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 […]
Entries Tagged as 'Culture'
Notes on Sicko: A Prescription for Change
July 6th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Science
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Doctor Who: Catherine Tate Signs on for Season Four, and US Season Three Premiere Tonight
July 6th, 2007 · Comments Off on Doctor Who: Catherine Tate Signs on for Season Four, and US Season Three Premiere Tonight · Culture, Doctor Who, Fantasy, LGBT, News, Science Fiction, TV
It was a big week for Doctor Who news in the wake of the Season Three finale on the BBC this past weekend. Some of the major revelations include the Doctor’s most recent companion Martha Jones taking a break from the TARDIS, and Catherine Tate (who appeared in the 2006 Christmas special) signing on as […]
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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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Ceci N’est Pas Une Vice President
July 2nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Internet, Politics, Science
The award for the best Cheney post of the past week goes to Bob Harris, hands down. It starts out good: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the last six and a half years would make a lot more sense if the GOP were actually performing a sophisticated Dada art exhibition. This […]
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Sicko Mini-Roundup: “We Can Do It.”
June 30th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Activism, Culture, Education, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Human Rights, Media, Politics, TV, Video
In case you haven’t seen it yet, Crooks and Liars has the video of Michael Moore’s appearance on Leno from earlier this week, with some great interview and a clip from the film. Meanwhile, Daily Kos had a diary a few days ago about the more than 15,000 nurses from across the country who have […]
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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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Save Internet Radio Campaign Update — Day of Silence Tuesday, June 26
June 25th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Business, Culture, Internet, iTunes, Media, News, Politics, Tech
July 15 is “the day the music dies” — the date that Internet radio will be essentially destroyed by new draconic royalty fees approved by the Copyright Royalties Board if Congress doesn’t take action to fix the situation. The exorbitant new rates force stations to pay a fixed fee for every song they play, regardless […]
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Music: Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime”
June 24th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Chicago, Culture, Journal, Music, Neo-Futurists, New Wave, Performance, Theater, Video
Time to haul out a real classic. It’s hard to explain to someone who wasn’t around, and tuned in to the new music scene, just how electrifying this video was in the first few years of the 1980s, when you’d catch it on the scattershot music video shows that existed before MTV. I still think […]
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Quote of the Week
June 24th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Culture, Essays, Foreign Policy, History, News, Peace, Politics, Terrorism
From an essay entitled “The Middle of Nowhere,” by Edward N. Luttwak, which appears in the July 2007 issue of Harper’s, reprinted there from the May issue of Prospect: Hardliners keep suggesting that with a bit of well-aimed violence (“the Arabs only understand force”) compliance will be obtained. Yet what happens every time is an […]
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A Cat Like Fine Wine
June 24th, 2007 · Comments Off on A Cat Like Fine Wine · Books, Cats, Culture, Media, Nature, News, Pets, Science
Oh, my heavens. How old do you think the world’s oldest cat might be? Try thirty-seven years. That’s right, a black cat named (ironically) Baby was born in 1970, according to his owners, and he will be recognized by Cat Fancy magazine in its August issue. You heard me. For those feeling as skeptical as […]
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Vintage TV: Serena Sings on Bewitched
June 23rd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Culture, Fantasy, Music, TV, Video
I don’t know why I get such a kick out of these little faux mod-psychedelic numbers from Bewitched, but I loved them as a kid and have enjoyed seeing them again on YouTube. Probably it’s because Liz is clearly having such a scenery-chewing great time performing them. And because they send the camp factor of […]
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