A Loving History of Animation

For weeks now I have "kept unread" an article from Electronic Cerebrectomy on my Google Reader.
Rather than just keep it there I thought, since I have watched the video at least four times, that it should be preserved on my own site as well.
If you have an affection for 2D animation and more than a passing sadness at the by-passing of such an art form take a few minutes and watch this piece. It's a little more affectionate to Walt than would be my preference (I am of a generation that still recalls the term "Mouschwitz") but, that said, it's a pretty terrific piece and I think you will enjoy it.

New Obama Commercial! (?)

If the Obama team doesn't use this (or something like it) then I give up.



Should be run on every network, during every sporting, on every kind of program, in event in every battleground state. Every day.

More thoughts on Palin and the new political ideology of crassism

This is the new ideology. Why vet someone when the propaganda and speechwriting can be played for the truth?
Never mind that they steal music.
Never mind that they had no permission to use the image of that middle school.
Never mind that no one has heard her speak beyond the empty rhetoric.
Never mind that they are now saying "More of the same!" in regards to Obama.
Never mind that they have appropriated the "change" mantra.
Or that her husband is a secessionist.
Or that she has flip flopped on the bridge to nowhere.
She never has to answer to any of this because they have decided that the new politics is one where you just take what big brother tells you to.
This is scary scary shit because it's a tactic straight out of a german politicking handbook.
It's not just "politics as usual." It's terrifying.
As though they have decided all bets are off and there is no need for or attempt at integrity.
And the media is letting them do it.
And Obama is letting them do it.
Case in point his appearance on O'Reilly.
O'Reilly was smart. He used perspicacious in an attempt to describe his agreement with Obama's war view. His audience, as John astutely observed, have no idea what he was talking about. So they can't hold his feet to the fire, after all, the word had more than two syllables.
Then he managed to get Obama to admit that the surge had a measure of success. Which, in turn, became raw meat for the lipstick pitbull today at a rally.

And why didn't Obama have a rally the day after? Why did he decide to let them have another day? They didn't afford us the same courtesy.
The gloves are off. The playing field has been leveled and the right has decided it can't win on merits or facts. (The president got 8 minutes as McCain attempts to divorce himself from the previous administration.) So they confiscate Obama's talking points, claim them as their own and use them to bludgeon their opponents.
Rove is a smart guy. He knows that the way to destroy/defeat someone is not to point out their weaknesses but to disarm their strengths.
When it was said by, I think, Clark, that he wasn't sure how being shot down and held prisoner was an adequate proving ground for the presidency, not only was he right, but that is exactly the kind of bullet the right would have used against us. In fact, they did! They made a war hero a zealot last time around.
If Michelle Obama had a baby out of wedlock do you think for one second they wouldn't be talking about it? She made one comment about being proud of her country for the "first time" and they practically rode her out of town on a rail, but the spouse of the Veep candidate can belong to a secessionist group!??!?
Country First? Are you kidding me?
Palin MUST be put under the microscope and these people must be shown to be the charlatans and thieves they are.

Will Palin ever Meet The Press?

I had a scary dream the other night. Scary because it didn't seem all that far fetched.
It's the evening of the Vice Presidential debate. Joe Biden has been practicing all month to tone down his "bully" and still seem effective.
Sarah Palin has run out of invective and rhetoric. And she still hasn't been vetted by the press.
For it isn't the vetting that McCain's team "didn't do" that worries me. What worries me is that the press has never spoken to her. She is like a prophet, sitting on high, offering her sound bytes and speeches (written for her) and never has had to answer the tough questions on the spot.
There's something in the air that morning and all afternoon. A question has been raised. There's a rumor. Seems that Little Trig Palin, the Down's Baby of America, has come down with something. He's sick. Or there's a complication with Bristol's pregnancy. She has to be rushed to a hospital. Governor Palin can't make the debate, sorry, family comes first.
And the public eats it up.

This truly scares me:


The woman MUST be vetted. She must talk to the press. One on one. Not with a "pundant". But with actual press. She should be sitting down with Brokaw and Stewart, with whomever and asked the tough questions. Because the public needs to know who the hell she is. Not just what the Bush Speechwriters are giving her to say who she is.

I'm sorry. This is an amazing play out of the Rovian how-to-get-elected playbook. I shudder to think that the Obama camp hasn't divined this yet. But Dems find new ways to disappoint me every other year.

Obama's Headquarters in LA

I received an email the other day from the Obama camp that the HQ in LA was finally opening. I didn't RSVP, though, because I wasn't exactly sure I would be able to go. I mean, I knew I COULD go, the question is whether or not I would just crap out and not do it in favor of sitting around the house and playing Rock Band.
Beth took Zoe to a Mom's club meeting and I had no reason to not go. So, I hopped on the motorcycle and headed into West LA.
If you were anywhere near Motor in West LA then you were stuck in a mad crush. Traffic was at a near standstill. ABC's newsvan was in a red zone.
I parked a few blocks over (very smart to take the bike) and walked. As I did I was joined by more and more people, one wearing an Obama t-shirt where Barack is opening his shirt like he's Superman. Others were festooned with pins and buttons.
The line wasn't THAT long when i got there, but I was right on time.
After a bit of time on the line where I was pontificating my Dem v Gop theory (I will put it here soon) the line started to move.
The volunteers brought out volunteer sheets. Just the sheets.
"This guy has like 200 million bucks and he can't afford a clipboard???" Some asshole remarked.
Oh, yeah, that was me.

Suddenly word came out that we were moving. Slowly, people started coming out of the building and we were told to follow.
We ended up in a parking lot behind the building because only 150 people rsvp'd and 750 showed up.
Eric Garcetti was inspiring.


Mark Ridley Thomas was powerful.


The crowd was energized.


The COMMUNITY ORGANIZER that is in charge of California came out and told us what we can do:
One job is to go to Nevada from now to November 4th, unpaid, with room and some board provided and work directly under the head staff out there to rally Nevada. Cool! I wish I could do it....damn you, Zoe.....
The others are weekend Nevada blasts, buses and cars to go there for the weekend and do the same thing...maybe...
And there's Obama Camp. A two day experience where they teach us how to be....community organizers. Yeah, that's the ticket.
As we funneled in to sign up I realized that just about 700 of the 750 people want to sign up. So I went home.
I'll go back today. I'll take Zoe. I'll sign up then.

Update: Yes, it should be noted that clipboards were eventually passed out. I'm sure initially no one was expecting the huge turnout.
You guys did a tremendous job.
Barack the Vote.

This is why Republicans win.

Thanks to Jon Stewart, a five minute primer on just how the GOP will beat Obama. (Hint: you have to have zero integrity)

Sarah Palin and the definition of the new conservative ideology

Alan Wolfe has a great piece in The New Republic.
You should read it.
If you don't wanna read it, here's an excerpt.

"And that is not all. In rushing to Sarah Palin's defense, the leaders of the Christian right have made it abundantly clear how they define a Christian. We don't care if you sin. We are not bothered if you put your ambition ahead of the needs of your children. If you have lied or broken the law, we will look the other way. It all comes down to your stand on guns and fetuses. Vote the right way, and you have our blessing. If any proof were needed that James Dobson is a political operative rather than a spiritual leader, his jumping on the Palin bandwagon offers it."

Now, go read it.

listening Post: Aerosmith - Rocks

Continuing the quarter century journey with the Toxic Twins, et al.



Aerosmith - Rocks -1976 (Buy it)

Tasty.
Big.
Sonic.
Rocks is better than Toys in the Attic and that's really saying something. In many ways this album is the progenitor of 80s glam metal. It's all there. The big, epic soaring ballads that Journey would cheeseball the hell out of (Home Tonight). The sleaze that Motley Crue would lay (false) claim to (Get the Lead Out). The template for Ratt, Winger, GnR (Rats in the Cellar). I even hear some Hagar-era Van Halen on Combination.
Rocks also carries the biggest blasts in the Aerosmith arsenal. Well, a couple more of them, at least. Back in the Saddle is catchy as hell and Last Child is the stuff FM AOR was created for.
Rocks deserves its place in the Best Records of the '70s pantheon. It's a really great record that leaves the "American Rolling Stones" label in the dust. In fact, I bet the Glimmer Twins were looking at the Toxic Twins for inspiration after this record.

Grade A+
A Side: Back in the Saddle, Last Child, Rats in the Cellar
BlindSide: Sick as a Dog, Get the Lead Out
Downside: Nothing. They are at their peak here.

listening Post: Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

This is a first for the Listening Post series in that I have no real relationship with this band at all. I mean, sure I know the "hits" and they've been a part of the general tapestry of my musical life since I was a little boy but the "Toxic Twins" or the "American Rolling Stones" or whatever their nicknames have made little or no impact on me at all.
Let's give the boys from beantown a roll, k?




Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic - 1975 (Buy it)

I don't know what was going on in 1975 but it was a pretty damned good year for Rock. Born to Run, A Night at the Opera, Blood on the Tracks....and Toys in the Attic.
Aersomith comes of age with this album. It's a barnburner, it is. I could go track by track and tell you how good it is, but I don't want to. The first time I heard it I loved it. That was today. The second time I heard it loved it even more.
Now I just appreciate the shit out it.
I think the album sort of peters out by the end but the journey to get there is a treat.

Grade A
A Side: Toys in the Attic, Walk this Way, Sweet Emotion
BlindSide: Big Ten Inch Record, Adam's Apple
Downside: You See Me Crying.

Chowhound: The Gumbo Pot - The Fairfax Farmers Market

I have been going to the Farmers market for many years now. For lunch. For drinks. For meat. For produce. For karaoke.
And yet, although I have seen it, read the menu, been enticed by the promise of Po' Boy sandwiches and Beignets I have never eaten food from The Gumbo Pot.
Turns out, it's for good reason.
Service? Slow and arrogant and not very helpful. Even though there was no one behind me (It was a slow time) the woman taking my order still looked behind me as though she had other orders to take. I admit, I didn't know what I wanted but that only resulted in me saying, "What's the most popular item you sell?"
It's the Ya-ya Gumbo. A watery, salty distillation of uninteresting flavors. With Rice.

I've often found that New Orleans cuisine seems to have been designed for the toothless, and this is right in line with that philosophy but that doesn't explain the Creole Mustard Potato Salad having almost no flavor save for the slightest hint of spice at the tail end of each bite.
The beignets? Eh. Over fried, I would say. I have had better Zappolis.
There are so many better places to eat at the Farmers Market. Well, one or two. The Gumbo Pot is not one of them.

No music. None recommended.