Forever A Fangirl

True Blood Season 4.12 Finale Recap - Rutina Wesley Talks Tara's Head Shot - Recap VIDEO - Screencaps #trueblood

 
Deborah Ann Woll as 'Jessica Hamby' (HBO)

True Blood's Season 4 finale was very uneven--much like most of the season:

It's easier to rattle off the 'misses' than the hits so that's where I'll start.

Misses (in no particular order):

1. Alcide's (Joe Manganiello) 'Let's use our brains instead of hearts' chat with Sookie (Anna Paquin). What a way to approach asking a lady out! Having dumped his adulterous, V-addict wife, Debbie Pelt and disapproving of Sookie's choices in men (vampires) he suggests that Sookie start using her head and give him--a werewolf a shot.

This was probably among the longest bits of convo that Joe Manganiello as 'Alcide Herveaux' has had and though others have criticized the actor for being 'wooden,' I did not see it. Until now. Not only did Alcide seal the deal that he will NEVER 'have' Sookie but he pretty much guaranteed that the Alcide storyline is going to evaporate in season 5. Hopefully, Alcide's ending won't be as as brutally abrupt as Jason's stint with the dentally-impaired denizens of Hotshot because let's be honest, he is one fine male specimen. Sookie is going to be man-free for a time--and then--who knows, but at most, a short stint with the wolf-man is all there will be. Too bad.

2. OMG, Marnie (Fiona Shaw) no! Not again with the 'I've been a freak all my life and people are mean, POOR ME.'  This has got to be at least the third full-blown pity poor me speech they've given Shaw as the mousy palm reader turned revenge-seeking uber-wiccan. Was her crappy life supposed to justify her behaviour? It would have been better to simply go with her being driven mad. Instead Marnie simply became a harpy. Waste of Shaw's abilities--at least as the season wound down.

3. WTF?! with the long, lingering suckling sounds then wider shot of both Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill (Stephen Moyer) feeding on Sookie's wrists?! All three are snug on the sofa with Sookie, as Jason would put it, using Sookie as their own private soda fountain. Just ugh and OMG how freakin' cheesy is the fact that both men were in matching robes? No wonder she dumped them!  She knows that a big bromance is brewing between them! Did you see some of the eye-fucking going on between Eric and Bill in the last couple of episodes? I'd love a nice Eric & Bill adventure if only to stir up both sides cheering for Sookie to pick one. The scene though was just icky on all kinds of levels though I think it was meant to be slightly campy and amusing (before Sookie got all traditional and decided she just could. not. love. both of them at the same time).

4. Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and Hoyt's 3-minute "I'm doing Jesssica' scene: a total waste of three minutes intended simply to give Jim Parrack as Hoyt some season finale face time. I like the actor but this was totally superfluous.

The rest was typical Jason and the one line of any significance was repeated by Jason to Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) after their tryst--no need for Hoyt to have been in thisepisode--at all.

5. Speaking of a waste of time. Kevin Alejandro got plenty of face time. he did not need to engage in the interminable back and forth with the possessed-by-Marnie, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis). It went on forever...could have trimmed that by at least a minute with less candle-lighting and chest slashing. RIP  'Jesus',  BTW. Kevin Alejandro did a very credible job this season and became a character that the audience grew fond of. That's the point of course, when you know that you will off him before season's end.

6. Luna (Janina Gavankar) & Sam (Sam Trammell). How long did it take them to say a whole lot of nothing and then goodnight? And haven't they been all about nothing? Does anyone care about them? Anyone? I like Sam--who doesn't?--but there is zero chemistry with this pairing and speaking of zero chemistry let's take on the Jason and Jessica storyline that is brewing:

7. Jessica and Jason (above). We get it: they are both really into sex. What else do they have in common? Immature, selfish behavior, punctuated by occasional bravery and selflessness. I'm willing to give this pairing some time in season 5 but what I'm not willing to do is watch the mind-numbingly awful attempts at keeping the actor who play's Jessica, Deborah Ann Woll's, boobies under cover. And by 'boobies' I mean nipples. We get cleavage, we get side boob and maybe even underboob but in the two times we've seen Jason and Jessica make love when her breasts are in camera range she clutches them in an obvious attempt at modesty. Did no one tell her that there is simply no room for modesty on True Blood? The same goofy camera angles and weird use of sheets was employed by Rutina Wesley as well in the two seasons she had a boyfriend. It's very distracting on a show that otherwise is pretty liberal in it's nudity (it is after all, NOT television but HBO).

There were some great moments in the True Blood season 4 finale but not enough--by a long shot--to make a great episode:

Maxine Fortenberry's (Dale Raoul) quips about Sam's shifty bro Tommy's deviousness and thievery which segued into comforting Sam were a nice touch.

Nan Flanagan's (Jessica Tuck) comeuppance at the hands of Eric and Bill was spot on-- though I will miss her.

Pam's (Kristen Bauer van Straten) tirade-to-tears about Sookie's 'fairy vagina' and stupid name only to have Ginger (Tara Buck) uh, gingerly slip an arm around her in comfort was really quite a sight (you just know Pam is going to glamour that memory out of Ginger given the first chance). Scroll down after the jump for the video of the scene.

The return of dead-since season-one Gran (Lois Smith)! It was totally awesome to see her in all her glorious badassery when she literally tore Marnie's spirit out of Lafayette. (The resultant tedious and trite convo between Marnie and Antonia (Paola Turbay) took some momentum out of the scene, however. )

Debbie Pelt's (Brit Morgan) reappearance was no surprise to the 'bookies. With a few change-ups this was how she died in the Sookie Stackhouse series. In the book series however, Sookie took her out alone. 'Book' Tara is a minor character and was in no way involved.

What True Blood Tara did was pretty cool though--but ultimately pretty stupid. She got half of the side of her skull blown away.  I think this was done to telegraph to any doubting audience members that yes, at last, the never-written-well character of Tara Thorton is finally over.*

But will Rutina Wesley be back? She, as you can read below, is unsure but 'trusts' Alan Ball and she reminds us, this is True Blood (so anything can happen). Other than short otherworldly-type visits I'm thinking the majority of the audience want Tara gone. We've long since realized that the True Blood writers are incapable of giving the perfectly capable Wesley a storyline she can sink her teeth into. RIP then, Tara and Jesus. I'm assuming though, that the bad guys won't be resting in peace.

Season 4 Finale Grade: B-. Out of the four True Blood seasons so far, I rank Season 1 and Season 2 in that order and Seasons 3 and 4 about on par with one another. Both suffered from sloppy, self-indulgent writing and extremely bad editing. Please, in the name of good screenwriting Alan Ball, please ditch Raelle Tucker. If you have any doubt about this women's rationalle whist writing True Blood, listen to her explain Jessica's sexuality in the 'Inside The Episode' HBO clip (embedded in this post). Tucker explains that she wanted "Jessica' to flaunt her sexuality unashamedly (like a man could). We, the audience however, see Jessica in flagrante, seemingly ashamed of her own body (the breast-clutching). Huge disconnect there. Tip of iceberg in Tucker's writing skills-issues. Don't even get me started on her apparent non-acquaintance with healthy sexuality.

From  the 9.12.11 exclusive interview with Rutina Wesley (Tara Thornton):

Q: In your mind, is Tara dead?

A: Well I mean half my head is missing.

I’m just gonna keep saying that. You know, it’s True Blood. I feel like anything is possible. If anything, it is the golden hour though. If she is able to be saved, it’s like she’s got 20 seconds. It’s not a lot of time. I’m curious to see what they’re going to do with all of it. I hope I’m back. But again half my head is missing [laughs] ...

I don’t know what their plans are for next season. I know that Alan has said there are “big plans,” but I don’t know what that really means, and things can always change. I’m not for sure, but I trust him completely. At the end of the day, it’s hard to see how I’m coming back, seeing as half of my head was just blown off. I don’t know. They may figure something out. I mean it’s True Blood. There’s always flashbacks. There’s phantasms.

SOURCE: EW

*Q: Has your contract option for Season 5 been officially picked up?
A: Yes. I know I’m coming back. I just don’t know in what capacity.

SOURCE: TVLINE

 After the jump - True Blood 4x12 | And When I Die -  Ginger comforts Pam VIDEO

Dexter 'Thank God' Season 6 Promo VIDEO & Screencaps @SHO_Dexter #dexter #screencaps

First promo for Dexter Season 6 - Returning to Showtime in September 2011:

Dexter (Michael C. Hall) Promo Narrative Dialog:

'I always thought that my Dark Passenger was a need I had--but what if I was wrong? Maybe it's not a need; it's a calling. After all, I rid the world of evil people--and if they didn't exist, I wouldn't exist. Is it possible? I serve a ...higher purpose?'

 

Screencaps! Dexter 'Thank God' Season 6 Promo VIDEO:

 

 Dexter Spoilers via TVGuide MegaBuzz:

  Dexter and his ghost daddy (not the True Blood kind) will finally be on level ground this season. "He's going to be much more of a support for Dexter than someone who's always saying, 'Oh, you're making a mistake. Don't do this,'" executive producer Sara Colleton says. Now that they are both fathers, Dexter will "fully realize what [his] father gave up and went through. It makes for a more equal relationship." 

 

Update! Coach On Jerri - Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Episode 8 - Screen Caps - Jeff Probst Blogs Survivor - Coach Preps For Tribal Jury, More

Coach has an eerie prescience/total ignorance about his impending fate.

Update! Coach's post-finale comments on Jerri: Are They An Item?

On former tribe mate Jerri Manthey:

Q: "Are you two an item?'

Coach:

'We’re not an item.'

'She's a great woman.'

'She's cool'

'We can't talk to each other until the finale.'

'I’m looking forward to seeing her at the finale. '

Coach paraphrase 'Finale is coming up in about a month.'

(It's more like 7 weeks, right? Show is days 18-21 right now?)

'We'll see what happens.'

Quotes Source

(They are each age 38, single, and have show biz aspirations/experience.)

Just Added CBS.com HQ Screen Caps: Everyone Bowling /Heroes eating their reward/drinking beer

Jeff Probst Blogs Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains

Boston Rob is gone. Russell is in charge. Or is he? Who really is in charge over at the Villains camp? Is it Russell? Is it Parvati? Is it Parvati and Danielle? Or is it truly a power trio of Russell, Parvati, and Danielle? Expect a battle for true leadership to emerge at some point because Parvati takes a back seat to nobody. Either way you slice it, the Villains are in trouble...more after the jump

CBS — April 08, 2010 — Coach becomes the first member of the jury when he is voted out and sent to Ponderosa where he feasts

CBS — April 08, 2010 — Coach explores Ponderosa and connects with the elements ( more Ponderosa videos after the jump

Coach taking Rupert out in Survivor: Heoes vs.Villains (S20)

I was not surprised that the Villains continue to eat themselves alive. According to Coach in one of the Ponderosa interviews, they have not eaten fish once in the 18 days he was with the Villains.

They (except probably Sandra who like Parvati has had her game on since Day 1--waiting to spring into action--which she did in this episode) have blindly followed Russell. Russell however, has no problem letting them all rot, if necessary. IMO, Russell may be a 'great strategist' but his ego will be his downfall. The true power left on Team Villains is Parvati. I think it is safe to say she'll make to the merge and then be more overt about the game she has "on" as in "Game on!"  People won't know what hit them until tribal is over and they are eating peanut butter-dipped Snickers in the van to Ponderosa.

CBS cameras keep tabs on the Ejectees, taping bits of conversations from Ponderosa. I'll try to get them up whenever it is feasible as the number of Castaways becoming Ejectees rises.

Jeff Probst says Parvati "spies." Does Probst mean Parvati goes around and listens in to conversations --as in spying on people? And she's never caught?!

I haven't seen all her seasons so I'm confused with that statement. I think she and her Black Widows Alliance put me off one of her one seasons and I quit it.

Heroes vs. Villains Episode 8 Photos Source

 

 

Basically, Sandra, Courtney, Danielle, and Parvati voted together, which would suggest that Russell is even less in control than he thought he was before. Had Russell voted for Coach, we’d still have all the evidence we need that Russell is not in control, despite the voices in his head that tell him that he is responsible for the tribe’s votes, the game, small children’s happiness and/or fear, and the earth’s rotation.

Whatever happened with the vote, Sandra is either in control or played Russell or both. Sandra endeared herself to me long ago, but I practically shrieked when she said, “Russell’s so stupid he ate that crap up,” adding that “he doesn’t know how to play this game.” Amen, amen. Russell said things like, “I have the power in this game. I send home who I want to send home,” but instead of getting all flame-faced over that like I do, Sandra used that to her advantage.

Realizing that Russell hates being played more than anything else, Sandra lied to him and convinced him that Coach was going to go after him—which wasn’t too far from the truth, since Coach wanted to have the testicles to vote against Russell last week but did not. That set Russell on the path to dumping Coach, and thus when Danielle approached him to suggest that it might make sense to vote off Courtney before she breaks apart, splinters, and gets into everyone’s eyes, Russell became enraged. “I don’t want to f**king talk to you,” he said. But he changed his mind a little while later, though Danielle also changed her’s, too. What? Obviously, the editors left something out in order to deceive us.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/survivor_heroes_vs_villains/2010_Apr_09_coach_out 

At Tribal Council, Jeff starts off with the Villains on their previous two boots, Tyson and Rob. He then throws Courtney under the bus by saying that she is obviously their weakest player. Courtney gets upset with Jeff and defends herself. She adds that she had nothing to do with booting off either Rob or Tyson. Coach thinks everyone is laughing at them right now. Courtney attacks Coach for his wanting to win the food reward more than immunity. Coach and she bicker over this. Parvati then acknowledges that it doesn’t matter, they would still be losing even with Tyson and Rob. She adds that The Merge is on everybody’s mind right now. Russell says his vote tonight will make the tribe more stronger and more trusting. Rrrrright! It’s time to vote. We see Courtney and Coach trade votes. Jeff gathers the ballots and starts counting them. It’s tied 3-3 when he reads the last vote. Coach is out, 4-3. Russell, Parvati and Sandra sent the Dragonslayer packing. Jerri and Danielle are now the new outsiders. Jeff tells Coach he will be the first Jury member. He then tells the rest that, “The problem with trust is you don’t know it’s gone till it’s too late.” LOL! SPOILERS: We are first shown a series of the dumbest moves in Survivor history. Then, we see JT plotting with the Heroes to give Russell their hidden immunity idol to protect him from the big, bad women Villains. Seriously, this is like “WHEEL OF FISH” stupid!!!

Read the entire article at: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978161356

When going through a mud pit obstacle immunity challenge the Heroes Tribe made it look so easy it was as if they were on a whole different plane of competition. Courtney sucked enough and hurt herself just a little adding in a wrinkle that made Danielle want her out of the game. So for those following all of this without a score card, at the end of the immunity challenge the tribes stood here:

* Heroes – 4 straight challenge wins and team immunity intact
* Russell Hantz wants coach gone because Coach tried to think and he wants to make the Heroes think there is an all-girl-alliance.
* Danielle wants Courtney gone
 * Coach wants Russell gone but will vote out Courtney
* Sandra proves to be useless at everything but telling lies
* Parvati wants Coach to go home
*Jeri wants Russell to go home
* The villains tell each other so many lies they don’t even know what their alliance is
* Russell looks like an even more animated Hobbit on crack fighting with Danielle and pissing her off
* The villains without Boston Rob are a total mess

As the villains got ready to go to tribal council nobody could seem to make up their mind who was to be voted for. Jeff Probst pointed out at tribal council that with Boston Rob who was dominating the challenges gone and someone like – oh say – Courtney who is basically useless unless you need someone to bitch and like bag of bones, that the tribe shot themselves in the foot and set themselves up to fail. He was correct in doing so because as they seemed to almost catch on they proved nothing more than they are collectively as dumb as a bag of hammers.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.helium.com/items/1798904-survivor-april-8-2010-what-happened-and-who-got-voted-off-survivor-week-8

True Blood's Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin Talk Courtship on Set, The Sock, The Patch, Magpies and Scary-big Nipples

Stephen Moyer Q &A's

On having an on/off screen relationship with Anna, he says,

“Our relationship obviously started at the beginning of the show. We got together because we loved being together and created the thing in the first place. So I think this might be easier because the crew has grown up with us, watching us as a couple and we feel comfortable with them. So, we are able in some ways to explore an intimacy which maybe some people aren’t able to."

Photo credit: HBO

To was it love at first sight?, Moyer replies

"we both were absolutely single and we were doing this job and HBO puts us in the same hotel. We were the only two out-of-towners as everybody else lived in LA.

.. we just had some time off so we started hanging out together and literally finished the pilot, went home and felt very strange not being together suddenly. And I think we were both really surprised about that. Really nicely surprised by that."

Are you comfortable with all the racy scenes? Happy with your sock?

I love the sock! Everyone has got a different size sock, as you can imagine.

What size is yours?

I veer medium to extra large. No, it’s very funny, they brought in a selection of socks to try on and I don’t know whether they were doing it very sweetly, the costume department, like they brought in an extra-small one so that you feel really good. But I wasn’t the extra small which was very gratifying for me.

About True Blood's sexy scenes:

I like the fact that sex is shown in our show, I like the fact it is shown to be true. We show lustful sex, we show loving sex, and then my character does the loving and lustful sex. We’re in a society where it’s ok at 7 o’clock in the evening to see 200 terrorists gunned down by Jack Bauer [on 24], but we can’t see one female nipple unless it’s on cable network and I think that’s ridiculous.

 

People are scared of nipples?

They can be quite scary can’t they? Especially of the very big ones that look like dustbin lids. But I’m very proud of our show, and that our show embraces it. It’s not a problem for me at all.

Anna Paquin interview Q & A's

How’s life as a blonde?

It’s very high maintenance.

It must be...

Yeah it turns out my hair grows really fast and I have really dark hair naturally so, you know, this even the tiniest bit of roots, not okay. But now that we’re wrapped it’s okay because I’m not suppose to look like a natural blonde but not really a fan for sitting still for the hairdresser once every ten days for a couple hours. Makes me feel really vain and nutty.

...people stare at blonde girls. It’s funny. It’s bright and shiny and it catches the light. Like a magpie. - ANNA

How is it working with your fiancé Stephen Moyer?

He’s great. He’s really talented, and so is every other member of our cast and crew and writing staff and directors I mean, we have, we have such an amazing group of people and it’s a real treat.

Did you have any worries about doing the raunchy material?

I’ve done plenty of not particularly child-friendly work when I was less age-appropriate to do it. So maybe I’ve just never had conservative taste.

We keep hearing about the sock (to cover the male actors nudity)...

“I think they started calling it ‘the sock of destiny’ last season, I’m not entirely sure, I think that might have been a Ryan Kwanten coinage cause he was in little else for most of that season and if I’m not very much mistaken, I think he gave socks to all of the boys on the crew as a wrap gift...

But girls don’t have the sock. Girls have the patch.

The patch, is that glued?

No! (laughs) It’ s topstick, double-sided toupee tape.. .glue would be messy and awkward. Topstick is also awkward but less messy.

Yeah a "modesty patch," or just "the patch" or "the sock."

I think they started calling it ‘the sock of destiny’ last season...I think that might have been a Ryan Kwanten coinage cause he was in little else for most of that season...

http://nwonline.com.au

HBO to True Blood's Godric: RIP Seven Different Ways #trueblood #godric

In an effort to console fans of True Blood's "Godric," played by 20 year-old Danish actor, Allan Hyde, HBO has released a series of downloadable photographs styled to appear as memorial cards, each with quotes from the 2000 year-old vampire adjacent to a True Blood scene in which Godric appeared.

Really hard to know if these were planned prior to the huge fan response to Godric but it is probably a moot point as fans just love this kind of stuff. (I outta know!)

You can download them as a zip file, presumably to make it easier to share with  fellow Godric-loving Trubies.

Here is the page link on the HBO site for the 7 Godric memorial cards.

I've posted all seven Godric cards here as well. Click to embiggen them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One question. Why did they Photoshop Eric's bloody tears out? Or were they Photoshopped in for the episode?

True Blood 2XE2 - " Keep This Party Going " *Photos* *Quotes*

Hmm. Should I continue on my quest to be right about what happens next on True Blood? I said I would not go out on a limb again...but it's fun to guess so here's my halfway-educated guess about what happens next to Lafayette:

1. It's been spoiled that Lafayette drinks a lot of Eric's blood and in the TVGuide piece (below) Nelsan compares that to Sookie and her relationship with Eric. I'm sort of confusing the show and the Sookie Stackhouse books and it doesn't help that I'm in the middle of the most recent one ("Dead And Gone") so it may be that right now Eric's power over Sookie was because of his promise to "not kill humans" in exchange for her being "employed" by Eric to use her telepathic powers whenever he wishes. SPOILER: It's quite possible that Sookie will be drinking lots of Eric's blood, too.

2. So then, Lafayette is severely injured and Eric saves him with a "blood transfusion" which makes Lafayette indebted to Eric.

3. It's been stated that "someone" gets shot in Episode 2, "Keep This Party Going." I don't know how it would come to this but does Sookie shoot Lafayette?

Previous news on True Blood's Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette)

Sunday's True Blood premiere answered at least one burning question: Is Lafayette alive? Answer: Yes! Nobody is more surprised by this turn of events than Nelsan Ellis, the actor who plays Lafayette.

As a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse novel series, on which Alan Ball based the vampire drama for HBO, Ellis knew that Lafayette, Merlotte's wisecracking cook — and part-time pornographer/drug dealer — is totally dunzo after Book 1. When he arrived on set for the finale episode's table read, he prepared himself for the end. "I thought, this was fun, time to look for the next gig," he says.
But then... what's this? That painted toenail in the car didn't belong to Lafayette after all! "'You know we're not going to kill you, right?'" Ellis remembers Ball telling him. "And I was like, 'Noooo...'" Ball told the actor that he decided to keep Lafayette in the cast after shooting a scene between Ellis and Rutina Wesley, who plays Lafayette's cousin, Tara, in the pilot episode. Ellis and Wesley have combustive chemistry for sure, which Ellis attributes to their long friendship. (They attended Juilliard together in the early '00s.)

So now that Lafayette has been spared, what's next for the flamboyant entrepreneur?
When we last saw him, he was chained up in a dungeon watching a fellow prisoner get disemboweled by a very cranky Eric, his vampire captor. Ellis reveals that, this season, Lafayette's fate will be inextricably tied with that of the vampires, but that their relationship won't always be quite as adversarial. "[Lafayette] stays with the vampires basically throughout the season," he says. "I guess how deep down the rabbit hole he goes with Eric is the biggest teaser I can give."

"Eric makes people beholden to him," says Ellis. "He did it to Sookie, and now he does force Lafayette to work for him to repay him for something he's done for him."  Oh jeez, Lafayette isn't going to become a vampire, is he? Not any time soon, says Ellis. "I have a sneaking suspicion that, in the future, the vampires are going to learn to respect him and not mess with him," he says. "He's going to find a way to elevate his position with them. Lafayette is a survivor, so he's not going to stay in this scared state too long."

SOURCE:TV Guide

Below: more scenes from True Blood S2XE2 - "Keep This Party Going"

'Keep This Party Going"

Sookie is forced to babysit Jessica, as well as the romantic inconveniences the teen vampire’s presence creates. At the Light of Day leadership conference, Jason makes an impression on its ambitious leaders, Steve and Sarah Newlin. Maryann casts her spell on Merlotte’s patrons.

LOST Update - 6 NEW Sneak Peeks Videos - NEW E5X15 - Follow The Leader *Videos* SPOILERS*

Sharing the LOST Love - Just released, five NEW LOST sneak peeks--not quick scenes that go "flash" but whole dialogues! I usually write about LOST at The Love You Make but these are too juicy not to share. Enjoy. Namaste!

Sneak Peek #1 "Just who the bloody hell might you be?" (random Hostile with rifle addressing Jack after kicking him in the face)

Sneak Peek #2 "There's something different about you." (Richard) "I have a purpose now." (Locke)

Sneak Peek #3 "I remember meeting them all (Kate, Hurley Jack, Jin)...very clearly...because I watched them all die. (Richard Alpert to Sun)

Sneak Peek #4 "Everything we've been through--all of the misery--we just wipe it clean." (Jack) "It was not. all. misery." (Kate) "Enough of it was." (Jack)

Sneak Peek #5 "I need to know if you are from the future...Who is the president of the United States?" (Dr. Chang to Hurley) "Alright dude, we're from the future. Sorry." (Hurley)

Sneak Peek #6 "OK Jim. This is your last chance. You tell me where she is or so help me God, I will kill you." (Radzinski to a bound Sawyer referring to the video of Kate getting ready to cross the sonic fence.)

"I brought dinner." (John Locke to Richard Alpert)

Here's an interesting screen cap from a Sneak Peek vid from which I believe we are supposed to gather that the Season One-retro (undead) Locke is back to being the Great Hunter. Obv. Locke still has his handy-dandy knife. RIP that Naomi chick who parachuted in and later died at John's hand of knife-in-the-back syndrome.

Oprah Tweets in ALL CAPS - Shaq Tweets UR Caps R On - Hilarity Ensues

(Credit: Twitter)

Your first day on Twitter can be rough. Twittering's still a brand new thing to a lot of people, and a lot of people have Twitterfails. Nobody on Twitter on Friday, though, got as much attention as Oprah, who tweeted for the first time.

Sadly, her inaugural tweet was all in caps. Thankfully, Shaquille O'Neal was there to remind the talk show host that her caps were on. We'd like to congratulate Shaq for having Oprah's back. That's what Twitter friends do for each other. Credit CNET

John Lennon ~ Murdered at 40 on December 8, 1980 / 11.21.08 Update: Vatican Officially "Forgives" John Lennon For Jesus Joke

A Vatican newspaper has forgiven the late English singer John Lennon for saying four decades ago that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus.

In an article praising The Beatles, L'Osservatore Romano said Lennon had just been showing off.

Read the whole story here      

If Lennon were alive now he'd be 68! I think he'd have a pithy comment about this pardon.

BBC NEWS Charles Wheeler on the reaction to John Lennon's claim in 1966 (old-timey videotape)

I have a blog with a name that was in inspired by the Beatles song The End from the last line--though  to my dismay it seems that it was a McCartney song with little input from Lennon though as usual, credit went to both: "Lennon-McCartney." I’d chosen it for my first WordPress blog after about 8 years with it for my email addy. The blog, which is about a year old is The Love You Make.

John Lennon was killed about a week after my 21st birthday–which sort of took the wind of that
milestone. It was years before I could listen to a song of his without thinking of how he died.

I wonder if his loved ones will ever be able to?

Source

The line “And, in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make” is essentially the Beatles closing statement. It is the last lyric on the last album they recorded. Let It Be was the last album they released, but it was recorded earlier. This contains the only drum solo Ringo ever performed. He hates solos and had to be persuaded to do it. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison took turns doing guitar solos. Each had a distinctive style which McCartney felt reflected their personalities. “Love You” is repeated 24 times. This starts over the end of “Carry That Weight.” It is the last song in a suite at the end of Abbey Road. This ends with a 30-piece orchestra.

 

How low will McCain go?

He can bite me. On second thought,eww.

I cannot believe that back when I was around 12, way back in the day, I respected John McCain as a Vietnam-war hero. He was among the very last, the longest-held captive of the North Vietnamese. Just for that fact alone, I gave great pause in considering whether at this stage in his life he would psychologically handle the pressures of growing old in the Oval Office. I watched him on the evening news probably ABC, as a just-released POW being greeted by some government guys in suits. McCain was still in his prison clothes, pajama-like, loose garb, But he isn't that guy now, hasn't been for years. John McCain never rose above his Vietnam heroics. He's just...done. *There's a 40% chance if he won that he would die in office. Palin as the US prez? Um, no.*

Battlestar Galactica, S409, "The Hub" Screen Caps, Quotes, Roslin-Adama Scene *SPOILERS*

Episode Name: The Hub
Episode Number: 409
Written by: Jane Espenson
Directed by: Paul Edwards
Original Air Date: 6/6/08 on SciFi Channel

Population: 39,673

Original US airdate June 2008 (Battlestar Wiki). The episode takes place concurrently with "Sine Qua Non"

Thanks for capping, creative muse!

Synopsis:

"Pursuing the Resurrection Hub at the whim of the Hybrid, a team of Viper pilots and Cylon rebels become uneasy collaborators as they formulate a battle plan to unbox the Threes and destroy Cylon resurrection forever. Meanwhile, Roslin and Baltar try desperately to communicate with the panicking Hybrid and Helo discovers a disturbing characteristic within one of the Eights."

There were only two big revelations in this episode. The first was made to Laura Roslin, where a hopped-up- on-morpha Baltar confesses his involvement in the destruction of The Colonies. For this she attempts to murder him.

The second revelation is that, according to the number Three, D'Anna, Roslin is not the final Cylon.

Number Three answering Laura Roslin's question:

D'Anna Biers: Suppose you've got some questions for me.

Roslin: Yes I do. I'd like to talk about the five Cylons in my fleet.

Biers: So you know about the Final Five?

Roslin: I know they're supposed to know the way to Earth.

Biers: But you don't know that you're one of them.

[Roslin freezes shocked]

Biers: [Bursting out laughing] Please your face! [Roslin looks relieved and smirks] Oh, it's ridiculous. No. Look, I'm not giving you any names. Not until I feel like I'm safe. 'Cause information is all I got, sweetie.

Picking up where the last events of "Guess What's Coming to Dinner" ended, Laura Roslin, Karl “Helo” Agathon, and Gaius Baltar are brought before the rebel Cylon basestar's Hybrid. After a Number Eight reconnects the basestar’s Hybrid, it unexpectedly jumps the ship.

During the jump, Laura Roslin finds herself in empty corridors of the Galactica. As she looks around, the deceased priestess Elosha appears behind her. They hug, but the vision stops at the moment the jump completes with Laura finding herself back in the Hybrid's room.

Roslin asks questions about the Hybrid's abilities as the Eight tries to get information from the data-font, but the Hybrid jumps the ship again (and again and again), and Roslin finds herself yet again in the company of Elosha on the empty Galactica.

The two end up in sickbay where they find the sole patient–Laura Roslin--near death.

The Eight determines that the Hybrid is "panicking" due to Natalie’s injury or death. Gaius Baltar tries to calm her claiming that the Hybrid “likes” him, but after a few moments, the Hybrid jumps again. Roslin's vision continues, and she sees Kara Thrace, Doc Cottle, and Bill and Lee Adama standing over her death bed.

Elosha speaks to the dying Roslin, chastising her for her lack of empathy.

Roslin and Baltar attempt to...

talk to the Hybrid about the Opera House vision. Neither meets with success.

The Eight tells Helo that the Hybrid is following the Resurrection Hub and discusses an attack strategy with him.

On the Resurrection Hub, a Three, D'Anna Biers, is awakened by Cavil (#1) and Boomer whom Cavil refers to as his "Pet Eight."


They tell her of the Cylon Civil War and appeal to her to help through her knowledge of the Final Five.

Three makes a disparaging remark about the Eights' , capriciousness, commenting on Cavil's pronouncement about the Eight model's tendency to be "passionate allies"-- "until they see something shiny."



Three snapping Cavil's neck.







In the basestar hangar, Helo and an Eight give a mission briefing to a number of Sixes, Eights and Colonial pilots. Several pilots, including "Redwing" McKay and "Gonzo" Pike, express concerns about their safety and the reliability of the Cylon pilots.



A Six retorts that the rebel pilots are just as well trained as the humans, and the Eight reminds them that they learned to trust Athena, so they can also trust their rebel allies.



After a jump, Baltar begins talking to a Centurian about hierarchy and religion, asserting that the Centurion is loved by God as well. Soon after, they are both blown up.

 



On the Resurrection Hub, Boomer comments with alarm on the arrival of the rebel basestar. Cavil tries to convince Number Three to talk to the rebels and defuse the conflict, but she replies curtly and threatens to "shout out the names" of the Final Five.
 

Boomer reports that the rebel basestar has launched 25 Heavy Raiders. Outside the Hub, the Heavy Raiders release the Vipers they have been towing behind them. The Raiders attack defending basestars, while the Vipers head towards the Hub.
 


Cavil deduces that the rebels are attempting to destroy the Hub... and that would make death permanent for Cylons. On hearing this Three breaks Cavil's neck and Boomer flees.



Missiles take out the FTL drive on the Hub. Helo and the Eight head towards the Hub in a Raptor. On the Hub, they encounter the D'Anna Biers and the dead Cavil.

  
Baltar continues to to blather on about Centurian rights, but as the basestar is hit by a missile salvo, the explosion destroys the Centurion and seriously injures Baltar.




Baltar is carried to a bed by two Marines while Roslin carries in a medkit. Roslin orders them out, bandaging Baltar and injecting him with morpha. In his drug-addled state Baltar talks to Roslin about religion, telling her that he once harbored terrible guilt....he tells Roslin that he unwittingly gave the Cylons the access codes prior to the fall of the Twelve Colonies.

Shocked by Baltar's confession, Roslin tries to kill Baltar by removing his bandages. As he loses blood he repeatedly begs her to stop.
 





Helo announces that he has D'Anna Biers and orders a nuclear strike on the Hub. The Vipers fire nuclear missiles into the Hub, destroying it and at least one of the two enemy basestars.

Quote:

D'Anna Biers: And with a whimper, every Cylon in the universe begins to die.

Number Eight: Yes, that's right, and it's a good thing, D'Anna, because now there's no difference. We can all start trusting each other.



Baltar continues to beg for his life.

There is another jump. In Roslin's vision, William Adama stands over a dying Roslin, while Roslin and Elosha watch them.

Quote:

In Roslin's vision, as Roslin and Elosha watch Adama stand over a dying Roslin:

Elosha: I'm not saying Baltar's done more good than harm in the universe; he hasn't. The thing is, the harder it is to recognize someone's right to draw a breath, the more crucial it is. If humanity is going to prove itself worthy of surviving, it can't do it on a case by case basis. A bad man feels his death just as keenly as a good man.

Believing that by saving Baltar she'd save humanity, Laura desperately checks to see if  he's still breathing. Finding Baltar still alive, Roslin starts to re-bandage him.









Helo brings D'Anna to Roslin... When asked about the Final Five, she jokes that Laura Roslin is one of them--->provoking this reaction from Roslin:

...upon finding out that Three was "just kidding."
 D'anna refuses to provide any information until she feels she is safe; the information being the only thing she has now that she is the only Three left in the universe. She also appears to have a really bad headache.



She says she will tell Roslin who the Final Five are after she is taken back to the human Fleet.


Later, Roslin sits alone listening to the Hybrid. As the Hybrid jumps she has a final encounter with the dead priestess, Elosha.

Admiral Adama's risky strategy of waiting alone for the basestar to rendezvous pays off as he sees the basestar jumping in. In the landing bay, he meets Laura Roslin.

Quote:

Roslin and Adama tenderly greeting each other on the basestar's hangar deck:

Adama: Missed you.

Roslin: Me too.

Roslin [Embracing Adama]: I love you.

Adama [Breaking the embrace; looks into her eyes]: About time.


They (finally!) embrace.

 
Thoughts:

The whole Laura and Bill scene was so satisfying. Despite all the other heavy action going on this scene grabbed me the most by far. Two stellar actors playing out the moment we've (they've?) been waiting for for years.

It was beautifully done--except
Rant/ why did we have to have the stoopid nod to Star-stoopid-Wars and Adama not returning Laura's "I love you"??? She's on the verge of death, people! Unspoken words are not going to cut it. Haven't you heard about "saying" the words?" Laura had to have that hammered into her thick head by a dead person. What does Bill need?!
Why do the fanboy showrunners not know how to write a decent love scene??? This has frustrated me to no end and in this scene I was satisfied in part just because they have given us so little to hold onto with these two that this made up for all the scenes we got cheated out of./end rant

Lucy Lawless was flawless ;) as D'Anna Biers. She just eats up every scene she's in. Funny, cynical, strong, and vicious--D'Anna is all of these and more.

Quotes of the Day

The only thing that sustains one through life is the consciousness of the immense inferiority of everybody else, and this is a feeling that I have always cultivated.
  - Oscar Wilde

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
  - Herm Albright

I love all three! Partly because I'd heard all three before and liked them! I have to post them.

Clare Booth Luce's quote is really hard to illustrate. One woudn't think so...I found this on :ahem: Google, page 8. :shrug:

No good deed goes unpunished.
  - Clare Booth Luce

Man, I rarely look at Cheney and now I do, wow! he has really grown into an Old Man now, hasn't he? Bastard. Old Bastard. Heh.

Quotes~ Mike Myers, Nietzsche, Dick Clark

My theory is that all of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare.
-    Mike Myers












A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions--as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.
  -  Friedrich Nietzsche

Humor is always based on a modicum of truth. Have you ever heard a joke about a father-in-law?
  -  Dick Clark

I think this is about as random, as my younger son would call it, of a selection of author's quotes I could find. I like 'em all but having a last name (I still legally use the one I was born with) that begins with "McC" is a large clue to which one caught my eye.

Art/Life/Love Quotes

Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love. ~Claude Monet

Life is our greatest possession and love its greatest affirmation. ~Leo Buscaglia

Delicious Ambiguity, Self: 48

 

Space is big/Santa Claus Parade 1926

Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
  - Douglas Adams

There's a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause.
  - PJ O'Rourke

Even if they've come to see... The Santa Claus Parade?

(right) Overhead View of Crowd Scene
Eaton's Santa Claus Parade, Toronto, 1926
Black and white print
Reference Code: F 229-308-0-807
Archives of Ontario, I0020435

A little butterfly in Panama...

"The whole questioning about Chinese goods began in Panama with our deaths. A little butterfly in Panama beat her wings and created a storm in China." By DR. JORGE MOTTA, of Panama City, referring to 138 Panamanians killed last year by cough syrup containing a poison made in China.

With a new revelation almost every day about unsafe products from China it's sort of difficult to avoid discussing the situation.

I'm not much on conspiracy theories but I have to wonder if the United States isn't "helping along" the  ever-snowballing-into-an-avalanche of  bad news for the Chinese. As we've moved into the 21st Century we've been reading about China's desire to leave behind it's second-world status using cheap, heavily polluting coal mines to power this drive even whilst making their citizens sick with breathing  and eye problems and worse probably, in the not-far-off future. And there seemed that there was nothing we could do to stop or even slow down this behemoth poised to take our place as world leader sometime this century.

Now it all seems to be falling like a gigantic house of cards.

I completely disagree with this.

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
  - Stephen King

I'll go a step further: I think much of his writing reflects this even though I do think he's conceived some great stories.

He's just not a great writer.  And that's okay.

King books or stories/films I like:

I'm not sure if the book "Carrie" was any good and the same goes for "The Shining." They've both had such exposure that I may be getting my film "wires crossed" on them. Still, both stories were good.

But then there's the bad, the unreadible even. I'll put up a few of my not- favourite King books when I come back and edit this. At some point. la. la la.

Annie Leibovitz: 0 Queen Elizabeth:1

BBC Six News reports BBC apology to HM Queen

clipped from www.tmz.com

Like a queen probably should, Queen Elizabeth was not amused when photographer Annie Leibovitz asked her to doff her tiara. But, contrary to reports, the monarch did not storm off the photo set in a royal huff.
BBC cameras caught Queen Elizabeth in a rather uncharacteristic moment of pique while being shot by Leibovitz for a portrait. The famed photog suggested that QE2 take off her tiara because the shot would be "less dressy" without it, slightly absurd given that her majesty was already wearing layers of elaborate robes.

"Less dressy? What do you think this is?" snaps the Queen, referring to her Garter robe.

This clip reminded me of what a spot on job Helen Mirren did as The Queen . lol
I've follwed Annie L's work since I was a teen and I agree with the assertion that she may be one of the world's best living photographers.
See?:

In A Nutshell...

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.
  - WH Auden

"Mom, maybe you should avoid making obscure cultural references to Dad's family."

The birthday boy's name is Trevor and I couldn't help having the tune Magical Trevor going through my head and the term Magical Trevor cross my lips a time or two.

My 14 y.o. son's comment on this?

"Mom, maybe you should avoid making obscure cultural references to Dad's family."

What's one of your favorite quotes?

      

Submitted by Georgie-boy. 

A lot of my audience are in their 50s. But they want me to pretend to continue to be pretending.
Pete Townshend

...which was pretty much what he said last night after performing the song My Generation. Townshend said that My Generation, no matter where The Who perform it around the world, is the audience's favourite song. He's mystified by that he said--the song is 40 years old. I think though that he was just being polite as much of his audience is in their fifties...they just want to pretend not to be...if only for a couple of hours.

The show was fantastic, btw. I'd not realized what a great, self-depreciating sense of humour Pete Townshend has (lead singer Roger Daltry seemed content to let Pete do all the talking). It was also exceptionally staged--lots and lots of flashy, clever, & nostalgic visuals.
Each band member was nothing less than stellar. Daltry's voice is a bit raspy in spots but he still has the energy and physique of a man half his age. It was a kick to see Ringo Starr's kid Zak on drums. He's probably better than his dad technically though Ringo seemed to have more fun. Zak took the job seriously (though I don't fault him at all for that--the ghost of Keith Moon--who Pete mentioned at least twice, looms large). Pete's little (half) bro Simon did a very nice job on guitar and backing vocals. John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards played beautifully though I wasn't surprised given that he's been in great demand by top-notch bands for decades. Pino Palladino was on bass.
I was surprised though at how often Roger brought out the acoustic guitar. Pretty cool. And of course there was Pete--the heart of the band in every manner of the word. I'm really a Pete Townshend fan versus The Who but since he wrote pretty much all the material I was okay with not hearing any of his solo stuff. And with a history as a band spanning 40 years The Who have a lot of great material so all-in-all an unforgettable evening.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"It's not that we 'could be' the weaker sex - we are the weaker sex. Even when men and women have the same disease, we often find that men are more likely to die."
DR. ROBERT TAN,   geriatrics specialist in Houston.

This is just more evidence supporting conclusions that were drawn long ago. Ashley Montague's The Natural Superiority Of Women, written in the 1960's cited reams of science from an anthropologic/sociologist viewpoint that made such a conclusion seem like one everyone would agree with.
Didn't happen. It's heartening that they are still trying.

I find it fascinating that there's such reisistance to the acceptance that women were built to last longer than men.

Thought for the day

Current mood: contemplative Never wear anything that panics the cat. ~ P.J. O'Rourke

Quote of the Day

 "They say there is a peace, but yesterday they kill us. They always say peace is coming. But we are still waiting."
  AISHA ADAM MOUSSA,   of Darfur, Sudan.

Stating The Obvious

And the award for stating the blindingly obvious goes to...

QUOTATION OF THE DAY         
     "George Bush won the election. If you don't like it, you better win elections."
  RAHM EMANUEL,   Democratic representative from Illinois, on halting a conservative movement on the Supreme Court.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

   "I lost 10 family members, and of course that is not easy. But time goes by, and I will accept it. That's life and death."
  AZWAR HASAN,    a social worker in Aceh.

Barbara, Our Queen Grandmother

Link to full article: http://tinyurl.com/95qn7

I rarely read Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, but today I did and I thank him for the juicy quotes from King George's mother, the Queen Grandmother, Barbara Bush.

I never have warmed up to "Bar" as the senior Bush refers to her, maybe it's those ubiquitous pearls. During her tenure as Second Lady and then First, she dressed always like she believed herself royalty (sans the funny hats). What made me decide that I wouldn't ever try to like her was a little true-life anecdote written by Al Franken in which he described an encounter with Barbara Bush on a flight they shared. When she was done with the conversation she dismissed him like he was her staff or servant. And she had big guys backing her up.The woman does not travel light.

So here are some nuggets of wisdom from Barbara Bush in reference to the poor folks camped out in the Astrodome.

http://tinyurl.com/95qn7

While touring the Houston Astrodome, where thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees have been huddling, Barbara Bush said they didn't have it so bad because, heck, they were poor to begin with. "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas," she was quoted as saying in an interview on National Public Radio. Thousands of hurricane refugees were sitting on or near their green army cots, perhaps thinking of lunch, presumably waiting to be fed something hearty. Anything but cake.

"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," Barbara Bush said. And here comes the fastball over the middle of the Democratic plate: "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

 

"We have a finite number of troops..."

QUOTATION OF THE DAY         
    "We have a finite number of troops. But if you pull out of an area and don't leave security forces in it, all you're going to do is leave the door open for them to come back. This is what our lack of combat power has done to us throughout the country."
  MAJ. CHRIS KENNEDY,   on American efforts to subdue Tal Afar, Iraq.

Have you no sense of decency, sir?

ON THIS DAY                (from NYTimes.com)
On June 9, 1954, Army counsel Joseph N. Welch confronted Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy during the Senate-Army Hearings over McCarthy's attack on a member of Welch's law firm, Frederick G. Fisher. Said Welch: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"


The echo of words spoken in the past, resonate in the present.

"It may look like war but it's peacekeeping."

"It may look like war but it's peacekeeping."
~Lt. Gen. Babacar Gaye of Senegal, the force commander in Congo, of the largest and most robust of the 18 United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world.

http://tinyurl.com/c8wme

Quote of the Day

"It is difficult but you get used to it. It has become part of our daily lives. Just like eating, sleeping, there is bombing."
NABA S. HAMID, a professor at Baghdad University.

This just gets under my skin every single day. How in the name of...whomever can anyone say with a straight face that these people are better off now than before we invaded their country?

And don't even think about calling these flesh and blood and guts PEOPLE, "collateral damage."

"Since filming started, my wife has had cancer, my two kids became junkies, I went back to booze and smoking pot and then I died twice in a bike accident. Life's not all about money."

--Ozzy Osbourne in Us

"Glances At History"

To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, "Our country, right or wrong," and urge on the little war. Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation.
  - Mark Twain, "Glances at History," 1906

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"You know, a lot of people are dying around here. We got bigger things on our mind to worry about than who wants to be president."

PFC. SAMUEL DANIELS, in Iraq.

Dick Cheney's Scare Tactics/The Curse Of Dick Cheney

QUOTATIONS OF THE DAY (from NYTimes.com)

"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY

"Dick Cheney's scare tactics today crossed the line."
SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS

Want to know the enemy and how on earth he rose to being within a heartbeat of the presidency?
This Rolling Stone Magazine article gives a nice, succinct chronology of his ascension.

The Curse of Dick Cheney
The veep's career has been marred by one disaster after another

By T.D. ALLMAN

Should George W. Bush win this election, it will give him the distinction of being the first occupant of the White House to have survived naming Dick Cheney to a post in his administration.

The Cheney jinx first manifested itself at the presidential level back in 1969, when Richard Nixon appointed him to his first job in the executive branch. It surfaced again in 1975, when Gerald Ford made Cheney his chief of staff and then -- with Cheney's help -- lost the 1976 election. George H.W. Bush, having named Cheney secretary of defense, was defeated for re-election in 1992. The ever-canny Ronald Reagan was the only Republican president since Eisenhower who managed to serve two full terms. He is also the only one not to have appointed Dick Cheney to office. This pattern of misplaced confidence in Cheney, followed by disastrous results, runs throughout his life -- from his days as a dropout at Yale to the geopolitical chaos he has helped create in Baghdad. Once you get to know his history, the cycle becomes clear: First, Cheney impresses someone rich or powerful, who causes unearned wealth and power to be conferred on him. Then, when things go wrong, he blames others and moves on to a new situation even more advantageous to himself.

"Cheney's manner and authority of voice far outstrip his true abilities," says Chas Freeman, who served under Bush's father as ambassador to Saudi Arabia. "It was clear from the start that Bush required adult supervision -- but it turns out Cheney has even worse instincts. He does not understand that when you act recklessly, your mistakes will come back and bite you on the ass."

Cheney's record of mistakes begins in 1959, when Tom Stroock, a Republican politician-businessman in Casper, Wyoming, got Cheney, then a senior at Natrona County High School, a scholarship to Yale. "Dick was the all-American boy, in the top ten percent of his class," Stroock says. "He seemed a natural." But instead of triumphing, Cheney failed. "He spent his time partying with guys who loved football but weren't varsity quality," recalls Stephen Billings, an Episcopalian minister who roomed with him during Cheney's freshman (and only full) year at Yale. "His idea was, you didn't need to master the material," says his other roommate, Jacob Plotkin. "He passed one psych course without attending class or studying, and he was proud of that. But there are some things you can't bluff, and Dick reached a point where you couldn't recover."

Stupidity: The Basic Building Block Of The Universe

Pinched from this very neat, eclectic site.

Great Quotes:

Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.
~Frank Zappa

"I don't think all Americans are bad"

QUOTATION OF THE DAY ~ from NYTimes.com

"When Americans do these things, I don't think all Americans are bad. And if one Muslim is bad, it doesn't mean all Muslims are bad either."
HIDAYAT BIN ISMAIL, a 19-year-old Singaporean.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"The uncertainty is just killing us. It's like checking on a turkey in the oven 24 hours a day."
JOSH BLANCHETT, a National Guardsman in Iraq, on returning home.
~ From NYTimes.com

Standing on a Ship

I wonder if all the attention I am giving my dreams is like standing on a ship and studying the wake to see what I need to do now, while all the while the hole that is sinking the ship is right beside me.
~Hugh Prather
Love and Courage

Absolute Power Corrupts

'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men'. Lord Acton, in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887.