Sunday Night Jam: John Mayer Live, “All Along the Watchtower”
I think people tend to forget what a killer guitar player John Mayer is, so here’s a reminder as he shreds the Jimi Hendrix arrangement of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.”
I think people tend to forget what a killer guitar player John Mayer is, so here’s a reminder as he shreds the Jimi Hendrix arrangement of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.”
OT But Arts related, this is the first review I’ve seen of “The Martian”:
The Martian: Again, personal taste: I was an enthusiastic evangelist for Andy Weir’s book, which tells the story of an astronaut accidentally stranded on Mars, where he must survive for potentially years on his own before he can even think about being rescued. The book, while very often wryly funny, is heavily reliant on the math and science that botanist and engineer Mark Watney employs to figure out how to eat where nothing grows, breathe where there’s no air, drink where there’s no water, and get word back to NASA that he is not, as they believe him to be, dead. Thus, my expectations for the film, in which Matt Damon is perfectly cast as Watney, were almost absurdly high. Still, director Ridley Scott, working from a screenplay by Drew Goddard — who has witty sci-fi chops out the wazoo, from Buffy The Vampire Slayer through The Cabin In The Woods and beyond — managed to meet them.
The film retains Watney’s science-based swagger, his detached narration of his own plight (which cleverly allows him to, in a sense, use himself for company), and the delightful fact that he has very little back story. There is no pregnant wife back home, no tragic tale of suffering to goose audience sympathy, as was present in the regrettably maudlin Gravity screenplay. The Martian relies on Damon’s portrayal of Watney to make his survival stakes enough, and it is. He’s so much fun to watch, improvising and tooling around in the rover, and when the despair of his situation does seep in through his armor of will, those scenes land specifically because they are few. There are elements of what goes on back at NASA and on the craft that inadvertently left him that look a lot like other movies (including, logically, Apollo 13), but because they’re so nicely executed and what’s going on with Watney is so specific, they don’t sink into cliché. (The cast is also an embarrassment of riches: Jessica Chastain, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Donald Glover — all terrific in roles of various sizes on earth and in space.)
By the end of the year we’ll have had excellent Hard SF & another episode of Star Wars. If SW lives up to it’s hype, that’ll be the best movie year for me in a very long time.
On topic, that’s excellent.Thank you for posting it!
If your Personal Beliefs deny what’s objectively true about the world, then they’re more accurately called Personal Delusions
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 13, 2015
If I stopped listening to every musician who has douchebag tendencies my library would consist of 3 or 4 records. @RemingtonWild
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) September 14, 2015
As someone who worked as a professional musician most of my life, let me assure you that douchebags are more the rule than the exception
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) September 14, 2015
Maybe the national news will actually notice if Napa starts burning.
Town of ANGWIN being evacuated now #ValleyFire
— Stuart Palley (@stuartpalley) September 14, 2015
mr. klys has fond memories of a diner in Middletown, CA.
It may still be standing, it’s unclear.
They’re saying now it was a structure fire on Cobb Mountain where sparks from the structure fire started the wildfire.
Reposting from downstairs: here is a map of wildfires:
You can see several large fires.
The picture from Middletown is from the fire NW of Napa.
I watch live AMC, because I can’t wait.
UP NEXT
6:00pm
Fear the Walking Dead
The Dog
re: #9 #CampaignZero
I watch live AMC, because I can’t wait.
UP NEXT
6:00pm
Fear the Walking Dead
The Dog
So far, out of two episodes of “Fear”, I’m hoping all but one of the main characters ends up zombie chow
Turning nasty in Europe:
Austria’s Chancellor Likens Hungary’s Refugee Policy to Nazi Deportations
Austria’s chancellor has criticized Hungary for its handling of the refugee crisis, likening the country’s policies to Nazi deportations during the Holocaust.
Thousands of refugees are crossing the border to Hungary, an eastern outpost of Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone, every day, and many are traveling on to the continent’s more prosperous west and north in what is Europe’s worst refugee crisis since the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.
Hungary has taken a hard line against refugees, building a 100-mile fence along its border with Serbia. Emergency powers, expected to come into force when the fence is complete, will allow Hungarian authorities to use live ammunition against those entering the country illegally.
[…]
Very Trumpian of them.
re: #10 Kragar
So far, out of two episodes of “Fear”, I’m hoping all but one of the main characters ends up zombie chow
My money is on the daughter.
re: #10 Kragar
So far, out of two episodes of “Fear”, I’m hoping all but one of the main characters ends up zombie chow
Which one do you not want to disappear?
Cornel West has been just as nasty toward Obama as the Breitbrats. Picking him says something about Sanders. @eclecticbrotha @Gus_802
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) September 13, 2015
@Green_Footballs @eclecticbrotha @Gus_802 Indeed.
— Goldie Taylor (@goldietaylor) September 14, 2015
re: #10 Kragar
So far, out of two episodes of “Fear”, I’m hoping all but one of the main characters ends up zombie chow
Agree. Anti-protagonist figures, the lot of them.
re: #14 Charles Johnson
The theme is that neither Obama or Clinton are true progressives. It’s the theme I see on the Sanders posts on Daily Kos.
re: #12 Eclectic Cyborg
My money is on the daughter.
The mother & the son have to be the first to go.
re: #13 b_sharp
Which one do you not want to disappear?
The junkie son actually seems to be the only one paying attention to what is going on. Not sure if the HS school kid can be considered a main character, but he’s the only other character who seems to be worth watching.
re: #14 Charles Johnson
[Embedded content]
Picking West appeals to the uninformed.
But we need not forget, for all of Bernie’s good, he’s always been way out on the edge.
I’m starting the “Hand of God” series on Amazon Prime….
After the attempted suicide of his only son, PJ, Judge Pernell Harris believes he can hear the voice of God, and the voice is telling him to find out who raped PJ’s wife Jocelyn — the reason PJ tried to end his life - and bring him to justice. Spurred on by a questionable pastor named Reverend Paul, he teams up with KD, a zealot and violent ex-con, and sets out on a vigilante mission.
I really like Ron Perlman, I’m hoping for something good with this.
RBS
Who is bummed that he can’t get Rodger Zelazny’s “Lord of Light” on Kindle, but I did just get “This Immortal”.
RBS
re: #22 Reality Based Steve
Only saw the first episode. While I like many people appreciate the skills of the lead actor, I find the characterization of religious practices a bit too over the top.
re: #18 Belafon
The theme is that neither Obama or Clinton are true progressives. It’s the theme I see on the Sanders posts on Daily Kos.
I doubt Sanders would be electable even up here.
re: #19 b_sharp
The mother & the son have to be the first to go.
For some reason I think the son is going to hang on for awhile. I guess because they have really set him up as an obvious choice to be killed I can’t help but think it’s a red herring.
re: #19 b_sharp
The mother & the son have to be the first to go.
You mean the ex-wife and her son? Yeah, they’re going to end up meat.
Plus what bugged me from the last episode:
“Head to the desert. We’ll meet you there.”
Yeah, the desert really pins it down. Great place to rendevous
re: #20 Kragar
The junkie son actually seems to be the only one paying attention to what is going on. Not sure if the HS school kid can be considered a main character, but he’s the only other character who seems to be worth watching.
I find the son to be extraordinarily annoying, although he is the only one in the family actually taking things seriously.
re: #20 Kragar
The junkie son actually seems to be the only one paying attention to what is going on. Not sure if the HS school kid can be considered a main character, but he’s the only other character who seems to be worth watching.
I like Tobias, Nick & Travis.
I don’t like the mother. Therefore, they will be keeping her around.
re: #18 Belafon
Well, Obama never was the leftist that the hate-right always tries to paint him to be. If anyone had studied what he did previous to being President, and what has done while in office, it’s pretty clear that he is a rather generic “liberal” with some strong neo-liberal bent.
re: #18 Belafon
My sister calls Hillary “Republican lite”. Right now, she’s a die hard Bernie fan. But she’d still vote for her if she got the nom.
re: #26 Kragar
You mean the ex-wife and her son? Yeah, they’re going to end up meat.
Plus what bugged me from the last episode:
“Head to the desert. We’ll meet you there.”
Yeah, the desert really pins it down. Great place to rendevous
Maybe it’s a really tiny desert.
re: #22 Reality Based Steve
I’m starting the “Hand of God” series on Amazon Prime….
I really like Ron Perlman, I’m hoping for something good with this.
RBS
Who is bummed that he can’t get Rodger Zelazny’s “Lord of Light” on Kindle, but I did just get “This Immortal”.RBS
Hmmm…. Lord of Light. One of the greatest novels in the SF canon and a better tale than many I’ve read from the literature canon. I need to go find a copy and read it again.
re: #26 Kragar
You mean the ex-wife and her son? Yeah, they’re going to end up meat.
Plus what bugged me from the last episode:
“Head to the desert. We’ll meet you there.”
Yeah, the desert really pins it down. Great place to rendevous
haha. Jucumba? Or Palm Springs?
re: #31 b_sharp
Maybe it’s a really tiny desert.
Or it could be code for something. Maybe they’ve got a safe house out there already.
re: #26 Kragar
You mean the ex-wife and her son? Yeah, they’re going to end up meat.
Plus what bugged me from the last episode:
“Head to the desert. We’ll meet you there.”
Yeah, the desert really pins it down. Great place to rendevous
I’ll see you in Times Square on New Years Eve!
RBS
re: #27 b_sharp
I find the son to be extraordinarily annoying, although he is the only one in the family actually taking things seriously.
I can see why some find him annoying, but I can see the way he’s seeing things. At first he thought he was coming down off a bad trip, and now that he’s realized its actually happening, he’s the only one who has seemed to adapt to the new situation.
#ValleyFire Calpine Sonoma Unit 3 power plant pic.twitter.com/MNjm6rTOzM
— Kevin Priest (@kmpri3st) September 14, 2015
re: #21 #CampaignZero
Picking West appeals to the uninformed.
But we need not forget, for all of Bernie’s good, he’s always been way out on the edge.
Am I seeing things…but I get the feeling Bernie is getting a bit confident in his rising numbers? Maybe a bit too confident. He walks a fine line and I just get the feel he might get a bit too comfortable in thinking people want to be more far left. Then he might go a little farther and lose people with too long a shot to the left.
re: #36 Kragar
I can see why some find him annoying, but I can see the way he’s seeing things. At first he thought he was coming down off a bad trip, and now that he’s realized its actually happening, he’s the only one who has seemed to adapt to the new situation.
His mom’s boyfriend seems to be waking up to the seriousness of it.
People who think Obama and Clinton aren’t “true progressives” are naïve assholes who don’t understand how politics works, and think the person who throws the biggest tantrum wins. Childish naïve assholes.
re: #38 ObserverArt
Psst, I think you mean far left.
Although some of his followers are militant enough that it can be hard to tell…
re: #39 b_sharp
His mom’s boyfriend seems to be waking up to the seriousness of it.
Agreed, but my gut is telling me he won’t last too long.
re: #39 b_sharp
His mom’s boyfriend seems to be waking up to the seriousness of it.
The mom not warning her neighbor or going to her aid pissed me off.
re: #40 Charles Johnson
People who think Obama and Clinton aren’t “true progressives” are naïve assholes who don’t understand how politics works, and think the person who throws the biggest tantrum wins. Childish naïve assholes.
Well they certainly aren’t “Far left” despite how frequently they get labeled as such. I don’t think the RW nutjobs have any fucking clue what “Far left” actually means.
re: #43 Kragar
The mom not warning her neighbor or going to her aid pissed me off.
Yep. Then she acts stupid.
re: #43 Kragar
The mom not warning her neighbor or going to her aid pissed me off.
Yeah there’s something about the mom that bugs me. There’s some kind of skeletons in the closet there I’m sure.
Trump, Sanders, even the election of Corbyn - the English speaking world is just bored of the current set of politicians and looking for something more colorful. I’m convinced that this is all theatre now.
SNEAK PEEK EXCLUSIVE OF TONY BLAIR’S NEW GUARDIAN COLUMN: pic.twitter.com/EqWTxgGQbx
— Queen B (@_banterlicious) September 13, 2015
re: #40 Charles Johnson
Clinton and Obama are centrists in a political landscape that has shifted so far to starboard that they’re slightly to the right of Richard Milhous Nixon.
re: #41 klys (maker of Silmarils)
Psst, I think you mean far left.
Although some of his followers are militant enough that it can be hard to tell…
Yeah. Watching TV and typing without watching gets me every time.
Changes made to original post.
re: #44 Eclectic Cyborg
Well they certainly aren’t “Far left” despite how frequently they get labeled as such. I don’t think the RW nutjobs have any fucking clue what “Far left” actually means.
I don’t think…I KNOW they have no clue.
They wouldn’t know what a socialist was even if one bit them in the ass; I worked with and fought with socialists since I was a tadpole. They have few similarities with any working politician.
This is one of the most Twitter-y tweets I’ve tweeted.
The local #sportsball team beat the sportsball team from out of town. Good thing. Less instances of domestic violence. #winning #sports
— Charlie Vogel (@teleskiguy) September 13, 2015
re: #29 freetoken
Well, Obama never was the leftist that the hate-right always tries to paint him to be. If anyone had studied what he did previous to being President, and what has done while in office, it’s pretty clear that he is a rather generic “liberal” with some strong neo-liberal bent.
The charitable ones will point out that Obama never ran on a truly progressive campaign. But it’s obvious they ignore his accomplishments and the work it took to get them through. Their attitude reminds me of what I say about programming. The people who pay me to code tend to have the attitude that if I solved it, it must have been easy.
Of course musicians have a right to complain, but most of the time politicians have a legal right to use the music. https://t.co/KAegkHUyfl
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) September 14, 2015
re: #40 Charles Johnson
People who think Obama and Clinton aren’t “true progressives” are naïve assholes who don’t understand how politics works, and think the person who throws the biggest tantrum wins. Childish naïve assholes.
It’s the kind of rhetoric that makes no sense when you’ve only got two competitive political parties. Plus, since we live in the world’s third largest nation, you can’t be a purist and win national elections here. The “big tent” and “kick out the RINOs” philosophies are incompatible.
I’m proud that my party has a bigger tent philosophy than the gop. And thus it makes me sick when other Dems get obsessed with purging the DINOs. If it weren’t for some of those DINOs, the ACA would never have passed, among many other things. Sure, in a perfect world, I’d usually prefer the more liberal candidate. But we don’t live in a perfect world, or even a perfect country.
re: #40 Charles Johnson
People who think Obama and Clinton aren’t “true progressives” are naïve assholes who don’t understand how politics works, and think the person who throws the biggest tantrum wins. Childish naïve assholes.
I think it’s what drives me up the wall so much about Sanders supporters. A wingnut showed me an article whose title (paraphrased) was “How Trump and Sanders supporters are alike,” to which my first thought upon seeing the title was “They both have absolutely no connection to reality.” I remember all too well how Howie Dean got most of his supporters from playing the “angry progressive” card, fans screaming “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention!”
Then I remember how Dean’s candidacy collapsed in less than a month when all those “angry” morons couldn’t be bothered to actually show up, while those that did didn’t want a loony in the White House. I think we’re going to see much the same thing happen with Sanders.
The extreme speed of spread of the #ValleyFire Live map: http://t.co/exRyoMEUaG Coverage: http://t.co/JIzHWXAgf5 #Wildfire @California
— Steven J. Frisch (@stevenjfrisch) September 14, 2015
re: #54 teleskiguy
This is one of the most Twitter-y tweets I’ve tweeted.
[Embedded content]
Just noticed 2 things coming together, things that make you go “UMMMM?”
Rightwing Presumed Fact 1: God hates SSM, and will punish places that have it.
Rightwing Presumed Fact 2: God will bless our sports teams if we pray hard enough and are worthy.
Real Fact: In 2004 Massachusetts legalized SSM. That same season the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, and the Boston Red Socks won the World Series (sweeping my Cardinals in 4 straight).
re: #58 Targetpractice
I think it’s what drives me up the wall so much about Sanders supporters. A wingnut showed me an article whose title (paraphrased) was “How Trump and Sanders supporters are alike,” to which my first thought upon seeing the title was “They both have absolutely no connection to reality.” I remember all too well how Howie Dean got most of his supporters from playing the “angry progressive” card, fans screaming “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention!”
Then I remember how Dean’s candidacy collapsed in less than a month when all those “angry” morons couldn’t be bothered to actually show up, while those that did didn’t want a loony in the White House. I think we’re going to see much the same thing happen with Sanders.
Conflating Sanders and Trump is a huuuuge mistake. One guy is very liberal but actually serious about policy…and he’s not a fucking asshole. The other guy only gives a shit about his brand, and he’s the world’s biggest fucking asshole.
One campaign is serious but probably doomed, the other is a form of postmodern performance art, a reality TV joke.
re: #62 palomino
Conflating Sanders and Trump is a huuuuge mistake. One guy is very liberal but actually serious about policy…and he’s not a fucking asshole. The other guy only gives a shit about his brand, and he’s the world’s biggest fucking asshole.
One campaign is serious but probably doomed, the other is a form of postmodern performance art, a reality TV joke.
I think the key word in the comparison there was supporters.
re: #61 Reality Based Steve
Just noticed 2 things coming together, things that make you go “UMMMM?”
Rightwing Presumed Fact 1: God hates SSM, and will punish places that have it.
Rightwing Presumed Fact 2: God will bless our sports teams if we pray hard enough and are worthy.
Real Fact: In 2004 Massachusetts legalized SSM. That same season the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, and the Boston Red Socks won the World Series (sweeping my Cardinals in 4 straight).
re: #40 Charles Johnson
People who think Obama and Clinton aren’t “true progressives” are naïve assholes who don’t understand how politics works, and think the person who throws the biggest tantrum wins. Childish naïve assholes.
Yep. I actually think it’s a bad thing to have a “true believer” in the White House in general because they might not have the political flexibility necessary to get things done.
I used to be a fan of Cornel West back in the day. But the way he viciously attacked the first black POTUS really alienated me.
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) September 14, 2015
re: #63 klys (maker of Silmarils)
I think the key word in the comparison there was supporters.
Sure, and like I said above, the Dems who have adopted the TP rhetoric of “let’s purge the DINOs” are the ones who make me sick.
One big reason Obama won twice is that he didn’t let his campaign move in that narrow and insular direction.
I’ve moved most of my political web attention from dKos over here in the last year or two, but there’s one thing I do miss about the day-to-day conversation over there: it’s one of the few spots on the left that does (or at least did) understand that there’s more to the political universe than the top-tier presidential races.
Whatever happens with Sanders or Clinton or Biden, my fear is that there’s not enough of an organizational push in the Democratic universe to win smaller posts, the town councils and county legislatures and so on that produce the candidates who can then be in position to take back state legislatures and both houses of Congress. My local county party is a disaster right now, caught in a personal feud between city and suburban leaders that will end with even more Republican control of the county in a few months.
We can be as gleeful as we want (and rightly so) about the chasm that Trump is opening up between rank-and-file GOP voters and the national party leadership. But down-ballot, national and local Republican party leaders are still fielding much stronger slates of local candidates than the Democrats, by and large.
@TUSK81 http://t.co/Pi6b3vSQkD Trump supporter tearing down sign is now on YouTube
— Samuel Van Oort (@GoodSam10) September 13, 2015
I’m pretty sure you’re the embarrassment, little girl.
re: #70 Jenner7
She seemed quite proud of herself.
A possible future leader in the coming Trump Youth ?
re: #70 Jenner7
What did she say about “white supremacy?” It’s hard to make it out.
An immediate entry into the OH SNAP Hall of Fame, from California Gov. Jerry Brown to Ben Carson. pic.twitter.com/7gKv4cZmHS
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) September 14, 2015
re: #73 teleskiguy
Yes, but Carson can point out that what is on the memory stick is just more UN dogma, not real science.
re: #74 freetoken
Yes, but Carson can point out that what is on the memory stick is just more UN dogma, not real science.
Memory sticks are the devil’s ocarinas.
re: #74 freetoken
AGENDA 21!!!1TY ILLUMINATI BILDERGERG RAETHEON CARLISLE GROUP ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT
re: #73 teleskiguy
Brown should have put an Exxon sticker on the flash drive.
Fox News host: ‘Everyone benefited’ from putting more blacks in prison for drugs in the 1990s http://t.co/nujMN4OJiA pic.twitter.com/6y52FrxtQy
— Raw Story (@RawStory) September 13, 2015
Pssst—LGF Reading List page… *points at sidebar*
re: #79 CuriousLurker
Gotta say, I enjoy the idea. I’ll take a better look once I get home.
Good job!!
BREAKING NEWS: Egyptian security forces accidentally shoot dead 12 Mexican tourists and guides http://t.co/0uKIm68cOb
— Guardian World (@guardianworld) September 14, 2015
re: #81 FormerDirtDart
A statement from Egyptian interior ministry said while police and armed forces were pursuing “terrorist elements” they had accidentally engaged with a tourist convoy.
“engaged with a tourist convoy” - good grief, what wording.
re: #75 Decatur Deb
Memory sticks are the devil’s ocarinas.
My brother works for a firm where USB drives are strictly verboten.
I have a $500 WiFi router with 802.11n and basic security and an $800 802.11ac access point with no security. Can’t tell the difference in speed.
Charles, so you use speedtest.net?
re: #72 Charles Johnson
I think she’s repeating what one of the signs says.
re: #78 Kragar
I spoke with my son earlier this evening. He lives in North Carolina with his GF. A month or two ago I made a comment to him that reaming silent when people are expressing bigoted or racist views is makes you guilty of complicity to a degree.
He said that really stayed with him and started gnawing at him, so now he’s starting to speak up. He’s not a small guy and doesn’t scare easily, so he can get away with it. Reminds me of my dad—if he was driving along in his pick-up and saw something wrong, like someone beating on their kid or a man smacking a woman around, he’d pull over on the spot and put a stop to it real quick like. He wasn’t one to be trifled with.
According to Latino Rebels, about 20 students, many from Iowa State University, had gathered with signs reading, “Students Against Bigotry,” “A Vote For Trump Is A Vote For White Supremacy,” and “Mr. Hate Leave My State.”
re: #86 CuriousLurker
I spoke with my son earlier this evening. He lives in North Carolina with his GF. A month or two ago I made a comment to him that reaming silent when people are expressing bigoted or racist views is makes you guilty of complicity to a degree.
He said that really stayed with him and started gnawing at him, so now he’s starting to speak up. He’s not a small guy and doesn’t scare easily, so he can get away with it. Reminds me of my dad—if he was driving along in his pick-up and saw something wrong, like someone beating on their kid or a man smacking a woman around, he’d pull over on the spot and put a stop to it real quick like. He wasn’t one to be trifled with.
It’s on us. We must do what we can. XXOO