Don't Despair - You Can Find Jesus Anywhere if You Look Hard Enough

Bernie Mac 1957-2008 Rest In Peace

The word just came in over the wires that Bernie Mac the great everyman comedian has died at the not quite ripe age of 50.

I remember the first time I took notice of him in The Eddie Murphy - Martin Lawrence movie "Life" playing "Jangle leg", the cook.

Man, was he funny.

Too upset to write now, except to say Rest in peace, you will be missed.

Weekly Brief Movie and DVD Reviews

1. Death At A Funeral - a droll but funny British film helmed by American Director Frank Oz. Many of the cast were unknown to me so their performances were fresh and invigorating. Chaos ensues when a man tries to expose a dark secret regarding a recently deceased patriarch of a dysfunctional British family. Very witty, Wilde. 3/5


2. The Wolf Man and Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man - To me, The Wolf Man has always been THE monster movie. Frankenstein was a mindless monster and Dracula was an evil prick vampire descended from Vlad the Impaler but The Wolf Man was, and always will be, the tortured soul Larry Talbot who knew what was happening to him and hated it. A truly literate script, beautiful cinematography and a chilling score (used over and over in future Universal B movies) tautly complement Lon Chaney's bravura performance. The sequel is pale by comparison but who can pass up the opportunity to see Bela Lugosi in his only role as The Monster. Wolf man 5/5 Frank meets Wolf 3/5


3. The Counterfeiters (Die Falscher) - a truly extraordinary movie based on a true story. As world war 2 breaks out a small time Jewish crime lord and counterfeiter, Salomon 'Sally' Sorowitsch, is arrested and sent to a concentration camp where he is recruited to lead a team of Jewish prisoners in counterfeiting for the Nazis who wish to invade Britain and America with fake currency in order to upset their economies. There is a reason this movie won Best Foreign language Film at the 2008 Academy Awards. Watch it. 5/5



4. Duck Soup - What can I say. One of the greatest movies ever made. If you haven't seen it, you're life is a sorry excuse.

Justice You Can Sink Your Teeth In To!!!!

I'm sure Bill O'Reilly will have a rpoblem with this but it was a simple solution that saved taxpayers tons of money. A little more of this common sense would be appreciated.

A New York man was going to be tried for murder in Oregon. The defendant agreed to plead guilty to murder if he could get "a feast of KFC chicken, Popeye's chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, carrot cake and ice cream."

After he is sentenced he gets the rest of the plea bargain: "calzones, lasagna, pizza" and more ice cream.

Everyone has room for more ice cream.

If I met Multnomah County Judge Eric Bergstrom I'd shake his hand.

Read about it here.

I hope the Judge was a Playdrome customer so he could get his 10% discount.

“We are considering all options” Robert Willumstad

THE NUMBERS SAY IT ALL!!!!!

Close: 23.84
Down: -5.25
% Down: -18.05%

but my favorite number is:

Volume: 152,464,962

Hee hee!

$5.36 BILLION LOSS!!!!!!!!!

Why is this guy not smiling?

AIG REPORTS SECOND QUARTER 2008 RESULTS
NEW YORK, NY, August 6, 2008 – American International Group, Inc. (AIG)
today reported a net loss for the second quarter of 2008 of $5.36 billion or $2.06 per diluted
share compared to 2007 second quarter net income of $4.28 billion or $1.64 per diluted
share. Second quarter 2008 adjusted net loss, as defined below, was $1.32 billion or $0.51
per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $4.63 billion or $1.77 per diluted
share for the second quarter of 2007. The continuation of the weak U.S. housing market and
disruption in the credit markets, as well as global equity market volatility, had a substantial
adverse effect on AIG’s results in the second quarter.

Net loss for the first six months of 2008 was $13.16 billion or $5.11 per diluted
share, compared to net income of $8.41 billion or $3.21 per diluted share in the first six
months of 2007. Adjusted net loss for the first six months of 2008 was $4.88 billion or
$1.90 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $9.02 billion or $3.44 per
diluted share in the first six months of 2007.

Another Professor Philo B. Veritas Post

This is one of my favorites:

You're the reason why women wipe from front to back.

followed up by:

Your birth certificate is an apology letter from the "good-as-nu" condom
factory.

The guy is on a roll

Texas executes Mexican man despite objections

What gets me most about the fact that Texas executed Jose Medellin is not the issue of whether the state should have executed him or he should have gotten life without parole or whether the Supreme Court's recent ruling was wrong or not.

That's not the issue.

In the recent msnbc.com article from a feed from the Associated Press a relative of Medellin condemned the execution, as is her right. This relative said:

“Only God has the right to take a life”

My question is: Did Reyna Armendariz, the cousin, ever say this to her now-executed cousin??

I mean he bragged to friends about the rapes and murders and never denied doing it. His entire Supreme Court claim was that he was not allowed to contact the Mexican Consulate.

I wish people would think before they spouted stupidity.

(note to readers: anything that you think may be stupid that I write, I have thought about before I have written - So There!!!!)

Paris Hilton's Hot New Video

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26044888/

Why Must Congress Be Duplicitous?????

As was reported today on CNETnews.com:

The whopping housing bill that President Bush signed
into law last week does far more than merely address the nation's real estate
woes. Some sections have raised serious privacy concerns.

Tucked in near the end of the Housing and
Economic Recovery Act is a requirement that banks and online payment
networks annually collect and report to the IRS electronic payments made to
online merchants. It takes effect in 2011, and will affect what information
companies like PayPal collect from their sellers and could raise privacy and
auditing complications.

The housing bill also finalized the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act. As
CNET News.com previously reported, the provision creates a national
fingerprint registry of "loan originators"--essentially anyone involved in
the mortgage industry. While intended to curb predatory lending, the measure has
come under fire for being potentially ineffective and unnecessarily invasive.

Why can't a Housing Bill be just a housing bill.

This is the same type of nonsense that gives rise to Pork Barrel Projects that ALL members of Congress love and why a child care bill includes a road project or a bridge to nowhere.

Damned Congress!!!

Yet Another Philo B. Veritas Post

Our favorite Topix Poster replied twice to a poster, once as Philo Beddo and the other time as Professor Veritas one post right after another. Coincidence? I think not.

As Philo Beddo:

Wow ... you really *ARE* pathetic.Aside from your usual incoherence and
ignorance, that one didn't even make sense.Must be difficult for you, trying to
keep track of which screen you're using to post under your different screen
names.But, then again, PlaySkool toys are difficult for you.

And then as Professor Veritas:

And, once again, you f*cked up and responded to a post aimed at one of your
other altar-imbeciles.ricky responds to a post directed at the dungeon
master.Just admit it, numbnuts. You're posting under at least three names and
you're too stupid to keep track of which screen name you're using from one
insipid, pathetic attempt at witticism from another.

And he claims the other guy is posting under multiple names.

What a Card!!!!!!

"The Only Ones Who Need Immunity Are The Guilty" - Dostoevsky

Yep. Dostoevsky had it right.

And it applies to Mary-Kate Olson.

Heath Ledger died (we've covered this topic before) and if Mary-Kate did nothing wrong why not talk.

Instead her lawyer says:

"Regarding the government's investigation, at Ms. Olsen's request, we have provided the government with relevant information including facts in the chronology of events surrounding Mr. Ledger's death and the fact that Ms. Olsen does not know the source of the drugs Mr. Ledger consumed," Miller said in a statement.

She was in California at the time. Did she kill him? I am going to say NO.

I don't think she supplied him with the drugs since it appears to have been drugs taken in contra-indication to each other.

I don't know why she is clamming up, but she is hiding something.

Let's hope the government issues a subpoena for her to testify before an inquest or grand jury.

I was joking - Dostoevsky did not say the quote above.

But the old Roman Maxim applies:

Let Justice Be Done Though the heavens fall

Yes, Virginia, There ARE Stupid Parents Out There.

Accused 'underwear researcher' faces 19 indictments

What are these people thinking? Yes the long arm of the law reached out and grabbed this sick fuck but what happened to parental control???

The parents of 11 minors allowed a total stranger be alone with their minor children.

In this day and age.

How come the parents haven't been indicted for stupidity bordering on criminal negligence?

I am a big fan of government laissez-faire when it comes to families but, Jeez Louise, these parents are poster children for government intervention in every aspect of our private lives.

Thanks, morons.

Get Well Morgan Freeman

Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman was seriously injured in a car accident near his home in Northern Mississippi.

We wish him a speedy and full recovery.

We only have one question to ask of this multi-millionaire who made $5,000,000 eleven years ago and has made god knows how much since then:

Why are you driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima.

Another Professor Philo B. Veritas Post

One of my favorites. Really sums up the essence of the man.

Can you actually *feel* the thousands of people wishing for you to wake up
tomorrow riddled with terminal cancer, you ignorant imbecile?

Read it here

It's Pazzo, Baby. Pazzo!!!!

Silvio Berlusconi is losing his mind.

There is a great painting called "Time Uncovering Truth" by Tiepolo that adorns the wall in the room and is present for Berlusconi's press conferences.

So far so good?.

Well, as with most things Italian, there is a nipple showing.

Why not? The Italians are great lovers. They love nipples.

If you look closely you can see it. Evidently, on the wall behind him the picture looms much larger and the nipple was available to see on television.

SO THEY PAINTED OVER IT!

From MSNBC.com:

Vittorio Sgarbi, an art critic and once a culture undersecretary in a previous Berlusconi government, called the move "crazy." "What should be done with all the statues of women at dozens of Italian museums, where breasts can be admired that would even leave Pamela Anderson breathless?" Sgarbi told Corriere.

and crazy is Pazzo in my book!!!!!

New Feature: For Your Amusement: The Best of Professor Philo B. Veritas

If any of you have ever posted on Topix you know that there are those who post anonymously and use that anonymity not to spread ideas but to spread vitriol and bile. One of my favorites is a guy named Professor Veritas who IN MY OPINION morphed into a guy called Philo Beddo. When Professor Veritas demanded that I die from Cancer, I knew that I was witnessing the start of something good. And then in the beginning of 2008 The Professor disappeared and Philo arrived and they posted from the same place in Arizona but they were different people. Right!. IN MY OPINION, the guy is nothing but a liar. I mean what are the chances that two guys posting from the same place have both authored articles against John McCain for an Arizona Newspaper. Only Philo forgot that and also claimed he was a cable lineman.

We are going to give a little history lesson here. Not every day but often enough to keep it fresh.

For perspective, It all started in October 2007 with these posts.

First Professor Veritas wrote:

"Yeah, you just keep on pretending that "Rick" and "Kill Terrorist" aren't the
same pig-ignorant, dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers, racist, bigoted, barely literate,
in-denial, boneheaded, stupid, pathetic, dumb-ass redneck posting under
different names so he can pretend to have someone who's as retarded as he is
supporting him.Funny how "both" of you keep responding to posts directed at the
other.You're almost half as smart as a kitchen sponge, and nearly twice as able
to learn."

and then after creating the profile on October 2, 2007, one of the first posts of the good professor as Philo Beddo was:

"It's obvious it's the same idiot posting under both names."

But he didn't stop: he also wrote as Philo B:

"The Professor's right. You're a total moron."

Doesn't this mean he is talking to himself. You can check it out here for yourself

New Feature: Weekly Brief Movie and DVD Reviews

1. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay - This long overdue sequel to Harold & Kumar Go To The White Castle doesn't have the overall sustained sense of genius as the first one but there are so many flashes of brilliance that it will never stop keeping you entertained. Be sure to see the resolution for Rob Corrdry's character and, believe it or not, an extraordinarily humane portrayal of President George W. Bush. (4/5)

2. The Band's Visit - A small Egyptian band is looking to play at the opening of an Arab center in Israel and gets lost. This is their story and it plays on how they interact with the small group of Israelis they meet when a kind restaurant owner puts them up for the night. It is a slow moving yet thoroughly enjoyable movie. I heartily recommend it. (4/5)

3. Shine A Light - The Stones. Scorsese. What can you say? If you like them and you like concert films, you'll like this movie. Two big downsides: Hillary Clinton is in the film (even briefly) and Marty, if you are going to feature yourself prominently in the movie: TRIM YOUR EYEBROWS. (3/5)

4. The Eye (2008) - Ay Ay Ay Ay Ay - this movie is a weak remake of the exhilarating 2002 Chinese film, Gin Gwai. Watch the original. (2/5)

God Bless Charles Durning.

Charles Durning next to James Cagney.

It's gonna be a sad day when this guy dies

And Just When You Heap Praise on Congress they fuck ya!!!!

Country is going to shit. What's the Congress to do?

Take vacation of course!!!!!!!

Just remember - you and I do not count to these folks in DC.

Get rid of the lot of them.

Who do you think will be paying for the gas for the Members of Congress as they tool around their home districts in August.

Me. And You.