Some good news is the short film Terence, Vinnie and I have been working feverishly on, Milk Crate Scars, is completed. Our commitment to getting that done this week has taken huge chunks of my time especially over the past 10 days, but I'm hoping you'll like the final product that brings Terence, Vinnie, and me back out into the filmmaking arena after such a long hiatus.
Of course, with several people out on vacation at my odious night job, it would be this week I'm scheduled for extra days I didn't plan on, so time is at an extreme premium for yours truly. To anyone who's not heard from me this week, this is the reason.
BUSH PRESS CONFERENCE
Temporarily breaking my rule of brushing with politics on the homepage, did anyone see President Bush's press conference today (Wed, Oct 25, about 10am)? Timed, I'm sure, for mid-term elections in an atmosphere of dubious public confidence over the war in Iraq, this, once again, marked the broken-record approach to tough reporters' questions. The latest report coming out from Washington about an established timeline for withdrawl ending in 2008 (election year, surprise) was basically sidestepped, even more-or-less reversed, by the president, who continually insists there is no timeline. Very confusing situation. While admitting miscalculations about the violent insurgency, his new approach, "we change as the situation changes", seemed directly in conflict with his former "staying the course" mantra patented by Bush, Sr., then adopted by him. Reporters' questions about reconciling these ideas resulted in the typical Bush logic that changing with the situation is staying the course. And that, of course, only he and his generals could decide when the Iraqis can stand on their own -- and it seems like an awfully long time into the future (if ever). I could only stomach about 30 minutes of this before I had to go lie down and try and make any sense of it.
That's all the time we have for questions, ladies and gentlemen...
RUSH VS FOX
You might think I mean Rush Limbaugh versus FOX News, but no, this time I mean Michael J. Fox. Fox appears in a video supporting Missouri Democratic candidate Claire McCaskill, who favors embryonic stem cell research (and which can be used to cure Parkinson's Disease which Fox suffers from), and against Repug Jim Talent who opposes the research (as immoral, even threatening criminalization). After seeing the video, Rush Limbaugh commented Fox was exploiting the disease for political purposes and was "either off his medication or acting," while mocking Fox's jerky, swaying movements, typical of Parkinson's symptoms. (You oughtta know about pills, Rush.)
I was horrified at Limbaugh's insensitivity to Michael J. Fox and Parkinson's sufferers. Of course this is the guy who called the Mark Foley affair a "third-rate sex scandal" attempting to downplay it, but I digress...
Later, Limbaugh kinda sorta apologized and said he meant he'd never seen Fox act that way on or off camera, and may have been wrong to characterize Fox's behavior as an act.
Some good news is the short film Terence, Vinnie and I have been working feverishly on, Milk Crate Scars, is completed. Our commitment to getting that done this week has taken huge chunks of my time especially over the past 10 days, but I'm hoping you'll like the final product that brings Terence, Vinnie, and me back out into the filmmaking arena after such a long hiatus.
"The Prestige"
Hitting Home....El Rush-bo....But What Are You Going To Do For Me?...What? No A-Ha?...Maybe Next Year....Passing On....Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Beat Me, When I'm 64?...My Favorite Films, Part 43: "Halloween"