Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

NEWSFLASH: 'Deep Throat' Mark Felt Dead at 95

READING BOOKS, WATCHING MOVIES AND MORE PRESENTS The Best of 2008

Top Ten Films
1: American Teen
2: Slumdog Millionaire
3: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barbour Of Fleet Street
4: Happy Go Lucky
5: Nothing But The Truth
6: Doubt
7: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
8: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
9: Flight Of The Red Balloon
10: The Dark Night
Best Actor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Best Actress
Sally Hawkins in Happy Go Lucky
Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga in Nothing But The Truth
Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger in The Dark Night
Best Musical
[Title Of Show]
Best Revival Of A Play
Equus
Best TV show
Private Practice
Top Five Albums
1: She And Him: Volume 1
2: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust Kerry Butler
3: Patti Lupone: Live At Les Mouches
4: A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas Kristen Chenoweth
5: I Stand Idina Menzel
Top 5 Books (Fiction)
1: How They Met by David Levithan
2: Hero-Type by Barry Lyga
3: Someday This Pain Will be Useful To You by Peter Cameron
4: Slam by Nick Hornby
5: American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield
Best Book (Non-Fiction)
Audition by Barbra Walters
Top Five Graphic Novels
1: The War at Ellismere by Faith Erin Hicks
2: Chiggers by Hope Larson
3: What It Is by Lynda Barry
4: Whys and Wherefores by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guarra
5: Drop In by Dave Lapp
Best Designed Book
2066 by Roberto Bolano

Another Twilight Related Post

this is pretty funny.

HUH!?

From: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/index.html

NEWS FLASH: Man handcuffs his wife to the bed, loses key

Thousands gather on Pearl Harbor anniversary Detective: Teen was chained in fireplace Pentagon 'dragging its feet' on injured vets Illinois governor's words 'beyond greed' Pompeii family's final hours reconstructed Most viewed on msnbc.com

Man handcuffs his wife to the bed, loses key Bowel-clearing drugs to get sternest FDA label Bank of America plans up to 35,000 job cuts Calif. budget deficit to hit $41.8 billion by 2010 FDA advisers: Halt use of some asthma drugs Most viewed on msnbc.com

updated 1 hour, 49 minutes ago

DEARBORN, Mich. - If you love something, set it free. And if you can't, call the police. The Detroit Free Press reported police responded to a call Thursday morning by a Dearborn man who handcuffed his wife to their bed but misplaced the key.

Police used a universal key to free the woman.

Sgt. Ray Patrick said the situation was "more of an intimate relationship than an unlawful imprisonment."

You can tell you are slowly going crazy when you make this

Frost/Nixon

Michael Sheen is quite good in Frost/Nixon playing the television talk show host who with thousands of dollars of his own money and sheer determination manges be the first to interview Richard Nixon after Watergate but is very much upstaged by Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, the most obviously compelling character. The movie actually made me kind of like Richard Nixon. As I was exiting the theater, this was the scary thought on my and most of the audiences mind. Frank Langella portrays Nixon as a sympathetic and, except for a few scenes, retiree. While there are moments where Nixon seems threatening like when he says "I'm saying that when the President does it, that means it's not illegal!" But mostly he seems nice and jokey, poking fun at Frost's shoes and smiling. He even is helpful to Frost's romantic life offering him advice to marry the girl he brings to meet Nixon.

BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS! AND MORE BOOKS! Monthly Book Roundup: Monday, December 1st, 2008

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrisson
Toni Morrisson’s first book The Bluest Eye begins in the language of the beginner picture book “Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Mother, Father, Dick and Jane live in the green and white house. They are very happy..”
But then asks the question that is age old, is anyone really happy by breaking down this immortal, familiar and comforting picture book vision and changes it into being unsettling and almost frighteningly forbidding by printing the text of this imaginary picture book in a clump.It then in its various chapters shows how a tragedy, a father raping his child, can be hidden in this picture book. It shows the longing hidden in this story.
The book tells the story of the girl who was raped by her father, Pecola Breedlove, an eleven year old black girl, who only wants blue eyes. It is a wonderful book and is highly recommended.

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckly
A hugely fun and funny read from the first page to the last

Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guarra
I have still not finished all the volumes but always enjoy the ones I have with the great artwork and writing of Pia Guarra and Brian K. Vaughn.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfieild
I bought this book after the review in The New York Times made me want to read it out of shear curiosity. Little did I know I had bought one of the most enjoyable reads of the year. I read all six hundred pages in around two weeks and enjoyed all of them. I never in a million years would have thought a book about Laura Bush could be so interesting! Even without the added attraction of George Bush as a character (he doesn't appear for a good hundred pages), Sittenfieild's writing shines and fascinates. Highly recommended.

I Live Here by Mia Kirshner and others
This anthology interested me just based on its great cover design but the insides with fascinating insight into the impoverished countries of the world is great as well.

What It Is by Lynda Barry
A very well and interestingly illustrated book (a lot of it was drawn on legal paper) with a lot of interesting and worthwhile ideas.

Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner
Another great read that I picked up just out of curiosity based on its cover, I finished this one in two days and found it a hugely entertaining and fun read.

Chicken With Plums by Marjane Satrapi
A powerful and intense book with beutiful illustrations, this is Satrapi's best book yet.

Hero-Type by Barry Lyga
At this point, I will buy any book Barry Lyga releases and with good reason. Each of them so far has been a masterpiece in and of itself. This book Hero-Type was at once exciting, fun, fast paced, entertaining, political, romantic and many other things. Highly Recommended!

Next Month: Books by Toni Morrison', Roberto Bolano, Curtis Sittenfield and more

Hillary Clinton is secratary of state

Today, I watched some of the live news coverage on the NY Times site and was so excited to see Hillary Clinton announced as Secretary of State. I hope she cuts back on her shoe shopping¹!




¹reference to Condalezza Rice going shoe shopping as hurricane Katrina happened

William Gibson (writer of The Miricle Worker) Dies

William Gibson, who wrote the play “The Miracle Worker,” died on Tuesday. He was 94.

Happy Thanksgiving from a canadian! Eh!

I just wanted to wish all the blog's US readers a:
Happy Thanksgiving

WATCHING MOVIES: Passchendaele

Warning: IRONY used herein
I find the funny thing about the movie is that there is barely any fighting. I have a acquaintance who saw the movie on his own (meaning no one forced him to; most of the audience of this movie will be history classes) and was quite disappointed to find that in addition to seeing a man put a knife the middle of another guys head he had to endure the torture of two hours of love scenes and not even sex scenes, romance scenes complete with corny ("Let me paint you a picture, a man is riding on a horse.."), while I, someone who will happily go Julia Roberts movies in first run engagements for fun, went to Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, in the coming attractions thought Australia looked slightly good, was sad to miss The Women in its theatrical run and would not watch the SAW films for my life must endure the sight of a hand coming out of the middle of someone's mouth. No one wins!

Rememberance Day is Today

This will be the only post on the blog today in honer of Remembrance Day.

black and white art by me

Writing thought

I was writing and I noticed something. The music you listen to really has an effect on your writing. I was listening to Bach and I wrote a quiet scene about plants then I listened to Spring Awakening and I wrote about love.

Babar and Bob Barr

A few weeks ago, I heard about a u.s. school's vote in the U.S where Obama got 130 votes, McCain got 40 and Babar got 4. I thought, oh, four kids put in a write in vote for the children's character Babar until I learned it was the independent candidate Bob Barr.

Michael Crichton Dead

Just thought you might want to know.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

On Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at approximately 8:49 PM, I posted on this blog that Barrack Obama would win the presidency. At that point, he had 102 electoral votes with McCain behind at 33. But I knew then that he would win. I could just feel it.
To be honest, I had decided this a day earlier when I saw how on Twitter, Obama had something like a million followers while McCain had something like a few thousand.
When I talked to people about this election on Tuesday before the results were announced, I said that if Obama lost, it would be an incomprehensible moment.
Luckily it didn't happen.
When McCain came up to give his concession speech, I could not believe the moment. I could not believe that it was happening.
Even in Canada, watching CBC, on a television that uses an antenna, miles and miles away from the two candidates. It was a great moment.
Looking back at the 2000 election, it was amazing to see the Republicans accept thier loss. There were no fights. Hey, Obama even won Florida.
When Obama stepped out to give his acceptance speech, in the crowd in Chicago. Many were crying with the impotence of this moment.
What I have said to a lot of people while watching this election is "We are living in a historical moment. In 100 years, this will be studied in schools as an amazing moment in history"
Not that it was all great, California voted Preposition 8, which bans gay marriage, through. That is something to be very sad about. For those who disagree with me about the importance of marriage to homosexual families, watch this film.

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

But we can still rejoice that now America has an African American (and more importent democrat) president.

Preposition 8 passed.

I just will say that it makes me sad that it has come to this
. An America that even on the eve of electing a black president is still so bigoted.

Barrack Obama has won the presidency!

John McCain just conceded. That's all

not to jinx it or anything..

but mark my word, Barrack Obama is going to be the next president of the United States. That's all.

The Election is today...

Please VOTE!!

Obama's Grandmother has died.

HOLY ****!

I am looking at the EW website and a call for questions in the comments for the person who plays Edward in the Twilight movie got over a thousand responses.

One More Day

Tomorrow..we learn who is the net president of the United States!

Art Post (Be thankful I don't do this more then once a month)

Ignore this if you want but my hard drive is overloaded so I thought I would post some art here so I can delete it from the computer

An Update

I know...I know!
I am NOT blogging enough!
I'll start blogging more soon
-Writer

To all the blog's readers in California (if there are any): Please vote NO on Proposition 8

I just thought I should post this. If you read this blog, live in California and are voting in the 2008 presidential election. Please vote NO to Preposition 8 which will take the right of Gay marriage in California if voted through.
Thank you.

Clothes

from: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/palin-on-wardrobe-this-is-ridiculous/#more-6877

“Those clothes, they are not my property,” Ms. Palin said. “Just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the R.N. C. purchased. I’m not taking them with me. I’m back to wearing my own clothes from my favorite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska.”

Uh oh!!

Election Post Roundup

Here are two posts/sites on the election:
http://goraina.livejournal.com/199731.html
http://yaforobama.ning.com/

Article Of The Day

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-27/my-brush-with-rush/

Sarah Palin's Makeup Artist

From The New York Times:

Updated | 12:20 p.m. Who was the highest paid individual in Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign during the first half of October as it headed down the homestretch?

Not Randy Scheunemann, Mr. McCain’s chief foreign policy adviser; not Nicolle Wallace, his senior communications staffer. It was Amy Strozzi, who was identified by the Washington Post this week as Gov. Sarah Palin’s traveling makeup artist, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday night.

Ms. Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy award for her makeup work on the television show “So You Think You Can Dance?”, was paid $22,800 for the first two weeks of October alone, according to the records. The campaign categorized Ms. Strozzi’s payment as “Personnel Svc/Equipment.”

Sarah Palin's Interview

from People.com:

– but you don't get to be governor without being smart, so how would you describe your smarts?
SP: How would I describe my smarts?
Do you think you're intellectual?
Sarah Palin: Yessss. And you have to be up on not only current events, but you have to understand the foundation of the issues that you're working on as a governor. I had to do the same thing as a mayor. So it is not just current events but it's much more in-depth than that to understand how, in the case of me being governor, how did our state get to the position that we are in order for a decision to have to be made. You can't just go on what is presented you. You have to know the background, you have to know the players involved before you make a policy call. So, um, it's uh, it's a good job, it's a tough job and it's a very, very serious job. And no. You don't get to be a governor by being –
TP: – going with the wind.
SP: Yeah definitely. You don't just go with the flow and take a political pulse on policy. You have to go with what the foundational knowledge is that you have on issues in front of you and you have to put the people you are serving, put them first. You put them before partisanship you put them before special interests. That's how you make decisions as governor.
How do you get that knowledge?
SP: I'm a voracious reader, always have been. I appreciate a lot of information. I think that comes from growing up in a family of schoolteachers also where reading and seizing educational opportunities was top on my parents' agenda. That was instilled in me.
What do you like to read?
SP: Autobiographies, historical pieces – really anything and everything. Besides the kids and sports, reading is my favorite thing to do.
What are you reading now?
SP: I'm reading, heh-heh, a lot of briefing papers on a lot of issues that are in front of us in this campaign.
What about for fun?
SP: Do we consider The Looming Tower something that was just for fun? That's what I've been reading on the airplane. It's about 9/11. If I'm going to read something, for the most part, it's something beneficial.
Jessica of Yucca Valley, Calif., wants to know, When someone screamed, 'Kill him,' at your rally, why didn't you say anything?
SP: I haven't heard anybody scream 'Kill him' at a rally.
Have you read that people in your crowds yelled hateful things about Barack Obama?
SP: With 23,000 people at a rally it would be difficult to pick out one comment. If I heard somebody say something like 'Kill him,' I would certainly not condone that… and I would say something
Alicia in New York City asks, Do you think about having more children?
SP: No-o-o-o. We got our starting five. That's the final five.
You're not the first parents to cope with a teenage pregnancy. How did you get that news and what was your reaction?
SP: Just a very quick acknowledgement that Bristol and her fiancé will have to grow up a lot quicker. But she is quite mature, very kind-hearted and a very strong young woman. She's also kind of an old soul who's beyond any desire to be out there partying. It will all be good. We look forward to another life coming into our family.

Do you worry about her finishing high school or going to college?
SP: No. She's a very smart girl. She's got great grades. She's always been a very good athlete, very plugged into school. These are less than ideal circumstances, but she is making the most of this and she will be a very, very good and loving mother. And Levi will be a very good father. And it's going to be good. And certainly, of course, as you point out, we're not the first.

Has this changed how you talk about sex with your other children?
SP: I've always been a proponent of making sure kids understand – even in schools – they'd better take preventative measures so that they don't find themselves in these less than ideal circumstances. Perhaps Bristol could be a good example to other young women that life happens and preventative measures are, first and foremost, the option that should be considered –

Do you mean abstinence or contraception?
SP: Well, both. Ideally abstinence. But we have not been ones to say that students, should not know what preventive measures are all about. I've been taken aback by some criticism that mainstream media has thrown my way saying, Oh, what a hypocrite she is and she's now learned her lesson because she's been against sex education in the schools. And I'm like, when? Where? When have I ever said that there should be no sex education taught in our homes or even in our schools?

Carlie from Winston Salem, N.C., asks, If Sen. McCain doesn't win, will you run for President in 2012? I will be old enough to vote then and you have my vote.
SP: Awww. That is so nice to hear. But our focus is between now and November 4.

Wedding next summer, is that right?
SP: Um. Hopefully before that. But Bristol turns 18 in a few days. That's what we wanted her to wait for: 18 and a decision on her own about how she's going to go forward, her and Levi, at this point.

Are you disappointed that he's dropped out of school?
SP: He's working right now full-time, but there have been a lot of very successful, hard-working American families led by men and women who have received their GED and have figured out through home-schooling and alternative schooling how to get that high school diploma and Levi will be on that road to get his education, also. But in addition to that, they're not going to be looking for anybody to hand them anything. They're going to be working for provisions for their new family and I respect that Levi is out there working hard. He's got a good job right now, working hard, ready to take care of his new child. I respect that.

STAFF: We've got to get going.

Do you have a favorite childhood book you'll be passing on to your new grandbaby?
SP: Awww. Gosh. That's a good question. Piper and I read lots and lots of nursery rhymes, of course, and we still do. There's a couple of really good Alaskan child books, also, about the Iditarod, the sled-dog race so, in fact a couple of those – and I'm reading one of them to Piper right now – we'll be passing those on.

Is that a series?
SP: No, different books. Susan Butcher, she was one of the Iditarod champions. She had written a book before she died. It was a beautiful book that she and her husband, Dave Monson, wrote. It's called Granite and it's a good one. And a lot of the Alaskan-oriented books because our kids are Alaska native, they're Eskimos, so it helps them understand more of their culture, the history there in Alaska.

Just get Tina Fey to say these lines and it will be TV gold.

Sarah Palin will ban Gay Marriage

From the Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin says she supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a break with John McCain who has said he believes states should be left to define what marriage is.

In an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network, the Alaska governor said she had voted in 1998 for a state amendment banning same sex marriage and hoped to see a federal ban on such unions.

"I have voted along with the vast majority of Alaskans who had the opportunity to vote to amend our Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. I wish on a federal level that's where we would go. I don't support gay marriage," Palin said. She said she believed traditional marriage is the foundation for strong families.

McCain, an Arizona senator, is supporting a ballot initiative in his state this year that would ban gay marriage. But he has consistently and forcefully opposed a federal marriage amendment, saying it would usurp states' authority on such matters.

As governor, Palin vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to the partners of gay state employees. In a debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden, Palin said she was "tolerant" of gays and said she supported certain legal protections for same-sex couples, like hospital visitation rights.

Biden, meanwhile, said during an appearance Monday on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that if he lived in California he would vote against a ballot measure that seeks to ban gay marriage. DeGeneres, who is gay and newly wed to actress Portia de Rossi, has urged Californians to reject Proposition 8.

"I think it's regressive," the Delaware senator said. "I think it's unfair, and so I vote 'no.'"

Biden added that he and Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, opposed a similar initiative nationally. In the debate with Palin, Biden said he supporters partnerships rights for gays and lesbians, although he also opposes same-sex marriage.

Tina Fey is Sarah Palin (again)

30 Rock

You can watch the new episode of 30 rock on hulu now, for free. If you live in the U.S., which I don't. Darn!

Biden Was Right!

Within his first six months in office, Barrack Obama will face a crisis within six months of his first term in office, Spring Awakening is closing in January!!

Biden says the sky is falling....

So...
I have been continually unimpressed by Joe Biden through this time. I thought that Obama as anyone watching the debate would agree, chose a lackluster running mate. I'll tell you why. As someone who viewed the debates between Clinton and Obama and thought Clinton won, I am quite unimpressed by Barrack choosing instead of Clinton someone who Clinton squashed in the primaries. Even with that early bias, Biden in the debate, even when he says the EXACT SAME THING AS PALIN which I disagree with (the gay marriage issue) is less sympathetic. Now he does this. Not that he is necessarily wrong. With the financial crisis, it is likely Obama will face troubles in his first six months. But he just should not do this kind of thing which will soon make him, like Palin, never have another press conference and also as seen in the clip below by doing this he is just feeding Obama to the sharks.
UPDATE: From an article in the New York Times:

On the trail this fall, Mr. Biden has curbed his noted volubility — or, rather, had it curbed for him by his masters at Obama headquarters, in Chicago. He never goes to the press section of his campaign plane to talk to the reporters who accompany him, he has not held a news conference since early September and he does not take questions from his audiences (not since he told one person that he thought Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York would have been a better choice for vice president). Then again, Mr. Biden’s assignment does not include outreach to the national news media.

Thank you to my two sources: The Daily Beast and The New York Times

Postnote: I am not writing this as a republican. I am a democrat and I support Obama.

Laugh Lines

Reading this and this I had to post them (with slight editing for clarification.)

“What they don’t know — what they don’t know — is that Joe the Plumber recently signed a very lucrative contract with a wealthy couple to handle all the work on all seven of our houses ’’ Mr. McCain said, in an allusion to a flap he caused last summer when he was unable to remember how many homes he and his wife own.


“Joe, if you’re watching, I’m sorry,” Mr. McCain said referencing to his attacks on Obama's running mate Joe Biden.

Cyclops in Space

How UNBELIVIBLY awful and cheesy will this be:

O Spaceship, Where Art Thou: Warner Bros. and Brad Pitt are turning Homer's Odyssey into an outer-space saga that focuses on a guy's adventures as he tries to get back to Earth. WB hopes the director will be none other than George Miller, who is hilariously still attached to helm Justice League (new release date: July 4, 2018!). [Variety]-http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/

Stephan Harper is the prime minister of Canada (again)

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

When the book is better then the movie and the movie is quite good, it means the book must be very good. The only ills I have with the movies adaptation is sometimes it waters down aspects of the book too much and adds too much. Let me tell you, if you enjoyed the movie at all you should buy the book. You will enjoy it. Watch the movie too.

TKTS

SPOTTED in New York

New York Theatres

MOMA MIA!

In New York, a few days ago, I went to MOMA (The Museum Of Modern Art) and saw a lot of wonderful (and not so wonderful) pieces of art. Here is my photo report on MOMA.