Someone Like You

Adele released the official video for her second single off her worldwide smash hit 21, Someone Like You:

Occupy Wall Street

Could that be the left leaning movement that mirrors the success the Tea Party has had on the right?

Gods know we need one:

Small groups of demonstrators in major American cities have started their own "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations and organizers are planning further actions in more cities across the United States.

A diverse coalition of people have pledged to occupy Wall Street until something is done about corporate greed and the financial system's undemocratic influence on the U.S. government.

[…]

"The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99 Percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the one percent," said a statement on the Occupy Wall Street website.

At least 80 to 100 people were arrested over the weekend in the first big crackdown since the demonstration began. Police accused the protesters of blocking traffic and resisting arrest.

Video recordings showed female protesters being rounded up in an orange-colored mesh pen by police and subsequently sprayed with mace, seemingly without any provocation, and other protesters being dragged across the street by police. Another protester said she was arrested for trying to film the demonstration and locked in a police van for over two hours.

The protest spread to other cities over the weekend.

[…]

"Corporate interests seem to be controlling both parties,” one protester told LAActivist.com. “The ‘little man,’ the ‘American every man,’ just isn’t getting their voice heard. When you need $35,000 to donate to a campaign to get your voice heard, to have a meeting, that’s not democracy.”

[…]

Journalist Chris Hedges described the protest as “really where the hope of America lies.”

“The real radicals have seized power,” he asserted, “and they are decimating all impediments to the creation of a neo-feudalistic corporate state, one in which there is a rapacious oligarchic class, a thin managerial elite, and two-thirds of this country live in conditions that increasingly push families to subsistence level.”

MIT professor Noam Chomsky also said he supports the protest.

"Anyone with eyes open knows that the gangsterism of Wall Street -- financial institutions generally -- has caused severe damage to the people of the United States (and the world)," he said. "And should also know that it has been doing so increasingly for over 30 years, as their power in the economy has radically increased, and with it their political power."

Paws Up Forever!

14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer is only the latest gay kid to take his life because of bullying related to his sexual orientation.

Jamey loved Lady Gaga, and she recently dedicated a song to him during a concert.

Now Gaga’s Little Monsters have put together a video montage that speaks directly to Jamey and to any other gay and lesbian kid who might find him/herself in his same situation in the hopes of avoiding the next useless death.

Take out your tissues, it’s beautiful:

Space: the final frontier

Three incredibly cool and educational videos about the cosmos that surround us all:

If computer problems were real…

Too funny!

DADT is no more

Today the blatantly discriminatory law known as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) that kept gay and lesbian military personnel from serving openly in their ranks is officially repealed.

The law had been signed into law by President Clinton when he attempted to legally allow gays and lesbians to serve and the Republicans successfully fought him back and passed this vicious legislation with veto proof majorities.

President Obama was finally able to repeal the law at the end of last year, and starting today gays and lesbians can no longer be rejected from enrolling or ejected once discovered, and can live their lives as openly as their straight counterparts have always been able to do.

A great day that will surely help the gay civil rights movement move forward.

Here are President Obama’s remarks from Towleroad:

Today, the discriminatory law known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is finally and formally repealed.  As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love.  As of today, our armed forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian service members. And today, as Commander in Chief, I want those who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply values your service.

I was proud to sign the Repeal Act into law last December because I knew that it would enhance our national security, increase our military readiness, and bring us closer to the principles of equality and fairness that define us as Americans.  Today’s achievement is a tribute to all the patriots who fought and marched for change; to Members of Congress, from both parties, who voted for repeal; to our civilian and military leaders who ensured a smooth transition; and to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform who showed that they were ready to move forward together, as one team, to meet the missions we ask of them.

For more than two centuries, we have worked to extend America’s promise to all our citizens.  Our armed forces have been both a mirror and a catalyst of that progress, and our troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans.  Today, every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation’s founding ideals.

Around 14,000 people have been discharged from the military because of DADT.  Their careers ruined, together with their lives.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker

After many, many, many months years of starts-and-stops and dragging my feet, I finally finished reading the classic horror novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker.

What took me so long, you might ask?  Well, to begin with, I’m a VERY slow reader (right now I’m actually reading a book that supposedly will “teach” me to read faster – I really hope it works!!).  Second, I pretty much only read at the end of the day, before going to bed, and oftentimes, I only last a few minutes, if that.  Last, I had the Italian translation, which you would think would be easier for me to read, since it’s my first language, but I’ve been reading in English (which has a very different, simpler, and more direct sentence structure than Italian) for so long, I actually struggled more to read the book in Italian than I would have in English.

Anyway, it’s finally over and I’m glad I read it.  It’s a captivating story that’s well written, even though the style was not something I had encountered before and I’m not sure I’m a fan.

The book is written from the point of view of the different characters, all of whom seem to keep shockingly detailed diaries of everything that happens in their day to day lives.  It is organized in chronological order for the most part, so it makes sense from a point of view of understanding what’s going on, but it just feels weird to imagine all these people busy writing down every occurrence and conversation.  It’s also quite far fetched for one to believe that a person could remember ever word of a conversation he or she had with someone else in such detail.

Aside from that, the book is good and I would recommend it, especially with the current revival of all things vampires.  Given that Stoker is credited with actually inventing the whole mythology and, unarguably, the most famous vampire of all times, if you (like me) like this sort of thing, it’s a must-read.

Grade: 8

In Memoriam

Andy Whitfield (1972 – 2011)

The former star of Starz’s Spartacus: Blood and Sand lost his battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma yesterday at the young age of 39.  While he didn’t have many titles to his credit yet, the actor did have talent and his brooding good looks would have pretty much ensured a solid career in Hollywood eventually.

Unfortunately, he did not live to see that day.

R.I.P. Andy.

The Debt

This movie wasn’t really on my radar until I saw that it starred the great Helen Mirren, so I watched it as a double.  It’s not bad, although it’s also not memorable.

Synopsis: three Israeli spies track down a Nazi doctor responsible for countless deaths during WWII and plan on kidnapping him to bring him to justice.  Things don’t go as smoothly as they had hoped though, and a decision they jointly make will shape their future lives for several decades, until they have to take matters back into their hands.

Mirren is joined by the always excellent Tom Wilkinson, and Ciarán Hinds, who is good but has nothing more than a cameo.  Their three younger selves are played by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington and they all do a very good job.

The script is well written and the editing keeps the action going.  What I liked best about this movie though was its simplicity and the resemblance to the good thrillers of the 70s and 80s.  Maybe it’s the photography, maybe the script, maybe a combination of the two, but it works and it “feels” nice.

The Bottom Line: while The Debt won’t likely land on anyone’s Top Ten of the Year’s list, it’s a nice thriller with good acting.  The fact that it doesn’t just follow the typical Hollywood rules of a happy ending and a full-circle conclusion are a definite plus.

Grade: 7

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I’m a huge fan of 1968’s original Planet of the Apes and I watched all the sequels and the 2001 remake by Tim Burton, so I wasn’t going to miss the latest entry in the canon.

The reviews for Rise of the Planet of the Apes were quite good going in, and I too really enjoyed the movie.

Synopsis: James Franco is a scientist working on a cure for Alzheimer, which affects his father’s brain.  He’s developing a virus that should spur the brain to rebuild itself and testing it on apes, where it causes genetic mutations.  Because of a violent accident, the program is shut down and he ends up with a baby ape (Caesar) whose mother was a subject of Franco’s experiments and passed the mutations on to him.  Caesar’s intellectual capabilities keep growing, allowing him to rise above all other apes, until one day being considered an animal isn’t good enough anymore.

Franco does a good job in a role that is neither substantial nor central, and Freida Pinto and John Lithgow are good supporting players.  However, the one who shines even from behind a computer generated layer is once again Andy Serkis, the man who brought to life The Lord of the Rings’s Gollum.

While some of the apes’ effects look too manufactured, especially the baby ape, Serkis’ Caesar looks totally real.  That guy deserves an Oscar for his talent, but they’d never consider him because you can’t see his actual face, even though every movement on Caesar’s face corresponds exactly to a movement of Serkis’ muscles.

The Bottom Line: Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a great addition to the “Apes” series and will not disappoint thanks to both character development (the first half of the movie relies heavily on that) and action sequences (more prevalent in the second half, after the rising, and culminating in an adrenaline drenched sequence on the Golden Gate bridge).  It’s also nice to see how the whole thing started, so if you are a fan, don’t miss it.

Grade: 8

Alpha Dog

I’ll admit that the otherworldly hotness of a heavily tattooed Justin Timberlake is what drew me to this movie, but I’m glad to report that it is quite enjoyable and at times gripping.

Synopsis: inspired by true events, Alpha Dog tells the story of the face-off between two small time drug dealers and the unlucky half-brother of one of them, who ends up paying the price for their antics.

Timberlake’s acting skills (recently appreciated in The Social Network) are noticeable and Emile Hirsch (admirable in Milk and excellent in Into the Wild) proves once again to have a lot of talent.  Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton, and Sharon Stone all do a good job (although Stone is a little too theatrical).  But the one who really chews the scenery whenever he’s on screen is the awesome Ben Foster.

While one can easily see how the whole story is going to ultimately tragically play out, a fair script and the good overall acting keep you engaged.

The Bottom Line: I usually like movies inspired by or based on true events, and this was no different.  The story is tragic and sad, but that makes the movie even more worth watching.

Grade: 7

Turning Tables

Adele performs “Turning Tables” on The Jonathan Ross Show:

I love this woman.

Irene

As everyone knows, Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast of the US last week, bringing devastation to several states and misery to millions of people, including us.  We lost power for 4 days and it was like living in the Middle Ages.  Luckily, that’s all we lost, unlike some people who lost everything in the storm.

Cleanup and reconstruction are on their way, and normalcy will come back little by little, but one thing we’ll never learn is to stop developing and building directly on the shore.  Yes, it’s a wonderful location and whoever can afford it obviously wants to live there, but it’s gonna be more and more costly to rebuild and it’s also not fair that taxpayers’ money is used to help these people and communities repeat the same mistakes of the past.

At any rate, some incredible before/after pictures of the devastation:

Click here for more.