movie reviewBatman v.
SupermanMarch 26, 2016
The
Batman v. Superman
movie opened with a man and woman climbing outside a destroyed
skyscraper in a post-apocalyptic Chicago.
After
about six minutes, the movie theater realized it started the wrong
post-apocalyptic movie. I find the easy mistake hilarious.
Post-apocalyptic
movies have been around since
The
War of the Worlds,
but post-911 over-reacting Hollywood thinks each blockbuster needs more
toppled skyscrapers than the last. And that's the world of the
Batman v. Superman
movie.
Apparently the movie takes place after the
carnage of the last Superman movie, which I didn't see.
I'm
a fan of Superman, but I didn't recognize Superman in the trailers
enough to see the last movie. Here's the Superman basics: he's super
and at heart a man -- a good guy. Warner Brothers and DC Comics, the
filmmakers and publishers of Superman, forget these
simple details
these days. Either Superman is powerless or not raised by good people
or not a good guy. And for some reason, Clark Kent is a newspaper
sports reporter.
The
Batman v. Superman
movie takes the Superman confusion and uses it to reboot Batman,
vaguely. Taking the movie at face value, Bruce Wayne becomes Batman
(spoiler?!?) after the destruction of the last Superman movie and has
no aversion to using guns.
In real world terms, the
reason Batman didn't stop 911 was because he hadn't decided to become
Batman yet. Oh. What?
So it's not that "
criminals are a superstitious
cowardly lot," it's that alien invaders are a
superstitious cowardly lot? So why does Batman need a mask?
Both
Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor are spurred to stop Superman due to the
destructive events of the last film. Both kill and steal to obtain what
they need. Because the filmmakers have given Lex Luthor the personality
of the Joker, we know he's the bad guy and supposedly Batman is the
good guy.
I didn't see
Batman v. Superman
for either Batman or Superman. I went to see it for Wonder Woman.
Wonder
Woman stole the show.
Can
the filmmakers keep her a good, strong character with her caring as her
greatest strength and her greatest weakness? We'll see.
Music Associations: Colin Hay -
Overkill & REM - End of the WorldSnow!February
3, 2016
I'm a shoveling machine
a snowplow on legs
keeps me moderately lean
carrying snow like shovels full of eggs.
In
the course of snowy urban events
snow
placement decisions
empty snow shovel contents
in best snow drift divisions.
But when
the obstacles are cleared
and snow can be
thrown distances
My adrenaline gets all weird
and I throw snow without resistances.
Music Association: John Legend
(for Bruce Springsteen) - Dancing In The DarkHappy New YearSpectacular CAAM
Chinese DanceFebruary 2,
2016
The CAAM Chinese Dance Theater
presented “
One Earth,
One Home” at The O'Shaughnessy
last
weekend.
The
twelve dances celebrating the Chinese lunar new year were a spectacular
combination of the dancers, costumes, music, and special effects.
The
dancers rose from the mists of
River
Town Life
to open the show, followed by 32 Geese and their effective
costumes and choreography. The motions and goldfish-like costumes in
Tales of Good Fortune
created flowing fins swirling across the stage. The balance
of man and nature was beautifully illustrated in the
Fisherman and His Ospreys.
The winter blizzard dance in the
Brightest
Flowers
was a marvel of winter dancers and Hollywood-surpassing special
effects, telling the story of two sisters who saved their 384 sheep
during a Mongolian blizzard in 1964.
The
Golden Peacocks were
the pinnacle of the show. They were absolutely outstanding -- a
fantastic mix of dance and costumes!
Choreographer
Lili Teng, dance instructor Ying Li, the dancers, and everyone else
connected with this production should be proud of their achievement.
Well done!
Music Associations: Adele -
Skyfall & David Bowie - Let's Dance Less-Wintery Winter
CarnivalFebruary 1, 2016
The
2016 St. Paul Winter Carnival was fully carnivalling this past weekend.
I
was near Rice Park explaining a set of parking signs to a couple and
swung by the ice sculpture contest at the State Fairgrounds.
If
it weren't for the wind, it would be balmy. The sunshine and the
warmer-than-freezing temperatures gave the ice sculptures a less sharp,
less permanent look.
Music Association:
Gwen Stefani - We're Cool NFC North
Division Champions
Vikings 20 - Packers 13
January
4, 2016
Last
night, the Minnesota Vikings won the NFC North division by beating the
Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field with a score of 20 to 13.
Field
goals started the game. The Viking's Blair Walsh got three. The Packers
got three, tying the game early. The Vikings got another three. The
Vikings got a touchdown and another touchdown. Then in the third
quarter, the Packers seemed to have taken over with ten unanswered
points. Some heart-thumping late-game turnovers from the Vikings kept
the Packers holding the ball but the Vikings defense kept them from
scoring.
Despite all the Packer praises from
slurring-commentator Chris Collinsworth, the Packers just couldn't beat
the Vikings again.
Way to go Vikings!
Music Association: Carrie
Underwood - Sunday Night Footballmovie reviewHunger
Games - Mockingjay 2December 14, 2015
Weeks
ago, I saw the Hunger Games movie franchise finale,
Hunger Games - Mockingjay 2,
and I said nothing.
It
was a contractually obligatory film with all the heart and passion of a
contractually obligatory film. For weeks, I haven't wanted to talk
about the film. I still don't. Instead I will quote
Jennifer
Lawrence from October 2015 regarding gender inequity in the
movie industry.
When
it comes to the subject of feminism, I’ve remained
ever-so-slightly quiet. I don’t like joining conversations
that
feel like they’re “trending.”
I’m even the
asshole who didn’t do anything about the ice-bucket challenge
— which was saving lives — because it started to
feel more
like a “trend” than a cause. I should have written
a check,
but I fucking forgot, okay? I’m not perfect. But with a lot
of
talk comes change, so I want to be honest and open and, fingers
crossed, not piss anyone off.It’s
hard for me to speak about my experience as a working woman because I
can safely say my problems aren’t exactly relatable. When the
Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than
the lucky people with dicks, I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got
mad
at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I
didn’t want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that,
frankly, due to two franchises, I don’t need. (I told you it
wasn’t relatable, don’t hate me).But
if I’m honest with myself, I would be lying if I
didn’t say
there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision
to close the deal without a real fight. I didn’t want to seem
“difficult” or “spoiled.” At
the time, that
seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and
realized every man I was working with definitely didn’t worry
about being “difficult” or
“spoiled.” This
could be a young-person thing. It could be a personality thing.
I’m sure it’s both. But this is an element of my
personality that I’ve been working against for years, and
based
on the statistics, I don’t think I’m the only woman
with
this issue. Are we socially conditioned to behave this way?
We’ve
only been able to vote for what, 90 years? I’m seriously
asking
— my phone is on the counter and I’m on the couch,
so a
calculator is obviously out of the question. Could there still be a
lingering habit of trying to express our opinions in a certain way that
doesn’t “offend” or
“scare” men?A
few weeks ago at work, I spoke my mind and gave my opinion in a clear
and no-bullshit way; no aggression, just blunt. The man I was working
with (actually, he was working for me) said, “Whoa!
We’re
all on the same team here!” As if I was yelling at him. I was
so
shocked because nothing that I said was personal, offensive, or, to be
honest, wrong. All I hear and see all day are men speaking their
opinions, and I give mine in the same exact manner, and you would have
thought I had said something offensive.I’m
over trying to find the “adorable” way to state my
opinion
and still be likable! Fuck that. I don’t think I’ve
ever
worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he
should use to have his voice heard. It’s just heard. Jeremy
Renner, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in
negotiating powerful deals for themselves. If anything, I’m
sure
they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy
worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share.
Again, this might have NOTHING to do with my vagina, but I
wasn’t
completely wrong when another leaked Sony email revealed a producer
referring to a fellow lead actress in a negotiation as a
“spoiled
brat.” For some reason, I just can’t picture
someone saying
that about a man.
Music Association: Am
Radio - I Just Wanna Be LovedTimelinesNovember
19, 2015
After
six years of history, I finally
updated my
U.S.
History Timelines. Sorry about letting history get away from
me like that. I hope people continue to enjoy them.
Music Association: Pink Floyd -
TimeNovember
14, 2015
Destruction is easy.
Creation is
tough.
Making things better...
brightening
people's days...
making the world safer...
shining
a light in the darkness...
That takes effort.
That's
what has value.
Terrorism is the pinnacle of bullying
the
very top of the bottom
and it only fuels the fires it fights.
Love
should always be
the beginning and the end.
Last
month, Jewel signed a copy of her book
Never Broken
for me and I wished her, “may all your hopes and dreams come
true.”
I'm
on chapter 11. I will fully review her book when I finish it, but in
the meantime I will tell you, so far so good, which is a wonderful
thing to say about any life story. Waiting in the wings, is
I Am Malala
by Malala Yousafzai.
For
either woman, life is no picnic. Both women have chosen to create
rather than destroy. They continue to inspire through their strength
and bravery in
the face of adversity.
May Paris and Beirut heal and
feel waves
of the world's compassion washing away the hatred and the blood-stained
streets and theatres.
Music Associations: Jewel -
Everything Breaks & Beatles - All You Need Is LoveBuy their books on Amazon:
The
Vikings Grounded The Chargers
The Vikings Unfastened The Bolts
...um...
The
Vikings Dodged The Chargers!September
27, 2015
Minnesota
Vikings 31 - San Diego Chargers 14The
Minnesota Vikings grounded the Chargers passing game and dodged the
Chargers defense to win at the cloudlessly sunny TCF Stadium.
Also,
Adrian Peterson's wife, Ashley, gave birth to the couple's second son
Axyl Eugene Peterson at about 9 in the morning. Peterson was at the
hospital and back in time for the noon kick-off. Peterson
rushed 20
times for 126 yards and two touchdowns in his 100th Vikings start.
Double
congrats, All-Day, way to rush!
Music Association: The Babys -
Isn't It Timesmall worldEukaryotesSeptember
16, 2015
Music is important to me, but so is
cellular biology.
Oh, the cellular biology stories I
could tell you:
- Once upon a time, there
were five or six kingdoms covering all life. Then a great re-shuffling
occurred in the dark days of disco. With a wave of the hand and a sway
of the hips, the kingdoms were gone, and the three
domains (archaea, bacteria, & eukaryote) were full of
life.
- Remember
when you ate something, and it made you feel like something was taking
over inside of you? That's what happened 1.8 billion years ago, give or
take 200 million years. There was this hungry archaeon that ate
bacterium, Pac-man style, but it didn't digest the bacterium. The
bacterium was too big. The bacterium decided to get even bigger and
become bacteria. It was the big moment for all bigger than
single-celled organisms...
- Cellular
Babushka™ -- the nesting dolls that make science
fun! Inside
the cellular membrane is the endoplasmic reticulum. Inside that is the
nucleus. And inside the nucleus is the nucleolus. What could be more
fun! Best of all, the Cellular Babushka™ is safe in water
because it's mostly water! Order yours today.
People
are reading DNA today (making sense of God's margin notes) from the
nucleus DNA. Others looked at mitochondrial DNA and agree that it is
clearly alphaproteobacteria. And others are looking at the cellular
membrane itself -- the cytoskeleton (the Pac-man) to discover which
archaea did the original eating.
Thijs Ettema from
Sweden's Uppsala University reported in the May 14, 2015 issue of
Nature
that he and his colleagues found a single-celled match to
the cytoskeleton DNA. They found archaea under the Greenland
Sea
(off the coast of the Norwegian island of Svalbard) at a volcanic vent
called Loki’s Castle. They named the archaea, Lokiarchaeota.
So
there seems to be ancestral Lokiarchaeote in all of us.
Music Association: Sherman
Brothers - It's A Small Worldappliance reviewDry
IdeaAugust 31, 2015
I
think my dryer is broke. N.
Broken. My dryer has
money. Loose change. Laundered money. That's not it. I think it is
solidly broken.
It's
making weird noises. Sometimes it sounds like it's doing imitations of
other appliances. It was sounding like a lawn mower starting up. Now a
shaver. A rock tumbler. A shaver in a rock tumbler. It sounds like a
leaf
blower tied to the propeller of a plane. Now it's a can opener in the
microwave.
The dryer is throwing around more loose
parts than an Ikea convention.
I think my dryer is
broke. N.
Music Association:
Jimmy Ruffin - Broken Heartedmovie reviewMinionsJuly
25, 2015Nothing spoils a movie like
great expectations.
Minions
is the spin-off movie from
Despicable
Me and
Despicable
Me 2, and it's more despicably bad than either of
the other two movies.
The
problem is that if you establish a whole species of characters who talk
in a kind of gibberish with near-English and near-Spanish, you can't
have them suddenly speak clearly and distinctly, just because you are
concerned the audience isn't going to
get
what is going on.
If
you establish a whole species of characters who do their own things and
are easily distracted by emotional responses, you can't set them out on
a quest.
The continuity police should have arrested
the movie with continuity police brutality, early-minion style.
The
overall problem with
Minions
is the creators felt obligated to have a
Plot
with a capital P, which led them to having to introduce a quest and
clear-language and making the minions... I really don't want to have to
say this...
serious.
The movie even had a part-time narrator.
The movie
theater I saw
Minions
in about a week ago was half-full of kids and parents expecting a fun
movie. The movie trailers got laughs. The movie kept audience
attention but only received a few laughs here and there.
Not
every movie needs a plot. Not every movie needs clear language.
Minions
cartoons are like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons. They were funnier
in the beginning.
Rating: two minions
out of five
Music Association: Pharrell
Williams - DespicableHistoric
Iran & World Nuclear DealJuly
15, 2015
The nuclear agreement reached between Iran
and the world powers limits Iran's nuclear abilities and opens Iranian
facilities to inspection. It's a big deal.
Not huge,
but big.
The agreement is against nuclear bombs:
nuclear bombs are bad.
No more lines being drawn in the sand. Iran and the world powers are
talking again, as they should. Iran
belongs on the world stage and in the global economy. Congress should
ratify the agreement and talks should begin with Iran about ISIS,
Syria, and human rights violations.
But this
nuclear deal is not huge. In order to be huge, the nuclear threat would
have to have been a serious threat.
Several years
ago I listed the historical threats:
The
Iran Threat
As reported
here in
February
2012 and
August
2012, Israel
and the U.S. have been
crying
wolf [sources:
1,
2,
3]
for years about Iran
nearly
having the bomb:
In
1984, the British defense magazine,
Jane’s
Defence Weekly
said “Iran is engaged in the production of an atomic bomb,
likely
to be ready within two years.” The article based their
estimate on the minimum
time for West German engineering firms to complete one of two
unfinished nuclear reactors at Bushehr.
In
1988,
Ayatollah
Khomeini said Iran needed atomic weapons to win the Iran-Iraq
War.
In
1992, Iran would have a nuclear bomb by 1999, according
to
Shimon
Peres, then Israeli Prime Minister.
In 1992, Iran was 3-5
years from producing a nuclear weapon, said
Israeli parliamentarian
Benjamin
Netanyahu.
In 1992, the
CIA
said Iran would have the bomb in 2000.
In
1996, Iran would have nuclear weapons by 2004, according to
Ehud
Barak,
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In 1997, Iran
President
Rafsanjani
declared that Iran "hates nuclear and chemical weapons. 'Yes, some say
we must have the atomic bomb,' says an
Iranian official. 'But we can't afford it. The political consequences
are too much trouble, and it's expensive.'" But
the
U.S. believes Iran will acquire nuclear weapons in
8-10
years.
In
1998, former defense secretary
Donald
Rumsfeld
reported to Congress that Iran could build an intercontinental
ballistic missile, that could hit the U.S., within five years. The CIA
gave a time frame of 12 years.
In 2002,
President
Bush said Iran was aggressively pursuing weapons of mass
destruction.
In 2005, a
National
Intelligence Estimate said Iran is moving determinedly toward
a 2015 nuclear arsenal.
In 2009, a U.S. Senate report by
John
Kerry
said, "There is no sign that Iran's leaders have ordered up a bomb.
But... Iran has moved closer to completing the three components for a
nuclear weapon: fissile material, warhead design and delivery
system... Deadlines have come and gone with Iran and so have
predictions about when it might have a nuclear weapon."
In 2010, Iran was
scheduled
to have its nuclear bomb in March of 2011. (The
Stuxnet
attack began in June 2010.)
Now the talk is that Iran will have nuclear weapons between 2013
and 2015.
It's always just
around the
corner.
Israel
wants to stop Iran. They may
attack Iran. Emily
Alpert at the Los
Angeles Times put together this great list of Israel To
Attack Iran headlines:
August 2004:
The New York Times,
Sharon on the warpath: Is Israel planning to
attack Iran?
March 2005: Philippine Daily Inquirer,
Israel has plans to attack Iran, says London
Times
December 2007: The Daily Beast,
What Will Israel Do?
February 2008: Haaretz,
Pentagon: Israel increasingly likely to
attack Iran
May 2008: The Daily Star (Lebanon),
As things look, Israel may well attack Iran
soon
July 2008: The Atlantic,
Will Israel Attack Iran?, ABC
News,
Will Israel Attack Iran?
April 2009: Salon.com,
Will Israel attack Iran?
August 2009: Talking Points,
Will Israel Attack Iran This Year?,
LA Times,
Expect Israel to hit Iran without warning
April 2010: Middle East Post,
Will Israel attack Iran?
August 2010: The Week,
Will Israel attack Iran in the next three
days?
November 2010: The Atlantic,
Will Israel Attack Iran by Christmas?
November 2011: Chicago Tribune,
Will Israel bomb Iran?
So
yesterday's announcement of the nuclear agreement with Iran is big and
is historic, but it's more about bringing Iran back to the
world
stage.
Music Association: Flock of
Seagulls - Iran So Far AwayMusic Association-Association:
The most recent episode of
Comedians in
Cars Getting Coffee featured Steven
Colbert. Colbert and Seinfeld launched into several music
associations within 17 minutes.