Ramblings on politics, film, music, literature, current events, pop culture, lists, dirty words, trapezoids, birds, cartoons and any other damned thing that strikes my synapses. A 39ish-year-old freelance journalist and writer living with his wife and baby daughter in the hardscrabble environs of Oklahoma, Chase McInerney now spends much of his time frozen in stark, cold sweat-inducing, gut-percolating fear. For it will be soon .
.. yes, very, very soon.
..
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Entertainment Weekly critics name their of 2004, and " " leads the pack.
Woo-hoo! (on the incomprehensible side, " " is deemed worst of the year). Newsweek film critic offers his Ten Best Movies of the year, with "Sideways" topping he list.
The New York Times' inimitable critic A.O. Scott gives his nominees for the year's , continuing that newspaper's tradition of recognizing inscrutable art-house films not seen by anyone who lives outside New York, L.
A. or San Francisco.
Oh, what the hell: You can pretty much find all the major film critics' lists catalogued on .
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The New York Times Review of Books declares its selections for the . The Village Voice lists its of the year. (Note to self: Read Philip Roth's " ")
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The New Yorker has its t of 2004.
The gaggle of music junkies over at Pitchfork gives us a whopping of the year and, unlike for its top 50, some of these are actually interesting choices. offers worth the money.
asked acts such as Green Day and Robyn Hitchcock what they would deem 2004's best music.
also offers its choice audio cuts.
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Oh, and for something completely different ..
. Media Matters whips up its . Sure, it's a partisan source, but what the heck?
Some of these quotes are doozies like this gem: "When you hear 'human rights,' think gays. ..
. [T]hink only one thing: someone who wants to rape your son." Savage, indeed.
According to the Herald, "Five minutes later, in a whisper that hit a Massachusetts General Hospital room like a thunderbolt, [comatose patient Bill] DiPasquale awoke saying, 'I've got to get to work.
' His would-be mourners were stunned."
I'll tell you why they were stunned. They were stunned that an asshole of a boss would march into a hospital room and order his comatose employee back to work.
Where's the union when you need it?
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Uh-oh. Hustler magazine horny toad says he is of in heavy petting action with (knock me over with a feather) another woman.
You know what that means: Paris Hilton still won't go away.
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The is a more sensitive site than it sounds, and definitely worth checking out. Think of it as an oasis of obituaries -- unless you have an aversion to alliteration, that is.
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From the Pointless Trends Department: surveys the cultural landscape of 2004, from the strings-attached sextravaganza of " " to the Broadway success of " ," and concludes 2004 was the
Judith Reisman, the former " " writer-turned-champion of morality whose accusations against Alfred Kinsey -- she's charged him of everything from pedophilia to quasi-Nazism -- have fueled most of the controversy enshrouding him.
Writer Max Blumenthal does a good job encapsulating some of Reisman's Greatest Hits:
On the international gay conspiracy:
"I would suggest to you that while the homosexual population may right now be one to two percent," Reisman reportedly told a Christian Right conference in 1994, "hold your breath, people, because the recruitment is loud; it is clear; it is everywhere. You'll be seeing, I would say, 20 percent or more, probably 30 percent, or even more than that, of the young population will be moving into homosexual activity.
"
On Jews as babykillers:
"Everyone knows Jews do lead the abortion industry, and I'll thank B'nai B'rith from the bottom of my heart if they can prove otherwise," Reisman, a Jew, said in 1995.
OK, it might not be nice to bat around Reisman's kooky past, but it seems fair game if we are to put into perspective her longtime crusade against the legacy of Dr. Kinsey and, by extension, the so-called "sexual revolution.
"
Read more .
First, a is canned for a personal blog. Now, the in St. Louis details how St.
Louis Post-Dispatch features reporter Daniel P. Finney was fired after his editors discovered his personal blog. Of course, it didn't help that Finney, who blogged under a pseudonym, dissed his bosses on the blog.
One such Finney entry: "Today was an absolute abomination. It began unwillingly at 7:30 a.m.
when I was forced from my sweet, gentle slumber to go to work on a hideously lame story involving Santa Claus and the Hard Rock Cafe."
Ouch.
Note to self: Don't bash while blogging.
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Thanks to for bringing this to our attention. It's always helpful to keep abreast of the latest developments in education.
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summarizes the "wacky" that permeated 2004.
It's a clever list, even if the ironic "fair and balanced" didn't make it.
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This has no bearing on anything, but if any cinephiles aren't familiar with this site, check out . Some pretty nifty schtuff.
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Finally, the Landover Baptist Church puts that whole Santa/Satan question to rest. Turns out they're one and the same. Read on .
Oh, and if you don't hear from me before Dec. 25 ..
. Have a Merry Christmas! (unless you'd rather I leave that up to you, dear reader).
.
, the reptilian, craggy-faced curmudgeon who shocked delegates at the last summer when he took the podium and proceeded to feast on the bones of small children.
That's right, is coming to the .
We can't wait to see first.
Department ...
Departing U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson:
"For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do.
We are importing a lot of food from the Middle East and it would be easy to tamper with that."
Hey, that's a great idea! Thanks for the brainstorm session, Tommy!
.. Green Bay, Wisconsin, wrestles over the real meaning of Christmas .
...
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