"Clarence, Clarence! I wanna go back!"

How many times have you seen "It's A Wonderful Life?"

But have you see the original trailer, the Alfred Hitchcock version, or the Bunny Parody in 30 seconds?

Here's a different take on the story. It's a Wonderful Internet is an interactive narrated storybook. When the narration ends explore evey page as hidden surprises abound!

Also, did you know that FBI Considered "It's A Wonderful Life" Communist Propaganda:

Perhaps the FBI was (and still is) correct when it said It's a Wonderful Life did not reflect American values.

Me, meme, mine...

Like chain letters and herpes, internet memes are the gift that keeps on giving. Now thanks to my distinguished Barbarian colleague, mrgumby2u, I've tagged with this meme:

- Find the nearest book
- Name the book
- The author
- Turn to page 123
- Go to the fifth sentence on the page
- Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
- Tag three more folks.

Well, here goes.

The nearest book* is Catilina's Riddle, by Steven Saylor (in hardcover).

"Political alliances are not always founded on hard logic, Gordianus. Sometimes they grow out of shared distress." He looked at me steadily, as if to to emphasize his words

.

A bit of background explanation is probably necessary. For many years I have been a big fan of the Marcus Didius Falco Series, by Lindsey Davis, about sleuthing set in Vespasian's Rome.

I rarely read mystery novels as I'm more inclinded towards historical fiction and sci-fi. But since I've read all 16 of Lindsey Davis' gum-shoe (tar-sandal?) novels published so far, I wanted to keep reading in the same genre and came across the Roma Sub Rosa Series. The investigations of Gordianus the Finder takes place during the last years of the Roman Republic, beginning with Sulla through the rise of Caesar.

If you love Roman history and/or mystery novels, I heartily recommend both of these series.

Now for 3 hapless bloggers on whom I bestow this gift of memus indestructibilis:

- Chuck Dupree
- Jackson West
- The Token Reader (who should back for the holidays)


*Which I just finished and it's now awaiting its return to the library.

The Power of Love

It's time for some Xmas music and I don't mean the canned crap playing overhead at the mall.

The Frankie Goes To Hollywood video below is quite a departure from their previous controversial hits like Relax and Two Tribes.

Enjoy.

The Fashion Sense of Barack Hussein Obama

Has anybody noticed that Obama dresses like Gaius Baltar?. Like the Baltar who became the enemy of mankind when he sided with the Cylons?







Potentially, Obama is sending us a secret message by the way he dresses that he wants to see us all exterminated just like in Battlestar Galactica.

Maybe he is the Antichrist, afterall...

(edited because the reference was too obscure)

As a Believer in Dog

This could truly be the End of Times - when cats take over the world!!!



(via everlasting blort)

He gets it, he really gets it...

A Bushism from today:

"The truth is a lot of reports in Washington aren't read by anybody. To show you how important this report is, I read it." -- Pres. Bush, on the ISG report.

A picture from yesterday.

Could be another Lincoln with thoughts he'd be thinkin'...

What if Bush were president in 1861?

Now that is funny.


(via The Daou Report)

An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

This may be more fun than silly string in the bedroom. Now there is a spray on condom product that goes From Liquid Rubber To Sweet Love in One Second:

A German firm has developed a spray-on condom for all your lifestyle needs. The liquid condom comes in an aerosol can that you spray onto the organ in question. A few seconds later, the liquid solidifies into the familiar latex and forms a tight seal. The company says it's a great time saver and is easier to use than traditional condoms.

The only thing I can't find out in all this hype is, "How do you get the damn stuff off?"

Desperately Searching for Consevative Humor

No such thing you say? Yet, watching them try is like watching a drunk cross an icy street. You really don't want to laugh but, c'mon, you know you will...

Check out the latest buzz, Funny Republican T-Shirts and Mentally Ill Bush Supporters.

There are a few buried gems there.

The Screwfly Solution: Masters of Horror

Last year I read the short story by Raccoona Sheldon, The Screwfly Solution, written way back in 1977, who also published under the macusline pen name James Tiptree Jr, about an epdemic where men inexplicbly start killing women.

As far as the short story goes, the clues are revealed slowly. The truth emerges in a series of correspodences between a husband and wife team of bio-engineers about the progress of anti-sex gene altered fly to combat the screwfly infestation in South America.

This falls upon the background of the rise of a new mysoginistic cult, The Sons of Adam, that are involved in a series of gruesome murders of women. The rhetoric of this cult is like a Cistercian commentary on how Eve is responsible for the fall of Man's grace from the Garden and must be punished.

The story sent shivers through me when I read it.

Finally you'll be able to see it. In this Masters of Horror series, they have reunited the team of Joe Dante and Sam Hamm (who helmed last year's Homecoming) to make the first cinematic version of this story. It will be shown on December 8, 9, 10 & 12. Check your local listings.

In this rendition Elliot Gould shines in a way to test your Gaydar and, finally, Jason Priestly is playing a role where he looks like an adult.

While they do service and capture the horror of the original story they do not fulfill the extreme viciousness and brutaltity of the original tale. But then it would never have been filmed, let alone shown on cable.

This is a must watch show as it raises questions about the origin of male on female violence and the future of the species.

Oh, did I forget to mention this is science fiction?

Update: Avedon Carol has a terrific Interview with Sam Hamm about scripting The Screwfly Solution

Army Ranger Buddies Rob Bank

A South of Tacoma Bank of Amercia branch was robbbed Aug. 7, by four well armed men,with military-like precision. They wore ski masks, had automatic rifles and soft body armor under their jackets.

They were in and out in 2 minutes and 21 seconds - almost qualifying for the FBI's 2 minute rule, a term coined by the FBI in a reference to the minimum arrival time for first responders to a robbery-in-progress.

What sound like a bad script for number of films I've seen, they originally planned to rob a casino, these caught-on-tape commadoes were all caught within days of the caper. Besides not being old enough to legally buy beer, there is something else sets apart these not-so-special forces, these Soldiers of Fortune:

Not that the case needs another strange twist, but the real reason for the BOA raid, the accused man insists, was to expose war crimes and other military secrets.

The team 'purposely' got caught, he says, so they could draw media attention and be assured of coverage when they eventually air their allegations in court. To avoid going to prison, he intends to present issues of national security that would be embarrassing to the Army and Bush administration, he claims. His tortured logic: To expose abuses, he first had to get public attention, hence the bank job.

'One of the people implicated in the robbery is a witness to rape and the murder of 16 people at a battlefield interrogation facility, which makes Abu Ghraib [prison] look like kindergarten,' said the accused man, who spoke at times in the third person and referred to 'hypotheticals' when discussing the heist so as not to directly admit any role.

'Another [accused robber] has electronic access to the locations of 65 CIA prisons around the world. Sixty-five! There's a lot of shit out there that has to get said.'

He wouldn't discuss why robbing a bank seemed the best way to expose such allegations, and didn't respond when asked if he had tried any other way to get the information out. He insisted he wasn't making it up as a last-ditch defense.(emphasis added)

This is one of the most unusual excuses for a crime I have ever heard of, however if their reason is true, surely there must be less demented ways of getting attention to their story.

What's stranger is the get-a-way driver was member of Pat Tillman's Batallion of Rangers and he used his own car. That kind of stupid can get someone killed.

Anyhow, it will interesting to see what develops from the follow up - if there is any.


(via Akkam's Razor)