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Exploitation Movies: Maniac (1934)
The 1930s produced a cornucopia of grindhouse exploitation films (aka "sexploitation" movies), usually disguised as "educational" movies that were ostensible cautionary tales about one social problem...
View ArticleA Perfectly Good Threat, Wasted
Now that Liberia has its Worst Disease in the History of the World, i.e., ebola, under control, what will the fuckers at Faux News find to worry about? What, no Obamapocalypse?It wasn't that long ago...
View ArticleMust-See Cinema: American Chain Gang 1999
Although it didn't originate in the United States, the chain gang became an almost uniquely American feature of "justice" after the Civil War. When it was finally clear that The South didn't have...
View ArticleRise of the Nones
I note that the latest Pew Research poll holds that "56 million Americans now identify themselves as agnostic, atheist or 'nothing in particular.'” We are called "nones", for "religious preference:...
View ArticleA Jam of Tarts? An Assay of Trollope's? A Flourish of Strumpets?
It's a concept that is almost gone from common English, but there used to be nouns in our vocabulary that described collections or groups of birds, animals, even humans. Some of them were pretty...
View Article"Please Judge, I Am an Orphan"
I've used this joke hundred times to illustrate pure chutzpah: A guy murders both of his parents and then pleads for leniency because he is an orphan.And that's kind of what we have with fulltime...
View ArticlePoetry Slam Saturday -- Dulce et Decorum Est
Dulce et Decorum Estby Wilfred Owen., 1893 - 1918Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,Till on the haunting flares we turned our backsAnd...
View ArticleMonday Music Break: City of Night
For those of you who think that I don't listen to any music from this century, here's the terrific group Pink Martini with City of Night:If you ignore the kind of amateurish wipes and transitions,...
View ArticleMust-See Cinema: Rosewater 2014
This week's must-see cinema is a fairly new one, Rosewater from 2014, directed by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart in his directorial debut.Trailer:This is a terrific movie, especially the psychological...
View ArticleSaturday Poetry Slam -- Sailing to Byzantium
Sailing to Byzantiumby William Butler Yeats. 1928THAT is no country for old men. The youngIn one another's arms, birds in the trees- Those dying generations - at their song,The salmon-falls, the...
View ArticleSpecial Memorial Day Monday Music Break: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Here's a special Memorial Day music break, the moving and haunting Where Have All the Flowers Gone? written (mostly) and performed by the late great Pete Seeger.
View ArticleIn Memorium on Memorial Day
In memorium on this Memorial Day, I raise a salute to the men and boys from Cowlitz County, Washington, who lost their lives during the War in Vietnam.You can read all 27 names here, especially the...
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Exploitation Movies: Devil's Harvest (1942)
Now that we've exhausted (in more ways than one -- see Maniac from two weeks ago) the 1930s, it's time to move on to the 1940s.This week's feature is Devil's Harvest from 1942:Full movie:This is...
View ArticleMust-See Cinema: Touch of Evil 1958
I am happy to present the Orson Welles 1958 masterpiece, Touch of Evil. This movie is widely considered to one of the last -- and best -- examples of Hollywood's classic film noir era.Trailer:It was...
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Keep Your Goddam Gummit Hands Off My Medicare!
Seriously...This used to be a joke, but now the Rethugs have come up with a plan to pay for the Trade Adjustment Act benefits available to people whose jobs have been lost and offshored due to "trade...
View ArticleSaturday Poetry Slam -- The Second Coming
The Second Comingby William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) (also his second appearance here) Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the...
View ArticleTaking a Break
I'll be taking a break for a week. My brother-in-law (i.e., the famous IBIL) is in town and will want for a lot of attention and hand holding. I'll still post the ones that are in the system, so to...
View ArticleMonday Music Break: Born in the USA
Here's Bruce Springsteen with Born in the USA from 1984:But really, the big question is this: Are politicians, especially Republicans who seem to have carved out their own patriotic niche just for this...
View ArticleMust-See Cinema: Rockers 1978
This week I am proud to present 1978's Rockers, a semi-documentary look at the old-school Jamaican roots reggae culture.Trailer:This film, loosely based on that masterpiece of Italian neo-realism,...
View ArticleWhat a Week!
My brother-in-law was here from Hawaii all week and he goes like a bat outta hell. He doesn't have anything but high gear. So I am exhausted from running around after him. It's not fair -- he's a week...
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