ampdead

Actual funny

As opposed to the post below.

Take notes, comedy writers. But mostly note that humor is based on reality.

h/t HotAir

Posted by: Jason at 11:02 PM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Who wrote this crap?

Is it just me, or is The End of Entertainment As We Know It a bit surreal? I mean, I'd take a scab job at Chrysler, Ford, or GM if I could and that's kinda like, you know, actual work.

Still, in these deeply dark days devoid of sunshine for Hollywood, the writers maintain their, ahem, 'sense of humor.' Though if this is funny, why are they getting paid at all?

Resistance to teh funnay iz teh futile.

h/t Nikki Finke who calls this a "very funny 1-minute video from WGA members Gregg Rossen and Brian Sawyer about what Hollywood screenwriters will be doing for day jobs post-strike." If that's funny then Hollywood is a comedy blackhole. Keep on suckin'.

Note the music. BTO's "Takin' Care of Business." "We love to work at nothing all day" is probably not a good argument for getting a pay raise.

Courage. Unity.

Grow up.

Posted by: Jason at 06:06 PM in Zombiewood | No Comments | Add Comment
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Extremes

A broader thought on my previous post.

Is the reality that a person can only be either pro-Muslim or anti-Muslim without anything inbetween?  Little Green Footballs, this past week, has made various posts about some European groups that may be anti-Islamization, but may also be (and from the evidence presented are) neo-Nazis.  The Yaffer flap only illustrated that more.  But LGF also has a solid record on pointing out and shouting down pro-Islamization groups as well as those people willfully blind to Islamofascism.  In other words, Johnson is certainly no friend of CAIR or Jimmy Carter.  But neither is he a racist.

The us or them mentality is a fundamentally unprincipled stand.  To claim inviting Griffin was due to starting a debate is as absurd as claiming the same for inviting Ahmadinejad.  There is no debate here anymore - it's done, it's been settled.  Both of these men hold views any rational person would dismiss out of hand.  Period.

At some point, the thoughtful person has to realize that some apparent fellow travelers are, in reality, no different from one's enemies.  Trading a Crescent Moon for a Swastika makes no damned sense.  You're not making a trade of ideas; rather, you're merely switching out one symbol for another while retaining the meaning.

Pointing out the actual beliefs of someone who claims to be your friend is not being PC.  It's being honest with yourself.  Moreover, it's standing up for your own beliefs.

An aside:  The ties between Islamism and Nazism need to be, I suppose, continually pointed out.  There's a reason it's called Islamofascism after all.  It's why, for instance, both Storm Front and Hamas are equally our enemies even though they would likely, when we are finished off, go after each other.

Posted by: Jason at 02:22 AM in Conservoluted | No Comments | Add Comment
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Paging General Ripper

This is fun.  The S.S. Kidz at Michigan State invited the British version of Ahmadinejad (though Griffin is only in the wannabe phase at the moment) to speak on campus and then, through some uncanny mental gymnastics, wrote the following about Little Green Footballs on their precious little blog:

In case you do not read Little Green Footballs, the blog is pro-Muslim, left-wing, politically correct, and basically a front for neoconservative foreign policy (instead of defending their culture, they want to build schools in the Anbar province). They are basically a puppet of the multiculturalists and believe that Islam is not the enemy of Western civilization and Christendom. Only Bush-bots read the Little Green Footballs blog.

See, kids, this is why Michigan sucks right now.  Blame the politicians all you want, but it's the idiots in the voting booths who gave the politicians power.  This moonbattery - of which I once thought the Kos Kidz were the best example of - will get you nothing except maybe a flogging from your betters.

I don't know, maybe it's something in the water?  East Lansing and Lansing are pretty close to each other afterall.  Have you people O.D.'ed on fluoride?

Special:  S.S. Kidz chased by cane-wielding mob.  Did they have walkers too?

Posted by: Jason at 01:15 AM in Michigan | No Comments | Add Comment
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To anyone who may read this blog...

From HotAir

Checks should be made payable to the Ayaan Hirsi Ali Security Trust and sent to:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Security Trust
Bank of Georgetown
1054 31st Street, N.W.
Suite 18
Washington, DC 20007
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Trust Tax Identification Number: 75-6826872

Thank you for your interest in assisting Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

For more information please contact: John Matteo (jmatteo@jackscamp.com) or Mackenzie McNaughton (mmcnaughton@jackscamp.com), representatives for Ms. Hirsi Ali. Telephone: 202-457-1600

Wire Transfer information

Account Name: Ayaan Hirsi Ali Security Trust
Account Number: 1010054748
Bank of Georgetown
1054 31st Street, N.W.
Suite 18
Washington, DC 20007
Bank Telephone: 202-355-1200
Bank Routing Number: 054001712

Posted by: Jason at 04:26 AM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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A-Changin' Time

Dylan ditches electric for gasoline.  Hippies hardest hit.

Posted by: Jason at 11:33 AM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Expression is an action

As such it has an equal but opposite reaction.  Or would if we human beings stopped thwarting the laws of Nature.  We humans, being decent folk, continually interfere with the natural consequences of being stupid.  Instead of removal from the gene pool we put them on display.

Posted by: Jason at 10:02 AM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is the photoshop bad?

Actually, it's worse than this.

h/t HotAir headlines that h/t'ed LGF

Posted by: Jason at 12:10 PM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Oh dear

Posted by: Jason at 05:19 PM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Then again, maybe he did

The photoshops are flying, poking fun at Dennis Kucinich.

But how do you explain this?

h/t HotAir headlines for the "Photo of the Day."

Posted by: Jason at 04:26 PM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Redact this

Got this off a comment to Jimbo at Blackfive's post on his encounter with David Horowitz - though I did have to find the actual story.

CNN:  Around 800 drooling inbreds Marines volunteer to help save Southern California from burning to the ground. 

Go figure.

Edit:  Glenn Beck eats 50 pounds of donuts - braincells go on vacation.  Rephrasing that statement would actually make sense though, and this question is valid.  How many people in that area support forest "management via wildfire"? 

Yes, I get it.  The fires are a terrible thing, and as Allah at HA writes, "The sheer scale of it is astounding."  No, I'm not trying to make light of it.  But if you make your bed out of underbrush, it's going to burn.

Posted by: Jason at 12:47 PM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hate crime

If Dumbledore was gay, does that make J.K. Rowling a homophobe for killing him off?

Update from lolcats.

Posted by: Jason at 09:52 AM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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We were going to see a movie yesterday

At the theater even, with $9 tickets, larger-than-life commercials, and all that other happy crap.  The only thing that seemed remotely worth seeing for the price was Elizabeth:  The Golden Age, but the times didn't fit our schedule - a whole three showings on a Saturday.  Instead we just went to dinner. 

Then we remembered we have a DVD player.

So, one of the complaints coming from Hollywood is people are staying home and using their "home theaters" instead of going to the theater to see movies.  Thus, Hollywood is losing profits.  Sorry, kids, I don't have a home theater - I have a television with a DVD player hooked up to it.  Granted, this swanky setup I have is passable for watching movies, but it ain't no theater.  And no "home theater" I have ever seen comes close to the experience of being in a large space with a huge screen and a sound system that would get you arrested.

It's like saying listening to a recording of a live concert is the same as being at the concert.  What a stupid thing to say.

Transformers grossed $318,346,000 domestically (plus $383,326,113 foreign) in it's 111 day run in theaters.  It's opening weekend grossed $70,502,384 with an average of $17,577 per theater.  It was made on a budget of $150,000,000.  I get that it may not be a "high concept" film - giant robots fighting each other isn't high art, of course.  Then again, perhaps the giant robot thing was just a spiffy facade for a film that does do what film is supposed to do - namely, entertain while delving into the certain basic truths of being human.

By the way, I'm guessing such creators of high art as Raphael would greatly appreciate the precision and obsessive attention to detail put into creating those giant robots.

So, we ended up at Meijers after dinner.  I saw Transformers when it came out in theaters with my brother-in-law, but Dianne hadn't.  We bought the 2-disc special edition version for less than what two tickets and two drinks would have cost us to see the unmitigated flops in theaters now.  The price really didn't matter though.  I was willing to, and did pay for the privilege of seeing it in theaters.

One of the things I think makes a good film is that transition from theater viewing to home viewing.  Movies are supposed to be larger-than-life and you inevitably lose something of that between theater and home.  Twister may have been decent in theaters, but there's really no point in watching it at home.  It's a thrill ride that loses its thrill.  I suspect the same may be true of, for instance, 300 - I've yet to buy the DVD for that reason even though I saw it twice in theaters, and loved it.

While some of the pizazz may have been lost with Transformers, it retained the other, more essential qualities.  The the theatrical destruction was toned down a bit due to the limitations of my "home theater system," but the themes that moved the story couldn't be stripped away by merely shrinking the size of the screen and speakers.  The explosions, the giant robots - all of that - nicely settled into their role as complimentary framing for what is a pretty decent story.

The second disc provided some interesting tidbits about the movie's production.  Good things must be said about a director who is willing to take a pay cut in order to keep production, or most of it, in the U.S.  More so for a Hollywood director, given current movies, who doesn't portray the U.S. military as a bunch of incompetent, slobbering goons bent on rape and pillage.  Doesn't hurt that actual off-duty military were cast as extras (including speaking roles).  Even better:  They're portrayed as capable people doing their best against seemingly unbeatable odds.  Oh yeah, and they - along with the rest of the good guys - triumph.

That being a refreshing change, a radical departure from the norm in Hollywood is a strange thing.  Who says radicalism can't be profitable?

Sure, there could be changes made, but overall the movie works.  It works so well I saw it in theaters, and will watch it many times to come at home.

Edit:  I want to point out I'm not a big Michael Bay fan.  Armageddon was OK, never saw Pearl Harbor, and The Island was, er, something.  I've never been big on horror pics either; although, it might be interesting to see what he does with The Birds - maybe.  And I just found out there's a Michael Bay website - with this post in particular where he says about the same thing I did about recreating the theater experience outside the theater.

Watching a movie on an iPod?  Lame.

Posted by: Jason at 09:12 PM in Zombiewood | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Frosts

If Mr. and Mrs. Frost don't give a damn about their kids, why should anyone else?

Maybe instead of SCHIP they should be the poster-parents for government funded birth control.

Could the Democrats not find a family that actually needs government assistance to tout this government assistance program?  If the Frosts are the state of poverty in the U.S. now then Johnson's War is won, and there's no need for these programs.

Posted by: Jason at 01:12 AM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Are we there yet?

So I'm watching the latest Republican debate, and I'm wondering why.  Maybe it's the setting.  This sort of 'debate' just doesn't allow an opportunity to be inspiring - even though each of the wannabe Presidents, I'm pretty sure, said something along the lines of, "We have to inspire people (period - stop)."  Then again, maybe it's what each of these men are saying. 

If it weren't for the crazy, Paul says some good things.  But there's that crazy part again.

McCain is running against Bush again.  The uber-maverick rides again.  Yeeaawwwwn.  He's experiencing technical difficulties as well.  Must've turned his hearing aid off.

Thompson quoted Marx.  No, really:  Help to those who need it, help from those who can give it.  Also, I think he missed his embalming appointment and ended up in Dearborn by mistake.

Romney, as people say, has a "command of the issues."  He also seems to lack any capacity to get his ideas across.  My computer has a command of issues too, but I wouldn't vote for it.  Watching a debate between Romney and, say, Hillarity would be worse than watching paint dry with intermittent screeches and hand waving.  I don't know, it's like he's too slick or something.

Giuliani had his animated moments.  He's still the guy I'd vote for over the others, but he also still seems like the candidate who doesn't really want to be there - who had this whole thing dropped unexpectedly into his lap.  I've never bought the fantasy of the unintentional leader.  You have to want to lead, and that's that.  I'm not convinced he does.  Although, his answer to London becoming the financial center of the world was spot-on.  I think I'd like to see Giuliani give a speech or a one-on-one debate.  That's probably my own personal swing issue - who I'd want to hear in an actual debate.

Who were the other candidates?

Update:  Giuliani's quip about Canadians having nowhere to go for health care if the U.S. gets government health insurance was brilliant.  Given the entirety of the debate, that's not saying much.

Posted by: Jason at 05:59 PM in Conservoluted | No Comments | Add Comment
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You compromise, we lose

First I heard it on the local news the day the state government shutdown.  Then I heard it from my political science professor.  Now, thanks to Republican Michigander pointing it out, I'm reading it from Chris Ward in his Free Press editorial about the grand compromise.

Gotta love the title of that editorial:  Compromise avoided state crisis. 

Is that a joke?  Avoided a crisis?  This is a crisis.  That idiot's compromise wasn't a fix for Michigan.  New taxes on an economy screaming "Uncle!" is not the sort of compromise anyone but those with a certain viewpoint could want.  And that's the thing.  All this talk about bipartisanship and compromise and getting along, getting together, kumbyya nonsense is not the stuff change and betterment are made of. 

No, Rodney, we can't all just get along - every single one of us has a differing opinion.  We can alter small things in order to form consensus, but shooting yourself in the foot instead of in the head is not a rational compromise.  How can you vote for something you think is bad policy?  That makes no damned sense.

Right Michigan links to this article Crain's Detroit Business.  Moral of the story:  Expenditures will continue to out pace revenues - even as Rep. Ward congratulates himself on selling out.  Then what?  Punish business more for the state's lack of responsibility?  Punish Michigan more as long as our fearless leaders in Lansing can pat themselves on the back for coming up with asinine compromises?

It's sort of like the Christian Coalition gang refusing to vote for a Giuliani - which would be a rational compromise given the alternative and given what Giuliani has been saying.  While Giuliani himself may not be in the gang or even agree with the gang, he's committed himself to forming the means to the end the gang does agree with - namely, SCOTUS justices.  Also, given what's happened recently with Limbaugh, Medved, and O'Reilly, voting against the Republican candidate would be voting for a huge impediment on the gang getting their message out.  What do you think the Fairness Doctrine would do to, say, Catholic radio - nevermind mainstream commercial radio?

See, I'm all for compromise and getting along, getting together, singing ridiculous songs around the campfire - when it makes sense to do so.  But compromising shouldn't mean getting the opposite of what you want.

Posted by: Jason at 09:48 AM in Michigan | No Comments | Add Comment
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Forgot about that

The Boston Globe (9/26/07):  Hsu raised big money for Clinton supporters

In other cases, Clinton helped direct Hsu's money to influential politicians who have yet to endorse her but hail from key presidential primary states.

And at least some of the $17,000 that Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan collected from Hsu and his associates in 2005 and 2006 stems from a Nov. 29, 2005, fund-raising reception for her hosted by Steven Rattner, a New York investment firm executive and major Clinton donor seen as a candidate for US Treasury secretary if Clinton wins. Granholm's office said she has not made an endorsement decision.

Someone should bring that to the party - add it to that $116 million no-bid contract to a campaign donor.

Posted by: Jason at 03:55 PM in Michigan | No Comments | Add Comment
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Walk the walk already

I recently finished Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book, Infidel, and then comes the news she's going back to the Netherlands because the Dutch won't continue to pay to protect her and the U.S. can't because she's not a U.S. citizen.  She can't do it herself because it's too expensive.

This is absurd.  Here is a woman who is in danger of losing her life because of militant misogyny, but no one from the NOW crowd or similar is saying anything.  She's a ready-made poster-girl for women's lib, a bona fide new face for female empowerment, but the feministas are silent.  Not only is her story compelling - running away from an arranged marriage, getting herself through college in a country that was as foreign as foreign can be, elevating herself to getting elected as a member of parliament in that country - but she's an outspoken fighter as well.  The lady simply does not back down.  If there is a personification of the feminist movement, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is arguably it.

Is thinking that people take themselves and what they say seriously expecting too much?

h/t HotAir - that crazy, hateful right-wing vile machine is wondering where to donate to protect Hirsi

Posted by: Jason at 11:57 PM in Misc | No Comments | Add Comment
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Pheer meh!

First:  Background on the radio fiasco involving the Granny on WJR's Frank Beckmann show this morning (from Right Michigan).  I tuned in late - about the time Liz Boyd, the governor's spokesman, came on Beckmann's show to "clear things up."

One of the first things Lizzy said was, "I instill fear in people."  I'm sure she was joking.  Or it was satire.  Nuance maybe.  But, given what happened on Beckmann's show, it was pretty dumb.

What happened in a nutshell:  Beckmann taped an interview the Granny.  He asked her why she went back on the extending the sales tax to services thing (video at the end).  He also asked her about a $116 million no-bid contract that went to one of her campaign donors.  Granny didn't like her answers and asked or demanded the interview be held - with threats apparently.

Posted by: Jason at 09:59 PM in Michigan | No Comments | Add Comment
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1-0-0

I'm still not a fan of the shootouts.  But the Wings won so all is good.

Posted by: Jason at 10:22 PM in Red Wings | No Comments | Add Comment
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