Tomorrow I fulfill my last obligation to my ex-state. I’m speaking at the Monday student convo at Manchester College. Topic: Blogging. They asked for a title for my presentation, so I thought for approximately three seconds and came up with “Never Pick a Fight With Anyone Who Buys Bandwidth by the Barrel.”
“That’ll go over 90 percent of the heads in the room,” said my husband. Such faith in the broadening possibilities of higher education.
They asked me to be there by 9 a.m. I Mapquested the travel time. Gulp.
Oh, well. It’s not like I’m not accustomed to a 3:45 a.m. alarm. Thank God for coffee.
Alan’s off tomorrow, comp time for working two Sunday nights running. Kate’s off too, thanks to Michigan’s strange two-break second-semester. Of course we have no plans, while every other soul I’ve overheard in the last week…does. “We’re leaving for Colorado tonight” — that’s a common theme. Whereas we will be exploring Metro Detroit. Today we went to the lakefront. It wasn’t snowing, but it was freezing, and a brisk onshore breeze watered our eyes. Did you see “Stranger Than Paradise?” It was like that.
“I’m c-c-c-cold,” Kate moaned. We turned to go, as a single man walked toward us across the ice. He wasn’t c-c-c-cold; he wore a light jacket and no hat. He reached the shore as we turned back to the car.
“How was it out there?” I asked from deep within my parka hood.
“OK,” he said. “Not as nice as yesterday. I walked down to the yacht club yesterday.” Ice walking. I should have thought of that.
So before I turn in, some bloggage:
I don’t know how anyone — anyone at all — takes Michael Medved seriously. As a social critic, as a moral compass and certainly not as a film critic. I mean, if you’re looking for that sort of thing, CAP Alert is so much more entertaining. What this yapping nitwit is doing to “Million Dollar Baby” is disgraceful, and Roger Ebert’s editor makes fairly short work of him (in a longish piece) here. Worth your time.
Me, I’ll be back post-Indiana.
Caleb said on February 13, 2005 at 9:56 pm
Well, I’d invite you to drop by on your way down and help me write sports headlines–but I’m off tomorrow. I’ll be dead to the world at 5 or 6 a.m. Ha!
I agree with you and Ebert about Michael Medved, and I say that as a firm opponent of the controversial action portrayed in Million Dollar Baby (which I finally got to see last night). I thought the movie told a good tale, allowing viewers to draw their own conclusions about the ethical and moral consequences of what happened. Frankie’s decision was NOT portrayed as “unequivocally and explicitly heroic.” I think “yapping nitwit” pegs Medved pretty well.
Hope the Detroit move’s going well for you. Adios!
Caleb
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Danny said on February 14, 2005 at 11:01 am
I dunno, I think that Medved occassionally has well reasoned points to make on pop-culture. But as far as movie critic, I don’t really listen to him much. If anyone is interested, I suggest rottentomatoes.com to help separate wheat from chaff, on a merit basis, not on a family-friendly basis. Also, filthy critic can be entertaining. He hates everything.
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alex said on February 14, 2005 at 11:23 am
I used to think that Ebert was a Hollywood shill with two thumbs up his ass, but he’s really a damn good essayist and I think he’s dead on about that whiny twerp who’s shilling for the wingnuts. (Even they apparently don’t want his help, at least not Bill O’Reilly.)
Also good was Ebert’s essay from a few months back over the FCC dustup, in which he suggests Howard Stern’s silly titty humor is far less offensive on the airwaves than Rush Limbaugh’s unique brand of demagoguery.
I’m experiencing my first pangs of missing Chicago. The Sun-Times, anyway.
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Carolyn said on February 14, 2005 at 9:01 pm
Ah, a reference to Stranger Than Paradise, an obscure but haunting movie about nothing. How could we not have discussed this film in our years working together at The NS?
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brian stouder said on February 14, 2005 at 10:14 pm
>>”an obscure but haunting movie about nothing.”
somewhat off the topic –
but Mullholland Drive wasn’t ‘obscure’, but it was certainly haunting, and about nothing…
watching the progress of Phil Specter’s legal trouble (shooting a b-movie starlet in your mansion WILL cause problems!) IMMEDIATELY gave me flashbacks of Lynch’s spooky little movie…and the guy is actually NAMED “Specter”!!
‘silencio’ – indeed
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