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Thursday, December 30, 2004 |
Last Laughs 2004: Comedian Mort Sahl
Last Laughs 2004: Comedian Mort Sahl: "Before The Onion and The Daily Show, Mort Sahl's shtick satirized the news of the day. Sahl revolutionized stand-up comedy, leading the transition from tame jokes to the dark, satirical wit of comedians like Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen. Terry Gross spoke to Sahl in December 2003."
(Via NPR's Fresh Air from WHYY.)
I talked about this interview when it frist ran last year. Here it is again, as good as it was originally. Good listening.
2:36:48 PM Permalink
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Movies Over the Holiday
Movie-going is one of the big events of the season. I never see all the movies I want to see, but I've seen a few this year. I do tend to like movies, so I'm an easy touch.
The Aviator was probably the big movie we saw this year. I've heard some people call it one of Scorsese's best. I don't think so, certainly it's not as meaningful or powerful a movie as The Last Temptation of Christ or Raging Bull. It may be a "better" movie than Gangs of New York, but it doesn't feel as important as that, or as heartfelt. Still, it's a pretty terrific movie, with great performances from Leonardo DiCaprio especially, but also Cate Blanchett and most everything else. Scorsese always does these big production numbers well -- such as the big club scenes in Goodfellows and Casino. There are a couple in here that are just amazing, though they're too short. (Not that the movie is too short.) As a biopic, it doesn't seem to have the arc it should have, and just sort of stops without ending. Still an immensely enjoyable movie.
Last night we saw A Very Long Engagement from the acting and directing team that created Amelie. Though it's very different in tone from that movie, it has a lot of familiar elements from it -- a female narrator, a touch of a cloying, maybe too cute approach. But here that is balanced against some brutal and realistic battle scenes that are just amazing. It's a good story, well told, with a very good ending, though by the time it comes you halfway have it figured out. Appealing characters, excellent photography, and a good story. Recommended.
I watched The Terminal on Pay Per View, and also enjoyed it (as I say, I'm easy). With Spielberg, the artifice always seems apparent to me -- it's obvious what he's doing and why he's doing it. But even though you know it's coming and that he's manipulating you, it's easy to go along with things. This story is not very believable, but still enjoyable. Hanks is always fun to watch (the artifice is nearly always visible with him, too, but again you don't mind), an appealing character. His accent is a riot, and the way he deals with people, especially in the beginning, is a riot to watch. He learns English a bit too quickly, and a lot of things come maybe a bit too easily to him, but it was still a fun movie.
Still more I want to see this week, but probably won't.
2:04:59 PM Permalink
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University of Pseudoscience
University of Pseudoscience: "David Pescovitz:
One of the Florida State University professors protesting against a proposed chiropractic school at the college created this spoof campus map. Apparently, seven professors have threatened to quit if the chiropractic school happens.
From the St. Petersburg Times:
The threatened resignations...reflect a belief among many in the medical establishment that chiropractic is a 'pseudo-science' that leads to unnecessary and sometimes harmful treatments...
The list of critics include FSU's two Nobel laureates - Robert Schreiffer, a physicist, and Harold Walter Kroto, a chemist - and Robert Holton, the chemistry professor who developed the cancer-fighting drug Taxol, which has brought FSU tens of millions of dollars in royalties. In recent weeks, more than 500 faculty members have signed petitions against the chiropractic school, including about 70 in the medical college, said Dr. Raymond Bellamy, an assistant professor who is leading the charge against the proposal.
Link (via Fark)
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
11:01:07 AM Permalink
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Two Great ID Fiskings
Two Great ID Fiskings: "
The Panda's Thumb currently features two essays thoroughly fisking attempts by pro-ID pundits to defend ID. The first post, by Timothy Sandefur, deals with an article from Hugh Hewitt, the religious right talk show host (and ironically, Sandefur's con law professor in law school). The second, by Steve Reuland, absolutely blisters a ridiculous column by Phyllis Schlafly on the same subject. Schlafly has written numerous similar columns in the past, all showing a very poor grasp of both the science involved and the basic use of logic.
"
(Via Dispatches from the Culture Wars.)
9:25:14 AM Permalink
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Indigenous Tribes at Risk of Extinction After Tsunami
Indigenous Tribes at Risk of Extinction After Tsunami: " The remote cluster of more than 550 islands, of which only about three dozen are inhabited, is home to six tribes of Mongoloid and African origin who have lived there for thousands of years. Many of these tribal people are semi-nomadic and subsist on hunting with spears, bows and arrows, and by fishing and gathering fruit and roots. They still cover themselves with tree bark or leaves.
'They are a vital link to our prehistoric past. If they are lost, India and the world lose a bit of their glorious heterogeneity,' said Ajoy Bagchi, executive director of the People's Commission on Environment and Development, India, which has worked with tribal groups in the region for years.
'Even a small loss in any of these groups, barring the more numerous Nicobarese, could seriously endanger their survival. We need to immediately do a count on how many of them are alive.'
[link; from BoingBoing]"
(Via blog.bioethics.net.)
9:12:35 AM Permalink
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© Copyright 2005 Steve Michel.
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