Quote of the Week

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
--Luke 12:48, King James Bible

Pop Song of the Week: "Ex's and Oh's"

Who knew Rob Schneider's daughter could have such a pleasant singing voice?

Movie Song of the Week: "We Both Reached for the Gun"

Try not to think of a purple elephant when you listen to this song.

Movie Quote of the Week

You talk as if astrology is something to be ashamed of, like witchcraft or being a Democrat.
--Spring Byington, The Heavenly Body (1944)

TV Quote of the Week

Hmm. It would be nice if we could prepare for the future instead of trying to clean up after the past.
--John Nolan, Person of Interest, “A House Divided”

Quote of the Week

We don't need an apprentice in the White House — we have one right now.
--Scott Walker, September 16, 2015

Movie Quote of the Week

There's something about the sound of my own voice that fascinates me.
--Jack Carson, Mildred Pierce (1945)

TV Quote of the Week

You know what's wrong with karate Jerry? It's based on the ridiculous assumption that the other guy will fight fair.
--James Garner, The Rockford Files, "Backlash of the Hunter"

Donald Does Dallas

Well, if Donald Trump's recent rally in Dallas proved one thing, it's that the guy really knows how to put a show. For that matter, he's rather shameless about sucking up to an audience as long as it's the right audience -- but then what politician isn't rather shameless about doing that?

That said, I still don't trust the guy and I would not be a bit surprised to find out that most of his "supporters" are just voting for him to yank the chains of the type of people who don't like Donald Trump. (And I'm not referring to people like me.)

I do find it interesting that though my mother and my middle brother both lean conservative -- indeed, my middle brother can be very conservative when it comes to politics -- neither one of them is a Trump supporter. But then Trump isn't interested in appealing to people like us so I'm not all that surprised.

Anyway, it sounds like it's going to be an interesting election year next year. And if nothing else, Donald Trump deserves credit for stealing Rand Paul's thunder -- which is probably the last nice thing I'll say about Mr. Trump this year.

Quote of the Week

And that's the beauty of Obama. It might be a generational thing, because the difference between Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson was that Jesse Jackson never actually ran for president. He ran to disrupt the presidency. If he actually ran for president, he probably could have been president. Jesse Jackson won a bunch of primaries in Southern states, but not for five seconds did he think he could be president, whereas Obama was like, "Yeah, I could be president," and nobody stopped him. Literally, nobody stopped him.
-- Chris Rock, "Chris Rock Pens Blistering Essay on Hollywood's Race Problem: 'It's a White Industry'", Hollywood Reporter, December 3, 2014

R.I.P. Laura Antonelli

Italian actress and sex symbol Laura Antonelli -- most famous for such films as The Innocent and Wifemistress -- went to her trailer for the last time on June 22, 2015, at age 73.

She will be missed.

R.I.P. Blaze Starr

Former burlesque queen and stripper Blaze Starr -- most famous for being the inspiration for the 1989 movie Blaze -- made her last curtain call on June 15, 2015, at age 83.

She will be missed.

R.I.P. Ron Moody

English character actor Ron Moody -- most famous for playing Fagin in the 1968 movie Oliver! -- went off the set for the final time on June 11, 2015, at age 91.

He will be missed.

Movie Quote of the Week

Maybe people should not be born citizens. Too easy. Should work for it. Study to get papers. Then they know what it means.
--Ricardo Montalban, My Man and I (1952)

TV Quote of the Week

There is a place for tradition, Hassan, but we must learn to live in this world as neighbors. We can not be blind to the changes happening all around us.
--Barry Robins, Columbo, “A Case of Immunity”

Quote of the Week

And I think experience tends to bear out, at least half the time, that famous people are not very pleasant people.
--William F. Buckley, as quoted by James Rosen in his essay "The Long, Hot Summer of '68," The National Review, September 7, 2015

My comment:

Heh. Irony.

Given the many unpleasant things that have been said about Mr. Buckley -- and the number of statements he had made during his life which weren't exactly politically correct -- it is hard to not see some unintended humor in this quote.

Even the essay this quote comes from hints at some unflattering aspects of Mr. Buckley's personality even though it was obviously meant to be a defense of his reputation.

And I must confess that I have reservations about Mr. Buckley myself. After all, he was not exactly a big fan of the Civil Rights Movement and his decision to side with the likes of President Ricard M. Nixon and Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daly would not have made him too welcome in my late father's house back in the days when my father was still voting for people like George McGovern.

Then again just because my father voted for McGovern did not make him a typical liberal. Nor did it make him immune to conservative values. For that matter, my own mother went from being a Kennedy Democrat to a Reagan Democrat because she felt that the values she grew up with were being increasingly mocked by the type of people who supported the Democrats. And the more I learn about politics, the harder I find it to fault her for this. (Then again, I am a bit biased in her favor.)

I could write a whole book on the various differences I have with both liberals and conservatives. After all, I'm a contrarian by nature and the fact that my late father used to conduct Socratic dialogues with me and my three siblings while we were growing up did not exactly encourage me to downplay this aspect of my personality. But I'll save that discussion for another time.