(no subject)
Another bad day for working. Bad energy in the house, I'll just put it that way. Have I mentioned that I'm taking the semester off (mostly because there's not a class that I need available) to write? I'll tell you what once I've got the details hammered out, but it's going to involve a lot of hard, quick work, I'll put it that way. So the drama pajamas need to be hung up to dry, y'all (*pointed look at family*).
Still coughing a bit, but it's not that bad. I had to consume an entire box of wintergreen Tic-Tacs to keep from coughing during Brokeback Mountain, but by God, I only coughed once, so it was worth it.
Linkspam:
Andrea Yates Again Pleads Not Guilty. "Her convictions were overturned last January by a state appeals court because of testimony by the state's expert witness, forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz. He testified that, shortly before Yates killed her five children, television's 'Law and Order' series broadcast an episode about a woman with postpartum depression who drowned her children. No such episode ever existed."
Long after I copied this into Semagic, I got an email alert from MSNBC: "In insanity plea, Andrea Yates admits drowning kids."
Bush has signed a law that makes "annoying someone on the internet anonymously" a federal crime. No, I am not joking. No, I do not know how they will enforce this. No, I'm sure this won't get abused at all.
The eBaumsworld/ytmnd.com "jihad": Lindsay Lohan sparks massive denial-of-service war.
Gene Shalit Offers Defamatory Brokeback Review on NBC's Today. Specifically, saying that the Jake Gyllenhaal character is a "predator." What?
The Smoking Gun accuses James Frey (rather convincingly, I might add) of fabricating most of his memoir, A Million Little Pieces:
When TSG confronted him Friday (1/6) afternoon with our findings, Frey refused to address the significant conflicts we discovered between his published accounts and those contained in various police reports. When we suggested that he might owe millions of readers and Winfrey fans an explanation for these discrepancies, Frey, now a publishing powerhouse, replied, "There's nothing at this point can come out of this conversation that, that is good for me."
[...]
When recalling criminal activities, looming prison sentences, and jailhouse rituals, Frey writes with a swaggering machismo and bravado that absolutely crackles. Which is truly impressive considering that, as TSG discovered, he made much of it up. The closest Frey has ever come to a jail cell was the few unshackled hours he once spent in a small Ohio police headquarters waiting for a buddy to post $733 cash bond.
Speaking of frauds: JT Leroy. Remember that Law & Order episode I mentioned a long while back about the young girl writer who turned out to be a figment of a couple and an editor? Yeah. It's that situation, textbook. The accusation from the New York Times is that one or two people are writing the books and a woman named Samantha Knoop is portraying Leroy, who is either portrayed as male or now transgender-female. And here's an interesting echo of the Frey piece: "Reached by telephone, Ms. Knoop said, 'I don't need this in my life right now,' before hanging up. She did not respond to several voice-mail messages seeking further comment." Oh, well, if you don't need to be busted for fraud right now, I suppose we can wait until it's more convenient. How's next Tuesday?
Classic identity fraud from the vaults: The story of Kaycee Nicole.
The inspiration for the original King Kong: Ingagi, possibly one of the most offensive movies put to film (read: black women are "sacrificed" to giant apes for sex; babies are shown with fur pasted on to simulate monstrous offspring. Continuing today's theme, it, too, was a total fraud). Also, it made buckets of money. Coincidentally, Hostel was the #1 film this weekend. I'm just saying.
Clearly, Wal-Mart has seen Ingagi.
Mouse masterminds revenge arson attack.
Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe separating.
Kevin Spacey "accidentally" outed; retraction promised.
The BAFTA (British Oscars) long list from first round of voting.
shannonsequitur: "Hey Cleo, have you heard about this yet? Apparently, Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros aren't the only Lostaways getting into trouble off-camera." Oh dear.
Stills from the documentary Ringers: Lord of the Fans.
The He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special on DVD.
My LJ Mind Map is ready!
Dominic Monaghan still wooing Elijah Wood.
Burton and Depp to make Sweeney Todd?
The author of the book that inspired Munich (who claims, by the way, that Spielberg has presented the viewpoint opposite to his--his book was about the necessity of counterterrorism): "After the film opens, someone tells me that Spielberg shouldn't get an Oscar for not solving the problems of the Middle East. I agree. Spielberg should get an Oscar for making Munich, the gritty Hollywood flick. For not solving the problems of the Middle East, he should get a Nobel Peace Prize, like everyone else." O SNAP.
