Ninety degrees both days of the weekend. It might as well be 12 below, but I forced myself out in it just the same. As my recovery from Inflated Head Syndrome seems to have stalled — yes, mom, still taking the antibiotic, and hoping for a miracle — I thought a slow bike ride might be in order. Very strange, riding a bicycle with one’s head hovering about 10 feet above the action, but there you are. It felt like a balloon on a very long string. And so, when I turned, the bike would go a few feet before YANK the string would correct the course of the balloon, and the balloon would bob along until YANK the next turn and is it really this hot? Because if 2012 is going to be another summer of 2011, it will be a long one.
BOB.YANK.
But I got my banking done. So there’s that.
Also saw “Prometheus” with the fam, in 3D ‘n’ ev’rythang. It was a sprawling, beautiful hunk o’ disappointment. Very nice to look at, with a story that made no sense. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything here, because I’m only going with the first-act material: Cave paintings from around the ancient world all seem to suggest an alien visitation, so off our brave explorers go in their entertaining mix of ethnicities and attitudes in the year 2093, to find this extraterrestrial culture. They’re aided by a robot played by Michael Fassbender, who was the greatest thing about the movie, because, duh, Michael Fassbender.
This is tied to the original “Alien,” of course, and if you’re wondering where you saw these scenes before, of an entertainingly mixed crew waking from cryo-sleep and eating a grumpy breakfast together, well, that’s where. It just seemed so much…better the first time around. “Alien” was the first movie that made me consider what a deep-space work vessel would look like, and what sort of crew such a space truck might have. Of course, “Alien” is 30 years old now, and millions of young moviegoers haven’t seen it.
And I don’t care what anyone says. The big gross-out scene in “Prometheus” isn’t fit to touch the hem of John Hurt’s garment in the original chest-burster scene from “Alien.” I think they actually had to peel me off the ceiling of the theater after that one.
That, in the end, might be the biggest single flaw with “Prometheus” — everything’s an homage, a callback, and update of and to something that was truly original. Which made it disappointing.
(Was “Alien” really original? Film critics always point out it’s not a sci-fi movie, it’s a haunted-house movie. Granted. But it was an original sci-fi/haunted-house mashup, at least.)
So, bloggage? Sure:
Some of you may have noticed Cooze has been a bit testy of late. He has an excuse — Balto’s been missing. But the story has a happy ending, told as only he can. (Why does Verlyn Klinkenborg bore the shit out of us in the pages of the New York Times with his dispatches from yonder, while Cooze has only a blog? I ASK YOU.)
Here’s something very strange — a near-novella-length post by a gay Mormon, coming out of the closet on the occasion of his 10-year wedding anniversary, and yes, he’s married to a woman. He calls himself a unicorn. I refer to one of Nance’s Truths, i.e., there is no mystery in life deeper and more inexplicable than the human heart. I’m sure this will be jumped on by the anti-gay marriage crowd. I don’t really care what they do. I hope his wife is content, and she certainly states that she is, multiple times. (The violent smiles in the photos have an air of creepiness to them, I have to say.) Just something to read.
And so the week begins. Fingers crossed for full health by its end.
Brandon said on June 11, 2012 at 1:39 am
“[O]nly a blog” isn’t a bad thing to have, but Coozledad deserves publication in glossy magazines and his name, given or pseudonymous, on hardback books. (I’m not familiar with the work of Verlyn Klinkenborg, so I can’t say if he bores the Scheiße out of me, but I can think of many other columnists who do.)
(I don’t intend to see Prometheus or Snow White and the Huntsman, but would love to see Moonrise Kingdom, should it come to my town.)
468 chars
Dexter said on June 11, 2012 at 2:24 am
I saw the original “Alien” , first run, on a big screen in Toledo and I hated it, never have liked that sort of stuff. The 70’s movies were my faves, all time, generally speaking. Taxi Driver, The Last Picture Show, Scarecrow, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Straw Dogs, Coming Home, Annie Hall, Marathon Man, Midnight Express…all these from this website I am copying: Apocalypse Now, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest…and of course The Godfather movies, but especially the original. Alien and all that genre were shit in my eyes, but I respect the rights of most folks to adore them.
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/movie-pages/movie_70s.html
662 chars
JWfromNJ said on June 11, 2012 at 3:06 am
I really wanted to love Prometheus, but Nancy is dead on about there being some absurd plot holes and (intentionally) unresolved issues. The geek in me did love the ship, I mean as a teen I would have spent hours drawing it and mapping out the inner workings. It was more of a scientific vessel than the commercial towing ship Nostromo. If you looked at any of my middle school math papers I would bet there is either a Y-wing fighter, the Enterprise, or the orignal Battlestar Galactic etched into the margins. Or a Lockheed L-1011 or Vickers VC-10, but I digress.
It was reasonable though to expect unanswered questions when Damon Lindelof was involved. His specialty is f’ing with the audience. Without giving too much away this movie was intended to have a sequel, but I’m not sure I want to see it with 1.2 of the original crew of Prometheus surviving.
I was thrilled to see Idris Elba (Stringer Bell) as the captain, and his implied hookup with Charlize Theron’s character, but did that squeezebox really belong to Steven Stills….
1045 chars
alex said on June 11, 2012 at 7:11 am
For me the gross-out scene in “Alien” wasn’t John Hurt’s chest but that giant octopus-like thingie with an anal sphincter on its domelike underside blowing a load. I unconsciously grunted in sympathy with it and the old Huntington Theater erupted in laughter.
As for the married Mormon, I didn’t have time for it this morning so I just cut to the chase. In the Information Age, almost nobody’s head is buried in the sand anymore with regard confirmed bachelors or wedded but unconfirmed poofters so there’s really nowhere for gay people to hide. I suspect we’ll be seeing more of the latter who’ve made the “choice” of their own accord and aren’t living a miserable existence in which they’re always seconds away from a coronary lest they be discovered. People like that guy may give some of the most strident of culture warriors a useful foil with which to make the argument they’ve always made, that following the gay path is giving in to temptation and straying from the path of righteousness, and surely some will allow themselves to be used in this manner, but surely some like this magnanimous gentleman will be a fly in their ointment.
1146 chars
James said on June 11, 2012 at 8:09 am
Put me on the side of the Prometheus disappointed.
New tag line – “In space, no one can feel your disappointment.”
This is a screamingly funny, long, and spot on explanation of what was wrong with the movie. Needless to say (…and yet I do…), spoilers abound there.
In short – terrible scriptwriting. Plot holes you could drive the Nostromo through.
460 chars
brian stouder said on June 11, 2012 at 9:36 am
Alien came out (or burst upon the scene, if you will) in the immediate aftermath of the Star Wars stuff*, and one of the main impressions it made upon me was the dankness and darkness of space; a very nice counterpoint to Star Wars.
Watching a little bit of the original again, not too long ago, I laughed at some aspects of their futuristic visión (the Green-screen, text-based computers look massive and out-of-date! 2001; A Space Odyessy has a similar ‘haunted house’ theme, albeit with a different ‘ghost in the machine’) , but the politically subversive message within this haunted-house movie remains as timely as ever.
It strikes me that the picture has essentially an “Occupy” anthem, wherein the 1% folks quietly pull the strings (or ‘hatch their plans’, as it were), and the rest of us have to deal with the ramifications as best we can. (and despite dealing with their suffocating grip and heart-wrenching consequences).
Timeless, indeed
*Back when I was a high school kiddo, and had a full head of hair, and would see these movies with the fellows first, to see if they were safe to take a date to. I believe I paid full admission for Alien on three occasions (my all-time – and never-to-be-broken record), because it was perfect. No embarrassing sex scenes, plenty of jumpy moments, and several flatly gross scenes!
1366 chars
Sue said on June 11, 2012 at 9:37 am
Just checking in to say, Basset, thanks for the uplifting doggie story and your part in it.
91 chars
beb said on June 11, 2012 at 9:47 am
I wouldn’t think bike riding with an ear infection would be a good idea. Glad you were able to make it and survive. I was out in the heat Sunday, going for a walk at Metro Beach. Way too much sun. They had a small car show, though so that was fun.
I never saw and never will see “Alien” or “Prometheus.” I do not like gory movies. But I did read the review James links to. As the critic asks, what kind of science mission is sent out without being told what they’re looking for, introducing the scientists to each other or checking to see if they’ll get along during the mission. Of course if this had been a realistic movie there’s wouldn’t have been any excitement to it.
A&E has started a series of police procedure/western mysteries stories called “Longmire” after the central character Walt Longmire, sheriff of a small Montana community. The series is based on books written by Craig Johnson. I’ve been reading the books for a while and was excited to see them being brought to the screen. But after watching the first two episodes I’m still not sure if I like the TV version. Part of the trouble is that the books are long, complex, digressive, thoughtful and poetic. It’s a bit hard to get any of that into a 44 minute teleplay. I’m curious if anyone else has watched the shows and what they think about it.
Samuel R. Delany, the SF writer, once suggested that there were 70some genders based on sexual relationships. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some man, after years of marriage to a woman decides they’re gay. They’re always been attracted to men, but gayness isn’t like a peanut allergy where you’ll swell up and die if you happen to touch on. So this married Mormon guy coming out after ten years of marriage isn’t unique. A novella length explanation, though….
I read over the weekend where Texas is going to experiment on a section of toll road of raising the speed limit to 85. There’s a moment when such large numbers sets you back, then you realize that this new speed limit is only making legal what so many people are already doing on freeways. It is shockingly easy to crowd up to 80-85 on a freeway without meaning to. Cars have such excellent suspension, such powerful engines that when the road is in good shape you never feel like you’re speeding.
2302 chars
Judybusy said on June 11, 2012 at 9:53 am
Nancy is so right on about Cooze deserving to be in a national newspaper. I can’t stand Klinkenborg’s folksy take on rural life either. He also contributes to National Geographic, in which he does an OK job, although all their articles seem to be so stylistically similar I really can never get a sense of an author’s “voice.”
And, oh, that Mormon guy. If they are truly, truly happy, great. But for me, what a terrible waste of life. I used to be married to a man and I thought about leaving every day, until I did. So, righties, don’t expect everyone to deny who they are for the sake of some dogma.
Our 90-degree weather broke in Minneapolis last night. We got a good inch of rain, and it’s in the high 50s right now, with a perfect 75 predicted.For dinner tonight, we’re picking up some tortas (Mexican sandwiches) and having a picnic.
846 chars
alex said on June 11, 2012 at 10:02 am
Back when I was a high school kiddo, and had a full head of hair, and would see these movies with the fellows first, to see if they were safe to take a date to.
Not being hetero, I wouldn’t know about these things, but I was always told that horror movies existed so that when you took a girl to the drive-in she’d be willing to submit to anything that didn’t involve looking at the screen.
400 chars
basset said on June 11, 2012 at 10:06 am
Thanks, Sue, our part in it was very small but it was good to know we could help. If you want to get involved in such events get my address from Nancy and I’ll connect you to the keeper of the run schedules… and one day you will get an email about a dog coming through your area who needs a ride.
299 chars
Prospero said on June 11, 2012 at 10:06 am
Regarding the Great public sector gaffe: mandacity, the name of thy lying ass is GOPer.
http://mediamatters.org/research/201206100006?lid=1197351&rid=66778466
Nothing the blowhards have said bears any connection to reality. The little tampon Bill Kristol can say things like this with a straight face:
This gaffe is revealing about President Obama. And it’s his policy. He wants more public sector jobs. That’s his address to the country, his radio address this past weekend was about how we – as you pointed out in your discussion with Mitch Daniels – is about how we need — Congress needs to spend more money on public sector jobs, that will get the economy going again. So there’s a fundamental difference here. The Republicans believe that the private sector is the engine of economic growth. And President Obama believes that the private sector is doing fine and that the problem with the economy is that the government isn’t big enough.
But it’s bullshinola. Public sector job growth during Obama’s administration is remarkably low, and it’s clear that in emerging from a far milder recession, Raygun added twice as many public jobs as has the current president. Hearing GOPer politicians that agreed to term limit themselves back in the 90s complain about venal teachers and cops is incredibly annoying. And it’s quite clear that GOP attacks on public sector jobs and unions amount to blind ideology, putting the party ahead of the country, with the stated and deliberate aim of defeating President Other. Thanks for that rare and brief bit of honesty, Mrs. Doubtfire McConnell. It’s clear that trashing the American economy is not something GOPers will shrink from to defeat the Muslim Mau Mau anti-colonialist. Meanwhile, an honest analysis of the records show that W was a patronage president who bled private sector jobs for four years, compared with massive public job losses and private sector growth under Obama.
The plot problem that will clearly do Snow White in is that anybody is going to buy vampire girl being “fairer” than Charlize Theron. Fat chance. Still, the movie has Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins and Ray Winstone, which seriously trumps a singleton Fassbender, so we’re going. Moonrise Kingdom sounds good, and I’ll see it based on my delight at Rushmore, mild amusement at Tenenbaums, and the brilliance of Bottle Rocket. And hell, it’s got Bill Murray and Frances McDormand.
2431 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 11, 2012 at 10:30 am
beb, I’m SO with you on gory movies, but the hubby is looking forward to a Father’s Day viewing of Prometheus with our son.
Boy, we’ve seen a lot of bad/disappointing movies lately, and I’m really glad I didn’t pay to watch them in a theater. The common problem is too much reliance on special effects rather than storytelling. But some, like Three Musketeers, had good source material and then didn’t trust it. It seemed they thought they could make another Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and it was just horrible. (But then, I don’t care for the Pirate movies either.)
579 chars
MarkH said on June 11, 2012 at 10:38 am
Beb — I haven’t read the books, but looked in on last night’s episode of Longmire and I think the main issue is the actor playing the lead. And you may be right about the books being well translated to TV fare. I plan to stick with it, as well. BTW, the action takes place in Wyoming, Big Horn Mountains to be exact. Craig Johnson appeared via telephone on one of our local radio stations for an interview this morning. The morning jock usually records these things and posts; I’ll see if I can link to it.
509 chars
JWfromNJ said on June 11, 2012 at 10:39 am
Astronomer and movie spoil-sport Neil De Grasse Tyson had to weigh in on Prometheus:
http://gizmodo.com/5917079/neil-degrasse-tyson-calls-out-prometheus-for-its-sketchy-science
179 chars
Sue said on June 11, 2012 at 11:02 am
Nancy, please give my email to basset or get me his.
52 chars
deb said on June 11, 2012 at 11:38 am
I thought the Mormon couple’s story was fascinating. As Hillary Clinton once said, nobody really knows what goes on in a marriage except the two people who are in it. These two just underscore what a complicated transaction that can be.
236 chars
Jakash said on June 11, 2012 at 11:39 am
I agree with you about the movies being generally disappointing lately, Julie R. I think it’s pretty funny that, at the same time that there aren’t even 5 pictures worth being nominated for Best Picture each year, the powers that be decide to expand the category to 10. Of course, this year they conceded defeat in that enterprise by only nominating 9, of which maybe 3 were really even in the ballpark.
It seems that there are lots of great actors (that counts for both sexes these days, right?) and great directors and plenty of technical people that know how to make a film look and sound great. The missing link is always, always the script. It amazes me when we see something that cost $150 million to make, or whatever, that has such lame writing. I just marvel that these smart people all get together and put their best efforts into something that is so obviously rotten at the core, right from the beginning. Not that I have any clue as to the solution for this problem.
Latest example of this for us was “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”, though I doubt that it was very expensive to make and it wasn’t terrible. A dream cast, fun to watch, but remarkably predictable and trite. A couple negative blurbs (is there even such a thing, or does a blurb have to be positive?) from the website Rotten Tomatoes sum it up well enough for me:
“Basically, there’s just too much crammed into “Marigold Hotel” for any of it to have impact. It may work as comfort food for old folks, but a bit less may have yielded a great deal more.” — Tom Long, Detroit News
“Moviegoers may feel they’ve been invited to an Indian restaurant where the buffet consists of white bread and boiled potatoes.” — John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal, Memphis
These are minority opinions that happen to track with mine, I should probably add. The overall rating is 77% positive and 84% of the audience at RT liked it. I guess I’d have to even say that I “liked” it, but was still pretty disappointed that it wasn’t better.
We see only the cream of the crop of horror and/or gory movies, if they really seem to be something special, maybe one every couple years, and it doesn’t sound like “Prometheus” will be making the cut. “Alien” certainly did. Brian says he paid to see that one three times. The only movie that I recall paying to see three times, back in the day, was “Jaws”. There, that ought to put my credentials as a critic into perspective…
2460 chars
Scout said on June 11, 2012 at 11:47 am
All I have to say about the happily married gay Mormon is that he seems genuine. I never felt like there was a moment of he-doth-protest-too-much. And I like his overall message which I will sum up with his words here: “If you know and love somebody who is gay and LDS (or Christian), your job is to love and nothing more. Let go of your impulse to correct them or control them or propel them down the path you think is right for them.” Amen.
My own story of marriage and two children and then divorce after 20 years, only to fall in love with my soul mate who just happened to be a woman, (shocking everyone, myself the most,) just underscores the point that Nancy made about the mysteries of the human heart.
I doubt I’ll see Prometheus, especially after the reading the reactions here and elsewhere. We saw the Marigold Hotel, the latest vehicle for all the big name senior British actors, and mostly* enjoyed it. We also saw Dark Shadows which was stoooopid.
And yeah, it’s not a just world when people like coozledad are not published.
*on edit – what Jackash said. We liked it but knew it could have been better.
1134 chars
LAMary said on June 11, 2012 at 11:48 am
The photos of the Mormon couple were taken at A+W photography, which makes me think rootbeer was involved.
106 chars
Dexter said on June 11, 2012 at 11:50 am
Coozledad: Are you familiar with this small newspaper in western North Carolina?
http://www.theawl.com/2012/06/yancey-county-news-q-a
135 chars
Suzanne said on June 11, 2012 at 11:51 am
I loved “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”! I laughed, cried, sighed, cringed, and left the theater feeling good, which is always a plus.
I don’t much like gore, but can tolerate alien type gore. What I really can’t take is a “Silence of the Lambs” type movie because I know full well there are creeps like Hannibal out there so I don’t really see the entertainment in it, I guess.
384 chars
Dexter said on June 11, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Warren man , “Mr.Cleanup”, don’t take NO orders from NO women, is from Mars, and he dumps a load of wood on a Detroit street and drives away. This guy reminds me of those toughs from “The Wire.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvms4sP7CLk&feature=player_embedded#!
Here’s an update.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr6xzypb14c&feature=relmfu
349 chars
adrianne said on June 11, 2012 at 12:03 pm
I’m with Nance and many of you all on “Prometheus.” Son No. 1 and I checked it out (in 2-D at a matinee, so we were only out $12.50 for the experience), and were very disappointed. I loved the original “Alien,” so the gross-out scenes weren’t the problem, it was the yawning chasms in the plot. Yikes.
301 chars
Jeff Borden said on June 11, 2012 at 12:25 pm
There are so many bad newspaper columnists around that I’d wager a good one or two dozen regular posters here ought to have a shot at that real estate. I live in Chicago. . .the American city that is supposed to define tough, hard elbow journalism. . .but the vast majority of columnists here offer mighty thin gruel.
I believe the Sun-Times has a far better slate of general news and sports columnists than the Tribune, though the Trib’s Mary Schmich just won a Pulitzer. Neil Steinberg, Mark Brown and Carol Marin are always worth a read and on the sports pages I admire the work of Rick Telander, Rick Morrissey and Joe Cowley. Then again, the S-T also publishes the horrific Michael Sneed, which is nearly enough to wash away the good reputations of the others. Lord, she is horrible.
The Trib has Steve Rosenbloom on the sports page and Eric Zorn is finally getting the space he has long deserved, but Christ, the star columnist John Kass is just terrible. Boring, predictable, self-referential and he thinks he’s a big, bad boldass at the Tribune because he’s a rightwinger who dislikes the Obamas. . .both of ‘wm. . .quite strongly.
As one of my buddies says of John Kass, “The ‘K’ is silent.”
1209 chars
beb said on June 11, 2012 at 12:53 pm
MarkH, actually my question was whether the books are being translated to TV well. My feeling is that the stories have to be abridged so much to fit the time frame that most of what makes the books interesting have been left out. I am so embarrassed that I said it was in Montana when it’s set in Wyoming. My memory is so sieve-like that I sometimes worse about early-onset alzheimers.
385 chars
Prospero said on June 11, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Beb, I’m liking Longmire. For me, the old coot sherrif brings back fond memories of Richard Boone in Hec Ramsey and Tom Berenger in Peacemakers. The hubristic deppity running against the old fox is a very clever plot point, especially when the billboard caused Walt to roll his truck. And the transplant big city, pretty girl copper is a strong character. Counting off the five second loading time for the Sharps rifle in the first episode was very cool, I thought.
Ah, Warren. A little bit of ‘Bama in Michigan. Great win for the Tigers last night Dexter. And I take back every uncharitable thing I ever said about Prince Fielder after seeing him do the splits to get out of an inning. that giant octopus-like thingie with an anal sphincter on its domelike underside blowing a load. Like Alex’s gross out moment from Alien.
I plan to be pretty baked to see Prometheus. I wouldn’t mind Riddley Scott revisiting Deckard and Rachael. I imagine they live on a suburban cul-de-sac, just down from Sam Lowry and Jill Layton.
John Kass has a severe case of “I wanna be Mike Barnacle” disease, right down to frequent forays into fiction. And he’s that phony tough guy sort that cries at papercuts.
1209 chars
alex said on June 11, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Jeff, I favored the Sun-Times over the Trib any day of the week. Other Sun-Times columnists who were my regular faves included Mary Mitchell and, and… (blanking on name–it was Italian, she was married to a rock star and she gave up a primo column to become a public school teacher). And I used to like Sneed, although these days she probably lounges at home a la Kupcinet while someone else does the work under her byline. I liked her irreverant way with words. “The Papal Poop” was the hed for her column about John Paul VI’s visit in the 1980s and I’m sure the bluehairs were apoplectic over that.
602 chars
Sue said on June 11, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Jeff Borden, I always thought John Kass was trying to be Mike Royko, except he kept forgetting that in all that blunt old-style journalism you could usually find a heart.
Also, remember when I asked you not to hold your anger at Wisconsin against Milwaukee, and come visit if you could? This is for you:
http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2012/06/walkers-anti-milwaukee-slam-disproven.html
401 chars
Prospero said on June 11, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Beb, so far as books being translated to TV, I present Justified, astounding TV that Mr. Leonard finds worthy. This has much to do with the insouciant charrm of Timothy Olyphant, a damned good actor, with a silly name. Handsome as the devil and ridiculously suave, cooler than Roger Moore.
289 chars
MarkH said on June 11, 2012 at 2:16 pm
My point as well, beb, although I may not have been specific enough. Sometimes the complexity is so subtle, as it may be in the Longmire books, that the writers have a tough time conveying it, if at all. I have the same problem aith Robert Taylor as Longmire as I did with Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in the first episodes of Justified. His mannered performance grew on me within three episodes, along with the irresistible story lines. So Justfied is can’t miss TV. I’m giving Longmire the same consideration.
Understood on the geography as well. Montana, Wyoming and Idaho tend to get lumped together in conversation and I’m sure Charlotte has been asked how she likes living in Idaho.
696 chars
Dan Freiberg said on June 11, 2012 at 2:29 pm
My take on the gay Mormon story is that gays are as susceptible as straights to the malevolence of religion.
108 chars
Prospero said on June 11, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Is my social security and Medicaid something I’m not entitled to. I paid into this with large payments fir fucking years. How do GOPers get to claim I didn’t contribute mightily? Assholes. I paid in. Claiming I didn’t is GOPer bullshit. Fact of the matter is I pumped that cash into a government pension fund. Claiming this wasn’t a fact is just lying shit from GOPers. What a buncha scumbags. Say what you want. Lying sacks of shit. That’s not remotely anything like handing over cash. I paid the premium, and you have to be a shit to claim I didn’t.
554 chars
brian stouder said on June 11, 2012 at 2:34 pm
SO last week, we dove nose-first into a discussion about regional stenches we have come to know; and many are quite distinctive (so to speak); beer in Milwaukee and cereal in Battle Creek and sulpher in Gary, etc.
And then, I came across this article, related to Cooz’s North Carolina, and it made me turn my head.
http://www.chem.info/News/2012/06/-Alternative-Energy-NC-Ethanol-Maker-See-Green-in-Field-Grown-Fuel/?et_cid=2692056&et_rid=44004269&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.chem.info%2fNews%2f2012%2f06%2f-Alternative-Energy-NC-Ethanol-Maker-See-Green-in-Field-Grown-Fuel%2f
Gotta love the lead sentence, if only for the evocative imagery of formally dressed men and women flailing around with knives, trying to stab something:
“North Carolina’s farm economy, already the state’s largest industry, could be nearing a milestone as policymakers and business executives take another stab at betting on ethanol.”
But the nut paragraph is this:
With financial and verbal encouragement from local, state and federal governments, the company has picked a site that takes advantage of the smelly concentration of industrial-scale hog farming operations. The idea is it can get a relatively cheap, abundant supply as hog farmers grow fuel plants on land used to absorb the dirty but nutrient-rich water from their waste-holding lagoons. “I’m sure that there would be a lot of people that would be interested in doing that. It just depends on what your situation is,” said farmer Gerald Warren of Newton Grove, who has attended community meetings about the project. But he doubts he’ll replace the Bermuda grass that now soaks up nutrients from the wastewater of about 100,000 hogs a year, since he feeds all the hay he can grow to the 900 cattle he also raises.
Made me say “wow”
1821 chars
Prospero said on June 11, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Holy shit. Whatever, when GOPers try to pul this shit about what we claim about evil teachers and cops. Seriously, are we joking? Wow, them greedy cops and teachers. Somebody want to convince me that ccops and teachers aren’t venal assholes trying to cheat people. What is wrong with people?
293 chars
MichaelG said on June 11, 2012 at 3:45 pm
You wanna see 85 mph, beb, check out the 15 north of Victorville, through the desert and on to Vegas.
101 chars
Jakash said on June 11, 2012 at 4:02 pm
“What is wrong with people?” I found myself echoing Prospero’s frequent lament in a non-political context on Saturday. We were ambling through Millennium Park in the early evening as we passed a young family, perhaps making their way to the fountain, where a teeming assemblage of youngsters were cooling off on a 90-degree day. It appeared to be a family, anyway — late 20’s father, wife (girlfriend? hostage?) and 2 kids. At any rate, this guy is wearing a T-shirt that really showed off his wry, understated sense of humor. “Practice safe sex.” it read, continuing: “Go F**k Yourself.” (With the missing letters, not the asterisks, of course.) I’ll just say that it didn’t do much to raise my opinion of the level of discourse in the land, but it was the setting and unwitting audience for the message that really wowed me.
836 chars
brian stouder said on June 11, 2012 at 4:08 pm
My wife would quite simply not walk with me; nor would she allow the young people that she brought into the world to walk with me, if I was stupid enough to wear such a thing in public.
(So – I blame the wife/girl friend!)
225 chars
Dorothy said on June 11, 2012 at 4:10 pm
That’s a questionable tee shirt to wear around little kids for sure, Jakash. I saw one that kind of made me smile on an old geezer sitting outside my mother’s apartment building in Pittsburgh last week that said this: Instant Asshole: just add alcohol. At least he recognizes his personality when he drinks!
310 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 11, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Agreed. A friend doesn’t let her daughters wear sweatpants with writing on the back, reasoning that whatever the print says, it actually says “look at my butt”.
160 chars
Scout said on June 11, 2012 at 4:27 pm
Charlie Pierce reviewed Prometheus too:
“If you combine warmed-over Kubrick with projectile vomiting, really bad archaeology, and Charlize Theron dressed up like she works at Jiffy Lube, you get Prometheus. And you probably deserve it,
That is all.”
His shortest post ever, I think.
291 chars
beb said on June 11, 2012 at 4:43 pm
There are a couple places with speed limits around 85 or simple none stated and they all have the same thing in common – long stretches of none. I wonder hear that in Texas it wasn’t unusual to drive 4 hours for a night out of the town. I don’t have a problem with people driving 85 MPH on well build expressways in congested areas. It’s when they’re driving 15 mph faster than anyone else on a congested freeway that I object to. That and driving the wrong way on a divided road.
A week back Lawyers, Guns and Money had a thread where people could suggest which three states they would do away with. They meant something like combining Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts into one larger (but still tiny state. I would have suggested Texas, and Texas, and Texas. While I have friends who live in the state, politically the state given us was too many horrible senators, congressmen and presidents. But one of the other suggests was that Wyoming, Montana and Idaho should be merged into one state given the very small populations each has. Not that it would ever happen but it was something to think about than the latest made-up GOP scandal.
brian stouder: I would worry about spreading all that pig factory-farm manure on the ground since it is likely heavily saturated with antibiotics, which will then run off into the rivers and streams causing who know how much trouble (in the form of antibiotic-resistant diseases. A better solution is a methane-digesting tank. Turns the poop into “natural gas” which can be compressed into tanks and used to power modified gasoline engines. A more direct way to power cars than to grow corn to make ethanol.
1666 chars
Scout said on June 11, 2012 at 5:05 pm
@ beb: I’d happily do away with Arizona as long as I was assured of a suitable relocation to a nice blue state!
111 chars
MarkH said on June 11, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Dorothy, that is the semi-offical motto for AA. A couple of friends here wear one as well.
EDIT – re: Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Like I said earlier, beb, they are talked about in the same breath anyway.
208 chars
Dexter said on June 11, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Drucker’s General Store will be closed tomorrow for a family funeral. Green Acres fans mourn.
http://kptv.images.worldnow.com/images/18756242_BG1.jpg
Sam Cady, age 96, R.I.P.
177 chars
Dexter said on June 11, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Most hated tee: “I’m With Stupid >”
My favorite tee shirt of all time:
http://i.pbase.com/o6/17/20117/1/70297983.dJAwcb8G.JustPassinThru.jpg
147 chars
coozledad said on June 11, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Dexter: Yancey is probably about six hours west of us, if my memory of driving to Asheville is correct.
Come to think of it, the last time I was in Asheville they still hadn’t quite got I-40 linked up, so it’s probably a bit shorter drive.
It sounds like that paper has to contend with a lot of the “You ain’t from around heeah, are you?” crap. More power to them.
366 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 11, 2012 at 7:32 pm
beb @ #42 – http://www.ganesha.co.uk/Articles/Biogas%20Technology%20in%20India.htm
Longmire apparently is all filled up in Jemez Caldera above Los Alamos, from the shots in the promos I’ve seen. The lava dome formation in the middle is in the background of seemingly every shot.
281 chars
Jolene said on June 11, 2012 at 7:41 pm
A follow-up to the gay Mormon story: The couple recorded a video responding to the thousands of comments they’ve received on their post.
This story is definitely one for the “it takes all kinds” file.
429 chars
Deborah said on June 11, 2012 at 7:46 pm
Chicago is experiencing the same thing that happened last summer with young kids ganging up and attacking people. I’m sure the cops will stop it shortly, but one incident happened a block from where I live and we think the victim lives in our building because there is literally a trail of blood leading to our door. There were TV vans a block away with thier cameras at the ready when I was walking to work this morning. I knew something had happened when I saw the blood. The guy was walking home from work at 10 pm last night when 15 to 20 teenagers jumped him. He was bruised and had a cut above his eye. He was lucky that was all. Another couple of incidents this weekend resulted in a man from Michigan getting his jaw broken and some reports of stabbings. So far the cops aren’t out in force yet, but I’m sure they will be. Maybe they’re in plain clothes this time. They put the kibosh on this activity last summer really fast and I’m sure that will be the case again this year. It bugs me because it brings out the racist hatred really fast. It doesn’t help the situation at all.
1087 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 11, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Check out the panoramic photo of the forested dome in the middle of Valle Grande (and websearch those two words for “images” to get more), which seems to be the hub around which the visual lexicon of “Longmire” turns:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valles_Caldera
264 chars
MichaelG said on June 11, 2012 at 8:20 pm
beb, ain’t nothing between Victorville and Vegas but miles of wide open, flat desert crossing freeway with visibility to the horizon. The other way, from Victorville down to Berdoo, sharply curving mountain driving with a several thousand foot drop, three and four lanes wide is the sporting part.
Saw this once: ‘What do you call a woman without an asshole? Single.”
Have I said this stuff before?
407 chars
Deborah said on June 11, 2012 at 9:33 pm
We often drive to the Caldera in NM. It’s a fascinating place but we’ve never driven out on it because we can’t figure out how to do it. It has many elk etc at various times of year that we’ve only seen with binoculars. It’s huge and we’ve been told it’s the origin for all the land formations for hundreds of miles around including where our land is in Abiquiu.
362 chars
Jolene said on June 11, 2012 at 10:13 pm
The Jerry Sandusky trial began today. Here is a blog post regarding the initial testimony by Joel Achenbach, who is covering the trial for the Washington Post, with links to the stories he has filed so far.
Short summary: Sounds like the evidence presented will be as grim as the indictment and other early reports suggested.
Reading this after the gay Mormon story, I just have to say that we humans are a very, very strange species.
621 chars
beb said on June 11, 2012 at 10:24 pm
The nice thing about methane digesters is that they can be made out of just about anything, old steel drums, rubber inner tubes, cinder block tanks and just needs digestable material, water and a starter solution of swamp water. It’s about as low tech as you want.
Kind of sad that Longmire is being filmed in New Mexico instead of up in Wyoming. How much harder would be it to send a location unit to Wyoming instead of New Mexico. Or are we to assume that Wyoming is so developed that there aren’t any rural communities left to film in?
541 chars
Jolene said on June 11, 2012 at 10:48 pm
I can’t say I know a great deal about it, Beb, but I have heard that New Mexico has gone to some trouble to make itself attractive to the film industry. Tax incentives, presence of soundstages, etc. Deborah or our filmmaker hostess may know more.
246 chars
Prospero said on June 12, 2012 at 1:25 am
Sandusky trial? How did judge decide accusers had to have their identities exposesd to rabid Penn State fans. That is bullshit. Beb, You are sounding like Eeyore on the Longmire filmed in New Mexico. It’s a good show, when there is way too much bullshit Bethenny and LeBron on TV. LeBron walked more than Jordan against the Celtics, and nobody would have thought that possible. Holy crap, reaching in and charging the hoop without dribbling. Ain’t that a man. Methane digesters? Whatever? Lebron can run over Rajon Rondo. Outweighs him by about how much Pete Rose outweighsed Bud Harrelson. Real fucking impressive. LeBron sucks bigtime.
638 chars
Prospero said on June 12, 2012 at 1:27 am
Beb, I’d say in the vast bullshit era of bad TV, Longmire is actually a breath of fresh air. Some sort of decent acting. as opposed to dogshit alleged reality.
160 chars
Dexter said on June 12, 2012 at 2:25 am
This is for all the Chicago Blues fans as well as anyone who loves any of the old Delta Bluesmen . There aren’t many left, so enjoy this outstanding interview of Buddy Guy. It’s a great interview of this wonderful, humble man, Buddy Guy. If you are prompted for a password, just type in “ron bennington”.
http://ronbenningtoninterviews.com/2012/06/09/buddy-guy/
367 chars
Dexter said on June 12, 2012 at 2:36 am
Time for these pictured tubbies to go on a diet or just walk and stop hailing pedicabs in NYC.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/big_fat_tip_1CzespSjU5uxHb1KAuO0tO
165 chars
cerebus said on June 12, 2012 at 1:55 pm
This might help you w/ what Prometheus is really about:
http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html
102 chars