gdp's Comments

Big Hollywood : Worst. Apology. Ever. - Questlove's Lame Response to Bachmann Slam

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:02:25 +0000

Carson himself had an unfortunate tendency to pull nasty tricks during the opening monologue. A couple of examples: (1) he repeatedly referred to Wayne Newton as homosexual (until Newton walked into his office one day and personally assured him that he would "kick his ^^^" if it did not immediately stop; and (2) I remember Carson making a joke about putting siblings Donny and Marie Osmond in two cages, to be released "at the moment of puberty." -Tom

Big Hollywood : Want to Know Why Hollywood Conservatives Stay In the Closet? Meet the

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:41:14 +0000

I must be getting old, as I can remember a time when other people in the bar -- even those who agreed with Mr. Hanks's politics -- would have forcibly removed him from the premises without waiting for a bouncer to help. Unfortunately, boorishness is now acceptable, at least when perpetrated on a conservative woman.

Big Journalism : Sarah Palin, Vanity Fair and a Look Into Michael Joseph Gross's Christian Background

Mon, 6 Sep 2010 17:35:04 +0000

I gotta say, I am a little offended by the "Princeton <> Christian" rhetoric in this thread, as my pastor -- a young'un, barely 30 -- is unequivocally Christian by any orthodox definition, as well as a relatively recent Princeton graduate. Ditto for some of his buddies who come to visit our church from time to time.

Big Journalism : Just How Large Was the Attendance At Beck's 'Restoring Honor' Rally?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:58:10 +0000

For the past year or so I had assumed it stood for Almost Pravda.

Big Hollywood : Today's Open Thread

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:49:44 +0000

Really? My impression is that God is holy, and will not be mocked.

Big Hollywood : Today's Open Thread

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:48:29 +0000

Sorry, Jake -- one of the Pythons -- Cleese? -- said in an onscreen interview (enough years ago that I forget who it was specifically) that it was indeed a dig at all religion, intentionally targeting Christians, and using the mistaken-Brian thing as a way to weasel out, much the same way the Last temptation of Christ tried to get away with it using an "It was all a dream" approach. The Pythons as a whole despised Christians, and LOB (as well as Holy Grail and Meaning of Life) express that.

Big Government : Daily Kos Blogger: 9/11 was 'More About Optics than Actual Harm'

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:59:18 +0000

"First off, the majority when asked their opinion will almost always be against the rights of a minority. " That is a false statement, intended to support the writer's moral superiority to a straw man. Were it true, we would still have Jim Crow laws, homosexuals would be routinely executed, and the American Indian tribes would be extinct. Whether the Kos blogger is a liar, a dupe, or an idiot (or a combination thereof) is left as an exercise for the reader.

Big Hollywood : Today's Open Thread

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:30:04 +0000

Another strength of the movie is that it let us see Wil Wheaton playing Not-Wesley-Crusher. He was darned good at it -- he earned having his name in front of that of River Phoenix, a non-trivial task.

Big Hollywood : Stars With Pluck

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:13:50 +0000

If you're sitting on the couch or in the coffee shop reading this on your laptop, you can trace it back to Hedy LaMarr. Not only was her invention of frequency hopping good for secret transmissions, it is also good for spectrum sharing, the second generation of which is Wi-Fi. You can find a nice discussion of her at http://wireless.oldcolo.com/course/hedy.htm

Big Hollywood : Honduras Nips Dictatorship in the Bud

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:22:49 +0000

And that one wasn't filtered? I love this software!

Big Hollywood : 'Torchwood': Pro-American TV -- From the BBC

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:44:35 +0000

I agree somewhat with TheaterGeek. Davies' obsession with making sure there was homosexual or lesbian "snogging" in every Torchwood episode wears thin. Burn Gordon's character Owen Harper, the ensemble's only full-time heterosexual, was killed off. With that (very large) caveat, I agree with Leigh Scott about Eve Myles's otherwise excellent character Gwen Cooper. Kudos to Leigh Scott also for acknowledging the quality of Davidson's, er, Davisson's, uh, the fifth doctor's work. Most of us Americans underrate him. As David Tennant's tenure winds down, it'll be fun to watch the opinions fly around yet again. -Tom Williams

Breitbart.com : Camp: Private Pa. pool turned away minority kids

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:15:23 +0000

The report looks more one-sided than the truth usually is. If there are usually 13 kids in the pool, 11 of them white, and then one morning there are, oh, 75 in the pool, 67 of them black, then I might use the same words. it's a heckuva non-sequitur to say that makes me (or the club) racist. Secondly, perhaps more importantly, we do not know the group dynamics of the situation. Were the New Kids polite? Boorish? Abusive (like kids often are)? Did they interfere with (or crowd out) the Regulars? While we're at it, how did the Regular swimmers behave? Other good questions: are there black people in the Club? Does one join it by invitation only, or by having enough money to join in? I played music (decades ago) at "private" clubs that, it turns out, only carded black people for membership. So I admit that I have questions there as well. Presuming Huntingdon PA to be the same as Huntingdon Valley (it looks familiar on the map): I've been there, worked for a few weeks, and the community as a whole was of lower-middle-class income and racially diverse. Something doesn't add up. -Tom

Big Hollywood : President Obama and the "C" Word

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 18:35:22 +0000

No, Nate, he did not give the companies to their workers. He gave them to his union boss constituency. Big, big difference. By the way, what right did Obama have to _give_ a company to anyone? Do you think it would be okay for Obama to "expropriate" your business / house / car / guitar / kid and give it to someone? -Tom Williams

Big Hollywood : Letterman Apologizes to Palin Family

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:10:59 +0000

I prefer the Palins' announcement that they did not intend to increase Letterman's ratings by having anyone of their family appear on his show. A good judgment, especially considering his lame "I only intended to embarrass and humiliate the older girl" explanation last week. Oh, that makes him an honorable man.... Although I am not moved by Letterman's "intent" argument -- words like that are never intended to bring harmless joy -- I found the rest of his apology to be pretty moving, It was certainly more honorable than the "I am sorry if you took offense" malarkey that so many people, public and private, offer in lieu of any admission of guilt. Considering his apparent view of everything Palin, that was pretty solid stuff.

Big Hollywood : The Ghost of Johnny Carson

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:58:21 +0000

Let's not rewrite history. Carson had a tasteless streak too. He constantly referred to Wayne Newton (who originally was a sort of soprano) as being homosexual, back when society actually disapproved of such behavior (the homosexual behavior, that is -- no one much complained about Carson's jokes). Eventually Newton, who was straight and valued his reputation, went to Carson's office one day and confronted him. Carson's excuse was "That's what the writers write." Newton promised that if it happened again, he would personally return and beat Carson to a pulp. The "writers" suddenly stopped. Carson's low point (for me) was when he delivered some joke about putting Donnie and Marie Osmond into cages and releasing them at the "moment of pooberty." This does not exonerate Mr. Letterman. Bad behavior is still bad, even when compared to other bad behavior.

Big Hollywood : Shephard Smith and Janet Napolitano Sitting in a Tree

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:59:45 +0000

Roger Ailes is glad to have Smith for that very reason -- like Juan Williams and (while it lasted) Alan Colmes, he cannot be called a Bush/Reagan/Limbaugh shill. I suspect that Ailes would have more libs at FNC if they (a) would take the job and (b) were decent journalists like Smith.

Big Hollywood : 'The Dowd Conundrum'

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:00:57 +0000

Although he could remove the captain (for medical/psychological reasons), and occasionally was the guy in control of a situation, the doctor was intentionally never put into a command position. That's not what doctors do. That is also why we got to see Scotty in command once or twice -- he was third highest rank.