Tag Archive for 'current events'

Welcome Back!

Published
by
michael lee
on 30 April 2008
in current events, geek and technology
. 2 Comments

So, apparently our RSS feed has been down for, well, nobody knows quite how long. A while, anyway. It just kept showing no new posts, and then finally, nothing at all. It’s back up and running now, thanks to some fancy codin’ by an unnamed hero of the masses (named me). To all of our rabid fan (hey Bobby!) who thought we had folded up shop and moved the blog offline to Aly and Ash’s backyard, let me be the first to say …

… Welcome back!

Happy Birthday, Baby

Published
by
michael lee
on 5 April 2008
in current events and life
. 11 Comments

Today is Gretchen’s birthday! Send her some joy, people.

Thoughts From Watching the 80th Academy Awards

Published
by
michael lee
on 24 February 2008
in art and culture and current events
. 47 Comments

A few thoughts from watching the Academy Awards tonight:

  1. Amy Adams singing Happy Working Song alone on stage should win an Oscar for bravery.
  2. George Clooney is the iconic leading man of our era. He’s the heir of Cary Grant and Clark Gable.
  3. How many freeking statues does Jack Nicholson have? Also, does he always get a front row seat?
  4. John Stewart? Funny man. Too bad his humor was (often) too smart for the room. His comment about “staying the course” with Iraq war films had me rolling. I got the sense that most of the people there didn’t realize he was making fun of them.
  5. That guy who waxed the floor in front of the presenter podium is gonna be out of a job come tomorrow morning.
  6. Daniel Day-Lewis could scare the stink off a sewer rat.
  7. I’m glad The Bourne Ultimatum got some recognition for editing and sound. It’s not the kind of move that does well at the Oscars, but man, that was well made flick.
  8. Giving the Oscar for Best Song to that claptrap from Once is nothing but pure indie snobbery.

Anybody else watch?

Tom Cruise, Scientologist

Published
by
michael lee
on 17 January 2008
in The Intra-Web-O-Sphere! and current events
. 7 Comments

If you haven’t seen it yet, you have to go watch these clips. They are from a recent Scientology awards ceremony at which Tom Cruise was the honoree. They are … wow. Just watch, and then comment.

Link 1

Link 2

This is going to be an interesting case if it evolves. Scientologists have always used legal pressure to keep embarrassing materials out of the public eye. These videos were uploaded to youtube and google video first, and then removed after threat of lawsuit. Gawker Media, who owns both Gawker.com and Defamer.com, where the clips are now being hosted, has stated their intent to leave the clips up, claiming that they are newsworthy, and therefore their right to distribute them is protected speech.

Clash of the Choirs

Published
by
Stick
on 19 December 2007
in current events, laugh! and life
. 14 Comments

Ok, so I know it’s reality TV approaching a level of absurdity hard to imagine, but check out Clash of the Choirs on NBC tonight and/or tomorrow night. The director of the vocal jazz group I played keys and piano for in college is the “behind the scenes” director/arranger of Nick Lachey’s Cincinnati choir. At some point, I bet they do the arrangement of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” that was the big closer/encore that we did every show when I was in the group.