Ocelopotamus

News, culture, and politics. Not necessarily in that order.

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Entries from April 13th, 2007

DVD: The History Boys

April 13th, 2007 · Comments Off on DVD: The History Boys · Culture, Education, Film, History, LGBT, Lit, New Wave, News, Poetry, Theater

The History Boys is finally being released on DVD this coming Tuesday, April 17. According to this review, the DVD comes with a solid curriculum of extras: Writer Alan Bennett and director Nicholas Hynter share an informative track addressing the changes made to the play but, sadly, do not discuss the interesting cast in personal […]

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News Roundup: Dinosaur Dig Edition

April 13th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Apple, Business, Comedy, Culture, Feminism, Hate Crimes, Health, Human Rights, LGBT, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Science, Software, TV

The White House is claiming that oops, they managed to lose a whole bunch of critically important emails, but as any decent techie knows, deleted emails aren’t really deleted. Someone better sit poor Karl Rove down and explain to him about file recovery utilities. Speaking of recovering things thought lost forever — scientists have recovered […]

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Where There’s a Will There’s a Segway

April 13th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogroll, Blogs, Comedy, Culture, TV

New to the blogroll — check out The Will Arnett Research Project, which really does justice to the phrase “will power.” Because nobody on television wears a shorter bathrobe! (Well, except maybe David Duchovny on that one episode of The Larry Sanders Show, but that was so totally back in the Clinton Era before the […]

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Kurt Vonnegut, Home at Last

April 12th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Books, Culture, Journal, LGBT, Lit, News, Science Fiction

Kurt Vonnegut is dead. Today the world is a little less kind than it was yesterday. American literary idol Kurt Vonnegut, best known for such classic novels as “Slaughterhouse-Five” and “Cat’s Cradle,” died on Tuesday night in Manhattan at age 84, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. Longtime family friend, Morgan Entrekin, who reported […]

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DVD: Shortbus and the Joy of Deleted Scenes

April 11th, 2007 · 9 Comments · Culture, Film, Fringe, LGBT, Neo-Futurists, Theater

I was strangely resistant to seeing Shortbus when it was playing in theaters last fall, and I’m not entirely sure why. I suppose partly I was put off by all the buzz about it, because I’m the kind of person who gets put off by buzz sometimes, and partly I was suspicious of the “graphic […]

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Music: “We Can Get Together”

April 11th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Culture, Journal, Music, New Wave, Peoria, Video

Here’s Icehouse’s ecstatically edgy crossover single “We Can Get Together” from 1980, which never fails to give me that particular New Wave frisson that results from just the right ratio of synthesizers to spiky guitars complemented by a sublime angst-in-my-pants vocal style. And oh yeah, they were still called Flowers when they made this video, […]

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The Invisible Front Runner in the Living Room

April 11th, 2007 · 2 Comments · LGBT, Media, News, Politics

Despite the ongoing media narrative that the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination is a two-person race between Hillary and Obama, the latest Rassmussen poll shows Edwards beating every single Republican contender by at least six points. Let me say that again. John Edwards currently beats all Republican contenders by at least six points in […]

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30 Rock Is Finally Starting To

April 11th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Comedy, Culture, News, TV

It’s interesting that 30 Rock seems to have pulled off a dark horse victory over Studio 60 as the backstage-at-SNL show that’s most likely to survive. I think NBC made a good move putting 30 Rock right after The Office last week, and I hope they keep it there. It feels like the show is […]

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The Beatles Are Irish, and Ted Haggard Is Completely Heterosexual

April 10th, 2007 · Comments Off on The Beatles Are Irish, and Ted Haggard Is Completely Heterosexual · Blogroll, Comedy, LGBT, Music, Performance, Politics, Video

I owe Joe. My. God. for turning me on to musical comedian (comedical musician?) Roy Zimmerman, whom I hadn’t heard of before — but he’s smart as paint and reminds me a little of Barry Crimmins. Anyway, here, for a warm-up, is “What if the Beatles Were Irish?”   And here’s the one Mr. My. […]

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News Roundup: Fresh Prints Edition

April 9th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Activism, Advertising, Apple, Business, Climate Change, Culture, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, iTunes, Labor, LGBT, Media, Music, News, Politics, Science

Newt Gingrich calls on Abu Gonzales to resign. Trying to sound like a big, butch hunter to please the NRA, dreadfully amusing little joke of a candidate Mitt Romney says he likes to hunt rabbits and refers to them as “varmints.” Tell it to the Easter bunny, Mitt. I hope he left a gaily decorated […]

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And If You Let Me Stay … We’ll Dance Our Lives Away!

April 9th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Blogroll, Blogs, Comedy, Culture, Music, TV, Video

Aaron posted the truly fabulous video of Debbie Harry performing “Call Me” on the Muppet Show … because nothing says “male escort work” like brightly colored hand puppets! But I have to say, my all-time favorite Muppet Show musical number is still Leo Sayer dancing with a giant green bird.   Bonus: Leo many, many […]

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Simone de Beauvoir’s Got Your Number, Slim

April 9th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Blogroll, Blogs, Culture, Feminism, Internet, Media, Politics

Jessica Valenti of Feministing had a nice piece in The Guardian on Friday, mulling over the state of online misogyny in the wake of the Kathy Sierra incident. And of course she touches on Ann Althouse’s nasty attack on her for the unspeakable crime of having a figure. If it’s any consolation, one side effect […]

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Comedy and the Art of Dancing Backwards

April 7th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Blogroll, Blogs, Comedy, Culture, Doctor Who, Film, Journal, Kids in the Hall, Meta, Neo-Futurists, Science Fiction, The Partly Dave Show, TV

My old friend AKMA (from the Billy-Bragg email list back in the 90s) has a short but insightful post up about the etiquette of responding to a straight line when it’s offered. It reminds me of why I used to enjoy talking to him online so much. Go read it. The last time I exchanged […]

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Ladies, Your Viewing Figures Just Went Up

April 7th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Comedy, Culture, Doctor Who, LGBT, Science Fiction, TV, Video

Just because I love you, here’s a three-part chat show interview with John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack (the swashbuckling bisexual time traveler from the 51st century) on both Doctor Who and its spinoff series, Torchwood. He talks about his recent knot-tying ceremony with his partner Scott, switches back and forth between his American and […]

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