Neither War Nor Politics Nor Gossip, Yet, Of All

With so much going on in the world around us right now, it’s important to call attention to some of the less fantastic, less dramatic, less bloated headlines.

Film director, Robert Altman died today at the age of 81. He was/is one of my all-time favorite directors. The first film of his I saw was The Player towards the end of my high school years. The opening shot, a record breaking long take with swooping, shifting camera angles, was like a slap in the face. And if the opening shot was a sustained smack, then the rest of the film was like a boxing match. A pinnacle of storytelling, camera work and acting that gave my teenage self an entirely new perspective on filmmaking.

If you haven’t seen any of his films, well, get to it. Here’s my top five (in order of release date):

1) M*A*S*H
2) Nashville
3) The Player
4) Short Cuts
5) Gosford Park

The Party Expands

As I continue to reassess what this blog should be all about, if exist at all, why not glide on over to Ed Ballinger's band new, squeaky clean, I Should Care Less.

Fun fact about Ed: He like to put Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream in his underpants and head out on the dance floor to do the Electric Slide. You didn't hear it from me though.

News Alert!

This just in:

FOX NEWS FUNDS TERRORISTS TO THE TUNE OF TWO MIL.

Number One Son, Heed This Ancient Parable

The following was grabbed part and parcel from Billmon's Whiskey Bar blog. I think it sums up the situation nicely, don't you?

What the Dems are saying:

Pelosi praised "the beauty and genius of our democracy," and thanked voters for giving Democrats the chance to lead.

"Democrats pledge civility and bipartisanship in conduct of the work here," she said, calling for "partnerships … not partisanship."

What the Dems are actually thinking:

MARSELLUS: Step aside, Butch.

Butch steps aside, revealing Marsellus standing behind him, holding a pump-action shotgun. KABOOM!!!!

Zed is blasted in the groin. Down he goes, screaming in agony. Marsellus, looking down at his whimpering rapist, ejects the used shotgun shell.

BUTCH: You okay?

MARSELLUS: Naw man. I'm pretty fuckin' far from okay.

BUTCH: What now?

MARSELLUS: What now? Well let me tell you what
now. I'm gonna call a couple pipe-hittin' niggas, who'll go to work on homes here with a pair of pliers and a blow torch. (to Zed) You hear me talkin' hillbilly boy?! I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'm gonna git medieval on your ass!

--Quentin TarantinoPulp Fiction.

Again, this was lifted from the always wild and wooley, Billmon's Whiskey Bar. Borrowed sentiment to be sure, but borrowed with love.

Post 201 - Who Will Lead Them?

Wowee Zowee, what a night. Was up till well past three savoring the spectacle. And catching GOP pundits and Fox News all red-faced and pissy while calling so damn many races for the Dems was sheer political porn. It was H-O-T.

All in all, a great night for me, for the American Left, for all of America, for the world. It's wildly encouraging to see the American public put their foot down. Yea, a couple years too late, but hell. Better late than never, I guess. As I read somewhere last night, "Subpoena Powers: Active!!!"

Last night's victory drink: Trader Joe's carbonated blueberry juice and a splash of 100% cranberry juice over vodka.

Last night's victory dinner: Truffles on soft-boiled eggs with shaved parmesean and brown butter.

Last night's hero: The American public. Wow. Not even the GOP's fiendish shenanigans could sully the upsets. Hoo-rah!

Last night's zero: Joe Lieberman. Sucked in enough Republican votes to down Ned Lamont by a good 10% margin. And the way things look to be shaking out, he'll be the deciding vote in a tied senate. Ugh.... let's hope payback aint quite the bitch it's said to be.

Ok.... now I'm late for work. But I will say that a hangover never felt so good.

**UPDATE**
The flight's not over!!! Glenn Greenwald explains the day after in "The Great Victory - crushing the developing myths." Read it now!!!

200th Post!!! - Now Go Vote!!!

Champagne, confetti, horns and those little things you whip around that make a noise like a spine realignment-- for everyone!!! It's the 200th post on Finish My Wine dot Com!!!!

Woo hoo!!!

Ok, here's a broom and a trash bag. Clean up and then go vote if you haven't already. If you have, I think I saw a dude stashing a few beers in the lettuce drawer of the fridge. Grab me one, cuz I done voted already.

Continuing election coverage:

*CSPAN*

*CNN*

*Crooks and Liars*

*Huffington Post*

*Alternet*

**UPDATE**
Check out Gore Vidal's ‘The Most Important Election in My Lifetime’
Check out Glenn Greenwald's "Tradesport predictions and other election matters "

A Good Time To Look Forward

Yea, yea… not much posting lately. As I approached (and still do... this is #199) the 200th entry for Finish My Wine dot Com, Michael Benton from the blog, Dialogic, invited me (and you and everyone else) to participate in an upcomming issue of Reconstruction, an online cultural studies magazine. The issue will be about blogging and Michael wants writers from across the blogosphere to pen entries about their motivations behind blogging and any ideas on the theory and practice of blogging.

It sounds like a great project. A diverse blogging public checking in with their take on the hobby/job/obsession… It couldn’t be a more relevant topic these days as the number of blogs on the internet continues to explode (over 55 million to date!). However, there’s been little discussion as to what they mean to those who create them and those who frequent them. And there’s certainly been no effort to centralize the discussion.

So, I was digging around in the ol’ headspace in a effort to come up with an angle for why I started this blog-thing and why I continue to do it. And that’s where I hit a wall.

I’m just not sure if I’ve got much to offer at this point beyond foot-stomping political posts and link-heavy traffic-cop type posts. Work’s become severely encompassing and my rush hour creative energies, as feeble as they may be, have begun to turn elsewhere. There just doesn’t seem to be any point to keeping this up right now beyond sheer vanity… And anyone who’s known me for more than ten minutes can attest to my contempt for that particular deadly sin.

So… no determinations at this point. Just questions. We’ll see what happens.

Buuuuuuuut seeing as I’m taking the time to write all this, I may as well toss in some political snark, right?

I’m fairly politick’d out right now. The local TV ads for the mid-term seats have been wildly entertaining.. if only because to think of them in any other way would quickly become wildly depressing. And the Rove-ster’s October November surprise… wow. Hussein sentenced to hang just days before the American elections. Gee. Transparent AND irrelevant.

It’s like the GOP has so little to offer that even their whoppers have that stale fart smell about them. The kind you catch a wiff of in hospitals or, more appropriately, in funeral homes. It’s the smell of decomposition. The slow and inevitable march towards the grave taken step by step, cell by cell, microbe by microbe.

But who knows. With all the GOP election-day shenanigans poised to reappear this year, one can’t be too sure of exactly which way the shit will fly after it hits the fan. Really, the only thing you can count on right now is that, win or lose, the GOP and the Fox-ite zombie army are already figuring ways to blame the ills of the next two years on the still powerless Democrats and those rotten American traitors, the “liberals.”

Topical Post

There's something about people dressing up their pets that just cracks me up. So, in observance of this Halloween Holiday, I pass on to you these links sent to me from Mrs. Delano III.

Take your pick, Halloween Dogs and Halloween Cats.

All hail the Principia Absurdia!

The Omen: Part IV -- The Jitters

Well, Ill be dipped in shit. What do think this is a picture of?

A hint: Haloween aint the only thing scaring some folks right now.

Wonkette's got the answer.

Playa-Participata

The Rude Pundit pulled out an ice cold bottle of vodka for the president’s limp, uninspiring speech the other day. He clocked in with comments between frosty shots.

My favorites:

10:38 - Already bored. The Rude Pundit's thinking of the most frightening Halloween costume he could wear. Maybe it'll be a zombie Rush Limbaugh gnawing on Michael J. Fox's brain. Nah. Too much padding.

10:44 - Bush ain't "satisfied" with the situation in Iraq. Umm, gee, motherfucker, didn't you put that souffle' in the oven? If it doesn't rise, it ain't our fault.

10:49 - Oh, fuck, he's giving that creepy squint-smile. And he's off - acting like a phone psychic, predicting what people of the future will say about us. Apparently, "My mommy was blown-up in a worthless war" is not one of those things. Nor is "Boy, I'm glad we stopped using gasoline cars."

11:25 - Wonder if that burrito place is open for lunch? A burrito'd soak up all this vodka.

For the whole enchilada, er, burrito, read Live Vodka-Shot Blogging the President's News Conference.

Q4 - It's All Downhill From Here

Calamities, fiascos, and clusterfucks rule these days. I peer out from behind my mountain of paperwork and dream of a match, a match, my kingdom for a match. And I'd skip and spin down the stairs and out to door but not before watching it all catch and start to glow.

Despite the election fast approaching, I’m feeling way, way burned out on politics. Or maybe I’m just coming down with a cold… or maybe both. Anyway, for whatever reason, I aint exactly feelin’ it right now.

So, allow some of my friends to do the heavy lifting today:

*Rollie St. Bacon rolls the bones and comes up Carter. Though, if you prefer a little less milk in your coffee but are still in that 70’s frame of mind, dig his column on the day that rock and roll really died. And if rock and roll aint yr bag… Oh! Baby! You need to get out more. Maybe take a ride in a shagadellic make-out mobile.

*Mrotzie invites us along on her Roman holiday where her and her beau introduce pancakes to unsuspecting Italian villagers.

*Melissa in Ecuador keeps bringing it with stories and pics so spot on, you'd swear it was you that's been knee-deep in unruly mountain children and interesting cuisine.

*Bad News Hughes continues his zany adventure into the heart of darkness, AKA his own twisted life.

*And if all that readin’s got yer eyeballs a scortchin’ and a scratchin’, Ms. BeBe Gun’s got some excellent works of visual acuity for you to gander at.

*And finally, if all that sittin’ and starin’ at the screen’s got you ancy for some shopping, dig on Joanna Ballinger’s Red Attic handbag emporium. Do I need to remind you that them holidays are right around the corner?

Monkey Trouble

WFMU’s Beware of the Blog points us in the direction of the Best Damn Monkey Portraits Ever. As your doctor, I’d advise you have a look.

Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight

So Yahoo’s having an email Q & A forum with MoveOn.org’s director, Eli Pariser. Users can add a question to a long list sent in by readers. Apparently Yahoo, moderator Judy Woodruff and Pariser will pick out their favorites for him to answer in an upcoming column.

That’s all fine and good, I guess. MoveOn is a decent organization who, from what I’ve seen through my own involvement with them, are trying (and succeeding) to connect people of similar political persuasions. They aim, at the very least, to educate and if they can make an activist or donator out of participants, they’ll gladly do so.

That they’ve become downright demonized in the right wing media is sheer testimony as to how effective they’ve become at raising both consciousness and capital—and how much they scare the pants off “conservatives” and the GOP faithful.

After reading down the “what would you like to ask Eli Pariser” message board, one fact become glaringly, pitifully obvious… (And forgive the polarization here, I tend to despise lumping regular folks’ personal politics in to one camp or the other. It’s become a lazy, divisive technique of the base-catering goons on AM radio and cable news, but it serves to set the stage here.) … As I said, after reading down the message board, one fact just jumps right out and boxes your ears.

It seems that one side of this fight comes armed to the teeth with facts and has a strong grasp on issues and the players involved. By and large, they’re willing to consider the opinions of others and even attempt to bridge some of those great empathic gaps we all seem to keep falling in to these days.

The other side in this fight paints with strokes as broad as their sentences are short. They toss out characterizations about catchphrases without a hint of shame. They offer little in making their point beyond the petty mocking of opinions and ideas that they plainly don’t understand. There is little substance and less good will. They give us a clear look at the ass-end of the echo chamber. Manufactured outrage distilled to its basest, most simple sentiment.

Perhaps not surprisingly, these folks are made up of the blindly pro-Bush, the GOP grunts, and the "with-us-or-against-us" crowd. Nevermind that the torchbearers of the ideology that they're still clinging to have been unmasked and exposed as the plunderers and swindlers they've been all along.

Not that the “left-leaning” comments are spun entirely of gold. There’s plenty of knckleheaded brain farting and party-line lockstepping. But the genuine, thoughtful, knowledgeable, heart-felt sentiment comes overwhelmingly from that “left.”

I don’t know how long this is gonna be up, or how much you can stand, but if you feel like wading into those particular waters, check out Talk to Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org.

The King's Eyes and Ears Are Now Bionic

As the mid-term elections creep closer, and we find that Rove and the GOP are about to light the fuse on a one hundred million dollar advertising and propaganda blitz, and dictator-in-chief Bush signs in to law a regressive, twisted piece of legislation that strips every US citizen of their right of Habeas Corpus, the ever-floundering Department of Homeland Security has sunk a couple million into a data trolling service hoping to snare and analyze even the most inane of anti-American sentiment from across the globe.

Truthout’s Chris Floyd explains this latest insanity shat from the “with us or against us” mindset.

Why is the United States government spending millions of dollars to track down critics of George W. Bush in the press? And why have major American universities agreed to put this technology of tyranny into the state's hands?

As with so many of the Bush measures that have quietly stripped away America's liberties, this one too is beginning with a whimper, not a bang: a modest $2.4 Department of Homeland Security million grant to develop "sentiment analysis" software that will allow the government's "security organs" to sift millions of articles for "negative opinions of the United States or its leaders in newspapers and other publications overseas," as the New York Times reported earlier this month. Such negative opinions must be caught and catalogued because they could pose "potential threats to the nation," security apparatchiks told the Times.

This hydra-headed snooping program is based on "information extraction," which, as a chipper PR piece from Cornell tells us, is a process by which "computers scan text to find meaning in natural language," rather than the rigid literalism ordinarily demanded by silicon cogitators. Under the gentle tutelage of Homeland Security, the universities "will use machine-learning algorithms to give computers examples of text expressing both fact and opinion and teach them to tell the difference," says the Cornell blurb.

Read the entire article: Sentimental Education: Academia Signs Up to Track Down Dissent.

So Un-Punk

ESPN color columnist Bill Simmons has a good rundown of the remaining three quarters of the NFL season. He’s consistently the only decent thing about the god-awful, wretched, tax write-off, waste of ink and paper that is ESPN The Magazine. If you’ve ever been tempted to pick one up or, heaven forbid, purchase a subscription, for fuck’s sake just don’t do it—Unless you’re a fifth grader with some extra allowance money. At least then, you’ll be reading something written for your age group.

In the interest of opening a window after closing a door, I’d suggest The Sporting News if you’re looking for a good sports magazine. While they do get a little long in the tooth covering the NASCAR circuit, and their NBA section rarely goes over 3 pages, their football and baseball coverage is always outstanding, even in the offseason. It’s written well and is typically devoid of Sports Illustrated-esque, human interest fluff.

Anyway, if you’re a football fan, read Bill Simmons’ Putting the Sleeper to Bed.

Melissa In Ecuador

Yowza, does time fly. I've been meaning to send out a word on and a link to this for over a month now. Ooops. My apologies.

My friend Melissa is down in Ecuador for four months. She's living with a host family and teaching wild mountain children at a run down school house. By all accounts it's been a hell of an adventure. She's got a blog up and running now with incredible pictures and stories. Check it out and get your vicarious on.

Melissa In Ecuador - "This is the blog of Melissa Resh while teaching in Ecuador. I arrived on August 4th, and I should be here until the beginning of December."

PS - The picture above is of a local dish called Cuy. It's basically a deep fried guinea pig.

Coffee, Microscope, Monkeywrench

New job duties have required being here more hours of the day and staying busy while I am here. With any luck I’ll pull in enough dough on the next paycheck to buy a Caribbean bungalow… or at least a case of Corona and tickets to that Naked Raygun / 7 Seconds reunion show in November.

Some recent observations:

1. Woke up to snow in Chicago this morning. My god. Snow already.


2. Payroll snafu has had my pay all goofed up for the last month. I was sure I never got one particular paycheck. Had payroll office put a stop payment on it. They said someone cashed it and had me come down to take a look. The signature on the back of the check was, of course, my own. I still don’t understand what happened. I’m gonna blame this one on the chemo. You bethca.


3. Death knell or not, right wingers and republicans will be pulling out every dirty trick from their nefarious bag in these next few weeks before the election. At the very least, it’ll make for some serious avant-garde theater. Grab some popcorn and enjoy.


4. These Chicago Bears are going to the Super Bowl. No doubt about it.


5. Meatballs are the future. My lovely lady made pasta with meatballs last night as the temps dropped and the wind howled. Just perfect. Though, the accompaniment (new episode of LOST) left a lot to be desired.


6. After rereading ReSearch’s book on Pranks in anticipation of next month’s publication of Pranks 2, I’ve got a spring in my pre-winter step. While we Americans may or may not be hopelessly fucked as prisoners of our own affluence, it’s good to know that there’s still a lot of good, wicked fun out there to be had. Sometimes I forget that.

Another Florida Fish Fry

Man-O!-Man, am I starting to get homesick. Well... not really. It's more like just plain old sick. Retching, heaving, collapsed in a heap sick. Hey, I'm kinda like the state of American Democracy. Weird.

Now watch this video.

Slack Friday

The merciful end of another wicked work week...

Well class, in lieu of any mildly-enlightened commentary or cranky foot-stomping, today we'll be watching a film. Make sure and take notes. You'll be quizzed about it on Monday.

RE: The Foley / Hastert Affair

I've got nothing to add to all this.

The Daily Show's been a gleeful recipient of the GOP all but writing the jokes for them lately. And in that kinda feeding frenzy they're at their best.

But for a slightly more studious look, take the time to read Glenn Greenwald's commentary. It cuts all the bullshit and makes no DC-esque pretenses. Highly recommended.

Read: Mark Foley and the Unmasked Republican Party.