About 300 Americans have died because they couldn’t afford health care since I started this count five days ago. About 50 more will die today. Since this is turning into a kind of daily witness, I suppose I should document my source for the statistic this is based on. Michael Moore says in Sicko, and […]
Entries Tagged as 'Film'
Good Morning, Day 6
July 23rd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Activism, Film, HCC-DDT, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Human Rights, News, Politics, The Economy, Stupid
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Moore vs. Gupta: The Wrap-Up
July 20th, 2007 · Comments Off on Moore vs. Gupta: The Wrap-Up · Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
I didn’t get a chance to weigh in on the whole Moore vs. Gupta dustup while it was happening (much to the relief of the scale!), but here’s a little post-mortem wrap-up. First off, some links in case you missed any or all of it (all video links except the second one): Round One: Michael […]
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Dogging Michael Vick
July 19th, 2007 · 6 Comments · Activism, Culture, Film, Media, News, Pets, Politics
There have been a lot of scandals involving professional sports figures in recent years. But the federal indictment of NFL quarterback Michael Vick (of the Atlanta Falcons) on dogfighting charges is in a far worse league than the latest steroid abuse flap. Here’s what the email I got from the Humane Society of the United […]
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Liking Norma Rae
July 10th, 2007 · Comments Off on Liking Norma Rae · Activism, Culture, Film, History, Labor, Media, News, Peoria, Politics, The Economy, Stupid
After reading this piece, which originally ran in The Nation, I bumped Norma Rae up on my Netflix queue and was very glad I did. I was really too young for it when it came out in 1979, and had somehow never gotten around to renting it in the years since. And seeing Norma Rae […]
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Notes on Sicko: A Prescription for Change
July 6th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Science
I saw Sicko Tuesday night, and it did not disappoint. The main impact for me is this: Watching this film makes it unavoidably clear that we as a nation have been completely duped, conned, and as the kids say, “pwned,” by those who’ve spent millions to convince us that universal healthcare is too expensive, can’t […]
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Roundup: Solar-Powered Wi-Fi Turtle Edition
July 5th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Apple, Business, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Film, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, HIV/AIDS, Internet, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, News, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech
Nicole at Crooks and Liars puts it well: It’s ironic to be celebrating Independence Day during a time when we have a virtual King who defies the law with impunity, and is not held accountable to the people he governs. Revolution? What revolution? Also at C&L, what a TV newscast looked like on July 4, […]
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Music: Talk Talk, “Such a Shame”
July 4th, 2007 · Comments Off on Music: Talk Talk, “Such a Shame” · Culture, Film, Internet, iTunes, Music, New Wave, Performance, Video
I found an old posting I made to the Planet-Earthlings Yahoo Group several years ago, back when the group was new and we were talking about favorite videos from the New Wave era. Most of the ones I wrote about are up on YouTube, so I figured I’d work my way through ’em till I’ve […]
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Or We Could Just Go with a Picture of the Comic Book Guy
June 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on Or We Could Just Go with a Picture of the Comic Book Guy · Blogs, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Film, Internet, Journal, TV
Okay, since I always like to follow the lead of the RubberNun, I took my best shot at recreating myself as a Simpsons character (courtesy of the avatar builder at the Simpsons Movie site). Of course, being the multi-faceted Gemini Rising type that I am, I had to do four different versions. Figure A: The […]
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Roundup: Still Life with Salmon Edition
June 28th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Apple, Comics, Culture, Education, Energy, Film, iTunes, LGBT, Macintosh, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, Tech
POLITICS: The Washington Post brings us the fascinating story of how Cheney’s quest to undermine environmental science for political purposes led to a humongous pile of rotting dead fish. “… Because of Cheney’s intervention, the government reversed itself and let the water flow in time to save the 2002 growing season, declaring that there was […]
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Roundup: Irish Sea Eagle Edition
June 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Blogs, Climate Change, Culture, Feminism, Film, Internet, Law, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Roundup, Science, TV
POLITICS: The Senate Judiciary committee has voted 13-3 to authorize subpoenas for documents related to the NSA warrantless surveillance program. That includes three Republicans on the committee voting in favor of the subpeonas: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Poland “stuns” other members of the European Union by demanding that […]
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Michael Moore’s Sicko: Willing To Be Patient
June 20th, 2007 · Comments Off on Michael Moore’s Sicko: Willing To Be Patient · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Internet, Media, News, Politics
So there’s lots of news buzz this week about how Michael Moore’s health care industry documentary Sicko has already been pirated to YouTube and other places, two weeks before the film’s original June 29 release date. And as a result the movie will be opening early, with sneak previews in 27 selected markets. I think […]
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Merry Marvel Movie Society
June 18th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Books, Comics, Culture, Film, Journal, News
I haven’t even seen the Silver Surfer movie yet — I’m half dreading it — but I came across this little cache of news about what’s in the Marvel superhero movie pipeline: Iron Man will be heading for post-production in July, and a “reboot” of The Incredible Hulk will go into production in Toronto the […]
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In Chicago: Rachel Claff Is Busting Out All Over
June 17th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Books, Chicago, Culture, Film, Fringe, LGBT, Lit, Music, Neo-Futurists, New Wave, News, Nightclubs, Performance, Poetry, The Partly Dave Show, Theater
I haven’t done one of these Chicago Fringe scene reports in a while, so here’s what’s on my radar this week: The Neo-Futurists’ annual festival It Came From The Neo-Futurarium VI: Curse of The Neo-Futurarium, consisting of staged readings of various camp-ready old films, kicks off this Thursday, June 21 at 8pm. The first installment […]
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Music: Jacques Brel, Marc Almond, and “Jacky” — with a Side of David Bowie
June 12th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Culture, Film, LGBT, Music, New Wave, Performance, Video
As Marc Almond-mania mounts to fever pitch in anticipation of the impending release of Marc’s new album Stardom Road later this month, this post at After Elton has me thinking about Jacques Brel — who has long held a secure spot among the top 10 artists who make me wish my command of French were […]
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