February 28, 2014

There's a new book out called "What Jefferson Read, What Eisenhower Watched, And What Obama Tweeted"

It's supposedly a pop-cultural retrospective of the Presidency.

Stay away from it. It's a right-wing hatchet job on President Obama.

I should have read the Acknowledgements section first. The author thanks Jonah Goldberg and Scooter Libbie, among other right-wingers.

It starts out as a semi-serious look at the Presidents and how they related to or influenced the popular culture of their day through reading, theater, TV, music, etc. All well and good. Kind of fun.

Then he really lashes into President Obama for being a faux intellectual who doesn't really read all of the books he claims to.

The real giveaway is a dewy-eyed lament that pop culture, personified by evil, left, liberal-elite Hollywood, never truly appreciated George W. Bush, ran him down, made fun of him, and disrespected his intellectual accomplishments (what these are, the author fails to specify, except to say that Bush claimed to have read constantly, and he should be believed, even as the author encourages the reader to disbelieve Obama's claimed reading habits.)

What a waste of time that book was. Don't waste yours...

February 27, 2014

Can anyone recommend a good tank movie?

I was a tank crewman in the Army, and, despite my post-service turn to pacifism, am still fascinated by military hardware, including and especially tanks.

I own a few films centered around tank warfare.

The Beast
Lebanon

There are others in which tanks feature peripherally, like Saving Private Ryan. I saw a low-budget tank movie a number of years ago, The Misfit Brigade, that I enjoyed, but didn't see the value of owning for myself.

I'm looking forward to the Brad Pitt WWII tank film currently in production. And I still regret that Denzel Washington's project telling the story of the first all-African-American tank battalion was never filmed.

But are there any good tank movies out there that I've missed?

February 25, 2014

Tribute to In_The_Wind - A 20th Century Fox!

February 22, 2014

Saturday, February 22nd. The Weekend Edition of William Shakespeare's Thought For The Day.

"Only to despise them will I endeavour anything."

Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Scene 2, Line 31.

February 15, 2014

Is there a website that discusses the origin of music clips used for film trailers?

The reason I ask is because of the music in the trailer for this film:

The music is mournful, fragile, and achingly lovely.

And it doesn't appear in the film itself. I want to know if I can get a recording of the music somewhere.

Any ideas?

February 15, 2014

Saturday, February 15th. The Weekend Edition of William Shakespeare's Thought For The Day.

"She was belov'd."

Troilus And Cressida, Act IV, Scene 5, Line 292.



"...speak all good you can devise of Caesar..."

Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1, Line 246.



"Good night, good night!"

Romeo And Juliet, Act II, Scene 2, Line 184.

February 14, 2014

A Valentine's Day dedication to In_The_Wind:

February 14, 2014

To the Loungers without a valentine on Valentine's Day:

I Love You.

February 14, 2014

Happy Hour with Will Shakespeare. Ask us anything.

February 12, 2014

Just stood outside the back door of the clinic, and turned my face to the sky.

It's the first time I'd seen sunshine in nearly a week.

I felt like I'd been let out of prison...