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 […]
Entries from June 20th, 2007
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
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Introducing the New Meerkat-Enabled T. Rex, or Tiny Arms No More!
June 19th, 2007 · Comments Off on Introducing the New Meerkat-Enabled T. Rex, or Tiny Arms No More! · Advertising, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Nature, Pets
Go look at what Eli made. Just go look. When you get there, be sure to click on the thumbnail to look at the large version of the image. The wonderfulness of it is hardly to be fathomed. Illustration: Detail from “Tyrannosaurus M.E.” by Hob, aka my pal Eli. I also highly recommend his […]
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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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Roundup: Tiny Four-Eyed Turtle Edition
June 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Tiny Four-Eyed Turtle Edition · Activism, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Education, Health, Human Rights, Internet, iTunes, Labor, Law, LGBT, Music, Nature, News, Pets, Politics, Science, Tech
POLITICS: In “Hillary’s Labor Problem,” Joe Conason points out that Hillary Clinton’s top political strategist, Mark Penn, is the CEO of a union-busting law firm. “Having started in a tiny, two-man polling operation in a New York City mayoral campaign, he is now the CEO of Burson-Marsteller Inc., one of the planet’s largest P.R. shops, […]
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Music: Crowded House Releases “Don’t Stop Now” (with Video and Neil Finn Interview)
June 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Music: Crowded House Releases “Don’t Stop Now” (with Video and Neil Finn Interview) · Culture, iTunes, Music, New Wave, News, Video
Crowded House’s new single “Don’t Stop Now,” written with Johnny Marr, was released last week and is available from iTunes. (Click the record cover at right for a handy iTunes link.) Meanwhile, I’m thrilled to report that I have a ticket for the Sunday, Aug. 19 show at House of Blues here in Chicago. (I […]
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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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The Disappearing Bird Act
June 17th, 2007 · Comments Off on The Disappearing Bird Act · Climate Change, Illinois, Nature, News, Science
The populations of 20 common US birds — including a range of familiar “backyard birds” such as sparrows, chickadees, whippoorwills, and larks — are in decline, according to a new report from The National Audobon Society. The 20 species in question have less than half the populations they did in 1967. A variety of factors […]
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Roundup: Return of the Mouse Edition
June 15th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Apple, Books, Comics, Culture, Fiction, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Healthcare Crisis, HIV/AIDS, iTunes, LGBT, Lit, Macintosh, Music, News, Organic Food, Politics, Roundup, Tech, Theater
BOOKS: This week marked the release of Armistead Maupin’s new book Michael Tolliver Lives, which picks up the story of Michael “Mouse” Tolliver, the iconic character from Maupin’s Tales of the City series. Mouse is now in his mid-50s, living with HIV but happily married. Maupin says, “I wanted to tell the story of a […]
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Stephen Colbert on James Holsinger and His Weird Plumbing Analogies
June 15th, 2007 · Comments Off on Stephen Colbert on James Holsinger and His Weird Plumbing Analogies · Comedy, Culture, Health, LGBT, Politics, TV, Video
Stephen Colbert dedicates The Word to Bush’s gay-hating Surgeon General nominee, James Holsinger, and shares some of Holsinger’s amazing insights into what plumbing can teach us about human sexuality. (h/t After Elton)
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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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Roundup: Green Blood and Near Beer Edition
June 11th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Comics, Culture, Hate Crimes, Heroes, Human Rights, Internet, Journalism, Language, LGBT, Media, Music, News, Politics, Roundup, Tech, TV
POLITICS: Department of things that should be perfectly obvious to everyone: Colin Powell says we should close Guantanamo. “Essentially, we have shaken the belief the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission. We don’t need it and it is causing us far […]
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DVD: Priscilla with “Extra Frills”!
June 10th, 2007 · Comments Off on DVD: Priscilla with “Extra Frills”! · Comedy, Culture, Film, LGBT, Music, News, Video
At long last! An “Extra Frills” special edition of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was released on DVD this week. It includes director commentary from Stephan Elliott, deleted scenes, bloopers, a making-of featurette, trailers, teasers and more. AfterElton.com waxes enthusiastic about it here. When the film premiered at Cannes, it was such a smash that […]
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“People Like Hillary”
June 10th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Journalism, Media, Politics
A big part of the reason I dread the idea of Hillary becoming the Democratic nominee is that during her time in the White House, she never won a single battle with the right wing in the eyes of the media. Whether the subject was healthcare, how to raise children, baking cookies, Tammy Wynette, or […]
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