Back To The Eighties

This is semi-similar to The Hangover: Forty-something friends come together in an attempt to relive their youth while chasing booze and broads.

It all starts when one of the buddies attempts suicide and the other two decide to take him, and themselves, off to some mountain resort, the same one they visited 20+ yrs ago.

Back then it was a happening place, but are surprised to find it has become rundown and slummy. Definitely not the party heaven of their memories.

While hot tubbing the first night, and electrical malfunction occurs, and they four are transported back to 1986.

Up to this point, the movie is a bit of a drag.

Now things get interesting, as they try to figure out how this happened, and most importantly, try to get back.

It now becomes 'Back To The Future'-ish. They don't want to change history, (or do they?), so the friends make sure the do everything they did that fateful night back in 1986, (or do they?).

If you were cognizant in the 80's, you will love the musical score, the flashbacks to hair metal, and the awful fashions.

And I realized last night just how goofy the fashions were. This movie has it all down to a 'T'.Pathetic, you all were. Yes, you.

And you all should be ashamed of yourselves.(Not me, as I refused fashion at birth and have held true to myself ever since.)

It's a good movie, a great time, and, like I said, you'll love the music.

But You Can't Just Round Em Up...

Politics

As I predicted, the reaction to Arizona's attempt to enforce federal immigration laws is over the top, and getting higher.

And Barrack Obama is the leading pole vaulter, as the post-racial president goes wildly racial.
What a dick.

And some court is still going to throw it out.

Go over to here and get a lecture from RW. It's worth it. Trust me.

And then go here for solid LMAO, courtesy of Brian.

My job today has been done.
Thank me later.

Losers Win

OK, so I broke down and saw a comic-based movie. Didn't have too much of a choice in matter, anyway, but I will admit to enjoying the hell out it.

The Losers is based on a early 70's comic written around some CIA commando force.

In the movie, the Losers are stuck in Bolivia after being double-crossed on a job gone wrong. A few twists and turns of the plot, but everything is rather predictable.

In Bolivia, they are befriended by another specialized somebody, Aisha (played by Zoe Saldana), who agrees to smuggle them back into the States in exchange for their services, which center around taking vengeance on the super secret operative boss who set them up.

The shoot-um-up stuff starts early, and doesn't let up. It's basically a string of gun fights and explosions tied together with a plot. I like the way this was put together. The action is not just fast, but comes at you and jumps around the battlefield in quick takes, almost like you were seeing images of action, instead of allowing your eyes to get focused on what was going on.It was quite annoying at the start, but got better as I allowed myself to appreciate the technique, to get my mind working as fast as my eyes so as to make sense of what I was watching.

But it was Aisha who got my motor humming for 90 minutes. Zoe Saldana, whom I was previously unfamiliar with, is just too smoldering sexy hot to ignore. Damn.

That girl knows how to keep my attention with a sultry combination of sexuality and kick ass.

She's awesome.

The movie is pretty good, but so much better cause she is in it.

More Health Care Talk

$1600.
That is how much my medical plan, through my employer, costs per month.
Doing the easy math, it roughly amounts to $10 per hour of my earnings that I do not receive in cash.
Thinking about it, and that medical care in this country is said to be about 17% of the economy, I'm easily paying for my own share, plus other's share as well.

If we go the route that we are currently headed, toward a government supplied health care system, I would be better off paying a national sales tax of over 30% to cover, and taking the costs through my employer home with me in earnings.

Health care expense is generally a generational thing, where the geezer folks rack up huge costs in an attempt to delay death while the younger generation that does most of the wealth creation and needing very little health care, by comparison, paying the frieght.

Basically, we who work provide for those who do not.
Nothing is going to change that. And, due to a wide range of reasons, it's kind of crazy to expect somebody to save up all their life for health care expenses in their old age. So, going to a 'pay your own way, individually' system isn't going to work.

So, what's the answer?

I'm thinking a form of national sales tax. I think this is what Canada does, but I'm not sure.
This tax will go to fund a health care system that everybody will be paying in to. Nobody would be exempt, but those who have means would still be able to get the higher end stuff through paying out of pocket.

As a precaution, a sort of check on quality and availability, anybody who serves in political office or works for the government, or is an appointee or whatever, would be disqualified from seeking care outside of the common system.

Your thoughts?

Nickleback Comes To Hollywood

Have you ever pondered the number of cord combinations to be made with a guitar? I haven't either, but I remember reading about it somewhere how that there were only a finite number of ways to 'mix it up', so to speak, before creative redundancy would set in, and take with it the future of modern music.
More specifically: "someday rock n roll would cease to rock or roll" was the general gist of the article.

This gist, though interesting, is pretty much threatened with the success of Nickleback.
But that is another bitch for another day.

And this brings me to Julia Roberts, because Julia Roberts is the Nickleback of Hollywood. With every movie she makes, you are left saying "I've seen this shit before" because you have. You've seen the same story in her last movie, based around her previous character, who is a lot like the next role she'll take on in her next film that is just a borrowed plot from her previous one.
And is just one reason why I do not bother to investigate the possibility of seeing any more Julia flicks. I've already seen them all. That is enough. And it helps that I'm not dating anymore.

I really don't care about Julia, but only bring her up lead to a larger point.

And that is :I don't expect much from most actors or actresses. I've usually been fairly satisfied seeing the same type-cast actors playing the same type of character. I'm not that snobbish, I'm easy to please, and as to the finer points of cinema and acting... I'm just like 'yeah, whatever.'

But, I would like to believe that the human mind is deeper than a guitar, with a limitless supply of new ideas.
Even more so when there are seemingly limitless millions of dollars to chase the good ideas into fruition.
You know, all those good ideas that supposedly reside in the creative minds of the creatively blessed writers and producers, who's raison d'etre is to create stuff, put it up on a wide screen, and charge me $11 for the privilege of telling you if it sucked or not.?

Yeah, those ideas.

But no.
What we've had the last couple years is cartoons made into movies. Well, we are now out of cartoons and comic books. So now what?

I'll tell you what. It's remakes.
Yeah, that's it. They'll remake all the cool shit from the 70's and 80's for no other reason than to remake it.
So right now we have 'Last Of The Titans' now playing. This is just the most recent.
Coming soon, 'The Karate Kid'.

'Red Dawn' is also in the pipe.

Eventually 'Death Wish', 'Rosemary's Baby', 'Logan's Run', '10', 'Footloose' and even 'The Dirty Dozen' will show the utter bankruptcy of Hollywood's imagination.

Even 'Highlander' will show us there can be more than one as another set of sequels is part of the plan.

Stretch out the yellow tape.
Chalk the outline.
We're dead.
Move along. Nothing to see here.

Way to go, Hollywood.
Rock on.