Monday, June 23, 2008

George Carlin, R.I.F.P.

Fresh off of a week's worth of hagiographic logorrhea from the chattering class after the untimely death of Tim Russert comes the truly lamentable passing of George Carlin.

Now, don't get me wrong, Russert will be be missed. I found him an interesting interviewer who did occasionally ask tough questions of his interviewees despite their being his colleagues in the political/media elite.

The loss of Carlin, however, is truly a shame. I know him more from his recent work, as the goofy Archbishop in Dogma and in the work he did for kid's entertainment, like narrating Thomas the Tank Engine stories and playing the voice of Fillmore the spacey VW bus in Cars -- yes, I have a three year old son.

I'm aware, however, that long before this Carlin was a free speech pioneer, that his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV" routine dragged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, leading, unfortunately, to one of their many failures to defend individual liberties. But he didn't always lose, and comedians have cited him as an influence and inspiration ever since. Carlin's sort of iconoclasm is vital for avoiding a descent into authoritarian stagnation. He'll be missed.

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by Steve Foerster at 10:20 AM | 1 comments (create) - (View)

Monday, December 25, 2006

Happy Newton Day!

I suppose I'm steeped in my own culture too much not to feel nothing strange at wishing others a Merry Christmas even though I am not a Christian. However, thanks to my friend Bob Klassen I also think of December 25 as a great holiday in celebration of reason and science. It is, after all, the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton, and while it's said that he loved the Bible even more than science, it's his work with the latter that caused Alexander Pope to write:

Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;
God said "Let Newton be" and all was light.
Happy Newton Day everyone!

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by Steve Foerster at 10:00 AM | 0 comments (create) - (View)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Dead Man's Chest

I'm not sure why the critics didn't like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It had a complex plot, but not a convoluted one. It was long, but engaging throughout. Now I may be a little biased, since they filmed all the scenes with lush beautiful rainforest in Dominica, and it was cool to see one or two familiar faces on screen (like our boat guide on Indian River). But still, I thought it was great.

And this movie also goes to show that you can do whatever you want to Naomie Harris and she's still hot.

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by Steve Foerster at 2:25 PM | 0 comments (create) - (View)