Weeds Who Gets To Fuck Nancy? … [Read more...]
Dialogue #5/ with Molly Klein: Weeds, or Who Gets to Fuck Nancy
August 18, 2012 by 52 Comments
Who Gets to Fuck Nancy? I think this scene captures the appeal of Weeds and its place nestled in a little cluster of genres. We have a joyous vision of the California utopia with no excessive aspirations – just a day at the shopping centre with everyone happy and prosperous and friendly. Then a reminder of the dangers and costs; Mexico/Crime appears - out of another genre, a broader comedy. That killer will have charming but cliché lines rehashing the popular “Sopranos” effect – the thug voicing the ordinary sitcom and talkshow family discourse. His wife will call his mobile and say hurry up and kill Nancy because she has made a dinner that will spoil. He will divulge the secret of … [Read more...]
Kevlar Killers
August 16, 2012 by 4 Comments
There is a aura of fear that the poor feel around cops. In the United States, anyway. And if you're black, all the worse. The other day, Darrius Kennedy was shot point blank just off Times Square in New York. Kennedy allegedly had a knife. There were ten uniformed and armed policemen. None had tasers. All had guns. And they shot Kennedy, point blank, twelve times. Considering that I could have probably disarmed Mr Kennedy, one does wonder why he has shot in the street like a rabid dog. But I can find you more... 20 year old Deshone Travis By: JOANN MERRIGAN | WSAV News 3 Published: June 27, 2012 » 8 Comments | Post a Comment (Savannah, GA) Robert Travis doesn't … [Read more...]
Dots
August 12, 2012 by 7 Comments
Random notes. Gene Sperling, who is Director of the National Economic Council, was also technical advisor for West Wing. He attended the Wharton School of Business, U. of Penn. Andy Stern, former head of the 2.2 million member large Service Employees International Union, also attended the Wharton School of Business, U. of Penn. Andy visited the Obama whitehouse 53 times since inauguration. Erskine Bowles was appointed, in 2010, as co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (with Alan K. Simpson). Previously, Bowles had been Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff. He also sits on the board of directors for General Motors, and Morgan Stanley. Oh, he … [Read more...]
Dialogue #4 / with Guy Zimmerman
August 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
praise http://john-steppling.com/dialogue-4-with-guy-zimmerman-praise/ … [Read more...]
Dialogue #4 / with Guy Zimmerman, Praise
August 10, 2012 by 13 Comments
Praise John, there’s a certain kind of art work I’ve been wanting to give public thanks for, and it’s a kind of work I associate with your plays generally – a work that’s defined by a fragmentary, elliptical quality that often gives it the sense of having happened by a kind of natural process rather than by an effort of will. In literature Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson is a great example, and so is Ondaatje’s The Collected Work of Billy the Kid. Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo is another example of this kind of wayward perfection – the lighting of a candle in a world that’s like a vast cathedral and somehow that candle is just enough to illuminate it perfectly. These works are so enjoyable … [Read more...]
A Brief Interlude on Being Reasonable.
August 6, 2012 by 7 Comments
Conditioning is hugely important. I've long noted just how deeply desirous of consensus the US populace is -- though this is true in Europe as well, but not to the degree one finds it in the US. The most egregious naked state theft or deceit will be discussed...certainly on corporate media outlets ... as if it WASN'T naked theft. This starts at the very top and trickles down to the basest most mundane levels. Iran Contra is to this day spoken of as a small indiscretion. Enron is an amusing bit of corporate shenanegans. Obama can lie, as Bush lied, and can stage manage his tiny paltry gifts to the liberal class, all the while bombing the poor and invading and stealing and signing away, … [Read more...]
Let the Games Begin
July 30, 2012 by 3 Comments
Samaranch & pals... --------------------------------------------------- A few disparate thoughts as the Olympics descend on us. The games of Dow Chemical, McDonalds, and British Petroleum. The games of UK swat teams on neighborhood roofs. The games of forced evictions. But anyway.... The "father" of the modern Olympics is Pierre deCourbetin. Born to parents Baron Charles Louis Frédy, Baron de Coubertin and Marie–Marcelle Gigault de Crisenoy, in 1863. Pierre's father was a royalist and dilettante painter; who's themes ran to the Roman Catholic Church and the royal family. Pierre developed an interest in education, fueled by a visit to England where he met Thomas … [Read more...]
