Oct

31

Regina Spektor’s “Real Love.”

Filed Under Music | 1 Comment

Expecting a Mary J.? So was I. But this Johnny-come-lately Beatles song will have to do.

Oct

31

Miranda July.

Filed Under Film, Print Media | 1 Comment

I have to admit, I was somewhat disappointed with Miranda July’s film Me and You and Everyone We Know. While at times devastatingly amusing and groundbreakingly odd, the only portion that truly resonated with me was the “in and out forever” IM story arc, and that only because it was so eerily touching, and because it coined a new emoticon. ))<>((

Which is why I was somewhat hesitant to dive into Ms. July’s No one belongs here more than you. collection of short stories. But after racing through the first few stories, I’m hooked. Definitely strange, simple slice of life stories, with a somewhat autobiographical feel (despite being written from the perspective of individuals of various ages and sexes). Sort of reminiscent of David Sedaris, in that they’re invariably laugh-out-loud funny, cleverly phrased, and contain mostly B-type personalities. Favorite of the first five? “The Man on the Stairs,” for its economy and use of just-heavy-enough metaphor.

Oct

30

Channel 101 Roundup (October 2007).

Filed Under Channel 101 | 3 Comments

[Note: as promised, this month's Roundup is twice as long as in prior months.]

The fifth installment of “Cautionary Tale of Swords” oozes with Halloween non sequiturs, a lovely “Japanese ghost” visual, the word “cunt” as a plot device, and a qualified return to the program’s original format. The “Tales from the Crypt” structure works well, and the effects appropriately hit the competent spooky B-movie level target. A negative shout out to this reviewer made an appearance, with brevity its predecessor lacked. Upshot? “Swords” is back in my good graces. B+

Newcomer “The Forgotten Classics” exhibits Ryan Nagata’s technical abilities quite nicely, recreating a fairly faithful Night of the Living Dead parody at its core. The show’s format of airing unknown classic films has potential, and Jeff Davis makes for a likable host. But something was a bit off about the debut. Maybe it was because the “races” represented were “redneck Jew,” “black,” “woman,” and “homosexual,” but something about this piece reminded me of the sort of obvious and not very funny comedy-by-committee frequently seen in poorly conceived Fox pilots that never seem to last until Spring. B-

“I am take her to moon base for to rape her!” Another first timer, “Return to Supermans,” gets the bulk of its laughs by way of badly translated, and frequently inconsistent, subtitles. With extremely cheesy effects, an awful lot of incongruent plot points and stock footage, this Superman send-up is pretty damned good. Especially great? Using a variation on Green Lantern’s weakness in the form of scissors. A-

The actress playing Jill is a revelation in the latest “Stop It,” for hitting exactly the right notes in playing the over-emotional-yet-emotionally-stunted goth-witch girlfriend. Treating witchcraft as an addiction? Not quite as satisfying, from a story point of view. Especially given the intervention team consisted of the hotel staff. B-

Abed Gheith’s face in a panties drawer? Scariest image of the October lineup. Scariest image not included? Abed’s enormous giggly water babies, barely constrained by a pinky red bra. “Groove Fighters,” not established enough to tackle a Halloween-themed episode so early in its run, falters in episode two. The Pepa-pepper confusion is amusing. The double-time run-away of the henchmen works. But the premise seems to be drifting away, only to be replaced by campy, unsatisfying melodrama. C+

The second and final episode of “Vengeance” again contained kick ass fight scenes. The long term plot set up, incorporating Ace Daniels’ son as kidnappee, had potential, although the father-son relationship felt underdeveloped. B

“Murder Town” No. 4 has, on the plus side, an excellent new theme song, a great down-tempo Halloween-themed song, and Eddie Vedder. The plot and laugh frequency? Not so much. C+

Failed pilot “Mister Glasses” almost delivers exactly the sort of Mitch Magee-reiminagines-the-30s-meets-refamous-architect delicousness you’ve come to expect from that genre. Except that it doesn’t work. I kept expecting it to either turn into a superhero program (i.e. Architect Man) or get really, really odd. But instead, Mr. Magee seems to be extracting a very narrow vein from The Fountainhead, throwing in a little something for the kids, and calling it a day. D

“Eat My Shit” is another exhaustingly (faux?) ad-libbed program featuring Vatche Panos, Kelsey Abbott, and Justin Roiland. Rather than harp upon the disgusting premise and crappy execution of “Eat My Shit,” however, I’ll just be content that it won’t be returning. D-

Another animated stillborn, “Armsstrong,” brings up the rear this month, with a campy sitcomish premise and the pacing of a “Lucy Show” reject. Still, the kissing montage, now with lesbians, has to count for something. Doesn’t it? C-

Oct

28

Weekend update.

Filed Under Personal | 1 Comment

Attended a war protest in Seattle. Dined at the disappointing Stumbling Goat. Stopped by Casa de La Nina y El Nino’s for a pumpkin carving-related gathering, and was surprised by the presence of The Man, The Wife, and The Baby. Birdwatched and walked through Nisqually again. Scoped hotels re the wedding.

Oct

26

Colbert for President?

Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments

At one point when Doug Stanhope was still running for President, I tried to figure out why it is that I was seriously considering voting for him. He has no political experience. He says amazingly stupid things sometimes that, although very funny, would make for amazingly stupid policies. [Aside: I realize Mr. Stanhope may have more nuanced positions when not on stage, and this realization may have played a role.] But he’s not awful, in the way that essentially every mainstream politician is.

So now, with the news that Stephen Colbert is sort of running for President, I’m again sort of interested. What’s more, I’m not really interested in Colbert running a serious campaign. But I am interested in him running a real campaign, getting on the ballots for real, and really taking office at the end. A goof? Certainly. But perhaps exactly the sort of goof this country needs.

Oct

26

Taking Dan Harmon’s advice.

Filed Under Channel 101 | 6 Comments

Back in February, co-founder of Channel 101 Dan Harmon discussed at great length his opinions about the purpose of short film criticism in general, and my criticism in particular. In July, Mr. Harmon chimed in with another critique of my reviews. This week, we find Mr. Harmon again reviewing the Roundup. I feel so loved that the Dan Harmon has taken such an interest in my development as an amateur critic.

To demonstrate my gratitude toward Mr. Harmon’s well-meaning and helpful comments, I have decided to begin incorporating reviews of the entire month’s lineup, including the failed pilots, starting with the upcoming October Roundup. Thanks, Dan!

Oct

26

Insider directors.

Filed Under Law, Politics | 1 Comment

Ever wonder why major financial institutions (e.g. Citigroup, Morgan Stanley) have the same executives now as before the current housing crisis? Wonder why those executives’ compensation is so great if they’re not actually bearing any risk of being held accountable should the company falter? Answer: executives sit on the board of directors.

The board of directors generally has the task of hiring and firing high level executives (e.g. CEO, CFO, President), setting broad corporate policy, and other high minded tasks. Compare with Congress. The representational nature of the directors is apt; the shareholders are essentially powerless except re the election of the board, and the directors are supposed to be looking out for the shareholders’ interests, mostly by making the share price rise.

What happens, though, is that the corporate executives, who are supposed to implement the policies of the board, end up serving double duty. Compare with the President, his cabinet, and other Executive branch players serving in Congress, and representing a substantial portion of Congress’s numbers. What happens? The non-executive directors get their reports on how the company is doing from the executive directors, which may not be the most reliable source of information. The non-executive directors become buddy-buddy with the executive directors, and so may be less likely to view their job performances objectively. The executive directors vote for their own ideas, compromising a valuable system of checks and balances.

Suggestion: securities law should be updated to forbid executives from sitting on boards of directors in publicly traded companies. Certainly this solution is not a panacea; many executives are significant shareholders, and will vote cronies on to the boards that will not question their leadership. But the blatant and gross conflict of interest as it stands threatens to undermine the integrity of the corporate system as we know it, and allows poor decision-making to rule unchecked.

Oct

20

Progressive flat tax.

Filed Under Politics | 2 Comments

Want to know how to make a flat tax act progressive without mucking about with all those different tax rates? Easy. Set a tax rate that applies to everyone’s income of, say, 30%. Then give a large standard deduction of, say, $30,000.

Person A earns $20,000 per year. He pays at the 30% rate, because everyone does. But after the standard deduction, he earns $0. And 30% of $0 is 0. So a more helpful way of looking at the situation is to say he pays 0% of his income.

Person B earns $40,000 annually. He also pays at the 30% rate. But after the deduction, he’ll only have $10,000 of taxable income. 30% of $10,000 is $3000, or 7.5% of his income.

Person C earns $80,000 per year. His taxable income is $50,000. 30% of $50,000 is $15,000, or 18.75% of his income.

Person D earns $160,000 annually. His taxable income is $130,000. 30% of $130,000 is $39,000, or 24.37% of his income.

Person E earns $5,000,000 every year. His taxable income is $4,970,000. 30% of $4,970,000 is $1,491,000, or 29.82%.

Notice how no one is actually paying 30%, although the higher your income, the closer you get. The decidedly not wealthy (i.e. those with a gross annual income of $30,000 or less) end up paying nothing. Even the decidedly middle income Person C is paying less than 19% of his income. It’s only the diamond earners that really get hit at something approaching the actual rate.

Looks pretty progressive to me.

Oct

19

Seattle transit.

Filed Under Transportation | 2 Comments

Looks like Danny Westneat is solidly on board with the necessity of setting up some sort of passenger train system in Seattle. His latest column points out that, expensive as the Sound Transit’s light rail plan is, it is actually cost effective as compared to at least one other car-oriented transportation project currently under development. And that’s without including the sort of externalities (e.g. pollution) one usually has to reference to make upstart transit look cost effective. And without the “if you build it, they will come” sort of reasoning that justified the Los Angeles subway (which I believe has merit, but does require long term thinking). If Seattle botches this up, I may be forced to start studying for the Oregon Bar.

Oct

19

The Wire.

Filed Under Broadcast Media | 4 Comments

On the recommendation of damn near every television critic, and damn near no one I know, I’ve started watching Season 1 of “The Wire.” Damned if it isn’t one of the best programs ever created. Think “Homicide: Life on the Street,” but with HBO’s famously non-interventionist policies regarding taboos (e.g. language, sex, violence) and audience consideration (i.e. syndication inconsiderate story structure, use high brow and colloquial language, plot tangents that may run full seasons). Favorite bit so far (after having completed the first five episodes) is the “fuck” sequence toward the end of Episode 4 wherein McNulty and Moreland reexamine an old homicide scene, using nothing but variations on “fuck” (e.g. motherfucker, fucking a) to communicate for something like five minutes. Brilliant.

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