OK, Al Gore.
Yeah, I was surprised. I thought he'd give it another shot, but apparently somebody must have tapped him on the shoulder and said "Now hold on a minute there, Al...". Just when I was beginning to like the cut of his jibberish. Oh well-I've never really liked him all that much anyway and I was especially concerned about his wife being First Lady. I haven't forgotten the PMRC. Still, I voted for him in '00 despite a brief flirtation with Nader and the Green Party. Couldn't do it when the chips were down, though-mostly I was concerned about being among those who took votes away from Gore, giving Bushie Boy the victory. We all know how that turned out. This leaves the field wide open for a pretty undistinguished looking bunch...Lieberman? Please. He has second banana written all over him. Kerry just looks creepy, like a horror movie host or something. The rest I couldn't pick out of a police lineup, although I have a feeling that I will see plenty of 'em in the forthcoming weeks.
My beloved Falcons snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against those fellows in the Certs unis, the Seattle Seahawks. They let their offense hibernate in the 3rd quarter and the defense just wasn't strong enough to carry it. Still, if Jay Feely hadn't missed a bunny field goal in OT, everything would be fine for another week and the schedule is still a winnable one, so all is not lost yet. But this team to my eyes has some glaring weaknesses, from coaching staff playcalling to inconsistent receiving, so nothing is a given. Next week, the Detroit Lions, whose sorry season so far was brightened by their near-upset of one of the best teams in the NFL, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers...the same Bucs who humiliated my Birds last weekend. Oh, boy.
OK. Movies. I watched several, of varying quality. One of the most memorable, for all the wrong reasons, was the wretched 1968 Bonnie and Clyde ripoff Killers Three, most notable for its producer, co-scripter and co-star, none other than Dick Clark- slugging whiskey, wearing wire-rims, and playing a nancy-boy demolitions expert. Also on hand was a young(er) Merle Haggard as a state trooper, and a couple of his songs including the immortal "Mama Tried" could be heard on the soundtrack. You'd think that in 1968 Clark would have had enough clout to get a decent movie made for his money, but apparently that's not the case. Also on the BacardiVision screen this weekend were Weird Al's masterpiece of strangeness UHF, co starring (sigh) Victoria Jackson; The Hughes Brothers' flashy movie version of Alan Moore's From Hell (which I actually liked despite Heather Graham's incongruously scrubbed-down Victorian-era prostitute), and a snazzy looking but terribly scripted version of A Christmas Carol, starring Patrick Stewart. I watched Kevin Smith's clever and funny (and sometimes wise) Dogma late Friday night. For once, Snatch wasn't on, so I wasn't locked on it like a moth to a flame-swear to God I can't pass that flick up when I run across it on TV..Heaven help me if I ever get it on DVD. Seems like there were a couple more, but I forget. The ol' gray matter ain't what it used to be.
Adding to my dimming enthusiasm for posting over on the DC Comics message boards was the revelation in Rich Johnston's Lying In The Gutters column at CBR that Darwyn Cooke has been asked not to write critical posts about other versions of Catwoman on the Catwoman board. Along with a lot of the other personality conflict-type stuff I've been reading lately (the little hoo-ha with Mike Miller, and other stuff), it makes me kinda long for the days when we didn't know so much about these fellows who write and draw those funnybooks.
There was a very intersting article (to me, anyway) in Sunday's Forum section, about the era of former president Grover Cleveland and its similarity to the current state of the Democratic Party, special to the Louisville Courier-Journal by one John David Dyche. The CJ did not see fit to reproduce it on their website, though, so unless you live in Kentucky or Southern Indiana, you probably won't get a chance to read it. If they ever do post it, I'll link to it. Since I was a kid, I've always been a little fascinated with the life stories of the Presidents. Used to check this big book out of the library all the time on that very subject, and developed a curious fascination with William Henry Harrison, the ninth US Pres and the first to die in office. The things that get your attention when you're eight.
I feel a "favorite Christmas songs" list coming on. Just not tonight, it's late.
I wonder of there's a Turkish version of A Christmas Carol...?
Oyasumi nagai, y'all.
