gdp's Comments

Big Government : California’s New Frisbee Law Just Latest Attempt to Raise Cash

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:06:37 +0000

On my street it's posted as cleaning every Monday morning. But I work at home, and I can assure you the cleaning truck comes by only once a month. The ticketers are out every week, however!

Big Government : California’s New Frisbee Law Just Latest Attempt to Raise Cash

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:04:05 +0000

Last month I got a ticket ($75!) for walking my dog off-leash on the beach (an area that has been off-leash since I moved here 30 years ago). Apparently they had just extended the off leash area that very day due to "nesting plovers." There were no signs up--I checked when I got back to the entrance. And no plovers, either. But here's the best part--they were driving an SUV down the beach (seems disruptive to me!) and after they ticketed me, they drove past an encampment of homeless bums (about 6 of them in filthy wood and cardboard hovels, with an illegal fire going) and nailed another dog walker. But here the homeless are a protected species, and they don't have money to extort anyway. I am developing a great contempt for the law.

Big Hollywood : 'Wings' (1927) Blu-ray Review: Today's Filmmakers Can Learn Much from This 85-Year-Old Classic

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:19:29 +0000

Agreed! There's a reason why most Hollywood fight scenes are so dull compared to what can be done in places not run by OSHA and the lawyers--Hong Kong, Thailand, etc. American stunt performers simply can't do those things because they are not allowed to. The difference is palpable and all the CGI and hi-tech can't make up for it.

Big Hollywood : Matthew Sweet's 'Girlfriend' at 20: Power Pop Packs Nostalgic Punch

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:41:30 +0000

Matthew wanted to call the album "Nothing Lasts," but Tuesday Weld said he could have that title or use her picture...but not both. I saw him recently on the "Girlfriend" tour and he was clearly having fun with it. I've never seen him so relaxed on the stage, bantering happily with the audience, and it was a great concert. I also had a chance to speak with him backstage and he's as nice a guy as you might imagine. I really enjoyed his albums from "Girlfriend" through "Blue Sky on Mars," but he started to lose me with "in reverse." His odd little album "Kimi ga suki- Raifu" (sort of a love letter to his Japanese fans) marked more of a return to the old style and I rather liked it. His newest, "Modern Art," has a couple tracks I really like but overall I still haven't make up my mind on it. It's...peculiar. Still, lots of musicians put out maybe one album (or even one song) and never catch that lightning in a bottle again, and at least for me, Matthew had a good solid run of four albums of genius (five if you count "Son of Altered Beast) and a bunch of songs scattered here and there on compilation albums that were really excellent ("So Far," a bonus track from the "Time Capsule: Best of Matthew Sweet" album is in my personal top 10 Sweet songs). Not a bad run, and that's not mentioning the little gems scattered throughout his later albums ("Millennium Blues" from "in reverse" and "Spiral" from "Kimi ga Suki"). All in all, not too shabby.

Big Journalism : The Media Sharpens The Humane Society’s Claws

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:58:23 +0000

I note that none of the huffy replies from the HSUS addressed the appalling fact that HSUS only donates 1% of its income to shelters. And that's the whole point, isn't it?

Big Hollywood : Top 10 Power Pop Albums of 2011

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:56:43 +0000

I liked Matthew Sweet's new album, "Modern Art." Maybe not as "power pop" as his older albums like "Altered Beast" but not without interest. A good "best of" CD of his work was released last year, too: "Playlist: The Very Best of Matthew Sweet" which provides a good overview of his work for a mere $7.99 (although "Time Capsule: The Best of Matthew Sweet 1990-2000" is only $9.99 on MP-3 and a better selection, I think).

Big Hollywood : Context-Challenged L.A. Times: Television Proves Americans Okay With Adultery!

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:06:36 +0000

Breaking Bad doesn't exactly present making meth as a positive lifestyle choice.

Big Hollywood : Meryl Streep Is Our Finest Actress? Think Again

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:48:50 +0000

American? None. How about Helen Mirren, though?

Big Hollywood : Meryl Streep Is Our Finest Actress? Think Again

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:47:12 +0000

Amen. Oliver Stone didn't do "W" because he was dying to tell the story of Bush. He did it to "control the narrative" and use the propaganda power of Hollywood to create the "accepted version of history." That execrable TV series "America: The Story of us" is a flawless example of that. Now every school owns a set of this revolting Zinn-based rubbish to play over and over again to young minds full of mush.

Big Government : American Elements Announces Top Five 'Endangered Elements' That Will Gravely Affect U.S. Manufacturi

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:25:14 +0000

I rather suspect we can do a more environmentally sensitive job of mining these metals than the Chinese. One would expect the enviros to be eager to have us take over, since the metals are going to be mined in any case. But then, they never had had much use for logic.

Big Government : Don't Mess With West Texas Or Eastern New Mexico

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:57:43 +0000

I think it's important to note that in the last 500 years in all of North America, only about 163 species (including insects and mollusks) are known to have become extinct.* Many of these lived in micro-niches highly susceptible to any disturbance (ie, the Caribbean Monk Seal Nasal Mite, which became extinct because the Carribean Monk seal did) or the Banff Longnose Dace which lived in a single hot spring in Canada. Such species would have been highly vulnerable in any case. And considering we've added 330 million people and their associated infrastructure to the United States alone in the last 500 years, it suggests species extinction should not be considered a problem that requires a blank check. *: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_anim...

Big Hollywood : 'The Sitter' Review: Slacker Comedy All Wrong for Engaging Hill

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:43:48 +0000

Sounds gruesome. BTW, ever notice how it's okay to make a point of the sexuality of an underage child if they're gay? Imagine if the film made a big deal out of the fact a 13 year-old girl was heterosexual. The screams of "pedophilia!" would break the skies.

Big Hollywood : Red Cross Meddles in Video Games, Claims Virtual War Crimes May Inspire Real Thing

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:13:09 +0000

Like most lefties, the Red Cross seems to have never read the Geneva Conventions. Protip: if the other side isn't following them, you don't have to either. Read them and see.

Big Hollywood : What Shoulda Won? 1998 Academy Awards

Sat, 3 Dec 2011 23:49:41 +0000

Note that "Elizabeth" is so ahistorical that famous Tudor-period historian Alison Weir felt the need to add a postscript to the paperback edition of her fabulous biography of Elizabeth I shredding the movie for its gross historical inaccuracy in everything from plot and characters to costumes and sets. It may be an entertaining movie but it has nothing to do with the life of the real Elizabeth I. (She's kinder to "Shakespeare in Love," but considers the BBC series "Elizabeth R" the gold standard.)

Big Hollywood : Mad Cow Disease Fears Could Change Classical Music

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:09:55 +0000

vCJD is caused by a prion, a sort of "reproducing organic crystal." It isn't even as "alive" as a virus, and there are no known sterilization techniques that would damage it and not the structure of the material to be sterilized. That said, the risk of catching it from this source is so low as to be impossible to measure (since no one ever has, there is not even a single data point). Another example of the Nanny State run amok.

Big Hollywood : Kyle Smith: 'Iron Lady' a Fitting Tribute to British Leader

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:38:45 +0000

The link to Kyle's review is 404. Try: http://kylesmithonline.com/?p=8835

Big Government : Three Reasons We Shouldn't Bail Out Student Loan Borrowers

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:22:16 +0000

Bingo! That was the first thing that popped into my mind when I read that line, too.

Big Government : Greens #Occupy Washington

Mon, 7 Nov 2011 00:12:04 +0000

So what are his plans for forcing China,India, Russia, Africa, South America, SE Asia, etc to slash their greenhouse gas emissions? Because even if we and Western Europe cut ours to ZERO, it will be less than a 17% decrease in global output. So we're supposed revert to living in caves...and die of "climate change" anyway. AGW has never been about science. It has always been about power and money (just as the "New Ice Age" scare in the 70s was).

Big Hollywood : Greg Gutfeld's 3 AM 'Red Eye' Ratings Beat Scarborough, Piers Morgan, John King, Chris Matthews...

Tue, 1 Nov 2011 22:51:58 +0000

I totally disagree with 99% of of what Marc Lamont Hill says, but he is so damn quick-witted and funny I forgive him.

Big Journalism : Don't Blame ObamaCare: 'NBC Nightly News' Freaks Out Over Rise In Health Costs

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:49:15 +0000

Amen. I an self-employed, and I cannot afford the extremely expensive health care insurance MANDATED by the State of California. (Cheapest I could find here: $396/mo. Cheapest I could get if it was legal for me to buy it across state borders: $76/mo from a company in Texas. This is largely because I want a big deductible, which California does not allow.) So I self-insure and pay cash. All I need to do is mention this to doctors and the prices drop. Office visits are cheaper (sometimes by up to 50%!!) because "there's so much less paperwork." Instead of sending me to the blood lab in his associated hospital at at cost of $180, my doc referred me to a private company that did it for $29. An insurance reimbursed MRI was quoted to me at $3900. Cash price: $1870. Health care consumers must have skin in the game and shop, or there is little incentive for prices to come down. Who cares about price when it's all "free"...?