Pink Panther's Blog

Jon Stewart is da man! – “If this lady loses, the health care reform bill that the beloved late senator considered his legacy, will die. And the reason it will die… is because if Coakley loses, Democrats will only have an 18 vote majority in the Senate, which is more than George W. Bush ever had in the Senate when did whatever the fuck he wanted to.”

I just saw, “Up in the Air” and I’m still floating around in the clouds from being surprised by such an incredible movie. Sure, I heard the buzz but I wasn’t prepared for its remarkable, yet sad commentary on the empty but comfortable isolation of a life surrounded by strangers. Life often seems romantic for those who commute by air all over the place, but I’ve had friends who do it and, like the movie, it is no picnic. In fact, it’s hard to have a deep meaningful life at all for those constant travelers. I don’t envy them. I don’t want the reader to get the idea the movie was a big emotional downer, because it wasn’t. It was highly entertaining, but ranked right up there with “Doubt” and “Revolutionary Road” in its complexity and emotional impact.

Another cross posting today. Please read my post on the “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression” in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King over at AMERICAblog Gay.

We must always remember what brought us to the point where we are today. I disagree with the Obama Administration in that I think they should move even more aggressively to the left. That said, this is a good speech to remind the American people what got us here and there should be more taxes like this, since the banks haven’t been passing along their corporate welfare to get our economy moving faster.

I’m cross posting to one of my posts over at AMERICAblog Gay today because I believe homophobia in sports is a very important discussion to have.

Me, my dad (Jim Beauchamp) and brother Kash

My post seems to have received a mostly positive reaction, but even if one disagrees the conversation should be had regarding homophobia in sports, it is time to continue to get it out in the open, discuss it and move homophobic behavior towards the dust bin of history where it belongs.

All day today I’ve thought to myself, “Thirty more minutes and I’m going to the gym! I’m going to run 3.5 to 4 miles at a really decent clip and hitting the weights and then a sweat in the steam room.

I just ate a large Super Supreme pizza from Pizza Hut, and I need to stop kidding myself. It’s not going to happen. Maybe tomorrow? The likely answer is yes because I am pretty good about feeling guilty to the point of going. Once I’m there, at the gym, it’s all downhill. The challenge is getting there and starting the run.

Today is a day for procrastination.

A friend sent me this cartoon from cartoonist Natalie Dee’s work. I thought it was too funny to just leave in my in-box so I’m posting it. I thought the bluetooth wireless cellphone earpiece was a nice touch.

The caption reads:

“… so they are trying to deny civil rights to gays, black poor people from getting health care, prevent Africans from protecting themselves from AIDS, protesting funerals, killing doctors… anything else I’m missing? Have I been wasting all my time for the past 2000 years? Hell no, they’re not MY followers. Those motherfuckers obviously went rogue a long time ago.”

You take on controversial issues right when you are elected to strike while the iron is hot, and it takes time to get things done. Also, everyone knows the closer you get to mid-term elections, the less likely you are to see any kind of promised changes that might be the least bit controversial. Another thing politicians don’t do and that is start negotiating away your positions before you even start fighting like Obama did with the Public Option in health care.

“Saturday Night Live” hit it out of the ball park as to why so many of us who worked so hard for CHANGE should be angry and why so many conservatives who are frothing at the mouth over Obama should just shut up. So far, he has been their best friend.

The wind chill is below zero right now here in Oklahoma, and I have news for my neighbor. If she walks outside wearing her Snuggie again, she is going down! She will be reported to police for a fashion violation. Here is how it would all play out:

9-1-1: “9-1-1? Police or Fire?”

Me: “Police!”

9-1-1: “Yes?”

Me: “She did IT again!!! She should KNOW BETTER!!! Snuggies are NOT appropriate casual wear! It is DEPRAVED to be wearing that kind of thing outside where children might see her! My neighbor is WEARING her SNUGGIE outside… I need a squad car and back up IMMEDIATELY!”

God, I knew this was going to happen. (Sigh…) Snuggies are going to become casual wear. Yep, folks, we will be seeing them worn at your local Wal-Marts. Next thing ya know, people will be traveling in them at airports. I’m curious as to what kind of shoes are going to become popular with the Snuggies worn in public?

I finally got around to viewing “Revolutionary Road” and it hasn’t been that long ago I saw the movie “Doubt” on premium cable channels. Please do yourselves a favor and if you get the chance to see either of those movies watch them. Both films remind me of Emily Dickinson poetry in their emotional depth. I’m a sucker for films that are character studies and allow the viewer to explore the well of the human psyche, and vicariously empathize with the struggles of the human condition. Both of those movies succeed on this level, and you leave them drained but exhilarated in the strange way one sometimes feels when you’ve experienced really good art. I was especially reminded of Thoreau when watching “Revolutionary Road” and his words, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.”

Both of the above films deserve a viewing just for the performances of Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep alone. I can’t come up with a powerful enough superlative to describe how those two actors transcended the already high standards expected of them. Streep’s final bit of dialogue shatters her character’s carefully crafted facade of certainty, and leaves one reeling in emotions that borders on physical vertigo; she does it through her ragged inflection alone. I missed these two films when they were in the theater and I could kick myself.

I know everyone is talking about “Avatar” right now, and I really did love that movie and saw it the very first day it screened in Dallas, but “Doubt” and “Revolutionary Road,” of course, are in a totally different genre. I’m usually not one to write a movie review but rarely do movies move me on the level of those two films.

I give ‘em four roars of approval! Heh…

Loading the truck...

Well, our little UCC Open Table Church in Owasso did our “Backpacks 4 Kids” program today.  This program is run by our local area food bank and they partner with our church.  We started feeding around twenty food insecure children and provide them with healthy snacks and food to get them through the weekends. We are now serving over one hundred kids in the Owasso, Oklahoma area.