New Bond

The secret agent identity has long been a fertile playground for boy's imaginations. The Bon archetype that dominated and shaped it for so long did become stale. The Bourne Identity and its sequel were far superior to the last Bond movies, which beyond the requisite gee-whiz technology were pretty poor stories. I just saw the new trailer for Casino Royale, and if it lives up to the excellent preview it should impress.

Just the Bond we're looking for? I think it might be.

Hang Six

I have never been surfing, or at least never gotten up on a surfboard. I sat on one for a little while, but it was summertime in Florida so who was I kidding? Knowing this, and despite the fact that it might make me a poseur, I love surf movies.

Today I saw this trailer for a very unusual kind of surfing flick. I liked the look. Surf's Up.

Crazy Torts

I love Eric Snider. The guy cracks me up on a frequent basis. Check out a bit of his latest column on a women suing Starbucks because they cancelled her coupon:

...Evidently Ms. Coakley was so racked with sorrow and disenchantment over her failed Starbucks freebie that she ran sobbing back to her apartment, shattered her framed "I Heart Starbucks" poster on the floor, and lay weeping inconsolably on her bed for several days, soothed only when a lawyer came to her bedside, gently stroked her hair, and said he could sue Starbucks for $114 million. At least I imagine that's how it happened. What the lawyer neglected to tell her, of course, is that if she wins she'll get $1,000 while the law firm gets $113,999,000.

Read the whole thing. By the way, tort is another word for lawsuit.

Chavez el Gamberro

Hugo Chavez came to New York and showed American what we are up against. His speech to the United Nations can be found here. It is not impressive oratory.

The response of various Democratic officials was gratifying, but doesn't go far enough. I am inclined to agree with Peggy Noonan's piece in today's Opinion Journal. She advocates a strident rebuttal of Chavez, focusing on the facts behind our case.

Chavez fancies himself the next Castro. I don't think he'll have the longevity, but contemplating even a few more years of his nonsense is not pleasant. His country is not powerful militarily, but their natural resources make it an important player. We should be wary of what he is up to and undermine him at every chance.

That's My Boy

I edited together a little clip of Joseph that I shot a few weeks ago. Joseph is drawing with his mom and decides it would be really funny to laugh and laugh. We loved it, and it was fun to see him get so excited. He loves to talk.

Who has the Conflict?

As you may know, I take a particular interest in stories that involve Cuba. I am of Cuban ancestry, and have grown up with a dislike of communism from my infancy. I wholeheartedly support any effort that might help bring freedom to Cuba. One important initiative is Radio Marti, a service of the Federal Government that broadcasts to Cuba.

Carlos Alberto Montaner is a syndicated columnist and has an op-ed in today's WSJ (Opinion Journal link here) in which he examines a move by the publisher of the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald (the Spanish-language sister paper) that undermines that program.

It is evidence of another dumb move by a media company that will further undermine their credibility to the public. Who has the conflict of interest?

Aarghhhhh!

Ahoy mateys, it's Talk like a Pirate Day so I have rounded up a few Spanish Pirate Phrases that I found on this discussion board:

• ¡Al abordaje!
• ¡Barco a la vista!
• ¡Me tiemblan las maderas!

Okay, so that last one I made up. It means, "Shiver me timbers," but probably doesn't translate.

Time to Laugh

This clip cracked me up. I think Steve Carrell is hilarious and I'm looking forward to the season premiere of The Office this Thursday.

They have some hilarious fake Public Service Announcements by cast members on NBC site.

Good Journalism

I posted a bit on Right Wing Pundit about some interesting journalism by David Plotz of Slate. Check it out.

Low Budget - High Quality

I like the sound of this song, but really like the video. It's impressive in that it is filmed in a single take, and although the choreography is simple, they do it right. I bet there were a lot of outtakes.

From the Good Idea Department

Chuck Klosterman is a talented writer, and he has a great idea about how we can fix USA Basketball. It involves forming a squad dedicated to international play.

Take a look.

Snider in the News

I am a big fan of Eric Snider, and have been reading him since 1997, when he was a writer for the Daily Universe (mentioned in derision below). He has a great website and has been named a top undiscovered website by PC Magazine.

It is worth checking out. There are other good sites on the list too.

Profiles in Mediocrity

On occasion I visit the website of the Daily Universe, the newspaper of Brigham Young University. BYU is a great school, but the Daily Universe is not great. I enjoyed mocking the paper as a student, and almost without fail I find plenty to mock these days too.

Today was no exception, as the death of the Crocodile Hunter gave them a chance to expose their ignorance. For the full effect you need to read the editorial, but among the problems in the piece is the characterization of Timothy Treadwell as "one of the world's foremost authorities on wildlife." Treadwell was an enthusiastic advocate for wildlife, but an idiotic one. This demonstrates poor research on their part.

There's more to complain about, but its too late for that right now. Read it and see.

Awesome and Inexplicable

There is no way this video could ever be made today, and that's a shame, because it is AWESOME. Guaranteed to make you smile.

YouTube also has the more common variation of the song, during a funny scene on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.