Robin Williams sure knows how to "Working on New Material" !! The September Show is a beautifully crafted evolution of the June Show. Great bits with extra ornamentation, and new treats tossed in very generously, including great improv.
I saw his thus titled show in June, prior to the Olympics, and he had wonderful material about the preparations for the event and the power of modern China. Last night, the best of that stuff was entwined with the Aug 08 updates -- and new Olympic bits like doing a pommelhorse routine for us, right there on stage.
The recurring theme of the new micro-technology and conversing through texting was worked in with the beginning of the show. The club guy tells us all to turn off all recording devices and cell phones and such. Then Robie talks about not having recordings all over the place of a work in progress and a messy old white comedian flying all over the internet-- with a flash and a snap and a quick video taping. He talked about how we used to fear the age of Big Brother and now "we've entered the age of the Little Snitch." Loved that !! From the time of Big Brother into the Age of the Little Snitch !!
He did great material on the Palin. Based quite a bit on the dreary accent she has-- the smarmy goodie goodie voice. He used kind of Fargo Minnesota twang for that.
And this time he spun a lot more political humor into his routine and it worked really well. The audience was up for it and thrilled to have him crystallize our thoughts so well. He did pages and pages of the stuff and we were all eating it up and so happy to have him give us some laughs.
He did some Pope material. Spinning from being on a German TV talk show and asked about why did he suppose there was so little comedy in Germany? To which he couldn't help replying that one might suppose it could be that they had killed off all the funny people? And segued over time into the current Pope being sorta kinda having a Nazi background.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Dear Keith let a little scathing out in the long hours at the Dem Con in Denver
Just a couple of times, after being on air for hours already.
When an obviously great comment by a Democratic speaker was then very clumsily panned by one of his colleagues, he did not hide his contempt. When colleagues made obviously partisan snide remarks about the Democrats that seemed like RNC taglines of the day, Keith called a couple out. Parried back.
After hours and hours of coverage in makeshift broadcasting platforms, he seemed to have gotten a bit too tired to be his usually elegantly restrained self. He allowed scathing to emerge a few times. And some quick sharp jabs slipped in there. I really admired the ones I saw. Worn out Keith honestly responding to some idiot's vile yet casual smearing of a great Democrat's speech.
MSNBC may have worried that he would burn out on Day 2 of the RNC convention and be unable to join his colleagues in pretending that Republicans had any standing in an honest discussion about how to manage our country after the disastrous Republican administration of the past 7 years.
I expect that it is stressful to fake it and respectfully discuss RNC talking points when our nation so desperately needs change and not more of the same. Can't pretend to admire the current Republican crop without muscle cramps. So he should take a bit of a vacation. He deserves one. I look forward to watching a refreshed Keith, after the RNC Fake Fest. Wonderful to have him ready for the follow up season. After both conventions, with the vision of both paths presented to the world.
In the meantime, Chris can pretend he's talking about the old McMaverick of the 90's, and toss a few hardball topics the RNC is ready for and discuss their canned responses. OR... He can be among the few voices who make sure to follow up RNC standard bullet point comments with some solid questions.
Matthews could highlight the sad fact he and John Kerry know very well-- their old friend Senator McCain has changed into Candidate McCain who opposes many of the policies Senator McCain himself introduced. Their friend the maverick supported things the Candidate John Sidney McCain III has opposed. And yes, we do have a reel of clips ready, sir.
Matthews could do a great service, as Kerry has been, in helping those who liked the original version realize that guy is long gone. He gave up his own VP choice to go with Dobson's. That's a whole different guy. Your old friend would not have voted with Bush 90% of the time, My Friends. Would not have such a poor voting record on veterans' issues. The original resisted the further merging of church and state. He's gone, My Friends. ETC ETC.
When an obviously great comment by a Democratic speaker was then very clumsily panned by one of his colleagues, he did not hide his contempt. When colleagues made obviously partisan snide remarks about the Democrats that seemed like RNC taglines of the day, Keith called a couple out. Parried back.
After hours and hours of coverage in makeshift broadcasting platforms, he seemed to have gotten a bit too tired to be his usually elegantly restrained self. He allowed scathing to emerge a few times. And some quick sharp jabs slipped in there. I really admired the ones I saw. Worn out Keith honestly responding to some idiot's vile yet casual smearing of a great Democrat's speech.
MSNBC may have worried that he would burn out on Day 2 of the RNC convention and be unable to join his colleagues in pretending that Republicans had any standing in an honest discussion about how to manage our country after the disastrous Republican administration of the past 7 years.
I expect that it is stressful to fake it and respectfully discuss RNC talking points when our nation so desperately needs change and not more of the same. Can't pretend to admire the current Republican crop without muscle cramps. So he should take a bit of a vacation. He deserves one. I look forward to watching a refreshed Keith, after the RNC Fake Fest. Wonderful to have him ready for the follow up season. After both conventions, with the vision of both paths presented to the world.
In the meantime, Chris can pretend he's talking about the old McMaverick of the 90's, and toss a few hardball topics the RNC is ready for and discuss their canned responses. OR... He can be among the few voices who make sure to follow up RNC standard bullet point comments with some solid questions.
Matthews could highlight the sad fact he and John Kerry know very well-- their old friend Senator McCain has changed into Candidate McCain who opposes many of the policies Senator McCain himself introduced. Their friend the maverick supported things the Candidate John Sidney McCain III has opposed. And yes, we do have a reel of clips ready, sir.
Matthews could do a great service, as Kerry has been, in helping those who liked the original version realize that guy is long gone. He gave up his own VP choice to go with Dobson's. That's a whole different guy. Your old friend would not have voted with Bush 90% of the time, My Friends. Would not have such a poor voting record on veterans' issues. The original resisted the further merging of church and state. He's gone, My Friends. ETC ETC.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Yes the Palin Appointment was Insulting to All of Us
Insulting to women because she is definitely no Hillary Clinton and is anti-choice.
Insulting to all because she supports teaching creationism in science class.
Insulting to Obama because she has so little experience. Mayor of a town of 7,000 for a couple of years, and Governor of Alaska, with less people than San Francisco or San Jose, for a couple of years. Whereas Obama has years in the State Senate and six years in the national Senate.
Dangerous because she believes in The Rapture-- Jesus will come get you so you don't have to keep the earth clean.
Dangerous because yes she is a global warming denier and friend of Big Oil. Hubby worked for BP and Alaska gets rich on petro-dollars.
Insulting to all because she supports teaching creationism in science class.
Insulting to Obama because she has so little experience. Mayor of a town of 7,000 for a couple of years, and Governor of Alaska, with less people than San Francisco or San Jose, for a couple of years. Whereas Obama has years in the State Senate and six years in the national Senate.
Dangerous because she believes in The Rapture-- Jesus will come get you so you don't have to keep the earth clean.
Dangerous because yes she is a global warming denier and friend of Big Oil. Hubby worked for BP and Alaska gets rich on petro-dollars.
Convention Highlights -- Humor and the Big Wigs
We had lots of humor at the convention. The situation is dire so one might have wished for more vitriol, actually, but at least we had some biting humor from all participants.
Michelle's speech was beautiful and did exactly what she needed to do. It showed the deep family values she and Barack hold and teach their kids. The elegant lady had to prove she is not a monster, due to shameless right wing slander the RNC has been slinging.
Hillary's speech was moving and characteristic of her, a comfortable combination of intellectual and folksy. Her great line was something like -- I'm not surprised John McCain and George Bush are having their convention in the Twin Cities. Sometimes it's awfully hard to tell them apart.
Kerry gave an impassioned view of his confusion having known Senator McCain, who was at times the polar opposite of this new Candidate McCain. He gave a few examples and asked-- "Are you kidding me folks? "
Montana Gov. Schweitzer in his bolo tie was a very colorful speaker. Took a few paragraphs to warm up and then he really made the case for energy independence and conservation. He also threw some great jabs at Bush-McCain.
Governor Richardson said the Bush regime gets more and more arrogant as each of their failures comes to light. He, too, discussed McCain's many changes in position over the last ten years. And finished that list by saying John McCain may wear shoes that cost hundreds of dollars, but we pay a lot for his flip flops.
Gore had a brilliant speech but rushed through it. I hope lots of You Tube videos will be made and sent around with segments of his talk. He had some biting critiques of Bush-McCain and the dangers of continuing to be bullied by Big Oil.
Biden pointed out areas of foreign policy in which Obama's wisdom exceeded that of McCain's. He was strong on the areas Obama understood best. He agreed with me that Obama's take on the Georgia crisis was much deeper than McCain's; he considered the long term prospects as well. Appreciated Obama's understanding that tough, direct negotiations are crucial to our success and we need to use all the tools at our disposal, with war as a last resort.
They had a group of retired military generals and admirals who were supporting Obama speak at a certain point, too.
There were subtle references to multiple houses throughout the day. No bludgeoning, just slipping in a couple of extras here and there.
There's lots more, but for now I'll leave it at that.
Michelle's speech was beautiful and did exactly what she needed to do. It showed the deep family values she and Barack hold and teach their kids. The elegant lady had to prove she is not a monster, due to shameless right wing slander the RNC has been slinging.
Hillary's speech was moving and characteristic of her, a comfortable combination of intellectual and folksy. Her great line was something like -- I'm not surprised John McCain and George Bush are having their convention in the Twin Cities. Sometimes it's awfully hard to tell them apart.
Kerry gave an impassioned view of his confusion having known Senator McCain, who was at times the polar opposite of this new Candidate McCain. He gave a few examples and asked-- "Are you kidding me folks? "
Montana Gov. Schweitzer in his bolo tie was a very colorful speaker. Took a few paragraphs to warm up and then he really made the case for energy independence and conservation. He also threw some great jabs at Bush-McCain.
Governor Richardson said the Bush regime gets more and more arrogant as each of their failures comes to light. He, too, discussed McCain's many changes in position over the last ten years. And finished that list by saying John McCain may wear shoes that cost hundreds of dollars, but we pay a lot for his flip flops.
Gore had a brilliant speech but rushed through it. I hope lots of You Tube videos will be made and sent around with segments of his talk. He had some biting critiques of Bush-McCain and the dangers of continuing to be bullied by Big Oil.
Biden pointed out areas of foreign policy in which Obama's wisdom exceeded that of McCain's. He was strong on the areas Obama understood best. He agreed with me that Obama's take on the Georgia crisis was much deeper than McCain's; he considered the long term prospects as well. Appreciated Obama's understanding that tough, direct negotiations are crucial to our success and we need to use all the tools at our disposal, with war as a last resort.
They had a group of retired military generals and admirals who were supporting Obama speak at a certain point, too.
There were subtle references to multiple houses throughout the day. No bludgeoning, just slipping in a couple of extras here and there.
There's lots more, but for now I'll leave it at that.
Yes I Loved Obama's Speech and The Convention
I was thrilled to have watched so much of it on CSpan. I love these occasional bouts of mass hoping, and yes, once again I hope my country can wake up and shake off the robber barons and get to the tons of work we have to do to meet the challenges of the 21st century. There is a lot of exciting activity ahead and most of us want to get to it. Lots of clean up and reorienting away from wasteful consumption to more modest levels. It can be fun if we plan it well. (Or it can be an ugly smash and grab if we proceed in the Republican crisis management style.)
We need to rebalance resource use around the globe, for example. We few percent of the globe use so many of its limited resources, so we need to zoom aggressively ahead into alternative renewable energy such as solar, or we will face a lot more hostility in the global resource wars ahead. We need to de-privatize a lot of the stuff the Republicans have been bleeding dry. We need to raise the limit on payroll taxes so income above $100K is also taxed and Warren Buffet's secretary doesn't pay more than he does. There are so many positive things we'd like to do to move on to the Post Petroleum Economy, but the Big Oil Boys don't want to let go of Monopoly Capitalism.
So I hope Obama's appeal to people to forget partisanship and think of progress-- moving forward consciously and strategically to meet the challenges, rather than letting a secret Cheney cabal decide how we would be ruled to facilitate permanent, for-profit war around the globe. Well, sorry guys, wars are grotesque and we'd rather build solar panels and design better technology to save energy, and drive just a bit slower. Rather than bomb other families around the globe in search of dwindling oil supplies. We need to prepare now, because we will need petroleum to fuel the production of some of these supplies, especially as we transition.
Wasn't Obama's speech a masterpiece? He included lots of shared goals in the speech. And specific indictments of JSM III. Something for all of us. And a better sense, for me, of what he needs to do. He is seeking to arouse the sentiments of lots of heretofore non- voters, many of whom want to move forward on some key issues, so he's inviting everyone to come together around those elements. We are all patriots, so restoring the rule of law in the Executive and Judicial branches will be paramount among his tasks, I expect. Perhaps a commission could be appointed to investigate, prosecute and recommend.
We need to rebalance resource use around the globe, for example. We few percent of the globe use so many of its limited resources, so we need to zoom aggressively ahead into alternative renewable energy such as solar, or we will face a lot more hostility in the global resource wars ahead. We need to de-privatize a lot of the stuff the Republicans have been bleeding dry. We need to raise the limit on payroll taxes so income above $100K is also taxed and Warren Buffet's secretary doesn't pay more than he does. There are so many positive things we'd like to do to move on to the Post Petroleum Economy, but the Big Oil Boys don't want to let go of Monopoly Capitalism.
So I hope Obama's appeal to people to forget partisanship and think of progress-- moving forward consciously and strategically to meet the challenges, rather than letting a secret Cheney cabal decide how we would be ruled to facilitate permanent, for-profit war around the globe. Well, sorry guys, wars are grotesque and we'd rather build solar panels and design better technology to save energy, and drive just a bit slower. Rather than bomb other families around the globe in search of dwindling oil supplies. We need to prepare now, because we will need petroleum to fuel the production of some of these supplies, especially as we transition.
Wasn't Obama's speech a masterpiece? He included lots of shared goals in the speech. And specific indictments of JSM III. Something for all of us. And a better sense, for me, of what he needs to do. He is seeking to arouse the sentiments of lots of heretofore non- voters, many of whom want to move forward on some key issues, so he's inviting everyone to come together around those elements. We are all patriots, so restoring the rule of law in the Executive and Judicial branches will be paramount among his tasks, I expect. Perhaps a commission could be appointed to investigate, prosecute and recommend.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Paring Musical Selections
Eclectic music collection could also stand sorting. But I do I have some lovely gems from other countries I'd be loathe to toss. One of my images for re-using cassettes is in the proverbial tropical B&B we may run someday, or participate in. Or in my own tropical home. I have hours of gorgeous world music at home. Perhaps I can pare down the regular stuff I could access easily online...
Tossing....
Tossing....
- Not sure
- If I will
- List them one by one
- But just in case
Letting Go of Videos
I've got over 100 VHS tapes. Usually because I've loved the program and may love to see it again someday. However, I'm somewhat averse to watching things twice, although I've enjoyed reviewing some artistic or humorous films. So paring the hundreds will be challenging. I've been watching more things twice lately. Which VHS tapes can I release, knowing I could find them again, or being content with memorializing them here? Let's see....
- First one
- Second one
- Third
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