Interview with Nigel Farage on the future of the European Union

Good friend of this blog Danny de Garcia II sends word that he's scored a terrific interview with the ever-illustrious Nigel Farage, who has been representing South East England in the European Union since 1999. Ironically, Farage has also emerged as one of the EU's biggest and most conspicuous critics! For those who have been watching the economic and political situation over the past decade or so in Europe, Danny's interview with Farage is quite an eye-opener.

Here's an excerpt...

DDG: Many Americans are closely watching Europe and the ongoing debt crisis. Do you believe the situation is under control or are there more surprises to come?

Farage: The European Union - not Europe, actually - is collapsing under the weight of its own over-regulation, enormous subsidies (to its supporters) and attempts to rule the world through "soft power" (i.e. money) as well as the implications of its absurd currency-and-customs union. Most of this is not on the balance sheet, for credit-rating purposes, but it is there, in the real world, where the EU-crats do not appear to live. Anyone who believes what these people say is certainly in for some surprises.

Mash down here for more of Danny's interview!

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A thought from this morning's meditations

I follow Christ not so that I might flee from death. I follow Christ so that I might chase after life!

And there is more difference between the two than night and day.

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Finally finished BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY

I'd had Batman: Arkham City, the follow-up to 2009's mega-hit Batman: Arkham Asylum, since its release date back in October. Hadn't devoted much time into it though until this past week. Guess I'm still trying to distract myself from Mom's passing (now four weeks ago) and since anything Batman is best enjoyed in the dark of night, that's when I've been playing it.

There are still some side-missions that I'm working on, but I finished the main story yesterday morning, after starting a new game fresh last week.

Just one word: YOWZERS!!!

Forget it being just the greatest Batman video game ever. Because Batman: Arkham City is... the greatest Batman story ever told, in my book. That you get to be Batman makes it all the sweeter.

That is the ballsiest ending of a video game that I've seen ever pulled off. Not gonna spoil it if you haven't played it yet but, it's something that has been done VERY rarely in the entire 70-some year history of the Dark Knight and this is the first time that it's been done in the scope of a video game... and somehow that made it all the more poignant and powerful.

I don't know WHAT the heck game studio Rocksteady is going to do for a third Arkham game, or how it could possibly top this one, but I've no doubt that it's coming. All the clues are there, especially (SPOILER highlight with mouse to read) the fact that Harley Quinn is pregnant with Joker's baby! Now if that ain't the proverbial loaded gun on the wall, I don't know what is. My guess: Arkham 3 will see all hell break loose on the streets of Gotham City itself. It was a massive mistake to hole up all that criminally psychotic potential within the walls of Arkham City. Maybe the next game could be called Batman: Arkham Unleashed or something...

A good video game is like a good book: the person should go away feeling that it was time well spent. That, Batman: Arkham City accomplished in grand style. Have to give this game my highest recommendation, folks. Also well worth buying first-hand so you can get the Catwoman side-story download included with it.

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Bev Perdue, AKA "Worst Governor EVER", won't seek re-election

The news out of Raleigh today - which will no doubt be enjoyed by many across the Tarheel State - is that Bev Perdue, known on this blog as the WORST governor that North Carolina has EVER had, will not seek re-election to a second term.

Kinda historic, given that since our governors have had the ability to run for re-election since the late 1970s, that all of North Carolina's governors since have run for and won second terms. Perdue is going to prove to be the break from that.

Wouldn't surprise me if she wound up with a job offer in Obama's second term (providing he's delivered one) but even so: that Bev Perdue will no longer be in the governor's mansion is terrific news. This lady has no clue how much her tax increases have wrecked havoc on this state. Not to mention that she once advocated getting rid of elections (seriously).

As for Governor Perdue, I've only one other thing to say:

"Well... bye."

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Newt Gingrich promises permanent Moon base by 2020

That's if he's elected President, 'course (and if he wins re-election in 2016).

Read about Gingrich's plans for a lunar establishment here.

I just couldn't resist having some fun with this...

"To the MOON, Alice!!"

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Nicol Williamson - the greatest Merlin in film history - has passed away

"There are other worlds. This one is done with me."

The sad word came yesterday that Nicol Williamson, the legendary British actor who will forever be best remembered as giving us the finest portrayal of Merlin EVER, in the 1981 film Excalibur, passed away last month at the age of 75.

Williamson brought his considerable talent to bear whether he was on screen or the stage. At one point he was considered the finest living actor in the world. In addition to Merlin, Williamson will also be noted for his performance as Sherlock Holmes on drugs in The Seven Percent Solution.

Thoughts and prayers going out to his family. Think I'll pop in a DVD of Excalibur this afternoon in his memory.

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The Eagles are come upon us

Something I noticed yesterday evening...

Here's a photograph from northern Europe of some of the Aurora Borealis resulting from the massive discharge of solar particles hitting the Earth this week:

Looks rather like a great big bird of prey, doesn't it?

Compare that to this painting by Ted Nasmith, titled The Eagles of Manwë:

"...And out of the west there would come at times a great cloud in the evening, shaped as it were an eagle, with pinions spread to the north and the south; and slowly it would loom up, blotting out the sunset, and then uttermost night would fall upon Númenor. And some of the eagles bore lightning beneath their wings, and thunder echoed between sea and cloud.

"Then men grew afraid. 'Behold the Eagles of the Lords of the West!' they cried. 'The Eagles of Manwë are come upon Númenor!' And they fell upon their faces."

-- from "Akallabêth",
The Silmarillion
by J.R.R. Tolkien

Nasmith's work is inspired by that section of The Silmarillion in which Tolkien shares the tale... and the proud and tragic fate... of the race of Númenor. The Númenoreans were about to break the Ban of the Valar: that they should not sail further west than they could see their own lands. The Ban was put in place so that mortal men would not be tempted to seek an immortality which only God Himself could grant.

It does not end well.

With that in mind, this week's natural phenomenon looks positivalutely Tolkien-ish, don't it?

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Massive coronal ejection en route to Earth

The largest ejection of charged particles from the Sun since 2005 is currently speeding toward Earth at 5 million miles per hour. It's due to hit us sometime tomorrow.

In recent months I have made it known that for the past number of years, I have been observing a correlation between this kind of solar activity and an increase in significant seismic activity. You can read about them here and here and here and most recently from October here. So in keeping with that, I am going to strongly suggest that this latest storm of energy which the Sun is throwing at us could possibly trigger severe earthquake activity.

Just something to maybe bear in mind these next few days and weeks...

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RAGE and RARE: A proposal for two new laws

In recent days I have been mulling over a notion for two related bits of possible legislation, and I would like to submit them for discussion.

It seems to me that there are some people in this land who refuse to acknowledge the right of others to seek after and call out to God as best they can, in sincere and dignified manner. I do not believe that the Founding Fathers possibly had "freedom of speech" or "freedom of expression" in mind when such individuals take drastic action to interfere with and even deprive their fellow citizens of coming together for purposes of solace and worship. In more polite days, such individuals would have been run out of town on a rail, if not outright shot for the publick good. But since the constabulary frowns on that sort of thing lately...

First, I would like to suggest the Racketeering Against Grieving Expression Act, or the RAGE Act for short.

Per this law, those convicted of conspiring among themselves to deprive others of the right to mourn in peace during funeral services would serve a mandatory sentence of one year in prison. Second-time convictions and subsequent convictions would result in two-year prison sentences, accumulative.

Secondly, I would suggest the Racketeering Against Religious Expression Act. It could also be called the RARE Act.

Similar to RAGE, RARE would make it an imprisoning offense for conspiracy to deprive others of the right to peaceful religious worship.

Every person has the right to seek God as best he or she understands Him.. But that right ends where the right of others to do the same begins.

As with RAGE, RARE offenders would serve one year in prison for the first conviction, and two years for all subsequent convictions, also cumulative.

RAGE and RARE are meant to safeguard the rights of all to speech and expression. Yes, even the rights of the idiots at Westboro Baptist Church (and others who I don't care to mention by name). But they also acknowledge that everyone else has the same rights too... and it shouldn't take too much common sense to know when to respect those.

Thoughts?

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Chris watches THE ARTIST and loses his mind over its beauty and brilliance!

The Artist is the best picture that came out in 2011. Nothing else comes close. I found myself thinking that yesterday as we were watching it (at the Carousel Grande Cinema 15 in Greensboro) and the more and more that I've thought about it since the more resolute I am in that belief.

They just don't make movies like this anymore, folks. And I do not mean anything about how director Michel Hazanavicius chose to make this a (largely) black and white silent film in the style of the late 1920s (including maintaining the era's 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which I thought was truly class). This is... well it's the kind of movie that if you've ever complained about how movies aren't as good and clean and imaginative as they used to be, then you owe it to yourself to see The Artist.

It's just quite simply the most amazing film that I have seen in a long, long time!!

The Artist is about George Valentin (played by Jean Dujardin), an actor enjoying enormous success in the silent movie era of motion pictures. By accident he meets Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), a young admirer who finds herself in a photo alongside Valentin on the front of the next day's Variety. Valentin goes out of his way to give Peppy a role in his next film.

It seems to be all going so well until two years later when the "talkies" burst onto the scene. Valentin derides it as just a passing fad, and to prove it he produces and finances his own silent movie. But audible dialogue has won over the vox populi, and Valentin's days as a silent star are dashed. He must watch in growing despair as the studios go for younger, fresher faces... which includes Peppy.

I'm not going to synopsisize it anymore, folks. Because you really oughtta go into The Artist unawares. It has won a slew of awards already and looks poised to be a major contender at this year's Oscars. If so it owes it as much to the insanely strong ensemble casting as it does to its beautiful cinematography. Look for John Goodman, James Cromwell, and Malcolm McDowell among others. But the real scene-stealer has to be Uggie, the actor (yes, he is!) playing Valentin's dog. I swear folks - and I'm far from the only one in this as it turns out - but Uggie's performance demands that he gets a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. That dog pulls off more sincere heartelt acting than a lot of performances in movies nowadays.

Okay well, I don't honestly don't know what else to say 'cuz The Artist blew my gray matter apart with its style, its story, its acting and its comedy (of which there is plenty). HIGHLY recommended!! And I shall most certainly be adding the Blu-ray of this movie to my collection as soon as it becomes available.

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America: Welcome to the urinocracy

I am officially coining a new word: "urinocracy".

It's the best term that I can come up with to describe what this country has become, after observing what is going on with the Republican primaries this election season. Then it occurred to me that this really is what the United States has devolved into.

What is a "urinocracy"?

Urinocracy (noun): Government of, by, for and determined by adults who engage in pissing matches with each other.

Seriously: Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney? Are either of these two grown men showing us the maturity needed for the most powerful job in the world?

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For those enduring hardship...

Today's trial is tomorrow's testimony!

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It's dogs barking "Imperial March" from the Star Wars movies!!

This is a "teaser" for Volkswagen's commercial during this year's Super Bowl. Yes, Super Bowl commercials now have teasers for them. And even so this is already the greatest Super Bowl commercial in the history of anything...

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Movies from alternate realities

Imagine if, five decades before James Cameron set to work on it, it had been Howard Hawks instead who gave us Avatar... starring William Shatner, Natalie Wood, John Wayne, Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner?

It would probably look just like the poster on the right. And that's just one of the many very kewl "what-if?" scenarios that artist Peter Stults has come up with in "Movies from an Alternate Universe". Stults has brilliantly executed a series that... well, just try not to imagine Christopher Walken as the T-1000 when you see this rendering of Terminator 2: Judgment Day!

Great work Peter! And thanks to Kristen for directing our attention to this great feature :-)

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iPad fun with Zoe and Wally (AKA the girlfriend's cats)

This evening Kristen and I were hanging out in one room of her apartment when we heard her cats Zoe and Wally meowing outside the door. I had an idea so I grabbed my iPad, turned on the camera and slid it partly outside under the door. The results? Hilarity!!

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Happy 40th anniversary to SANFORD AND SON!

It was forty years ago today, on January 14th 1972, that Sanford and Son starring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson, premiered. In the four decades since then Sanford and Son has come to be regarded as one of the funniest - and finest - television series ever.

You know you want it: here's the classic opening titles, with that theme composed by Quincy Jones...

But why stop there? YouTube is hosting full episodes of Sanford and Son so if you've never seen the show before (you big dummy!) or you haven't caught it in awhile, here ya go!

Special thanks to Chad Austin for alerting this blog to the day's significance. And beans and diseases to him!

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Tired of negative political ads? So am I (and I'm gonna do something about it...)

Four years ago I made a solemn vow to myself, and I have kept to it. Not only that but my conscience has rested much better because of it...

I pledged to not vote for any candidate for public office who runs even a single negative campaign ad against an opponent.

I'm telling y'all right now that the ballot I cast in 2008 had a lot of wide open empty spaces. But the candidates that I didn't vote for, it can't be said that they didn't earn that. Either because I believed they were not suitable for office on their own merits, or because they violated the terms of my vow.

Look folks, seriously: if a candidate spends millions of dollars attacking his or her opponent instead of telling us "This is what I believe and this is how I want to serve you...", why should we trust them with our precious votes?

Is a candidate more interested in being a public servant, or is a candidate more interested in the office, along with the power and influence that comes with it?

How a person conducts himself or herself during a campaign - I believe anyway - indicates the character of that person when he or she gets elected.

If a candidate can't run without running a vicious, nasty negative campaign attacking a candidate, then all that really tells me is that that candidate lacks the creativity, the vision, the leadership qualities to be in an elected position.

I know something of what I speak. I've run for office before, once. I produced three TV commercials on my own. I designed my campaign's yard signs and newspaper ads. Nothing of that material was negative... and I came really close to landing election. Not only that but the campaign earned worldwide attention and praise, so don't even think about telling me that "being nice" won't work.

I guess I just couldn't live with myself if I ran a campaign ad aimed at "the other guy". And I don't see how any other candidate could live with himself or herself either.

We need candidates who will present themselves and what they believe in, nothing more and nothing less than that. If they can't be honest in that much, then they shouldn't be running, period.

But as for the matter at hand...

I have created a new Facebook group, Political Candidates Running Negative Ads WILL NOT Get My Vote. It is just what it sounds like: a group for those of us who have pledged to not vote for anyone who runs a negative ad attacking a fellow candidate.

I know. Some will be saying "But Chris, this is only electing the incumbent! Who is in office is more important than how they play the game, the ads they run, the attacks they make!"

I don't believe that. Because how they play "the game" demonstrates the kind of person that they will be when they get into office.

"We have to do whatever we can to (throw Obama out, defeat Mitt Romney in the primary, etc.)!!"

That's how it always starts. "Get the other guy." It is time for that to end.

There has to be a beginning somewhere. Let it begin with us.

Please keep in mind: This is NOT something I'm associated with or in opposition against any one political candidate or party. What this group is organized about is in regard to something that every political party... and too many politicians within each of them.... is guilty of perpetrating.

It's very simple: a candidate who runs even a single negative ad aimed at an opponent, DOES NOT DESERVE OUR VOTE.

Any political candidate that does this only demonstrates that he or she is after the office for its power, NOT to serve We The People.

Candidates should PROVE to us why THEY deserve enough of our trust to vote for them at the ballot box.

Telling us not to vote for "the other guys because...", ain't gonna cut it anymore.

I am fed up with candidates pulling this kind of crap. They are an insult to me, they are an insult to my community, and they are an insult to the United States of America.

There will be no change for the better in American government until we, the PEOPLE, choose AGAINST the negativity, the anger, the blind hatred that is dominating our political process.

Those who would exploit our baser instincts should be PUNISHED, not rewarded with elected office.

I pledge that if ANY candidate produces and runs for broadcast, print or any other published media even one negative ad or phone call or whatever, then I will NOT vote for that candidate. Ever.

And I sincerely invite you to pledge to do the same.

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