It ain't all pizzas and cream

And the award for Best Propaganda goes to...

I've you've been following Fox News' latest foray into smear journalism against Senator Barack Obama, you may wonder... is John Gibson angling for the Joseph Goebbels Award for Best Propaganda in a News Series?  Come to think of it, these guys look like they might have been fished out of the same gene pool. 

If Barack Obama has a secret and subversive Muslim past, my mom plays shortstop for the Yankees. 

Fox News needs to man up.  If they disagree with the Senator's policies, say so.  And show how their side could do better.  But stick to the facts, remember those?  The facts?  The foundation upon which solid journalism is based. 

When I was a kid, I remember my folks watching the news.  They watched Walter Cronkite because he was diligent as a monk and consistent as the sunrise. What has happened to reporting in this nation?

And if things are this ugly already, just wait for the actual campaign. 

Shutter to think

I recently purchased a Kodak Brownie 127 camera of 1953 vintage... probably one of the simplest photographic devices ever made, and nicely styled for the atomic age in nearly indestructable Bakelite.  If you're not old enough to remember how one of these babies looks, check out this link.

At the time of the purchase, I was intending for the camera to be a mantel item that would accent my 1950 Coronado radio and 1940 Telechron clock.  I hadn't really considered using it as, well, a camera.  But for laughs I checked eBay to see whether any 127 film had survived the years since major manufacturers like Kodak had ceased production. (For those who are interested in new 127 film fresh from the factory, the Croatian company Efke still makes it.)  As it turns out, however, quite a few photo buffs with extra space in their freezers have taken to preserving old film rolls and selling them to freaks like myself.   So I bid on a lot of three rolls of 127 Kodak film (cryogenically preserved since the 1980s).  Fortunately there's not all that much competition for such items, so I was able to claim my  prize with a relatively low winning bid of about $12. The camera itself had cost only slightly more.

After a few weeks, the film arrived, and I loaded a test roll into the Brownie.  One slightly annoying fact about 127 film is that it only produces 8 exposures per roll, so choose your shots carefully.  Another problem is finding a lab that will process the oddball 4x4" negatives into 4x6" prints. My local lab knows a guy who knows a guy, actually a specialty lab.   After a 2-week turnaround time, the prints from that first test roll are back, for a very reasonable processing fee of around $10.   

The results are about what you'd expect from 20-year-old film and a 50-year-old point-n-shoot camera.  Yet there is something eerie about the photos.  A sense of "otherness" seems to transport both subject and viewer back into the 50s.  But you be the judges...

Tori, in 1953...

Hammer, going back to the future...

I have two other rolls in the freezer.  I'm thinking that a trip to my local scenic steam railroad would produce some interesting results.

Another dirty job

What's the worst job in the nation right now?  I'd have to say, George W. Bush's speechwriter.  Afterall, how do you write an upbeat State of the Union Address for a President whose public approval rating is in the 20%'s?   By the way, that's well below Nixon's in 1973, at the height of the Watergate scandal.  For ideas, you might want to go back and see what Herbert Hoover said in his 1932 address.  I'm sure there are some gems of optimism ripe for the picking. OK, maybe not.  Afterall, a quarter of the nation was unemployed at the time.

Perhaps it would be best if Mr. Bush simply didn't mention the elephant in the room.  Talk about other things.  Remember his educaton initiative proposed in the first term (pre-Nine-Eleven)?  And hey, how about those pesky Mexicans, they're still sneaking into the country to take all those jobs that no American wants...like Presidential speechwriter, for example.

Or maybe he should abandon the format altogether and just sing 24 choruses of Yellow Rose of Texas then walk quietly off stage. 

Bringin' Juicy Back

No, I didn't watch all of last night's Golden Globe Awards.  In fact, I hardly watched any.  But I did see enough to notice that some of the female stars in attendance (including some award winners) were displaying some dangerous curves.  I found this a welcome relief from the "Anorextaculars" that so many red carpet events have become.

Not a "size zero" in the bunch...
America Ferrera
Jennifer Hudson
Sara Ramirez

Could it be that the reign of the Paris Hiltons, Nicole Ritchies, and Olsen Twins is at last over?  That the American beauty standard is returning to the days of Marilyn and Rita?  Yet while women of color seem to be leading the effort to bring juicy back, those of the Caucasian persuasion seem intent on staying the course set by stars like Lara Flynn Scary.

We may not yet be seeing the demise of "Death Camp Chic", but we can still dream, can't we?

Cloned beef on rye

The Food and Drug Administration recently declared that meat from cloned livestock is not only safe to eat but would require no special labels or packaging when it hits your grocer's meat case.  Apparently, according to the FDA, livestock ranchers and breeders could use cloning to churn out copies of a select group of "superior" animals.

The debate thus far has centered on whether the meat is safe to eat, but has ignored several other critical points..all based upon the fact that a widely varied gene pool is good for any and all species.  Imagine if, after a few decades, all livestock in existence were cloned from a half dozen oringinal animals.  Then suppose a virus or bacterium came along to which none of these cell lines possessed immunity.  The result?  No more cows.  Or pigs.  Or sheep. 

And who knows what other effects meat drawn from only one or two individual root animals would have on consumers.  We know that the human immune system is strengthened when challenged by a variety of weak exposures to a range of pathogens. Would drawing meat from a limited gene pool lead to decreased immunity in humans?

And when did cloning become more cost-effective than breeding?  Maybe someone can answer that one for me.

The point is NOT whether the meat is safe to eat.  The point is whether reducing the genetic variety in our food supply is a good, or as I believe, recklessly dangerous thing to do.  The folks at the Center for Food Safety shre my alarm and skepticism.  Their website is worth a look.

If you'd like to comment directly to the FDA, their website can be found here.

Curling up with a good movie

There's a new movie being promoted rather heavily these days, called "Stomp the Yard", about step dancing.  It's another in a long series of genre films in which urban youth on whom everyone seems to have given up rise above their circumstance and bond together to create something they can all be proud of.  And tho the venue may change, there have been many other films like this.

Sometimes there's a mentor...
Stand and Deliver (Edward James Olmos teaches kids math, whether they like it or not)
Dangerous Minds (female ex-Marine Michele Pfeiffer shows kids they can believe in themselves)
Take the Lead (Antonio Banderas teaches pride thru tango)
And sometimes not...
Bring it On (inner city cheerleaders vs valley girl cheerleaders)
Roll Bounce (poor kids vs middle-class kids in a roller rink dance competition)

But in the end we all come away learning a little about ourselves, don't we?

So how about this... a coming-of-age mentor film about the unsung sport of curling (the Scottish equivalent of bocce ball, but played on ice with a large granite stone and a bunch of guys with brooms).  I think it has a chance.  Especially with compelling scenes in which new recruits are given their first rock and told, "Ya think ya know curlin', well you don'."

As for a title, I'm thinking "Chip & Lie" or "Eight Enders".  (Trust me, curlers will love these.)

Plug in the usual team rivalries and a love interest that's nearly ruined by deceit and it should be a real crowd pleaser.  And in the end, we'll all come away having learned alittle bit about ourselves.

Happy New Year

Well the new year brings many things, most commonly perhaps the feeling of a fresh start, new beginings, a chance to give thanks for what's good and fix what's broken.  For us, 2006 brought us Tori, and even if our toast had fallen butter-side-down in every other way possible, she's more than enough of a miracle to make up for it.

As for the future, I won't offer any resolutions...even back when I did make them, they never held up...tho you're more than welcome to share any of yours.   I'll offer only the hope that the new year brings joy to all.   

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Thought for the Day
Andrews Air Force Base...is that like Bobs Big Boy?