TV Quote of the Week

Unbelievable! "Do you like my mask? Isn't it pretty? It raises the dead!" Americans!
--Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Dead Man’s Party”

¡Feliz Día de los Caídos!

I do not have enough words to pay adequate tribute to all those who have fallen in the service of this country.

However, I do hope that all my readers have a pleasant Memorial Day just the same.

TV Quote of the Week

I've recently come to realize there's more to me than just being human. I'm also an American.
--Emma Caulfield, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Tough Love"

Most Thrillers Nowadays Actually Could Use a Grain of Salt...

If you were to mention the phrase "Russian conspiracy involving the U.S. President" today, it's a safe bet that most Americans would not think of the scenario mentioned in the 2010 movie Salt...

Nevertheless, for such a "dated" movie, it seemed surprisingly watchable. Indeed, I enjoyed the last half of this movie more than I did the last Mission: Impossible movie. (I knew I was in trouble with that one because while it wasn't really a bad movie, the plot was predictable enough that I actually started missing such sparkling dialogue like "the package is on the plane" -- which, of course, is a line from yet another Mission: Impossible movie. But I digress.)

Anyway, as tempted as I am to crack jokes about poor Angelina Jolie doing the Sydney Bristow routine and going all Alias on us, I actually liked this movie. Of course, due to my ethnic background, I could not help but find something ironic about a movie that basically asked us the audience to root for an accused woman who was actually guilty of the crime of which she was accused. Granted, she eventually redeemed herself by saving the world and proving herself to have been a good person all along -- if that is the correct terminology to use in regard to someone who showed no mercy in killing so many people -- but still...

In any event, Tom Cruise was originally supposed to play the title role in this movie and it's only after he backed out that Angelie Jolie took over. In a way, it's a good thing. The scene where she watched the villain through a glass window and tried to speak to him with her eyes and her facial expressions just wouldn't have worked with an actor like Mr. Cruise. And Ms. Jolie has played enough tough characters that she was more convincing in the role despite her size than I would have ordinarily thought possible -- even when she was being thrown around by someone who was so much bigger than she was. (Then again fights with the Great Big Guy are almost obligatory in this type of thriller.)

I suppose I should wrap up by commenting on the irony of an American action movie in which the native-born Yankees do little save sit around while a dang foreigner does all the real work involving in preventing World War III. Then again, isn't that the same premise you find in most James Bond movies? And look how popular they are with the Yanks!

Thought About the Flint River

If a group of terrorists dumped hazardous chemicals in a local river and destroyed the drinking water of an entire community, most Americans would be screaming for Homeland Security to go out and arrest the bastards. But when American corporations do the same thing, we are supposed to just accept it as the price we pay for a healthy job climate...

¡Feliz Día de los Caídos!

I do not have enough words to pay adequate tribute to all those who have fallen in the service of this country.

However, I do hope that all my readers have a pleasant Memorial Day just the same.

¡Feliz Día de los Veteranos!

In honor of all the people who have served in the American armed forces -- including two of my uncles -- I hope you all have a pleasant Veteran's Day.

¡Feliz Día de los Veteranos!

In honor of all the people who have served in the American armed forces -- including two of my uncles -- I hope you all have a pleasant Veteran's Day.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Mark Twain!

AKA Samuel Langhorne Clemens.

Born November 30, 1835. Died April 21, 1910.

He was a famous American writer best known for such novels as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huck Finn. He also wrote such nonfiction books like Roughing It and The Innocents Abroad. Mark Twain is also credited with not only inventing the Great American Novel but being one of the first American writers to give voice to a new American literary style that owed almost nothing to European influence, a trait which was most obvious in The Innocents Abroad.

Quote of the Week

The Americans have established a Thanksgiving Day to celebrate the fact that the Pilgrim Fathers reached America. The English might very well establish another Thanksgiving Day; to celebrate the happy fact that the Pilgrim Fathers left England.
--G. K. Chesterton, Sidelights (1932)

¡Feliz Día de los Veteranos!

In honor of all the people who have served in the American armed forces -- including two of my uncles -- I hope you all have a pleasant Veteran's Day.

Literary Quote I Like

I wonder why the Americans got rid of the Mexicans in the first place when they now spend their leisure trying to make themselves look indistinguishable from them!
--Michael Moorcock, Jerusalem Commands

Quote of the Week

It almost seems that nobody can hate America as much as native Americans. America needs new immigrants to love and cherish it.
--Eric Hoffer, Reflections on the Human Condition

Quote of the Week

So instead of asking why we can't be considered American like everyone else, let's ask, why can't everyone else be more like us?
--Ed Morales, Living in Spanglish: The Search for Latino Identity in America

TV Quote of the Week

Damn, I'm so tired of this "I'm an American" bull! Where was all that patriotism when it counted? Where was that willingness to sacrifice? Nobody wanted to join the damn army to defend the country unless they got paid well! Nobody wanted to give any time to public service unless they could make a career out of it! And I didn't notice a lot of us giving up our lives in the last 10 years!
--Robert Urich, Amerika (TV Mini-Series)

Quote of the Week

Imagine a half-Russian, half-American living in Moscow lamenting that all he sees of Americans is Red Dawn, Dr. Strangelove and Rambo and getting real, real depressed that all he ever sees of himself is loutish, loudmouthed, meat-brained 'Merican Neanderthals.
--San Diego State University Professor William Nericcio, as quoted by Gustavo Arellano in his "¡Ask a Mexican!" column in the February 27th issue of The Dallas Observer

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Mark Twain!

AKA Samuel Langhorne Clemens.

Born November 30, 1835. Died April 21, 1910.

He was a famous American writer best known for such novels as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huck Finn. He also wrote such nonfiction books like Roughing It and The Innocents Abroad. Mark Twain is also credited with not only inventing the Great American Novel but being one of the first American writers to give voice to a new American literary style that owed almost nothing to European influence, a trait which was most obvious in The Innocents Abroad.

Spanish Words for the People of American Cities

1. Angelinos -- people of Los Angeles, California.
2. Atlanteses -- people of Atlanta, Georgia.
3. Bostonianos -- people of Boston, Massachusetts.
4. Dalasitas -- people of Dallas, Texas.
5. Detroiteses -- people of Detroit, Michigan.
6. Paseños -- people of El Paso, Texas.
7. Providencianos -- people of Providence, Rhode Island.
8. Seatleitas -- people of Seattle, Washington.
9. Vegueños -- people of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Spanish Words for the People of American States

1. Alabamienses -- people of Alabama.
2. Alaskeños -- people of Alaska.
3. Arizonianos -- people of Arizona.
4. Arkansanos -- people of Arkansas.
5. Californianos -- people of California.
6. Coloradinos -- people of Colorado.
7. Conectiqueses -- people of Connecticut.
8. Delawarenses -- people of Delaware.
9. Floridanos -- people of Florida.
10. Georgianos -- people of Georgia.
11. Hawaianos -- people of Hawaii.
12. Idahoneses -- people of Idaho.
13. Ilinoisanos -- people of Illinois.
14. Indianeses -- people of Indiana.
15. Iowanos -- people of Iowa.
16. Kanseños -- people of Kansas.
17. Kentuckianos -- people of Kentucky.
18. Luisianos -- people of Louisiana.
19. Maineses -- people of Maine.
20. Marilandeses -- people of Maryland.
21. Masachusetanos -- people of Massachusetts.
22. Michiguenses -- people of Michigan.
23. Minesotanos -- people of Minnesota.
24. Misisipianos -- people of Mississippi.
25. Misurianos -- people of Missouri.
26. Montaneses -- people of Montana.
27. Nebraskeses -- people of Nebraska.
28. Neohampshireños -- people of New Hampshire.
29. Neojerseítas -- people of New Jersey.
30. Neomexicanos -- people of New Mexico.
31. Neoyorquinos -- people of New York.
32. Nevadenses -- people of Nevada.
33. Norcarolinos -- people of North Carolina.
34. Nordakotenses -- people of North Dakota.
35. Ohioanos -- people of Ohio.
36. Oklahomenses -- people of Oklahoma.
37. Oregonenses -- people of Oregon.
38. Pensilvanos -- people of Pennsylvania.
39. Rodislandeses -- people of Rhode Island.
40. Surcarolinos -- people of South Carolina.
41. Surdakotenses -- people of South Dakota.
42. Tennesianos -- people of Tennessee.
43. Texanos -- people of Texas.
44. Utaheños -- people of Utah.
45. Vermonteses -- people of Vermont.
46. Virginianos -- people of Virginia.
47. Virginianos occidentales -- people of West Virginia.
48. Washingtonianos -- people of Washington.
49. Wisconsinitas -- people of Wisconsin.
50. Wyomingneses -- people of Wyoming.

Movie Quote of the Week

I want you to go to the U.S. embassy. You'll be safe there.
--Liam Neeson, Taken 2 (2012)