Get Out of Here America

So Good Morning America is doing a whistle stop tour where they’re visiting all 50 states and commenting on the state of the nation or whatever. Anyway, they stopped in the upstate NY town where my parents grew up and where I still have family – Rome, NY. Here is part of the video (uh, I guess wordpress doesn’t let you post videos from abcnews. ugh):

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5812243

Anyway, even though I think everything they said is true (it is kind of a shithole, in all honesty), residents are understandably kind of pissed because it showed them in such a negative and white-trash-ish light.  My mom emailed me a letter that the Chairman of the Board of the Rome Chamber of Commerce (whom my grandmother taught when he was in kindergarten, fyi!) wrote to the show:

Democracy, Soon…

What is going on in St. Paul?

As you probably know, protest has been highly curtailed in this country in general, but in particular, at both Democratic and Republican National Conventions and pre-election debates. I remember Boston in 2004, the small “demonstration zone” under a viaduct, surrounded by high wires. Democracy, indeed. But, I think that this takes the grand prize for absurdity:

Amy Goodman, award-winning journalist and creator of Democracy Now! who is cooler than you, me, and everyone we know, was arrested. For reporting. As a reporter. Apparently a press pass doesn’t mean so much to the RNC (Minneapolis/St. Paul) police and (Contracted) security. Nor do invocations of the first amendment. You know, assembly, press, etc. Pocket constitutions for everyone! The absolutely ridiculous footage after the jump.

Well, it isn’t the Olympics…

I just finished watching The China Syndrome (which you can do at three in the afternoon when you are unemployed), I have to say, I liked it. What’s not to love? It has Jane Fonda as a good girl reporter dealing with being a woman in a man’s world, but she also owns a large turtle and a very large answering machine. It covers some good things around gender issues and the media and public safety. Following are my thoughts, which happen to be some real critiques and really just some observations.
Please bare with me through the randomness (WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)…

- Nice back story of greed and power overshadowing human safety.

- Isn’t totally anti-nuclear, which gives it an interesting perspective, focusing more on the stuff going on around the plant. If Jack Lemmon is for it, how can it be bad?

- I like how the China Syndrome refers to the nuclear material getting all the way through the Earth over to China. Guess that’s one more thing the Olympic athletes this year should be worried about.

- Some keen lines from Fonda’s top boss character guy, particularly the one about her ‘certainly not getting the job for her investigative skills’.

- Fonda’s shoes for the majority of the movie are AMAZING! Brown platform sandal things. Well done Jane, well done.

Cover of creepy book you should read.

- I love the scene with Lemmon and the Geiger Counter. It reminded me of one of the books I loved when I was in about 7th grade, Z for Zachariah. I had to call up the bookstore I used to work at to figure out the name, thanks Summers!! Everyone should read that book, no seriously, it is really good, pretty creepy, but really good.

- End of the movie shows how depending on who is talking, and which news station you may be watching, one event can be told in multiple ways.

- At about 1:04 check out the signs on the wall of the nuclear reactor stairwell. Payroll, Personnel, Conference Room and Ladies Lounge. I’m not quite sure what the prop/set guys were thinking when they did that.

- At about 1:10 in you can see my friend D. Monico driving his blue VW bug. At least that’s what I’m telling people.

- Check out the cop with the bowtie close to the end of the movie at the crash scene, super fantastic!

- Anyone who shoots Jack Lemmon is obviously a bad guy.

- There isn’t a soundtrack. I really like movies that don’t have soundtracks, well, when they are well done. Great use of switching between scenes of the reactor with tons of noise and the control room with complete silence. Amps up the tension.

- Also, Michael Douglas is in it. I think we need to make his name a tag now, don’t we?

Only 28 more movies to go on AFI’s 100 Years…100Thrills list, woo-hoo!

Public Health Meets the 21st Century!!!

Super quick post, but our heroes over at California Newsreel and Spirit of 1848 have brought the wonderfulness of the Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? series to YouTube!! But not only that, bring on the podcasts! Now you can be the cool kid on the subway with your ipod rocking out to Nancy Krieger!

Those of you reading this who believe in truth, social justice, and the public health way, join the Spirit of 1848 listserv!!! Do it. You know you want to.

Send-up or Stereotype?

So, first of all, let’s just take Mills Liberty and Amendment the First as givens.  They have no place here, as we’re talking relevance, not rights.

Looking at this cover, I’m seeing the stereotypes, but not the satire.  Maybe I need the special glasses that come with the magazine?

Fist Jab

What I’m thinking is that we’ve lost our sense of language, and have now collectively resorted to using the “Alanis Morrisette Method” to determine the meanings of words.  Isn’t it ironic?  A traffic jam when you’re already late is about as ironic as visualizing a litany of media stereotypes in one neat, cartoonish package is satricial.  Where is the spoof?  The meta-analysis?  At least we have most of the greatest hits in one place now, so cataloging, I will give you.  However, this cover appears to be distinctly non-ironic and non-satircial. It’s a job more suited to Photoshop and LOL Prez. (Does LOL Prez exist?  Did I just make that up? Ok, no, apparently it was already invented.)

Well, really looking forward to the McCain cover, which will probably involve him being super old in the White House while demonstrating how he doesn’t know how to use a computer and yelling his head off at reporters while riding around on a Rascal labeled “Straight Talk Express” with “Waterloo” playing in the background.  Will someone please photoshop that for me?

- Ferrrosha

PS: Sorry Alanis! Love you, call me…

I Can Haz Ur Votz? (lolpresidents.com)