Passing the Time with a 50 Ft Woman

I wrote this last Saturday morning before I knew I was going back to work this week.

Honest to God, laying around recovering from surgery is just about the most boring thing you can do.  It's 2.5 weeks since the operation and I'm ready to climb the walls.  The first two weeks were a groggy daze.  They went by and I barely noticed.  I'm now off the serious pain meds and my head is clearing up.

 This morning I watched "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman"...the original.   I was spellbound by its' awfulness.   Not sure I understood the plot; a woman exposed to radiation from a spacecraft discovers her husband is cheating on her and grows 50' in height.  Gigantic papier mache hands lowered onto or into the scenes, grasping dolls supposed to be actors, crushing cars, ripping off roofs.  In onc scene, a 50's era Dodge station wagon with giant fins, is lifted aloft and thrown to the ground.  The camera cuts to the damaged car, a Woodie.  The 50' woman is wayyy better looking than the husband's new floozie.  It's no contest.  Go figure.


Meanwhile, found these send-ups of the original poster.  Not sure which one I like better.

Here's a less than 2 minute trailer of the original. Don't even bother to watch the movie after this.  No reason or need.

Tina Fey Thanks Sarah Palin (in part) for Mark Twain Prize for Humor

Watch the full episode. See more Mark Twain Prize.

McCain/Palin Ticket Nosedives Along With Economy

Wish I could say I am happy about all the Republicans tanking but...the economy is front and center and nobody is happy. We are, in fact, scared. These are scary times and I am glad my father, who would have been 98 this year, is not alive to see this. Dad lived through the Great Depression. He was not a child. He was working for Florsheim Shoes in downtown Chicago when the market crashed. He actually saw people hit the pavement outside his basement window in an office building. He never forgot the fear, the panic and the aftermath. Nobody who lived through those years forgot the aftermath. My mother-in-law, born in 1927, wore dresses made of flour sacks to school in Pennsylvania. She never forgot the humiliation.
My ability to relate to the Depression is through the stories of my relatives , photographs and books such as The Grapes of Wrath and Dorothea Lange photographs. The candidates studiously avoided characterizing the economic free fall we are in with the word "depression". They didn't even want to use the word "recession" although too late for that.
What I want to know is, who's going to be made accountable for this mess? We all know who is going to pay for it...we are. But where is the accountability? I mean, when you have CEOs appearing before Congress, such as the $186+ million dollar compensated CEO of Lehman Bros, Richard Fuld, wanting to know "where's our bailout?" without so much as an apology, you know we are getting screwed, blued and tattooed...and not in a good way.
Unless we, as tax payers, demand accountability and recompense for this debacle, we are going to watch our country become insolvent, our assets diminish and disappear and mortgage our children and grandchildren's future for some time to come.

"Really, there is no beautiful style, no beautiful design, and no beautiful color: there is just one beauty, that of the truth that is revealed."

This quote about truth is by Auguste Rodin. Double click on the title and you'll link to a Sep 10 Washington Post article on truth vs lies and whether those lies, in this presidential campaign, become facts before they can be "undone".

I am appalled by the television ads the McCain camp is running. They present lies and they are spending alot of money for high frequency among viewers. Some examples: 1) Obama will raise your taxes 2) Obama will retreat from Iraq, etc. 3) Obama knows nothing about foreign policy.

Last night's Rachel Maddox show, MSNBC 9pm EST, debuted a new tv ad implying Obama was for sex education to kindergartners. The visual shows a photo of him, smiling, next to that is a photo of young children. The juxtaposition of the two looks as tho' he's leering down at them. The voice over discusses his desire to teach sex to children. In reality, he had sponsored a bill to protect children from sexual predators by teaching them simple questions to ask strangers. Hells bells, I worked for a radio station in the early 90's that sponsored predator protection programs all over San Diego County aimed at elementary school children, K-6. It was co-sponsored by the San Diego Sheriff's Dept, Police Dept and Fire Dept. I used the techniques with my children. It had wonderfully simple ways to help your child when confronted by a stranger. My sons, now 20 & 21, remember those techniques to this day and I've no doubt they'll teach them to their own children.

My point is these lies are costing Obama votes. Why? People accept them at face value. People want to believe the worst. This is why tabloids flourish. My question is, when is the Obama/Biden camp going to combat these lies with their own pointed ads? They want to take the high road, I know. But the Republicans never do and this is no time to play nice.

Consider the fact that John McCain is now stooping to the very tactics used against him by "W" during the 2000 election. Consider the fact he is working with a Karl Rove alum for strategy. that is enough to give everyone pause...unless of course you approve of lies, subterfuge, no first amendment protection and the end always justifies the means.

Where's the Beef?

This is my new mantra now that I've heard the Sarah Palin speech. Shakespeare's line, "it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing" made its way through my mind as I watched her.

I do not underestimate her nor the American people. She has just the right look and delivery to gather many followers. But ask yourselves, what is she really saying? What are her policies? What are her plans for the country? How is she going to help the middle class? Just because she came from a small town and terms herself a "Washington outsider" doesn't give her credentials to accomplish anything. She has to have an agenda and lay it out. None of us should vote with our emotions. Everyone needs to take a long hard look at the issues and decide which candidate is best suited to: revitalize the economy; deliver a health care plan affordable to all Americans; bring home our soldiers; provide environmentally friendly solutions to our energy crises,;fix our educational system...it's a disgrace; stop taxing the middle class and start taxing the top 1%; stop giving tax credits to major corporations; provide tax incentives to companies that DO NOT OUTSOURCE.

Let's get real. She and John McCain represent the same old story. There is NOTHING new in anything they say. She tried to use patriotism and love of country as a weapon against the Democratic ticket. That is, if you're a war hero and you believe in the war in Iraq, you're a patriot. If you're against the war, you're not. That is utter nonsense.

Stick to the issues and lay out your plans Sarah Palin. Then maybe we'll all have something concrete to discuss.