YouTube Friday

I am going a bit ol'skool today. Some classic rap from the late '80s and early '90s.


LL Cool J- Mama said knock you out


Tone Loc- Wild Thing


Beastie Boys- Fight for you right (to party)

Mysogyny again, damn

I went and got my haircut this last weekend at one of those haircut places that are supposed to cater to men. These places are supposed to have what men like, they have sports on a big screen TV, and you can get a complimentary beverage. Also the stylists are supposed to know how to cut a man's hair better or something like that. I have been to other places to get my haircut that are supposed to cater to men and really they are mostly the same as any other hair place, sometimes they have sports memorabilia around the shop and they have little TVs for you to watch while you are getting your hair cut. Now I like having the TV there mostly cause I don't really want to talk to someone while they are cutting my hair. It is relaxing for me to sit there in silence or whatever and watching a TV is nice. I think of it like some women like to read magazines while their hair is being cut, I like to watch TV and no it is not always sports, but yeah sometimes it is. So I got this flier in the mail for a free haircut at this place that is supposed to cater to men. So I figured I would go check it out. They have father and son deals, a little putting station for you to do while you are waiting, a checker board for you to do with your child (son really), a shoe shine station and a big screen TV to watch sports on. I don't have a kids, I don't golf and even if I did I wouldn't go to the salon to practice my putting, and I dont have any shoes that I need to get shined so this is just the same as any other place to me. So I get my haircut and I realize as I am there that this is just an up scale hair salon for men. You get this whole routine, they give you a hot towel after you are done, you can get a relaxing head massage and shampoo and each of the cutting stations is in its own separate little area so it is just you and the stylist. I guess this last fact is supposed to make it more intimate and more up scale, but usually it is like $25 to get a haircut at this place. I think that is a bit much, I normally pay $15 and that is including tip.

The point at which I realized that this was just another way to reinforce the idea that men are superior to women in society is the whole slogan for them: Where men feel comfortable. Yeah as opposed to everywhere else where men do not feel comfortable like the office, the gym, hell everywhere in our society. And then they add, Honorable rebellion among men. How rebellious is it to get your hair cut? There used to be a difference between where men got their haircuts at barber shops and the beauty salon for women, I guess, but really now these places are the same. There are no real barber shops anymore and most of the places I go to cater to both men and women. I guess there might still be beauty salons, but really don't they do more than cut a women's hair anymore? So again not so rebellious or special, just a place where men can feel like they are away from women and where we support that whole notion that men are better than women. But I couldn't help but notice that everyone who worked at the hair cut place was female, all of the stylists and the receptionist. Now I did got to a place a while back where there was a male stylist and I did think he did the best job with my hair, but that had nothing to do with his gender, he was just a good stylist. And this was at one of those general Haircuttery type places that are in every mall and strip mall it seems everywhere. Finally, I picked up a coaster that they had to put your complimentary drink on, soft drinks mostly but I did see some non-alcoholic beer, but I digress, there was this phrase on it and this is the point at which I knew I was going to have to blog about this place.

Isn't it refreshing to a little Honorable Rebellion Among Men?" The (place name which I will not name) is filling a void in American life that has as much to do with the restoration of men as it does with the business of haircutting.

The part that caught my eye...the restoration of men... Unless I missed something, men do not need to be restored. The patriarchy makes sure of that and we have not been in decline for over 5000 years, so what the hell are they restoring? And if they are referring to men getting their hair cuts and the decline of the barber shop, well then charging over $25 for a hair cut is not in the same vein as a barber shop, having a big fancy shop is not in the same vein as a barber shop and being in a strip mall and all corporate and shit is not in the same vein as a barber shop. My thinking of a barber shop is somewhere that is small and has been run by the same person or same family for a long period of time and somewhere that you can get a good haircut cheap. The place I was at does not fit into any of that. So it is just another case where men are supposed to feel like we are somehow been missing something and that women have taken over something and yet, the patriarchy makes sure that this will never happen unless we fight it.

I know I only catch probably one percent of the misogynistic messages that are broadcast constantly in our society, but it still sickens me ever time I realize that yet again, I have to be ashamed of my gender and the stupid things males do to try and reinforce the patriarchy.

Book Review- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon chronicles the lives of two men who start out in the comic book business in the years leading up to World War II. Joseph Kavalier is a Czech Jew who is smuggled out of Prague prior to World War II. We see his life growing up where he is trained as a magician specifically an escape artist. He ends up in Brooklyn living with his cousin Sam Clay and Sam's mother. Both Sam and Joe are artists and Sam is working at what is an early comic book company. The two of them create a new superhero, The Escapist, among a cast of other characters to populate their new comic book universe. Joe also falls in love with and has a long relationship with Rosa Saks, who becomes another of their comic book heroes, Luna Moth. The book follows Joe and Sam as they work in the early comic book business prior to World War II. It then progresses through WWII and then a bit after to finish up the story of these two and the comic book business of that era.

This is an interesting story which chronicles the Golden Age of Comics of the mid to late 1930 through the 1940s. Since I am not a huge comic book collector, it was interesting to see the way in which many of the comics began and the rise in popularity of comic books. This book also looks at the ways in which the comic book artists and writers did not benefit from the rise in the comic sales to th same extent as those who were in the management offices of the companies. Also the way in which the nation was reacting to the rise of fascism through the superheroes fighting the Nazis even prior to the eventual entering of the United States into WWII.

It took me a while to really get into this book as I just couldn't seem to find the time to sit down and really read it, but once I did, I really liked it and had no problems reading forty to fifty pages at a sitting. This was generally a light book that kept moving well with some slow parts toward the middle where the story deviates away from the comic book business and Joe Kavalier has to deal with some of his own personal demons. Overall, it was a good book that was fun to read.

Fuck the Republicans

I am shamelessly stealing this from Shakesville. The Texas Republicans have been redistricting in an effort to disenfranchise key Democratic constituencies. So what did the students of Prairie View A&M do when their local polling station was placed 7 miles from the school? They marched to the polling place and brought a highway to a standstill. I will repeat that, they fucking marched down the middle of a fucking highway and stopped traffic. They were doing their civic duty and voting and when people tried to screw them out of this, they said fuck you and took over a local highway. And the Republicans are scared that the Democrats might win this election, I say "hell yeah they will win." And people say that this generation is lazy and apathetic toward politics, I say "do people who are apathetic march seven miles to vote? Hell no." So fuck you Texas Republicans!

YouTube Friday

Cause this song reminds me of when I took dance class in elementary school. I just remember the "older kids" doing a routine to this one. It also has Gilligan and Mary Anne, I may be more of a Ginger fan, but still...


Ad Libs- The boy from New York City

I can remember listening to this one while i was just playing with cars in my parents' little den growing up. Not exactly sure why, but I have been a fan of this song for a long time.


Jim Croce- Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

War- Edwin Starr

In memory of Kurt Cobain, 1967-1994

Today would be his birthday.


Nirvana- Lake of Fire


Nirvana- Lithium

Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

My apologies to the Bard, but that is how I am beginning to view this political season. I am tired of the sniping back and forth between Obama and Hillary. I am tried of everyday turning on Keith Olberman and hearing that yet again, these two opponents are launching cheap shots at each other. I am tired of hearing that one of their camps says something negative about the other and then tries to retract it. Case in point the whole plagiarism "scandal" that surrounded Obama and Deval Patrick. Sure Obama stole some of Patrick's ideas and sure he did not always credit him and yes that is the definition of plagiarism, but both camps have stolen ideas and phrases from previous campaigns and other candidates. Hell, if they did not steal ideas from other candidates and pass them off as their own, there would be no reason for us to vote for anyone as none of these candidates are that original, they jut steal from others what sounds good or what will get them voted into office. But I am also tired of the Obama camp launching criticism against Clinton for racism when he and his camp has been sexist, so neither of them are in the right in this instance. I cannot stand Huckabee or McCain, but at least their differences have been over policy and have not resorted to personal attacks. There may not be a lot of differences between Clinton and Obama, but surely there are some. For one thing, I think they differ on gun control. Obama has said that he is a firm believer in the second amendment and that people have every right to bear arms, this was right after the NIU shootings too, so this is very recent and after very tragic circumstances. While what I can find seems to indicate that Clinton is much more in line with my thoughts on gun control of trying to get rid of them or at least make it significantly harder to get guns. If I were part of the Clinton camp I would have been screaming my gun control policies from a fucking mountaintop. Fuck the NRA, they aren't going to vote for you anyway so come out and talk about your gun control policies, unless they aren't that different from Obama's.

I am tired of the fighting among Obama supporters and Clinton supporters. I have seen horror stories of Obama supporters yelling down Clinton supporters at caucuses, but Clinton supporters have been as vehement in attacking Obama supporters from what I can see. The real danger is not whether Obama and Clinton like each other after this campaign, it is whether the Democratic party likes itself after this campaign. If we become so split that we cannot reconcile, we do nothing more than hand McCain and the Republicans this election. The Repubs have plenty of time to help to fix some of these wounds where if this Democratic infighting goes on all the way to August and the convention we have basically 2-3 months to pull a splintered party back together. As supporters of our candidates, we need to show support without demeaning or belittling the other candidate, the Republicans do that enough without our help.

Finally, I am tired of feeling like at this point, I am deciding between the lesser of two evils. At first I supported Kucinich and if he hadn't wanted Ron Paul as his VP and had he not seemed to go a bit overboard, in my own eyes, at debates about attacking the rest of the candidates, I might have been able to support him, but then I couldn't anymore. So then I decided to support Edwards, yeah I knew this was a possible lost cause already as was Kucinich, but I wanted to vote my conscious. I thought that Edwards might be able to fight longer than it turned out he could, might have been able to really affect some of the voters and make the debates about the issues and not personal attacks between Obama and Clinton, but alas he dropped out. So now I am left with two candidates who I don't really like all that much, but who I flip flop back and forth between who I dislike less. Each of them has their issues with me and so, as a progressive, I am tired of the sound and fury of this campaign especially as it signifies nothing.

The revolution is now

I am going to just send you to check out to see two great bloggers as I am just blog pimping tonight.

First, Darkblack, if you are not already reading this blogger you must. He is one of the great photoshop masters in the blogosphere and now this post on the revolution is simply amazing go check it out.

Second, go check out Comrade Kevin's post on yet another take on the revolution that seems to be brewing.

Quick Movie Reviews

Over the past two weekends I have seen three movies, yeah I know that isn't a lot, but still...



First I saw, Jaws. I was underwhelmed by this film. I had heard how this was a classic horror film, how it was the first great summer blockbuster and yet I wasn't sure it lived up to its hype. I liked the acting in it especially Roy Schneider and Richard Dreyfuss, but overall I thought it was an OK film. I guess it just couldn't live up to the hype that I already had in my head.



Then I saw The Day of the Jackal. This movie I really liked. The twists and turns were great along the way. I loved the whole fact that you know thought you know what was happening th whole way through the movie and the police were able to fill in much of that detail and yet in the end you knew nothing. It was even great as the police were onto the Jackal for much of the story and so it turned into a chase story as well as a story about an assassin. The story was strong and the acting was very good, IMHO.



Finally, this weekend I saw Meet the Robinsons. Yes, it is a family film and I knew that when i got it from Netflix, but every once in a while it is nice to see a family film, something that is not real heavy. This film was pretty good, I like some of the older Disney films like The Jungle Book and Robin Hood and I went to see Aladdin and The Lion King when they were in the theaters, but really lately most of the Disney films have not been very good and have really lacked any enticement for anyone over the age of 10, I would say. This film did a much better job of having a better plot and didn't treat the audience as though they were stupid. In fact, even though I had and I think most thinking adults would have figured out the "big surprise" even before more than half way through the film, it was also told in the movie with a lot more of the film to go and the rest of the film was resolving the issue and not still pretending that no one could figure out the "big surprise". There is also a great scene where you get this whole bad dubbed Asian martial arts film where the dialogue does not match the "actors" lips which is so funny and yet most kids wouldn't get it and yet I would hope most adults would.

So there are three quick reviews of movies I have seen lately.

I have a message from my master

Woof woof Logan bark bark bark wooof wooooooof, cough, woof wooof woof bark bark bark

Bark bark bark Monkey Muck woof wooof woof.

Translated: This is Logan. My owner has a cough and is not feeling well. Also because of this, his brain is not functional toady and so any of the number of posts he was going to do today, he has at least two or three that are logjammed in his head right now, will be delayed till later.

But he does say go check out this post at Monkey Muck as Dr. Monkerstein has an inspiring post about the shootings at NIU.

YouTube Friday

Since all I talked about yesterday were cunts, I thought today on the day after the card and candy holiday, I would do a sort of lovey kind of thing. I love this movie, The Princess Bride. Here are two of my favorite scenes although the whole movie is one of my favorites.

Cunt, Cunt, Cunt

Jane Fonda used this word when referring to a part of the play, The Vagina Monologues.



This article references the slip and then goes on to say how this has been a tough month for NBC as they have had to apologize for Chris Matthews and his misogyny and MSNBC reporter David Shuster. As a "friend" noted, NBC is probably trying to avoid getting a fine for Fonda saying cunt on national TV, but this is not the same as the continuous misogyny of Chris Matthews or saying that Clinton is pimping out her daughter. This is simply not even in the same ballpark, this may be offensive to some and I understand that, but the constant berating of women and the constant berating of Hillary is just ridiculous. I am not even a Hillary supporter, really, and I think that people need to listen to her ideas and then make your decision, not make your decision on whether she has a penis or not. Ok so back to my original point, NBC has to apologize for a word that was not used offensively the same as when a word or idea is used offensively, that is total bullshit. This is just the cause of some right wing nut job who heard the word or was afraid their child would hear the word and then they would have to actually educate their child on the fact that women are different than men. They would have to tell their child that women do not have to be submissive to me (well unless they want to be) and that women have re-claimed the word cunt. I am just sick of men's misogyny, but when women say something that some housewife or fuck wad deems inappropriate it is apologized for immediately. I mean Matthews has been a misogynist for how long and they finally said something and he is still a fuck wad and David Shuster said something that it took NBC several hours to respond to, if I remember correctly, but Jane Fonda says cunt and they are all over it by the next break. I am sick of the patriarchy. And yes I was trying to use the word cunt as many times as i could in this post. CUNT, CUNT, CUNT, CUNT, CUNT, CUNT, CUNT, CUNT, CUNT, CUNT, CUNT and CUNT

C is for Cookie

For someone, you know who you are.



And to go along with the Cookie theme here is my favorite Cookie Monster thing evah. I really don't like Martha Stewart, but Cookie Monster is so great and borderline rude to her, so awesome. It is a two parter, watch both parts as they are both so good.

Part 1


Part 2

Because we need to teach kids to buy things when they are young

This commerical fucking pisses me off. I just saw it on TV and was like, did I just see that right and yes I did. A little kid has to go get a pretend diamond for his also young girlfriend. This is so fucking fucked up, kids do not need to be thinking about fucking diamonds when they are so fucking young. Stupid fucking Valentines Day.

I want a hedghog

I have wanted one for a while, but this video re-kindled it. How can you not want one? This one is so cute and funny.

Bush is only a symptom of a much bigger problem

If you have not yet read this post by Alicia Morgan , than you have to. This is one of the greatest posts on conservatism in America and how it is not good for us as Americans. She points out how much was really changed and how much our country has benefited from liberal/progressive politics and how much we are hurt by conservative policies. Go to her post and read it. I am going to turn off comments here so you can comment there.

Huckleberry Hound has got a girl now

For those of who have not seen this, it is beyond funny.



h/t to BAC



And yes there is a McCain Mama video, but unfortunately you need to deal with Glen Beck to see it, but so worth it.

Book meme me!!

FranIAm tagged me with this book meme, so here are the rules form her site.

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)

I looked on the couch I was sitting on and Freakonomics was sitting there. Apparently, I had not yet put it away. It is not uncommon for me to have books on my couch, but usually they are the ones are am currently reading, not this time.

Find Page 123.

Find the first 5 sentences and read them.

Post the next 3 sentences.

"By 2000, more than two million people were in prison, roughly four times the number as of 1972. Fully half of that increase took place during the 1990s. The evidence linking increased punishment with lower crime rates is very strong."

Tag 5 people.
Comrade Kevin (because I have a feeling that he will have an interesting book to mention)
Whiskey Marie (because well this girl is crazy, in a good way, and so I really want a look into her books)
Cunning Runt (I know the Runt has got to have great taste in books)
BAC (I know she wouldn't disappoint)
Morse (I know he is moving so I know that he has got to be near some books)

If any of you do not want to do this, that is perfectly fine with me and if anyone else wants to pick this up, than please do because as Fran said, "who doesn't love books!"

The rollercoaster of politics begins

I have been thinking about this post since probably Tuesday, but did not get into it and really get a chance to explore my thoughts till now. On Tuesday and even prior to that, I really thought that Huckabee was trying to set himself up as the vice presidential nomination. He knew that he could not actually beat McCain or out raise Romney, but he wanted to keep fighting. Then Romney decided to stop his campaign and I now wonder if this doesn't take the wind out of Huckabee's sails. He is now trying to fight McCain who has a large delegate lead and now that most of the south has voted, it doesn't seem that Huckabee can win that many more delegates. I know he has said he will continue to fight on and I know that Dobson has thrown his support behind Huckabee, but can he really catch up to McCain? I highly doubt it, so I am still thinking that he is trying to get the VP nod, which helps both McCain and Huckabee really. Huckabee scares the shit out of me and so even him as a VP scares me. So now McCain can just start to gear up for taking shots at the Democrats as he has no real competitor.

This leads me to the Democrats, I think we are possibly screwed here. Sure I said that we should have no problems beating any Republican this time around, but I am not so sure against McCain who has been able to have a great bit of pull with the independent vote and if he can get Huckabee on the ticket well then he has a legitimate shot at the conservative vote as well. Houston, we may have a problem. This continuing battle between Obama and Clinton has the potential for weakening the the Democratic party and the potential candidate. McCain does not have to attack either of them, he just has to sit back and watch them beat the shit out of each other.

The longer this nomination is undecided and it looks like it could go all the way to the Democratic Convention, the nastier this fight will have to become as they both try to gain the upper hand. Howard Dean has said that the two of them need to sit down in a room and hash this out, where one decided to concede the nomination. Why would either of them do this? They both have about the same number of delegates and the same numbers in the popular votes, so why should they give up? Sure they could run as one ticket, but then who is the president and who is the VP? I am relatively certain that neither of them wants to take a back seat to the other at this point. So it goes to the convention and now the nomination is decided by the super delegates. This would piss me off and should piss everyone off, the vote of the people does not decide our candidate, it is decided by party officials as to who they want to run. It is decided in non-smoke filled rooms, but probably behind closed doors. I am not saying I would not vote for whoever the Democratic candidate is because I would. I will vote for whoever wins the nomination, but the fact that my vote and the votes of millions of other people do not count in the nomination process and only the votes of public officials count, many of whom have said that they will vote however they want and will not follow the will of the people from the states that they represent. This is no better than Bush stealing the election on the account of electoral votes even though he lost the popular vote. I will still vote for whoever the super delegates pick, but I will not be happy about it. This needs to be decided by the voters and not public officials. And if it is decided by the public officials, how can we count on the fact that the huge numbers of people who have been voting in this primary season will actually continue to come out and vote in November when they begin to think that their vote doesn't matter anyway.

Yet again the Democratic party is weakened as I know that if McCain can figure out a way to get the conservative vote whether it is by hook or by crook, they will come out and vote. And now he has all of this time on his hands to kiss their asses and get their votes. I want the Democrats to win, I need the Democrats to win, but more I need the Democratic party to figure out a way to keep from giving away another election.

YouTube Friday

I found this song while I was looking for something else, something that I could never find. But this song is one of my favorites and it is also one of my favorite videos. It is real basic and the scenes of Anthony Kiedis walking through LA are just great.


Red Hot Chilli Peppers- Under the Bridge

I just found this video and really like it. It is an interesting idea for a song and well...I just liked the song and the video.


Sara Bareilles- Fairytale

Food Porn

Now that is what I call food porn. It is an advertisement for a European produce company.

I keep thinking of this song

Since that I did that post on Obama yesterday, I have had this song in my head. I love this version of it.

Great Advertisement

There are so many stupid advertisements that I wanted to highlight this great ad that I keep seeing on the MSNBC coverage of Super Dooper Tuesday.



I mean really "recordification".

Political thoughts

I found this on Blue Gal and had to post it.



I have seen this one on many sites and also wanted to post this.



No, these are not endorsements of Obama, but I have yet to see anything this entertaining for Hilary and so I didn't post those. My vote when I get a chance to vote which will be later in this year, I think May, is that I will follow my conscience and vote for who I still think would be the best president, Edwards. I want to thank the Cunning Runt for reinforcing this thought of voting my conscience and not who the media thinks I should vote for in this post.

Thought of the day and the question of the day

First, the question of the day, after lunch I was drinking a cup of coke from a local pizza place and one of my kids asked me, "Mr. Boxer, what are you drinking? Is that coke, sprite or Bud Life?" I don't drink Anheuser Busch products, that is just piss water.

Second, the thought of the day, which was found on a Starbucks cup.

You can learn a lot more from listening than you can from talking. Find someone with whom you don't agree in the slightest and ask them to explain themselves at length. Then take a seat, shut your mouth, and don't argue back. It's physically impossible to listen with your mouth open.

--John Moe, radio host and author of Conservatize Me.

I just looked up the book that John Moe had written which I had never heard of and now I really want to read it.

Book Review- Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Freakonomics is the story of everything and how one economist, Steven Levitt, looks at the numbers behind a variety of different things from what a Sumo wrestler and a teacher have in common to why crack dealers live with their mothers. This is an interesting book with a different take on many different issues. Levitt basically uses data to extrapolate a different spin on things that we may think about all of the time or that we rarely think about, but surround us at all times. It is a quick read and I thought an easy read. I wanted to keep reading it and had a hard time putting it down. Also, as someone who is not very math oriented and likes economics even less, or at least the economics that I had to take in college, I didn't mind the numbers and thought that they did a good job of supporting Levitt's conclusions. But because he was using data that at times was not designed to be used in the way that he did use it, I did at times, wonder if he was manipulating the data to fit his own conclusions. But overall I agreed with much of what he thought and saw the logical steps he took to go from point A to point B.

To answer one of the questions above and also as a mini rant against No Child Left Behind, Levitt showed that teachers were actually cheating in order to help their students do better on the standardized tests that they had to administer. He talked about the obvious, that teachers were teaching to the test, that they were gearing all of their teaching to the types of questions that would be on the test and ignoring other subjects or topics that may be important to a child's overall education and development. But he also pointed out that it seems as though teachers were doing more than just teaching to a test, they were actually changing the answers on students' tests to the right answers. These teachers would take advantage of the fact that there was some gap time in between when the test was given and when the test had to be handed in to the administrators. They were not changing a lot of answers, but enough to help the students get a higher score. Now why would these teachers do this? It is simple, the stress and pressure of the testing on the schools and the teachers. They needed the students to do well enough so that the school would be able to continue to not be state run when does happen when a school's scores are not high enough. Teachers can also be fired if a school's scores are not high enough and if they are higher, than teachers get bonuses which can be much needed income for many teachers, as we are not paid that much. So what NCLB has created is no more than a culture where teachers have to cheat just to keep their jobs, their schools and at times to earn more money. Sumo wrestlers are also shown by Levitt to have a tendency toward cheating, but for vastly different reasons. Their reasons tend to relate to the culture of Sumo and the rankings systems where if you win over 50% of your matches in a contest than your ranking will rise, but if you lose over 50% of your matches than your ranking sinks. This was a very interesting point and as I tried to explain it here, I have found that I can't really explain it. But basically, the similarity between teachers and Sumo wrestlers relates to cheating.

Overall, Freakonomics is a really interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone. I did read the original version and there is now a revised and expanded version. I am not sure if there are vast differences in the two books, so if anyone knows if the differences are that major let me know so that I can try and get my hands on the revised edition if it is needed.

Superbowl Ads

So I watched the Superbowl last night as I am sure many of you did, but I am sure there at least a few of you who did not watch it and I wanted to my three favorite ads from the Superbowl this year in ascending order.

3a. I mean who doesn't love a talking baby and the spitting up at the end, just tickled my funny bone.




3b.The talking baby is baaaack, Yay talking baby and really aren't clowns creepy.




2.This just makes me laugh and the song (Push it by Salt and Pepa) is awesome.




1.This ad has everything, dancing lizards, Naomi Campbell and the dance from Thriller. It just doesn't get any better.

Blogroll Amnesty Day 2008

So today is Blogroll Amnesty Day where we are to point out our favorite blogs that are smaller than us. Well, since I am not sure there are many if any that I read that are smaller than me, I am going to link to several that I really like. I could link to everybody on my blogroll as it is not that long and I love all of you, but I am going to try and pick out just a few to highlight.

Little Mary Sunshine- this is a new blog to me that I found over at Gourmet Goddess. It is a simple little blog with intersting writing and this post on how all politics are local is very good.

Gourmet Goddess- A cooking blog of sorts. There used to be more cooking on this blog, but now she has turned it into more of a general blog about her life, interesting, at least to me.

Monkey Mouth- this is a great blog by DCup and Mathman's Cupcake. It is fun to read the blog of a child as it reminds me of the innocence and simplicity of life before bills, jobs and grown up life.

Mock, Paper, Scissors- Most of you know of the genius that is Tengrain and this blog, but it still needs to be mentioned cause it is one of the funniest and smartest blogs that I read. And his use of photoshop is awesome.

Little Bang Theory- The Cunning Runt's blog is full of great photography and great looking food. He also has a great insight into life that we get glimpses of and are though provoking and interesting.

And finally, Blue Gal has to be mentioned. She is the reason that I started blogging and the reason that I have met so many awesome people. She is the blog mother to so many of us and so I have to also link to her. She has done an amazing job in linking all of us smaller blogs together so that we are beginning to create a community of progressive bloggers and not just each of us standing out there alone.

I really have to stop there as if I keep going I will link to everyone of you and that will take me all day. I really want to get back to reading you and not just telling everyone how great y'all are.

Movie Review- Little Children

I first heard about Little Children on the blog of the awesome Dr. Monkerstein, who did his own review and highly recommended it. The website for New Line Cinema describe Little Children thusly,

Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Tom Perrotta, Little Children follows the family life of young, unfulfilled suburbanites, Sarah (Winslet) and Brad (Wilson), whose relatively mundane and protected lives intersect on the playgrounds, town pools and streets of their small community. When a brief encounter at a neighborhood park leads them down a fateful path, their lives, and the lives of their children, take a surprising and potentially perilous turn.

This is a great description of the film and hence why I used it, but what is missing is that these two along with several of the other characters in the film demonstrate the way in which so many people are stuck in adolescence. So many of us are still trying to accomplish dreams and hopes that we have been living with for many years and so even as adults we are still not yet truly mature adults. The characters are all very convincing with Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson showing how mundane life is and how we all have bigger dreams that seem to disappear as we get older and have children and settle down into married life. Jennifer Connelly is also very good as the driven, ambitious wife of Wilson. We see life as it really seems to exist, life goes on even as there are things out of the ordinary occurring around the characters with much of this based on new feelings and thoughts that each has about their own life.

I found myself comparing this to many of the Todd Sodonz films that I have seen and really liked. Little Children again reflects life closer to how it is in the real world and not how it is shown in Hollywood. We are all struggling to figure out our lives and how to transcend from adolescence to adulthood even after we are already in adulthood. I also really liked the narrator who is with us through the entire movie, he provides additional information and connects the film to the book or so it seems as I have not yet read the book, but now plan to read it. So I echo Dr. Monkerstein recommendations and also think that you should see this film.

What book am I?

I have seen this several times around the blogosphere, but finally really did it.

You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!

by John Irving

Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire
faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest
this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking
moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT
SOUNDS LIKE THIS!


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

YouTube Friday

This week is two different ventriloquists that I find funny. I hope you enjoy them as well.

First is Nina Conti. I have to admit that I first saw her on another bloggers site and thought it was funny and then she has a bit part in For Your Consideration and I remembered her again.



Second is Jeff Dunham. I have seen him several times on TV and I laugh every time.