I’ll try to keep this regularly updated. Writing/typing is good for the soul they tell me.

Who is in it: Will Smith as the best pilot in the history of the world, Jeff Goldblum as the idiosyncratic nerdy computer guy, Jeff Pullman as the The President, and some ancillary storyline that was created so you could take bathroom breaks.

Why it’s great: *PUNCH*

WELCOME TO EARTH!

That pic is overused, but it gets the point across! If you need to burn two hours, I can’t think of a more fun way than to do it watching this movie. Explosions, over acting, aliens, Independence Day has it all. Objectively speaking, this is not a great movie and probably not even a good one if you go by movie critic standards. Objectively speaking, you can shove those standards up your arse.

It has just about every movie stereotype you could ever want. Will Smith is the jive talking, ultimate airforce badass. Jeff Goldblum is the quintessential computer nerd. His dad is the walking and talking Jewish stereotype you thought only existed on reruns of Seinfeld. The overly geeky Mr. Scientist makes an apperance (and then gets killed due to his extreme dedication to SCIENCE!). The Pentagon dudes are, it goes without saying, perfect fits for the military asshole this kind of movie needs. It is all so well casted, it’s almost like Emmerich did it on purpose.

The action scenes are still pretty fun, if a little dated. When the movie first came out that scene of New York getting destroyed was amazing. Nowadays, it looks a little cheap.

Movies are all about iconic scenes though, and this one is chock full of them. Will Smith punches an alien, Jeff Goldblum figures out the aliens one weakness (A VIRUS!), and Bill Pullman tells the world just how awesome America is right before he kicks some ET ass once and for all. That is just scratching the surface.

So if you like big movies and big acting, this is the movie for you. I’m eating red white and blue cake so I’ll have to cut this review short.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

I have found the elusive “true 10″.

Flawless victory.

That, gentlemen, is Ana Ivanovic. Currently the #11 ranked player on the WTA Tour, former world #1, two second place Grand Slam finishes and 2008 French Open champion. Ranked two years in a row in the top 100 hottest women alive by FHM Magazine & Maxim (though still vastly underrated). And some other things.

Ana has not had an easy time of it. She had to practice in an emptied swimming pool to hone her skills as a young child in war ravaged Serbia in the late 90s. For 78 days, NATO bombing raids would make practicing too dangerous for most of a day. Of course, being the awesome woman she is, she now serves as UNICEF Ambassador to her home country and helps children on her off time.

Since going pro in 2003, Ana has turned heads with her looks. What impresses me though is her continued persistence in becoming the absolute best player possible. When you’re attractive, female, and a tennis athlete the automatic thought is “I wonder if this is another Kournikova, I wonder if she can keep her drive”.

From the looks of it she certainly has. ‘Kova never went higher than #8 and was more of a doubles player…aka, basically irrelevent. Ana has twice the game of Kournikova and one hundred times the will. She has won matches on a sprained ankle and she has injured herself by overpracticing. She won’t be defaulting into a modeling career anytime soon, and the idea that she should consider it because of a few setbacks is insulting. Would anyone insinuate a male athlete go into acting or doing photo shoots?

Yea, they wouldn’t. You sexist pig

ADJE ANA!

To the chauvanists: kiss the trophies.

The Issue: Basically the total trashing of this little document. The use of waterboarding, aka simulated drowning (torture under international law and basic common sense), by the CIA and Nancy Pelosi’s feigned ignorance that it was occurring. Pelosi went so far as to use a recent interview to state that the CIA purposefully misled her, as they had done in the lead up to the Iraq War of 2003. The CIA and critics say that Pelosi’s statements do not add up and that she had to have known what the CIA was doing since at least 2002 when she was the head Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Hmm, needs more flags.

The Solution: Pelosi is clearly lying and anyone who defends this torture used by the CIA is clearly insane. The only solution to prevent this again is to actually, you know, exercise the full power of the law. Throw them all in prison.

“But this could extend really far! President Bush himself and plenty of high ranking politicians probably knew about it!” Well hell, it would never happen, but throw them in prison too. What the hell is the point of a law if you can’t enforce it? I mean, if this was happening in Burkina Faso or Stanistan wouldn’t there be cries for them to see justice at the Hague or at the hands of their own people?

As it currently stands, the government of the United States harbors war criminals. The CIA took combatants without much regard to international law on torture and waterboarded 2 such people approx 80 and 100 times apiece. This kinda throws the whole “effective method to keep us safe” argument out the window. On top of that, high ranking politicians and policymakers have known about it for a fairly long time.

Even if it (the torture) was effective, where does this logic end? I’m sure threatening to kill 4 generations of their family would be effective too, but we don’t exactly want to be associated with North Korean tactics do we? I don’t think Osama bin Laden could have asked for a better recruiting tool than this whole torture scandal and Abu Ghraib.

With this established, it has to be realized what is done to governments who harbor war criminals. Many governments across the world have policies that block trade to nations who refuse to prosecute war criminals. Even more governments cede authority in such matters to the ICC, who basically attempt to shame nations into sending over their internationally recognized war criminals for trial at The Hague since they have no actual hard power behind them.

So perhaps Canada would never actually boycott our products and perhaps the ICC could never put Slick Richard on trial, but would you really want your country to be associated with Sudan? Much of the power that the United States has is in persuasion. How is the United States to convince other nations to follow a strategy on disarming Iran and North Korea when it’s former leaders are wanted by the ICC for war crimes? How much clout will the US have to the people of the world at all at that point?

If anyone is willing to risk the future of initiatives on climate change, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, piracy, the global economic system, disease control, etc which see the US as their central organizer and/or investor for the political careers of a few crooks, then go ahead. I’m not willing to make that sacrifice, no matter how messy it might get.

Ahh the good ol' days.

I stumbled upon this little promotional poster for the Flyin’ Redbirds of 2002. Coming off a 7-9 season, the fans (all six of them) of the Cardinals needed a little pizazz to jazz them up for the upcoming season. I thought it would be fun, on the eve of the Superbowl (give or take a week) to take look on where some of these stars of the media poster are now!

You might want to hum a catchy jingle, kinda like what they play at the end of a movie when they are summing up what happened later on to the main cast. “7 years later…”

WR, MarTay Jenkins – After leaving the NFL in March of 2003, Jenkins attempted the jump to the Canadien Football League with little success. He became an enrollment counselor for the University of Phoenix until April of 2008 and now works as a trainer for Far West Speed Training. Interesting!

S, Kwamie Lassiter – Upon finishing his NFL career with the St. Louis Rams in 2004, Kwamie Lassiter went to Africa and became prince of Burundi. “I think it’s a really unique opportunity, you know?” said Kwame in a recent interview,” to run my own sub-Saharan Africa country. You just gotta take it one day at a time, you know?”

LB, Rob Frederickson – These days, Rob plays it cool as the head DJ at the Desert Star club/saloon. He plays an assortment of techno country and rap and always keeps it fresh for his homies.

"Do I feed it? No...not every day."

QB, Jake Plummer – After inexplicably retiring from the NFL (who wouldn’t want to be a QB for Jon Gruden?), Jake the Snake is a real family man. He excels in taking monopoly way to seriously and making everyone else’s dad look like crap on career days at the local elementary. He has also been grooming his creepy neckbeard for a run at the Guinness world record, ‘It’s just something that I think calls to me. Like some kind of second brain controlling my thoughts or…something….”

WR, Frank Sanders – After failing in Baltimore (like every other player who used to be able to throw or catch a football), Sanders retired from the NFL. After going back to college, Frank “Sunny” Sanders now works as a weatherman in the Tucson area.

MLB, Ronald McKinnon – Besides being continuously overrated in Madden, McKinnon continues to float around in the NFL for any team needing a crusty old veteran with 79 speed.

RB, Thomas Jones - Jones is pretty much the only one still in the NFL. As a member of the New York Jets, Jones led the AFC in rushing and also got really really ticked at Living Legend Brett Favre. He soon recanted his statements and asked for forgiveness from His Favreness, offering 50 virgins in sacrifice to His Eminence.

"Ok Boris, it's your turn to bring the chips this time."

In the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution and the emergence of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), the political scene was not the only party in town being held subservient to the new communist state’s power. Art, literature, and other forms of free expression were also increasingly seeing their independence breeched by the totalitarian government in Moscow.

This reached a new level for the art world with the introduction in 1932 of a law “On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organizations” by then Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin. In this expansion of policy, Stalin decreed Socialist Realism as sanctioned by the state. This would not have been so bad considering the other hellish problems your average Ivan had to face (collectivization was not happy fun times), but to make matters worse, Uncle Joe decided to punish breakers of this new law severely. Decide you want to add a few double chins to your hilarious caricature of your local Party Chairman or give Lenin a dashing pink top hat and you could be looking at an all expenses paid trip to Siberia in your future. It was the Party line and you towed it.

This is not to say that Socialist Realism had no real value. It was an art style that took real skill to master. It is just odd to call some of these paintings real in any fashion. Basically, SR was depictions of idyllic countryside living or patriotic, industrious comrades in a factory. It also sought to humanize the leaders of the USSR, making the wielders of enormous personal power to look as if they were regular guys, just chilling with their buds.

In the picture above, the realism part of Socialist Realism is severely lacking. First off, the people at the table are way to comfortable and casual. Some of them are even standing around, looking bored. Let’s get something straight, in the real world, that would not have happened. Stalin killed people (excuse me, “purged”)  for getting him decaf (when he clearly ordered half-caf), what do you think he would do to some lackadaisical arsehat just lazing around his meeting table?

Second, Stalin himself is too loose. Make no mistake about it, this was a stiff and insecure man. He could wear a moustache with the best of them, but get him at a party and he would be the guy making a bunch of firing squad jokes while everyone laughed nervously hoping he wasn’t serious. Mein Comrade was like most dictators, so intent on protecting his own power he would eliminate rivals, real or perceived, at every turn. He was judge, jury, and sometimes prosecutor (seriously, check out his rants in several of his show trails and you’ll be mesmerized) in his own elaborate attempt to protect his own power. So yea, not a chummy guy.

Yea that’s right, it’s Superbowl time again!

Now being the sports fan I am, I will bring my hard hitting analysis and decide ONCE AND FOR ALL who will win the big game two weeks from now. Sit back and relax, even if your not a football fan. The Dinner Void’s breakdown has a little bit for everyone.

Hiiiiya!

(NFC) Arizona Cardinals, 12-7

My Thoughts: I love this team. I love the characters, the style of play, the aesthetics of the uniform on television. Most of all, I love the fact that they sent Philadelphia crying home once again without a championship. I am a petty little man, so sue me. If the Arizona Cardinals were a beautiful woman, hell, if the Arizona Cardinals were the Hunchback of Notre Dame’s twin sister, I would marry her and have 20 kids.

Offense: Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin are conjuring images of the Greatest Show on Turf from 10 years ago in St. Louis. A prolific pass offense has been complimented by a more consistent effort in the running game, though the actual production of the James/Hightower duo has been overstated a bit in the playoffs. Make no mistake, Warner to Fitz-Boldin is the bread and butter of this offense.

Defense: Let’s be honest, any football fan can tell you this defense blew chunks until the playoffs came around. Then they all ate their magic spinach and viola, a playmaking defense that swarms to the ball. They thrive off the big play and especially the energy of their offense.

Uniforms: A nice ensemble of red and white, hard to go wrong. Perhaps a bit too modernized in the look (do you really need black outlines on red stripes? Can you say FO PAUX?). The numerous logos and stripes make it seem a bit busy though on TV this is not as noticeable. Speaking of logos, a few years back the Cardinals decides their old logo wasn’t “mean” enough. So they changed it. They furrowed the brow of the redbird and slanted the beak and feathers to look more “aerodynamic”. Remember, this is a cardinal, known for beautiful singing and throwing up in it’s babies mouths (all birds do those things right?) not drinking the blood of it’s enemies and asking for seconds.

X Factor: An X factor is basically something I pull from my ass that I think will have an impact in the game. The Cardinals X factor is coach Ken Whisenhunt, aka “The Wiz”. He was also the former Offensive Coordinator of the Steelers, which means he has all of their plans! And just like the Nazis and the evil Japanese in WW2, Pittsburgh will fold like a house of Cards (get it? Man I’m good) once The Whiz gets a hold of them.

Tomlin gives the special side "Heil Pittsburgh!" salute

(AFC) Pittsburgh Steelers, 14-4

My Thoughts: The spitting image of evil, Lucifer watched God make the heavens in 7 days and said “Oh yea? Watch this.” and created the Pittsburgh Steelers. God was ticked off, but to prove that the big man does not play favorites, the Pittsburgh Steelers are here with their chance at a league leading 6th Superbowl title.

Offense: In what can only be called a “Chuck and Pray” offense, the Steelers basically snap the ball to half-man half-ogre QB Ben Roethlisberger who runs around and throws mere mortal men aside as he slings the ball downfield where his receiver drops it or accidentally catches it after it becomes lodged in their skin. They run the ball too because they are a WHITE COLLAR WORKING MAN’S TEAM! HO RA!

Defense: Troy Polamalu has alot of hair and the rest of them tackle and stuff. Yawn. Tell me when one of them does an elaborate dance routine.

Uniforms: A classic among NFL threads, the Steelers uniform is as stylish as Big Ben is attractive. If you’ve been paying attention, that’s not a compliment! Still, kudos for keeping the same style for 40+ years. You’ll notice that the logo is only on one side of the helmet. This was actually originally a mistake, the helmet maker guys ran out of colored paint and had to make one side entirely black. Actually, I just made that story up. The made up story is probably the most interesting thing about the Steelers uniforms.

X Factor: The Mayan Doomsday calender. Someone check it, does it say anything about 43 or big sporting event or Pittsburgh? If it does, have fun at the after party Steeler fans!

Final Prediction: In the name of reverse psychology and since I want the good guys to win and the Nazi-Satan-Mayan guys to lose my prognostication reveals the score of…

20-10, Pittsburgh

MVP, P Mitch Berger

]]> http://dinnervoid.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/preview-superbowl-xliii/feed/ 1 Comrade Nikolai NFC Championship Football 84226882JM037_AFC_Champions http://dinnervoid.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/picture-of-the-day-1-poszukiwacze-zaginionej-arki/ http://dinnervoid.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/picture-of-the-day-1-poszukiwacze-zaginionej-arki/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:40:52 +0000 Anthony http://dinnervoid.wordpress.com/?p=30 ]]>

A man's man, even in weird ass Polish movie poster style.

If there is anything the Poles (from Poland, for the geographically challenged) can do well it’s sausage. Well, that and incredibly amazing movie posters.

Ripped from this blog that graciously lists what I’m guessing is only a small portion of what those obviously demented minds in Warsaw pump out, you can see the artistic flair. Some of the posters don’t even make sense as far as the movie their supposedly advertising for, but who cares?

Now, for comparison, let’s take a gander at the American poster for the same movie:

Remember when George Lucas could write?

It has the typical front-and-center placement of the main star along with a gaggle of other co-stars around him. This is a common technique for American movie posters, especially of the adventure genre. Or so I learned in my many hours of American Movie Posters class.

It certainly gets my blood pumping for some Nazi foiling action! The fact that the blasted Nazis are after the Holy Grail and have BRITISH ACCENTS only adds to the shenanigans.

Even so, the Polish poster has a certain artsy quality to it. The Poles don’t mess around with no stinkin co-stars, they know who the people want to see. Indy’s memorable features are exaggerated, with his gigantic hat and abominable cactus stubble coming to life. His eyes penetrate you with a deep, all-knowing stare that says “Let’s kick some Nazi ass”. Oh, and there are arrows all over the place too that symbolize…something?

A creeping irrelevancy.

I write this as nothing more than an undergraduate Political Science major in a minor college somewhere in Texas. I also write this as a Republican sympathizer. Really, I would love to vote Republican because on many issues I can not bring myself to agree with the other side. The last 8 years and even further back into the 90′s makes it impossible for me, however, to do so. A frightening prospect for the elephants is that this sentiment has been spreading rapidly through the country.

As the map above (taken from an Economist magazine in November) shows, the Republicans did not just lose the most recent Presidential election. They got whipped. Every major battleground state plus typical Republican strongholds like Indiana and Virginia flipped to the blue camp. Virtually every state the Republicans won saw increased Democrat polling numbers. The Senate majority for the Democrats now stands at a near filibuster proof majority (58/100) with several Republican senators checking their watches and counting down retirement. It was considered a victory for the Repubs that they held Georgia. All of this from a party that talked about a perpetual monopoly on power just 4 years earlier. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

It gets worse. Every major demographic aside from white males 30 and up voted Obama. The most distressing numbers there are the amount of Latinos voting against Mr. McCain. A demographic shift, as noted by a multitude of analysts, is in the works and will transform states like Texas into battleground states in future elections. As of now, the Republicans have shown a reluctance to reach out in any way to the Latino community and break the old inbedded tradition of the straight Democrat ticket many Latinos are used to. I can’t blame them, considering many Republicans think building a damn wall is a competent strategy to control immigration and often have a visceral fear of the Brown Tide coursing through their veins. Until the Republicans fear mongering and demogoguery to their white voting members is substituted with an actual platform a Latino can embrace, they will find themselves fading even in the formerly solid South.

This is all ignoring another huge component, the senseless pandering to the “culture warriors” and evangelist (aka born again Christians) right coupled with the ignoring of the economic frugality and command of leadership that made former Republican Presidents of the 1900′s popular. The current Republican incarnation pays lip service to the two latter ideas and embraces the first two whole heartedly. This worked for 8 years, but America is tired of it. There is no room for a party living on the fringes of the extreme social right, that advocates low taxes on all but the richest yet spends like a drunken sailor, that runs it’s foreign policy with dangerous reckless abandon, and that is out of tune with the real problems of America. This is the majority of Republican policy makers, or at least the majority that have been wielding real power.

See, I would really love to vote Republican. The Democrats have been a party with no clear platform since the days of FDR. My ideas align very neatly with globalization, increased taxation, responsible foreign policy, social change according to the will of the states and this should be the Republican Party. Instead, it’s all about God and Guns.

This is a blag that will include writings on everything. Everything I can possibly think of. You’ll cry at my sad attempts at humor, cry more at me playing historian or political pundit, and laugh at my personal misfortunes. That’s what this blog is about, anything and everything.

The only rules I ask of my loyal readers is to keep the comments clean. The Dinner Void (as I lovingly call it) is a family blog (sort’ve), so no sailor mouths. Feel free to call me an idiot or question my sanity, just think of the children.

-Much Love