Terri

Terri Schiavo dies [Guardian, W. Post]

I guess the Bible nuts will have to save their sanctity of life bullshit for some other ridiculous battle. I hope it’s over, anyway, if only for now. I’m tired of reading about it.

I’m not sure why this kind of thing gets to me so much. I guess what bothers me most of all is the spectacle of public and government involvement in such a private issue. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to make such a decision, to have to decide that your wife——or at least someone who was once your wife——should pass away, to finally let go. And then to have the government and a bunch of weak-minded fools try to tell you that you’re wrong, that she must live! For what? For God and Jesus and because we’re humans and we’re so fucking great that we can’t bear to see the lives of other humans come to an end? Not through some horrible act of violence, not through some great tragedy, but from nature. No, they’d rather hold on as long as possible, even to lives devoid of what makes life worth anything at all.

Oh, her poor parents. They didn’t want to lose their little girl. I can understand that and I don’t blame them. They could still talk to her and look at her and pretend that she was still Terri from before. It’s sad to think about and I feel for them, but it also kind of shows you how selfish people can be. They weren’t keeping Terri alive for Terri’s sake, fighting for her “right to life” as they say; they were keeping her alive because they weren’t ready or able to let her go.

And so what if she looked like she was smiling? Maybe she was showing you how unafraid she was to move on. Maybe she was trying to tell you that it’s ok to let go sometimes.

March 31, 2005 | Filed Under News & Politics | Leave a Comment 

River’s Edge

I finished watching River’s Edge last night. Holy shit, what a great movie. I’d never seen it before, despite hearing about it over the years. For instance, it was mentioned a lot in reviews of Bully when that movie came out. Guess I just kept forgetting about it.

Crispin Glover’s over-the-top performance as Layne is just amazing. He has so many awesome lines, I can’t even begin to pick one out. Besides, you won’t appreciate them without context and Glover’s delivery. It sort of reminds me of Jack Nicholson in The Shining. While they’re two very different characters, each of them have this awesome overblown delivery. Speaking of freakshows, Dennis Hopper as Feck is pretty good, too, with his sex doll girlfriend and his prosthetic leg. He has a few great/awful lines himself (e.g. “I used get so much pussy, my mustache looked like a glazed donut.”).

So now I’m obsessed with seeing Crispin Glover movies. At the top of my list is 2003’s Willard, a remake where he plays some guy into rats. Then there are these: Dead Man, Bartleby, Racing With The Moon (from 1984, w/Sean Penn and Nicholas Cage), and High School USA—a TV movie from 1983 starring Michael J. Fox and Todd Bridges.

Sadly, there a few very interesting Crispin-related titles which are not available. Does anyone know where I can find a bootleg of either of these:

The Orkly Kid
The Beaver Trilogy

March 30, 2005 | Filed Under Film | Leave a Comment 

Back to Grinding

Last week was the flu, this week it’s a cold. Next week, I hope to have only a headache.

Anyway, I tried posting this earlier but Blogger was being shitty today. Item!

Surprise!—Tom DeLay is an opportunistic hypocrite:
DeLay and Schiavo’s Dad Supported Their Own Parent’s Right to Die [DN!]

I’ll still take him over Michael:
Ex-US Diplomats Ask Congress to Block John Bolton [BBC]

Give it up, assholes:
Protesters at Capitol Hill as Schiavo has last rites [Guardian]

Because it still looks cool:
Why Are People Still Smoking? [W. Post]

All the Herb Alpert you could ever want:
Thrift Store Album Covers [via WMMNA]

Why such a large bitrate?:
David Byrne’s Internet Radio Station [via Boing Boing]

Outfox Right-wing Propaganda:
Block Fox News Channel [via Gizmodo]

March 29, 2005 | Filed Under News & Politics | Leave a Comment 

Burn Your Bridges

Why burn your bridges when you can blow your bridges up?

I’ve been enjoying M. Ward’s Transistor Radio, his fourth album, recently thanks to a friend’s recommendation. I’m not sure I’ve heard anything that pulls off old-timey American as successfully as this since another Merge Records release, Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over the Sea. Like that record, Transistor Radio sounds like summertime and is practically dripping with a classic sound. I find it hard not to like. See here and here for real reviews.

M. Ward “Fuel For Fire” [MP3]

Side note: This record also happens to represent another filesharing success story for my pals the at the RIAA. As I mentioned, a friend brought it up while we were talking music recently. The name stuck in my mind and I eventually downloaded the MP3s. I listened to the album for about a week before I decided I should get a hold of it. I found that Merge was offering a bundle of both Transistor Radio and M. Ward’s previous album, Transfiguration of Vincent, for a discounted price. What the hell, I thought, and decided to add a copy of The Clientele’s Lost Weekend EP. Merge threw in a sharp little album poster as well.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that M. Ward is currently on tour but is (of course) not playing here in DC. He is however playing in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 9th. So, if any of yous feels like driving me up there, you know, I wouldn’t be opposed or anything.

March 22, 2005 | Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment 

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