July 31, 2008
Puzzling
Zhang Ziyi, top ten successful Chinese actress of 2007 and sort of attractive, confesses she is "puzzled" by human rights protests* in the run up to the Beijing Olympiad (hat tip to Bill).
I cannot imagine I am alone in finding this combination of sentiment threatening.
* Real human rights, not the Canadian kind.
Sovereignty
Turkish warplanes violate Iraqi airspace and commit an act of war, presumably via self-defense or hot pursuit or some such pretext. Note all the usual suspects as they leap into offering no comment whatsoever; their bile is reserved exclusively for the air forces of Israel and the United States.
To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.
Ex-New Line Cinema founders Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne - perhaps best known for their stunning screen adaptation of The Lord of the Rings - are now set to produce an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation.
The first book in the trilogy, Foundation, is a combination of five short stories written by the legendary Isaac Asimov that together form one plot. The book focuses on a society that has figured out how to predict the future based on a method called psychohistory and sets up a foundation devoted to scientific research to protect itself and ensure its survival. The books contain political themes that center on the rise and fall of civilizations and span hundred of years, which makes this series troublesome and challenging for adaptation.
July 30, 2008
X-Men Origins
This Wolverine trailer has a significant "meh" factor compared to TR2N p2rn. It could be Wolverine's Canadianity is leaking through; this should have the awesome and it is lacking.
Related: Trailers and video clips for Star Wars: The Clone Wars are now on-line. Cool looking, artless and affectless; such are the latter days of George Lucas, heresiarch.
Fais ce que dois
I am intrigued to learn Small Dead Animals has earned an editorial readership beating out Canada's French language newspaper of record, Montreal's Le Devoir. A SnapShot of our site analytics suggests the Flea may be approaching Kate's editorial league. Most satisfying.
I include another Canadian political commentary blog in those analytics to add perspective. Though in fairness I think its readership got a little bump from irritating the Canadian dextrosphere recently so best not to misoverestimate its importance or influence.
Blur: Coffee & TV
This one goes with a shout out to The Michael Coren Show. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
It takes a village
Hog On Ice and a words vs deeds situation. Clearly, he has failed to consider how this helps Michelle's children (via Five Feet of Fury).
Here's a question. If this is how he keeps promises to his own relatives and their friends, how well will he keep his promises to us?
Now look at John McCain. A man who adopts other people's children and refuses to make hay of it. Hey, I know the answer. Let's have John McCain adopt Obama's village.
Speaking of Muslims African political culture: Is there such a thing as douchebag rehab? Now wondering if fava beans are halal minus the rough chianti.
Exit question: What kind of father names his daughter Aisha? There are a lot of awkward sixth birthday parties in the world, evidently.
July 29, 2008
Monica Naranjo: Amor y Lujo
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance (hat tip to Beautiful Atrocities).
Man, machine and the fusion of the two
Zoetica Ebb reviews Fantastic Contraption, an exhibit curated by Device Gallery owners Greg and Amy Brotherton.
Jaunt!
Warren Ellis offers a taste of classic British tv sf.
July 28, 2008
Now taking odds
Assuming the worst of the American electorate - and decisions in office being different than pronouncements on the campaign trail - how many days will an Obama presidency last before some disagreement spurs the left to declare he is not a black man?
Inkblot test
By way of comment on the war against Serbian fascism, Will summarizes an important point.
Howlin' Wolf: Smokestack Lightning (1964)
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
The new Bond car
007 will be driving an Aston Martin DBS* in Quantum of Solace. Nice. And now some time has passed I realize I can stand by my first impression: Daniel Craig's Casino Royale is the greatest Bond film ever (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).
* Now with iPod integration. Must be worth a few quid.
July 27, 2008
Pr0n 2
The Tron 2 aka Tr2n trailer is on-line.
Men of a certain generation are going to need some alone time.
Related: From the set of Watchmen, the interior of the Owlship (hat tip to Capt H).
July 26, 2008
I have a dream
One of those dreams you forget as soon as you wake up.
DinoRun
It is a rainy Saturday afternoon in Toronto. Time for some DinoRun practice (via Ace).
July 25, 2008
Björk: Bachelorette
Live at Fashion Rocks alongside the work of Alexander McQueen: Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
America's acupuncture points
The magnificently named Victor N. Corpus considers America's Achilles' heel acupuncture points in the event of a shooting war with Red China. Overwrought, and reading more like a confrontation with an axis of China, Russia and Iran than the PRC alone, I nevertheless enjoy this sort of gedankenexperiment if only for entertainment value. That said, the notion "diplomatic isolation" is a threat on par with the potential effects of EMP is just laughable; even an Obama administration could struggle on without the approval of the French.
The US may possess the most powerful war machine in the world, but it can be defeated by an inferior force by avoiding the superpower's strength and exploiting its weaknesses. Again, an integral part of Chinese doctrine is: "Victory through inferiority over superiority." One famous Chinese strategist, Chang Mengxiong, compared asymmetric warfare to "a Chinese boxer with a keen knowledge of vital body points who can bring a stronger opponent to his knees with a minimum of movement".
All very well so far as it goes. But then sometimes Bambi's kung fu runs in to Godzilla's foot fu.
Related: India has accepted a landmark deal lifting its "rogue" status in the club of countries with nuclear weaponry. The Anglosphere and civilization itself are better for the news.
"This is a big move. It signals India coming out of international isolation and that it can be part of the community of nations. This is important for a country that aspires to be on the G8," said K Subrahmanyam, a defence analyst.
July 24, 2008
Friends of Abe
Notes on Hollywood's conservative underground. Gary Sinise and others have formed a network of entertainers who support U.S. troops and traditional American values (via Michelle Malkin and Five Feet of Fury).
"It's a growing movement, and word is getting out that there's many of us in this business ...," said 1950s singer Pat Boone, one of the few conservatives to talk about the movement publicly. "If certain studio execs - hirers and firers - learn that this is a movement and growing, and that some of these people that they hire are of this inclination, these people could be unemployed."
White male heterosexual normativity in a galaxy far, far away
Caprica looks boring. Though it is a relief to learn that even in the Thirteen Colonies, WASP males are to blame for everything that goes wrong in the world(s). God that makes me feel so powerful. So alive.
Just now thinking Adama rhymes with Obama. Probably a coincidence.
Related: A darker John Connor is anticipated for season two of the Summer Glau Chronicles. Fine so far as it goes but does this mean Summer Glau in latex? Parallel world Fleas need to know. Not to fixate or anything.
Amon Amarth: Runes To My Memory
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Callooh! Callay!
Good news. Fetish model and former Suicide Girl, Apnea who is 22 years of age and 5'1" - just an FYI - and photographer Lithium Picnic have resolved their legal fracas with the aforementioned Suicide Girls. Good news. Though Fabiola offers a somewhat nuanced view of the turn of events.
Those legal bills do add up. And I want to point to my own exemplary moral fibre in choosing an image to illustrate this post. You all have Google in case you wish to investigate the, ahem, subject matter as thoroughly as I have done.
July 23, 2008
Subject: E-mail from Ireland
Besoeker receives an email from Ireland and thoughtfully posts it to the comments at Rantburg.
We, in Ireland, can't figure out why you people are even bothering to hold an election in the United States.
On one side, you had a pants wearing female lawyer, married to another lawyer who can't seem to keep his pants on, who just lost a long and heated primary against a lawyer, who goes to the wrong church, who is married to yet another lawyer, who doesn't even like the country her husband wants to run!
Now...On the other side, you have a nice old war hero whose name starts with the appropriate 'Mc' terminology, married to a good looking younger woman who owns a beer distributorship!
What in God's name are ya lads thinking over in the colonies!!!!!
Timeless
Holy holy holy. Manchester University's School of Arts, Histories and Cultures has revealed the existence of 267 tapes found in Delia Derbyshire's attic when she died in 2001.
Most unexpected of all, however, is a piece of music that sounds like a contemporary dance track which was recorded, it is believed, in the late sixties.
The BBC - for a brief moment fulfilling its public mandate - hosts audio clips. I confess I think they are over-blowing the dance track a bit. Despite what Paul Hartnoll says it is not a piece that could be released next week. It is, however, decades ahead of its time and part of a treasure trove for people who make electronic and experimental music. No need for hyperbole; Delia was the master.
Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio: Do murder and lust make me a man
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
July 22, 2008
'Tis as human a little story as paper could well carry
Ellen Bute’s Passages from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake arrives via Feuilleton. Just the ticket to impress neighbouring cubicles with your erudition, love of language and of course Dublin.
Ulysses is quite popular as well, obviously.
Related: James Joyce reading from Finnegans Wake. Also, Accents and Edwardians.
Why India lost the war
Thoughts on why India lost the war with China include this telling comment by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
They were neither the first nor the last to have made this mistake; something to keep in mind. Those were the days when mainland China was threatened with invasion from Taiwan... good times.
July 21, 2008
Every stop I make, I make a new friend
The SAS is training German sheperd spy dogs to operate behind the lines in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Awesome. The only thing better I can imagine would be spy pigs licensed to kill.
Dizzy Gillespie: Manteca (The Funky Lowlives Remix)
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
It's difficult to get hold of dead horses
People are quite sentimental about that sort of thing in England. Failing that, get hold of a piano, some gasoline and your trebuchet project is good to go.
July 20, 2008
Star Trek XI
From the top left clockwise: Some supposed Romulan named Nero, Uhura, Kirk and Spock. I gather Spock will have the ability to steal other character's abilities, etc. Kirk is gay in the prequel, obviously, which leaves Uhura hooking up with the Romulan. He has tattoos. On his face. In Canada. That is all.
July 18, 2008
The unending torture of listening to people bitch about Omar Khadr
Rolling Stone writer Jeff Tietz opines the fate of Omar Khadr.
This word unspeakable; it does not mean what he thinks it means. As for poor wittle Omar, he was not just a teen "soldier" in bin Laden's "army" but, it should be pointed out, a family friend. Omar Khadr was nineteen at the time those words were written; he is now twenty-one. Sgt. Christopher Speer, by contrast, is still dead (follow that link, please, and watch the video). And I expect the unknown owner of those hands might deserve some justice as well. But then progressives only care about the supposed misdeeds of white folk. The mutilation and murder of unnamed brown people leaves the "left" strangely unmoved when brown freedom fighters wield the knife.
"Kill me," Khadr said, believing his place in heaven secured by the murder he committed. "Please, just kill me." If they had obliged him Omar Khadr would be in Hell, I would never have heard his name and the "left" would cheerfully have found some other maniac to grace the abattoir that passes for their roll of honour.
Omar Khadr deserved to be dispatched then and there.*
*Exit question: If Kate is a "backwoods xenophobe" does this mean they have woods in Saskatchewan? I feel lied to. Oh, and while I could care less about Matthew Good, having been stalked for several years by one of his retard groupies (yes, Matthew, I mean her) even hearing his name is worse than nails on chalkboard. By their fruits ye shall know them; I cannot say I am surprised to learn where his sympathies lie.
Lallakiss Battle Song: Kill the Humans
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Casus belli
Reading between the lines, the "government" of "Pakistan" is apparently unhappy a NATO drone violated Pakistani airspace. Yet the "government" of "Pakistan" seems strangely unconcerned their footspace is being used as a staging area by savages attempting to murder NATO personnel. In a more civilized age we would describe this as an "act of war". The hell with hot pursuit, gunboat diplomacy would concentrate the mind.
Related: Correct.
Is this a workable idea? Critics of unleashing India's covert deterrence capabilities say such action will strip New Delhi of the moral high ground it has for long occupied. Advocates argue that India's high moral ground hasn't made its citizens lives safer.
Virtual Gettysburg
Real soldiers. Real heroes. Real honour. Visit historic Gettysburg through these virtual panoramas.
July 17, 2008
The Hedgehog and the Fox
Isaiah Berlin on Archilochus' claim that the fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing.* Following Berlin's interpretation, the Flea is most definitely crazy like a fox. If, admittedly, an underachieving fox by comparison with the following.
...
The first kind of intellectual and artistic personality belongs to the hedgehogs, the second to the foxes; and without insisting on a rigid classification, we may, without too much fear of contradiction, say that, in this sense, Dante belongs to the first category, Shakespeare to the second; Plato, Lucretius, Pascal, Hegel, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Ibsen, Proust are, in varying degrees, hedgehogs; Herodotus, Aristotle, Montaigne, Erasmus, Molière, Goethe, Pushkin, Balzak, Joyce are foxes.
* With apologies to the blog where I saw this somewhat gnomic aphorism the other day; I have forgotten quite where it was.
Marianne Faithfull: Something Better
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
My Gothic Pony
This edition of Goth or not Goth arrives with a hat tip to the delectable SondraK.
July 16, 2008
At last
Joss Whedon presents Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I have decided Neil Patrick Harris should play me when they get around to making a biopic of the Flea (with a hat tip to the Sister of the Flea).
So far, the first installment, or act, has been wildly popular, outpacing shows like Lost, The Wire and The Daily Show to rank No. 1 on the iTunes list of most popular television series.
Not about hardware and space battles
Caprica strikes out into uncharted territory for sf; an attempt to preemptively bore its audience.
Or about Battlestar Galactica, apparently. No substitute for Deadwood or Rome but - let's face facts - I will watch the show regardless.
Decoding the Northern Dunes
I am am convinced a careful examination of these landscapes of Mars will reveal worm sign.
Buffy Allstars: Walk Through the Fire
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
July 15, 2008
A model soldier
Iraq War veteran Katrina Hodge who is 21 - just saying - aims to represent her country as Miss England 2008 (hat tip to Knowledge is Power).
Flea-readers wishing to support "weapon of mass distraction" Lance corporal Hodge are invited to visit the Miss England website. No word on whether the thought police will turn up to arrest the winner for flying the flag of England in England.
Related: Germany 1-5 England and the All-England Summarize Proust Competition.
Kate Bush: Oh England My Lionheart
Let's start a new country and call it England; I still believe. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
July 14, 2008
Psalm 137
Charles Thomas Bolton, the first astronomer to present irrefutable evidence of the existence of a black hole*, crying on the steps of his observatory (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).
The university used the excuse that the observatory was no longer useful due to light pollution, but this is a lie as the facility is perfectly useful long-term research programs and large survey programs where relatively few observations are taken of a large number of stars. But more shocking than the closure of the observatory is the poor way the university is treating Mr. Bolton. It's heartbreaking to think that when you're looking at that photo that they carrying out 37 years of his life's work. The University of Toronto should be ashamed of their shoddy treatment of a man who is a real life hero.
* Cygnus X, hole of color, etc.; whatever my American cousins might call the phenomenon in these latter days.
It takes a lot to make me cry
In case I had not linked Christopher Hitchens on the knighthood for Sir Salman Rushdie and a sullen, resentful boring atmosphere in the room. Featured: The then future mayor of London.
Update: Higher quality linkage of the same material courtesy of your friendly neighbourhood Drink Soaked Trots.
Feist: Counting to 4
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance (hat tip to the Sister of the Flea).
Kaidan sounds
Updates to the musical stylings of the Flea.
Update the first: I am delighted to have been included in a sampler for a special issue of Otaku Magazine; "Kaidan Sounds" accompanies Otaku Kaidan.
Update the second: I am also delighted to have been asked to contribute to "Free Tibet Free", a Dark Transmissions industrial sampler whose proceeds are contributed to the Central Tibetan Secretariat in Dharamsala. It is an honour to have been anthologized alongside Asmodeus X, Bleiburg, Horologium, Aesthetic Meat Front and many others. I am particularly delighted to find Life's Decay on the sampler, they are a Flea-fav.
July 11, 2008
Shipwrecked
The Right Reverend Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet has asked the Pope, as well as Catholic leaders in England and Wales, to help him and his parishes "defect" to Rome.
"Most of all we ask for ways that allow us to bring our folk with us," he wrote.
More high-handed bloviating here.
Two thousand quatloos are bid
Canada makes a contribution to the GWOT Long War CRUSADE.
All manner of applications leap to mind.
Marilyn Manson: Tourniquet
More from the mind of Floria Sigismondi. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
July 10, 2008
Noise and escalation
Israel, Iran and the Eitan high altitude UAV, notably absent from a recent exercise over the Aegean.
Built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the Eitan - or Heron TP - will carry more than a ton of weapons as well as specialized sensors, electronic warfare and targeting gear in its bulbous forward section, its principal payload bay and on each tail of its twin boom.
"UAVs are an integral part of the IAF force structure, and they've become a dominant element in training and operations planning," said Herzl Bodinger, a retired major general and former IAF commander. "But we're still not at a point where enough of them can carry 1-ton weapons for the long-range missions everybody seems to be talking too much about these days."
Watch this space.
Related: The 5th Fleet tests the communications network supporting its Aegis ballistic missile defense system across the Middle East.
Teenager finds baby bat in her bra
Goth or not goth.
July 09, 2008
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand
Spengler on America, a special grace for an "almost chosen people" and a billion more Christians in the world than in 1970. Such is the Good News.
Flags used by musicians
A search for imagery for the next Ghost of a flea gig revealed a handy resource for flags used by musicians. From this admittedly small sample, totalitarian imagery appears to have never gone out of vogue.
July 08, 2008
Clock DVA: Buried Dreams
Samantha Morton is a nice bonus. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Adventures in true facts
Japanese bloggers: A whole lot more glamorous than other bloggers, apparently (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).
July 07, 2008
The gripping hand
The Pentagon is supposedly worried Israel does not have an adequate idea where Iran's nuclear weapons production facilities are located. Allahpundit comments.
The argument against taking military action against Iran hold that attacking with either have too little effect or make things worse by spurring nuclear weapons development as a "deterrent" to supposed Western aggression. I have another alternative to point out: Israel's options are not limited to conventional military action. An argument that targeting Persian nuclear sites with conventional weapons with be unsuccessful is not an argument for inaction, it is an argument for a full scale nuclear attack on Iran.
If you are willing to run the risk of having no unpublished thoughts
Christopher Hitchens on new media and much else including the significance of Barack Obama.
Blutengel: Vampire Romance
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
July 04, 2008
Independence
Some Big Bad Gun pr0n for our neighbo(u)rs to the south. Happy birthday, America.
PS - Despite what liberals believe about intentions and goodwill of conservatives, the fact is that if conservatives changed their minds about liberty, equality and representative government there is not a damn thing liberals could do about it.
Update: An Independence Day message from Jack English American.
Update: Entirely a propos... nominations are open for the Most Mediocre Canadian. Kathy Shaidle offers the rationale for her vote.
It’s the job of the good guys to kill the bad guys
The ten commandments for superheros according to Frank Miller (via Agent Bedhead)
“When I first got going on what became The Dark Knight, I just thought about him a lot, what kind of guy would do this stuff,” he says of his endlessly influential 1986 reinvention of Batman. That said, Miller says he’s sick of “therapy culture” and hand-wringing heroes like Spider-Man who go around whining all the time about the burden of great power. In 300 Sparta’s King Leonidas didn’t have to ponder the Persian Empire’s diplomacy—he kicked Xerxes’ diplomat down a well.
Also via AB, Kiera Knightley Kiera travels the yellow brick road.
RTF3 contact in Afghanistan
GolfBravoUSMC asks us to note the Austrian Steyr Stg.77 AUG assault rifles in this footage of Australia's Reconstruction Task Force 3 (RTF3) in contact with the enemy in Afghanistan.
Ghislain Poirier: Hit & Red
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
July 03, 2008
Our best qualities
Kathleen McGowan introduces the psychology of normality and some quite specific ways of being abnormal. Not certain how my antipathy toward normal people is classified by the APA but I figure it is a chronic manageable condition (via Five Feet of Fury, with a different spin on the piece).
Normal people may be nicer than average, but they also have character traits that aren't universally appealing. They're not adventurous. They're not above average in intelligence, nor are they outgoing. Truth be told, a lot of our best qualities are unusual. A sense for music like Mozart's is certainly exceptional. So is the ability to speak six languages, or the courage to leap onto the subway tracks to save a stranger's life.
As is the above image. Sadly, Kylie Minogue has retired her exceptional hot pants; something to do with aging gracefully (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).
Solicitude, protectiveness, and apologetics
Bruce Bawer describes a history of biased, whitewashed New York Times reportage on totalitarian ideologies, movements and regimes (via Instapundit).
This history is sickening, maddening... seriously, blood boiling. RTWT. It seems to me the internet is all that stands between us and all the Big Lies. The dextrosphere might usefully commit the following to memory, a rejoinder to all who would have us "understand" the enemy:
The problems of being a black woman at an Ivy League university
Dinesh D'Souza considers the travails of Michelle Obama. This via Ace, objecting "Just because it's true doesn't mean it's nice to say."
July 02, 2008
Somewhere more appealing
British proles are advised not to join the rush to Canada. Though I cannot say I will be disappointed if Daily Mail readers choose to stay home, it is difficult to disagree with the argument on any substantive level.
...
As the Canadian poet Irving Layton once said, the Canadian political and intellectual communities' have a tendency to regard ' cowardice as wisdom, philistinism as Olympian serenity and the spitefulness of the weak as moral indignation'.
This via Quotulatiousness, observing "Better stay at home, where the loving eyes of the surveillance cameras can keep a better eye on you."
Apocalyptica: Nothing Else Matters
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Orhan Pamuk
Fethullah Gülen is Foreign Policy's No. 1 in a list of the Top 100 Public Intellectuals (via Five Feet of Fury). Never heard of him? Not to worry, nobody important has heard of him either.
Cut to al-Guardian, falling for it.
The top 10 individuals were all Muslim and included two Nobel laureates, the novelist Orhan Pamuk, who is also Turkish, at No 4, and the Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, in 10th.
Shirin Ebadi who says anyone who leaves Iran is "dead" to her and who supports Iran's nuclear weapons program. By contrast, Orhan Pamuk; despite the rest, his is a name to which I am happy to have been introduced if only for his drawing attention to the Armenian genocide. Ebadi's notion of human rights echoes Canada's "human rights" commissions while Pamuk could just as easily have been charged under Section 13 for bringing Turks into hatred and contempt as he was for much the same reasons under Turkey's Article 301. The difference is that Pamuk was never prosecuted by the Turkish Justice Ministry, they decided they did not have jurisdiction; any Canadian "human rights" tribunal would have convicted.
Related: Christopher Hitchens reviews Orhan Pamuk's "Snow".
July 01, 2008
Weasley
General Wesley Clark questions Senator John McCain's readiness to be President. Lone Ranger comments at Rantburg.
While Instapundit quotes the following:
...is that though he has Wes Clark in his corner, the only person he knows with the experience of getting a bomb on target is Bill Ayers.