last of Disney’s elite animators, died on April 14th, aged 95
IF YOU interviewed Ollie Johnston in the last years of his life, sooner or later he would start to change. The trim body, lean as a whippet’s, would begin to prowl and strut, then round on you with an accusing, pointing arm, just like the evil prosecutor in
What Does a President Really Do All Day?
This is a great reflection by Joel Achenbach (Washington Post) on the job of the president and how it has changed over the past 200 years. It makes you wonder. No one can really prepare for this job. My preferred candidate is still Barak Obama. But I recognize that we are all taking a leap of faith that our choice will be able to make the right decisions.
A simple and deceptively tricky question: What does a president do?
If you had to put together the Help Wanted ad for the position of chief executive, what would you write? Something like: “CEO needed to supervise 3 million employees. Must be at least 35, native-born, willing to work at home. Spectacular public failures likely.”
Continue ReadingCatholic Heaven & Hell: The Pope Visits America
I consider myself an honorary alumnus of the catholic church since as child I went to catholic mass, was asked to go to confession even though at the time a had nothing to confess, and served as an altar boy although I did not belong to catholic faith. Like any alumnus of an old successful institution, I like to receive updates on where the organization is going. As I have written before, the current Pope is an smart fellow and I was curious how he would handle his visit to America.
The Pregnant Man
I wondered how is it possible. Has technology advanced so far that female organs and an embryo were implanted into a man’s womb? See this mind-bending story from the Oprah Show on YouTube.
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Two Girls Strolling By
When I was going for lunch today, two girls strolled by and one said to the other:
The Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Last week I was reminded again of the sage observations that real life generates stories that no fiction writer could ever imagine. Who would have thought that the prosecutor who went after prostitution rings would fall with lightening speed precisely because he was involved with the kind of ring in his previous role as attorney general of New York? To his credit he stepped down swiftly after his sky-high hypocrisy rendered him politically impotent. What made this sex scandal different the Lewinsky affair or senator Craig’s airport arrest was that from beginning to end it only took 48 hours. Spitzer in my mind was even more reckless than Clinton. Clinton only jeopardized being an effective president while the Republicans were trying to use Lewinsky affair to throw people out of office. Clinton stayed and continued to be a high popular elder statesman until he momentarily became the bulldog for his wife’s pre-presidential bid. But Spitzer threw-away his entire political career that might have led to the presidency for 22-year old hooker. Unlike many other politicians, he already had a beautiful wife. Why? Why are politicians often so reckless? N. R. Kleinfield of the NY Times provides some answers.
Stealing 11 days from history
It is a leap year again. I barely noticed it until I read this fascinating article.
A Great Leap Forward By CHRIS TURNEY
WHEN Frederic, the hero of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance,” learns that his Feb. 29 birthday means that he is not 21 years old but 5, he figures he’ll have to serve out his apprenticeship to the Pirate King for 60 more years, and swears to the love of his life that he will return in his 80s and marry her. Such are the tales that have always been told about today’s date. But now we’re in the 21st century, and time is measured according to oscillations of vaporized atoms of cesium-133. Why do we still need something as oddly quaint as leap year?
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