I see a pretty butterfly

Today I can thank Titivil for hipping me to the Watchmen trailer.
I can't remember the last time I saw a movie trailer that made me want to jump up and down like a three-year-old, shouting "canwego canwego canwego canwego?", but this one did it. Everything (at least in the trailer) looks exactly how I'd want it to. When has that ever happened? Nite Owl's airship thingy: perfect! Rohrshach: creepy!
That three-year-old (me) doesn't know if he can wait 'til 2009. How many wake-ups is that?
Forgotten is the pain of finding out that Terry Gilliam wasn't going to direct it, and gone is my usual reluctance to shill for a major motion picture.

I'm auditioning to be the new WH press secretary

Let's be clear here. We're talking about a "time horizon", not a "timetable". I realize you might be confused, because a table is horizontal. Here's the difference, though: a table is right here, and you can put stuff on it. A horizon is always over there somewhere, which is why you can't put anything on it or bump into it when you go to get a snack in the middle of the night.

Let's say we're out sailing with Iraq, and Iraq says "Hey, just a question: when are these fucking troops leaving?". We now have an answer:
"See that line over there? When we get to that line".
So, let's review: timetable? No. Time horizon? Yes.

taking a wide stance on foreign oil

Larry Craig doesn't want you getting your nozzle jerked at the gas station.

Steve Guttenberg. Steve... Guttenberg.

These days, there is very little that makes me laugh out loud that isn't about 18" tall and carrying a stuffed octopus, but I just read this Observer interview with Steve Guttenberg and, though I can't quite put my finger on why, I found it guffawish:

The Goot does have his vices.

“I indulge in wine, and I love vodka, I do,” he said. “And I love scotch, you know. And I love weed. And I love women. And I do have, you know, those … Addiction is such an overused word."

Hah!

And how's your career going, Steve?

“I go in spurts,” he said.

Well, Steve, you're 49. You can't expect the same steady stream you had when you were younger.
But how's your career going?

laughing at a belief

I'm almost loath to keep throwing words at Covergate, but I think it points to some things that perennially get the Grizzly goat, so, a few thoughts.

I'm very tired of being painted as an elitist or somehow out of touch with America because I have, and expect my fellow Americans to have, a slight tendency towards thoughtfulness. It has been my hope that an Obama presidency might be a harbinger or catalyst towards bringing us out of these anti-intellectual Dark Ages we've plunged ourselves into. Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Obama campaign issued a "oh yeah, we're offended too 'cause we're as dumb as you are we promise" as a response, it does on some level disappoint.

Is it really naive to think there's a level of stupidity that doesn't deserve to be legitimized?

As usual, someone has expressed my view of Coverfuffle more astutely than I am able, and even though it's in Newsweek I think it's pretty good.

A few snippets that I found particularly noteworthy:

This line of reasoning--i.e., don't satirize something stupid because the people who believe it might be stupid enough to take you seriously--strikes me as painfully paternalistic.

Does it help Obama to have Blitt's sketch broadcast on television? Maybe not--which why his press shop lashed out...

...it's not Remnick's job to do what's best for Obama. The fact is there's nothing wrong with pointing out the absurdity of a rumor ("Obama is a Muslim") by amplifying it to ridiculous, obviously satirical proportions ("Obama is a Muslim who will dress in Islamist garb and worship bin Laden as president"). In fact, laughing at a worthless belief is one of the best ways to show that it isn't worth believing.


Please also see the Slate article linked in the Newsweek piece, wherein another "thing I wish I said" is said, by Jack Shafer:

Only weak thinkers fear strong images. The publication that convenes itself as a polite dinner party, serving only polenta and pureed peas, need not invite me to sup.

ah, nostalgia

I'd like to thank the MSM echo chamber for providing me with a sweetly nostalgic moment over the weekend. I was driving along thinking about the utter ridiculosity of the New Yorker "Covergate", when the Dire Straits' song "Money For Nothing" came on the radio.

I was transported back to high school, and the attempt to remain patient while I explained that Mark Knopfler, when he sang "that little faggot with the earring and the makeup", was portraying a character, was mocking that character's ignorance. See? No? Are ye completely daft?!

I was a pirate in high school.

Some things never change. I mean, I'm not a pirate any more, but jeez, people, are ye completely daft?!

I do so wish that Obama's reaction to the cover had been, "Oh, that's funny". I guess we don't want to offend the "offended" base...

under the sign of the water-carrier

That wonderful fourth column of ours at work:

WASHINGTON - The Senate finally is expected to pass a bill overhauling rules on secret government eavesdropping, completing a lengthy and bitter debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks.

Well, that is the debate as one side of it would like it framed, so you go, reporter/mouthpiece Pamela Hess!