Howls
of Derision
 Do
you know why the conservative media is wailing
like constipated cats in heat over this New
York mosque? It's so that when President Obama
says, as he inevitably did, "Get
a grip, twerps. Everyone has a right to their
religion in this country", the Right Wing
Noise Machine would have a nasty little pro-moslem
sound-bite to pummel your senses with 24/7
come late October/early November. That's it.
That's all.
But no matter what the Right Wing screams just
remember that this is America and our Constitution
not only ensures
that shrines to self-glorified narcissism can
unctuously squat on each street corner but
it's also tax-free, baby! Glory hallelujah!
It would certainly be a much quieter world if more
of us agreed with Saint John Lennon's sensible notion
of "Above us only sky."
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This particular comic is not exactly boffo laughs, unlike
all the rest of my cartoons <heh>, but the subject matter was so
richly ludicrous I just had to make mention of it.
Louie Gohmert is a real person, an actual congressman from my poor, beleagured
home state of Texas and, yes, he's really trying to scare people about "terror
babies". What's next, terror kitties? Terror budgies? Terror terriers?
Gohmert is famous for other stunningly goofy ideas. A mere three weeks after
Mr. Obama was elected president Mr. Gohmert proposed that the income tax be suspended.
Uh, yeah.
In 2009 he compared homosexuality to bestiality, then claimed that without Biblical
teaching in our schools we would end up with another Hitler... forgetting that
little Adolf himself was raised on the Good Book. (After all, where do you think
he got all his best ideas?)
This July he sponsored a bill that would green-light an Israeli bombing campaign
against Iran. Three guesses how that went over.
I could go on, but you get the idea. I'm sure we'll hear from old Louie again
real soon.
--------
 I realize
this is going to be unpopular, but...
I saw Inception this weekend. I was really looking forward to
it but I gotta say that I wasn't that impressed (Quelle horreur!) and
I'll tell you why.
The plot, and I'm not giving much away here as you've probably already
heard it from a zillion other sources, involves groups of people invading
another person's dreams for, shall we say, nefarious purposes. There
is much conflict between opposing factions within these dreams, almost
all of which achieve elements of resolution through the use of <groan> gunplay.
SIGH.
I went in expecting a big-budget Primer. What I got was high-concept
Bonnie and Clyde. When a movie uses more bullets than words,
and this one used a lot of bullets, then you
can be pretty sure it fails the Francois Truffaut sniff test.
As for the main concept itself, I don't know what kind of dreams you
have, but my unconscious mind is capable of outrageous levels of fantasy.
I'm
pretty
certain that
if
I became aware of intruders skulking about my slumbering noggin I'd combat
them with something more unusual than a measly shotgun or brace of
AK-47s. Giant, flying, atomic mermaids firing laser-guided Bengal tigers
from their nostrils at 5000 rounds-per-minute would've been a good start.
After that, things might get a little silly.
This movie is not unlike The Matrix, not just because they both take
place in the realm of one person's mind, but also in the way they
rely heavily on standard, off-the-shelf weaponry to drive the action
in an environment we reckon should be capable of anything.
Repeat anything.
They both also have plot holes big enough to drive a giant atomic mermaid
through. But the play's the thing, right?
The reason for this follow-the-numbers approach is easy to comprehend..
the average movie-goer likely isn't mentally capable of enduring 120
minutes of pure, unadulterated fantasy delivered at breakneck speed.
It would inevitably induce waves of motion-sickness-related nausea or
something quite like it. And while cascades of projectile-spewed Junior
Mints and Gummi Bears would unpleasantly enhance every element of the
sensory experience I'm pretty sure that management might view sluicing-out
the theaters every two hours as more than a waste of their already thinly-stretched
resources. Unless of course here's a ready market for bargain-rate predigested
confectionery that I am heretofore not aware of.
To be fair, there were moments when the director of the film approached
levels of pure awesomeness in creativity, but those moments were few
and far between. And filled with hot, flying lead.
Puke.
--------- -
Then on Saturday night I rented Kick Ass. Best dollar I spent
all month. Check it out.
=Lefty=
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