Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Rational Optimist on Everything's AI.

- One Battle After Another wins Best Picture plus other Oscar winners.

- Strait of Hormuz planning was built in from the start. Of course it was - I'd be more surprised if it wasn't.

- Pokémon Go had players capturing more than they realized. Amused at the tactic but could turn scary if it was revealed it was AI's plan to get humans to work for it.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Jonathan Turley: Newly released documents show officials brushed aside concerns with Mar-a-Lago raid.

- From the archives: Real life does not fit the narrative.

- YouTube gets the Oscars. I'd be less concerned with YouTube changing the format and more concerned with ABC burning down the house because the deal doesn't kick in until 2029.

- DOJ's Clinton Foundation probe marred by conflicts of interest.

Some More Memes You May Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- Analysis true!

- Also true!

- I feel seen.

- Maybe not satire.

OK - One Last Will Smith Joke

Via

Heh Heh

Via

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Hypothesis: if AOC hadn't chased away the proposed Amazon East Coast HQ and the 25,000 plus jobs it would have brought many people would have moved to or stayed in NYC and New York wouldn't be losing a Congressional seat. Just saying... Really enjoyed the Marvel series Falcon and the Winter Soldier but I kept having the thought how amusing it would be to print up bumper stickers that replaces the Flag Smashers logo with the DNC logo to re-use the "One World. One People." catch-phrase...  Heh Heh... Explanatory Knowledge would be a good name for a blog... Truth be told - I'm a little disappointed 2020 didn't actually give us murder hornets... So the Oscars were watched by just 9.85 million people. That means Hollywood's signature event now just has ratings slightly better that this year's Peach Bowl which "pitted" Georgia against Cincinnati (hardly a marque bowl game). That game was watched by almost 9 million...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Reminder "Joe Biden" is an anagram for "I Need Job"... Heh heh - very clever... For what it's worth I know multiple groups of guys who car pooled from Massachusetts to attend the Trump rally in Manchester, NH. I'm starting to think that Trump may carry liberal Mass in the general election... "Facts don't cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley... The Mookie Betts trade is giving me flashbacks to when the Bruins traded Joe Thornton who went on to win the NHL MVP award that season. Like the Betts trade the Bruins got back three prospects for Thornton. None of them really panned out and now Joe Thornton will go into the Hall of Fame as a member of the San Jose Sharks... Birds of Prey is flopping at the box office. Is it because it's a "woke" feminist vehicle? Is it because there's no Joker in the movie (which is in no way chauvinistic - it's just that Harley Quinn is joined at the hip with Joker in the DC Comic universe)? The movie has an 80% Rotten Tomatoes score so it's not a bad movie. Is it because this isn't the DC universe movie that James Gunn is directing (that would be next year's The Suicide Squad)? Not sure the reason but I'm in no hurry to see the flick. Based on the box office I guess I'm not alone... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Decades ago I recall someone asking Kirk Douglas how he remained in such healthy condition. Douglas said one of his secrets was to never use the elevator but always take the stairs instead. Such simple and profound advice that I've tried to follow ever since...  Kirk Douglas' service during World War II should also be noted... Today is an important day in US history - in 1778 France officially recognized the independence of the 13 colonies. Britain immediately responded by declaring war on France... Did you know Orson Welles did not win Best Actor for Citizen Kane and neither did Humphrey Bogart for Casablanca?... "I have as much authority as the Pope. I just don't have as many people who believe it." - George Carlin... China to cut tariffs on $75 billion of US goods. Medical supplies are among the items with new reduced tariffs. I'd also look for China to announce huge purchases of US food stuffs shortly. The Chinese leadership are struggling to deal with the coronavirus and the food stuffs are necessary because they can't afford for their people to be dying in the street from sickness and starving at the same time...  Congrats to Brigadier General Charles McGee...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Kevin Hart really should do a live TV show on another network the same night as the Oscars just to torpedo the Oscars ratings. That would be funny... Why Netflix pricing will keep going up... This week I vow to use the phrase "Greetings my jumentous fellow" and smile while saying it. Jumentous means "smelling like horse urine" but if you smile people will think you're complementing them... Completely agree with Ben Shapiro on this... With apologies to Marshawn Lynch, any time I read "beast mode" in print - my mind reads it as "breast mode". Once I realize my mistake I wonder why there's no "breast mode". I want breast mode... Interesting look at Paramount Pictures. Makes me want to re-watch The Kid Stays in the Picture... Growing up Catholic many of the nuns I ran into explained their celibacy by saying they were "married to Jesus". I always wondered - if that's the case how do priest explain their celibacy? Are they married to Jesus too?...   

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

When you hear the MSM criticize President Trump for his relationship with Saudi Arabia just keep in mind that President Obama attended the funeral of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah but skipped the funeral of Britain's Margaret Thatcher and the MSM never said a peep... Very cool!... I've always had an issue with the Fleetwood Mac song You Make Loving Fun - as opposed to what? You Make Loving Feel Like Working in a Coal Mine?... ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that Hue Jackson is the front-runner for 11 out of 12 head coaching positions... Good to know... Speaking of NFL head coaching jobs - how many interviews do you think Condoleezza Rice has lined up?... I think the simple solution to the Oscars host issue would be to have Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally co-host. Problem solved...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- 100 years ago today. If Germany was able to drag Mexico into WWI then things may have been much different both back then and today.

- RIP Neil Fingleton (AKA Mag the Mighty)

- Excellent question!

- George W. Bush's new passion

- RIP Judge Wapner

- Ben Affleck is 100% checking out Matt Damon to see if this was a Jimmy Kimmel prank

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Conspiracy theory - this year's Daytona 500 was a result of EA Sports combining the classic game Spyhunter with a new NASCAR game... "I don't like violence Mr. Selig. I'm a businessman and urine is a big expense." Dialog from the new movie The Braunfather... My favorite bit of Oscars trivia is the fact that the Oscar Jimmy Stewart won for The Philadelphia Story was displayed in the window of his dad's hardware store in Pennsylvania... I'm still a little fuzzy about the science behind Hot Tub Time Machine... Did you know that during Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak - he hit .408 while during that same stretch of games Ted Williams hit .414? Isn't that a great stat?... In modern money - the ransoms paid to free King Richard the Lionheart would be worth a little over $2 billion in today's dollars (34 tons of gold)... Who knew? The first basketball game ever on TV was Fordham vs Pittsburgh on this day in 1940. The game was played at Madison Square Garden... Speaking of college basketball - happy 81st birthday to basketball coaching legend Dean Smith...

Oscars Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations about last night's Academy Awards.

Seeing the for some reason bald-headed Geoffrey Rush sitting behind Colin Firth I couldn't help but hope that for their next film together that Geoffrey Rush would play Colonel Klink while Colin Firth would play Colonel Hogan in a movie version of Hogan's Heroes... OK I'll say it - Gwyneth Paltrow the singer is to Gwyneth Paltrow the actress what Chris Gaines was to Garth Brooks... Peter O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor 8 times. He never won... Good for Christian Bale for winning Best Supporting Actor but he's really a leading actor while John Hawkes is the perfect supporting actor in my opinion. This is like Ichiro playing on a Triple A team just so he can win the International League Batting Title. Speaking of Hawkes - I wonder if he makes an appearance on Justified this season (reuniting Sol Star and Seth Bullock)... If the Oscars really want a Bob Hope type to host then they should get Rich Eisen from the NFL Network. Eisen started off as a stand-up comedian and he's always reminded me of Bob Hope... Billy Crystal is about to turn 63 in March but I'm guessing next year he'll look older than Kirk Douglas... OK I'll say it! Oprah has humongous boobs! Yeah boobs!... Last night they had a piece on people's favorite songs from Oscar winning movies. They never mentioned mine. My favorite movie song was It Puts the Lotion in the Basket from Silence of the Lambs (the Musical)... My WTF moment last night was when Cate Blanchette saying The Lord of the Rings would have been unimaginable without the person who did the makeup. Personally my imagining of the book was much better than what ended up on screen. I'm guessing that's the same for any LOTR fan... OK I'll say it! Am I the only one who forgot that Kirk Douglas was still alive?... Gabriel Byrne would make a great Oscars host but he's not hip enough. Too bad for some reason ABC thinks they have to cater to people who think Paddy Chayefsky is some sort an expensive Scotch whiskey. That's why we get James Franco... Did you know that Orson Welles did not win Best Actor for Citizen Kane and neither did Humphrey Bogart for Casablanca?

Best Oscar Acceptance Speech of All-Time

Best Oscar acceptance speech of all-time was by Michael Curtiz for winning best director for Casablanca in 1944,

“So many times I have a speech ready, but no dice. Always a bridesmaid, never a mother. Now I win, I have no speech.” — Michael Curtiz, accepting his Oscar for Best Director (Casablanca)

Odds to Win Oscars

Here are the odds on who will win the Oscar for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role":

Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) 8/1
Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) 19/1
Peter O'Toole (Venus) 6/1
Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happiness) 5/1
Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) 1/11

Here are the odds on who will win the Oscar for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role":

Penélope Cruz (Volver) 23/1
Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal) 25/1
Helen Mirren (The Queen) 1/30
Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) 16/1
Kate Winslet (Little Children) 8/1

Here are the odds on what movie will win the Oscar for "Best Motion Picture of the Year":

Babel 4/3
The Departed 1/6
Letters from Iwo Jima 9/1
Little Miss Sunshine 1/1
The Queen 20/1

For what its worth - the only movie in any of the three above categories that I've seen this year is The Departed. If you look close - you'll see that there is a huge favorite in each of the three categories. I'd bet (just on percentatges) that there is an upset in at least one of the three categories.