Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Random Thoughts

1.   Just watched Room 237 on Netflix. Now I rally really want to watch the Shining again, but Netflix doesn't have it. Neither does Hulu. Neither does the library. How am I to go on living?

http://blogs.kcrw.com/mattsmovies/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Room-237-Quad.jpg 
If you haven't seen Room 237, I definitely recommend it. It's all about the various theories people have developed about various levels of meaning in Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining. They range from the entirely plausible (Kubrick meant the film as an allegory for the Holocaust and/or the Native American genocide) to the far-out (Kubrick uses The Shining to confess to his part in faking the moon landing). It's totally fascinating, and really makes me want to re-watch the Shining, since I had thought that the film was mainly an experiment in how much scenery Jack Nicholson could chew. (spoiler alert: A LOT!)

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You can almost see bits of the Overlook Hotel stuck in his teeth!

2.    Endorsements are out of control. I just saw an ad that said Makita is the "official tools of the Mexican National Soccer Team." Why? Why would any tools be the official tools of the Mexican National Soccer team? I could understand if they said "Adidias, the official cleats of the National soccer team," because they use cleats and presumably would have their choice of any brand and if they chose Adidias that would be a pretty strong endorsement. But Makita? Why would you want to be the official tools of a soccer team? Soccer teams don't use hand tools, they don't even used hands! 

Pretty much any time you see that some brand is the "official ____ of _____" it's going to be bullshit. Did you know that McDonalds is the "official restaurant of the Olympics?" That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. First of all, McDonalds is not a restaurant. Restaurants serve food. And secondly, does anyone think that any Olypmic athletes are setting foot in McDonalds? 

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/b463303004fd637779b871dc0b3dbcec14dd32a0/c%3D218-39-3560-2547%26r%3Dx404%26c%3D534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/12/10//1386702585000-USP-USOC-Team-USA-Media-Summit-001.jpg 
Think she eats a lot of french fries?

Okay, maybe Sean White, but only when he's really stoned.

3.    Do you think George Zimmerman even knows he's lying anymore?

George Zimmerman: ‘I Certainly Was A Victim’


George Zimmerman still believes that he was a victim the night he shot and killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. ”I certainly was a victim when I was having my head bashed into the concrete and my nose broken and beaten,” Zimmerman told CNN on Monday. ” So I wouldn’t say I was not a victim.”



Does he even know anymore, or has he told the lie so many times he actually has started to believe it?

Oh, and while we're on the subject, please God let this story be true!

George Zimmerman chased by angry mob in Miami




The biggest shame is that most people will only remember Devo as the guys who wore flowerpot hats and sang "Whip It" and the theme from Dr. Detroit. Sure, Devo could create perfect pop songs like "Girl U Want" or "Through Being Cool," but they also produced some of the most innovative, subversive music ever heard. They were amazing enough to impress David Bowie and Iggy Pop, who helped them get a record deal. (on Warner Bros, no less. The Seventies were a crazy time!)

Check out some of their art-damaged early work: