Ultraliberal Leftist Assault

~ lobablanca

rncstupidity

So, dipping into the Angry BloggerTM topic files, I still receive e-mails from the GOP at my junk e-mail account. Said e-mails are still addressed to my father. Said e-mails still both amuse and unnerve me (kind of like the GOP in general). The e-mails are punctuated by catty swipes at all the big Donkey names: Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Frank. They each contain some puerile jab like “Ultraliberal,” “Leftist Radical,” or “Kitten Crusher.” Almost all the messages harp on the national deficit (but strangely fail to mention the name of the president responsible for plunging us into said deficit).

Each message is “signed” by Michael Steele, current RNC chair, former lieutenant governor of Maryland, and eternal douche bag. I love how he is so gung-ho for his party now. Funny how he did everything short of actually switch parties when he ran for the U.S. Senate a few years ago. Funnier how he lost. The messages also always end with a plea for donations to the RNC. Let me get my checkbook now!

To your right you will see a particularly amusing graphic from one of these e-mails. The graphic comes from an e-mail decrying outrage over Arlen Specter’s switch to the Democratic party. It rebukes Specter for:

[peddling] his services

Seriously?

~ lobablanca

I keep coming back to what I want this new lair to be. I know that’s strange to say at this point since I’m steadily closing the gap on my first 100 posts, but that’s just the way I am. I can worry a hole into any issue imaginable (or imagined).

I actually do still feel very passionately about things like politics and society, and I suppose most of how I feel is still positively negative. But when I come here to vent, I always get sidetracked by all the pretty, shiny WordPress things like widgets and plug-ins. Case in point: Do you all like the pretty progress meter I snagged for my 50 Book Challenge? It’s originally a meter to chart progress for those who participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), but it works in this instance as well.

I suppose I also feel a certain sense of “what’s the point” regarding venting about things over which I have no control and no way of changing. Politics, for example. What’s the point? Our political system is interminably corrupt to the point that we shouldn’t believe a single word that passes from the lips of any of them, Obama included. How many times have we heard him beat the “difference between campaigning and governing” horse? It’s dead, Mr. President. Stop kicking it. Besides, I don’t think there should be a difference between the two. If you don’t think you can carry it through in reality, don’t promise it. I’m tired of ample servings of empty promises. Give me honesty or give me four more years of same shit, different party.

Speaking of parties, I’m so glad to see that my political party is still full of jackasses. Nancy Pelosi, WTF? We’ve already got Joe Biden sticking his foot in his mouth every other sentence; could you maybe STFU? And, yes, I’m going to be incredibly hard on the Democratic party here at the lair, probably even more so than the GOP. Why? Because I expect better from my party (whereas my Republican expectations have always been more than exceeded, which should let you know just exactly what I expect from them).

Here, however, is a recent GOP disappointment. Today’s WaPo has an article about how Republicans are worried about how to approach the task of opposing Sonia Sotomayor, Obama’s pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter:

An all-out assault on Sotomayor by Republicans could alienate both Latino and women voters, deepening the GOP’s problems after consecutive electoral setbacks.

As a woman, I take deep offense to this statement. I despise that we have become a society that accepts granting preferential treatment or kid glove treatment based on one’s gender. Guess that’s why I also have a huge problem with affirmative action in action. As a law to level the playing field in the job market, affirmative action was a remarkable ruling. Then they added quotas. Quotas don’t level anything. And I can only speak for myself on this one, but I would rather lose out on potential employment if I lose because my competition is more qualified than receive the job because I happened to be born with “girl boobs.” Just like it’s not cool to knock me out of the competition because I’m a woman, it’s equally unfair to give me bonus points for being a woman. It almost makes me feel like there’s justification to the ridiculous notion that I am inferior because of my gender and that I need bonus points in order to compete. Screw that mindset.

(By the way, that YouTube clip contains the only things that were actually funny in that craptastic TNG episode of Family Guy).

Oh, and screw you, Senator Schumer for saying “[Republicans] oppose her at their peril…. I think this process is going to be more a test of the Republican Party than of Sonia Sotomayor.” Again, right back to my original argument: If the GOP have justifiable reasons for opposing her based on their party’s dictates and standards, then they should do so. And we should not assume that they do so because she is a woman or because she is a minority. I should also like to point out that it was under Republican presidents that the Supreme Court received its first woman justice and its second minority justice…you know, just in case anyone out there is keeping score of things that should come secondary to actual qualifications.

Poster Picks: Gremlins

~ lobablanca

Time again for another Loba-approved poster design! This time, we’re skipping backward in time to 1984, to visit that gem of a movie, Gremlins. Written by a very pre-Harry Potter Chris Columbus and directed by Joe “The ‘burbs” Dante, this is one of my favorite childhood movies. It’s also one of my favorite “teaser” posters.

First thing that I love about this poster is the fact that it’s not a photo, but a photo-realistic drawing/painting. This was quite the popular medium at the time (the Star Wars movie posters all utilized this medium to wonderful effect while Indiana Jones still looks marvelous as a sketched hero). It adds a bit of whimsy to the poster while keeping it realistic enough that you know it’s not going to be all fun and games.

The way the lighting is utilized in this drawing provides a lovely and effective bit of chiaroscuro that draws your eyes immediately to the hands and the shoe box within them. And what are those in the box top? Breathing holes? And those cute, furry little Monchhichi paws…and two glimmering orbs watching you. But nothing more. What on earth could it be?

This poster also has something additional that my first poster pick didn’t have: a tagline. This one is delightful: “Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous.”

I love the delineation of words from sweet to sinister that lead your eyes once again down to the shoe box and those mysterious eyes watching you, with what? Curiosity? Anger? Malice?

Skip the Spielberg mention and you get your first glimpse of the font that has pretty much become synonymous to my generation as “Gremlins” font, kind of like someone immediately recognizing “Star Trek” or “Back to the Future” font.

I consider this poster to be an early “WIN” poster in my movie-going memory. I remember seeing it as a kid and wanting to know just what the hell was in that friggin’ shoe box. I also remember having a Gremlins coloring book, which I wish I still had…but that’s another time and another place. Now, here is the latest Poster Pick:

gremlins

Poster Pick Bonus: Gremlins vs. Episode I

I’m not quite sure when this Gremlins poster was released. I don’t think it was for the movie release, but just for the special edition DVD release. This is the image that is on my DVD case, and it’s a design that I really enjoy. It’s also a design that we have seen elsewhere, to similarly spectacular first-blush effect. We saw it with the first teaser poster for George Lucas’s prequel abortion, Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Aesthetically, I love this concept: good guy casting a bad guy shadow. It’s titillating, it’s taunting, it’s teasing, it’s tasty. With Gremlins, it’s also totally awesome. Gizmo the Mogwai was cute and cuddly and only mildly annoying. Stripe the Gremlin was a surly bastard with punk rock hair and a bad-ass attitude.

It’s a shame the same cannot be said of Episode I. I remember the joy that this teaser poster brought me. It was mysterious and stark, with the presence of a cherished evil. Ain’t no baddy quite like Darth Vader, right? Then I saw the movie, and I learned what true disappointment really feels like.

Anakin Skywalker sucked. I don’t think the blame rests solely on the shoulders of Jake Lloyd, but he didn’t help make the torture that was this movie any less painful. Someone really should have smacked George Lucas with a fully functional light saber at the first utterance of the nickname “Annie” for Darth Vader. Annie? One day he’s going to be the fucking dark overlord of the empire and you want to give him a nickname that evokes images of a frizzy-haired orphan with no pupils? Screw you, Lucas. Screw you with a Jar-Jar Binks action figure.

Here, however, are the two shadowplay posters together. One still makes me smile while the other saddens me to my marrow with the memory of a New Hope that was crushed by “Mesa called Jar-Jar Binks. Mesa your humble servant.”

Mesa gonna pukes now.

gremlins-dvd ep1-pm

50BC09: Book Number 14

~ lobablanca

am-as

I’m going to spoil this book for you with the very first sentence of the novel:

When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily.

And thus begins Alice Sebold’s The Almost Moon. Why did I ruin this for you? I didn’t really. That’s like saying that I would ruin Sebold’s first novel, The Lovely Bones, by telling you that it starts with the protagonist being assaulted and murdered. With Sebold, the violence is the catalyst from which the true story ignites and sears itself into your brain and your soul.

I think, however, that many people probably had difficulty with this novel because of the fact that this time the protagonist is not the victim, but the perpetrator. This time we are expected to come to the other side of the coin, accept and possibly even sympathize with the one who has committed this story’s prime crime. It’s a hard sell, indeed.

The prose is gorgeous, as Sebold’s writing tends to be. And I suppose if Sebold’s ultimate goal was simply to present this tale as an open-ended account of the initial act, she has succeeded, especially considering the very open-ended way in which the story ends. I won’t give any more away than I already have. I will simply say that I think Sebold only partially succeeded in this story. It drew me in as quickly and wholly as The Lovely Bones did; however, I felt none of the satisfaction or emotion that I felt upon finishing the former novel.

Final score: 4/5 for prose; 3/5 for story. I don’t think I will be adding this book to my collection, but I’m glad that I didn’t let all the negative reviews sway me from reading it.

Book number 15 has already been selected from the library’s New Arrivals shelf: Captivity by Debbie Lee Wesselmann. I’m not really sure what drew me to this one, but I’m hoping that it will be enjoyable.

Casual Baturday

~ lobablanca
Dude. I told you today was blue and gray casual uniform day.
Dude. I told you today was blue and gray casual uniform day.

So today has been really groovy. It’s beautiful here in Lobalandia, with cerulean skies and lots of sun. Played a little tennis, went hiking around a lake. Not a bad way to spend a Baturday. Oh, and to the gentleman who kept watching me peripherally in the store as I was molesting the bags of brown sugar, no, I’m not in some way impaired. I just like the way brown sugar feels when you shmoosh it. You should try it sometime. You might like it, too.

Flashback Friday: The Smurfs All Star Show

~ lobablanca
Welcome to Smurfland
Welcome to Smurfland

I do believe this won’t be the only visit that our little blue friends make here at Flashback Friday. I was quite the Smurfy child, if I do say so myself. This inaugural appearance, however, is all about 1981’s The Smurfs All Star Show.

As cheesy as this confession is, this was the only record I ever owned. I was a bit of a sheltered little pup and wasn’t allowed much exposure to popular music until I was on the cusp of teendom. So while all my friends were putting together lovely LP collections that featured Michael Jackson, Sheena Easton, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett, and so forth…all I had were the Smurfs. (Of course, this just meant that I never had to replace my LPs with cassettes…no, no, all I had to do was replace my cassettes with CDs, haha!)

I loved this record. I remember wanting it so desperately that I did everything short of drool whenever I saw the television commercial. I also remember seeing it at the local Safeway and watching as my wonderful father

Thundercats High

~ lobablanca
Principal Lion-o would like to see you in his office
Principal Lion-o would like to see you in his office

There’s a public high school in the county in which I live that makes me smile whenever I pass it. My smile is for the geekiest of reasons. It’s because the school’s logo looks so eerily similar to the Thundercats logo that all I can think when I see the school is “Thundercats, ho!”

I wonder if any of the kids currently attending this school realize the similarity. Highly unlikely that it would be mainstream knowledge, considering the fact that even the oldest students at the school wouldn’t have been born until the last year of the original 1985-90 run of the Thundercats cartoon. Damned unappreciative young people.

I bet the school geeks realize it though. SNARF!

Kiss My Kirk

~ lobablanca

kissmykirk

Love the glam-rock showmanship of KISS? Can’t get enough of the real James Tiberius Kirk? Then you need KISS My Kirk, the smash collection that’s sweeping the Alpha Quadrant! Packed to the hilt with hits like:

  • All-American Kirk
  • She’s So Orion
  • Tribbles of the Night
  • (City on the Edge of) Forever
  • God Gave Kirk, Spock and Bones to You
  • Fits Like a Girdle
  • Photon Torpedo Girl
  • Warp Machine

…and much, much more! Transfer 20 Federation credits to LobaBlanca.com and download your copy of KISS My Kirk today!

First 100 to download this collection will receive a free Tribble*.

*LobaBlanca.com is not responsible if the Tribble you receive is already pregnant. LobaBlanca.com warns you that you need to have at least 40 acres of land available to house the inevitable Tribble brood that you will inherit should you be one of the lucky recipients of a free Tribble. LobaBlanca.com also recommends that you learn how to grow quadrotriticale to feed your Tribbles. A lot of quadrotriticale.

(See what happens when I have some spare time and access to PhotoShop?)

Zen Runner

~ lobablanca

zenrunner

Methinks today is going to be quite a busy, lair-free day, but I thought I’d start my morning with a “geek still life” shot from my desk here at work. Enjoy!

Feed Fail Fixed

~ lobablanca

It was brought to my attention a few days ago that the RSS Feed link I added to the lair didn’t work properly. Ever since, I’ve been trying to understand why it wasn’t working and what I had to do to fix it. Truth be told, I’m still out of my element in this new WordPress world. Database work makes me sweat, and not in a good way.

I do believe, however, that I figured out the problem. So to anyone else out there who has tried to subscribe to my RSS Feed and received naught for your efforts, I offer both my humble apology and an invitation to try again.

And a tip of the paw to cohnee for the heads-up!