Thursday, December 01, 2005
A Suggestion For Friends Of Tookie...
I think he's one guy you can cross off this year's Christmas list.
Just finished reading the "Los Angeles County District Attorneys Response To Stanley Williams' Petition For Executive Clemency". (found via Cobb) Interesting read, all in all, but I found the following to be of particular interest;
"Moreover, Williams remains loyal to the gang member street code of ethics. He has refused, despite his hollow claims of attonement, to be debriefed by the prison authorities. Such a debriefing could provide the prison authorities with important information to aid them in establishing institutional security. It would also provide tremendous insight into how the gang members operate within the prison walls and how they are able to continue their criminal activities on our city streets while locked up behind those walls. Lastly, it wouldshow that Williams has finally renounced his criminal life, and in some small way, has begun to accept responsibility for his actions.
Despite the value of such a debriefing, Williams, falling back on his ever-present gang mentality, claims that he would not submit to a debriefing because to do so would be to act as a "snitch" and as any gang member would concede, in the gang world there is nothing lower in the hierarchal order then a snitch."
In other words: reformed, my ass.
I have some simpathy for those who oppose the death penalty based on their view on life and whatnot, but the bullshit being spouted by Jesse Jackson and his collection of C-list celebrities (and Snoop Dogg) is a little unbareable. Children's books? Get the fuck outta here! Innocence? Come on! Seriously! He's the co-founder of the Crips. He's unleashed a virus that's killed thousands.
Jesse's now on my "Harry Belafonte list of formerly useful activist celebrities I previously respected". I think there's only two people on this list, Jesse (it was a long time coming, wasn't it?) and Mr. Tallyman, who thinks that calling Colin Powell an uncle tom is decent political discourse. This list might be bigger, but I rarely remember to write these things down.
My only gripe about the death penalty is that it isn't often enough dealt to those who snuff out black lives, whatever the color of the perp. Some would say, "hey, there's a reason to abolish the death penalty." I say, "no, we know what the problem is. Fix it." Also, 24 years of appeals? Isn't that excessive?
Just finished reading the "Los Angeles County District Attorneys Response To Stanley Williams' Petition For Executive Clemency". (found via Cobb) Interesting read, all in all, but I found the following to be of particular interest;
"Moreover, Williams remains loyal to the gang member street code of ethics. He has refused, despite his hollow claims of attonement, to be debriefed by the prison authorities. Such a debriefing could provide the prison authorities with important information to aid them in establishing institutional security. It would also provide tremendous insight into how the gang members operate within the prison walls and how they are able to continue their criminal activities on our city streets while locked up behind those walls. Lastly, it wouldshow that Williams has finally renounced his criminal life, and in some small way, has begun to accept responsibility for his actions.
Despite the value of such a debriefing, Williams, falling back on his ever-present gang mentality, claims that he would not submit to a debriefing because to do so would be to act as a "snitch" and as any gang member would concede, in the gang world there is nothing lower in the hierarchal order then a snitch."
In other words: reformed, my ass.
I have some simpathy for those who oppose the death penalty based on their view on life and whatnot, but the bullshit being spouted by Jesse Jackson and his collection of C-list celebrities (and Snoop Dogg) is a little unbareable. Children's books? Get the fuck outta here! Innocence? Come on! Seriously! He's the co-founder of the Crips. He's unleashed a virus that's killed thousands.
Jesse's now on my "Harry Belafonte list of formerly useful activist celebrities I previously respected". I think there's only two people on this list, Jesse (it was a long time coming, wasn't it?) and Mr. Tallyman, who thinks that calling Colin Powell an uncle tom is decent political discourse. This list might be bigger, but I rarely remember to write these things down.
My only gripe about the death penalty is that it isn't often enough dealt to those who snuff out black lives, whatever the color of the perp. Some would say, "hey, there's a reason to abolish the death penalty." I say, "no, we know what the problem is. Fix it." Also, 24 years of appeals? Isn't that excessive?
Labels: death, society, solutions?, terrorism, Truth
Monday, November 28, 2005
Star Trek: The New Voyages
I've seen this web series mentioned in a couple of spots here and there, but it wasn't until an article in this month's Wired magazine that I decided to actually download and watch the two available episodes. Fan films have become increasingly sophisticated due to more affordable technology and in some cases the participation of folks who work behind the scenes in television and movies. Batman: Dead End is one such (and great) example. Star Wars: Revelations impressed a lot of people, and while it looked good, the story, the performances, and the performers themselves kinda left me cold.
Star Trek: The New Voyages is based on the premise that since the original series was cancelled early, we only got to see about three years of the "five year mission". The new series continues the original series with faithful reproductions of the original sets with stories, acting and production by a collection of enthusiasts.
The Wired article states that the first episode was done to see what they could do. It's not a bad effort. Not great, but not bad. It isn't until episode 2, "In Harms Way", that the show grabs my head with both hands, smashes it against a wall, picks my ass up and throws me out the window. Holy shit, it's that good! I mean, god-damn! It's got Captain Pike in it, and like I said before, Pike ain't no pussy.
The cast takes some getting used to. The guy who plays Kirk looks more like Jim Carrey, but doesn't do Carrey's exaggerated Kirk shtick. Spock is a little more effeminate looking than I'm completely comfortable with, and Bones isn't quite the borderline racist ("why you green blooded, half-breed, Vulcan piece of shit!"*) who looked like he rarely got any sleep that I remember from the old days. After a while, you sorta get used to these guys. New Voyages nails the old show and I think, maybe surpasses it a little in the second episode. I recommend watching the first episode just to get a feel for what's happening. If it seems too cheesy and you decide to turn it off, YOU STILL HAVE TO WATCH "IN HARM'S WAY"!!! YOU GOTTA!!! Of course, if you've never seen nor liked the original Star Trek, ignore me.
The series can be found here. On the download page, they say the first ep is unavailable, but both shows are downloadable as torrents. I recommend watching the Windows Media files first to see if you like 'em, and then downloading the DVD files if you must (those can take a while).
* Okay, maybe that isn't an exact quote. Been a long time since I caught the show.
Labels: Awesome, bittorrent, Capt Pike was a bad MuthaFucka, downloads, DVD, fun, independent film-making, movies, nostalgia, tv
Totoro, Finally!!!!
On march 7th, next year, according to Ultimate Disney (I found out via aint-it-cool-news). Better late than never. I have the Hong Kong DVD (region 3, I think). That's fine for me, but what about everybody else? This movie must be seen. And avoid the Fox release. While I think the dubbing's just fine, the image cropping is unforgivable. Wait for the 2-disc special edition. Also released on that day is Howl's Moving Castle, and Whisper Of The Heart, neither of which I've seen. While I'm waiting, I suppose I can catch up on some of the previous Ghibli releases not yet in my collection. These include favorites like Nausicaa In The Valley Of Wind, Our Neighbors The Yamadas, and Kiki's Delivery Service. Also worth getting is Porco Rosso.And I still haven't seen Pom Poko.
Labels: Anime, Awesome, DVD, japanese, movies
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