I'm against swinging...

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that it is now legal for consenting parties to swing.

I'm not supporting this idea. I've been against swinging for a long, long time.

The whole idea of going somewhere, sitting in an uncomfortable seat, holding on to a chain or rope, and being pushed back and forth just doesn't appeal to me. I've never much cared for swinging. The whole moving back-and-forth thing makes my stomach feel really bad.

What's that?

No.

You're kidding, right?

Oh.


OH.


Sorry, wrong kind of swinging...

Somewhere, Austin Powers is smiling.

A man who dresses this badly called Canada what?!?

Tucker Carlson of MSNBC, upon hearing of Prime Minister Paul Martin's complaints about the American refusal to sign the Kyoto Accord, called Canada "the retarded cousin who you see at Thanksgiving."

I think I'm more upset at the fact that Carlson used an insult to people with developmental or physical disabilities with his attack on Canada than him attacking Canada. I'm surprised that no one in the United States, especially those support groups that provide care for the developmentally and physically disabled, has demanded an apology or a firing. But in the post-911 United States, demanding a right wing television personality apologize is probably not the most popular decision one could make.

Now, I'm not at all concerned with him attacking Canada. His opinion really doesn't matter much to anyone. After all, this is a "journalist" who got his ass kicked off of CNN after losing an on-air session with a "fake" journalist, that being Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. Now, Carlson is not really a journalist. He went through private schools (Dad ran PBS, Mom is heir to Swanson's Foods) and then wasted his time in college. He has no Bachelor of Journalism degree, no degree of any kind. I'm usually not one to worry about someone's credentials, but in this case, I'm willing to point out his flaws. Why?

Because there are people who pay attention to him. And to Bob "Scumbag" Novak. And Rush Limbaugh. And Ann Coulter. And Bill O'Reilly. The way these people discuss policies and politics is scary. There are probably extremists out there who shudder when these people talk about government.

Just for the record, I'm not saying that Howard Stern, or Michael Moore, or Al Franken have better credentials. The left isn't always more educated than the right.

But this needs to be said: sometimes the loudest, most accessible voice isn't the one that needs to be heard.

By the way, if Microsoft is still involved in MSNBC, I would imagine Bill and Melinda Gates wouldn't be too happy with Carlson's "retarded cousin" comments. The Gates happen to be very supportive of charities that assist people with developmental difficulties. And if there's one person you don't want to piss off, it's the guy with the huge bag of cash who can make you homeless forever with the snap of his fingers.

more movie time

Two free rentals and an almost empty mall theatre can only mean one thing:

It's movie time again!

War of the Worlds: I saw the trailer for this one a while ago, and since The Fantastic Four wasn't available, we rented this one. Not a great film, but not a bad film either. There were a few errors in the film (how's that camcorder working when every other piece of electronic equipment has died?), but nothing that would take away from the film. A few shots in the film were really spectacular (the sunlight coming through the church window was one), and the look of the film was really good. I had a laugh when the flaming Amtrak train went through. I love trains, but that was just too funny to resist. The Hollywood ending ruined it for me. I must say, though, that Tim Robbins was a hell of a lot scarier than the aliens. I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but that was one really scary character. ***

The Fantastic Four: We finally got the movie, and it didn't disappoint. When a film based on a comic book has a real comic book feel to it, they've done the job right. Michael Chiklis should get some kind of award for his role. This movie was more about The Thing and having to deal with the loss of his human looks and how he struggled to keep his humanity. Chiklis was brilliant. The film did not disappoint. *****

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: Following the success of other adapted children's stories translated to film, Disney brought out Narnia to theatres. And I have to say, they did a great job. I have never read the books (yeah, I know I should have...) and the movie pulled me right in. The casting of the children was really good, but the best part of the movie was the White Witch. A woman that good looking should not be allowed to be that evil. A really good film, and one that children should be taken to see.

Trailers...Curious George looks stupid. Over the Hedge still looks stupid. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 looks like a good one. Cars looks like it might be good. Eight Below is standard "everything is going well, then it doesn't, then something unexpected happens, and everyone lives and has a happy day" Disney fare. Not going to waste my money on that one.

A message to Democrats everywhere...

You had better start talking before it's too late.

Can we talk?

Hey O'Reilly and Limbaugh...

Hell in a canister...

I found some old propaganda posters on the internet. I decided to have some fun with them. Enjoy!

We had a visitor on Sunday night here in North Bay. The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train came into town around 8:30. In previous years, the train has either skipped North Bay or has come in so late that nobody went to see it. This year was the first time I have had the chance to see it.

And it is a sight to see. 14 cars and a locomotive were covered with a lot of Christmas lights. The locomotive had animated lights all over the sides of the cab. It was worth sitting out in the cold waiting for the train to come in.

Canadian Pacific Railway should be commended for putting on a great show and giving all the proceeds to charity. There are a lot of food banks that will be happy to see all the food that is collected across Canada and the United States by the two holiday trains.

where's my blog?!?!

Something has happened to my blog.

Maybe it's down due to technical difficulties.

I hope it comes back soon.

ADDENDUM: If you're reading this, the blog is back. Apparently, everyone who uses Blogger had technical difficulties. Oh well. Back to work.