Olbermann on California's re-banning of gay marriage

I applaud Mr. Olbermann for his strong words, and his perceptive empathy. To deny two people who love each other the chance to grow and test and formalize that love is absurd. In this day and age, I honestly thought we were past this nonsense, and the fact that it was California, a supposedly "libral" state that has voted to re-ban gay marriage is shocking.

I feel horrible for that couple out there who were about to get married, and now cannot. I feel horrible for those thousands of couples who married under this law, only to now have their union called into question, threatened by the blind judgment of people who were completely unaffected by it.

Obama winning was fantastic, but let's remember the bad results from that evening too.

Charlie Chaplin speaks of peace, democracy, and brotherhood of man

In this clip from Charlie Chaplin's 1940 film The Great Dictator, his impassioned speech makes one wonder what kind of an actor he would be if he started today. There's clearly a lot more going on under the hood than simple physical comedy - it's a shame his flare for speaking went unrealized for so many years, for lack of sound in film (this was his first film with sound). Equally sad is the lack of change we've made as a people since 1940 - the lack of impact of his words. What he says is true. People, in general and at their core, don't wish harm on others, only to live freely and well. Too often, the powerful and corrupt become dictators, as was seen with Hitler, who Chaplin imitates here, suppressing this innate desire for peace. Too often, we succumb to fear and force, and allow ourselves to hate and fight.

The world could use more public figures like Chaplin, and more speeches like this one.

Simon Pegg calls for a return to traditional Zombie values

I loves me some Simon Pegg. Spaced was inspired. Shawn of the Dead was hilarious, and Hot Fuzz topped them both. It shouldn't surprise anyone who saw his freshman film, Shawn, that the man is a fan of zombies. More specifically, the breed of zombie that preceded the new Dawn of the Dead, and 28 Days later - the sort that stumbled into frame, scaring by their slow, methodical, unstoppable approach rather than their frenzied charge. In response to Charlie Brooker's Dead Set, Pegg grinds his axe over this new, distorted depiction:

"My expectations were high, and I sat down to watch a show that proved smart, inventive and enjoyable, but for one key detail: ZOMBIES DON'T RUN!

I know it is absurd to debate the rules of a reality that does not exist, but this genuinely irks me. You cannot kill a vampire with an MDF stake; werewolves can't fly; zombies do not run. It's a misconception, a bastardisation that diminishes a classic movie monster. The best phantasmagoria uses reality to render the inconceivable conceivable. The speedy zombie seems implausible to me, even within the fantastic realm it inhabits. A biological agent, I'll buy. Some sort of super-virus? Sure, why not. But death? Death is a disability, not a superpower. It's hard to run with a cold, let alone the most debilitating malady of them all.

More significantly, the fast zombie is bereft of poetic subtlety. As monsters from the id, zombies win out over vampires and werewolves when it comes to the title of Most Potent Metaphorical Monster. Where their pointy-toothed cousins are all about sex and bestial savagery, the zombie trumps all by personifying our deepest fear: death. Zombies are our destiny writ large. Slow and steady in their approach, weak, clumsy, often absurd, the zombie relentlessly closes in, unstoppable, intractable.

However (and herein lies the sublime artfulness of the slow zombie), their ineptitude actually makes them avoidable, at least for a while. If you're careful, if you keep your wits about you, you can stave them off, even outstrip them - much as we strive to outstrip death. Drink less, cut out red meat, exercise, practice safe sex; these are our shotguns, our cricket bats, our farmhouses, our shopping malls. However, none of these things fully insulates us from the creeping dread that something so witless, so elemental may yet catch us unawares - the drunk driver, the cancer sleeping in the double helix, the legless ghoul dragging itself through the darkness towards our ankles.

Another thing: speed simplifies the zombie, clarifying the threat and reducing any response to an emotional reflex. It's the difference between someone shouting "Boo!" and hearing the sound of the floorboards creaking in an upstairs room: a quick thrill at the expense of a more profound sense of dread. The absence of rage or aggression in slow zombies makes them oddly sympathetic, a detail that enabled Romero to project depth on to their blankness, to create tragic anti-heroes; his were figures to be pitied, empathised with, even rooted for. The moment they appear angry or petulant, the second they emit furious velociraptor screeches (as opposed to the correct mournful moans of longing), they cease to possess any ambiguity. They are simply mean."

The man makes an (amusing) point. Check the full article here.

Real Talk

Have a nice kitchen? Like to score with the ladies? Want to parlay one into the other? Finally, someone has been so kind as to detail how this is done! Real talk man, real talk.

How to use your refrigirator to score

"You breathin heavy as hell, I KNOW you hungry."

Star Wars, told a capella through the music of John Williams. Trust me, you'll like it.

Home Stretch Passion
This Obama ad is simply unbelievable. The man is so inspiring, so empassioned, so strong in will and character... he really is like President Bartlett of The West Wing, come to life. If he doesn't win come Tuesday, I'll be so depressed... it would fundamentally challenge my idea of fairness in a democratic process. Just watch the ad, and tell me you don't feel the same way:



After far too long of having politicians win office through fear mongering and dirty tactics, to have an ad like this be the final statement on a campaign is very heartening indeed. To end such an epic race on the same optimistic footing as it was started on is something we see far too infrequently.