Calvin Trillin, the brilliant writer for The New Yorker,The Nation, and Time magazines and author of numerous books is now proved more prescient than our national security apparatus.
It must be said too that the job of playing goalie is a hard one, and not made a lot easier by knowing that the other team wants to kick a goal.
Everyone, even supposed Obama-friendly Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, has taken the Democrats to task for the hypocrisy of holding closed door negotiations on the final health care reform bill despite Barack Obama promising during his campaign that they would be broadcast on C-Span. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brushed this off with the flip comment that “there are a number of things he was for on the campaign trail.” So she and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will have their closed door meetings.
But Candidate Obama made that promise for a reason. He understood that the American people would not stand for legislation as fundamental as health care reform being conducted in the usual backroom dealing ways of Washington, DC. And that’s why the health care reform plan is increasingly unpopular. Yes, there were unprecedented town hall meetings on health care reform back in August 2009, but the Democrats didn’t actually have their plan ready to present at those meetings or listen to the feedback.
I don’t think it’s a question of hypocrisy but a question of the relative powerlessness of President Obama within his own party. Democratic Congressional leaders just don’t feel bound by the promises Obama made on the campaign trail. What we have now is a Pelosi-Reid Presidency. I’d personally like to vote that Pelosi-Reid Presidency out of office.
The Democratic Party surely has other, better leaders who can take their place. Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey, for example, would make a fine House Speaker. California Senator Dianne Feinstein would make a fine Senate Majority Leader.
But only Democrats in Congress and not the public can vote Pelosi-Reid out of office. They won’t do it until they get a wakeup call, and if they don’t get that wakeup call now, they’ll be getting an even bigger one in the fall 2010 elections.
I think the way things are going the Democrats are on track to lose 25 to 50 seats in the House and 6 to 12 seats (including Harry Reid’s) in the Senate. That could bring in Republican House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky).
Pelosi-Reid might have been fine for the Democratic Party when their do-nothing-ness starting in 2006 contributed to dragging down the last two year’s of the Bush Administration. But now it’s their responsibility to govern, and they continue to do it badly.
I went to see the movie Avatar in Harvard Square on Friday and the theater was packed, even though the movie came out 3 weeks ago. I had to sit in the front row, which I usually hate. With my 3-D glasses, it felt like much of the movie was taking place right in front of me, some parts almost in my lap. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Avatar may not be the most original story, the smartest dialog, or the sharpest acting but the visual stunning film work puts it all together. And the 3-D glasses have the added bonus of disappearing the audience around you into a dark, hazy blur. This may be the new way to watch movies.
The new RealD 3-D glasses issued for viewing are not the old-school 3-D paper glasses with different colored lenses. They are Risky Business-style dark glasses. But be warned (in English, Spanish, and French):
"The glasses do not screen ultraviolet light. Wearing them as sunglasses will not protect your eyes. Use only in the theater. Keep out of reach of children under 3."
Propelled in part by tickets that cost $3 or $4 more than usual (for the 3-D glasses?), Avatar has been tracking very, very well in U.S. domestic ticket sales:
5 days to take in $100 million. 10 days to take in $200 million. 15 days to take in $300 million. 23 days to take in $400 million.
Only 2 movies have reached $500 million, The Dark Knight in 45 days and Titanic in 98 days. Avatar seems on track to hit that next weekend. Titanic took 252 days to reach $600 million, the only movie to make that much domestically. Avatar may be there by the end of the month.
Internationally, Avatar is doing even better. Avatar has moved into the #2 position with $1,189,940,297 in ticket sales worldwide. That’s nearly two-thirds of the way to Titanic’s #1 spot of $1,848,813,795.
Don’t cry for Titanic losing the record. Titanic’s director, James Cameron, also directed Avatar. He’s got an impressive list of blockbuster movies to his credit:
Avatar (2009) - $429,040,297 and counting Titanic (1997) - $600,788,188 True Lies (1994) - $146,282,411 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - $204,859,496 The Abyss (1989) - $54,243,125 Aliens (1986) - $85,160,248 The Terminator (1984) - $38,019,031
I saw 3-D previews for four movies that looked interesting: Alice in Wonderland (March 5, 2010), Shrek Forever After (May 21, 2010), Piranha 3-D (April 16, 2010), and Despicable Me (July 9, 2010). I’ll probably skip the Piranha movie, and also Jackass 3D (October 15, 2010) which wasn’t previewed but is also coming, but will be ready to go to the movies for Spider-Man 4 in 3-D (May 6, 2011). Up, which I saw on DVD, would have been even better in 3-D in the movie theater.
So is 3-D going to be the new way to watch movies? At least in the movie theater, maybe so. All the new animated features from Dreamworks are being shown in 3-D. Live action may follow, especially in big movies such as Avatar where live action is mixed with animation or digital special effects. This is, I think, the first feature movie I’ve seen in 3-D in the movie theater. It won’t be the last.
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz fans, start planning your July 4th weekend around the release of Knight and Day. You can laugh, but I may have to see this movie in Maryville, Missouri.
"No one follows us, or I kill myself, and then her."
It has scenes shot in Boston, Bridgewater, Worcester, and Melrose, Massachusetts. Including a car chase scene filmed along what could be the Charles River.
Think Mission: Impossible meets My Best Friends Wedding. Or Minority Report meets What Happens in Vegas.
OK, I don't get the Kindle. This is the electronic device that Amazon.com is selling to take the place of physical books. You download the book you want to read onto the Kindle wirelessly, assuming it's available for the Kindle, and then you read it on the Kindle.
The Kindle costs $260 for the small size with a 6 inch screen and $490 for the larger 9.7 inch screen. It has a small keyboard and some page navigation controls. So it's supposed to be more convenient, but it's going to take 10 to 20 books before it pays for itself. And that's if the books to read on the Kindle were free. Since they aren't free, you've got even more to read before break even. Assuming you don't break your Kindle and have to replace it, which will set you back further from break even.
Now Microsoft is showing off an enhanced tablet computer made by HP at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. These are also called slates, run Windows with a touchscreen rather than a keyboard, and can be used to do lots on the Internet besides just read books.
And Apple is expected to launch its own touchscreen tablet computer later this month, which is expected to cost around $1,000.
Which brings me back to the Kindle. If you have one already, and want to buy one of these new devices, what do you do with your new kindling?
Word on the street is that Davis Square in Somerville will be getting an 800 capacity club.
The former space occupied by the Bowl and Board and the Jimmy Tingle Theater along with some additional basement level space has been taken by the Rockwell Restaurant Group, LLC.
Approvals from the various Somerville licensing boards are in the works. The entertainment license would allow shows, plays, music performances, televisions, and juke boxes.
The Jimmy Tingle Theater had a capacity of around 250, and the additional space may bring the whole club up to 800. That has the potential to surpass The Burren and Johnny D's, the current marquis spots for live club music in Davis Square. It could even rival the Middle East in Cambridge.
And who is behind Rockwell Restaurant Group? We hear that it is Ken Kelly, the proprietor of The Independent and Precinct in Union Square. He has certainly made the upstairs, downstairs formula work for him there.
If that is the model, expect three rooms with an upscale feel and menu in one, a bar menu in another, and an expansive club music room for the third. And if they stage plays in that space too, so much the better.
If the quality of the music recording in this video is a bit rough, you just have to wait a bit. Sarah had a team of sound engineers in to record for a live album.
One thing about Sarah, you may find her playing at the usual places around town, but you're just as likely to find her at the Thunderbird Cafe in Pittsburgh (January 13), Slowdown in Omaha (January 20), or Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City (January 210.
Band news of note: Sarah was sporting a big engagement ring, and guitarist Lyle Brewer was sporting a big smile.
