A LOOK THROUGH THE 'REAR WINDOW'

The same source looks at another subject, Alfred Hitchcock's great Rear Window. No pun intended, btw.

"C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and others write about how the arts can “re-enchant reality.” This can only happen if we choose to use them in the proper way. By seeing the arts as a way of “looking into our own houses” we can overcome the draw of using them for voyeurism. When we watch carefully, a character like Jeffries ceases to be a dirty peeping tom and becomes a symbol of us, the viewer. At this point we begin to see ourselves in, and learn from, the story. When we begin to participate and not merely sit idly as a detached viewer, the arts become something more than a-muse-ment, they become instructive."

This reinforces my thoughts in the previous post.

God's Will & God's Grace

A thought provoking article: a contemporary Christian looks at NBC's Will and Grace and see's God's presence in a sitcom. The discussion board underneath is just as spirited, asking whether network television's most openly gay program. Puritans may shudder at the question even being asked, but would God deign to make his presesce known through such a medium as this - a ribald television program? Strange as it may seem to our preconceived notions of righteousness, it is not our decision as hard as we may want to fit him in our little boxes. Jesus was not the warrior messiah that the zealots saught, choosing to reveal himself in a way that challenged prevailing notions of a savior's mission. God is revealed whenever and wherever He chooses.

God doesn't hate fags nor any of his children. He's just disappointed that we don't choose to accept his will, even though his presence is everywhere. Even Thursday nights at 8:00 on NBC and endless reruns coast to coast.

Drive your Bishop Crazy

"Tired of pro-abortion politicians in your diocese? Don't just send a letter, file a formal DENUNCIATION with the Church".

As It Was...and Ever Shall Be

A sprited defense of the Tridentine Mass. While I am not 100% convinced that we need to "overthrow" the post-concillar ways, I do believe that there is much to be said of the old ways. Like Ray Davies once ironically but affecionately sang as his Kinks played behind him:

"Preserving the old ways from being abused.
Protecting the new ways, for me and for you.
What more can we do?"

Remember, the bathwater may be gray and foul, but the baby is now nice and clean.

Democrats devise Catholic scorecard

Bet money on this: abortion will not be one of the factors but "serving the poor" will be. Here's the obligatory accomodating response from the USCCB:

“It looks like a fairly accurate list of issues, certainly not a complete list, of issues where we have taken position.”

If you are a confused catholic who likes to ignore the whole abortion issue but loves to prattle on about "social justice" (as if the taking of an innocent life is any less serious or more justifiable) here's a moment of clairity courtesy A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters by Fr. Stephen F. Torraco, PhD:

"First, when it comes to the matter of determining how social and economic policy can best serve the poor, there can be a legitimate variety of approaches proposed, and therefore legitimate disagreement among voters and candidates for office. Secondly, solidarity can never be at the price of embracing a “disqualifying issue.” Besides, when it comes to the unborn, abortion is a most grievous offense against solidarity, for the unborn are surely among society’s most needful. The right to life is a paramount issue because as Pope John Paul II says it is “the first right, on which all the others are based, and which cannot be recuperated once it is lost.” If a candidate for office refuses solidarity with the unborn, he has laid the ground for refusing solidarity with anyone."

"...being pro-abortion cannot simply be placed alongside the candidate's other positions on Medicare and unemployment, for example; and this is because abortion is intrinsically evil and cannot be morally justified for any reason or set of circumstances. To vote for such a candidate even with the knowledge that the candidate is pro-abortion is to become an accomplice in the moral evil of abortion. If the voter also knows this, then the voter sins mortally." (emphasis added)

Accept no subsitutes when it comes to what's morally right.

McCarrick to Kerry: Carry On

D.C.'s Theodore Cardinal McCarrick is, along with Roger Mahony in L.A., among the most liberal clergymen in the American wig of the Catholic Church. Don't expect any admonitions from him in John Kerry's direction:

"McCarrick is also important to Kerry because he heads up the bishops' temporizing task force on Catholic politicians. Kerry needs McCarrick to continue temporizing. As long as the bishops dither, Kerry can continue to hold himself out as a Catholic in good standing and thereby maintain a decent chance at retaining the Catholic vote. Kerry's got the Garry Wills vote sewn up, but he needs more than just anti-Catholic Catholics to vote for him. He needs mass-going, believing Catholics to vote for him as well. The charade of going to communion even as he is obviously not in communion with Catholic teaching is necessary to get the votes of many of them."

Well, I know one Catholic who won't be fooled! :)

Navy Commanders to Cast Doubt on Kerry's War Record

Kerry, the acceptable candidate to upper-crust bluebloods from New Canaan to Nice, continues to use WWE-derived phrases like "bring it on" and "now its personal" in his feeble attempts to open a can of whoop-ass on on an unflappable GWB with minimal impact. The French-looking candidate with the "certain elegance" continues to be absent from the national scene. Nobody really cares about the man who would be the nominee and "Nurse Fuzzy Wuzzy," his bordering-on-unhinged bride. The efforts of a group of vets to denigrate John Kerry's record are almost unnecessary, as chronicled in the above article. Look, if Karl Rove can make the almost unassailable Max Cleland look dovish, then John Kerry's demise will be easy.

Kerry's absence is making clear that the election is a referendum on Bush. Instead of building Kerry up, the united front, aka the mainstream media and the DNC army are focusing on bringing Bush down. The news conference the other night was a great example: David Gregory of NBC asked about an apology and why Bush hasn't made one yet. The President made it clear none would be forthcoming. Throughout the evening he mantained a focus on his message, derived from his own moral clarity, which parallels the unwavering resolve of his administration. Compare that with the order of chicken and waffles served up by Kerry with Heinz 57 on top.

AIDS Scare Shuts Down Porn Films

What will the reaction of America be when it has to put up with 3, 4, 5 or - egad! - 6-month old porn?! I shudder to think!

AT&T Wireless launches music service

"To use the music recognition service, users dial a three-digit code, then must hold their mobile phone for about 15 seconds near a speaker playing the tune that they want to identify. Moments later, the service sends a text message to the users' mobile phone indicating the title of the song and the name of the recording artist."

This service brought to you by lazy radio jox. Or to paraphrase Missy Elliot, deejay please pick up the phone I'm on the request line...oh never mind, you too slow!

What Kerry's 20 years of Senate votes reveal

As if you didn't know already:

"Kerry has voted against tax cuts and in favor of tax increases... In 1993 Kerry voted for President Clinton's budget measure that included an increase in the top tax rate to 36 percent, a 4.3 cent-per-gallon increase in the gasoline tax and an increase in the amount of Social Security benefits subject to taxation.
But the following year Kerry voted against a bipartisan effort to cut spending by $94 billion over five years, and in 1995 Kerry opposed a Republican plan to cut projected spending by $900 billion over six years.

"In 2001 and again in 2003, Kerry voted against the tax cut legislation supported by President Bush that cut income tax rates and increased the size of the tax credit for most couples with children under age 17.

"In sum, Kerry has amassed a voting record that put him decidedly to the left of more hawkish, conservative Democratic senators such as Lieberman or Southerners such as Georgia's Nunn or Louisiana's Sen. John Breaux. It's unlikely he could have won election to the Senate from Georgia or Louisiana, and he will have difficulty carrying such states on Nov. 2."

This is NBC admitting this.

Home Video Shows Alleged Fondling By 'Tigger' Character

The not-so-wonderful thing about tiggers...

Edwards ousted as 'Morning Edition' host

Speaking of NPR: "'They want somebody else. They're taking the program in a new direction. Those aren't my words,' Edwards said Tuesday. 'I am not totally clear what it is I am going to be doing, but whatever it is, I'm looking forward to doing it. I'm trying to focus on the positive.'"

NPR has demonstrated a total lack of respect for its listeners. It's bad enough we get barraged with socialist indoctrination, now a comfortable voice we have all grown accustomed to is being taken off the air for "fresh voices" (gag!) Remember how ABC did that with Good Morning America? Who did they get to stop the bleeding? Charles Gibson, whom they dumped to begin with, along with Diane Sawyer, both of whom were supposed to be temporary replacements (they're still there.) CBS has brought back Harry Smith to their AM show. And NBC still cannot totally get rid of Willard Scott ("hey, here's a pretty lady, 102 years young and still goes bass fishin'...")

I'm not one of the usual barbarians who call for NPR's demise. This nation needs culture provided by NPR's fine arts programming. But the constant stream of propaganda was nicely delivered by Bob Edwards and I'm going to miss his warm and friendly style.

Air America Fights To Stay On Air In Chicago, Los Angeles

Staying on the air is only half the battle. The other half is preventing their listeners from falling asleep. I've heard it on XM Sattelite Radio, and their product is underwhelming to be charitable. Worst offenders: Franken, who doesn't even know how to use a microphone properly, and his partner, whatever-her-name-is, who sounds like a refugee from Minnesota Public Radio which she is.

Tax firm accused of bilking consumers

If these accusations are true, I must publicly state that I regret booking these guys on the 106.7 The End morning show a half-dozen times when I was the producer. They gave out free trips to Vegas at a radio convention we attended, and we utilized two of them. They were very aggressive in promoting themselves via talk and morning radio - Art Bell was a frequent stop for Jonas Bowen, their mouthpiece - and gave us freebies out the wazoo. If I remember correctly, WWL morning hostess Andre Trevigne utilized their services when she had some tax trouble. They purported to be a group of former IRS agents who had entered the private sector, (Bowen claimed to be a former U.S. Marshal.) Of course, we also booked an IRS agent on the show for equal time. Looking back, some of the guys I met had a Sopranos-like quality to their demeanor, and I was told that their company began because gamblers were being targeted unfairly by the IRS.

If they took advantage of people, mea culpa to my giving them publicity.

Parent Allegedly Beats Little League Coach With Aluminum Bat

This parent looks like a terrorist!

Normally, this item would be a news story, not a sports story, even if it is full-contact.

"Vote Christian" during European vote, Polish bishops say

For Europe, a continent infected with the "socialist creep," this is a bold statement. Secularism in France led to...well, it led to the assholes we now have to deal with over there.

It's a natural for the Polish bishops to seek Christian leadership. It's born of a philosophy of lovingkindness espoused by the Holy Father. Their worldview is not authoritarian in the least. Those who've read the works of John Paul II know this.

Apple reports $46 million profit

Whoa mamma!

"In the quarter, Apple shipped 749 thousand Macintosh units and 807 thousand iPods, representing a 5 percent increase in CPU units and a 909 percent increase in iPods over the year-ago quarter."

iTunes for Windows and cross-platform iPods could be trojan horses: once people spend time with Apple products, they'll be so impressed they might want to switch. At least we can hope.

Bush Endorses Israel's West Bank Claim, Gaza Plan

What a great development in our nation's history of relations with Israel. Most Americans have no conception of what it's like to live as jews in Israel. It is a fight to merely survive. As tribal as arabs are, they are united in their hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. At least they seem to have the resolve to say "enough is enough".

WalMart sells no-smut DVD unit

Here's how it works: no matter what R-Rated movie is inserted into the player, it just plays VeggieTales instead. :)

Nader tells youths to brace for draft

Ralphie boy sounding the alarm...oh no, the draft.

Quite simply, no civilization in the history of the world has done without drafting their young men into service until the modern age. Those American youths born after the Vietnam era have no idea of this. We've always been about ourselves and what we want to do, and the path we choose in life.

The all-volunteer military was espoused by Barry Goldwater back in 1964. He was right on the money when he said that soldiers who want to serve will outperform those who don't, hands down. I can't help but wonder how damaging the victim mentality rampant in modern society would be to morale and esprit de corps in the armed forces. If large numbers of soldiers believe society has cut them a raw deal, they might not feel compelled to give their all to the American cause.

Let's hope we don't need to go this route, or if we do it's quite limited.

It's on

My dear friend Stephen Pitalo, whom I idolize above all others, has formed his own band according to an email he sent to me today. As Cyndi Grecco sang, Steve's "gonna make our dreams come true!"

I have no idea if they are any good, but don't wait for me to find out - he's in NYC and I'm down here so how the hell should I know if hey suck or not?! I don't even know what kind of music they play. They could be a knockoff of the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players for all I know, though I seriously doubt it. If I were a betting man, I'd say something along the line of Jet meets Kings of Leon meets The Darkness. I also know that Stepehn will get some press coverage, as he is good at creating a buzz from nearly nothing.

All I know is that my bud of many years is involved so go see 'em. I gotta support him...at least until he starts embarassing himself and us who know him. Until that time, I say "frickin' rawk ohn mah brutha!"

Tell Me Why

Speaking of panthers, will someone please explain why OS 10.2.8 users like me need to upgrade to the latest version of X? It's another $150...but for what?

Balls, pt. 2

For the record, "Balls" in title of the previous post is a reference to the character of Dr. Auguste Balls, the seller of various wacky disguises that Inspector Clouseau uses ("just an old salty Swedish sea dog!") and played by either Graham Stark or Harvey Korman. After being asked "what are we going to do" to get out of the sticky situation (or some other trite line), Clouseau says to Dyan Cannon in Revenge of The Pink Pather, "for that we need the great Balls!"

Okay, so I think it's funny.

Ah, the great Balls!

Spent part of the Easter weekend enjoying MGM's remastered Pink Panther series on DVD. A yellow bunny and a pink panther make a great easter combination.

Kudos to the folks @ the lion for a bang-up job remastering these films. The original and A Shot In The Dark , the best in the series, never looked better. The 5.1 remastered audio leaps out of the speakers, especially on The Pink Panther Strikes Again, the most utterly preposterous entry in the whole series, but still pretty funny.

The inclusion of Trail of the Pink Pather, never before available on DVD, is a mixed blessing. Yes, its Sellers's last appearance so it's worth having, but its also filled with outtakes and clips from old films, and shorter than the rest. For completists only.

One glaring omission is the 1974 Return of The Pink Panther. ALthough released through United Artists, it began life as a potential TV series financed by Sir Lew Grade and ITC (the company behind the Muppet show), who retained the home video rights while MGM/UA owns the film. Its that one quirk that kept the funniest film in the series(tied with Shot) out of this box. It also kept the PBS documentary "That's Panthertainment" off this set as well, due to its extensive use of clips from Return. It had been included in the region 2 version of this set issed in England, which has since been recalled due to this very same issue (those of you in the UK, get your set while you can!). Maybe one day Return will be reissued in full anamorphic and 5.1 sound; the current DVD from Artisan is of deplorable quality.

If you're a fan of Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards or funny movies, this set is a must.

Man bets all on roulette and wins

Great is the temptation to view this story as positive and uplifting. Perhaps the hand of providence was on this man as he risked it all. The cynic in me says that the casino, facing increased media attention and knowing full well how bad they would look if this gambler lost it all, "ensured" that he not lose. The man of faith in me says that whether or not the outcome is of God's will, his hand is in this nonetheless. In life, he's testing us always hoping that we can discern his presence and follow his path. (Yes, I do believe that the Lord would align the forces at his disposal to let this man win, if winning were what He wanted for this man.)

Unfortunately, this will inspire others to do the same, and most likely lose. Frankly, it's up to those people to decide whether risking it all is worth it. It's disenchanting to learn that this individual is a "professional gambler" (who most likely smells like stale cigarettes and cheap booze) and his attitude towards losing was one of sheer laziness and uncaring: "It's really down to my friends and family and Mum and Dad," he told Reuters Television. "I knew even if I lost I'd always have a home to go to." Nevertheless, I can't help but wonder how things such as this work out, and can only conclude that God is with us whether we choose to acknowledge Him or not.

'The Passion' Rises Again

Guess what's #1 again?

"'That's unprecedented. I've never seen that before. 'The Passion' is just rewriting box-office history,' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations."

Don't call it a comeback. The fitting word for this weekend is "resurrection."

Janet Spoofs Super Bowl Flash on 'SNL'

A thoroughly hilarious episode from start to finish (with my radio gig, TiVo is a wonder.) Although her Condeleeza was dead on, the funniest sketch was the parody of "Good Times". Cheers to Maya Rudolph for pulling off the roles of both Thelma and Wilona.

Janet's two musical numbers were okay, if you like that choregraphed stuff. Her acting skills were more impressive, and I'm sure this helped rehabilitate her image and her self-esteem after all the B-S of this year so far (again, I say, where's the scrutiny for Justin? It may have been her boob, but it was his fuck-up.)

Good to see original Not Ready for Prime Time Player Garrett Morris sitting among the regular folks in the balcony, thus putting to rest speculation that he's dead. The presence of crutches is alingering result of his being shot several years ago (Ray Davies, you should have listened!) Simon Cowell's guest spot was a nice surprise as well.

Q: Why were Tracy Morgan and Chris Kattan around, despite the obvious?

A: They have nothing better to do, which is also the explanation given when Chevy and Jon Lovitz pop in from time to time. Those who haven't watched the show in a while and didn't pay attention during the credits (hey, it's possible, even with Don Pardo shouting the names) might not have thought that anything had changed.

Jessica and Nick Take on Network TV

"The young married couple, who've ridden a wave of popularity since their MTV show,'Newlyweds,' became a hit last year, will mix it up with an assortment of stars, including Mr. T., The Muppets and singers Jewel, Babyface, Kenny Rogers, and even baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench."

Not since the Brady Bunch Variety Hour has the potential for TV disaster loomed so large. I don't know about you, but I'm actually looking forward to this! When I was a kid and didn't know any better, I loved Sonny and Cher's show. When I was a twentysomething Gen-Xer wallowing in irony, I loved the reruns of that same show for their cheese factor. Now, a modern equivalent is emerging. Love that!

I'm Becks' lover No2

Can someone explain to me why this is worth caring about?

Graham: We Had Same Info as Bush

Hmmm.