I know I've barely been blogging.

It's not a conscious decision. Interest in blogging sometimes rises and sometimes falls. Lately it's fallen quite a bit. News just doesn't grab me lately, I don't have anything interesting or funny to say, and the thought of just randomly putting up links isn't very satisfying.

I'll try harder, though. I'm in a blog-funk but I've been here before. All it takes is Andrew Sullivan saying something absurd and I'll be back on the horse.

I may need to gets me one of these.

Posted by: Ace at 08:45 AM | Comments (6)
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So, my general rule is rioting is bad. This is an exception:

Hundreds of Iranian Kurds have clashed violently with police in the northwestern Iranian town of Mahabad, an historical centre of Kurdish nationalism, according to Iran's State News Agency (IRNA).

The rioting, which came just days before Iran is due to elect a new president, was sparked by news from across the border in Iraq that former rebel leader Massoud Barzani was sworn in as the first president of Iraqi Kurdistan.

I blame Bush.

Posted by: Ace at 08:42 AM | Comments (5)
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Great stuff:

About Amnesty International's disgraceful performance, however, I can tell as well as ask. I was at one point quite close to its London headquarters, and I used to both carry and return messages for the organization when I went as a reporter to screwed-up countries. The founding statutes were quite clear: An Amnesty local was to adopt three "prisoners of conscience," one from either side of the Cold War and one from a "neutral" state. Letters were to be written to the relevant governments and to newspapers in free countries. Though physical torture and capital punishment were opposed in all cases, no overt political position was to be taken. (I remember there was quite a row when an Amnesty "country report" on Argentina went so far as to describe a guerrilla raid as "daring.") By adhering to these rules, AI became a credible worldwide group to which even the most repressive governments sometimes had to pay attention. All honor to its founder Peter Benenson, who died earlier this year.

And now look. I think it is fairly safe to say that not one detainee in Guantanamo is there because of an expression of opinion. (And those whose "opinion" is that all infidels must die are not exactly prisoners of conscience.) Morally neutral on this point, apparently, Amnesty nonetheless finds its voice by describing the prison itself as "the gulag of our times." No need to waste words here: Not everyone in the gulag was a "prisoner of conscience," either. But if an organization that ostensibly protects the rights of prisoners is unaware of the nature of a colossal system of forced labor and arbitrary detention—replete with physical torture, starvation, and brutal execution—then the moral compass has become disordered beyond repair. This is not even neutrality between the fireman and the fire. It surely expresses a covert sympathy with the aims and objectives of jihad and an overt, if witless and sinister, hatred of the United States. If only this were the only symptom of that tendency.

Thanks to NickS.

Posted by: Ace at 11:22 AM | Comments (71)
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Three out of four stars.

I can't review a lot of this movie, because even the beginning contains interesting surprises -- not plot twists, but new glosses on the Batman origin story. Since these new bits gave me pleasure and the frisson of unexpected discovery, how can I reveal them to people who haven't yet seen the movie?

Just a sample-- after beginning with a very young Bruce's fall down the well into the bat-cave -- and his (by now) well-known fright by a swarm of bats -- we flash forward into the more recent past, where an adult Bruce Wayne is... a prisoner in a brutal Asian prison camp.

Why? Well, that's a good question. I won't spoil it by answering it. But it's an unexpected place to find Bruce Wayne, and the movie gets your attention early. Let's just say that while the standard Batman origin portrayed Bruce as driven and learning about crime and fighting during his seven year absence from Gotham, this movie just tweaks that a little. He's still driven, yes, and still learning-- but learning in an unexpected way. And he's less of the in-control type we figured he was -- he's a lost soul when we first meet him, having a notion of what he wants (vengeance, vengeance, and more vengeance) but no idea of how to accomplish that, and he's now just basically wasting his life on useless, purposeless violence.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 09:22 AM | Comments (25)
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80% fresh according to Rottentomatoes.com, which is pretty good. And the positive reviews seem very positive indeed.

In case you haven't seen it, this ten-minute mega-teaser seriously rocks.

Or just go to Jen's site for the actual teaser.

Posted by: Ace at 05:38 PM | Comments (9)
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What would we do without polls?

The results of one done for Cargo magazine say that although women are fine with a man losing his hair, 99% of them don't like comb overs.

I say, if a man is losing his hair, he should either cut it very short or shave his whole head. Shaved heads are cool. But I guess it just goes to show that the more you try and cover some things up, or over compensate for them, the more you draw attention to them.

The equivalent for women would be obssessively plucking their eyebrows to obtain that "perfect arch" shape, like what actress Ashley Judd has had done to herself over the years. And ladies, just forget it. It won't make your eyes look bigger! Anway, I remember years ago seeing Ms. Judd in that tv series "Sisters." Her hair was long and straight and her brows were nice and full. She looked great. But the more famous she became, the more these crazy celebrity makeup artists futzed with her eyebrows. I remember one picture of her on the cover of a fashion magazine. Her hair was curly and her brows were plucked within an inch of their lives and pencilled into an exagerrated arch shape. She looked like a cross between Mr. Spok and Little Orphan Annie. I guess we can thank the late, eyebrow hating famous makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin for that sorry trend.

But getting back to men who insist on doing comb overs, it just has the effect of making them look sloppy. Mind you this has nothing to do with being a metrosexual. All men should make an effort to at least look neat. Little things do add up. Also, when I see hair on a man that's too long and sloppy, the main thought that pops into my head is "MOONBAT."

Now perhaps I'm biased, but I had a major moonbatty experience with one of these comb over types, courtesy of a boss of the time who tried to play matchmaker. A group of us got together in a California bar, where Mr. Comb-over insisted on getting a table, as he had pictures to show us. These pictures were of naked aging hippie women at the Burning Man festival, which takes place every year in the Nevada desert. Mr. C. explained that walking around naked was no big deal since things were very informal at this festival. But when I asked him if he also went "au natural," he was like "no no no!" He then invited me out to a lesbian pudding wrestling match in San Francisco with the guys for the following night. I was like "thanks but I've got plans." My manager later told me I was being superficial for rejecting Mr. C. on account of the whole lesbian pudding wrestling thing. Oy!

There are a few things that I would like to understand better, if at all. First off, why do some less than attractive women insist on baring all in public? Years ago, when I belonged to this gym, there was a topless woman in the locker room. Not only was she topless, but she was yelling loudly on her cell phone while pacing back and forth with her arms dramatically flailing about.
Whatever made this woman think that others wanted to see her topless is beyond me. But then again, in the case of New York and San Francisco, I wouldn't be surprised if shrinks encourage such behavior as a way for these aging hippies to love their bodies more.

Another thing I don't understand is the fascination straight men have with lesbians. I remeber angrily recounting this whole lesbian pudding wrestling incident to one of my coworkers, who was only able to grin sheepishly and say that if it was his daughter being asked out to such an event, he would insist on being a chaperone. There has to be more to this than just admiring the female form.

What say you all?

Posted by: Ace at 05:07 PM | Comments (73)
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The Bush team has its own Ramsey Clarke.

There's a certain madness to conspiracy-theorizing, of course. And that madness is ego-driven. From time immemorial, self-deluded charlatans have believed themselves possessed of Secret Knoweldge that made them special, made them superior to their fellow men.

Conspiracy-theorists seem to be of a similar psychological type, same as serial killers are. They're smart, but not stand-out smart, sort of smarter than average but not smart enough to achieve any sort of undeniable success. And their frustration over that -- the knowledge that while they are smart, others are smarter, and they'll never be big leagues -- compells them to invent fantasy worlds only they understand and thereby prove their superiority over their friends and co-workers and bosses.

Old Conspiracy Movie Trivia: What joke did Sam Waterston tell in Capricorn One just before he was caught by government agents? The punchline is enough. You don't have to tell the whole long joke.

Posted by: Ace at 04:28 PM | Comments (32)
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Her husband's last request was, "Build a rollerblade court in the backyard. And, also, I don't think I can sleep in peace unless you buy a seventy-foot high statue of Crazy Horse made entirely of caviar."

It's good that she was such a dutiful wife.

There's nothing sadder than someone who strikes it rich -- even under these sad conditions -- and then pisses it away.

Posted by: Ace at 04:19 PM | Comments (17)
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Well, not really all that intimate.

Mary Carey, who ran in the California recall race primarily on the strength of her industrial-grade brasierre, will be a guest at an upcoming GOP fundraiser, attended by the President.

She says she's a "Christian."

Okay.

I guess that's my kind of "Christian." Kind of like Sister Christian of Nightranger fame, fifteen years later and a bit worn down for the wear, and working in entry-level lesbian-oriented porn.

A Special Request: Whatever you do, do not send me any links for Mary Carey hardcore. Theft of intellectual property is against the law.

Then again, who would catch you? No one, that's who.

Posted by: Ace at 04:02 PM | Comments (18)
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Kausfiles continues to monitor Excitable Andy's rollercoaster mood-swings so you don't have to.

Criminy. I don't think I've dated chicks who veered between euphoria and melancholy as often (and as severely) as Excitable Andy, and they've got the excuse of, you know, menses.

As I'm just getting back to blogging again, and I've got nothin' anyway, I may have to do another one of my full-day Andrew Sullivan spoofs. This one emphasizing his "I'm vindicated! Success!/All is lost! We're doomed!" style of estrogen-charged commentary.

I've got nothing against Sullivan's homosexuality. I swear it. If I had a taste for man-pooter, I'd be the most promiscuously gay sonofabitch you ever saw.

But honestly, is it wise to combat the gay=femme stereotype by just turning it up to 11?

I know a lot of gay guys. By "a lot," I mean, like, four. And they don't seem to be forever going to pieces like Andy does.

Andy, I mean this in the most respectful way: Butch up. Please. You're embarassing your fellow gay men. They'd like to project an air of confident, if homosexually-directed, masculinity, not the scatterbrained frenzy of Lucy trying to keep up with the candy conveyer-belt.

You know how gays say that there's a little gay in every one? Well, every time Andrew flies off the handle, the little gay dude inside of me says, "Great Kylie Minogue! I don't know how I'll show my face at Restoration Hardware ever again."

Women are allowed to be inconstant. It's what we love about them. (Well, not really, but we tolerate it.) Men are supposed to be, well, kind of even-keeled, even to the point of stupid stubborness.

Just... I don't know. Calm the f' down. Have a cream soda. Do some fucking thing.

Posted by: Ace at 03:43 PM | Comments (18)
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